The Killing of Tom Browder

I am about to tell you a story I think is true. It's based on one fact that I discovered during my genealogy of research into the Browder line of my family. I’m a writer and a history major doing genealogy work on my family tree and things like this suck me in.

On December 10, 1911 Will Boswell fatally injured John Thomas Browder. That is the fact. It becomes a little sketchy after that. According to my grandfather, Willie Browder, his father Thomas was murdered (sic) in a fight over another woman. He was hit with a fence post. He never told me the name of the man who killed Thomas.

That's the bare bones of the story.

During my research, I discovered an obituary notice posted on Find A Grave that gave the name of the man who killed Tom. According to the obituary, Tom died when Will Bozell (sic) struck him in the head with a pole. This confirms the story my grandfather told me. The obit mentions no reason for the fight but they would not have mentioned a woman in this kind of story, at least not a decent woman. The obituary does not tell what happened to Will Boswell. More on that later.

To gather more information, I searched genealogy records for Will Boswell. In 1910 he lived in Crenshaw County in the same Precinct as Tom Browder, basically the same neighborhood. Pigeon Creek appears on a map in Butler County, next to Crenshaw County. The area they lived may have crossed county lines. I can’t be sure at this point. Remember, these were farms, so they were spread out a bit. Sometimes states also restructured counties.

Will was married to his second wife, Ellen Golden who was the same age as Tom Browder. Will and Ellen had been married about 13 years and had a bunch of children (some by Will's first wife).

Based on my family oral history Tom Browder was a womanizer. This from his own son and he never ever talked about his father but one time—that was the time I asked him directly what happened to his father. Based on the genetics of the Browder men I've known all my life, Tom probably was a very good looking man.

Now, here's what I think occurred. And remember, I write fiction.

Tom Browder was married with six children and his wife Alice was pregnant with a little girl who would be born in May, after his death.

At some point in time, Tom Browder became involved with Will Boswell's wife. Whether she was a participant, or he was just sniffing around the henhouse, we’ll never know. Either way, Boswell wasn’t having it. I suspect he went to Tom Browder’s home. It was a Thursday so Tom would probably have been working his farm. I can see Boswell demanding that Tom stop messing with his wife.

“If you don’t stop coming by and accosting her on the street, there’s going to be trouble. I know your reputation but that’s my wife and you are to leave her alone.”

Maybe Tom blew Will off. Or maybe he laughed at him and said “I’ll do what I please, Will Boswell. Get back to your farm before you get hurt.”

Let me just say here that Tom Browder was 33 years old. Will Boswell was 43, an old man by the standards of the day. I’m sure Tom thought he could handle him. He miscalculated. Tom Browder died of his wounds on Friday leaving his wife with 7 children.

There is no evidence or family history to any of that. But something happened that escalated into a fatal fight. At some point, Will Boswell picked up a post and struck Tom Browder in the back of the head. This suggest Tom was not facing him or he was moving away from Will. Maybe Boswell was on the ground and Tom figured it was over.

Perhaps Tom was working when Boswell arrived and Will saw his chance to kill the man he believed was messing with his wife. He picks up the post and strikes him. Was there actually a fight? My feeling is there was a fight. I think Browder was probably cocky and walked away and in a rage, Boswell picked up the nearest thing to hand and hit Browder.

But that’s just my writer’s imagination.

Will Boswell was alive and well in 1920, still with his wife and children. He died July 3rd, 1925 and is buried in Pleasant Home Baptist Church Cemetary in Butler County. I could not find any record of a trial or investigation. He obviously didn’t get a long stretch in prison. Was Tom Browder’s reputation so well known that they brought no charges? Perhaps.

We’ll never know what happened without more documentation. I’d have to research the newspapers in Crenshaw and Covington County and the court records to find out. Maybe I’ll have time on a trip future trip.

But in the meantime, it sure is an interesting story.

*Please note. I ascribe no blame to either Browder or Boswell. I don't know the circumstances or facts of the case other than those told by Tom Browder's son who was 2 at the time of the murder, and the obituary in the paper at that time. Browder may have deserved what he got. Boswell may have imagined the flirtation or it may have been true. I don't have enough data to make an assessment. But I can speculate. And I bet I'm close to the truth.

Twiddling My Thumbs

This is one writer who is just all messed up. I tell myself I should just throw in my keyboard and give up. I write a bit here and a bit there. The little voice in my head says time is running out and I'm just twiddling my thumbs. I don't know if that's true. But the nagging isn't helping me.

