VAGILES-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: Dave Lucas Murder of a Floyd Co. Man
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 00:47:18 EDT

Recently, I received an e-mail (via the VAGILES mailing list) which had
indicated that you were under the impression that a Dave Lucas from Giles Co.
had murdered a Sowers man from Floyd Co. Well, I was "leafing through" David
E. Johnston's History of the Middle New River Settlements and Contiguous
Territory and came upon the author's discussion of that particular event (pg.
165). The one thing that stood out to me was the name of the victim which was
listed as a "John Poff" from Franklin Co. (actually from Floyd Co.) instead of
the Sowers man you've been led to believe. Although I've also seen another,
less detailed account of this on another Giles link (~a letter from a Lybrook
woman to her brother, then residing in Michigan), the one by Johnston was
written circa 1905 by a person who interviewed those (then living) who had
personal knowledge of the trial and so to me, it would tend to be quite
reliable. In any event, here's several excerpts from pages 163 and 165,
respectively, of this book:

There came into the County of Giles, at quite an early date, a family by the
name of Lucas, who became very notorious on account f their crimes. There
were other families of Lucas' in the New River Valley, and some in the county
of Giles, who were people of standing and repute, and in no wise related to
this criminal gang generally known as the Randall Lucas Tribe. Jeremiah
Lucas, son of Randall on May 28, 1814, was hanged in the public square of
Pearisburg for the murder of Julius Walker, committed on the 9th day of the
April, preceding. Walker was a solder of the War of 1812, and during his
absence, Lucas became intimate with his, Walker's, wife, and on his return,
Lucas determined to kill him, and in order to accomplish this, feigned
friendship for him, and invited him home with him, and on their way along the
New River Cliffs, not far from Eggleston Springs, Lucas struck Walker with a
club and continued to beat him over the head until he supposed him dead and
then hid him away, and went on to Walker's house and stayed that night, and as
it is not uncommon with a murderer he went back the next morning to visit the
spot where he had left his victim, and found him sitting upright against a
tree, unable, however, to move or get away. Walker begged Lucas to spare his
life and told him if he would not kill him that as soon as he was able to
leave the country he would go and never return, and would say nothing about
Lucas' assault upon him. Lucas was unrelenting-brutelike and clubbed the
unfortunate man to death. So soon as the murder was discovered, the murderer
fled, taking refuge in the great Butt or Salt Pond Mountain. There was snow
on the ground at the time and a posse of citizens pursued Lucas and finally
ran him down and captured him. His captor was John Marrs, who died only a few
years ago in Fayette County, West Virginia. Lucas was promptly indicted in
the month following his capture, quickly tried, convicted and sentenced to be
hanged on the 28th of the May following. The names of the jurors who tried
Lucas were: Joseph Canterbury, John Eaton, Joseph Hare, John Chapman, Isaac
McKinsey, Philip Peters, Edward Hale, Isaac French, Thomas Clark, James Emmons
William Tracey and John (name illegible). William Chapman, deputy of John
Chapman, sheriff of the County, carried the sentence into execution." The
author goes on to say that, "After the sentence and while awaiting execution
the jailor of the county George Johnston, had confined his prisoner in what
they call the dungeon, and giving him food on one occasion, Lucas, who was a
physical giant, struck Johnston over the head with his handcuffs, felling him
to the floor, then sprang out and started on a run to escape" and then goes on
to say how Johnston shot him in the leg and brought him back.

As for the murder you had inquired about, the author included the following
info in his book: Dave Lucas, another son of Randall's, was more than once in
the Virginia penitentiary for larceny and other crimes, and finally, in 1841,
he murdered John Poff, of Franklin County, Virginia, and being suspected of
the murder, he ran away into Botetourt County, where he was arrested and
brought back, indicted on the 13th day of May, 1842, was tried by a jury
composed of Robert Farris, Robert Caldwell, Christian Simmonds, Oliver C.
Peters, Tobias Miller, Edward Nelson, Reuben Hughes, St. Clair French, Samuel
Thompson, Joseph Fanning, Charles Miller and Hiram Pauley, who found him
guilty of murder on the 16th day of the same month and was sentenced to be
hanged. The sentence was carried into execution June 24, 1842, by Absalom
Fry, deputy for John Peck, Sheriff of the County. Johnston goes on to say that
a Thomas Berry Farley (1795 - 1903; yes, 1903) "was the principal witness
against Lucas, and upon his testimony he was convicted. The other reference to
this story (apparently spread through the community or local papers) indicated
that this Lucas had happened upon a young man from Floyd Co. who was on his
way back from the Kanawha Valley (where he found work?). Lucas was apparently
looking suspiciously and wantonly at some of the personal items stored on the
man's wagon that he was delivering back to his home in Floyd Co. and was also
observed following him out of town. The man's body was apparently found a
short time later, simultaneous to Lucas' brandishing an item Mr. Berry knew
had belonged to the Floyd Co. man. Apparently, the "old feigning friendship"
routine was pulled again as a ruse to get close to the victim.

Finally, Johnson relates that "John Lucas, a third son of Randall Lucas also
killed a man and was tried for his life; the jury however found him guilty of
murder in the second degree and fixed his punishment in the penitentiary at
nine years". No mention was made, however, of either this victim's identity
or time of death.

So, there you have it, or at least a good portion of the information
documented about the so-called "Randall Lucas tribe". Hope this info helps.

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