By Jessica Gorman
This is one of those stories I stumbled across while working on something else. It caught my attention because of the two men involved and I had to know more. So far, I’m disappointed because the sources seem to have been tight-lipped about the details. Sometimes, a lot of the time, that’s how it works with historical research. We find part of the story, but we’re left with so many questions.
One of the men involved was John T. Watkins. Born in Minden on 15 January 1854, he was the oldest child of Judge John D. Watkins and Mahala Flora Morrow. He grew up in Minden, attended Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee, and then returned to Minden where he studied law in his father’s office and married Elizabeth Murrell in 1879. In 1892, John T. Watkins became District Judge.
The other man was Sumpter D. Spann. He was born 20 September 1843 in Edgefield County, South Carolina where he lived until after the Civil War. In 1864, he was principal of the Edgefield Male Academy. Within a few years, he had moved to Minden and married Mary Elizabeth Murrell, sister of Elizabeth Murrell Watkins. S. D. Spann served as clerk of the district court and later, in the 1870s, was elected Clerk of Court for Webster Parish. In 1879, he was nominated for sheriff. Just as he had been a principal in Edgefield, he continued his career as an educator and, over the years, served as principal at a number of schools including the Minden Male Academy, Bellevue Academy, Claiborne College at Homer, Haughton High School, and Benton High School.
In December 1893, an incident occurred involving Judge Watkins and Professor Spann. Just what led to the incident remains a mystery. So far, I’ve only found a vague reference to a family matter. Newspapers reported that trouble had been brewing between the two for some time, but that they had “learned none of the particulars.” Whatever the problem was, two days before Christmas, guns were drawn and shots were fired. Neither man was injured.
The papers were quiet on the matter until a few months later. In March 1894, Judge Watkins was indicted by the grand jury on two charges: shooting with intent to kill and carrying concealed weapons. As he was district judge, and obviously couldn’t preside over his own trial, Judge S.L. Taylor was brought in from Shreveport. District Attorney A.J. Murff called for District Attorney John R. Land to serve in his place as prosecutor. Ultimately, Judge Watkins plead guilty to the reduced charge of assault with a dangerous weapon and the original charge of carrying concealed weapons resulting in fines totally $75.00. Professor Spann only faced a concealed weapons charge. The implication seems to be that Judge Watkins was the aggressor. He asked that the case against Professor Spann not be pursued.
As serious as the disagreement must have been, there seems to have been some sort of resolution between the two. Whether sugar-coating the situation or not, the Daily Caucasian of Shreveport reported, “It is pleasing to say that Judge Watkins and Prof. Spann are on the most amicable terms, and both these gentleman are held in great esteem by all citizens favored with their acquaintance.” At least professionally, life seems to have gone on as though nothing happened.
In the fall of that year, Judge Watkins made his first run for Congress, a seat that he would later fill from 1905 to 1921. Professor Spann continued to serve as an educator and once again led the Minden Male Academy before his death in 1899.
(Jessica Gorman is Executive Director of the Dorcheat Historical Association Museum, Webster Parish Historian, President of the Minden Cemetery Association, and an avid genealogist.)