MORMON CONVERT- PIONEER- MILITIA MEMBER- CIVIC LEADER- CONFESSED AND CONVICTED MURDERER OF OLIVE CURTIS COOMBS HIGBY
On Thursday morning, July 28, 1862, Cedar City resident and Iron County Militia member George Wood, after arming himself with a percussion cap revolver, mounted and rode his horse to the Ezra Higby home shared by Higby's new wife Olive and her daughters. Olive and her daughter Emily were sitting on a bed located on the cabin's floor and were apparently attempting to rise when Wood, without warning, burst into the room and opened fire. The first bullet passed through Emily's right thigh. Emily, in attempting to move, fell into shock. The next bullet, aimed at Olive, entered her right thigh cutting her femoral artery and then embedded itself in her abdomen just above the pubic bone near her bladder. George's next shot missed both targets and in his next attempt his percussion cap revolver jammed. Then the angry, respected citizen of Cedar City, proceeded to use his weapon to club Olive repeatedly on the skull eventually cracking her skull and causing brain matter to be exposed. Then Wood, satisfied that he had murdered Olive, turned his attention again to Emily who had fled into the street before falling down. George left the house, grabbed the wounded teenager by her hair and dragged her back into the house. Then, while yelling obscenities, he beat her with his gun over and over until he had cracked her skull. Then, being convinced that he had killed both, he then left the scene and headed for his own home.
WOOD'S CONFESSION
In his August 3, 1862 letter to Brigham Young Bishop Lunt wrote,
"We walked as fast as we could toward the Fort and met him on his return back. (Bro. Samuel Leigh, one of my counselors, was at this time with Bro. Haight and myself.) Says he, ‘Bishop – I have killed two women and I want you to see that they are buried and,' says he, ‘by the eternal Gods anyone who interferes with my family again, I will serve them in the same way.' I said, ‘You had better give yourself up to Judge Smith.' He made no reply but went on towards home. We continued on down the street where we saw several persons gathered at the house of Ezra Higby, where we found his wife laying on the floor in a pool of blood".
After witnessing the brutal murder of their mother and the shooting and savage clubbing of their older sister, Olive's other daughters fled into the fields and were not found until two days later, hungry, frightened and shivering.
As reported in his letter to Brigham Young Cedar City Bishop Henry Lunt stated that George Wood on his way home confessed to to him that he had killed two women. Wood also later pleaded guilty to his brutal murder of Olive. He alleged that 13 year-old Emily Coombs had seduced his 18 year-old son Joseph as the reason for his actions. This, however, may had been a lie on Wood's part in an attempt at covering up his heinous crimes.
PETITION FOR EXECUTIVE PARDON
Following Wood's conviction and imprisonment however, a number of the citizens of Cedar City and other communities, including a few prominent L.D.S. Church general authorities, judges, former jury members and local church and civic leaders signed a petition seeking his pardon and release from prison. Apparently, Olive had been a stranger to the town of Cedar City, arriving with her four daughters and without a husband while George Wood, an early Iron County settler, was a prominent and respected citizen of the community. His petitioners fabricated lies about Olive's character and her real purpose for being in Cedar City. They, as George had earlier suggested, falsely branded Olive of being a prostitute and the former madam of a "house of ill-repute" in Beaver, Utah who, with the help of her 13 year-old daughter Emily, was also setting up another prostitution business in Cedar City. The actual fact that she had been sent to Beaver and Cedar City to teach school was lost within the lies of Wood's supporters.
TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE
The perjured petition of his friends proved to be successful for on March 8, 1865 Utah Governor James Duane Doty (in office from 1863-1865) signed the executive pardon setting Wood free. George Wood, the confessed and convicted murderer of Olive Curtis Coombs, actually served less than three years of his life sentence. In fact, during a large portion of that time he had spent out of prison, even going home for almost a year! After his official pardon he returned to Cedar City and resumed his life as a respected citizen of the community until his death in 1908. Wood is buried in the Cedar City Cemetery under a large monument(in retrospect,his murder victim, Olive Curtis Coombs, still lies in an unmarked and unknown grave).
