He Shot the Sheriff

Frenchy's murder was not the only blockbuster news story from Williamsburg County to make front page headlines in newspapers across the country during the latter half of November, 1926. Exactly one week before Frenchy's head was found on the bottom of Black River, Williamsburg County Sheriff Henry S. Gamble was shot in the face as he tried to arrest a suspect for attempted train derailments between Cades and Lake City.

Sheriff Henry Sims Gamble.

Between 9 p.m. Thursday, November 19, and 5:30 a.m. Friday, November 20, in an area 3.5 to 4 miles north of Cades, someone attempted at least three times to derail trains by placing cross-ties on the tracks. In each case, the engineer saw the obstruction in time to stop the train safely for his crew to clear the tracks. The Atlantic Coast Line police force was notified, and Capt. J.A Dorsey led an investigation  which concluded early Friday morning that Harold Wheeler, 31, was a prime suspect in the attempted derailments.

Capt. Dorsey came to Kingstree, swore out a warrant for Wheeler's arrest, and Sheriff Henry Gamble and Chief Deputy Henry Wheeler, no known relation to Harold Wheeler, went to the home of Harold's parents, Joseph and Rosa Wheeler, located approximately three miles north of Cades on the Florence-Charleston Highway (now known as US52). The railroad track ran through a field directly behind the Wheeler's house.

Harold Wheeler was no stranger to law enforcement in Williamsburg and Florence counties. He had been a troubled youth, arrested multiple time for petty thefts. After each arrest, news reports noted, he would disappear into the swamps near the Wheeler home for several weeks. He had spent time at least twice in the South Carolina State Hospital in Columbia. One news report said he had been admitted in June 1925 and was released in June 1926. Another reported that he had escaped in June 1926, but because hospital officials didn't consider him dangerous and because he was in the custody of his parents, they didn't require his return to the hospital. Probate records available on Ancestry.com show that Joseph Wheeler signed committal papers for his son as early as 1910, which would make Harold 15 years old at the time of his first stay at the State Hospital.

Sheriff Gamble and Deputy Wheeler arrived at the Wheeler home around 9 a.m. Friday, November 19. That is undisputed. What transpired next is complicated as at least three different versions were reported in newspaper across the state. The Charleston Evening Post's story related that Joseph Wheeler met the officers in the yard. Gamble explained that he had an arrest warrant for his son. This report noted that a shot was fired from the house, striking Sheriff Gamble in the side of the face. A second shot followed but went astray, although, the paper stated, Deputy Sheriff Wheeler was hit in the face by one of the gun waddings. Deputy Wheeler fired in the direction from which the shots had come. He then heard the sound of someone running and dashed around the house to see Harold Wheeler crossing the railroad tracks behind the house.

The Associated Press story has Gamble and Wheeler approaching the house from the rear and talking to both of Harold Wheeler's parents on the back porch. This report says Gamble walked into the house and knocked on Harold Wheeler's bedroom door. When he was told to come in, Gamble pushed open the door. Wheeler fired at close range, hitting Gamble on the side of the face, crushing both his upper and lower jaw. Harold Wheeler then dashed from the house, taking a shot at Henry Wheeler as he passed. He missed, and Henry Wheeler returned fire, also missing his target. The Associated Press correspondent, unable to get interviews with law enforcement, relied largely on talking to neighbors and passersby who had gathered near the scene. The AP report relayed that by early afternoon Harold Wheeler had returned home and barricaded himself in the house, holding his mother hostage. None of the story relating to the hostage situation proved to be true, and the Associated Press retracted the story the same day, although it had already gone out on the wire, and newspapers across the country played up the "hostage" situation on front pages from New York to California.

Sunday's News & Courier story began, "Harold Wheeler, potential man-killer, has gone back to his lair in the swamps, leaving behind a trail too cold for bloodhounds to follow and too twisted for the merged police forces of two counties to disentangle without passing days sleuthing in a no man's land through which ball-bearing loaded shotgun shells threaten to rake."

This article has Sheriff Gamble and Deputy Wheeler finding only Rosa Wheeler at home, although they suspected Harold was hiding in the house. Henry Wheeler was questioning her when Sheriff Gamble brushed past them, opened the door and yelled, "Wheeler!" Rosa Wheeler warned him not to go inside, but the sheriff ignored her. As Gamble stepped into the house, a gunshot was fired from inside. Gamble fell against Henry Wheeler, and Harold Wheeler then trained his gun on the deputy sheriff. However, as Harold Wheeler was running for the door at the time he fired his second shot, he missed Deputy Wheeler. Henry Wheeler reportedly told the News & Courier that the room was so full of smoke from the gun blasts that he barely saw Harold as he ran by him. 

Henry Wheeler told the News & Courier that he did not follow Harold, instead turning his attention to the wounded sheriff. He reportedly dragged Sheriff Gamble from the house, through the field to the railroad track where he found a handcart and attendant. They placed the sheriff aboard and pushed the handcart down the tracks all the way to Kingstree. Gamble's pulse was barely detectable on arrival at the hospital. Wheeler then formed a possé and returned to the Joseph Wheeler home. Former deputy sheriff Haselden had rushed bloodhounds to the scene. J.H. Epps, the owner of a meat market in Kingstree, an experienced tracker, and a close friend of Sheriff Gamble's, also arrived to help "scent" the dogs.

