"Hangings and Lynchings in Dallas County, Texas: 1853 to 1920" documents all of the known hangings in Dallas County including . . . Jane Elkins, a slave, hanged for the ax murder of Andrew C. Wisdom and the first female to be legally hanged in Texas . . . Four young men, two of whom were brothers, accused of being horse thieves and cattle rustlers were lynched by vigilantes . . . Reuben "Rube" Johnson, lynched by three men for refusing to give false testimony in an upcoming theft trial . . . Henry Miller, hanged after being tried and convicted for the 1892 murder of Dallas Police Officer C. O. Brewer . . . Fred Douglas, the last person to be legally hanged in Dallas County.
The author, Terry Baker spent a lifetime in law enforcement, retiring with the rank of assistant chief deputy after thirty-nine years with the Dallas County Sheriff's Department. He served as captain and commander of the "Old Jail" in downtown Dallas where the last five Dallas County hangings were held.