In the late winter of 1894, a Sumter County Deputy Sheriff, a male named John Cowlett, was killed in the line of duty. The fatal encounter unfolded on Monday, February 26, 1894, in the vicinity of Livingston, Alabama. Deputy Cowlett was tasked with serving a legal notice and repossessing a mortgaged cow from a local family.
Upon his arrival at the family's home, he was met with resistance.
The mother of a 14-year-old boy refused to surrender the animal and, according to reports, urged her son to prevent the deputy from taking their property. As Deputy Cowlett proceeded with the repossession, placing a rope around the cow's neck, the young boy followed his mother's alleged directive. He retrieved a handgun and fired at the deputy, inflicting a fatal wound.
The sound of the gunshot and the news of the lawman's death quickly spread, drawing an incensed crowd of local citizens to the scene. In an act of vigilante justice, the mob seized the 14-year-old boy. No formal arrest was made, and the suspect did not see a trial. Instead, the enraged crowd hanged the boy and further desecrated his body with a volley of bullets, leaving two dead in the wake of a dispute over a single cow.
