Lions Club really roars
Thursday, December 19, 2019, marked the last meeting of the Linden Lions Club for the year. This week’s special guest speaker was Bill Miller. Miller is the 5th District Judge, which covers both Cass and Bowie counties. He shared a wonderful history lesson with the Lions.
He not only shared the history of the Louisiana Purchase and the creation of the Republic of Texas, but he also shared the story of a train robbery gone wrong. The train robbery, also known as the Spur Switch train robbery, occurred in 1890 and became famous across the US for many reasons.
There were three robbers who intended on robbing a train that contained a large sum of money. However, they ended up robbing the wrong train and only gaining about two hundred dollars. During the robbery, a shootout occurred which resulted in one of the robbers accidentally shooting one of their partners.
While train robberies were quite common back then, what makes this one stand out is the fact that the robbers were all some form of law enforcement. A key-person of note in this story is Napoleon Mc-Daniel, who was a law enforcement officer in the area. McDaniel was captured, tried, found guilty, and sentenced to life.
Then he escapes while waiting for his appeal with Texas Supreme Court. He was eventually turned in by his fifteen-year-old son. He had served just a few years of his life sentence when the Governer granted him a full pardon. Several years later, Mr. McDaniels was arrested again, along with his son, for shooting a man during a fight. He was again tried and convicted. He spent several more years in prison before being pardoned again by the Governer.
Judge Miller shared this wild story with the Lions Club to highlight the stories that can be learned from spending time at the courthouse and utilizing all of the records available. There is a wonderful history to be found among the old documents and pictures.
The Lions Club will return to regular meetings on Jan. 2, and look forward to serving in the new year.