Calvin Herring — Grieving Father Turned Suicide After Failed Vengeance
Staples, had been courting his young daughters Sally (16) and Lulu (14) while he was away from the ranch [4]. When deputies Muse and Baca escorted the prisoners through Silver City, Herring emerged from a restaurant and pulled a pistol, intending to kill them both, but the deputies intervened and disarmed him [7][5]. He begged the officers to move aside so he could shoot the prisoners [5]. After being disarmed, Herring witnessed the prisoners attempt to escape and then helped make arrangements for a strenuous prosecution [3][1]. He departed for home to bring his daughters as witnesses, appearing dazed and heartbroken [2]. Reaching home about 6:30 p.m., he questioned his daughters; the younger girl's account confirmed his worst fears [2]. He sent them back to milking, then went into a workroom and shot himself in the head with a Winchester rifle, using a stick to push the trigger [6][2]. A coroner’s jury returned a verdict of suicide, and he was buried at Pinos Altos [6].
Sources
- The Sequel — Herring Suicides (1891)The Sequel — Herring Suicides After making arrangements for a strenu- ous prosecution. Herring started for home to bring his daughters in as witnesses at the pre- liminary examination. While his friends in Silver Ci…
- Silver City Enterprise — 1891 (full OCR, Internet Archive) — 1891-08-28 (1891)l — Herring Suicides After making arrangements for a strenu- ous prosecution. Herring started for home to bring his daughters in as witnesses at the pre- liminary examination. While his friends in Silver City we…
- Silver City Enterprise — 1891 (full OCR, Internet Archive) — 1891-08-28 (1891)les crying out, “O don’t let him shoot me, don’t let him shoot me.” Muse and Baca covered Herring with their revolvers and told him they could not stand to have prisoners in their charge shot down. He b…
- Silver City Enterprise — 1891 (full OCR, Internet Archive) — 1891-08-28 (1891)as the head of another home. His two young daughters then were all he had in the world, and as the sequel proved, they were all the world to him. Sally, the older girl, was sixteen last April, and Lulu…
- Silver City Enterprise — 1891 (full OCR, Internet Archive) — 1891-08-28 (1891)Monday morning. Sheriff Lockhart, becoming aware of the probability of a killing if Herring ran across the pair, had sent deputies in every direction to arrest them with the double purpose of pre- serving the…
- cent and would say little… (1891)cent and would say little. He was dazed and heart broken. He reached home about 6 :30 in the evening while the girls were milking the cows, and calling the girls to him questioned them in regard to the whol…
- Deputies Muse and Baca discovered them… (1891)Deputies Muse and Baca discovered them emerging from the Exchange saloon where they had been keeping out of sight in the back room. The deputies started with the prisoners for the county jail ; they had gone b…