The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945 Page: 475
617 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Bonfoey Case at Marshall
It is necessary to insert at this point of the narrative that,
when the Senate Committee on Claims was preparing a report
in 1890, covering the claim of the Bonfoey heirs and of the
circumstances surrounding the claim, there was little with
which to begin except some molded bones and faded memories.
It was then twenty-three years after the fact, and, although
all available records and testimony of available witnesses29 were
gathered, the resultant picture of the crime was incomplete
in detail; there were conflicting statements of certain witnesses
whose memories were faulty or clouded. It is highly probable
that the memories of some of them were faulty because of
factors in no way connected with the lapse of time.30 Others
were undoubtedly uncertain about various details because of
the years which had elapsed.
For one thing, the date on which Mrs. Bonfoey was as-
saulted- an assault from which she subsequently died--is a
point in question. The records do not fix the date with certainty,
as was perhaps natural after a lapse of twenty-three years.
From family records, Miss Faith Bonfoey, a granddaughter of
Davis B. Bonfoey's, has given September 1 as the day of Mrs.
Bonfoey's death. But the testimony of Mrs. Bonfoey's two
older sons, who arrived home on the day of death, indicates
that the unfortunate victim lingered in a coma for about four
days after the murderous attack,31 thus making the date of
attack August 28 or 29.
On the night of the attack, which probably occurred several
days after Lieutenant Hawley had first posted the guard at
the house, the soldiers, entrusted with the protection of Mrs.
Bonfoey and her two small children, were stationed as usual,
one of them on the veranda outside the bedroom window.32 The
testimony does not show that there was any disturbance or
outcry on the premises during the night such as might have
been made by the guard challenging some intruder or prowler
on the premises, or by some person or persons discovered in an
attempt to rob the house or the safe inside the house. But
sometime during the night or early morning, Beverly, who
29The testimony of George G. Gregg was not before the Senate Com-
mittee on Claims because of the fact that Gregg died on October 29, 1867.
3soThe statement of Captain T. M. K. Smith is pertinent in this con-
nection.
31Senate Report No. 800, 2.
32Jbid.475
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 48, July 1944 - April, 1945, periodical, 1945; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146055/m1/543/: accessed May 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.