Bolin Murder Inquest
One of the
earliest known photographs of Rogers is
shown at right. It depicts the prosperous,
growing town in about 1881 along First
Street between Elm and Poplar Streets. The
year 1881 is notable in the history of
Rogers as the year of its incorporation.
That year also hold another, but
unfortunate, distinction for the community.
In 1881 Rogers held its first murder
inquest.
On
Christmas Eve of 1881 town authorities were
alerted that a shooting had taken place at
the residence of the Bolin family. The
inquest transcripts are not clear as to
their exact address however. The coroner
was absent, so Mayor J. Wade Sikes served in
that capacity and began the investigation.
Mary Bolin and the Bolin’s boarder, George
Martin, were taken into custody and held for
questioning and Mayor Sikes immediately
summoned a jury of the following “twelve
good and lawful” men: Roland Mitchell, John
Dunagin, Thomas Stoakes, J.F. McDaniel, J.W.
Davis, R.B. Parker, J.W. Boyd, J. Cook, J.
Summey, M.B. Coroan (?), W.L. Prewit, and
E.D. Morgan.
Testimony
given by witnesses in the Coroner’s inquest
painted a troubled image of the Bolin home.
Mary Bolin testified that Esow had
previously killed two men to her knowledge
and that he had threatened her life with a
knife. She said that “he was a common
thief, robber, and murderer” and that she
killed Esow to save her own life. Mary also
went on to testify that their boarder,
George Martin, was sleeping in the room
where the shooting took place.
A major
cause of the tension between the Bolins
seems to have revolved around the sale of a
group of supposedly stolen knives by Mary to
an individual named Billy Board. Esow had
learned that the authorities were making
inquires regarding the knives and feared
that the sale might lead to the discovery of
his guilt, according to Mary. She reported
that she knew that the knives were stolen
before she sold them. She also testified
that Martin knew that she and “her husband
did not get along well together.” But that
he did not know of her intention of killing
Esow.
The
Bolin’s twelve year old daughter, Mary, Jr.,
was called to testify. She said that she
was awake at the time of the shooting, but
that she did not see it happen. She also
claimed that she heard her father threaten
her mother not long prior to the murder, but
that there had been no trouble between her
parents during the three weeks that Martin
boarded with the family. In the transcript
of her testimony she reported, “Mother did
not tell me what to say before I came
here.” Mary, Jr. also testified that she
didn’t know if Martin knew of any trouble
between her parents.
George
Martin testified that the shooting woke him
up and that Mary asked him to “get up and
let the people know it.” Martin, a
carpenter from Eureka Springs, had arrived
in Rogers three weeks prior to the shooting,
took lodging with the Bolins, and had worked
with Esow Bolin. Martin also testified that
Mrs. Bolin had not confided in him regarding
the trouble over the sale of the stolen
knives.
Mary, Jr.
was recalled to the stand and testified as
follows: “Father and Mother had a quarrel
about two weeks ago. The quarrel was while
they were at dinner. No one present except
Mr. Martin. Don’t know what the quarrel was
about. Never quarreled but once in the
presence of Mr. Martin.”
The jury
carefully examined the body, evidence,
premises, prisoners, and witnesses and
returned a verdict, which read as follows:
“Esow Bolin came to his death at the hour
12:11am December 24th, 1881 from
a pistol shot in back of the head ranging
forward and breaking the skull of the
forehead but not passing out. Said pistol
was fired by Mary Bolin wife of said Esow
Bolin.” Sikes arrested Mary Bolin and
placed her in the Benton County Jail to
await action by the Grand Jury. The Grand
Jury was then responsible for determining if
enough evidence existed to issue an
indictment against Mrs. Bolin and hold a
criminal trial.
The most
shocking testimony of the case was given by
Benton County Deputy Sheriff and Jailor,
W.F. Patton. After Mary Bolin had been
taken to the Benton County Jail in
Bentonville, Patton visited the jail with
friends during the afternoon around 2pm. At
that time, Mary asked for something to trim
threads from her dress and Patton reported
loaning her his Barlow knife. About 3pm,
Patton returned to the jail and found
another prisoner, Emily Arney, sweeping out
the jail. As he stepped back to allow Arney
to sweep out the area of the cells, Mrs.
Bolin cut her own throat with the Barlow
knife. Mary Bolin’s infant child was the
only person in the cell with her at the time
she committed suicide.
Mrs. Arney,
who was also being held on a murder charge,
gave the final testimony of the case: “I
never did hear her say that she would take
her own life. She eat her dinner and then
went back to bed to nip off some ruffles, I
believe. Mr. Patton told me not to come in
there, she had cut her throat.”
