Beyond our Elusive William Daniel

There is a newspaper article in the Galveston Daily News, Vol. XLVII, No. 14, Friday, Aug. 17, 1888:
Waco News Notes
O. C. T. Poe Released on a Serious Charge...
Waco, Texas., Aug. 16---This morning Sheriff Bill Harris met James K. Daniel and O. C. T. Poe walking together, the former armed with a six-shooter, and he enquired the cause. He was informed by Daniel that Poe was his prisoner, and that Poe was the person who wrecked the Houston and Texas central mixed train on the 7th instant and caused the death of Engineer G. H. Moore and the serious wounding of Brakeman A. H. Cottrell.
Replying to further inquiry, Daniel stated that the cars killed a calf near Poe's cottage, which is located beside the track, and the section master did not remove it promptly on being told to do so, and that Poe had threatened to chastise Mr. J. S. Tidwell, the Houston and Texas central station agent at Ross. County Attorney Blair inquired of Daniel and he added nothing to the statement whcih he made to Sheriff Harris.
It appears that the sole cause moving Daniel to make the affidavit against Poe was the matter of the dead calf.
At 2 o'clock this afternoon Justice Wm. Sleeper called the case for preliminary hearing, and as James K. Daniel, the prosecuting witness, did not appear, the justice dismissed it, saying: "Mr. Poe, you can return to your distressed family. I am pleased to discharge you, fully believing you to be innocent."
Captain Union Clabaugh, one of the leading citizens of Ross, took Mr. Poe in his buggy and hurried off with him, because Mrs. Poe, who was very ill when her husband was arrested was taken much worse. Advices received to-night state that she is not expected to live.
Jim Jones, alias Jim Smith, the negro arrested by Captain J. M. Waller of the Hall & Waller agency on the same charge as that preferred by Daniel against Poe, will come before Justice Sleeper on Saturday for preliminary hearing.

The local newspapers gave more information on the subject. That information follows, and it is taken from The Day and Waco Evening News.

Apparently there was a train wreck in Ross, Texas 7 Aug 1888. The engineer was killed, a fireman was injured badly. Later, it was determined that the tracks had been tampered with at some kind of cattle guard or something of the kind (called a cow gap). That had caused the wreck. Investigators were attempting to find out what had happened.

James K. Daniel, a Ross resident, was reported to have problems with his neighbor (but the paper did say that that was just a rumor, they did not know if it was true). Apparently James went at night to the county attorney at his home and told him that he had located the wrecker of the train. The attorney told him that he would have to go to Justice Sleeper to make an affidavit that O. C. T. (Tom) Poe had caused the wreck on Aug. 7. A warrant was issued by Justice Sleeper since the accusation was serious. Apparently the next day, James Daniel showed up with the man, and a couple of other men. He refused to tell what his evidence was, and rather than leaving him in jail, he said he preferred to keep him in personal custody until his hearing the next day before Justice Sleeper. Another account mentioned that James showed up at Poe's home, and told him that he wanted him to go for a walk with him. Poe's wife and children were very ill with a fever, and he had been nursing them. Some of the information indicated that James Daniel was drunk at the time of the arrest and that he drank heavily during the entire time that he held Poe. The constable rescued Poe from James Daniel and put him in the hands of the jailer for a hearing later in the day. James Daniel did not appear at the hearing. He had shaved his beard, disguising himself, and fled the town prior to the hearing. Poe had had a complaint against the railroad due to their failure to remove a dead cow near his home, and had threatened to chastise the agent at Ross. Poe is referred to as somewhat dissipated and frolicsome, but a good man. He was considered a brave man who had served the Confederacy well, and would not be capable of such a terrible thing as wrecking the train. The county attorney said he would do all he could to make sure that Daniel felt the hand of the law against himself! It was also reported that Poe's wife had taken a serious turn for the worse after her husband was taken, and that she was not expected to last the night. If she died, James Daniel would be pointed at as HER murderer!

Meanwhile, the Hall & Waller detective agency took their own prisoner, a black man, who had a complaint with the railroad company about a colt that had been killed by the train, and he had not been paid for it. They made sure that it was known that James Daniel was not working for them, and that he had no association whatever with them!

It should be noted, that the preceding incident appears to have occured only three months after the death of one of their children. It is also unknown if there were any charges pressed against James for this incident.

He can be placed in Ross, Texas in 1888, due to the newspaper records regarding the train incident. He also appears to be in McLennan County when he helped arrange a burial for a woman named Mary Luckie, 13 Aug 1893. This information is in the Fall and Puckett Funeral Home Records.

After this time we continue to find him living around Waco, TX. He is found in the following Waco City Directories:
1896-97 Daniels, James, carp., residing nw corner Mood Ave, Early, College Hts. (Son Garfield Daniel lives with him)
1898-99 He is not found in the Waco City directory, son Garfield lives with E. G. Scales
1900-01 Daniels, James K., carp., residing ne corner Mood, Early, College hts. (Son Garfield Daniel lives with him)
1902-03 He is no longer in Waco. Elizabeth, his wife is listed as living with her mother Diademia Shanks.

In the family of Elizabeth's descendants, there is a story that James disappeared, and they did not know what became of him. The exact time this happened is uncertain. Lenore Williams said there was a story of family members in Colorado talking about what happened. A man who overheard them acted so strangely that they wondered if it was James. This cannot be documented.

On the 21 Jan 1901, there was a notice in the Caddo Herald (Caddo, Oklahoma) that said he had left Saturday for Muskogee where he married someone whose name they did not know. They mentioned that he had been there several months and had built several nice homes. Since no record has been found of a divorce from Elizabeth, there is a question as to whether he was legally married to his second wife.

