Outlaws Benjamin Bickerstaff and Josiah Thompson
Alvarado, Johnson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Near this site in 1869, Alvarado citizens ended the lives of outlaws Benjamin Bickerstaff and Josiah Thompson. A former Confederate veteran and prisoner of war, Bickerstaff was wanted for the murder of an African American man in Louisiana shortly after the Civil War. He later joined Alvarado business owner Josiah Thompson, also a Confederate veteran, and the two are believed to have participated in numerous robberies and murders in this area, including incidents in Alvarado. When they rode together into town on April 5, 1869, organized citizens shot them numerous times. They were buried in Balch (Old Alvarado) Cemetery. (2006)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the unsettled years after the Civil War, this stretch of Johnson County was plagued by outlaws, among them Benjamin Bickerstaff, a former Confederate soldier wanted for murder in Louisiana, and his associate Josiah Thompson. When the pair rode into Alvarado on April 5, 1869, organized townspeople shot them dead. Both were buried in the old Alvarado cemetery.
Why it matters
The episode captures the vigilante justice and lawlessness that gripped much of Reconstruction-era Texas before formal law enforcement took hold.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Bickerstaff
- · Josiah Thompson
Themes & tags
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