to the fact. About thirty witnesses were sworn. For the state General Williams questioned the witnesses, and for the defense Mr. Rogers. There was a small arsnal of guns and the cartridges were removed but their click was at times frequent. Rogers' murderous gun is an ugly affair.
Lieutenant Hood, of the police force, testified as to his investigation of the murder of Wash Smith. "I found Smith lying near the door with a pistol in his hand. Found Rogers sitting on the ground in the stable. He asked for a sheriff; I told him that I would take him in charge; he gave me his revolver which was a six-shot Colt revolver. He also had another revolver. He gave me an alias capias for a prisoner, saying that he had a right to carry the pistol. Rogers was shot in the big toe."
Cross examination--Smith when dead had a good grip on his pistol, as if he had hold of it when he fell, (Rogers) told me that he was a deputy sheriff. The wound in Rogers' toe was apparent perpendicular.
Lieut. McIntyre of the city police, testified: Went to the stable when I heard of the murder. Saw Dr. Bosworth he said he was going to get liquor. Rogers spoke to Smith and threw out his hand (saluting) saying how are you and bowed. At that time Rogers had two jugs in his hand. Rogers stepped out a step when Smith said "Don't come on to me, Dave." Rogers dropped his jugs and both made for their pistols; Rogers shot first; Smith shot second, the pistol first catching in his pocket. Rogers ran towards Smith which both ran towards each other. I next saw Smith on all fours running toward the street and Rogers was following him, and Smith fell he never "ris" no more. They were only six or seven feet from each other while shooting. I think Rogers shot four times five shots were fired. When Rogers spoke and saluted it was in an angry way. It has been talked that bad blood had existed. After the shooting Rogers said I am shot. I went to Smith who tried to speak, he fixed his eyes on me and then died. A little blood was running down his neck.
Cross Examination--Smith was to stay with me at Bill Jones' on Wednesday night but he did not come. Thursday morning about ten o'clock I found Smith on Crozier Street, we then went to a restaurant and I did not see him again until Smith and Rogers met in the stable.
Rogers said "how are you Buddy" and Smith said, "how are you." Smith was called "Buddy" by many. Both went for their pistol about the same time.
After the pistols were drawn and a shot was fired and they ran together and had a scuffle. Rogers fired the first shot. While Smith was on all fours Rogers fired two shots. The witness was asked if he was ever indicted. Objected to. The court overruled. Answer: I was indicted in Union County for purjury and the prosecutor ran off. I was indicted in the Untted States court. The man who indicted me was fined $50 and I was let go. This caused applause in the hall. Dr. Bosworth--"I dressed Rogers' wound, he was shot nearly perpindicular through the great toe."
Joseph A. Jackson--"Live at High Point, N.C. Heard the first shot as I was passing. Saw the prisoner with a gun and the man who was killed acted as if he was shot. Saw Rogers fire the shot taking effect. After Smith began falling Rogers fired two shots. Smith when he fell had a pistol in his hand. Rogers seemed to be suffering a good deal of pain. When Smith fell his pistol went off. Just after the shooting a man came to me and told me that as I saw the murder I had better get out." This was objected to and objection sustained.
The witness then stated how a man came to him at the corner of Gay and Clinch street and offered to pay his fare to North Carolina if he would go home at once. He told District Attorney Mynatt of it who told him to stay.
On cross examination the witness told of having been to work on many railways and cited the initials of a score. He acted out the way Smith did after being shot and how he fell. He said that at first it looked as if Smith would fall on his face and then he fell backwards with his hands above him.
Gen. D.D. Anderson was put on the stand as to the fact of Smith and Rogers being nearly all of the while on one side or other of cases in Union County. The general knew more from hear say than fact. His testimony brought forth the fact that the attorney to a school being destroyed and Smith was charged with being the one that did it. Smith told Rogers that he did not like the talk as he did not destroy the chart. They began to quarrel and three other men stepped in making four against Smith who was alone.
There was a pushinq, knives were drawn as were pistols. Smith told them that if they would put down their guns that he would do the same and he would fiqht them all one at a time. Others interfered and the next day Rogers told me that he had a second revolver and if they had fought that he would have used the second revolver on Smith.
