This elegant tombstone in the Glenwood Cemetery (south sector) refers to a horrible crime that tool the life of Isaac Peacock as follows:
"Beneath this monument
repose the remains
of
ISAAC PEACOCK
Was born
in Kent County MD
Jan 2d., AD 1822,
and fell in the town
of Crockett Texas
by the hands of an
Assassin,
the 11th of March
AD 1853.
Blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord"
From Find-A-Grave: (
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"'The Weekly Telegraph (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 25, No. 1, Ed. 1, Wednesday, March 23, 1859.
Isaac Peacock died as a result of an incident with James Madison Hall. The Crockett Argus has the following concerning the killing of Peacock by Hall, in that town the other day: --
The material facts, and such as may be stated without prejudice to any one, are, that Mr. Isaac Peacock, an enterprising, industrious and much esteemed gentleman of this town, one who had long been on the most intimate and friendly terms with Maj. Hall, the proprietor and publisher of this paper, had inconsiderately interfered in a domestic matter, and in a manner to exasperate the feelings of that gentleman, already wrought up to a very high tension. The interference consisted in aiding a much beloved child to carry out an act of insubordination and to place herself in opposition to the wishes of her parent. We accord to the memory of Mr. Peacock the justice of believing that he did not think he was transgressing the bounds of friendship, and that he thought Maj. Hall unreasonable and prejudiced in his opposition to the marriage which he assisted in bringing about. This marriage had taken place in a clandestine manner, on the morning of Tuesday of last week. Immediately after supper that afternoon, Maj. Hall was standing, in conversation with another gentleman, on the gallery of Hall's hotel, when Mr. Peacock drew near, and, apparently under the impression that a remark had been addressed to him, began to participate. Maj. Hall applied some abusive epithet to him, and bade him begone. Mr. Peacock replied, not violently nor in denunciatory terms, but denying the right of any one to drive him away. A very few words, and an almost inappreciable short space of time sufficed to bring the parties into collision, in the course of which Mr. Peacock received the stab of which he died on Friday night succeeding.
We would "nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice;" but believing that no controversy can arise as to the material facts, so much may be said without prejudice to truth, or to the interests of any one. We cannot, therefore, expect them to accompany us into a full contemplation of the processes through which the mind of a gentleman of education, liberal fortune, enlarged views, and essentially philanthropic purposes, such as characterize Maj. Hall in a high degree, must have passed, before he could be induced to deal a fatal stab to one of his long tried and most intimate friends. Our intimate knowledge of the facts of the case, enables us to say in the most positive manner, that the act which caused Mr. Peacock's death, was not of a moment's premeditation. The instrument with which the fatal stab was inflicted was a pocket knife, the blade of which was about three inches long. Whether Maj. Hall had it in his hand at the commencement of the difficulty, as some suppose, or found time to draw it in the course of the brief struggle, is not known, and the darkness was such as not to enable those who stood nearest speak positively.
We have only further to say, for the information of Major Hall's numerous friends and acquaintances, that he is at present a fugitive, wandering, we know not where. We know enough of the character and disposition of the man, to satisfy us that he is as an unhappy as his most inveterate enemy could desire; and that, whatever may be the future course of events, the balance of his life will be one of continued scene of suffering.'"
Here is the Find-A-Grave page for Maj Hall, who relocated to and died in Liberty County TX, which makes no mention of this murder: (
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"ames Madison Hall came to Texas with his father when he was sixteen years old, and he settled on the Elkhart Creek in Houston County with his father Joshua James Hall in 1835. He served in the Mexican War of 1846, according to the records of Captain John L. Hall's Company of Houston County. James was a man of many talents and he had many different professions. In Houston County he served as a District Clerk, and a Deputy Tax Collector. He was a merchant, a miller, a farmer and a land surveyor. James Madison wrote a daily journal for the entire five year period of the Civil War. A copy of this Journal was made and presented to the Houston County Historical Library Collection by a great-nephew, Robert L. Hall. [It is also being transcribed online in connection with the sesquicentennial of the war between the states.] In this journal, the daily events of James are written with many of the names of the early settlers of Houston County. The high prices of goods are mentioned; for example, one ounce of quinine was made for $300.00. He writes that on December 31, 1863, they were ... "experiencing the coldest day of his twenty-eight years since he had been in Texas, that the Mill Pond had been frozen over." A ball was given at Hall's Bluff, January 20, 1865, for the price of $10.00 for the soldiers fighting in the war from Crockett. He writes, May 24, 1865 ... "General E.K. Smith surrendered to General Canley of Trans-Mississippi Department. The war is over, it is all over." James Madison Hall went to Liberty, Texas on family and personal business from Hall's Bluff. He lived there the last few years of his life. He was the first mayor of that city and he died there September 12, 1866. Submitted by Esther M. Biggers nee Hall, great-granddaughter of Joshua James Hall."