William Cody Butler County Kansas Genealogy Trails

CONSTABLE TOM CODY

In a row in a railroad camp near Beaumont on Tuesday afternoon Dave Hensey, a foreman, shot one of the hands through the body, and then left for Beaumont. While in the contractors office trying to get a settlement, Constable Tom Cody came in with a warrant for his arrest. Hensey put his hand in his coat pocket, and fired three times in rapid succession. Each ball took effect in Cody's body, and he fell dead. Hensey made his escape in the approaching darkness, and has not yet been apprehended, although officers and citizens have been scouring the country since the tragedy. Hensey is desperate and declared before he left Beaumont that he would not be taken alive. It is thought that if Hensey resists arrest he will be shot down and if he is captured he will be lynched. Startling news may be expected at any moment. (El Dorado Democrat, Thursday, June 4, 1885)