HAIRSTON.org ID#521, b. 12 February 1863, d. 21 December 1892
| Birth* | Robert Percy HAIRSTON was born on 12 February 1863. |
| He was the son of Robert Andrew HAIRSTON and Mary HAYS.1,2 |
| Will | In Mary HAYS's will dated 4 February 1865 in Greene, Alabama, Robert Percy HAIRSTON was named as an heir.2 |
| Marriage* | He married Marie Virginia WOOD on 11 February 1890 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.3 |
| Will* | Robert Percy HAIRSTON left a will on 28 July 1891 in Greene, Alabama. The attached will was recorded in the Lowndes County, Mississippi Will Book 2, page 80. Family Search Library Film #5835940, images 66.  |
| Death* | He died on 21 December 1892 at age 29. R. P. Hairston was murdered outside his store by Jim Rencher. Rencher was hung in the jail yard in 1893 for his crime.4 |
| Burial* | He was buried in Mesopotamia Cemetery, Greene, Alabama. Epitaph reads "In loving remembrance of - Robert Percy Hairston - Born at Eytaw, Ala. Feb. 12, 1863 - Assassinated at Haysville - Greene Co., Ala. - Dec. 21 1892 - Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord."5 |
| Newspaper* | Foully Assassinated. Tuscaloosa, ALA., Dec 23 -- Mr. R. P. Hairston, a prominent planter of Green county, was foully assassinated last night by unknown parties. Deceased was a son-in-law of the late General Wood, of this place. He Leaves a wife and child. Detectives with blood-hounds are hunting for the perpetrators of the crime. His home is in a thickly populated county of negroes. He was found between his residence and the store, the two being only about three hundred feet apart. - Daily State Ledger, Jackson, Miss., Friday, December 23, 1892, page 1.
Made a Full Confession. Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 18. -- At Eutaw yesterday the trial of Percy Hairston's murderers was begun. They are G. P. Williams, a white man who ran a store close by Hairston's, Jim Reucher and Glover Jones, two negroes. Reucher made a clean breast of the assination. He told how on the night of the deed he and Jones met Williams by appointment in the latter's store and arranged the murder, Williams agreeing to pay them $50 each. The two negroes went out and lay in wait for Hairston as he went home from his store. Jones fired the shots and Reucher stood ready to assist. Jones robbed the body and took from it Hairston's pistol, which he offered to corroborate his story. Reucher was bound over without bond. - The Daily Commercial, Vicksburg, Miss., Thursday, January 19, 1893, page 2.
(Note: G. P. Williams and Glover Jones were released when Jim Rencher changed his confession and said that Andrew Minor was the person that fired the shot. Jim Reucher stayed in jail charged with murder and Glover Jones was re-arrested. After their trial, Glover Jones was sentenced to life in prision and Jim Rencher was hung on May 12, 1893.) |
| Probate | His estate was probated on 12 January 1893 in Greene, Alabama.6 |
| Probate* | His estate was probated on 14 February 1894 in Lowndes, Mississippi. Lowndes County Will Book 2, page 80-81. FSL #5835940, images 66.7 |