The real history

Breathitt County, 1839–1903

Breathitt County was created in 1839, and Simon Cockrell Sr. donated the land for its seat, later named Jackson. In 1891 the railroad reached the town, linking it to Lexington.

A contested election

The November 1901 results that kept County Judge James Hargis and Sheriff Edward Callahan in office were contested, with attorney James B. Marcum as counsel for the contestants. A special judge declared the sheriff’s election void for fraud on both sides; Hargis reappointed Callahan to serve until the next election.

The killings of 1902

Town Marshal Tom Cockrill killed Ben Hargis in a shooting at a “blind tiger,” an unlicensed saloon, near Jackson. Dr. B. D. Cox was shot to death at night in April. In July, Marshal Jim Cockrill was shot from ambush, by most accounts from a courthouse window.

A sworn warning

On November 11, 1902, Marcum’s sworn statement that he expected to be assassinated appeared on the front page of the Lexington Morning Herald, beside that of Moses Feltner, who swore he had been recruited and paid to help kill him.

May 4, 1903

On the morning he filed papers in the election cases, Marcum was shot twice from behind in the front doorway of the Breathitt County courthouse. Governor J. C. W. Beckham sent the State Guard to Jackson to protect the courts and witnesses.

Who they were

The men who ruled the county

James Hargis

Born in Jackson in 1862, son of state senator John Seldon Hargis. Merchant of Hargis Brothers, county judge, and a member of the Democratic State Central Committee from 1899 to 1907 — the most powerful man in Breathitt County in these years.

Alexander Hargis

Elder brother of James and his partner in Hargis Brothers and in landholding. He served in the Kentucky Senate in 1892 and was afterward called Senator.

Edward Callahan

Sheriff of Breathitt County, whose disputed election Marcum challenged, and a close ally of James Hargis.

James Buchanan Marcum

Lawyer, United States commissioner, trustee of the State College at Lexington, and briefly chairman of the Republican state central committee. His family called him Buchanan.

Curtis Jett

Described in contemporary accounts as a nephew of the Hargis brothers, and a sometime deputy.

Captain B. J. Ewen

A Jackson hotelkeeper and former deputy, called Captain, who stood beside Marcum in the courthouse doorway when the shots were fired.

Timeline

Before the story breaks

1839Breathitt County is created; Simon Cockrell Sr. donates land for its seat, later named Jackson.
1858–1862James B. Marcum (1858), Alexander Hargis (1859) and James Hargis (1862, in Jackson) are born.
1861–1865Civil War. William Strong serves as a captain of Union cavalry and later of the Three Forks Battalion.
1891The railroad reaches Jackson, linking it to Lexington.
1897Captain William Strong is shot and killed from ambush near his home on Lick Branch (May 9). No one is charged.
1901November elections. The results that kept James Hargis and Edward Callahan in office are contested, with Marcum as counsel for the contestants.
1902Tom Cockrill kills Ben Hargis near Jackson. Dr. B. D. Cox is shot to death at night (April 13). Marshal Jim Cockrill is shot from ambush (July 21) and dies the next day.
November 11, 1902Marcum’s affidavit and Moses Feltner’s sworn statement appear in the Lexington Morning Herald.
May 4, 1903Marcum is shot and killed in the front doorway of the Breathitt County courthouse.
May 19, 1903The first State Guard troops sent by Governor Beckham arrive in Jackson. What follows spans four decades — and the rest is in the book.

Pictures of the time

From the pages of 1903

Every image was published before 1929 or is a work of the United States government. Newspaper halftones of that age are coarse, and no detail has been added to them.