In the quiet summer of 1893, in the small town of McCrory, Arkansas, a dedicated man named John Rainey, a male, found his life tragically cut short. On the night of Friday, August 4th, Rainey, who had been deputized to assist in the capture of a wanted man, became a victim of the very lawlessness he sought to quell.
The series of events leading to Rainey's untimely demise began with a burglary at a store in the nearby community of Riverside. The suspect, a nineteen-year-old man named Will McLendon, described as a "hard character," fled the scene and was later spotted at the railroad station in McCrory. Woodruff County Sheriff Marshall Patterson, along with a deputy named McElwee and the newly sworn-in Special Deputy John Rainey, went to a house near the station to apprehend him.
As the lawmen confronted McLendon, the situation escalated dramatically. McLendon, armed with a pistol, fired at Sheriff Patterson, who was knocked to the ground but survived. In the ensuing chaos, as McLendon made his escape from the house, he fired again, this time striking John Rainey in the neck and killing him instantly. A frantic chase through the town ensued, with numerous shots fired at the fleeing suspect, but McLendon managed to disappear into the night.
The following morning, the determined Sheriff Patterson and a posse tracked McLendon down near Colona, walking along the railroad tracks. When confronted, McLendon once again drew his weapon, prompting the posse to fire, seriously wounding him. McLendon was taken into custody and transported to the jail in Newport for safekeeping, though not without incident, as angry crowds reportedly gathered at two separate locations, intent on delivering their own form of justice. Sheriff Patterson, however, successfully prevented any attempts at a lynching. A few days later, on or around August 7th, Will McLendon succumbed to his injuries while still in jail.
