Contra Costa County CA Archives History - Books .....Killing Of Patrick Sullivan 1882
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Book Title: History Of Contra Costa County, California

   KILLING OF PATRICK SULLIVAN.—Patrick Sullivan, who lived with his family on
the Wild Cat branch of the San Pablo creek, left Oakland on Monday evening,
March 28,1881, in his wagon, and never reached his home. Alarmed by his
protracted absence, his family and friends instituted search for him Tuesday
morning, and his dead body was found riddled with buckshot and one arm around
the axletree of the wagon several hundred yards below the road near the
creek-side. From appearances it was concluded that after being shot he fell
forward over the front of the wagon, and grasped the axletree in an unconscious
dying effort, the horse breaking from the road and running (dragging the body)
to the place near the creek where the wagon was found. Firing had been heard by
some of the people living in the vicinity the previous evening, and foot-tracks
were found about the place in the road where it was evident the fatal shot was
delivered, and from the direction of these tracks, and the fact that there had
been a long existing feud between himself and the deceased, suspicion led to the
arrest of a neighbor named Robert Lyle, in whose house was found a
double-barrelled shotgun that had the appearance of having been recently fired,
and several buckshot of the size of those with which Sullivan was shot. An
inquest was held on the body by Deputy Coroner Livingston, and a verdict found
on Thursday that the deceased came to his death from a gun-shot wound inflicted
by some person unknown to the jury. Lyle was taken down from the jail on Friday,
April 1st, for examination at San Pablo, on accusation of the murder. The
deceased Sullivan left a wife and seven or eight children. Lyle was held to
answer and trial set for April 11, 1881, when he was discharged.

Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA,
INCLUDING ITS GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATOGRAPHY AND DESCRIPTION;
TOGETHER WITH A RECORD OF THE MEXICAN GRANTS; THE BEAR FLAG WAR; THE MOUNT
DIABLO COAL FIELDS; THE EARLY HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT, COMPILED FROM THE MOST
AUTHENTIC SOURCES; THE NAMES OF ORIGINAL SPANISH AND MEXICAN PIONEERS; FULL
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; SEPARATE HISTORY OF EACH TOWNSHIP, SHOWING
THE ADVANCE IN POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE;
ALSO,
Incidents of Pioneer Life; and Biographical Sketches
OF EARLY AND PROMINENT SETTLERS AND REPRESENTATIVE MEN;
AMD OF ITS TOWNS, VILLAGES, CHURCHES, SECRET SOCIETIES, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
SAN FRANCISCO: W. A. SLOCUM & CO., PUBLISHERS
1882.




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