William "Wild Bill" Longley - Giddings, TX - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

A horizontal unmarked pink stone slab and a Texas Historical marker mark the gravesite.

A notorious gunman of the 1870's, Longley first murder occurred when he was just 16 and the next eleven years he killed some three dozen more people. Like many of the old west killers, the only gunfighter with a gun in most of his gunfights was reported to be only Longley.

He was born Austin County, Texas he ended life on a gallows not far distant in Lee County, hanged for the 1875 shotgun murder of his boyhood friend Wilson Anderson. There are many myths and legends about both his life and his death. He was know to repeated bragged about his killings, perhaps to acquire the same degree of fame as a killer as John Wesley Hardin.

In death the myth was that he really wasn't hung and that there was no body in his grave. When the remains at the grave were tested for DNA, it was proven that it was indeed Longely. For more information Longely check the source links below.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

The Texas Historical marker reads:

Texas outlaw Bill Longley was from a respectable family, but his hot temper, his fondness for liquor, and unsettled conditions during Reconstruction led him to become one of the most daring gunslingers of his day. He was said to have killed 32 persons before his capture in 1877. Tried for a Lee County murder, he was hanged in Giddings in 1878. Before Longley died, he repented and urged others to avoid his example. His grave was once outside the cemetery bounds.

Description: See Detailed Description above Date of birth: 10/06/1851 Date of death: 10/11/1878 Area of notoriety: Crime Marker Type: Plaque Setting: Outdoor Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link] Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   11/25/2016 WalksfarTX visited it