Person:Bill Halbert (1)

Family History

Bill Halbert was born in on March 16 of 1910 or 1911. 1910 is written on his tombstone, but his death record shows 1911. He was the first of two illegitimate children of Margaret Reynolds to Tom Halbert. The identity and parentage of Tom Halbert is under research. Family sources suggest that they were first cousins.

Murder Conviction

Bill Halbert was convicted of shooting and killing his brother Joe Halbert in 1932. According to family sources, the incident occurred during a night of drinking and poker. Several men including Bill and Joe Halbert and some men with the surnames of Elliott were present. Someone turned out the lights and a shot was fired. It is said that Joe declared the shooter to be his own brother. Some think that one of the Elliott men present may have been the actual shooter. Apparently, an Elliott was accused of killing a man and Joe helped him bury him in a West Virginia coal mine. Joe was set to be a witness in an associated murder trial, thus giving motive to one of the Elliott's as the possible perpetrator. This information has not been confirmed and may never be.

Nevertheless, Bill Halbert was sentenced to 21 years in the state penitentiary in La Grange, Kentucky. According to Bill Halbert's daughter, Roszella, she, an infant, and her mother Loueasie were permitted to stay with him during his last evening in the Floyd County jail. Roszella indicated that one named Will Halbert was the jailer and an uncle of Bill's. The identity of Will Halbert and his relationship to Bill has yet to be confirmed. Bill and Joe's mother, Margaret Reynolds Frasure, met with the governor of Kentucky which resulted in Bill Halbert's sentence being commuted.

Related Documentation

6-3-1932 , Floyd Co Times SEVEN TAKEN FROM FLOYD WEDNESDAY TO BEGIN PEN TERMS

Sheriff B.L. Sturgill left Tuesday for Frankfort, taking with him seven men convicted in the Floyd circuit court and sentenced to penitentiary terms. Three of the seven convicted of slayings. Names of prisoners, offense of each and their terms follow:
Bill Halbert,murder, 21 years; George Whitt, murder, 21 years; Pete Jarrell, manslaughter, two years; Johnnie Moore and Steve Mullins falsewearing, one year each; Lindsay Moten, grand larceny, two years; Milton Wright, storehousebreaking, one year.
Greenbury Hall, who is under a 19-year penitentiary sentence for murder, was to be taken today (Thursday) to Frankfort to begin 'doing time.'
"Soda" Miller, West Prestonsburg youth, convicted of burglary, was sentenced to two years in the penitentiary, but plans to appeal from the verdict.

Found on this website: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kyfloyd/clippings.htm on 4/12/2010 by Shanna Davis

Death

He died on November 26, 1938 while working in a Payne-Baber Coal mine in Ligon. He and his co-workers walked several miles to the mines every day across the mountain to Ligon. It seems that he had recently been promoted on the day of his death, because he now had a position where he used motorized carts to get around in the mine. These motorized carts were powered by electricity conducted by naked wires that ran along the ceiling of the mine shaft. An eyewitness account says that his body had black marks behind each ear suggesting that he lifted his head while the car was in motion and was electrocuted. Mine shafts do not have very high ceilings and the workers must stay crouched to get around. Considering this and the fact that it was his first day of his new job where he was not accustomed to the use of the motor cart and that he was probably very sweaty from a hard days work, one can see how an accident like this could happen.

Bill Halbert and friends

Bill Halbert with his grandmother, mother and brother Joe

Bill Halbert tombstone