James McCrory Deserved Hanging 1872

An old friend used to say, "Some people deserve hanging." There was no question about what he was talking about. After all, some people are evil. Sadly, some people live to prove that evil exists. It's not merely that they don't have any redeeming qualities; they are evil and need to be dealt with in the harshest manner imaginable. To say, "Some people deserve hanging" is one way, a blunt way, of expressing one's extreme disapproval for someone's heinous behavior.  

Take the case of murderer James G. McCrory in Visalia, California, as an example. He was someone who deserved to be hanged. And frankly, after reading about him, I'm sort of surprised that he evaded dancing on the end of a rope for as long as he did. Was he evil? Well, decide for yourself after reading what he did -- especially what he did to Charles Allen.

James G. McCrory supposedly originated in Arizona, where he supposedly had quite the reputation as a gunman and desperado. For my readers who know that I use the word "supposedly" because there's nothing to confirm the myths about people, though James McCrory was supposedly a badman who is said by some to have killed 13 men -- there's no proof of that. Other than the 2 killings that we know he did for certain, there's no proof that he killed 13 men anywhere -- including in Arizona. 

As with a lot of stories of badmen in the Old West, we need to figure out what's an inflated myth and what's true information. That being the case, we should take note of the fact that the first mention of James McCrory in a newspaper story syndicated by telegraph was on February 16, 1867. I found this small news tidbit in the Sacramento Daily Union and the Mariposa Gazette. 

It wasn't about James McCrory being in a gunfight or prospecting. No, it was about the death of his 9-year-old son James William McCrory. The small notice simply read: 

DIED 

At Visalia, February 4th, 1867, JAMES WIILLIAM McCRORY, son of James G. McCrory, aged 9 years, 1 month, and 6 days.

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The next time James G. McCrory was mentioned in a newspaper story was on April 2, 1870, when the Sacramento Daily Union newspaper reported the following:

Shooting at Visalia.

March 30th - On Saturday night last, there was a shooting scrape between a Mexican and James McCrory, which came near resulting fatally to the Mexican. There are two rumors about town in regard to the shooting - some say that there were two, and some say four shots were fired. As we do not know the particulars, we will forbear all comment regarding it until McCrory has his examination, which has been set for next Friday. This is the same Spaniard who was arrested by McCrory and Billy Moore some time last year, for which he has threatened to kill both of them, and this shooting grew out of that in some manner. McCrory was arrested and given bail for his appearance for examination before Justice Bradley.

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Did you pick up on the newspaper saying that James McCrory arrested the Mexican? Yes, he was a lawman once. But, while I haven't been able to find out if he was a deputy with Tulare County or a Visalia town deputy, it appears he was a lawman who turned badman. 

About six months later, a second story came out on October 26, 1870, the Sacramento Daily Union reported the following:

Murder in Tulare County

Visalia. October 25th., -  A Mexican, named Manuel Barales, was shot and instantly killed Friday night by James McCrory. Barales was standing in a saloon engaged in conversation with his back to the door when McCrory appeared at the door with a shotgun loaded with buckshot and fired at Barates, blowing nearly half his head off. The testimony at the preliminary examination yesterday fails to show any previous trouble, though McCrory claims the deceased had threatened his life. The prisoner was committed to await the action of the Grand Jury.

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A few days later, on October 29, 1870, the Sacramento Daily Union reported a follow-up on the story above with a few more details of how McCrory shot his victim with a shotgun.

Homicide at Visalia.

The Delta [newspaper] of October 26th gives these particulars of a late homicide in its midst: On Friday night last, about half past 11 o'clock, James McCrory shot and killed a Spaniard named Manuel Barales, under the following circumstances: It appears that the Spaniard and McCrory had been running together, drinking with each other all the evening, and while at the Fashion Saloon, McCrory lent him some money, and shortly after left the house. In a few moments after his departure, while Manuel and Thomas Harper were standing talking at the bar.

McCrory returned and pushed the front door open, first with his hand and then with the muzzle of his shotgun. Harper happened to turn his head and saw McCrory in the act of raising the gun, but thought he was only in fun until he heard the gun cocked, when he stepped back one or two steps and the gun was discharged.

The whole charge struck the Spaniard full under the left ear, in the neck, and passed through, making a terrible wound and killing him instantly. McCrory surrendered himself to Sheriff Glasscock. On Monday afternoon, he was examined before Justice Shearer and remanded to jail to await the action of the Grand Jury.

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So now, though I haven't been able to find any newspaper coverage of his trial in the archives, we can all see that he was convicted of that killing -- since it says that in the May 1, 1871, the Daily Alta California newspaper report: 

For the Penitentiary.

James McCrory was brought down from Tulare County yesterday, en route to San Quentin Prison, having been convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment.

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Okay, so here's a twist that most folks today think only happens today and didn't happen in the Old West. James McCrory was released from prison after being locked up for about a month and a half. He was to have a new trial because of a technical error at his first trial. It's true. On June 16, 1871, this report was in the Sacramento Daily Union newspaper:

People vs. McCrory

Judgment reversed and cause remanded for a new trial, with leave to the appellant to withdraw his plea of "guilty of murder in the second degree."

