National Bell Telephone Company launches the first commercial telephone service. The service connects Calis, Maine and St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, which are separated by the St. Croix River.

Brigadier General Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr. (July 1, 1877 – November 26, 1970) was an American general and the father of Benjamin O. Davis Jr. He was the first African-American general in the U.S. Army.

Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., was born in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 1877. His biographer Marvin Fletcher (author of America's First Black General, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., 1880-1970) has presented evidence of his birth records indicating that he was born in May 1880 and later lied about his age so that he could enlist in the army without the permission of his parents. It is the earlier date that appears on his grave at Arlington National Cemetery, however. He was a student at Howard University when—as a result of the start of the War with Spain—he entered the military service on July 13, 1898 as a temporary first lieutenant of the 8th United States Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered out on March 6, 1899, and on June 18, 1899, he enlisted as a private in Troop I, U.S. 9th Cavalry Regiment (one of the original Buffalo Soldier regiments), of the Regular Army. He then served as corporal and squadron sergeant major, and on February 2, 1901, he was commissioned a second lieutenant of Cavalry in the Regular Army.

He was promoted to first lieutenant on March 30, 1905; to captain on December 24, 1915; to major (temporary) on August 5, 1917; and to lieutenant colonel (temporary) on May 1, 1918. He reverted to his permanent rank of captain on October 14, 1919, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on July 1, 1920; to colonel on February 18, 1930; to brigadier general (temporary) on October 25, 1940. He was retired on July 31, 1941, and recalled to active duty with the rank of brigadier general the following day.

His first service as a commissioned officer of the Regular Army was in the Philippine Islands with the 9th Cavalry on the Island of Samar. In August 1901, he was assigned to duty with the 2nd Squadron, 10th Cavalry, and returned from the Philippines with that organization for service as Adjutant at Fort Washakie, Wyoming. In September 1905, he was made Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Wilberforce University, Ohio, remaining there until September 1909, when, after a brief tour of duty at Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont, he was detailed as Military Attache to Monrovia, Liberia, until January 1912.

He then was assigned to duty with the 9th Cavalry at Fort D.A. Russell (predecessor of Fort Francis E. Warren), Wyoming, and at Douglas, Arizona. He remained with his regiment on border patrol duty until February 1915, when he again was assigned to duty as Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Wilberforce University, Ohio. He remained there until the summer of 1917, when he went to the Philippines for duty as Supply Officer of the 9th Cavalry at Camp Stotsenburg. He returned to the United States in July 1920, and was assigned to duty as Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, where he served until July 1924, when he became Instructor of the 372d Infantry, Ohio National Guard, stationed at Cleveland, Ohio.

In July 1929 he returned to Wilberforce University as Professor Military Science and Tactics serving until late 1930 when he was detailed on special duty with the U.S. Department of State in connection with affairs relating to the Republic of Liberia.

In late 1931 he was assigned again to serve as Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Tuskegee, Alabama, where he remained until August 1937 when he was transferred to Wilberforce University.

During the summers of 1930 to 1933, he was placed on detached service for duty with the Pilgrimage of War Mothers and Widows, making frequent trips to Europe on behalf of that organization. For his work on this assignment he received letters of commendation from the Secretary of War and from the Quartermaster General.

In August 1937 he was transferred from Tuskegee Institute to Wilberforce University. After a year at that institution, he was assigned as instructor and Commanding Officer of the 369th Infantry, New York National Guard. This organization was later changed to the 369th Coast Artillery (Anti-aircraft) Regiment. In January 1941 he was ordered to Fort Riley, Kansas, for duty as a brigade commander with the 2d Cavalry Division. The following June, he was assigned to Washington, D.C., for duty as Assistant to the Inspector General.

He was assigned to the European Theater of Operations in September 1942 on special duty as Advisor on Negro Problems, (thanks in small part, to the intervention of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt) and upon completion of this special duty he returned to the United States and resumed his duties in the Inspector General's Department.

