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When the shooting finally ceased on that fateful day in downtown Llano in June, 1882, it was time to face the realities of life that included damage to private property, which was small in comparison to the physical and mental suffering experienced by many of the feud’s participants. Bitterness between the two factions had intensified now that several were wounded and two men from the Coggin side had been killed. Ill feelings between the two feuding parties had finally crossed a forbidden line. No longer were they the only ones affected by the shootout. The shootout had occurred in a populated locale and had endangered the lives of many residents who had no connection to the feud. Innocent bystanders stood a chance of injury or death, along with harm to private property. The people of Llano County were tired of the rampant violence, which had been around since the days of the Hoo-Doo War in the 1870’s. As James T. Shults described it, “The fight sort of cooled off the killings, and from that time on matters became more orderly.” Albert K. Erwin put it this way: “That fight had a quieting effect on the rustlers and afterwards killings became less.”

The wounded were quickly patched up by local doctors, but two families from the Coggin faction now faced grief and remorse over the loss of members in their family. Henry Hatley, a young married man with two small daughters, had been shot in the neck, dying instantly. His body was buried in the Board Branch Cemetery at Lone Grove. His widow, Margaret Hughes Hatley, later remarried. The young son of John R. Coggin, Johnny Robinson Coggin, did not die a painless death. After falling to one bullet, his body apparently took additional hits, none which were immediately fatal. It is not clear how long his life lingered, but it was at least several hours, with some accounts stating he did not die until the next day. No doubt his father was guilt-ridden the rest of his life for not doing a better job to prevent a son so young from becoming involved in the first place. Coggin family descendants are aware that the boy was shot and killed, but knowledge of the feud itself was not passed down.

Following the gunfight, the men involved voluntarily turned themselves into the local authorities. Llano County District Court records, Book 1, page 63, shows Case #954 for Jack Herridge, #955 for Ben Carter,# 956 for Doc Carter,#957 for Wyatt Perry, and# 958 for William Perry charged all with murder on June 19, 1882. In addition, the men were granted bail at the price of $1000 each. The same record charges Jack Coggin (in reference to Andrew Jackson Coggin, not John R.), Case #976, B Coggin #977, Thomas Coggin #978, and Bud (Luke) Hatley #979, with bail also set at $1000 each. Page 79 shows J.W. Cook, Case #959, James Connor #936, and George Patrick #965 also received the same treatment on June 19, 1882. Llano County Commissioner Court Minutes, July Term, 1882, verifies these same men spent at least a small amount of time in the “care” of the local law enforcement in which the county furnished them a meal or several meals, at the county’s expense, for a cost of thirty cents per man. Nothing came to fruition regarding this incident, even though two men were killed. Finally, on December 21, 1883, court records show “Not Guilty” for all the men from both sides, and their cases were dismissed.

What is curious, however, is that John R. Coggin’s name does not appear on any of these same records, either charged for a crime or for bail. Evidence suggests he was present during the gunfight, and it is doubtful that if he was present that he did not participate, especially since two of his sons were also involved. This line of thinking goes against modern procedures, but in that day and time, if the peers of the people accused felt a person’s actions were somehow justified, they were often not charged with any crime, or they were found “Not Guilty” if charged. It could well be that he was purposely overlooked in the incident because his peers thought he had already suffered for his part in the actions due to the death of his young son. My father told me of an incident in our family that occurred after 1900 whereby two brothers in the Hickman family from Llano had moved to Coke County, where one became a law officer. The man was shot and killed in the line of duty, and in retaliation his brother took it upon himself to avenge his brother’s death by hunting the murderer down and shooting him in cold blood. That brother was never charged with any crime, even though another man lay dead.

Violence between the two factions definitely died down, but it was not totally eradicated. Apparently there was at least one more attempt to bring harm to one of the families, although it is not clear which family intended to inflict the harm. The incident occurred on the road to Llano, now RR2241, at a location that had three rock outcroppings fairly close together, south of CR215. My father showed me which of the three rock piles was the actual one, but all I can recall is that it was not the largest of the three. The rocks are on both sides of the road, and the largest pile is on the east side of the highway. It is also not clear if members of the Carter faction tried to ambush members of the Coggin faction, or vice versa. All that is for sure is that one of the grown men and his young son were on their way to town when they were ambushed by an assailant hiding behind one of the two smaller rock piles. From what is known about the personal history of the families of the men involved, it is more logical to assume that the Perry, Herridge, or Carter men fired at one of the Coggin men. None of the Carter men had a son the right age to be tagging along with his father on such a journey. Ben Carter and John Herridge did not marry until after the shootout. One of the Perry brothers never married, and the other had girls. Doc Carter’s older children were also girls. Tom Coggin was married, but his only known children at the time were girls. John R. Coggin’s children still in the home were also female. The only Coggin with a young son was Andrew Jackson Jack Coggin, whose youngest son, Millard Caswell Coggin, was around age six at the time of the shootout. Levi Barker Coggin also did not marry until after the shootout. Regardless of who was ambushed, the bullet successfully struck its target, and although it did not kill the man, he received injuries that plagued him the rest of his life.