Reports of Sheriff Gamble's condition also varied. Early reports said his tongue had been almost severed from his mouth. That was later discounted, as the hospital released a statement that the Sheriff could recover if meningitis and sepsis were avoided. He was conscious, the report said, but had lost a considerable amount of blood. A second report noted that x-rays showed extensive fractures of both upper and lower jaws. Three steel bearings were lodged against the back of his skull and doctors were waiting for him to regain strength before attempting to remove them. The medical report said the entire wadding in the load fired was found embedded in the sheriff's face. If he recovered, the medical report warned, he would be disfigured.

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old black youth was being held as an eyewitness to the attempted train derailments. His name was either David Simmons, David Summers or David Simons, as all three names were used in various newspapers. He told law enforcement he saw two white men, placing the cross-ties on the tracks. This prompted officers to interrogate Harold Wheeler's father, Joseph, who vehemently denied any kind of collusion with his son in that respect. It was later reported that Simmons had signed a confession that he himself had attempted to derail the trains.

Sheriff Barnes of Florence County joined forces with Deputy Sheriff Wheeler of Williamsburg in the manhunt for Harold Wheeler. Both Joseph and Rosa Wheeler were active in the search for their son, with Joseph Wheeler looking in all the hiding places he knew his son had used over the years.

The search continued the following week. Warren McCants discovered Frenchy missing on Thursday, which pulled Williamsburg County deputies from the search for Harold Wheeler. Jospeh Wheeler meanwhile was also arrested and charged with being an accessory after the fact when he allegedly admitted that he had told his son to shoot anyone attempting to arrest him in connection with the train wrecking. He was released Friday, November 26, on bond. He was held in the Florence County jail as Williamsburg County's jail was full with the 13 railroad workers held in Frenchy's murder. On his release, Wheeler reportedly thanked the Florence County jailers for their kindness and particularly for the bountiful Thanksgiving dinner.

In Kingstree, there were many rumors that Harold Wheeler had been spotted in town, and many residents were convinced that he had murdered Frenchy.

However, those rumors were dashed when word reached Kingstree on November 27 that Savannah railroad police had arrested Harold Wheeler on Monday, November 22. Wheeler was discovered in an empty refrigerator car on a freight train. When discovered, he pulled a .45-calibre revolver but was disarmed before he could fire. He refused to identify himself and Georgia officials thought he was an escaped federal prisoner from Leavenworth. However, on Saturday, Wheeler finally told them he was H.L Wheeler, "the man who shot the sheriff's head off in Williamsburg County." A call to Williamsburg County confirmed his identity, and the process was put in motion to extradite him to South Carolina.

Wheeler had been charged in Georgia with illegally being on a train and with carrying a concealed weapon. He had already begun serving the 90-sentence for those charges on the chain gang in Savannah. He apparently served 30 days of that sentence before Williamsburg County authorities were able to bring him back to South Carolina.

In March 1927, Wheeler's attorney, J.D. Gilland, a Kingstree native then practicing law in Florence, convinced a judge to move the trials for both Wheelers to Clarendon County. Harold Wheeler had been charged with assault with intent to kill and with interfering with an officer in the discharge of his duties.

In entering a guilty plea for attempting to wreck trains, David Simmons testified that he was forced to place the cross-ties on the railroad tracks as Harold Wheeler held a gun on him. Williamsburg Magistrate J.B. Gamble interrupted him, noting that in his original confession, he stated that he acted alone. Judge J.J. Mann accepted Simmon's guilty plea but reserved sentencing for a later date.

At the March term of court in Clarendon County, both Wheelers were committed to the State Hospital for 30 days of observation. Harold Wheeler was declared sane after that period and was transferred to the State Penitentiary, where he was later released on a $3,000 bond.

In November 1927, he was arrested in Charleston by the Atlantic Coast Line Police for "beating a ride" on a train. While he was being fingerprinted, the Charleston Police officer recognized the name and seeing that Wheeler had given Tampa, FL, as his address, asked him if he had shot Sheriff Gamble. Wheeler said yes and that he had done his time. When asked for how long, he replied, "Thirty days." Thinking this odd, the officer reported the conversation to the Charleston sheriff, who called Sheriff Gamble, who by then was again on the job. Gamble asked that Wheeler be held as Williamsburg County had a warrant for his arrest for breaking into the home of S.O. Bird and stealing two shotguns and a pistol. Wheeler was taken to Union Station in Charleston where he was handed off to Williamsburg County between trains. This was the first time Gamble and Wheeler had seen each other since the shooting. Gamble reportedly said, "Hello, Harold. You shot me, but that's all right. I'll shake hands with you."

Gamble told reporters at that time that he expected Wheeler to go to trial in February 1928. I've found no news reports of a trial in 1928. On June 5, 1928, Gamble resigned as sheriff after he was unable to furnish the bond required for sheriffs. Later in the month, a federal district judge ruled in favor of Williamsburg County in a suit against Gamble for $40,023.32, and US Fidelity and Guaranty Company was ordered to pay the county $20,000. Gamble blamed the shortages in his office on funds lost in banks that had failed. Governor John G. Richards appointed Chief Deputy Henry Wheeler to serve out Gamble's unexpired term.

Gamble died in a Columbia hospital in 1929 at age 44. Harold Wheeler was 70 years of age at his death in 1965.