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16. Afterward
- Texas Tech University Press
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:: 161 :: 16 :: Afterward The dramatic events and remarkable coincidences associated with the main characters who figured in “The Reckoning” did not cease with the execution of John Potter in May of 1881, or the acquittal of Tom and Dick Dowdy, and Bill and Dan Dunman, two years later. Indeed, the lives of these disparate individuals continued to be filled with surprising twists and turns, unforeseen relationships , and fates ranging from tragic to heroic. The Dowdys James and Susan Cassell Dowdy lived out their lives on the section of land they filed on in 1879, located in the valley of Johnson Creek near the home place of James’s brother Gib Dowdy.1 James died in 1900, aged eighty-two, and Susan followed him in 1913, aged eighty-three.2 Tom and Susan Reeves Dowdy operated the first store and post office in the Mountain Home community at the original Dowdy homestead. Later, they moved their family to Ingram, about twelve miles southeast, where they founded another store. After they lost two infant sons during the 1878–80 crisis, Tom and Susan had four sons and two daughters. Their second surviving son was named Tarleton Leo, after the special judge under whose jurisdiction Tom was acquitted of the murder of John Potter. Their fourth and youngest son was named Wesley Thigpen Dowdy, after Tom’s defense attorney.3 Tom Dowdy died in 1919 as a result of falling under a threshing machine. He was sixty-five. His wife, Susan, died in 1936, aged seventy-seven.4 Mary Dowdy is a tragic figure. After her mother died in 1913, her brothers separated the old dog-run house into two separate buildings and relocated the larger portion on the premises. The smaller part, a single room about twelve feet by sixteen feet, became Mary Dowdy’s own cottage, in which she lived, alone and fearful, for the rest of her days, pitied by her community. She was very quiet and reclusive, thought by many to be of unsound mind, and her brothers had little interaction with her other than to supply her material needs.5 She lived to be eightyeight years old, dying in 1945.6 She was the last of her siblings to go. Richard Dowdy and his wife, Lee Ella, also lived out their lives in the area. Dick Dowdy, suffering from a brain tumor, died in 1938, the result of being shot in the back of the head with a .44 caliber pistol by his wife. This may have been The Reckoning :: 162 a “mercy killing,” as Mrs. Dowdy, after initially being charged with murder, was never prosecuted. He was eighty-two years old.7 His wife died in 1953, aged ninety-two.8 The youngest Dowdy sibling, George, married Georgia Lamb. They had two children and lived in the Mountain Home area most of their lives. George died in 1935, aged sixty-four; his wife died in 1960, aged eighty-six.9 All the Dowdys were buried in the family plot at the Sunset Cemetery, just two miles southeast of the original Dowdy home site. The lives of many of their descendants, some of whom still live in Kerr County, appear to have become hostage to the Dowdy tragedy, which continues to be a favorite topic of discussion among area residents. The Dunmans After he helped the Dowdy brothers free his brother Bill in May 1881, Dan Dunman was frequently in trouble with the law, usually in regard to stolen horses, usually in some sort of claimed “stock-detective” capacity. He was convicted of theft of geldings in Travis County on May 3, 1882, but pardoned on May 7, 1884, officially at the request of his mother, Kate Dunman,10 but more likely at the urging of Bexar County law enforcement officials, who wanted to employ him as a stock detective and informant against a gang of horse thieves then active around Austin and San Antonio. On May 11, 1886, Dan Dunman was again convicted of horse theft, this time in LaSalle County, and sentenced to fifteen years in Huntsville prison. In this case, Dunman informed on two prominent citizens, Joe and John Sheely. Joe Sheely was a former Texas Ranger captain; his brother, John Sheely, was an active horse dealer in South Texas. Dunman was convicted, mostly because his name was on the bill of sale of the subject horses. John Sheely was also convicted but pardoned in 1890. Dan Dunman was pardoned two years...