In November 1944, he became Special Assistant to the Commanding General, Communications Zone, European Theater of Operations, stationed in Paris, France, and in November 1945 was granted a period of detached service for the purposes of recuperation and rehabilitation. In January 1946 he again became Special Assistant to the Inspector General, Washington, D.C. He retired on 14 July 1948, as the senior Brigadier General on the 184 member Permanent list, and after having served fifty years. General Davis died on November 26, 1970. His remains are interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. His son, General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., (U.S. Air Force, Retired), is the fourth African American graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and the nation's second African American general officer being the first African American to obtain the rank of lieutenant (three-star) general in the United States Air Force.

General Davis' U.S. military decorations included the Bronze Star Medal and the Distinguished Service Medal. His DSM medal, awarded by General Order 10, dated 22 February 1945, stated that General Benjamin O. Davis was awarded the DSM "for exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility from June 1941 to November 1944." The War Department release issued about General Davis' DSM on February 11, 1945, included the following citation:

For exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility from June, 1941, to November, 1944, as an Inspector of troop units in the field, and as special War Department consultant on matters pertaining to Negro troops. The initiative, intelligence and sympathetic understanding displayed by him in conducting countless investigations concerning individual soldiers, troop units and other components of the War Department brought about a fair and equitable solution to many important problems which have since become the basis of far-reaching War Department policy. His wise advice and counsel have made a direct contribution to the maintenance of soldier morale and troop discipline and has been of material assistance to the War Department and to responsible commanders in the field of understanding personnel matters as they pertain to the individual soldier.

Additionally, General Davis was awarded an Honorary Degree of LL.D. and at Florida from Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia. His foreign awards and honors consisted of the Croix de guerre from France and the Grade of Commander of the Order of the Star of Africa from Liberia.

In 1874, the Philadelphia Zoo, the first zoological gardens in the U.S. opened to the public in Philadelphia, Penn. It was originally chartered by the Pennsylvania state legislature on March 21, 1859 as the Zoological Society of Philadelphia whose core purpose was to oversee "the purchase and collection of living wild and other animals" and "for the instruction and recreation of the people." Rumors of a civil war made it a difficult time for private undertakings, and delayed the opening. After much preparation at home and abroad, the Philadelphia Zoo opened on July 1, 1874 with several hundred native and exotic specimens on the grounds of Solitude, the last estate in the area to be owned by the Penn family.

Charley Ross, born Charles Brewster Ross in 1870, was the primary victim of the first kidnapping for ransom in America to receive widespread attention from the media. Charley Ross should not be confused with Charles Sherman Ross, a completely unrelated adult kidnapping/murder victim five decades later.

On July 1, 1874, Charley (then four years old) and his older brother Walter (aged six) were playing in the front yard of their family's home in Germantown, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A carriage pulled up, and they were approached by two men who offered them fireworks if the boys would take a ride with them. The boys agreed, and the four of them proceeded to a store in Philadelphia, where Walter was given 25 cents and asked to buy fireworks inside. Walter did so, but the carriage left without him. Charley Ross was never seen again.

Christian Ross, the boys' father, began receiving odd ransom demands from the apparent kidnappers. They arrived in the form of notes mailed from Philadelphia's main post office, all written in an odd hand and a coarse, semi-literate style with many simple words misspelled. The communications generally requested a ransom of $20,000, an enormous sum at the time. The notes cautioned against police intervention and threatened Charley's life if Christian did not cooperate. Christian owned a large house and was thought to be wealthy, but in actuality he was heavily in debt and could not afford such an amount. His debt was a result of the stock market crash of 1873. Seeing no other choice, Christian Ross went to the police. The kidnapping soon became national news. In addition to the heavy press coverage, some prominent Philadelphians enlisted the help of the famous Pinkerton detective agency, who had millions of flyers and posters printed with Charley's likeness. A popular song based on the crime was even composed by Dexter Smith and W. H. Brockway, entitled "Bring Back Our Darling". Several attempts were made to provide the kidnappers with ransom money as dictated in the notes, but in each case the kidnappers failed to appear. Eventually, communication stopped.