AFTERMATH
After her murder Olive's daughters were placed in the homes of local Mormon families. Helen, her daughter who lived in California, came to Utah to reunite with her sisters and take them back to her home in Napa, California. The local courts, however, denied her request. Emily was taken to live with Olive's brother Theodore Curtis who resided in Salt Lake City. Olive Olivia Curtis Coombs was buried in an unmarked grave north of Cedar City, Utah.
Along with his involvement in the militia Wood, in November of 1853, had also been appointed as the Captain of a local "company of mounted Minute Men" in Cedar City. And although Wood had been a member of the militia in 1857 it is not known whether he had only helped plan or had taken part in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. He was, however, perhaps involved for on October 8, 1870 Wood along with fellow militia members and known massacre participants, John D. Lee,and Isaac C. Haight, were excommunicated from the L.D.S. Church.
Sources: Robert Glass Cleland and Juanita Brooks, editors, A Mormon Chronicle- The Diaries of John D. Lee, 1848-1867, pp. 144, 146).
In his diary entry for Nov. 17, 1870 John D. Lee noted, "I was also informed that Myself, I. C. Haight, & Geo. Wood had been expelled from the Church, but for what cause is not stated" (ibid. pp. 143-144).
Later Lee, in relating some of his dreams, noted that "Satan was working through certain persons to injure [him]." He further stated that "apostates and Godbyites [sic] are trying to implicate Prest. B. Toung in the Mountain Meadows affair, on the ground that he houlds [sic] Men in the church who are reported to be in it" (ibid. p. p. 147). The allusion perhaps being that he was among those which Young "holds" as being involved in the massacre.
See, Utah Department of Administrative Services, Division of Archives and Records Service, Series: 373, Reel # 12, Box # 09, Folder # 126, Name: Wood, George, Defendant, Filing Date: 2/14/1865, Case Type: Habeas Corpus, Opposing Party: Warden.
For record of executive pardon see: Utah State Historical Society, Governor James Duane Doty- Utah Territorial Papers, Film A-702, record number 2091 and 2092
See also, Evelyn K. Jones,Henry Lunt Biography, printed at B.Y.U. Family History Copy Center, p. 108, 115, for references of Wood's appointment as Captain over minute men.
See also, Juanita Brooks, Mountain Meadows Massacre, p. 165.
On Thursday morning, July 28, 1862, Cedar City resident and Iron County Militia member George Wood, after arming himself with a percussion cap revolver, mounted and rode his horse to the Ezra Higby home shared by Higby's new wife Olive and her daughters. Olive and her daughter Emily were sitting on a bed located on the cabin's floor and were apparently attempting to rise when Wood, without warning, burst into the room and opened fire. The first bullet passed through Emily's right thigh. Emily, in attempting to move, fell into shock. The next bullet, aimed at Olive, entered her right thigh cutting her femoral artery and then embedded itself in her abdomen just above the pubic bone near her bladder. George's next shot missed both targets and in his next attempt his percussion cap revolver jammed. Then the angry, respected citizen of Cedar City, proceeded to use his weapon to club Olive repeatedly on the skull eventually cracking her skull and causing brain matter to be exposed. Then Wood, satisfied that he had murdered Olive, turned his attention again to Emily who had fled into the street before falling down. George left the house, grabbed the wounded teenager by her hair and dragged her back into the house. Then, while yelling obscenities, he beat her with his gun over and over until he had cracked her skull. Then, being convinced that he had killed both, he then left the scene and headed for his own home.
WOOD'S CONFESSION
In his August 3, 1862 letter to Brigham Young Bishop Lunt wrote,
"We walked as fast as we could toward the Fort and met him on his return back. (Bro. Samuel Leigh, one of my counselors, was at this time with Bro. Haight and myself.) Says he, ‘Bishop – I have killed two women and I want you to see that they are buried and,' says he, ‘by the eternal Gods anyone who interferes with my family again, I will serve them in the same way.' I said, ‘You had better give yourself up to Judge Smith.' He made no reply but went on towards home. We continued on down the street where we saw several persons gathered at the house of Ezra Higby, where we found his wife laying on the floor in a pool of blood".
After witnessing the brutal murder of their mother and the shooting and savage clubbing of their older sister, Olive's other daughters fled into the fields and were not found until two days later, hungry, frightened and shivering.
