On March 1, 1892, four men and a 16-year-old boy drove a wagon and three horses into Brazoria County from Fort Bend County; they were on their way to Velasco, the town standing on the coast at the mouth of the Brazos River. In the party were  Steve Cravey, James Cravey, Frank Holland, and Rome (the boy), plus an old man named Mr. Smith.

On March 11, after conducting their business, they camped near Millican’s Bayou where the bayou empties into the San Bernard River.

Four days later, a man identified only as “Mr. Wooley,” discovered a wagon in the bayou. He and his neighbors pulled it out of the water. They found  three bodies buried on the bank of the river. The head, arms, and legs were gone leaving only the trunks. One body had a letter in its pocket addressed to Steve Cravey, so he was easily identified; the other was old man Smith. The third body could not be identified. They didn’t know if it was James Cravey or Rome.

Two weeks later, the Brazoria County district attorney, John Pinckney, and a detective completed their investigation after visiting the site of the crime. They talked to everyone who had met the men and found out that Frank Holland was from Luling, about 150 miles away from Brazoria which was Brazoria County’s seat in 1892. (The county seat would be relocated to Angleton in 1896.)

Pinckney sent a telegram to Luling asking about Frank Holland. From the Luling sheriff’s response, he learned that Holland and a boy of 16 or 18 had come into Luling in the right timeframe and both were there. Pinckney knew they were the murderers and asked for them to be detained.

When Pinckney and his detective got to Luling, Rome, whose name was “Jerome Baker,” and Holland were locked up and wearing shackles.

Frank Holland, who had dark eyes and dark hair, was reportedly in a bad mood and gruff. Rome was scared of Frank, he said, when they spoke to him alone.

Rome confessed, telling authorities that the he and Holland had shot the other three while they were sleeping, robbed them, and butchered their bodies to keep anyone from knowing who they were.

The boy’s mother begged that her son’s life be spared because he was only 16; Pinckney agreed. However, he tried Holland for capital murder and Holland was to be hanged. The boy pled guilty and went to prison for life.

They had lawyers, but their lawyers had no testimony or evidence to mitigate what Holland and Baker had done.

Sheriff R.M Yerby, Brazoria County’s Sheriff, hung Frank Holland on the courthouse lawn. Yerby  suffered a deep depression the next two years and quit as sheriff. He took his own life with a gun in a Brazoria saloon because he had to put Frank Holland to death by hanging.

Sources

Velasco Daily Times (Velasco, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 109, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 12, 1892

Velasco Times (Velasco, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 103, Ed. 1 Tuesday, …
Daily Velasco Times (Velasco, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 103, Ed. 1 Tuesday, April 5, 1892

The Velasco Times (Velasco, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 44, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 14, 1892

The Velasco Times (Velasco, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 14, 1892