Mannon Davis

Mannon Davis was born in Tennessee in 1863 and spent his early adulthood in Texas, before moving into the Choctaw Nation in 1890.

While living in Eagleton (in present-day southeast Oklahoma) with John Roden and Roden’s wife, Davis came to believe that Roden intended to kill him. Confronted by Davis on December 26, 1891, Roden denied any such intentions. Davis persisted in his accusation before stabbing and killing Roden.

Davis fled. He was tracked down and arrested the next day in Arkansas by Deputy Sheriff Dollarhide on a federal warrant. Davis was returned to Paris, Texas.

Tried in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Paris, Mannon Davis was convicted and sentenced to death.

With Eduardo Gonzales and James Upkins, Mannon David was publicly hanged in Paris, Texas, on March 30, 1894.

In an unusual turn of events, Davis’s brother, Miller, was so upset at the treatment of his brother that he drugged, stabbed, and killed the officer who had arrested him. For that killing, Miller Davis was convicted in Arkansas state court and hanged in November 1893.