As reported in his letter to Brigham Young Cedar City Bishop Henry Lunt stated that George Wood on his way home confessed to to him that he had killed two women. Wood also later pleaded guilty to his brutal murder of Olive. He alleged that 13 year-old Emily Coombs had seduced his 18 year-old son Joseph as the reason for his actions. This, however, may had been a lie on Wood's part in an attempt at covering up his heinous crimes.
PETITION FOR EXECUTIVE PARDON
Following Wood's conviction and imprisonment however, a number of the citizens of Cedar City and other communities, including a few prominent L.D.S. Church general authorities, judges, former jury members and local church and civic leaders signed a petition seeking his pardon and release from prison. Apparently, Olive had been a stranger to the town of Cedar City, arriving with her four daughters and without a husband while George Wood, an early Iron County settler, was a prominent and respected citizen of the community. His petitioners fabricated lies about Olive's character and her real purpose for being in Cedar City. They, as George had earlier suggested, falsely branded Olive of being a prostitute and the former madam of a "house of ill-repute" in Beaver, Utah who, with the help of her 13 year-old daughter Emily, was also setting up another prostitution business in Cedar City. The actual fact that she had been sent to Beaver and Cedar City to teach school was lost within the lies of Wood's supporters.
TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE
The perjured petition of his friends proved to be successful for on March 8, 1865 Utah Governor James Duane Doty (in office from 1863-1865) signed the executive pardon setting Wood free. George Wood, the confessed and convicted murderer of Olive Curtis Coombs, actually served less than three years of his life sentence. In fact, during a large portion of that time he had spent out of prison, even going home for almost a year! After his official pardon he returned to Cedar City and resumed his life as a respected citizen of the community until his death in 1908. Wood is buried in the Cedar City Cemetery under a large monument(in retrospect,his murder victim, Olive Curtis Coombs, still lies in an unmarked and unknown grave).
AFTERMATH
After her murder Olive's daughters were placed in the homes of local Mormon families. Helen, her daughter who lived in California, came to Utah to reunite with her sisters and take them back to her home in Napa, California. The local courts, however, denied her request. Emily was taken to live with Olive's brother Theodore Curtis who resided in Salt Lake City. Olive Olivia Curtis Coombs was buried in an unmarked grave north of Cedar City, Utah.
Along with his involvement in the militia Wood, in November of 1853, had also been appointed as the Captain of a local "company of mounted Minute Men" in Cedar City. And although Wood had been a member of the militia in 1857 it is not known whether he had only helped plan or had taken part in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. He was, however, perhaps involved for on October 8, 1870 Wood along with fellow militia members and known massacre participants, John D. Lee,and Isaac C. Haight, were excommunicated from the L.D.S. Church.
Sources: Robert Glass Cleland and Juanita Brooks, editors, A Mormon Chronicle- The Diaries of John D. Lee, 1848-1867, pp. 144, 146).
In his diary entry for Nov. 17, 1870 John D. Lee noted, "I was also informed that Myself, I. C. Haight, & Geo. Wood had been expelled from the Church, but for what cause is not stated" (ibid. pp. 143-144).
Later Lee, in relating some of his dreams, noted that "Satan was working through certain persons to injure [him]." He further stated that "apostates and Godbyites [sic] are trying to implicate Prest. B. Toung in the Mountain Meadows affair, on the ground that he houlds [sic] Men in the church who are reported to be in it" (ibid. p. p. 147). The allusion perhaps being that he was among those which Young "holds" as being involved in the massacre.
See, Utah Department of Administrative Services, Division of Archives and Records Service, Series: 373, Reel # 12, Box # 09, Folder # 126, Name: Wood, George, Defendant, Filing Date: 2/14/1865, Case Type: Habeas Corpus, Opposing Party: Warden.
For record of executive pardon see: Utah State Historical Society, Governor James Duane Doty- Utah Territorial Papers, Film A-702, record number 2091 and 2092
See also, Evelyn K. Jones,Henry Lunt Biography, printed at B.Y.U. Family History Copy Center, p. 108, 115, for references of Wood's appointment as Captain over minute men.
See also, Juanita Brooks, Mountain Meadows Massacre, p. 165.
