Murphy’s Law
Some call it a stream. Some call it a bayou. Most people call it a river. Its headwater is in Shelby County, Texas, then it meanders through San Augustine County, Nacogdoches County, and empties into the huge Sam Rayburn lake. It was named the Attoyac River by persons unknown. In fact, no one even knows what the name means.
It was very near this river that the Duncan Hicks family settled and built a log home sometime in the late 1800’s. Duncan’s family consisted of himself, age 48, his wife, Nerva, age 54, and their daughter, Allie, age 19.
Duncan was like most other men in this area, a farmer, tilling the land of his property. His farm was on the west side of the river in Nacogdoches County. The family lived a simple and peaceful life. It was said that his daughter, Allie, was a strikingly beautiful blonde. She could turn the head of most any young man.
On Saturday, Oct. 10, 1902, J. W. Jernigan rode his horse past the Duncan farm house. He noticed that things were unusually quiet. This did not seem normal to him, so he hitched his horse to the gate, opened it and walked inside the front yard. He was stunned by the grizzly sight in front of him.
Lying on his back in the yard was the body of Duncan Hicks partially covered with a bloody sheet. Upon a hasty check to see if he was alive, J. W. noted that Hicks had been shot in the head by a shotgun. He was dead.
Running up the front steps to the porch he was stopped in his tracks. He noted the body of Duncan’s wife, Nerva, lying on her back. She, too, had been shot in the head with similar injuries, also deceased. He then ran inside the house and found the body of the beautiful Allie, whose head and face had been beaten into a bloody pulp. She, also, was dead.
Jernigan left the house at a gallop to find a telephone to call the sheriff in Nacogdoches County. Sheriff A. J. Spradley arrived at the Duncan home early on Sunday morning, along with City Marshall Matt Spradley. The lawman began his investigation.
Surveying the area, he noted the new wooden bridge that was in the process of being constructed over the Attoyac River approximately fifty yards north of Duncan’s home. For years the people of both San Augustine and Nacogdoches Counties had complained that the cost charged to ferry across the river, $1.50. was highway robbery. Finally, Jim Buchanan was hired by both counties to construct a wooden bridge across the river. The Sheriff questioned Mr. Buchanan to see if he had noticed anything unusual around the Hicks home.
Mr. Buchanan stated that one of his employees, a young black man named Bill Brown, failed to report back to work after lunch break on Friday. He had not been heard from since then. He stated further that he had noticed Brown hanging around the Hicks’ home several times while on work breaks.
Word about the killings had spread around the area. Posses were being formed in both Nacogdoches and San Augustine Counties. However, young Brown was located and taken to the Nacogdoches County jail a few days later. He was hiding out at a relative’s house when found.
Brown was quickly tried for his crimes of triple homicide and found guilty. He was sentenced to hang until dead. He was also quickly hung. It is unclear where his body was buried. Brown never gave a reason for his actions, and he denied sexually attacking Allie, although the doctor who examined her body stated she had been raped repeatedly.
Thus ended the saga of the murders of the Hicks family. Cite: Richard Murphy, “Ghosts, Gold Diggers, and Gun slingers”