On a December night in the same year, the Long Island house belonging to Judge Charles Van Brunt was burglarized. Holmes Van Brunt, Charles' brother, lived next door, and gathered the members of his household, armed with shotguns to stop the intruders in the act. As they entered Charles' house, they saw two lanterns go out, and the resulting torrent of gunfire from Holmes and his men brought down both burglars where they stood. They were Bill Mosher and Joe Douglas, career criminals who had recently been released from jail. Mosher was dead on the spot. Douglas was mortally wounded, but managed to live a few more seconds and was able to communicate with Holmes. Everyone present was understandably shaken by the experience, and there is no clear consensus regarding exactly what Douglas said. Most agree that Douglas said that there was no point in lying (as he was about to die) so he admitted that he and Mosher abducted Charley. His further statements, if any, are more controversial. He either said that Charley was killed, or that Mosher knew where Charley was, possibly adding that he would be returned unharmed to the Rosses within a few days. In any case, he did not give any clues to Charley's location or other particulars of the crime, and died moments later. Charley's brother Walter was asked to look at the bodies of Mosher and Douglas and determine whether they were the men he remembered from the carriage ride. According to Walter, they were the same men who took the boys from their yard the previous summer. Mosher in particular was very identifiable as he had a distinctively malformed nose, which he described to police as a "monkey nose". For most, the issue of who the men in the carriage were was settled beyond reasonable doubt. But Charley was not returned, and the case was far from over.

A former Philadelphia policeman named William Westervelt, a known associate of Bill Mosher, was arrested and held in connection with the case. He was tried in 1875 for kidnapping. Though Westervelt was a friend and perhaps a confidant of Mosher (while in prison awaiting trial he had told Christian Ross that Charley had been alive at the time of Mosher's death), there was virtually no evidence to tie him to the crime itself. Walter, for one, insisted that Westervelt was not one of the men in the carriage that took them away. Westervelt, perhaps inevitably, was found to be innocent of the kidnapping. However, he was found guilty of a lesser conspiracy charge and served six years in prison. He always maintained his own innocence and swore that he did not know where Charley was.

Two years after the kidnapping, Christian Ross published a book on the case, entitled The Father’s Story of Charley Ross, the Kidnapped Child. The Ross family continued to search for Charley for half a century or more, following leads and interviewing thousands of boys, teenagers, and eventually grown men who claimed to have been Charley. An estimate of the expenses incurred by the Rosses during the decades-long search amounts to more than three times what the original ransom would have been. The case, and in particular the fates of Mosher, Douglas, and Westervelt, served as a deterrent to other potential ransom kidnappers: it would be a quarter of a century before another high-profile ransom kidnapping case emerged with Eddie Cudahy in 1900. The fate of Charley Ross remains unknown. A major missing persons database is named after him.

Following the Civil War, young men began to come home to Texas. If a young man could have his druthers it might have been to have no Dixon, Lee, Peacock, or Boren blood in his veins. Before the Great War, they were all thick as molasses, good friends and neighbors, and even kin. According to legend, Richard and Henry Boren were even living in the Lee household, for a time. But later became “cussing and shooting kin”. Young hellions with Lee at the helm, took to robbing travelers, stealing cattle and horses, and hijacking the freight wagons. Their pastime and livelihood was derived by rowdy civil disobedience. With War clouds brewing, the Borens took the Union cause and the Lees, though they had no slaves, held the rebel cause. The happy families began to take separate sides.

In 1861 the Governor of Texas issued a call for three thousand troops to help the Confederacy. It was the end of August, cotton pickin’ time, but Bob Lee explained to his wife Melinda and 3 children, that a man had to go fight when called. He joined Captain Jackson E. McCoole’s recruits that very day and headed off to Sherman. The Ninth Texas Cavalry headed up by Colonel Sims, gladly accepted every able bodied man. Each man provided his own arms, clothing, and horse, with a monthly pay of $18.40.

They were off to Arkansas as Company C. On March 7, 1862 the 9th Texas Cavalry was at Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge) Arkansas assigned to McIntosh's Cavalry in Ben McCulloch's wing of the Confederate Army.

"The 9th Texas being the nearest to the battery were the first to reach the guns and Company K,
the center and guide company of the regiment, was the first to plant a flag on that battery."

Other men in the area, John Harrison Maddox, his brothers William & Francis, along with a cousin Jim Maddox and several of the Borens, had also joined the Ninth Texas.

The 9th fought at Pea Ridge, Wilson’s Creek, and Elkhorn Tavern, then headed across Mississippi at Corinth, Iuka, Vicksburg, Nashville, Murphreesboro, Missionary Ridge, and then the siege of Atlanta. Of their gallant fighting General Ross had said in his reports:

“The gallant bearing of the Ninth Texas is deserving of special commendation,
the charges made by them have never been and cannot be surpassed by a Cavalry of any nation.”

