urn:taro:utexas.cah.00369 A Guide to the William Preston Longley Papers, 1875-1878, 1934, 1936 Dolph Briscoe Center for American History Finding aid created in XMetal 3 by Evan Hocker Finding aid written in English. December 2004 XML finding aid created by Evan Hocker using XMetal 3 according to instructions in TARO 2 EAD Editing Instructions Descriptive Summary Longley, William Preston William Preston Longley Papers, 1875-1878, 1934, 1936 2 in. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas Materials are written in English. Biographical Note

William Preston Longley, the outlaw known as "Wild Bill" Longley, was born in Texas on October 6, 1851. He allegedly murdered 32 individuals and committed other crimes in five Texas counties as well as in Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. He escaped prison several time before being hanged in Giddings, Texas, on October 11, 1878, for the murder of Wilson Anderson, who had killed his cousin.

 Related Material

See also the Lucie Clift Price Papers held by the Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin .

 Scope and Contents

Papers contain correspondence of William Preston "Wild Bill" Longley, principally with his brother Jim and his parents after Bill was sentenced to hang for murder. The letters deal especially with Bill's religious convictions. Also included is a transcript of a legal document in the case of the state of Texas vs. William P. Longley. The collection contains Jim Longley's autobiographical account of the escapades that occurred on a journey with his outlaw brother north from Lee County to Grayson County, Texas, in 1874-1875, during which Jim witnessed the murder of Wilson Anderson for which Bill was later hanged.

 Organization

Arranged chronologically.

 Preferred Citation

William Preston Longley Papers, 1875-1878, 1934, 1936, Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Anderson, Wilson Longley, James Stockton, 1858-1938 Longley, William Preston, b. 1851--Archives Walton, William Martin, 1832-1915 Subjects Outlaws--Texas--19th century Places Lee County (Tex.)--History--Sources Description of the Papers 2D253 Correspondence, autobiographical sketch, and legal document arranged chronologically, 1875-1878, 1934, 1936