The Barber-Mizell Feud

 

 

A Drowning in Lake Conway

 

       According to three members of the posse—Jack Evans, Joe Moody, and Bill Duffield—the lawmen made camp south of lake Conway.  Fearing that Moses Barber, Jr., might attempt to escape during the night, they shackled him in irons.  When they awoke the next morning, they claimed Barber had done exactly as they suspected he might.  They tracked his escape route directly to the shores of the lake where his drowned body was later found.

 

          According to the Barber family, the lawmen behaved in a more sinister manner.  Their version states the posse heeded Judge John Mizell’s order not to take any prisoners, placed a ploughshare around Moses’ neck, put him in a croaker sack, and threw him into the lake.  Somehow, they claim, he was able to free himself from the sack and ploughshare and tried to swim to safety.  But, the posse opened fire on the doomed man and he never made it to the shore alive.

 

          Whichever version is correct, both agree that Moses Barber, Jr., did drown in Lake Conway.  A Barber descendant recently wrote that his body was found near a pond on South Ferncreek Road, which had been part of Lake Conway at the time of the feud.  This site was later reported to be haunted by the drowned man’s ghost, and was a source of much terror for the local youngsters.

 

 

More:

1.              Back to Introduction

2.              The Barber Family

3.              The Mizell Family

4.              The Law Clamps Down

5.              Orlando Burns

6.              Ambush at Bull Creek

7.              The Judge’s Fury

8.            Aftermath

9.            Additional sources and links