The lives of many involved quickly changed. By December, 1883, John Herridge married Mary A. Perry, the youngest sister of Ben and Doc. Then, in 1884, Ben Carter married Louise Parilee Perry, another sister, making the connections between these families even stronger. William J. Perry never married, but Wyatt raised a family. Jack Herridge continued to live near his only surviving descendant, his son John. Both are buried at Board Branch in Lone Grove. After Henry Hatley was also buried at Board Branch, his widow remarried. Eventually, the rest of the Hatley family left the area, with the father settling in Edwards County (Barksdale), and Luke (Bud) Hatley moving to Coke County around Robert Lee, where he was living when he died in 1925. John W. Cook returned to Voca, before going on to Erath County, then Greer County Oklahoma. He died in 1937. The Coggin brothers, and Jack’s son, Thomas (Tom) Coggin, first moved to Fisher County, joining their widowed brother-in-law, Daniel H. Trent, who had become an important cattlemen in that area. Both John R. and Andrew Jackson Coggin applied for their Confederate Pensions in early 1900 from that area of Texas. Levi Barker Coggin made his way to New Mexico, Lea County, where he lived many years before dying in 1948. In his old age, his father, John R. Coggin, went to live near Voca, McCulloch County, with a married daughter, where he died in 1909. He is buried in the cemetery at Voca. Andrew Jackson (Jack) ended up in Merkel, Texas, near Abilene, where he and his wife died. James A. (Jim) Conner, the Coggin nephew, remained in Llano County near his parents, A.B. and Marina Coggin Conner and his Clark in-laws, but in later years, he moved elsewhere, dying in 1936 in Cottle County Texas. only George W. Patrick of the Coggin side continued to live in Llano County the rest of his life. He and many members of his family are likewise buried at Board Branch.

Regardless of where the participants in the Carter-Coggin Feud ended up living, all were reluctant to share details of the feud with future generations. Some families interviewed had no knowledge of the feud at all; others didn’t know about the feud, but they were aware that there had been some sort of an earlier “problem” that led to trouble within their family, although they had no clue what the situation entailed. In those cases, ironically, many descendants seem to have assumed the worst, making their thoughts on the subject even harsher than what actually occurred. Descendants of Luke Hatley, for example, suspect he might have killed a man, not knowing it was his brother who was killed. Members of the John R. Coggin family still have a bullet taken from the dead body of Johnny R. Coggin, but they know nothing about the circumstances leading to how it got there. I have yet to find anyone in the Andrew Jackson (Jack) Coggin family who even knew about the feud, much less any details. I have recently uncovered information about John W. Cook that had been unknown many years, but so far, contact with members of his family has not materialized. Levi Barker’s family doesn’t seem to know much either. Perhaps descendants of the Conner family can provide additional information, or descendants of Tom Coggin. The Patrick family at least alluded to the feud in The Llano County Family Album by commenting that their ancestor, George W. Patrick, was wrongfully accused when a cow hide with the wrong brand was found on his fence. Recent visits with some of the Herridge family provided vague, undocumented information that was difficult to piece together in what is officially known about the feud.

The Carter faction also did not pass along details. Gifford White, a well known Texas historian and descendant of Ben Carter, made an attempt in his later years to interview family members and to put together information about the feud. Nothing ever came of his efforts before he died, and the information he gathered now belongs to his children, who have so far not shared its contents with others. Mr. White found quite a few family members still harbored a grudge regarding the incident, and he did not feel comfortable releasing the information he had gathered at that time. Phyllis Whitt Almond, whose father’s family also has a Carter connection, was able to put together spotty information from local records just as I have done, but she also hit a stumbling block when it came to gathering specific details from existing family members.

Although interested parties today would love to be able to take the events leading up to the shootout in 1882 and showcase it among the most notorious gunfights in the Old West, the gaps and unanswered questions that have yet to be filled in make it extremely difficult to highlight the incident. One can’t help but feel the men involved intended the outcome to be that way. Only time can unravel the unsolved mysterious aspects of the Carter-Coggin Feud…maybe.

SOURCES- THE BURNET BULLETIN June 15 and June 22, 1882; LLANO COUNTY FAMILY ALBUM, p. 233; Llano County District Court Records, Vol. 1, pp. 63, 79, 123; Llano County Commissioner’s Court Minutes, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 40; Carter-Coggin-Herridge Family history notes and interviews; W.P.A. Cowboy Interviews (Shults/Erwin).