Four years of living in the saddle and sleeping in the open and now it was time to come home. But Bob Lee was hearing of troubling times in Texas and wondered what he and the others would find upon their return. Partisan feeling was growing worse instead of better and the Union League (an organization for the protection of Negroes and Union Sympathizers) was gaining strength. Federal Troops were being sent to Texas, because she had not and would not surrender so easy.

Bob Lee wrote to the Bonham News on July 26, 1868 explaining his side of the conflict in "Four Corners". He still felt strongly about his Confederate calling and saw the Union League as an omen of trouble. One night, while sick in bed, a posse surrounded his house and men dressed in the uniforms of US soldiers stormed his house and announced to Bob that he was under arrest, and their orders were to take him to Sherman. What were the charges, Bob demanded. He was to be tried for crimes he had committed during the War.

Bob recognized these men as Lewis Peacock, James Maddox, Bill Smith, Sam Bier, Hardy Dial, Doc Wilson, and Israel Boren. They demanded he dress and ride with them. Bob’s brother road along with him and the posse. They turned off the road and struck camp in the Choctaw Creek Bottoms. Bob pleaded all night that they take him onto Sherman, but after 36 hours, along with his gold watch, a twenty dollar gold coin and after signing a promissory note of $2000, his mule and bridle, he was released. This robbery in the Choctaw Bottoms was the start of the Lee-Peacock Feud.

It might have ended there if Bob and his brother had chosen to abide by the terms of the signed note, but Bob was mad, and felt the whole episode a great injustice.

Bob rode to Bonham and filed suit in the civil courts against the leaders of the posse. Bob, his brothers, and father, began to count men who would stand with them to remember the South’s cause and form an organization in opposition to the Union League and the sympathizers. Lee's men included Parson Martin Smith, the Dixon's, and many relatives. The wheels were set in motion for the beginning of a deadly feud.

Lewis Peacock began to count his men against this rebellion such as, James Vaught, James Maddox, Hugh Hudson, John Baldock, some of the Nances, and the Borens.

The last week of February was one of those beautiful days that seem to forecast an early spring, when Bob Lee rode into town. He was in the grocery store when Jim Maddox, the son of Nicholas Maddox, came face to face and the words began to fly. Fightin’ words about freedmen, carpetbaggers, and rebels, brought on the challenge to step outside and settle this argument. Suddenly Jim Maddox did an about face and brushed off his words with a laugh, Lee thinking it was all for naught, turned to walk away when a bullet grazed his ear and head and he fell to the ground. Maddox hurriedly put away his pistol and quickly ran. Out of every store, saloon, and residence, friends and supporters of Lee came to aid their stricken hero, vowing vengeance for the deed. Dr. W. H. Pierce, chief doctor of Pilot Grove, was among those who had run forward at the sound of the shots. His home was nearby and he immediately ordered the men to carry Lee to his house for aid. People waited outside for the doctor's report. Lee was not dead, but seriously wounded. Bob’s wife hurried to his side, to help nurse him back to health.

A report went to Austin to the Headquarters of the Fifth Military District under command of General John J. Reynolds, and the following entry was made in his ledger:

"Murder and Assaults with Intent to Kill", listed as criminals were James Maddox and John Vaught, listed as injured was Robert Lee. The charge: "Assault with intent to murder." The result: "Set aside by the Military".

A few days later, while Lee was still, convalescing in Dr. Pierce's home, a rider by the name of Hugh Hudson rode up to the Pierce home. The doctor stepped onto the stoop and was suddenly shot by Hugh Hudson. This time no one could save the doctor, for the bullet had taken a deadly course. Some time later Dr. W. C. Holmes, who had taken over Dr. Pierce's practice, went to Saltillo, to identify a man said to be Hudson. The description met that of Hudson.

Lee swore to avenge the Dr.’s death and word was soon spread out to the trails and thickets of Four Corners. Hatred spread from home to home. Scared people locked there doors, barred the windows, and pistols were kept ready for use.

