Individual Details

Birth

The 1860 Coryell County, Texas, US Federal Census shows E.W., age 5, b. TX in the Wyatt and Naomi Hall household.
Name shown as Epinetta in 1870 Coryell County census.

Death

Epinetta "Neat" Hall was killed about 6-26-1879 near Colfax, LA. He and his cousin P.B. Hicks were fleeing a sheriff's posse from Marshall, TX, where they stole two horses while on the run from Coryell County, TX, after Neat Hall failed to honor his bail bond there.
Neat refused to surrender and was shot to death by a posse member.

Rita Lokey's James Hicks Family History documents this event with two microfilmed newspaper articles from the Tri-County Herald, 6-26-1879, and the Marshall Messenger, 6-26-1879, Marshall, TX.

Miscellaneous

Epinetta (Neet) Hall fled Coryell County, Texas, while out of jail on bond, awaiting trial for horse theft. He was accompanied by his cousin Price B. Hicks (son of Harvey K. Hicks.) The two made their way to Marshall, Texas, where they stole two horses and headed to Natchitoches, Louisiana, where in-laws of the family lived.
A posse tracked them down near Colfax, Louisiana, and confronted the two cousins. Neet was defiant and refused to surrender. He was shot dead, but Price surrendered.
Price was convicted of horse theft and sentenced to five years in the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, Texas.

This account is documented newspaper articles (microfilm) "District Court," Tri-County Herald, Marshall, TX, 6-26-1879 and "Hunt After Horse Thieves," Marshall Messenger, 6-26-1879, from Rita Lokey's James Hicks Family collection.

Miscellaneous

In March 1877, Neat Hall was charged with theft of a mare. He was said to have stolen the mare and then used it in a bet on a horse race, which Neat lost. The mare was reclaimed by the rightful owner from the winner of the bet, resulting in charges against Neat.
Neat was found guilty and sentenced to five years in the Texas penitentiary.
The verdict was appealed due to the evidence against Neat not being very strong and the court had not allowed sufficient time for defense witnesses to be located. These witnesses, W.P. Freeman, H.J. Hall, G.W. Hadnot, and Emmett Murphy stated that Neat had traded for the mare in September 1876 and that he was the owner.
Neat was approved for bail, but he feared harm if he returned home. He remained in jail awaiting his appeal trial for nearly a year before accepting the bail bond obtained by his mother Naomi Hall and other relatives. Shortly before his trial was scheduled for May 1879, a large group of armed men came to the Hall home one night and returned several more nights making threatening actions against Neat.
Neat feared for his life and fled Coryell County with his cousin P.B. Hicks, trying to escape to their relatives in Louisiana. During this flight they stole two horses in Marshall, Texas, on 6-6-1879; and Neat was killed when he refused to surrender to a posse chasing the two for stealing the horses. His cousin P.B. Hicks was found guilty and served five years in prison.
Tragically, Neat most likely would have been acquitted of his crime in Coryell County.