The Forgotten Brother. : Sam atkins

                             Ode to Samuel Taylor Atkins

Its been a good long time since I,ve published a blog and I am real sorry about that. It got away from me. 2016 has been and interesting year. It got hard and weird at times but I worked on my research and here I am..      Praise the Lord. 
    So what was my research you ask. I opened a big giant can of Samuel Taylor Atkins. I,ve been down a long road this two years studying that boy.  His narrative of who, What ,when ,where and why have come a long way. He in not confined to a dusty paragraph about Bigfoot Smith any longer I am proud to say. Im not saying his brothers were wrong , as I suspect that was whom was interviewed when our family book was made in early 1980s. Below you will find a piece from our family book . Some of it is true on Sam. those true things are 
1. Sam did die in St. Vincent's Sanitarium . 
2. he was killed in a fight, but more of a brawl and not a gang fight 
3. He did die after a good while. He was struck May 14 shortly after 3:30 p.m and finally died May 19. 1927 at 10.p.m. 
4. He did die of a fractured skull from a 2x4. 

5. He did not whoever die by the hands of a man named Big foot smith, but Ollie Oneal. A young man whom was adjacent tenant on the farm Sam lived on. In 1925 Sam's brother G.E killed a man named Douglass  and their are men named smith listed as witnesses on the Appeal documents.

I have lots and lots of new research on Oneal and Sam as well! Below is what i Consider Sam's obituary. I have looked and this is all I have found for now. I note Atkins is often spelled wrong. 

I am also thrilled to say I finally found articles on Trial testimony . Officially I have only had time to type up just one from an article. Below I will put bits and pieces of testimony form his dad and Brother G.E ( George Ethel) . Trial testimony is in red and my thought's are in black. when I sat at the microfilm to read this I was taken aback .  Alot of Back and fourth hinged on whether Sam had a knife or not. One was indeed found I understand the day after Sam fell.  excerpts below from the Sherman democrat-1928. I will include the parts that struck me very deeply
" The wound he testified had been washed and examined and had seemed to have been made by a blunt instrument which mashed rather than cut the head. Atkins was Semi-conscious but was growing worse and this caused the suggestion he be brought to the sanitarium. In his opinion a fracture or serious conscious had been caused it was stated. " -Dr. Sadler , Howe Dr. 

I gather this was the last day that Sam was lucid in his life . I picture in my head it all went black from here after he was hit. 
"
"Replying to a question from Mr. Buster, Dr. Sadler Stated that Atkins had suffered a “Profound shock” and that his body was a little cold."
From what  I understand after the body goes cold after a great shock or blow.  The beginning fo the end unfortunately. In another article it was mentioned that sam would not come back , as anyone hardly ever does from an injury such as that.
"
The injured man did not rise after falling and was lifted by his father and brother and carried to Howe, the testimony further stated.  The concluding portions dealt with an examination made by Dr. Sadler at Howe, after which he was brought to a Sanitarium at Sherman. He did not regain consciousness as far as it could be ascertained, prior to his death on May 19.   I cannot say much for this at all , only that it makes me want to bawl every time I read it. Dammit. In this same article its mentioned the oneals drove away according to G.E . Hoot.

"When the deceased was about 18 to 20 from the wagon, it was stated Ollie O’Neal ran around the wagon and to within a few feet from behind with the timber, the blow landing on the left side of the back of the head. Atkins was knocked down by the blow and remained prostrate, his arms stretched above his head. Before he could strike another blow O’Neal was caught by the collar and jerked away by the witness, it was testified. There was nothing in Sam Taylor Atkins hands when he was struck it was stated and O’Neal struck from over his left should Atkins testified"  -G.E Atkins
This is the meat and Potatoes of everything. . This is what differs the truth from the family article. .  This explains where Sam was after he had gotten out of the wagon to go after Oneal and elder Oneal while they were fighting to my understanding.  There
 ____________________________________________________________________________________________

There is lots more that I could include, but for now I shall leave it at that because those are what stood out to my when i found this article on microfilm . I will include an article from May of 1927 Below.