The Minor Family of Somerset

William J. Mooney was murdered in Montgomery County, Alabama i
n a political dispute. - as told by Karen Clark. E-mail addres
s k clark 969@aol.com
A partial new clipping has been located by Yvonne Davis, (descen
dent of Samuel Egbert Mooney[ysdavis2000@yahoo.com]that tells th
e story of the murder. The firstsection is missing, due to ag
e I would guess. Here is the way it reads:
...First Part of the article was missing...
the city violence. Although citizens later remembered their tow
n as rather quiet and unusually civilized by comparison with oth
er frontier communites, visitors were appaled at the violence,m
uch of it associated with politics. One traveler who visited th
e city commented: "The life of man has very little value in thi
s lately erected place;the mixed composition of the populatio
n gives rise to many frightful deeds,which on other towns woul
d be severely punished by the authorities, but are here perpetra
ted without any serious consequences." Even local folk became a
lrmed at the frequency of acrimonious confrontations. The edito
r of the Montgomery Republican wrote in 1823: "From the many blo
ody and serious encounters that have taken place in this town
, I am induced to believe that our citizens certainly possess th
e most war-like dispositions of any people in the civilized worl
d. Scarcely a Day passes, but these champions of the first an
d skull display their dexterity.
Harriet Martineau, an aristocratic English traveler and writer v
isited the town in April, 1835, found conditions little improved
. One of her hosts recently had been stabbed in the back whil
e perusinga book in Mongomery's reading room. Another residen
t carried loaded pistols against threatened assassination. Shor
tly beofre her arrival a Montgomerain had been shot three time
s from ambush and killed. One woman confided thathardly a da
y had passed during her four year residence without an attemp
ton someone's life. Matineau pronounced the state of Mongomer
y society fearful, and believed her written sketch had presente
d an accurate portrait of life"in the wilder districts of the S
outh."
Had Martineau tarried a few monthslonger, the city's
volatile population would have provided additional
evidence for her conclusion. Montgomery was already
justly famous for the intensity of its political
divisions, and feelings ran high as national elections
approached. Even officers of the local
volunteer-militia units were chosen on the basis of
party affiliation. During the summer of 1836, one of
these units heldits annual muster about nine miles
from the city. Colonel Thomas Mastin, prominent
Montgomery Democrat leader, commanded the company, but
it enrolled manyWhigs, including Bush W. Bell and his
two nephews. Following drills, the Bellsinvited
Mastin to their tent, where a heated argument ensued.
Edward Bell,one of the nephews, became so outraged
that he unsheathed a knife and stabbedMastin to
death.
Although acquitted in a trial conducted in the
predominantly Whig city, the Bells did not escape
Democratic retaliation. WILLIAM MOONEY and son,
Kenyon, lived in the country nearby and were fervent
Democrats. Whilein town one Day in 1836, the
Mooney's encountered the Bells at Montgomery Hall. A
desperate and bloody battle followed in which Bush
killed WILLIAM MOONEYand Kenyon Mooney fatally
wounded Edward Bell. Bush Bell fled the city but
Monney was arrested, made bond, and was soon in
trouble again.
Still in a sullen mood, Kenyon Mooney attended another
militia muster at Scoggins Hill, stabbed AlLister
Owens to death, then casually mounted his horse and
rode away. Aposse, dispatched from Montgomery found
young Mooney barricaded in his mother's house,
prepared for a siege. Having no stomach for a risky
frontal assault,the posse sent back to the town for a
connon and ammunition with which to breach the house.
Before the cannon reached its des