MORMON CONVERT- PIONEER- MILITIA MEMBER- CIVIC LEADER- CONFESSED AND CONVICTED MURDERER OF OLIVE CURTIS COOMBS HIGBY
On Thursday morning, July 28, 1862, Cedar City resident and Iron County Militia member George Wood, after arming himself with a percussion cap revolver, mounted and rode his horse to the Ezra Higby home shared by Higby's new wife Olive and her daughters. Olive and her daughter Emily were sitting on a bed located on the cabin's floor and were apparently attempting to rise when Wood, without warning, burst into the room and opened fire. The first bullet passed through Emily's right thigh. Emily, in attempting to move, fell into shock. The next bullet, aimed at Olive, entered her right thigh cutting her femoral artery and then embedded itself in her abdomen just above the pubic bone near her bladder. George's next shot missed both targets and in his next attempt his percussion cap revolver jammed. Then the angry, respected citizen of Cedar City, proceeded to use his weapon to club Olive repeatedly on the skull eventually cracking her skull and causing brain matter to be exposed. Then Wood, satisfied that he had murdered Olive, turned his attention again to Emily who had fled into the street before falling down. George left the house, grabbed the wounded teenager by her hair and dragged her back into the house. Then, while yelling obscenities, he beat her with his gun over and over until he had cracked her skull. Then, being convinced that he had killed both, he then left the scene and headed for his own home.
WOOD'S CONFESSION
In his August 3, 1862 letter to Brigham Young Bishop Lunt wrote,
"We walked as fast as we could toward the Fort and met him on his return back. (Bro. Samuel Leigh, one of my counselors, was at this time with Bro. Haight and myself.) Says he, ‘Bishop – I have killed two women and I want you to see that they are buried and,' says he, ‘by the eternal Gods anyone who interferes with my family again, I will serve them in the same way.' I said, ‘You had better give yourself up to Judge Smith.' He made no reply but went on towards home. We continued on down the street where we saw several persons gathered at the house of Ezra Higby, where we found his wife laying on the floor in a pool of blood".
After witnessing the brutal murder of their mother and the shooting and savage clubbing of their older sister, Olive's other daughters fled into the fields and were not found until two days later, hungry, frightened and shivering.
As reported in his letter to Brigham Young Cedar City Bishop Henry Lunt stated that George Wood on his way home confessed to to him that he had killed two women. Wood also later pleaded guilty to his brutal murder of Olive. He alleged that 13 year-old Emily Coombs had seduced his 18 year-old son Joseph as the reason for his actions. This, however, may had been a lie on Wood's part in an attempt at covering up his heinous crimes.
PETITION FOR EXECUTIVE PARDON
Following Wood's conviction and imprisonment however, a number of the citizens of Cedar City and other communities, including a few prominent L.D.S. Church general authorities, judges, former jury members and local church and civic leaders signed a petition seeking his pardon and release from prison. Apparently, Olive had been a stranger to the town of Cedar City, arriving with her four daughters and without a husband while George Wood, an early Iron County settler, was a prominent and respected citizen of the community. His petitioners fabricated lies about Olive's character and her real purpose for being in Cedar City. They, as George had earlier suggested, falsely branded Olive of being a prostitute and the former madam of a "house of ill-repute" in Beaver, Utah who, with the help of her 13 year-old daughter Emily, was also setting up another prostitution business in Cedar City. The actual fact that she had been sent to Beaver and Cedar City to teach school was lost within the lies of Wood's supporters.
TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE
The perjured petition of his friends proved to be successful for on March 8, 1865 Utah Governor James Duane Doty (in office from 1863-1865) signed the executive pardon setting Wood free. George Wood, the confessed and convicted murderer of Olive Curtis Coombs, actually served less than three years of his life sentence. In fact, during a large portion of that time he had spent out of prison, even going home for almost a year! After his official pardon he returned to Cedar City and resumed his life as a respected citizen of the community until his death in 1908. Wood is buried in the Cedar City Cemetery under a large monument(in retrospect,his murder victim, Olive Curtis Coombs, still lies in an unmarked and unknown grave).
