- His mutilated arm was amputated, and Black Jack Ketchum was hanged in Clayton, New Mexico, on April 26, 1901. Source: 'Best of the West' by Bill O'Neal pages 58-59. At the hanging, when Black Jack fell through the trapdoor, he was decapitated by the trapdoor. For additional information on Black Jack, see the Wikipedia article.
- Thomas Edward Ketchum was born on October 31,1863 in San Saba County, Texas, son of Green Berry Sr.Ketchum and Temperance Katherine Wydick Ketchum. Thomas Edward Ketchum had four siblings two brothers and two sisters His father died when he was only five years old and his mother was blind several years before she died in 1873.
- Thomas Edward ('Black Jack') Ketchum (October 31, 1863 April 26, 1901) was executed for an attempt to hold up the C. Train between Des Moines and Folsom in the northeaster corner of New Mexico. His other daring deeds as a desperado were not considered by the court.
- His mutilated arm was amputated, and Black Jack Ketchum was hanged in Clayton, New Mexico, on April 26, 1901. Source: 'Best of the West' by Bill O'Neal pages 58-59. At the hanging, when Black Jack fell through the trapdoor, he was decapitated by the trapdoor. For additional information on Black Jack, see the Wikipedia article.
- Thomas Edward Ketchum was born on October 31,1863 in San Saba County, Texas, son of Green Berry Sr.Ketchum and Temperance Katherine Wydick Ketchum. Thomas Edward Ketchum had four siblings two brothers and two sisters His father died when he was only five years old and his mother was blind several years before she died in 1873.
- Thomas Edward ('Black Jack') Ketchum (October 31, 1863 April 26, 1901) was executed for an attempt to hold up the C. Train between Des Moines and Folsom in the northeaster corner of New Mexico. His other daring deeds as a desperado were not considered by the court.
Black Jack's Hideout In Turkey Creek Canyon near here, the outlaw gang of Thomas 'Black Jack' Ketchum had one of its hideouts. After a train robbery in July 1899, a posse surprised the gang at the hideout. The outlaws scattered after a bloody battle, and the Ketchum gang was broken up. Side B: Colfax County War. Black Jack Ketchum It was April 26, 1901, when train robber Thomas Edward Ketchum, later known as Black Jack, was hanged in the town of Clayton. Ever since that fateful day, the sad, twisted tale of one of the last outlaws of the Wild West has captured the imagination of historians and Wild West enthusiasts alike.
Thomas Edward Ketchum was born on October 31,1863 in San Saba County, Texas, son of Green Berry Sr.Ketchum and Temperance Katherine Wydick Ketchum. Thomas Edward Ketchum had four siblings two brothers and two sisters His father died when he was only five years old and his mother was blind several years before she died in 1873.
Tom's oldest brother, Berry Jr., became a wealthy and noted cowman and horse breeder. Sam his other brother got married and had two children, but left his wife when their son was only three. Tom and Sam were both cow boys working on ranches throughout west Texas and northern and eastern New Mexico. They were in many trail drives and got to know the territory, settlers and ranchers very well.
Tom Ketchum's first major crime was the murder of John N. 'Jap' Powers, a neighbor in Tom Green County, Texas. Powers was shot down on December 12, 1895, by several men including Black Jack. He later admitted that he took part in the murder, but was paid to do it. Later he left , and his brother Sam joined him later in New Mexico.
Thomas Black Jack Ketchum Postcard
The brothers worked on the Bell Ranch, until early June, 1896, when they quit their jobs and stole some supplies. On June 10, they came to the small settlement of Liberty, north of present-day Tucumcari, where there was a store and post office operated by Levi and Morris Herstein. Tom and Sam robbed the store at night and then rode to the Pecos River. Levi and some 3 or 4 men went after the Ketchums and after a short gun battle most of the posse formed by Levi were dead.
Is there gambling in hot springs arkansas. After the Herztein killing, Tom and Sam joined friends in Arizona and they went on a killing and robbery spree in the Four Corners states, they also rode with members of Butch Cassidy's Hole in the Wall Gang. Will Christian was known as 'Black Jack' and when he was killed in 1879 someone mistakenly identified Thomas as 'Black Jack' only after Christian's death that people started calling Thomas 'Black Jack' but people who knew him never called him that.
