The Jones-Liddell Feud, 1847-1870 (Episode 15)

This week, it's a self-inflicted and completely unnecessary disaster - one that took fourteen lives over the course of nearly thirty years, and outlasted the American Civil War. We'll be covering the 1847 argument between two very rich and deeply unlikeable Louisiana planters, Charles Jones and St. John Richardson Liddell, that led to the feud, and digging into the unbelievable pettiness of the following bloodshed. Related sidebars include an overview of how the legal system treated the feud's murders and lynching, Jones and Liddell's involvement in the Civil War, and the surprising career of one of the feud's few survivors, Cuthbert Bulitt Jones. 

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Sources for this episode include:

"The Black River Tragedy", Ouachita Telegraph, March 5, 1870 (Louisiana Digital Library) (https://louisianadigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/state-lwp%3A2497)

"The Death of F. S. Jones", Tensas Gazette, May 13, 1921 (https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=13261394&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjIyMTMzNDk3MiwiaWF0IjoxNjE2MTc4NzE2LCJleHAiOjE2MTYyNjUxMTZ9.ct_eSKX1DhI5qlcANmT1ulwhBm77FJQluyN61MC_5Wg)

"The Jones-King Matter", Savannah Morning News, June 13, 1885 (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015137/1885-06-13/ed-1/seq-2/)

"Liddell's Record", by St. John Richardson Liddell, LSU Press reprint, 1997

"Shiloh Veteran Murders former Confederate General in 1870", Geni entry for Col. CHarles Jones, CSA (https://www.geni.com/people/Col-CSA-Charles-Jones/6000000124769056821)

"Longtime Catahoula parish feud to reignite next weekend", by V. Hogan, Natchez Democrat, October 31, 2009 (https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2009/10/31/longtime-catahoula-parish-feud-to-reignite-next-weekend/)

"The Last of Louisiana's Aristocratic Feudists Upsets Family Traditions By Dying A Natural Death", Washington Times, October 5, 1921 (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/23063216/the-last-of-louisianas-aristocratic/)