Bramlett & 0' Bannon: One bullet two dead men - Stories from the Tree

It was another little scrap of information about a distant relative that caught my eye: "According to the Jacksonville Republican newspaper, 11-Mar-1858, Larkin Bramblett, before his hanging, told a reporter that he was married  at 15 to a girl  who was 13."

Wait! What? Not the part about being married at age 15, though that is unusual. The part that really jumped out, of course, was "before his hanging!"  Of course this sent me digging, and I came up with another remarkable story from the Tree.

A journalist named Eric Wayne Key pieced together the following story from the archives of the Jacksonville Republican newspaper and from court records. Mr Key published the story in the November 5, 2013 issue of the Jacksonville News under the title "Bramlett & 0' Bannon:  One bullet two dead men." I have borrowed both the title and the story. With some minor editing, here's Key's account.

It seems that in 1854, on the banks of an undisclosed pond in Cedar Bluff, Cherokee County, Alabama, there were two mills owned by a Colonel Hendrix. The gristmill, run by Larkin Bramlett, and a saw mill operated by Benjamin F. 0'Bannon. Bramlett and O'Bannon were friends and frequently drank and conversed after the mills had closed down for the day. On one particularly drunken night they got into a heated argument. Before things got bad, O'Bannon left and Bramlett went home to his wife and kids.

He seethed throughout the night, and upon waking the next morning, he visited his neighbor and asked to borrow a gun. The neighbor asked him if he was going squirrel hunting and Larkin replied, "Yeah, and I'll kill a damn big one before I get back." He made his way to the mill and yelled for O'Bannon to show his face. He screamed out, "Say your prayers. O'Bannon!" Seeing the gun, O'Bannon seized the opportunity to lunge towards his aggressor. The gun went off, hitting O'Bannon's leg, severing the femoral artery which resulted in death in a very short time.

Bramlett was apprehended and jailed in short order, but before the next turn of the court he managed to escape from the Cherokee County jail. He traveled to Murray County Georgia, then up to South Carolina, back to Chattooga County, and eventually went on to Louisville, Kentucky. From there he fled to Canada.

After two years and eight months he returned to Chattooga County Georgia, where he was recognized and subsequently arrested and extradited back to Cherokee County Alabama. But due to the notoriety of the case in Cherokee County, Bramlett's counsel requested a change of venue, and before the Fall term of 1857 he was transferred to the jailhouse on West Ladiga Street in Jacksonville, then the County Seat of Benton County, Alabama.

Not surprisingly, the jury disbelieved Bramlett's claim of innocence and returned a guilty verdict. "We the jury find the defendant guilty of the murder of Benjamin F. O'Bannon in the first degree and that he must suffer death. " The Honorable W. M. Brooks sentenced Bramlett to hang for the murder of O'Bannon.

Bramlett's counsel, the Honorable Alexander White, appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court in hopes of over-turning the verdict by Judge Brooks. The Supreme Court rejected his appeal stating, "The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed, and the sentence of the law must be executed."

Sheriff J. B. Farmer proceeded to make the necessary arrangements for the execution by building a gallows and summoning the different officers and physicians as required by law together with a sufficient guard. In the two weeks preceding the hanging, Jacksonville was abuzz with activity. Men and boys traveled to the southern edge of town to see the gallows. Soldier-like young men paraded the streets with muskets and bayonets. Here and there men would debate the likelihood of Bramlett's eminent escape and what he would do next.

There were rumors of what Bramlett was saying to the ministers and to the sheriff and deputies. Had he made a confession? What would he do once the rope was around his neck? How many men had he murdered? Bramlett's brothers were rumored to be here in town [there were 5 of them] and would surely attempt a rescue. With each rumor the security doubled and tripled. Rumors of Jacksonville being burned to the ground by the Bramlett brothers ran rampant.

At this point, I would like to point out that Larkin Bramlett is not actually a blood relative of mine. Unlike Pretty Boy Floyd, he's not even a 5th cousin once removed. He was just a member of the Bramblett clan that spread over the South, starting with the Immigrant John Bramblett in 1630. Larkin even spelled his name differently. But that's one of the reasons it's so hard to track Bramblett ancestors. They may be Bramletts, or Bramlets, or Bramblets or Brambletts, or in the case of one census, Branlets. And often these differences show up in the same family!

But he is out there on one of the spindly branches - apprehended, tried, and convicted. Next week - The Hanging.