Singing From the Gallows: The Story of "Bad Tom" Smith. Wayne Combs

      Compass Flower Press

      an imprint of AKA Publishing

      Dedication

      This work is dedicated to my daughter Christin, who has two great-great-grandfathers mentioned in this book. One was as good as the other was bad.

      Acknowledgements

      This book took years to write, and I want to thank those who have helped me in the process. My wife, Carol, did many hours of exhaustive research, and contributed greatly to the finished product. A special thanks to Robert Ludwig, who did the artwork for the cover and encouraged me to finally finish the book. Also, a thank you to Charles Hays, the publisher of The Kentucky Explorer magazine, for writing the forward to the book. Yolanda Ciolli of AKA-Publishing is responsible for the book getting into print under the Compass Flower Press imprint.

      Foreword

      I first read an account of Bad Tom Smith and the Fult French Gang published in our local newspaper, The Jackson Times, when I was still a student at Quicksand Grade School in the late 1950s. Years later, I came across more articles concerning Smith and his role in the famed French-Eversole War of Perry County and the fact he was the first and only man ever legally hanged in Breathitt County. These stories of feuds and outlaw days in Eastern Kentucky started me out in a career dealing with local and state history which has continued even to this day.

      Back in 1969, I put together a small booklet recounting the life and times of Tom Smith, including an account of his hanging. The little book was well-received, and the 1,000 copies soon sold out. Now, some 44 years later, it is a real treat to learn of Wayne Combs’ new book on Bad Tom called Singing From the Gallows. The wonderful details and a keen insight make his book not only a joy to read, but offers many facts not known by most of us. It is evident much research and hard work have gone into the composition.

      To truly appreciate the story of Bad Tom Smith, we must remember the late 1800s as being a time of lawlessness and anarchy not only in Kentucky, but throughout America. Yet, few places suffered through this age of violence as did the highlands of Eastern Kentucky. For several generations the settlers had been cut off from mainstream America, and thus mountain society and customs were a throwback to a much earlier time. While it is true men were elected to uphold the law, in many cases the lawmen were either too weak or too crooked to enforce peace and order. This breakdown allowed for stronger forces to step in and, in some cases, take over whole towns. Clans and factions formed along family lines for financial reasons. Feuds and “wars” were a constant part of everyday life in the mountains of Kentucky from the 1860s until about 1912.

      It was a time when family honor demanded revenge for the slightest insult. Often mountaineers took to the woods seeking out defenseless victims to be shot from ambush. In other cases, without proper schooling or any chance for success, many young mountain men found themselves hired to do the fighting and killing for wealthy and vengeful bosses. Tom Smith was one of these men. He seemingly hired his deadly gun out to the highest bidder in some cases, but in other instances he was just simply bad. According to his own confession made on the day he was hanged, June 28, 1895, he murdered several men and committed other foul deeds.

      In the annals of local history, some men are almost bigger than legend. Such is the case of Tom Smith, a man who during his lifetime carried the name of “Bad Tom.” In an age when murder and ambush were common, few bad men earned the title of “Bad,” but the bloody deeds of Tom Smith more than justify his title. Even today, nearly 120 years after his hanging, when someone speaks of him, he is called Bad Tom Smith.

      However, even the meanest man has a story to be told. He is not mean all the time. As the reader will soon learn, Tom Smith was not all bad. Wayne Combs does a masterful job of bringing out every facet of Bad Tom’s life, both the good and bad. For the reader, there will be some interesting surprises along the way.

      Charles Hayes

      Owner/Publisher

      Kentucky Explorer Magazine

      Jackson, Kentucky

      Introduction

      In the spring, summer, and fall, southeastern Kentucky, the proud home of the Cumberland Mountain Range, is one of the most beautiful places on the earth. However, those Appalachian Mountains look bland and bleak in the winter. The numerous trees that cover the not very tall—but quite steep—mountains show us a breathtaking green from spring to autumn. In the fall, the leaves magically change to various shades of brown, gold, red, and yellow. For a week or so, the hills come alive with breathtaking beauty. Then the landscape looks barren and disrobed throughout the winter, with only a few pine trees and some scrub brush growing out of the snow, making the environment look depressing to many people in the cold winter. But with spring just around the corner, there is always hope for Kentucky’s Cumberland Mountain people.

      Hazard is the county seat of Perry County. In the Appalachian chain, Hazard is located in the middle of the Cumberlands. Because Hazard and Perry County number among the few “wet” places in southeastern Kentucky—meaning that liquor is sold legally there—Perry is one of the most prosperous mountain counties in the state. However, that affluence has come at a great price. Sometimes a great deal of violence takes place in the taverns and bars. “First Chance” and “Last Chance” beer joints seem to dot every county line crossing.

      Perry County was formed in 1821 from portions of Floyd and Clay Counties thirty years after Kentucky, which had been called Kentucky County, Virginia, was taken away from the Old Dominion and admitted to the Union as the fifteenth state. Before Kentucky County became a state, it consisted of three Virginia counties—Jefferson, Fayette, and Lincoln. In 1824, Elijah Combs and his seven brothers established a post office in the small community on the banks of the North Fork of the Kentucky River. Mail carriers and others traveling from Prestonsburg in Floyd County to Manchester in Clay County found Hazard a good rest stop. Then, a subsequent county courthouse was named Perry Courthouse.

      Some people think Hazard got its name from being a violent and “hazardous” place to live. Actually, the town and county were named for American naval hero Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, who helped defeat the British fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812, then became an Admiral. A group of eastern Kentucky mountaineers

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