'Gallows Hollow' was scene of bloody Conecuh County murder, hanging in November 1859

Gallows Hollow Ford as it looks today.

One of the most notorious crimes in Conecuh County history took place on Nov. 11, 1859 when Irvin Ward and his younger brother, Stephen Ward, murdered Allen Page, a “prominent and highly respected citizen” at what is now known as “Gallows Hollow.”

Much of what is known about this “brutal tragedy” comes straight from the pages of Benjamin Franklin Riley’s 1881 book, “History of Conecuh County.” The story begins on Tues., Nov. 8, 1859 when Page sent a number of cotton-loaded wagons from his Conecuh County gin house to Claiborne, which at that time was a sizeable steamboat landing on the Alabama River. The following day, Page and John Wright Sr. set off for Claiborne in a buggy and reached their destination later that night.

Little did they know, Irvin Ward, a 31-year-old ne’er-do-well, had “cautiously concealed” a gun beneath the cotton in one of the wagons, and he traveled with the party of cotton wagons almost all the way to Claiborne before he left the group, saying that he planned to go visit relatives in Clarke County, on the other side of the river. Before leaving, however, he found out that Page and Wright planned to sell their cotton the following day and return home to Conecuh County on Fri., Nov. 11.

“Having passed beyond the view of the wagons, Ward retraced his steps, hurried back toward his home, and engaged with his brother, Stephen, in the formation of a plot to murder and rob Messrs. Page and Wright upon their return,” Riley wrote. As part of their plan, they placed a small log across the road, on the east side of Little Brewer Creek in Conecuh County, about six miles from Page’s house, so that Page and Wright would have to stop their wagon when they reached the road block.

Sure enough, Page and Wright, presumably loaded down with a large amount of money from their cotton sales, had to stop when they reached the creek. At that time, one of the Ward brothers was hiding nearby behind a pine log and bushes while the other Ward brother was hiding about 20 yards behind the wagon. Both were armed with double-barreled shotguns.

The Ward brothers listened as Page and Wright discussed the “strange appearance of the log across the road” and if they could drive over it in their buggy. Wright jumped down to remove the log and as soon as he threw it aside, one of the Wards shot the unsuspecting Page in the chest with a load of buckshot. Page threw up his hands, yelled “I am killed!” and would have fallen out of the buggy if Wright hadn’t caught him.

“Just at this moment, another barrel was discharged at Wright, the contents of which did but little execution, as but few shot penetrated his skin,” Riley wrote. Wright, holding on to Page, whipped their horse into action and dashed up the road at full speed. “In a few hours, the community was thoroughly aroused, and excited crowds gathered about the scene of the murder.”

During the ensuing investigation, the Ward brothers were arrested and confessed to the murder in front of about100 witnesses. The two men were sentenced to hang the following day, Nov. 18, at 1 p.m. at the spot where the murder was carried out. “A rude gallows was erected over the spot where the deed was perpetrated” and the Ward brothers were hanged at 1 p.m. on Fri., Nov. 18. The story goes that the gallows were left in place for years and years after the incident as a warning to other criminals who might think about committing highway robbery.

Last Thursday afternoon, Thad House, the current owner of Gallows Hollow Farm north of Lyeffion, guided me to the spot where this incident took place and told me what he’d heard about it from older relatives. He noted that the farm was once owned by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Thad Grimes, and his grandfather had often pointed out where the old gallows once stood. Over time, the gallows were torn down and wood from the structure was used to make fence posts, Thad said.

Thad and I passed through the strands of a barbed wire fence, and he led me down to the banks of Little Brewer Creek. From there, we walked to a point in the creek where the banks had been worn down on both sides and he noted that this was the point where the old wagon road crossed the creek.

From where we stood, I could just make out the dim line of the old road, which time, trees and underbrush have made almost impossible to see if you don’t know where to look. In my mind’s eye, I could visualize Page and Wright having to stop their buggy on the creek’s east bank and the armed Ward brothers laying in wait, preparing to spring their ambush.  About 20 feet away, on a small rise on the west side of the creek, was the spot where the old gallows once stood.

I’d read about this bloody incident many times, but actually standing in the spot where it all took place brought it to life in a way that you can’t get from a book. I told Thad that it was like going to an old battlefield, where you could look around, see the terrain and get a truer feel for how events unfolded.

On the ride back to my truck, I mentioned to Thad that I’d been told that the Ward brothers were so despised for the murder of Allen Page that they’d been buried facing west, instead of east. Later, back in Evergreen, a little research revealed that the Wards were buried in what’s known as the Ward-Witherington Cemetery in the Bowles community, not far through the woods from where they murdered Allen Page. Maybe sometime in the near future, I’ll take a field trip out to this graveyard to see if there’s any truth to the story about how the Wards were buried.

In the end, please let me hear from you if you know anything more about the events of November 1859, Allen Page, John Wright Sr., Gallows Hollow or the Ward-Witherington Cemetery. If I can get enough additional information together, I’ll be sure to pass it along to readers at a later date.

Also, I want to give a big thanks to Thad House for taking the time to show me Gallows Ford last Thursday afternoon. I really appreciate it.