Eric Arthur Blair, the English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell, once stated: 'People sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.'
Orwell was referencing the men and women who serve us as law enforcement officers. In 1914, the life of a policeman was bleak. In many communities, they were forced to work 12-hour days, 365 days a year. Police officers didn’t like it, but there was little they could do to change their working conditions, and someone had to serve and protect the community.
Each and every day, police risked their lives. They still do today. And sadly, they are sometimes, forced into situations against their will. Occasionsthatmaymeankill or be killed. Even in Marshall County, the same is true. This story concerns such an event between Woodville residents, Town Marshal Perry Walter Henry and Lorenzo Ervin (L. E.) Nowlin. This story is about their date with destiny.
Perry Walter Henry was born on May 18, 1873, in Cherry Mound, Texas, to Perry Center and Ann Jane Henry. On September 27, 1894, Perry Walter married Mary Mildred “Mamie” Wallace in Grayson County, Texas. Shortly after their marriage, Perry Walter and Mamie moved to Woodville, Indian Territory, where they settled. Mamie’s sister, Martha Elizabeth “Mattie” Wallace, had previously married William Thomas (W. T.) Christian, a lifelong resident of the Marshall County area of Indian Territory. Because of this, Perry Walter and Mamie moved to Indian Territory tobenearMamie’ssister.
Perry Walter and Mamie had five children, all born in Woodville. The first was Claude, who died in childbirth, followed by James Richard, George Skipworth, Alletha Marie and finally Maude Lee.
James Richard left Marshall County after graduating from high school and, after WWI, settled in the Tulsa area. George Skipworth became an educator, teaching first in Brownville and Aylesworth before becoming the Superintendent in Aylesworth, then Kingston. He served as the Kingston Superintendent for twentyseven years. Alletha Marie married Elmer Lemmons, and they lived in Madill for the remainder of their lives. Maude Lee married Walter Jones and became a teacher in the Madill Public Schools, from where she retired many years later.
For several years, early in the 20th Century, Perry Walter Henry was the Town Marshal for Woodville. He would later serve as a Deputy Sheriff in Marshall County for Sheriff W.T. Christian, his brother-in-law.
Lorenzo Nowlin was born on August 19, 1881, in Grapevine, Texas, to Jefferson Elwood and Margaret Emma Nowlin. In 1901, he enlisted in the United States Army and was assigned to the 105th Coast Artillery Corps stationed at the Presidio Army Base in San Francisco, California. Upon his discharge from the Army, Lorenzo returned to North Texas before moving to Indian Territory around 1907.
While living in Indian Territory, Lorenzo met and married Ella Peters, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. Lorenzo and Ella were married on July 14, 1907, in Grayson County, Texas. Following their marriage, they settled in Shay, Indian Territory, now Shay, Marshall County, Oklahoma on Ella’s Indian allotment land. Sadly, Ella died in December 1908. Then, on May 1, 1910, Lorenzo married Susan Okayambby Brown, a fullblooded Chickasaw Indian. WhenNowlinmarriedSusan, she had three children from a previous marriage. The children ranged in age from ten years old to three.
When he first moved to Indian Territory, Nowlin opened a tailor shop in Kingston. In an advertisement that ran for some months in the Red River Farmer newspaper in 1907, Nowlin advertised“FineTailor-made clothing that will fit and give satisfaction.” His tailor shop also offered “clothing cleaned and pressed at reasonable prices.” The shop was located on the west side of Main Street. Then in 1908, Nowlin began working as a druggist in Kingston. He worked as a druggist for about two years, then by 1910, Nowlin operated a Notary Public and Collections business in Isom Springs.
Over the years, Nowlin lived in Kingston, Shay, Isom Springs,OdellandWoodville. By 1912, Nowlin and Susan and her three children were living in Woodville, Indian Territory, where Nowlin served as the Director of the Woodville School Board. Then, on October 13, 1914, Nowlin and Susan welcomed their first and only child, Raymond Lorenzo Nowlin.
Sadly, just two months after the birth of his first child, Lorenzo Nowlin and Perry Walter Henry would end up in a shoot-out that ended one life and severely damaged the other.
On the morning of December 4, 1914, Susan Nowlin left her home and ran to the house of the Woodville Constable, Joe Thompson, asking for help with her husband Lorenzo. Unable to find Constable Thompson, Susan Nowlin then went to the home of Marshal Perry Walter Henry.
Upon arrival at Henry’s home, Susan told Henry that she had come into the house to find Lorenzo drunk and lying across the bed in her room. When she entered the room,Nowlindemandedthat she “get out” and leave him alone. ButSusanrefusedand demanded that he leave her room. When Susan refused to leave the room, Nowlin jumped up, slapped her in the face and then threw her out of the room.
Susan wanted Henry to help her get Nowlin to arrest Nowlin and put him in jail until he sobered up. Henry agreed to help, and together, he and Susan Nowlin walked back to the Nowlin house.
Before Henry and Susan Nowlin got into the house, Lorenzo Nowlin saw them coming and as Henry and Susan entered the home, Nowlin came out of the bedroom with a gun in hand, and without saying a word, he began shooting at Henry. It was reported that there had been some previous dispute between Perry Walter Henry andLorenzoNowlin,sowhen Henry arrived, Nowlin decided to shoot him.
When Nowlin began firing, Henry dove into another room, pulled out his gun and returned fire. Each man got off multiple shots. Nowlin missed all his shots, but Henry, an experienced lawman, fired his gun four times, hitting Nowlin with each shot. Nowlin was killed instantly.
That afternoon, the Woodville Banner newspaper reported the following: “This morning about 11:30, A.M., Walter Henry, city marshal, shot and killed L.E. Nowlin a resident of this town. The trouble arose as follows: Mr. Henry, at the request of Mrs. Nowlin who asked him to go to her home and get Mr. Nowlin to settle or quiet down. It seems that Mr. Nowlin had been drinking and had gone home (and) laid down across the bed. His wife came into the room where he was and he told her to leave the room and not bother him. This she refused to do saying that the room was hers. He got up and put her out of the room, slepping (sic) her as he did so. She then went for Constable Thompson to take charge of him until he sobered up, but the Marshall went instead and as there had been a previous misunderstanding between them the coming of the Marshall angered Mr. Nowlin. When Mr. Nowlin saw Mr. Henry there he got his pistol and without a word began shooting at Mr. Henrywhowasnotexpecting troubleandwasmuchexcited and ran into an adjoining room from where he took a stand and returned the fire shooting Mr. Nowlin four times killing him instantly. Mr. Henry was unhurt.”
The gun Henry used was a Colt 38 WCF, single-action revolver. He bought the gun years earlier with his brother, Samuel Wright Henry. Together, they bought identical Colt .38 Colt revolvers. Following this shooting, Henry refused to carry his gun again. Being forced to use that gun to kill another man was more than Henry could handle, so he traded guns with his brother. And while Henry continued to serve as a law enforcement officer, he lived the remainder of his life with the grief of being forced to take another man’s life. He never really recovered from the tragedy.
As it is said in Matthew 5:9 'Blessed are the peacekeepers, for they shall be called the children of God.'
God Bless our Peacekeepers. God Bless our police officers.