Titus County, like much of Texas in the latter 1800s, was somewhat like the "Wild West" portrayed in western movies. Of course, gunfights weren't a daily occurrence as the movies would have you believe. Actually, true gunfights in the middle of the street were practically unheard of, but shootings weren't, and often arguments and grudges were settled by guns rather than by the courts. Outlaw gangs operated in the area and livestock theft was a fairly common offense, as were other forms of theft.
Unlike today, being sheriff was not an administrative position. A sheriff was expected to personally apprehend criminals and had to have "grit" and be as tough, and preferably tougher, than those he had to subdue. William Riley "Bill" Edwards was such a man.
Bill Edwards was born in Cleveland, Bradley County, Tennessee on June 15, 1837. He is said to have served as a Tennessee constable before moving to Mt. Pleasant in about 1858, however the Cleveland County, Tennessee Historical Commission has no record of this and we doubt it because of the age he would have been at the time. Edwards bought land here, married, and raised a family.
When the Civil War began, 24 year old Bill Edwards enlisted in Company F, 18th Texas Infantry on April 25, 1862 as a Private under W. B. Ochiltree in Mt. Pleasant. He participated in several fierce battles at Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, Burbois (Bayou Bourbea), and others. He was badly injured at Burbois (Bayou Bourbea), Louisiana on November 3, 1863, when a rifle ball pierced his right arm. He rejoined his command and served until the close of the Civil War after recovering. He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant by order of General Hawes on February 22, 1864, effective April 9, 1864. After returning to Titus County from the Civil War, he enlisted in the Texas Militia and obtained the rank of Colonel.
Among other local offices he held, he served two non-consecutive terms as Titus County Sheriff. He was first elected on December 3, 1869 and supposedly served until December 2, 1873. There is a question about the exact dates because this was during Reconstruction and people were appointed as Sheriff both before and after he was elected.
During his first term as Sheriff, he was both hated and feared by criminals. He organized a vigilante committee to help him return law and order to Titus County. Also during his first term, he had the dubious distinction of being the only Sheriff in Titus County's history to hang a convicted felon.
It is said that James C. "Sam" Rowland, son-in-law of Alexander Nevill, a prominent Titus County patriarch for whom Nevill's Chapel was named, lived on what is now North Edwards Street between the High School and U.S. Highway 271 bypass. In the 1870s, peddlers commonly crossed the county by foot and in wagons selling their goods to people along the way. It was common for peddlers traveling on foot to stay at local homes along their path. One night a traveling peddler, whose name is not known, stayed at Rowland's home. When he opened his pocketbook to pay his bill for lodging the next morning, Rowland noticed that he was carrying a sum of money. Rowland told a friend about the money, and they decided to rob the peddler. They killed him in the process and dumped his body in the creek below the old High School near what is now West First Street. A woman who was washing clothes saw the murder and recognized them. Rowland was tried, convicted, and sentenced to execution by hanging.
From 1846 to 1923, capital punishment was carried out by hanging in Texas, and the offender was hung in the county where he was convicted. Sheriff Edwards constructed a gallows near where the former Riddle Street High School is now located and hanged Rowland on May 3, 1872. There is some discreprency over how Rowland was hanged. Local legend says he was hanged from an oak tree now located between the old Tiger Gym and West First Street at the old high school on Riddle Street. However, if you project the angles of the long sloping boards pointing above the gallows to a point above the top of the photo, it appears that the rope may have been hung from the sloped boards on the gallows and not a tree. The projected point is not visible in the photo, so while it is worth mentioning, we still cannot be certain where the rope was hung. Rowland is buried in the Nevill's Chapel Cemetery. Rowland's accomplice escaped to Arkansas, but was later shot and killed in Hot Springs.
Edwards left law enforcement at the end of this term, but was again elected Sheriff on November 2, 1880 and served until November 7, 1882. William Riley Edwards died on July 9, 1900, and is buried at the top of a hill under a large oak tree in Edwards Cemetery, for which he donated the land. Edwards Avenue and William Riley Edwards Park on Edwards Avenue are also named in his honor.
Sam Rowland was the only man legally hanged in Titus County. Contrary to popular local belief, and although the 1917 Titus County Jail's third floor contained a hangman's gallows consisting of a steel trap door with a round steel ring anchored into the ceiling above it through which a rope could be strung, the gallows was never used. In 1923 the State of Texas ordered that all executions be carried out by the state rather than by the counties, and prescribed that the execution method be by electrocution. Afterwards, all Texas executions were performed in the electric chair, nicknamed "Old Sparky," in the Texas Department of Corrections' Walls Unit in downtown Huntsville, Texas. The state executed its first inmate on February 8, 1924. Though the Titus County Jail gallows was never used, it had a sobering effect on people who saw it.
