| Notes for EMMA JANITICA CAMP: This is transcribed from a news paper article - MURDER ON THE CUFF - (it would have been written about 1949) "Two women and child slain in Palo Pinto Case - 12. 12ÉUnsolved Murders by C. L. Duglas." "It was in the dark hours before dawn-some where near 4 o'clock - when the physician was aroused by an urgent knocking on his door. Dr. J.T. Spratt, who had practiced for a dozen years in the bust ling mining town of Mingus, was accustomed to calls at any hour; and on that morning - Feb. 3,1917 - he left his bed, slipped into his clothes, and prepared to set forth on another routine call.But this was to be no case of simple fever, sudden colic, or blessed eventing. The good doctor was heading for one of the bloodiest jobs in his experience. At the door he found Les Bearden a laborer at the coal chute which serviced Texas and Pacific locomotives, about 300 yards away, and Bearden was excited. "Come quick, doctor!" The St Clair home, little more than a stone's throw to the north of the T&P main line on the east approach to Mingus, was about two blacks from the doctor's own cottage. The physician trailing the almost incoherent Bearden, reached the three-room box house within minutes. The bedroom of the sparsely furnished home presented a scene of stark horror On the bed lay the wife of the coal chute laborer,George St Clair, her head and face beaten to a pulp. One glance was enough to tell the doctor that Mrs. St Clair, an expectant mother, was beyond help Beside Mrs. St Clair lay her mother,elderly and gray-haired Mrs. Wilkins. There was an ugly wound behind her right ear. She, too, was beyond any help that Dr.Spratt could give her. A little girl - the 2-year old daughterof the St Clairs - completed the picture of horror. Her face was so terribly bashed in that one eye was gone, but was still alive. Leaning against one wall, his face buried in his arms was George St. Clair, he was sobbing. The doctor soon discovered the murder weapon - a two-foot pinch bar, first cousin to a crow bar, such as those used by railroad section hands. It had claws on one end. Dr. Spratt reported the crime to GabAbernathy, the sheriff of Palo Pinto County, and rushed thelittle girl to the Baylor Hospital in Dallas, A week later the child died, making the Mingus attack a triple murder. Sheriff Abernathy lost no time in traveling the 20-odd miles from PaloPinto, the county seat to the north. His investigation brought out the following: That St Clair had left his work at the coalchute and made two trips home during the night. One at 11 p.m.to get his lunch, and another shortly after 3 a.m. when he told fellow workers he thought he smelled "pine burning" and that he'd better go and look at his house. He returned to the chute from the latter trip to report the tragedy and send Bearden for the doctor. The pinch bar failed to provide any fingerprints,but the sheriff detained George St Clair as a sort of material witness for a week or two. A grand jury was called into session,but the investigation came to naught. Gib Abernathy and George Metcalf, who was a member of the grand jury, was recalling the case a short time ago at the Palo Pinto County Courthouse. "There was nothing we could go on" they agreed, "no formal action was ever taken. George St Clair left the Mingus community and settled on the South Coast where according to Dr. Spratt, he died about three months ago. Dr. Spratt, who can recall when there were 19 doctors within a six-mile radius of Mingus, now has an exclusive practice in the community, to which he has given 45 years of service. The Palo Pinto County town on the T&Pisn't the busy and tumultuous place it was before coal operations ceased and the miners left in the early '20's, but the St Clair tragedy of 32 years ago still is a subject for talk and speculation. A triple murder, for which the law has never collected a penalty, the case - now-appears to be one which might as well be erased from the records. NOTE: This actually happen Fed 3,1916, not 1917. The death record in Dallas County for Katy St Clair shows that she died 26 Feb 1916. Also, the mother of Emma was Samanthia Phillips Camp. Mrs. Wilkins was not the mother of Emma. George Washington St Clair died Fed 17,1949in Karnes City, Texas at the age of 71 years. (Michelle Jahn)I am a descendant of the Mrs. Wilkins in the article. Alisa Wilkins was 61 years old at the time of the murder. She traveled throughout the Palo Pinto and Erath area sewing for families and was at the St Clair house to sew for Mrs. St Clair and the little girl. According to family history, Alisa Wilkins daughter, Molly, was ill at the time and was not told of hermother's death. She died the same day the bodies were found andthe family held a duel funeral. Grave stone for Mary K. Wilkins Brookman states she died on Feb 6,1916. The families moved to Galveston shortly after the murders. (John Stevens) My G-.Grandfather George W. St Clair told his sister that Mrs.Wilkins feared for her life because one of her relatives was trying to kill her. And that she had the proof, an empty poison bottle that he used. He had already killed someone else in the family. Also at the murder scene there was a footprint at the window and a cast was made of it. But nothing came of the print. After the murder the relative that was suspect was never seen again. George W. first moved to Parker County before moving to south Texas. He then feared for his life because his wife's family members thought he killed her. |