👈  I woke up at noon to this kind of day. The temperature is rather nice but the lack of sun is ominous. Winters in S. Indiana are quite gloomy, and someone with problems retaining vitamin D doesn't need gloomy skies. We need sun.

I'm exhausted. Possibly I've been sitting up too late watching funny videos. Because I live alone, have no place to go or am too ill to go, and I have no visitors, I've become more depressed. There is nothing I can do about it. I already take a pill for fibromyalgia that is an antidepressant. They told me I can't take anything else. So, medication is out.

Sitting up late watching Poldark is also not helpful. The story is so intense and the villain so insanely persistent that I have to watch until I reach a resolution to the current problem they're facing. So far, that's each season finale! A few nights ago I stopped at the end of the show just before it shows one of my favorite characters dying! I couldn't handle it. Depression and sad stories don't mix.

I've even tried reading, which usually helps me. I'm reading a book called Cold Water by Debbie Herbert. This is a very good book, and the story is intense. The antagonist is maddening but so is the protagonist. My problem is that the one is so wicked while the other is too passive and doing stupid things. In theory, I know this will workout and the crime solved but I've felt so under stress reading it. NO! I don't know why. It's just a book and I've read books far more disturbing that this one. It has taken weeks and I'm only halfway through. For me, that's insane. When I take this long to read a book, it's usually because it's terrible but I stick it out as a challenge. This one, I can't handle the way the action plays out. I know who did it so reading the ending won't help. 

As for writing. Pfft. I know I've written some but I've stopped paying attention to how much. Right now, I want to go to sleep and I didn't get out of bed till noon! 

Tomorrow I take my sister to have eye surgery. I must sleep tonight, no sitting up. She'll be staying with me for several days until she's able to see how to drive. That'll give me some company for a few days. My sisters are good company.

Now that I've bored even myself to tears, I'll stop here. I need to do a couple of things before sis gets here. I hope you have a productive writing day.

Saturday Project Line Up

Saturday often comes with its own projects, aside from those in the middle of the week. I have had little housework to do other than laundry and dishes, my most hated jobs. I piled the laundry in a chair in the living room, all bed linen, bath towels, and bath clothes. I’ll get to it during a t. v. binge. I have to do that today because I’ve stripped my bed.

I don’t have a lot of pain today. Just some aches and pains that come with specific motions. I’ve been barefoot all day, too, putting on my shoes only when I went to get Mike.

Mike is doing his laundry and helping me with those Saturday projects. He likes to take short cuts so there is a constant heated discussion going on but I don’t bother getting mad at him. That's who he is. The severe ADHD wrecked his life and I’ve decided there is no point in expecting it to magically disappear. I’m tired of people who do. I’m not discussing that now.

He’s got the new security light put up, after months. It was always raining or deadly hot. The job isn’t hard or time consuming. It is a solar light that stopped working and they replaced it free. Today is a beautiful day with neither rain nor much heat. So, now the light is up.

We began work on the next project: working on the pass-thru window between the kitchen and den. It is anyone’s guess when we will finish it. I began 2017 but a ruptured disc derailed it.  I did the counter portion, but the rest remains incomplete.

Today, I got the top board inserted. This is just a nice piece of wood to cover the ugly brown painted board that was there. I could have ripped that board out but I don’t ask for trouble. Who knows what is on the other side? My experience in home improvement: you don't mess with some things.

Once, years ago, I inserted a sheet of foam between that board and the top of the window because there was a space where wind, debris, and bugs filtered in. That sealed off that problem. We'll do a similar treatment on the side sections because the space between the house and limestone facing may allow critters and wind in. I can put insulation in there. Attaching the side panels to the limestone is the real challenge.

I can see the end of this project nearing and I feel such relief. I will stain the wood when I’m done and put a coat of poly on it to protect it. That’s the easy part. I love doing woodwork and staining wood is so soothing. Watching the grain come out and the variation of the tones is marvelous. I don’t brush on stains. I hand rub them because it seems to give me a nicer finish. Brushed on stain looks heavy to me. I rub on a coat, let it set a bit, then rub it off. I'll apply more as needed until I get the depth I want. Some areas will absorb a lot, others, very little. To me, that is where the beauty of the wood comes out. Each piece I’ve ever done differs. It has been years since I worked with stain but I’m looking forward to it.

Once I finish this project, I can move to the next thing. The walls of the two bathrooms need attention, and if I can have several good days like today, I can do it. We have most of the supplies so expense isn’t an issue. Well, except for the bathroom that needs new wall board. That'll be a minute.

Time to stop. Braves baseball begins at 4 and I'll lose my helper, so I need to have this stuff finished soon.

I like to think I'll be writing later. Maybe I will.