Austin Murder & Mayhem

by Richard Zelade

Austin's past is as weird as its present--including murderous neighbors, deadly political antics, and a serial killer suspected to be Jack the Ripper.

Beneath Austin's shiny veneer lies a dark past, filled with murder, lechery and deceit. Legislators, lawmen and lawyers killed, robbed and lied just as well and just as often as the drifters and grifters preying on newcomers. The nation's first known serial killer made his debut in Austin in the form of the Servant Girl Annihilator, who is still rumored to be Jack the Ripper. After the Willis brothers murdered their neighbors over rumored buried gold, a lynch mob hanged the boys from live oaks on present-day Sixth Street. Freshman representative Louis Franke died after he was robbed and beaten on the steps of the statehouse. Author Richard Zelade delivers a fascinating look at the seedier side of Austin history.

Includes photos!

Genres: History

147 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 9, 2015

Reviews

[Keren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should have known to stop reading when the author stated in his introduction, "If you are a Bible-toting Texan like most of us are, murder and mayhem go back to Cain and Abel." From the start, this author stereotypes and generalizes groups. He makes assumptions and doesn't understand the full scope of his readership, nor does he present a complete portrait of the events and people in the stories he relays. In chapter 1, titled "How do you say 'Please don't kill me' in Comanche?" for example, he begins with the aggression and violence of the "Indians," rather than the invasion of Native American lands and violence and aggression suffered at their hands. In chapter 3, titled "Texas 'Swing,' he makes light of the lynching of black people. First, he justifies the lynching of an enslaved person who, in his attempts to escape from a sort of bondage that dehumanizes, degrades, and destroys, murders the people holding him captive. In that same chapter, this author depicts the enslavement of black people in Texas using only one quote from the Texas Gazette, which complained that "the owners of slaves indulge them to an extent not at all necessary to their comfort or enjoyment." That the enslaved "keep houses of their own...which become pest houses to every neighborhood, where the most idle and worst disposed of this class assemble at night and discuss, if they do not organize, plans of mischief." This excerpt from the Texas Gazette is dropped between the first story of the lynching I described and a second lynching of three brothers, whom this author describes as "the unfortunate guests" at the lynching. He goes on to justify the lynching perpetrated by Confederate soldiers attempting to roust out "Unionist element[s]" by describing the three brothers' family as "anything but savory." While one of the brothers was tied by a young eye-witness to the murder of her parents, the other "grave crimes" with which they were charged included "inciting slaves to insubordination and assisting them to flee the country." God forbid that members of an enslaved and abused race attempt to free those suffering such injustices. While the attitudes of people at the time are valuable to understand, they should be presented within the larger context of abuses perpetrated by people who owned those attitudes. The misrepresentation of these events casts doubt on his portrayal of other events and people in this book.

[Brandon Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Austin

Like most cities it has its ups and downs. Fun and dark times.

This book covers some interesting stories, from all types of Characters and crimes. A good read if you are into lesser known history.

[Paula Corregan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book!

This book gives a representation of various criminal actions and their results in the city of Austin, Texas from the 1800s to the 1900s. If you like history, you will be pleased to read this book. The author has done extensive research on the book's subjects. I highly recommend this to other true crime readers and history buffs.

[Amy Phelps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting look into some
Early crimes

[Joy Shak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking for some interesting local history. Most of the stories in this book I had heard before.