William Patterson "Black Bill" McGrew

Bef 1811 - 1838  (27 years)

• Name	William Patterson "Black Bill" McGrew  [1, 2]
  Nickname	Black Bill
  Birth	Bef 1811	Mississippi Territory   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	4 Feb 1838	Sumter County, Alabama   [1]
  Notes	William "Black Bill" McGrew along with his cousin William "Red Bill" McGrew, in their early twenties, had killed two teenage boys in Sumter County, Alabama in 1835. In May, Alabama Governor John Gayle put out an $800 bounty for their apprehension. From the Commercial Register of Mobile: "Wanted - A Proclamation - On or about the first day of April of the present year [1835], William McGrew and William P. McGrew, in the county of Sumter [Alabama] murdered a couple of boys in the foulest manner, and under the most shocking and aggravated circumstances. The oldest of the lads was 16 or 17 years of age, and his little brother about 11 or 12. Their name was Kemp. They were peaceably at work, earning a subsistence for the indigent family to which they belonged, having given no offence or provocation whatsoever, when they were cruelly shot down at the same time, in a very wantonness of deliberate and cold blooded murder." Notices of the reward appeared in Mobile, New Orleans, and even in Texas. Soon another reward of three thousand dollars was raised by the citizens of Sumter and Marengo. Published in Mobile, New Orleans and in the Brazoria, Texas Republican 24 October 1835 was this descriptions of culprits: "William P. McGrew ("Black Bill") is about twenty four years of age, hair a little dark, fair skin and blue eyes; mild, and retiring look when sober; six feet high. William McGrew, ("Red Bill") the cousin of the other, is about 21 years old, red hair, fair skin, eyes between gray and blue, six feet high, down look and forbidding countenance. Both addicted to intemperance." "Black Bill" McGrew fled to Texas, to a place "about 125 miles from Nacogdoches" where bounty hunters from Alabama " handed a letter, perhaps from some authority in Texas, to a man there by the name of Bowie with the expectation of getting his assistance in the taking of McGrew; but he being the friend of McGrew showed him the letter. The party in pursuit of McGrew immediately became alarmed and fled," according to the Voice of Sumter paper, Nov. 6, 1837. Eventually McGrew was betrayed by a man posing as a friend and turned over to the three bounty hunters. He was returned to Alabama where he escaped from the Mobile jail and was subsequently recaptured by the sheriff in Little Rock, Arkansas. As he was being returned to Alabama, he created such a commotion on board the steamboat trying to escape that the Captain was obliged to put him and the sheriff off at Vicksburg. He was then shackled and the sheriff and a contingent of men delivered him for trial in Sumter County. Tried for murder, he received a $500 fine and one year for manslaughter since evidence proved the Kemp boys had readied guns in an ambush position. In addition, the Kemp boys' mother, who was the only eyewitness, told at least three different stories to different people, and did not fare well under cross-examination. Yet within the year, "Black Bill" died from his prison experience. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-WilliamMcGrew2.html
  Person ID	I2512	Strong Family Tree
  Last Modified	17 Aug 2014

  
  

  Father	William McGrew,   b. Bef 1788, Mississippi Territory d. 1813, Clarke County, Alabama (Age 25 years)
  Mother	Nancy Hainsworth,   b. Bef 1789   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F1592	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - Bef 1811 - Mississippi Territory Death - 4 Feb 1838 - Sumter County, Alabama  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S556] Moore, Sue Burns "A Tragical Affair in Old Montgomery, TX" http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-WilliamMcGrew.html, (http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-WilliamMcGrew.html This article first appeared in the Oct. 29 and Nov.5, 2003, editions of the Montgomery County News, Montgomery, Texas copyright ? 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003,2004, 2005 by Jane Keppler). [S202] McGrew, Wynema THE JAMES McGREW FAMILY (1744-1797) Second Edition, 1999, p. 10 (Reliability: 3).