A Story Retold
Franklin County Shootout, Saturday, June 10, 1874
About 10:00 A.M.
By Larry A. Hamblen, Coronado California
One of my earliest memories (in the early 1950s) was
a family story told about my great-grandfather, Thomas M.
Hamblen, being shot in the hand by the Jesse James/Cole
Younger Gang in Franklin County, Arkansas. This story had
been handed down to us as oral history, but I always kind of
doubted its authenticity.
There was, however, a clipping from an Ozark
Arkansas newspaper that gave credence to this family handme-down story. It seems a history teacher in Ozark High
School, by the name of Jimmy Owens submitted an article to
The Ozark Spectator (perhaps the Democrat?) and the
article was published about this very shootout. My parents,
Jesse Earl and Frankie (Terry) Hamblen, were in possession
of that clipping at one time, and some of my siblings
remember reading the clipping, but I never read it. Sadly, the
clipping was misplaced before I became interested in the
My Great-Grandfather
family’s past.
Thomas M. Hamblen
That all changed for me, however, in the 1980s and I
Sep 20, 1850—Dec 2, 1884
decided to research and write about my Hamblen past. While
researching and writing my family history, I decided to chase down the story and include it in
our history. It was such a colorful story and even if I could not prove it happened, I would
include it anyway as oral history. I did visit the Ozark Spectator back in the 1980s, but they were
unable to locate it. It seems that some of their old copies had been burned or lost accidentally.
Then on a visit to Ozark in August of 1988, I visited with Morgan Jones. His name had
been given to me by the then President of the Franklin County Historical Society, Norman
Powell. Morgan was 90 years old, but his mind was very keen. I asked him if he knew anything
about the Hamblens and the shootout with the outlaws. It was then that I learned that he was the
nephew of Frank Hamblen's wife, Mary Morris, daughter of Wesley Green Morris and Martha
(Baker) Morris. I got excited because I was a great-great nephew of his Uncle Frank!
Morgan and I drove out to the location where the shootout took place. He described in
detail how the events unfolded. I
published the story as oral history in my
family history (Our Hamblen Heritage),
which can be found at the Ozark Library.
Later I received proof of the shootout
when I found a reference on the internet
to an article in the Arkansas Gazette, and
sent off to the Arkansas State Archives
for a copy. The Gazette had copied and
printed the story from the Clarksville
Hamblen Home on Old Wire Road
Purchased in 1867 by Pleasant Walker Hamblen
Enterprise (Johnson County). Here’s the
story with a mix of oral history and the
article from the Clarksville newspaper . . .
Early on Saturday morning, June
10, 1874, a group of riders stopped at the Hamblen
home, built prior to the Civil War, and served as a
stage stop and a watering hole at Marble Hill, on the
Old Wire Road. Pleasant W. Hamblen, my great-great
grandfather, was the owner, and lived there along with
his wife, Lucinda (Ransom) Hamblen and family.
Lucinda cooked breakfast for these travelers, and then
the men continued east toward Johnson County.
After these traveling men left the Hamblen
place, a posse from Missouri rode up, but these men
were too exhausted to continue their pursuit of the men
who had eaten breakfast at the Hamblen place. The
Clarksville Enterprise stated that these travelers were
horse thieves, but did not identify them as the
James/Younger Gang. However, the family oral
histories of the Hamblens, Powells, Kirbys, Whites and
others all hold that the Missouri posse was chasing the
My Great-Great Uncle
Jesse James/Cole Younger Gang.
Wm. Franklin “Frank” Hamblen
Six local residents of the Marble Hill area took
Sep 13, 1853—Dec 6, 1915
up the pursuit: Thomas Hamblen and his brother, Frank
Hamblen, Hulbert “Hub” Sadler, two Hill brothers and a man named Richards.
Thomas Hamblen was 24 years old. His brother was 21 years old. They were sons of
Pleasant Walker Hamblen. Hub Sadler was the son of Dr. Grimalda C. Sadler of Cass, Arkansas,
according to Norman Powell, Franklin County historian. Later Hub would be elected to one term
as Franklin County Sheriff.
The “Hamblen posse” overtook the outlaws at about 10:00 that morning as they
approached the Narrows on Horsehead Creek. This young posse demanded that the outlaws
surrender. Joe Bond of Jethro, and great grandson of Thomas M. Hamblen, recalls our
grandfather, Wm. M. Hamblen, telling him that Jesse James immediately yelled to his gang,
“Every man to a tree!” and the outlaws answered with a volley of fire. There was an exchange
of fire that included between fifty and sixty shots.
In that exchange, Frank Hamblen’s horse was shot out from under him, and Frank was
shot in the shoulder. There was great concern at the time over whether he would recover. My
great grandfather, Thomas Hamblen, was shot through the hand. This ended the shootout and the
“Hamblen posse” retreated. Two of the posse’s horses were killed, including Frank Hamblen’s
and one of the outlaw’s horses was killed as well.
The outlaws turned north towards the head of the Mulberry Creek (river). About dark,
twenty men started in pursuit of the outlaws but failed to overtake them. Presumably they were
headed toward the Alfred Younger farm. Local folklore has it that Alfred was the uncle of Cole
Younger and his brothers. Our family history holds that they hid out in a cave close to the
Younger farm. My grandfather, William M. Hamblen, showed the cave to my cousins, Joe, Max
and Bruce Bond.
Morgan Jones also told me that Frank James had settled in Paris, Texas, for a while after
the death of his brother, Jesse James, and after all charges were dropped against Frank. Frank
Hamblen was living not far away in Sherman, Texas, at that time. Frank Hamblen was a
salesman and made contact with Frank James in Paris. They evidently became friends, and Frank
James visited Frank Hamblen in Sherman and spent the night with Frank and Mary. Frank James
told Frank Hamblen that they could have killed them that day, but just wanted to slow them
down and discourage them from chasing after them.
Sources:
1. Family oral histories of several Franklin County families
2. The Clarksville Enterprise, June 17, 1874, as printed in the Arkansas Gazette, State Archives,
Little Rock, AR.
3. Conversation with Morgan Jones, Ozark, AR, 1987.