Lewis Peacock - Pilot Grove, TX
N 33° 26.272 W 096° 25.017
14S E 740131 N 3702813
Lewis Peacock's final resting place at the back of the Old Pilot Grove Cemetery is noted by a slab of concrete topped by a modern, granite grave marker that indicates that he was "shot and killed" at his home, back in 1871.
Waymark Code: WMYZ1G
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/13/2018
Views: 0
There is a 1966
Texas Historical Marker here in Pilot Grove that presents a teaser:
Founded in early 1850s. On Bonham-McKinney Stage Line. Called Lick Skillet; renamed, 1858, for J. P. Dumas' Ranch. Site of Lee-Peacock feud, 1865-1871, between ex-Confederate Capt. Bob Lee with his gold and Union supporter Lewis Peacock. Although Lee was killed in 1865, his followers carried on the fight until Peacock was shot.
Mr. Peacock was the "Peacock" in the Lee–Peacock Feud (see Website) that was fought in this area just after the Civil War. The feud was essentially a continuation of the Civil War, with native Texans loyal to the Confederacy resenting the imposition of Reconstruction. Bob Lee essentially became the leader for the natives, while Lewis Peacock ran the Union League, an organization devoted to protecting Union sympathizers and newly-freed blacks.
An attempt by Peacock and his men to extort Lee backfired, triggering the feud which resulted in the deaths of at least fifty men between 1867 and 1869. Things became so bad that Peacock called in US troops, whose authorities ignored an attempt in Pilot Grove on Lee's life by one of Peacock's men. Lee was injured, and while recuperating, his physician was murdered by Peacock's men. The violence escalated, and a bounty was placed on Lee's head as he hid out in Wildcat Thicket in this area. Lee was ultimately betrayed by one of his own men, and shot here on May 24, 1869. The betrayer was in turn murdered by his nephew, who was also one of Lee's men. While Lee's death decreased the level of violence, fighting continued, and some of Lee's men were run down and basically exterminated. One survivor, Dick Johnson, along with another man, Joe Parker, decided to take care of Peacock, once and for all. Laying in wait at Peacock's home, they gunned him down in 1871 as he gathered wood for his morning breakfast. Peacock's family were so frightened of being shot themselves that they left the body in the yard all day, but at this point, the feud was over.
The red, granite grave marker reads:
Lewis Peacock
1824-1871
Homesteaded near here 1858
Born in North Carolina
Married Emaline Benson in
Washington County Georgia 1846
Two children born of this marriage
Malinda Catherine and John Edgar
Agent and gunman for the
Freedman's Bureau
during Texas Reconstruction
Shot and killed at his home
3 miles southeast of here
as a result of his participation
in "Texas Reconstruction"
Buried here by
the Reverend Martin Gentry
Below the main stone, a small, gray granite marker provides dates:
Lewis Peacock
Apr. 23, 1829
June 14, 1871
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The Reverend Martin Gentry for a long time was the only one who knew where Peacock was buried. Contemporary accounts indicate that Peacock wasn't the most popular man in the area -- his reputation still suffers in the area in the present day -- and it was probably for a good reason that the reverend kept the burial site a secret, marked only with several heavy stakes. Gentry told a few family members, apparently, as his great-grandson eventually placed the small granite marker at the grave site. Then, Peacock's great-great-grandson placed the bigger marker, incorporating the previous one. The slab of concrete may be in place to protect Peacock from treasure seekers, as his grave has been dug up multiple times in the past by those who believe that Peacock was buried with a small fortune.