Another evangelist named Robinson was holding a meeting in the
courthouse. It was ‘Christmas time. About the end of the services
everybody began shooting guns around the streets. This was not intended to
disturb the religious worship as sometimes happened, but just celebrating.
Uncle Tom Pierson unloaded a Winchester. Doctor George F. Perry ran to the
front door of his drugstore, where Mr. Williams himself was working at the
time, on the north side toward the east end, and unloaded his six shooter.
He didn’t realize it was jumping back and he was shooting over his head
back into the store.
This may have been the same night Uncle Perry White and Uncle Tom and
Hudge Pierson and others slipped around with the intent of shooting old
Colonel Freeman’s lights out in his office. (See Perry White notes.)
That was somewhere in the ‘80s [1880's] and for a short time there
was local prohibition. Dr. Perry’s drugstore was selling prescription
whiskey. Kept it in a big barrel and filled the quarts, pints, and half
pints. That they had 5000 prescriptions already written out. More than the
population of the county.
(During this brief dry era I was told some of the saloons, though
closed, theoretically, still operated under cover. One Saturday night some
old fellows were said to be drinking in there, and a little mentally
confused when the boys drove a herd of donkeys through the front door and
on out the back, to the consternation of the old fellows. There used to be
many donkeys around, presumably from herds of Old Man Sol
Barron’s horse ranch.)