AFTERMATH
After her murder Olive's daughters were placed in the homes of local Mormon families. Helen, her daughter who lived in California, came to Utah to reunite with her sisters and take them back to her home in Napa, California. The local courts, however, denied her request. Emily was taken to live with Olive's brother Theodore Curtis who resided in Salt Lake City. Olive Olivia Curtis Coombs was buried in an unmarked grave north of Cedar City, Utah.
Along with his involvement in the militia Wood, in November of 1853, had also been appointed as the Captain of a local "company of mounted Minute Men" in Cedar City. And although Wood had been a member of the militia in 1857 it is not known whether he had only helped plan or had taken part in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. He was, however, perhaps involved for on October 8, 1870 Wood along with fellow militia members and known massacre participants, John D. Lee,and Isaac C. Haight, were excommunicated from the L.D.S. Church.
Sources: Robert Glass Cleland and Juanita Brooks, editors, A Mormon Chronicle- The Diaries of John D. Lee, 1848-1867, pp. 144, 146).
In his diary entry for Nov. 17, 1870 John D. Lee noted, "I was also informed that Myself, I. C. Haight, & Geo. Wood had been expelled from the Church, but for what cause is not stated" (ibid. pp. 143-144).
Later Lee, in relating some of his dreams, noted that "Satan was working through certain persons to injure [him]." He further stated that "apostates and Godbyites [sic] are trying to implicate Prest. B. Toung in the Mountain Meadows affair, on the ground that he houlds [sic] Men in the church who are reported to be in it" (ibid. p. p. 147). The allusion perhaps being that he was among those which Young "holds" as being involved in the massacre.
See, Utah Department of Administrative Services, Division of Archives and Records Service, Series: 373, Reel # 12, Box # 09, Folder # 126, Name: Wood, George, Defendant, Filing Date: 2/14/1865, Case Type: Habeas Corpus, Opposing Party: Warden.
For record of executive pardon see: Utah State Historical Society, Governor James Duane Doty- Utah Territorial Papers, Film A-702, record number 2091 and 2092
See also, Evelyn K. Jones,Henry Lunt Biography, printed at B.Y.U. Family History Copy Center, p. 108, 115, for references of Wood's appointment as Captain over minute men.
See also, Juanita Brooks, Mountain Meadows Massacre, p. 165.
On Thursday morning, July 28, 1862, Cedar City resident and Iron County Militia member George Wood, after arming himself with a percussion cap revolver, mounted and rode his horse to the Ezra Higby home shared by Higby's new wife Olive and her daughters. Olive and her daughter Emily were sitting on a bed located on the cabin's floor and were apparently attempting to rise when Wood, without warning, burst into the room and opened fire. The first bullet passed through Emily's right thigh. Emily, in attempting to move, fell into shock. The next bullet, aimed at Olive, entered her right thigh cutting her femoral artery and then embedded itself in her abdomen just above the pubic bone near her bladder. George's next shot missed both targets and in his next attempt his percussion cap revolver jammed. Then the angry, respected citizen of Cedar City, proceeded to use his weapon to club Olive repeatedly on the skull eventually cracking her skull and causing brain matter to be exposed. Then Wood, satisfied that he had murdered Olive, turned his attention again to Emily who had fled into the street before falling down. George left the house, grabbed the wounded teenager by her hair and dragged her back into the house. Then, while yelling obscenities, he beat her with his gun over and over until he had cracked her skull. Then, being convinced that he had killed both, he then left the scene and headed for his own home.
WOOD'S CONFESSION
In his August 3, 1862 letter to Brigham Young Bishop Lunt wrote,
"We walked as fast as we could toward the Fort and met him on his return back. (Bro. Samuel Leigh, one of my counselors, was at this time with Bro. Haight and myself.) Says he, ‘Bishop – I have killed two women and I want you to see that they are buried and,' says he, ‘by the eternal Gods anyone who interferes with my family again, I will serve them in the same way.' I said, ‘You had better give yourself up to Judge Smith.' He made no reply but went on towards home. We continued on down the street where we saw several persons gathered at the house of Ezra Higby, where we found his wife laying on the floor in a pool of blood".
After witnessing the brutal murder of their mother and the shooting and savage clubbing of their older sister, Olive's other daughters fled into the fields and were not found until two days later, hungry, frightened and shivering.
