Nervous North Texans Hang Their Neighbors

By Oct. 31, 1862, the folks around Gainesville did not have the stomach for another hanging and sentenced the last convicted traitor to life in prison instead of the gallows.

From the beginning, the land between Dallas and the Red River was a hotbed of political passions. The original settlers came from Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and other border states with a deeply ingrained dislike of slavery. They were soon joined by immigrants from eastern Texas and the Deep South, who brought with them an equally strong preference for Dixie