The
Barber-Mizell Feud
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:
8.
Aftermath