John Richrdson was called--"There is a bad state of feeling for eight years between Rogers and Smith. Saw a quarrel at Maynardville between Smith and Rogers and then saw a deputy sheriff take a pistol away from Rogers. Heard Rogers threatened Smith.
Cross examination--Never saw Smith with a pistol but once, that was about four months ago." The state, then rested and the defense announced that they would waive further examination, for in any event the grand jury would investigate the matter.
Squire Knabe fixed the bail of Rogers at $5,000 which was promptly given for his appearance at the September term of the county court.
On June 24, 1902, the Knoxville Sentinel published the following article under the heading: (Maynardville) "David Rogers Killed by Son of Man He Slew." Troy Smith has avenged the death of his father by killing David Rogers. Five years ago in Knoxville George W. Smith and David Rogers, middle-aged farmers who lived in the northern section of this county and ten miles from this place, met on Central Avenue in Knoxville at the Stewart & McCampbell stable and while discussing a business transaction about logs, they engaged in a row and Rogers shot Smith to death. He was arrested and tried three times in the Knox County criminal court with the result that he receive sentence of thirteen years at the first hearing; sixteen at the second, and at the last he was acquitted. At the time of this unfortunate affair Troy Smith was fifteen years old and the oldest child. He is said to have avowed then that he would kill Dave Rogers and avenge the death of his father. This morning he came to this town while court was in session, and walking up to Rogers in front of the Sallings house, said, "You killed my father." Then Smith shot Rogers through the heart with a pistol. He rushed to his horse standing near by and escaped and no one has pursued him. The town is in a turmoil of excitement. George W. Smith's death left a large family, and now Rogers leaves a large family.
The Knoxville Journal and Tribune on June 30, 1902, published the following under the headline: Smith Has Gone West.
A number of reports have been circulated in this section recently to the effect that Troy Smith, the young man who killed Squire David F. Rogers in the dining room of the Smith boarding house at Maynardville last Thursday at noon, had returned to his home, and that, although a true bill for murder had been reported against Smith by the grand jury of Union County, no effort has been made to effect his capture and arrest.
A gentleman in this city, who has a personal interest in the case, denies the truth of these reports, and states that he has information to the effect that Troy Smith has gone west. In a letter received by this gentleman Saturday from friends at LaFollette, Tenn., it is stated that Troy Smith arrived at LaFollette Thuesday night following the killing and left the horse he had ridden from Maynardville with a well known man living near LaFollette. He also left the pistol with which he had shot Squire Rogers, and then boarded a train to make connections with the Jellico train en route to Louisville.
The party who wrote the letter seemed to think that Smith had gone to Louisville and then to points further west, intending to make good his escape. This gentleman believes that the reports to the effect that Smith has returned home are untrue and were started with the intention of paving the way for his return. He thinks that Smith will be arrested as soon as he can be located.
Smith, it will be remembered, shot and killed Rogers as he entered the dining room to eat his dinner. The tragedy was the result of Rogers having killed Smith's father in Knoxville some six years ago.
Rogers was a man of about fifty years of age, and lived in the twelfth district of Union County and was at the time of his death a justice of the peace of said district. Smith is a young man of about nineteen or twenty years, and relatives principally reside in the same district of the deceased.
The assailant had been out of the state, it is said for some five or six years, and had returned to his mother's home on Powell River a month or so ago.
Smith was a stranger in Maynardville never having been there as he stated until he arrived the first part of the week supposedly to attend circuit court. He is aportly young man of good appearance and seemed to be very intelligent. It is though that at Maynardville that Smith came to that place purposely to do this killing, having lodged at another hotel for two days until Rogers arrival when he moved his place of stopping to that where Rogers stopped.
Editor's Note: Information received from Woodson L. Smith, P.O. Box 52823, Knoxville, TN 37950, indicates that Wash Smith was planning to prosecute Rogers for rape of an undisclosed person and may have provoked the 1896 murder of Smith. Family information also reveals that Troy Smith may have served with the "Secret Service," (see letter from Chicago) and later migrated to California where he lived for forty-one years. Smith returned to Tennessee only once during that time. He died in an El Centro, California hospital at the age of 66 in 1943 and was brought home to East Tennessee for buried in the Fincastle Methodist Church Cemetery near LaFollette. WGT
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