Pike-Fulton County GaArchives Obituaries.....Delk, Taylor November 17, 1904
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Lynn Cunningham http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002535 May 13, 2006, 8:22 pm

Pike County Times-Journal, Friday, November 25, 1904
Noted Outlaw Is Buried in Atlanta

Taylor Delk Was Laid to Rest Beside the Grave of His Son - Burial Was Private.

In the presence of a small gathering, composed only of relatives and intimate 
friends of the family, Taylor Delk, the famous outlaw who died suddenly 
Thursday at the state prison farm while the prison commission was considering a 
petition for his pardon, was laid to rest at 1 o'clock Monday afternoon in 
Hollywood Cemetery.

Accompanied by one of his sons, who resides at Sunset avenue, the remains 
arrived in Atlanta from Milledgeville at 8 o’clock Sunday night.

It was the desire of the family that no public announcement of the burial be 
made, but the most intimate acquaintances were aware of the body. Brief and 
simple ceremonies marked the services at the grave which was dug beside the 
resting place of Tom Delk, the son who was hanged for complicity in the same 
crime for which the father was sentenced to life imprisonment.

There are scores of curious people who are always persistent in the desire to 
view the remains of noted criminals and it was for the purpose of preventing 
any inconveniences along that line that the relatives of Delk did not publicly 
announce his funeral.

When he died Taylor Delk was serving out a life sentence for the murder of 
Sheriff W.O. Gywn, of Pike county. The details of the crime and the subsequent 
arraignment of Delk and his son are still clear in the memories of many. It 
seems that a number of cattle had been stolen in Pike county and suspicion was 
directed towards the Delks. When the Sheriff went to arrest the men, father and 
son barricaded themselves in their home and when the officer of the law 
attempted to force an entrance they opened fire. The desperate battle, in which 
the sheriff was killed lasted for over an hour, but finall[y] resulted in the 
arrest of the fugitives.

The feeling of the people in the community was greatly aroused, as the result 
of the murder of Sheriff Gwyn and the prisoners were brought to Atlanta for 
safe keeping. After a sensational trial Tom Delk was sentenced to be hanged and 
he paid the penalty upon the gallows.

When first arraigned the father was found guilty and sentenced to die. However, 
after his case was appealed three times he was ultimately sentenced to life 
imprisonment.

He proved a model prisoner and a petition for his pardon was being considered 
when he dropped dead from heart failure. He was 62 years of age and was a 
Confederate veteran. - Atlanta Journal.

[Transcribed 05/13/06 Lynn Cunningham]

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