J. M. Thurmond

James Madison Thurmond was born February 22, 1836, in Daviess County, Kentucky, to Philip Thurmond and Rebecca Ann Snead. He married Amanda J. Bentley on February 14, 1880, in Dallas, Texas. They had one son, James M. Thurmond Jr.

He served as a private in Company E, 4th Kentucky Cavalry, Confederate Army during the Civil War. The company mustered in at Bardstown, Kentucky, on January 6, 1862, and was commanded by Colonel Jesse Bayles.

He moved to Texas before 1870 and was appointed mayor of Bryan, Texas, by Governor E. J. Davis in November 1869, an office he held for only two months leaving in January 1870. Thurmond later moved to Dallas and opened a law practice. He was elected Mayor of Dallas in April 1879 and re-elected in April 1880. In September 1880, the city council voted to remove him based on ethical and legal issues and elected John John J. Good to fill the vacancy.[1][2][3]

On March 14, 1882, Robert E. Cowart shot and killed Thurmond in a Dallas courtroom. Bad blood had existed between the two since 1880 because Cowart was one of the prosecutors in charge of outing him as mayor. The cause of the alteration is not known, but it is alleged to have been related to the trial and Thurmond’s belief that Cowart had slandered Thurmond’s name. Thurmond produced a first, but Cowart shot first. Immediately arrested then bailed for $200, Cowart was initially convicted of murder and sentenced to seven years in prison. Upon appeal, he was acquitted with self-defense noted as the reason for the shooting. Thurmond was interred at Greenwood Cemetery, Dallas, Texas.