Can you help me find out why my relative was murdered in 1878?

Question

It was in Carrol County, VA or Mt. Arey, North Carolina. Victim's name was William Jackson Harold and the perp was Jim Wolf. He was called by name out of his house and shot in his back yard while his family watched. He had 3-4 kids and a wife name 'Cal'. I just know they met much earlier and 'honest' Jack supposedly crossed this Wolf guy somehow. Civil War? Jack was a Confederate private. I don't know who under whom?

Answer 1

I've been searching on the Ancestry site and am not coming up with anything.

Do you have a birth date and/or birth location for William Jackson Harold?  That could help...

You may already know more than you'll be able to prove about the story of William's death, but it would be terrific to find historical records to prove it!

Surely such an event would have been written about in detail, in the local newspaper at the time.  Have you tried that angle?  (I found my father-in-law's ancestor's murder detailed in the local newspaper back in the same era, in Ohio - - it actually answered all the questions we had!)

Best of luck...

Answer 2

The only way you'll find that answer is with a visit to the library. You're going to have to pull newspaper accounts of the killing to read what was written.

Answer 3

This has been so long, most records are wiped clean. What you know is probably as much as you'll find.

You'll probably never know WHY he did it, just that he was found guilty of murdering him.

You can try searching for his gravesite in a confederate cemetery then working through to find his military record.

Answer 4

Pull your 'standard' records like census, etc and see where that leads you, as to locality.  There may be a historical society there, or also a county based email list.  Some of the records will be offline.. ie possible guardianship for the surviving children, or land records if ancestor had land.  The other most obvious is whether there was a trial or conviction, of any kind.

In research, you NEVER know what you might find.  I met/ helped a lady on one of my lists, whose ancestor was murdered by members of a locally known family "gang".  All the adult members of the family were killed by vigilantes, but 2 children survived.  When I googled the murder, I wound up finding what is called the "Black Sheep" list/ website, which requires a notorious ancestor.  On that list, I ran into a descendant from the murderer's family, living in Oregon.

My friend made contact with the surviving descendant, and the two were able to set aside old emotions, and together, shared info as to the events.

I tried finding the family in the 1870 census, but didn't find them quickly. If you know the children's names, it might be easier to locate them in the right county.