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While I've tried to find out why the judgment was reversed, I couldn't. I searched the archives and I couldn't find a report of his new trial. But, in this case, I can safely say that he must have been set free. We know that because he killed again on Christmas Eve of 1872. In that shooting, as with his others, he killed an unarmed man.

The following was reported in the Daily Alta California on December 25, 1872:

LYNCH LAW AT VISALIA.

A Well-known Desperado Kills a Man and is Immediately Hanged by a Vigilance Committee.

Visalia, December 24th, James McCrory, a noted desperado, who has already killed several men in this place, shot and killed Charles Allen about five o'clock this afternoon. He was arrested within a few minutes by an officer in an out-house to which he had fled. He was armed to the teeth. He was twice taken from the officers by an exasperated crowd amid cries of "Hang him, shoot him," but the officers finally succeeded in lodging him in jail.

A vigilance committee was at once organized around the jail door, and a demand made for the prisoner. The sheriff and deputies were overpowered and the keys taken from them. McCrory was taken from the jail and hanged from a bridge in the vicinity. The excitement has all subsided. The body is still hanging from the bridge amid the pouring rain. The unanimous sentiment of the people is "well done." Great praise is due to the Sheriff and deputies for their efforts to avert the hanging.

More details came out in the Marin Journal, Volume 12, Number 41, on 28 December 1872:

Details of the Visalia Tragedy.

The following dispatch to the San Francisco Chronicle is dated Christmas Day: The town has been very quiet all day after the exciting scenes of last night. The body of the murderer, McCrory, after hanging an hour and a half, was moved to an undertaker's. There was not the slightest provocation for the murder. McCrory was abusing a third party in Allen's saloon when the latter entered from the rear door, and accosting McCrory, asked what was the matter. McCrory answered, "I would just as soon shoot you as anyone else," and opened fire on him with a Navy revolver in each hand.

Allen threw up his hands after the first shot, exclaiming, "I am unarmed; for God's sake, don't kill me."

McCrory fired again, one shot penetrating the chest and one going through the skull, making a wound from which the brain oozed out. Allen then sank into a sitting posture against the counter, with his head resting on his breast, insensible. But the murderer, not yet satisfied with his bloody work, fired another shot into the victim's abdomen, and then coolly walked to the back door and took refuge in a small out-house.

When taken from his cell by the vigilantes, the murderer showed fight, but a rope was instantly thrown over his neck and he was dragged to the scene of his execution. The vigilantes were composed of the best men in the community—men who, wearied of the uncertainty of the law, were determined to mete out justice themselves.

McCrory had been previously acquitted of two or three cowardly murders and would probably have been again turned loose in our midst. There is but one expression today in regard to last night's proceedings —it meets unanimous approval. A determination is expressed to keep it up as long as murderers are allowed to escape through the meshes of the law.

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Here are more details of his hanging at the hands of Vigilantes in Visalia, as reported in the San Jose Weekly Mercury newspaper on January 2, 1873:

Swift Execution

In Visalia, on Tuesday, James McCrory, a noted desperado, who, it is stated, has killed four or five persons, shot and killed one Chas. Allen, without any apparent cause. He fired five shots into the brain, chest, and abdomen of Allen, either one of which was fatal, firing the last shot as his victim lay prostrate on the floor.

McCrory attempted to escape, but was brought to bay in an outhouse, where he faced the crowd with a Navy revolver in each hand. Deputy Sheriff Reynolds advanced on him and, by the aid of the citizens, succeeded in disarming him. On his way to the jail, a crowd of excited citizens captured him from the officers, but he was retaken and convoyed to jail. The crowd becoming reinforced, moved upon the the jail, broke open the outer door, overpowered the officers, took from them the keys to the cells, went to McCrory's cell, opened it and placing a rope around the neck of the murderer, led him out on to Court street bridge, tied the rope to the railing and swung him into eternity. 

The murderer and his victim died at about the same moment. That sort of swift vengeance is, of course, all wrong, but it is about the only sort of treatment that such desperadoes can appreciate.

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James Greenville "Jim" McCrory was born sometime in 1836 in Arkansas. On Christmas Eve in 1872, murderer James McCrory, age 35 or 36, was hanged in the town of Visalia, in Tulare County, California, by local Vigilantes after he killed one of the owners of the El Dorado Saloon. It's said the citizens took McCrory from the jail, dragged him to the Mill Creek Bridge, put a noose around his neck, and threw him over the side of the bridge to hang him. The reason for the hanging is said to be the citizens' frustration with the lawlessness in the town. 

It's said the vigilantes decided to leave his body hanging there for a few hours as a warning to others. Before cutting him down, those who lynched him collected money to provide a decent burial. Imagine that. They collected funds for the burial of McCrory while he swung from that bridge.

It should be noted that James G. McCrory was married once to Julia Ann Bozeman. She had 5 children by her first husband, James G. McCrory: Charles, Ambrose, Mary Frances, Martha, and James. After he was cut down from the Mill Creek Bridge, James G. McCrory was buried in the Visalia Public Cemetery with his 9-year-old son, who died in 1867. The birth year on his headstone is said to be wrong.

  

Tom Correa