Way Back When...

In 1908 when my father, Sumner Peter Hailey, was 17, he and his two brothers, Cecil 19 years and Homer 14 years, traveled from their parent's farm near Guild, Missouri to purchase cattle. The three traveled 271 miles by horse back, to Kansas city, Missouri. About the time the Hailey boys arrived in Kansas City, a man was robbed and murdered. There was a witness to the crime who hid under a wooden raised sidewalk. From this hiding place he could only see the killer's boots. My dad was seen in town and arrested for the murder, because the boots he wore were the same color as the man's who commited the crime. The sheriff also thought that the money my father had to purchase cattle was the stolen money.

After the arrest, Cecil and Homer got on their horses and rode back home, to tell their parents what had happened to Sumner, and to get bail money. While they were gone, a sheriff of a small town near Kansas City arrested a man for a minor crime. It ended up that he had the same boots as the murderer and the stolen money on him. The man confessed to both crimes, and my father was set free to go home.

Later in his life, he served in World War 1 and was married to my mother, Pernella "Nellie" Mitchell Hailey, and they were married for 66 years. They had four children: my sisters Thelma and Ilene, and me and my twin brother. My father lived to the age of 94, and was never arrested again.

Story by:

My Great Grandfather Mitchell Dan Hailey, as told to my grandfather, Bud Buckles.