HUNGATE, Jessie Simpson

One of our best known and most respected young farmers, J.S. Hungate, was shot on Sunday morning by Ran Wood. It appears that there had been some feeling between the two families for several months and on Saturday night preceding the shooting, Hungate and a younger brother of Wood had a fist fight at the Kiowa School House, Hungate getting decidedly the best of the encounter. The next morning he went to the school house in search of articles he lost out of his pockets during the scrap and on his way home, it is reported that Wood followed and overtook him, both being on horseback. When in front of the farm residence of Mr. Ford, about ten miles north of town, both began shooting Wood dismounting. Several shots were fired by both parties but only one took effect, that one entering Hungate’s body just above the hip pocket on the right side, the ball being extracted later from the front of the body. He was brought to the German Hospital and placed in the care of Dr. Levi, but he died Monday afternoon at about 4:15 p.m. He was an active Farmers’ Union member and prominently identified with the Democratic Party, holding a position on the county committee for several years, and was teaching school southeast of this town(Hammon) . Woods went to Cheyenne and surrendered to the officers.

Jessie Simpson Hungate was born January 8, 1874 and died March 30, 1908 and is buried in the Kiowa Cemetery. He was the son of Adolphus Pheloneous and Nancy Loucretia (Stark) Hungate.