Towanda Masonic Butler County Kansas

Butler County, Kansas

Murder at Douglass

F. C. Wise Jr. Kill Birney Dunn with A Rifle – Liquor Causes A Terrible Tragedy

Birney Dunn, a young man living in Douglass was shot and almost instantly killed yesterday evening by F. C. Wise Jr. The tragedy happened at 5:15 o’clock. The affair occurred in front of Wise’s house about a mile south of town.

A telephone message from Douglass this morning gave the facts as follows: A party of young men from Douglass, Birney Dunn, his brother Frank, George Ralston, Charles Renfro and others were camping out at Dunn’s mill, a popular picnic ground a short distance south of the town. There were other parties from various places camped there also. Among others Mr. Wise, his mother and other relatives and some of their friends went to the grove to spend the day. The crowd of boys mentioned before had been drinking and were intoxicated. Wise had also been drinking. As Wise approached the grove he was met on the bridge near the mill by the crowd of boys and they had an altercation in which blows were exchanged by Wise and the two Dunn boys. After this they met again in the grove and fought. Wise left the place and went home. An hour or so later when Dunn was driving to town he passed Wise’s home and in front of the house he met Wise. They had an altercation and Dunn was shot. The only eye witness to the affair was a young man named Pierce who lives near Providence, a few miles south and west from the place where the affair occurred. It is said that the stated that Wise grabbed the bridles of Dunn’s teams and stopped them, that he cursed Dunn and ended firing at him several times with a rifle. Dunn was still in the buggy and the team ran away. After going about 200 yards he fell out of the buggy and the team ran on into town.

E. B. Pratt of Douglass who was one of the first to arrive upon the scene of the tragedy, was in El Dorado today. He was within fifty rods of where it occurred and the runaway team passed him before Dunn’s body fell out of the buggy. He did not hear any shots fired.

A traveling man by the name of Fergus, from Chicago, was riding a wheel on his way to the mill and was several hundred yards away when the affair occurred. Dunn was still in the buggy when it passed him and just as he alighted from his wheel to let the runaway pass he says he was struck in the side by a spent tail but it had lost its force and he was uninjured.

Ethan Russell, who was on his way to Douglass from the mill, stopped at Wise’s house a short time before the affair happened, to get Ed Pratt who was to accompany him to town. They were the first persons to reach the injured man. He was lying in the middle of the road, face downward in the dust. He was then unconscious and was bleeding badly. They went to town after a physician but Dunn was dead before the doctor arrived.

Jacob Washburn was sworn in as coroner and an autopsy was held by Dr. McCluggage and Dr. Hamilton. They found that the ball had entered his body about two inches above and to the left of the left nipple, passed through the fourth rib, through the left lung and cut through the aorta, the large vessel which carries the whole heart supply, lodging between the third and fourth ribs on the right side. He lived only about twenty minutes.

Young Pierce and Fergus both say that several shots were fired and this is substantiated by the fact that three bullet holes were found in the buggy top.

After the shooting Wise went into his house and remained there until he was arrested, several hours later by Joe Couch and R. D. Blackwell who brought him to El Dorado.

A reporter for the TIMES was admitted this morning to the cell in which Wise is confined. Mrs. Wise, mother of the prisoner, was with him and they occupied chairs near the door of the jail. When asked about the affair he said that he did not wish to make any statement in regard to the matter, that he had not recovered from the excitement of the affair, and that his mind was not clear as to the happenings. He said he did not remember how many times he shot but that he did not do so until after Dunn had said he would kill him and that he thought he meant it. He said that Dunn had a neckyoke with him and that he started to get out of the buggy before he shot.

Mrs. Wise was overcome with emotion and weeping bitterly. She held her son’s hand and stroked it affectionately. He tried to console her and put his around her tenderly as he told her not to cry. But tears came to his own eyes and it was all he could do to keep from breaking down as he said, “Poor mother, it is all she can bear.” “Oh, it is terrible that this should happened.” Said Mrs. Wise. “We have always tried to raise our boys right and this is the first real trouble they have ever gotten into. Those other boys have been after Clarence for a long while thought and I have thought for some time that they would get him into trouble if they could. They would have killed him at the grove, I believe, had it not been for me. After they fought on the bridge Clarence came down into the grove and they pulled him off his hors. Birney Dunn struck him and the Dunn boys and Charley Renfro got him down. I am just sure would have killed my boy then if I had not ran to where they were fighting. Charley Renfro went to the tent and got a hatchet. He came back and said, “Here let me fix him.” Then there was another man in the crowd, a little fellow and I saw him with a gun in his hand. He had it right down near Clarence’s head and oh, I was so afraid he was going to shoot him. I just threw myself down over Clarence and if he had shot the bullet would have had to pass through my body. I think all the boys were under the influence of liquor. I wasn’t there when the shooting occurred but I know my boy wouldn’t have killed him unless he thought he was going to be killed himself. We have heard that Dunn said he was going to kill Clarence and that he said that just before he came to the place where the tragedy happened but we haven’t found out yet to whom he said it. Clarence had just come out of the house when Dunn drove up. He was going over to the other farm which is about a mile from where he lives and happened to have the rifle with him.

The rifle with which the killing was done is a Winchester repeater, 22 caliber and model 78. It will shoot either longs or shorts but was loaded with the smaller size yesterday. It is in the protection of Sheriff Turner.

Prior to this occurrence the young men had been considered to be friends, in the ordinary sense of the word. They had both borne good reputations, Dunn was the son of John Dunn who came to Douglass in an early day and was an extensive farmer and miller. He died several years ago. Young Dunn was married and had one child. Wise is also married and has two children. He is a son of F. C. Wise who was in business at Douglass several years ago. The men are about 26 years of age.

Dunn’s funeral occurred at 5:00 o’clock this afternoon and he was buried in the Douglass Cemetery. (Walnut Valley Times, August 22, 1902)