In the year of 1868 Lige Clark, Billy Dixon, Dow Nance, Dan Sanders, Elijah Clark, and John Baldock were killed and many others wounded. Even Peacock suffered a wound at the hands of Lee's followers.

Early in the spring of 1868, Elijah Clark, a Peacock man, called on Hester Anne Dixon to invite her to a dance. She refused him. Elijah disappointed ran out of the house, leaving behind his gun on the table. He ran right into Billy Dixon, who was only 16 years old at the time. Elijah grabbed Billy's gun and shot him. Billy ran into the house, grabbed Elijah's gun that he had accidentally left on a table and shot Elijah leaving on his horse. In less than a month, Billy met his death. He was on the way to Jefferson with a load of cotton when about 20 miles from home the wagon broke down. His cousin, Charlie Dixon, was with him. They were repairing the wagon when suddenly a dozen men appeared (Peacock's men) and surrounded them. They told Billy to march ten paces with his hands up...five, six, seven...a single bullet split into the air and Billy slumped to the ground.

Lee's followers were not sitting on their laurels. A couple of Peacock's men forced two Lee women to feed them, and when only a few hundred yards from the house, with full stomachs, they were shot right out of their saddles. In mid-May a meeting was being held at the Nance farm. Messengers quickly reported the meeting to Bob Lee, in Wildcat Thicket. Lee and a posse made a raid on the horse lot, where the meeting was being held. In the fight three of Peacock's men were killed. Dow Nance, John Baldock and Dan Sanders all lost their life that day.

On August 27, 1868, General J. J. Reynolds issued his famous proclamation putting a price on Lee's head by offering a one thousand-dollar reward for "anyone who would deliver Lee to the Post Commander at Marshall or Austin.

The $1,000 reward for Bob Lee, dead or alive, was attracting bounty hunters from all over the country to "The Corners". Dressed as citizens of the area, three Kansas "Red Legs", were laying plans to kill Bob Lee for the reward. It was early spring 1869 and sitting in the Lee's kitchen, Dorinda Pierce and Melinda Lee were chatting about the day ahead at the Lee School were Dorinda taught, when suddenly the serenity was shattered by gun shots. They rushed down the road leading to Pilot Grove and found three dead men who were strangers to the women. The bodies of the three "Red Legs" laid there all day. Peacock's men were afraid to come and get the bodies for burial. Later the two women went back down the road and buried them.

Lee was on the defensive more than ever. He never slept at home, he spent most of his time in his hideout in the thickets, until one of his family made sure it was safe to emerge. Lee knew someone would be trying to collect that one thousand-dollar reward.

General J. J. Reynolds dispatched his blue boys, Fourth United States Cavalry, headed up by Lieutenant Charles A. Vernon to the troubled spot of Four Corners. The countryside resented the presence of the Yankees that they had fought so desperately for four years. General Reynolds report follows:

"Lee seems to be the most popular man in this section of the country, and I am sure that the citizens of that neighborhood would not only give him all the aid in their power, but will even help him with force of arms if necessary. I have strong hopes that Lieutenant Sands will eventually capture this man... He has at all times a portion of his command under a non-commissioned officer lying in the brush...and he has put Lee on the defensive".

On March 28, 1869, a military posse left from Sherman and came to McKinney. They were joined by Sheriff George Wilson and his deputies. This party of thirty men went to the home of Colonel William Fitzhugh, north of McKinney, about midnight looking for Bill Penn, Dow Witt, and companion named Hayes; but the three men were not there. Witt was located at another farm near by and killed in an ensuing gun battle. The next day a smaller posse again rode out to the home of Colonel Fitzhugh where they found Penn and Hayes. In the gun battle that ensued, Deputy William C. Hall of Collin County was mortally wounded and a soldier, James Johnson, was severely injured. Both Penn and Hayes escaped; but Hayes was later killed near Bonham by a posse on April 20.

Bob Lee dressed in a black suit, boots and black hat with plume, and all his side arms, decided to go to Mexico. On June 25, 1869, just a short distance from home, he was caught in a flash of Federal musket fire. Henry Boren had betrayed Bob and exposed his secret trail to Lee's hideout in Wildcat Thicket. Killed by Henry Boren and Captain Charles Campbell's, Sixth Cavalry, the deed was finally done. (Another account gives this date as May 24, 1869). Bob Lee's obituary reads, that he was killed on May 14, 1869.

