John Cowlett

Death by Force

On February 26, 1894, in Livingston, Alabama, Deputy Sheriff John Cowlett was fatally shot by a 14-year-old boy during an attempt to seize a mortgaged cow belonging to the boy's mother. The mother, resisting the seizure, instructed her son to shoot Deputy Cowlett if he proceeded with taking the cow. As the deputy placed a rope around the animal's neck, the boy fired, resulting in the deputy's death.

The incident incited a mob of local citizens who, in a swift act of vigilante justice, l ...Read More

Deputy Sheriff John Cowlett