After many train robberies a posse of law men hunted down the Ketchum gang after a short gun battle at Turkey Creek the outlaws escaped, but Sam was wounded so badly he was taken to a hospital and was turned in by a nurse. He later died of his wounds in the Santa Fe penitentiary and was buried in the Odd Fellows cemetery which is now covered by a road.
On August 16, 1899, Black Jack attempted to single-handedly rob the same train, unaware that his brother was recently dead from a similar idea. Black Jack boarded the engine, but mistakenly forced it to stop on a sharp turn where the cars with the loot could not be uncoupled. Meanwhile, the conductor, Frank Harrington, was getting sick of being robbed. He crept through the cars and shot at Black Jack, who returned fire. Black Jack missed; Harrington nearly severed Black Jack's arm at the elbow. Black Jack fell off the train but was unable to get back on his horse.
The train quickly got moving again, leaving Black Jack to lie out all night until 'help' arrived in the form of another train. He raised his gun as the conductor and brakeman approached him. They offered to shoot him right then if he wanted a fight, but he replied, 'No boys, I am all done. Take me in.' His arm was amputated in Trinidad, Colorado and then, restored to relative health, he was sent back to Clayton for trial. Convicted of 'felonious assault upon a railway train,' Black Jack became the only person sentenced to death under the law, which was later overturned by the Supreme Court as carrying too severe a sentence.
He pled innocent to most of the crimes he was charged with but, the judge found him guilty and he was sentenced to death by hanging. The hanging was delayed several times until law men heard about rumors that old gang members were going to free Black Jack, so they pushed up his hanging to April 26 1901. His hanging turned out to be a big town event. People from the towns around Clayton came, the law men sold tickets to see Black Jack get hung and they sold little dolls of Black Jack hanging on a stick.
The law men felt better about pushing up his sentence, but were still a little nervous about the rumors about somebody saving Black Jack. Someone remembered a tall stranger.. He and Black Jack exchanged several glances, but the stranger left before any one could find out who he was. Finally the sheriff took two blows with an hatchet before the rope was cut then Black Jack fell to the ground, he had been beheaded. It was the first time any one was ever hung in Clayton, so many mistakes were probably made like the rope was probably stretched while testing and the probably misjudged Black Jack's weight. Black Jack was buried at Clayton's Boot Hill ,but was moved to the new cemetery in the 30's.
Thomas Black Jack Ketchum Hanging
Thomas Edward (Black Jack) and Samuel W. Ketchum were members of a gang of outlaws that terrorized Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas in the 1890s. Sam was born on January 4, 1854, in Caldwell County, and Tom was born in San Saba County on October 31, 1863. They were the sons of Green Berry and Temperance Katherine (Wydic) Ketchum and grew up in San Saba, Texas. Their father had been coroner of Christian County, Illinois, before coming to Texas, where he may have been a doctor. His sons were ranch boys of little education. Sam married Louisa J. Greenlee in San Saba on February 4, 1874, according to family records; Tom never married. Tom left Texas about 1890, possibly because of a murder or a train robbery, and went to work for cow outfits in the Pecos Valley of New Mexico. By 1894 Sam had joined him, and the brothers began a career of crime, including killing a merchant near Carrizo, robbing post offices, and holding up stages, trains, and a railroad station. In 1897 they spent a good deal of time across the line in Mexico but stopped two trains in Arizona. On September 3, 1897, they held up the Colorado Southern passenger train near Folsom. In 1898 apparently there was some disagreement in the ranks, and Black Jack was not present when Sam and others again held up the Colorado Southern near Folsom on July 11, 1899. A posse caught up with them; Sam was wounded and captured and died two weeks later in the penitentiary at Santa Fe. Two peace officers and another of the robbers were killed in the battle. Not knowing of the outcome of Sam's last attempt, Black Jack determined to make one more raid and tried, singlehanded, to hold up the Colorado Southern, again near Folsom, on August 16, 1899. Wounded by the conductor, he was picked up beside the tracks next day. On October 5, 1900, he was sentenced to hang. The sentence was carried out at Clayton on April 26, 1901. The Ketchum gang was blamed for a good many crimes that they may not have committed. Apparently they had connections with a larger organization of outlaws. It is also possible that many of the crimes attributed to Black Jack Ketchum were committed by Will 'Black Jack' Christian and his brother, and that Tom Ketchum inherited the name and reputation after Christian was killed; however, the facts of Tom Ketchum's career indicate that his notoriety outdistanced that of Christian.
