THE HANGING OF JIMMY SILKWOOD

Narrator: Mrs. Kelley Brown of Far West

Mrs. Brown was reared in Davis Township and often heard her father tell the Jimmy Silkwood story, which is another one of the tales showing the rough treatment given the War prisoners on both sides in the county during the Civil War.

John T. Davis of Black Oak her grandfather, was hauling supplies for Col. Mulligan at Lexington and the Thraillkill (Confederate) raiders came into the Black Oak Grove vicinity. Knowing John T. Davis' work they started out to "get" him and stop the supplies. Davis hid out. Jimmy Silkwood who was working for Davis was caught and questioned. While he knew where Davis was, he refused to tell. They threatened to hang him yet he would not tell. They tied him hand and foot and hanged him to a tree and left him. They had thrown the rope over a limb and tied the end around the trunk. He struggled, the knot slipped and he dropped to the ground. He wormed his way down to the Davis house and Grandma Davis cut the rope loose. To his death, Jimmy had a knot on the side of his neck and carried his head on one side as a result of being hanged. He is buried in Black Oak cemetery, his grave being marked with a field stone.