As reported in his letter to Brigham Young Cedar City Bishop Henry Lunt stated that George Wood on his way home confessed to to him that he had killed two women. Wood also later pleaded guilty to his brutal murder of Olive. He alleged that 13 year-old Emily Coombs had seduced his 18 year-old son Joseph as the reason for his actions. This, however, may had been a lie on Wood's part in an attempt at covering up his heinous crimes.
PETITION FOR EXECUTIVE PARDON
Following Wood's conviction and imprisonment however, a number of the citizens of Cedar City and other communities, including a few prominent L.D.S. Church general authorities, judges, former jury members and local church and civic leaders signed a petition seeking his pardon and release from prison. Apparently, Olive had been a stranger to the town of Cedar City, arriving with her four daughters and without a husband while George Wood, an early Iron County settler, was a prominent and respected citizen of the community. His petitioners fabricated lies about Olive's character and her real purpose for being in Cedar City. They, as George had earlier suggested, falsely branded Olive of being a prostitute and the former madam of a "house of ill-repute" in Beaver, Utah who, with the help of her 13 year-old daughter Emily, was also setting up another prostitution business in Cedar City. The actual fact that she had been sent to Beaver and Cedar City to teach school was lost within the lies of Wood's supporters.
TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE
The perjured petition of his friends proved to be successful for on March 8, 1865 Utah Governor James Duane Doty (in office from 1863-1865) signed the executive pardon setting Wood free. George Wood, the confessed and convicted murderer of Olive Curtis Coombs, actually served less than three years of his life sentence. In fact, during a large portion of that time he had spent out of prison, even going home for almost a year! After his official pardon he returned to Cedar City and resumed his life as a respected citizen of the community until his death in 1908. Wood is buried in the Cedar City Cemetery under a large monument(in retrospect,his murder victim, Olive Curtis Coombs, still lies in an unmarked and unknown grave).
AFTERMATH
After her murder Olive's daughters were placed in the homes of local Mormon families. Helen, her daughter who lived in California, came to Utah to reunite with her sisters and take them back to her home in Napa, California. The local courts, however, denied her request. Emily was taken to live with Olive's brother Theodore Curtis who resided in Salt Lake City. Olive Olivia Curtis Coombs was buried in an unmarked grave north of Cedar City, Utah.
Along with his involvement in the militia Wood, in November of 1853, had also been appointed as the Captain of a local "company of mounted Minute Men" in Cedar City. And although Wood had been a member of the militia in 1857 it is not known whether he had only helped plan or had taken part in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. He was, however, perhaps involved for on October 8, 1870 Wood along with fellow militia members and known massacre participants, John D. Lee,and Isaac C. Haight, were excommunicated from the L.D.S. Church.
Sources: Robert Glass Cleland and Juanita Brooks, editors, A Mormon Chronicle- The Diaries of John D. Lee, 1848-1867, pp. 144, 146).
In his diary entry for Nov. 17, 1870 John D. Lee noted, "I was also informed that Myself, I. C. Haight, & Geo. Wood had been expelled from the Church, but for what cause is not stated" (ibid. pp. 143-144).
Later Lee, in relating some of his dreams, noted that "Satan was working through certain persons to injure [him]." He further stated that "apostates and Godbyites [sic] are trying to implicate Prest. B. Toung in the Mountain Meadows affair, on the ground that he houlds [sic] Men in the church who are reported to be in it" (ibid. p. p. 147). The allusion perhaps being that he was among those which Young "holds" as being involved in the massacre.
See, Utah Department of Administrative Services, Division of Archives and Records Service, Series: 373, Reel # 12, Box # 09, Folder # 126, Name: Wood, George, Defendant, Filing Date: 2/14/1865, Case Type: Habeas Corpus, Opposing Party: Warden.
For record of executive pardon see: Utah State Historical Society, Governor James Duane Doty- Utah Territorial Papers, Film A-702, record number 2091 and 2092
See also, Evelyn K. Jones,Henry Lunt Biography, printed at B.Y.U. Family History Copy Center, p. 108, 115, for references of Wood's appointment as Captain over minute men.
See also, Juanita Brooks, Mountain Meadows Massacre, p. 165.
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