Tough times in the Thickets continued for several years, Daniel Webster Lee, Bob's father was killed in 1877. This clipping from the Herald explains why Will Smith shot Daniel Lee:

Correspondence of the Herald
Bonham, Mar. 18, 1877

There was a shooting affray three and one half miles south of this place yesterday, in which Daniel Lee (The father of Bob Lee a noted desperado) received a dangerous, if not fatal wound, at the hand of William Smith. It is a bloody finale of a feud of some two or three years standing. Smith had Lee indicted for stealing some of his stock, and Lee was tried and acquitted at the present term of the district court, the same or probably the day before he was shot. It seems they left here together yesterday, in the company with three or four mutual friends, and at or near Henry Tyler's farm, one of Lee's sons, a youth some 13 or 15 years of age, and Smith had some words and they dismounted to fight, fisticuffs. While they were quarreling; old Uncle Daniel, he being some 40 to 50 yds. behind came up, and some words were passed between him and Smith, when the latter drew a revolver and fired two or three shots one of these taking affect in the side, ranging round and coming out on the opposite side near the point of the shoulder blade. The wounded man now lies in a very critical condition, at the residence of Thomas J. Gales' in the city, and Smith has not been captured. Lee's friends say he was unarmed, which puts Smith in an ugly situation, should he be captured.

Not all Borens held the Union cause, and many were mad that Henry had assisted the Federal Troops. As an aftermath to Lee's death, Bill Boren, a nephew of Henry's, rode up to his uncle's house the next morning. He called to his uncle to come out. Henry came out and was instantly killed by his nephew, who silently turned and rode away. "Death to a Traitor" was evidently the opinion of some of the Borens. Bill Boren had ridden with Quantrill's Raiders during his forays in Texas. After killing Henry, Bill began to ride with John Wesley Hardin. He returned to Montague county in the late 1870's and wrote a letter to his Uncle Dick Boren expressing his feeling's about the killing of Henry. Letter to Dick Boren.

After Lee's death in 1869, both the Lee and Peacock followers scattered to other parts of the state, but a few did stay. Lewis Peacock stayed in the "Four Corner's" area. Dick Johnson had gone out to West Texas, to avoid trouble. He had already lost his three half-brothers, Simp Dixon, Bob Dixon, and Charlie Dixon. Charlie was killed at Black Jack Grove, now Cumby, TX. Charlie and his father were headed to the lumber mills near Winnsboro for lumber when Peacock and his followers caught up with them and killed Charlie. His father brought his son's body home in an ox wagon and buried him. His father was heart broken, and soon died leaving behind 3 daughters. Peacock still seeking revenge sent them word that they were going to burn down their home and there would not be a rail left on their farm. They were so scared, they wrote to Dick Johnson out in West Texas to come home and protect them. He came in a hurry and news spread the Dick was back in Pilot Grove. When Peacock heard the news, he was in the drug store of Dr. Kurkendall in Pilot Grove. He remarked, "Some morning when Dick gets up and comes to the door to get wood to make a fire, I will be laying for him and will get him."

Joe Parker, another Lee follower, was still in the area. He and Dick were both vying for the honor of slaying Peacock. Around the first of July, 1871, one of them climbed an elm tree, just in sight of Peacock's home. Some say it was Dick in the tree, others say it was Joe. But the two were working in unison and with the same goal in mind. Early one morning Peacock came to the door to get wood to make a fire...and was slain in his own yard. Dick Johnson was never arrested, and he and his wife moved to Missouri, where the lived for many years. He was seen visiting in Fannin County in 1920 and was last heard to be living in Red River County, TX.

There are dozens of yarns and legends of the shooting of Bob Lee and the Feud with Lewis Peacock. However, very little is known of how it blew the Boren family apart. Bill's killing of Henry ignited a Boren-Boren feud. The family didn't want any interference by law officers and simply went to bushwhacking each other with a vengeance. Bill disappeared for several years, but was baited back and killed by Henry's son. Forgotten is that three Borens were ambushed nearby and buried in a wagon bed in the Dulaney Graveyard.

Finally in 1871 the four-year feud ended but it has remained the subject of conversation in the vicinity, and is still studied by historians.