On March 19, 1927, a man slowly walked up to the door of his former boarding house and, an instant later, three gunshots rang out.
That was all.
Until about thirty minutes later, when the door opened and a middle aged man named Theodore Dood stepped out and stared down in bewilderment at the body lying on the threshold.
The body belonged to one Lincoln C. Ensley, a 66-year-old Spanish war veteran. The shooter was the owner of the house, an 86-year-old Civil War veteran named Frank Pierce. Theodore Dood was Pierce’s stepson.
What could have caused this tragedy? Was it a mistake? An accident? No. This was a deliberate killing over a woman.
Apparently, Mr. Ensley had been “making eyes” at Mrs. Pierce, age 70, and had stated some intentions toward her, dismissing her husband as a temporary problem. Mr. Pierce promptly ejected Ensley from the house.
Ensley returned to the house a few days later, probably to get his things. Pierce saw him coming and fired three shots through the door.
The county attorney, John A. McLaughlin, told reporters that Frank Pierce would face murder charges.
I couldn’t find any follow up on this case so I assume the charges were dropped. There’s a lot we don’t know. Maybe Mr. Pierce misunderstood Mr. Ensley. Maybe Mr. Ensley was just coming back to pick up his luggage. What were Mrs. Pierce’s thoughts on the matter?
Either way, I find myself sympathizing with Mr. Pierce. Who did this young whippersnapper Lincoln Ensley think he was, strutting into Mr. Pierce’s house and flirting with Mrs. Pierce? I would’ve told him to pack his bags too. For him to come back a few days later was very provoking.
What do you all think?
Reader Jax “Saggezza” had an interesting thought to check on Mr. Pierce’s date of death. Though I couldn’t find him, here’s the government record for Mr. Endsley (the newspapers spelled his last name incorrectly). Gives us a few more details about Mr. Endsley. Amongst other things, we can see he was a barber by trade, with dark hair and blue eyes. And Mr. Pierce’s gunshot hit him where it hurt.
Mr. Endsley’s record
The same weekend, there was more trouble in marital paradise, but this time there was no third person involved. I’ll just include the whole article for you here:
In this case, I feel Mr. Branch was a tad extreme. But then, I tend to infuriate all my card partners by over-bidding, so I may be a little biased.
old spirituals 
An 86 year old Civil War Veteran, in the opinion of some jurors, might warrant sympathy and, thus, view Mr. Pierce as being justified in his actions. The county attorney, John McLaughlin, certainly realized that and may have decided it wasn’t worth the expense and/or his time because of the strong possibility of a sympathetic jury verdict.
Would McLaughlin have even asked for the death penalty if Mr. Pierce had been prosecuted?
Would be interesting to know how and when Mr. Pierce died. And when John McLaughlin died.
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That’s a really good question, Jax. I looked over at familysearch.org, but the records are pretty disorganized. I did find one Frank Pierce who died in 1927, but it looked like he was a veteran of the Indian Wars. His widow was named Eliza but I couldn’t find any more info about her! Strange for her to be at the center of a love triangle, I bet!
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I did find Mr. Endsley’s war record. I can’t add it to the comments but I’ll attach it to the post. It’s interesting!
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