Deputy Constable Sam Abbott Mosley

Sam Abbott Mosley

Around 10:30 p.m., Deputy Constable Sam Abbott Mosley was waylaid and shot with a load of buckshot near the Fort Worth and Denver railroad track east of Wichita Falls. Seven buckshot struck his body and Mosley returned fire with his pistol before dying. On September 2, 1898, Wichita County Sheriff Lee McMurty and Constable Tom Pickett arrested ex-deputy marshal Josh Cook and placed him in jail charged with complicity in the assassination of Deputy Constable Mosley. During the examining trial of Josh Cook it was discovered that Dorsey Wilson, reportedly a local gambler, was the principal suspect. He was in the courtroom at the time and was immediately arrested.

Josh Cook and Dorsey Wilson were indicted by the Grand Jury for the murder. Josh Cook was convicted at Wise County of complicity in the murder of Deputy Constable Mosley and given 5 years in prison even though he was not present at the shooting. Dorsey Wilson was tried for the actual murder, but he was acquitted.

At this time there is no personal information about Mosley. His name was also reported as Sam Abbott, Mosely and Moseley. He was reported to have previously been a Wichita County deputy sheriff and assisted Texas Rangers in the arrest of one of the Joe Beckham gang.