Mattie Woolfolk, 18 months, was the youngest daughter of Capt Richard Woolfolk and Mattie Howard.
Mattie, her five siblings and parents were brutally murdered in their home in August 1887. Her adult brother Tom Woolfolk (the home's only survivor) was later tried for their murder and hung.
According to the account of Tom, the eldest son, whom walked in just after the murders, a man carrying an ax left on foot out the back of the house. Tom then ran to neighbors for assistance, but was later accused of the murders, tried several times, and found guilty and hung October 29, 1890, still proclaiming his undying innocence. There have been two books written about the murders, Shadow Chasers : The Woolfolk Tragedy Revisited by Carolyn Deloach in 2000 and The Woolfolk Tragedy: The Murders, the Trials, the Hanging & Now Finally, the Truth! by Carolyn Deloach in 1996.
The author uncovered much undiscovered evidence and was able to conclude that the actual murderer was Simon Cooper, a hired hand of the family. After Cooper's death, a diary was found that he had written, notating the Woolfolk murders just as Tom had stated. He had also written a statement, "Tom Woolfolk was mighty slick, but I fixed him. I would have killed him with the rest of the d*** family, but he was not at home."
Mattie, her five siblings and parents were brutally murdered in their home in August 1887. Her adult brother Tom Woolfolk (the home's only survivor) was later tried for their murder and hung.
According to the account of Tom, the eldest son, whom walked in just after the murders, a man carrying an ax left on foot out the back of the house. Tom then ran to neighbors for assistance, but was later accused of the murders, tried several times, and found guilty and hung October 29, 1890, still proclaiming his undying innocence. There have been two books written about the murders, Shadow Chasers : The Woolfolk Tragedy Revisited by Carolyn Deloach in 2000 and The Woolfolk Tragedy: The Murders, the Trials, the Hanging & Now Finally, the Truth! by Carolyn Deloach in 1996.
The author uncovered much undiscovered evidence and was able to conclude that the actual murderer was Simon Cooper, a hired hand of the family. After Cooper's death, a diary was found that he had written, notating the Woolfolk murders just as Tom had stated. He had also written a statement, "Tom Woolfolk was mighty slick, but I fixed him. I would have killed him with the rest of the d*** family, but he was not at home."
Mattie Woolfolk, 18 months, was the youngest daughter of Capt Richard Woolfolk and Mattie Howard.
Mattie, her five siblings and parents were brutally murdered in their home in August 1887. Her adult brother Tom Woolfolk (the home's only survivor) was later tried for their murder and hung.
According to the account of Tom, the eldest son, whom walked in just after the murders, a man carrying an ax left on foot out the back of the house. Tom then ran to neighbors for assistance, but was later accused of the murders, tried several times, and found guilty and hung October 29, 1890, still proclaiming his undying innocence. There have been two books written about the murders, Shadow Chasers : The Woolfolk Tragedy Revisited by Carolyn Deloach in 2000 and The Woolfolk Tragedy: The Murders, the Trials, the Hanging & Now Finally, the Truth! by Carolyn Deloach in 1996.
The author uncovered much undiscovered evidence and was able to conclude that the actual murderer was Simon Cooper, a hired hand of the family. After Cooper's death, a diary was found that he had written, notating the Woolfolk murders just as Tom had stated. He had also written a statement, "Tom Woolfolk was mighty slick, but I fixed him. I would have killed him with the rest of the d*** family, but he was not at home."
Mattie, her five siblings and parents were brutally murdered in their home in August 1887. Her adult brother Tom Woolfolk (the home's only survivor) was later tried for their murder and hung.
According to the account of Tom, the eldest son, whom walked in just after the murders, a man carrying an ax left on foot out the back of the house. Tom then ran to neighbors for assistance, but was later accused of the murders, tried several times, and found guilty and hung October 29, 1890, still proclaiming his undying innocence. There have been two books written about the murders, Shadow Chasers : The Woolfolk Tragedy Revisited by Carolyn Deloach in 2000 and The Woolfolk Tragedy: The Murders, the Trials, the Hanging & Now Finally, the Truth! by Carolyn Deloach in 1996.
The author uncovered much undiscovered evidence and was able to conclude that the actual murderer was Simon Cooper, a hired hand of the family. After Cooper's death, a diary was found that he had written, notating the Woolfolk murders just as Tom had stated. He had also written a statement, "Tom Woolfolk was mighty slick, but I fixed him. I would have killed him with the rest of the d*** family, but he was not at home."
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