In 1902, the Crowder City Advertiser said that J. K. Daniel, a contractor and builder of McAlester had moved there and was ready for work.

In the 15 Jan 1903 edition of The Kiel Press, there is an article that says that J. K. Daniel of McAlester is mysteriously missing. He is called a merchant. He had left for Denison the day after Christmas, and seven days later he was seen by some railway men. They said he appeared to be in a demented condition. The pond had been dragged, and the whole town was searching for his body.

In Nov 24, 1904 he is mentioned in the Konawa Chief (newspaper located in Konawa, Indian Territory, OK) as "J. K. DANIEL and Robert LACY, Architects and Builders." (Genweb, http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ok/county/seminole/news5.htm , accessed, 21 May 2004)

In Feb 1905, the Konawa Chief had an article in which he was mentioned as a benefactor in the growth of the town. His son was not the first child to be born in the town, but he was the first to be called by the town's name. His wife asked him what to name the child, and he said anything as long as it was J. K., so she named him James Konawa after his father and the town.

Not long afterward, in the 17 Feb 1905 edition of the Konawa Chief, there was a notice that Mrs. J. K. Daniel had left town the day before taking her belongings, and that J. K. Daniel had left the day before that. No one had thought that he was leaving permanently, but they had left owing nearly everyone in town that had trusted them.

In 1911 he was in Big Cabin, Oklahoma, advertising for work.

In 14 Jun 1913 Tulsa Daily World, he had an advertisement for carpentry work, repair or building new homes.

In 1917, he moved to Bokchito, Oklahoma, and the newspapers said he was a carpenter and architect who had located there. He would be working from the Rockwell Lumber Company. (25 Jan 1917, Bokchito News).

In 1918, he was on a list of unclaimed mail in the Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma newspaper.

In the 12 Feb 1918 Oklahoma News, he was advertising for carpentry work.

In 1910 he & his 2nd wife & family were in LeFlore Co, OK, in 1918-Dallas, TX (was JKD still living?), 1920 census shows Ella and the 2 boys, James & Frank back in Jefferson Co, OK and Ella is listed as a widow. Family story is that he was killed in a train crash in southern AR on the way to a construction job in FL. No proof as of December 2004. (He is not named in his father's 1913 obituary. Does this mean that he was not alive, or just that since his disappearance he was not considered a part of the family any more?)
There are 2 photo postcards of James Kirkpatrick Daniel in the possession of a grandson, James Edward Daniel, and on the back he is writing to his son, James Konawa Daniel, (father of James Edward Daniel). One photo is of an elderly man sitting perched on a scene of a "moon and star" background. "Dear Jimmie, I am up in the moon and the stars are shining around me and the Man in the Moon wants me to stay with him, but I want my boys so I can't stay with him, but will come down to see you before I go up there again. Why don't you come to see your papa? I know the reason. From your papa, J. K. Daniel".
The 2nd photo postcard is addressed to J. K. Daniel, Dallas, TX, (no postmark) and says, "Dear Son, I am sick today. If I was well I would come to see you but I am too sick to travel."
His son, James Konawa, told his son James Edward that James Kirkpatrick disappeared when he (James Kanowa) was 16. (James Daniel e-mail, dated May 12, 2001)
No records of his death were found in Alabama for the period of 1918 through 1920 or in Florida during the same time period.
Census:
1880, Enum. Dist. 151, Precinct 3, Erath, TX, Series: T9 Roll: 1302, Page: 71D
533/538, Daniel, James, w, m, 24, Farmer, Al, AL, AL
----, Elisabeth C., w, f, 19, Wife, keeping house, TX, AL, AL
----, Lucy, w, f, 3, Daughter, TX, AL, TX
1910 census:
He was in Leflor county Oklahoma, Heavener Township, Series: T624, Roll: 1258, Page: 161
355/367, Daniel, James, K, head, m, w, 57, m2, 10, AL, AL, AL, carpenter
----, Ella, wife, f, w, 32, m2, 10, 3, 3, AR, United States, AR, no occupation
----, Bryan, Barbara, stepdaughter, f, w, 12, s, OK, AL, AR
----, Daniel, James, son, m, w, 5, s, OK, AL, AR
----, Daniel, Frank, E., son, m, w, 2, s, OK, AL, AR
1920 There is a James Daniel rooming in Erath County, precinct 1, Stephenville, enum. dist. 6, sheet 2B. There is no age or personal information given about him. His place of birth is n.s.(what is the meaning of this term? Could it mean "not specified?") and his parents are listed as both born in U.S. Could this be our James Daniel returning home in his old age, or is it someone else?

The Oakwood Cemetery records in the genweb archives show a James H. Daniel d. 23 Apr 1937, age 84 years. Could this be him? It is in block 12, lot 56. He is surrounded by Casey family members. The "K" in his name might be misread as an "H, " and the age of 84 would be exactly correct for him. I did more research. I found a death certificate for this man, but it is certain he is not our James Daniel. The name was James H. Daniels. The date of death is actually 23 Apr 1934, not 1937. The date of birth was unknown, but he was born in Missouri to Isiah Daniels who was born in Mississippi. His brother, "Mr. Daniels," Waco, Texas, was the informant. He died at the county home in Precinct 1 of McLennan County. His address was 2102 Reuter.

There was a suggestion that he might have died in a train crash in Arkansas, or possibly he died in Dallas, Texas. The validity of this is unknown.