Hamilton Calhoun McComas was born November 9, 1831 in Cabell County, (West) Virginia, to William and Mildred (Ward) McComas. Hamilton married his first wife, Louise K. Pratt, June 1, 1859 in Pickaway County, Ohio. They had three known sons, H. W., David and Wiliam P. They divorced in the late 1860s. We do not know what happened to Louise, as she does not appear in census records until 1910. Hamilton enlisted in Illinois as a Lieutenant Colonel on the Union side, September 4, 1862, despite his Southern origins. He resigned on February 6, 1863. Hamilton served two terms as a county Judge in Monticello, Illinois. It became a lifelong habit of using the title "Judge" in front of his name. Judge McComas met and married Juniata Marie Ware, March 15, 1869 in Fort Scott, Kansas. She was a cultured and accomplished woman. She was a sister of Senator Ware of Kansas and Eugene F. Ware, the popular poet, "Ironquill." Hamilton and Juniata had four children, Frederick, Ada, Mary and Charles. Hamilton was a lawyer and was hired by a St. Louis company to travel to New Mexico to represent interests in various mining ventures. He left his family in Fort Scott while he traveled to Silver City. He soon fell in love with New Mexico and decided to make it his home. He opened a law office, sent for his family, bought a house and became a well liked member of the community. In March of 1883, Judge McComas had a mining business in the vicinity of Lordsburg. He decided to take his wife and young son Charley with him, leaving his two daughters with friends. He should have known that it was too risky at this time to take his family on this road, as the Apaches were raiding in Arizona. He may have thought that they were too far west to be of any concern. On the night of March 27, the McComas party stopped at the Mountain Home Inn, about 17 miles south of Silver City. Other guests at the Inn discussed the Indian situation and urged the McComases not to continue on their journey The judge, noting that he was armed with a Winchester rifle and a Colt revolver, paid no attention. The family left at 9 the next morning, with a man named Moore following about 45 minutes later. The McComas family traveled through Thompson canyon and had stopped for lunch when to their horror, they heard the piercing yells of the Indians and deafening gunfire. The Judge was killed in hail of bullets and Mrs. McComas was killed by blows to the head with a large rock and was stripped naked. The Judge's mutilated body was found naked, with his empty rifle and cartridge box beside him. One of the horses had been shot dead, the other was gone. Mr. Moore found the grizzly scene just minutes after it happened. Little Charley McComas was nowhere to be found. Mr. Moore hurried to Silver City to notify the authorities. Army troops under Gen. George Crook pursued the Apaches, as did Capt. James F. Black's guards of Shakespear, a mining town and stagecoach stop south of Lordsburg, but Chatto and his raiders presumably had Charley and rode south into the mountains of Mexico. No trace of Charley has ever been found, although some authors have written that he was sighted with a band of renegade Indians. I believe he was either killed or he died from the exposure to the harsh life of the Apaches. The bodies of Judge McComas and his wife, Juniata, were shipped to Fort Scott, Kansas for burial. From the Winfield Courier, April 12, 1883, was this notice. "Funeral of McComas, Killed by Indians. A Notable Funeral. The funeral of Judge and Mrs. McComas, who were killed near Silver City, New Mexico, by Indians last week, was held at Ft. Scott on Sunday. An immense crowd was in attendance. The military and the G.A.R. escorted the bodies to the Congregational Church, where services were held, and then to Evergreen Cemetery, where the burial was conducted according to G.A.R. ritual". Judge and Mrs McComas's death was swift and final, but no telling how long poor little Charley suffered before he died. May God Rest His Soul. (Picture from 1883 Newspaper article)