What to Make of It?
This story begins 25 years after the U.S. Civil War. The subject of this post, William “Willis” Craig, lived In the small farming community in Longview in East Texas. Willis was born enslaved in Georgia in 1856 and moved to Longview with his parents Lewis and Easter Craig.
The 1880 Census for Longview, Texas notes that Willis (24) is working as a farm laborer and living with his 16 year-old bride Anna (Richardson) and their 1 year-old son, Devread. Anna just happened to be the daughter of his next door neighbor, Weakly and Sarah (Bryant) Richardson. (Photo R: Anna 1897)
Here is where the story takes an interesting turn.
In the 1900 Census for Rusk, Texas, Willis is a recorded as a prisoner in the East Texas Penitentiary. Below is his “convict record” listing his age, weight, and distinguishing marks (in blue below) and term of sentence. The record notes that in January 1899, Willis was convicted of murder and sentenced to five years. However, Willis was pardoned in February 1901. No additional public records were found regarding the murder conviction and pardon.
Why was Willis pardoned after serving only one year of a 5 year sentence?
In the 1900 Census, Anna is living with Elderville, Rusk County, Texas with six of her children whose ages ranged from 2 to 18 years-old. (Children: Lucy, Louis, Joseph, Ulysses, Addie and Sarah)
In the 1910 Census for Depew, Oklahoma (300 miles north of Longview, TX), Willis and Anna are together with their children Sara, Addison, Ulysses, Joseph and Fannie Mae. Also living with them are the children of eldest daughter, Ida Dixon, whose names were Arthur, Eva, Essie and Ermon. There is no record of where Ida and Frank Dixon where living in 1910.
Note: Willis’ wife Anna died on 18 Aug 1912. After her death, Willis is shown in the 1920/30/40 Census’ living with his daughter Ida Wiggins in Depew.
In the 1920 Census for Depew, Oklahoma, Ida (34) and her husband Matthew (46) are living with their children Rebie (Wiggins) and Arthur, Eva, Essie and Ermon (Dixon). Also in the home was Ida’s father, Willis, and her sister Fannie Mae.
Here is the second turn in the the life of Willis Craig.
On Saturday, October 21, 1911 in Depew, Oklahoma, Willis and his brother Noah became witness to the death of William Bryant during an attempt to arrest of Henry Page who was accused of beating his wife. As reported in the newspapers, white deputies attempted to arrest Page and when unsuccessful, had four “Negroes” deputized by the Justice of the Peace. Willis and Page were deputized along with Bryant. Bryant apparently agreed to “go in and bring the Page boy out” and died when he was shot by one of the “Page boys” while Willis was struggling with Henry Page. It is interesting that that shots were fired from “inside and outside” the house, which seems to indicate that the white deputies outside were also engaged in the shooting.
Bob Bryant and the story of his death are memorialized by the Oklahoma Peace Officers Memorial. The news articles gave his name as William Bryant?
News articles (below) reporting the incident illustrate the nature of racism in 1900’s Oklahoma in their description of the murder. Sadly, I have been unable to uncover a record of the outcome of the case.
