Ch13(3cc) Austin Law Ep 4(10) Tom Young Last Public Hanging 1906

              Emmett Shelton Sr. tells the sad story of an Early Westlake Cedar Chopper, Tom Young. (Bless his heart, Emmett calls him Jim by mistake. A search of local newspapers from the time, verify his name was Tom Young.)
             In 1906, Emmett's father's first (and worst) criminal case was the defense of a member of the Young Family from Westlake. Tom was charged with the brutal murder of a young girl who lived in his house in Florence where he was picking cotton. The family hired Emmett's father, John E., to represent Tom however, Tom was quickly found guilty.
             Emmett tells of the spectacle of Last Public Hanging in Texas (Georgetown, March 30, 1906) thru the eyes of this father, as friend and defense atty, as well as the eyes of two curious Austin boys who aspired to be lawyers. 
             Tom's family brought Tom home to Westlake, by wagon, for burial in the Young Family Cemetary, roughly 100 years ago.
 
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Stories told by Emmett Shelton / compiled and submitted by Cynthia Shelton.