My Corner Online

Sullivan

Richard Marshall and David Baker Murder Mapping Scene, Washington County, Missouri

Sullivan is located in both Franklin and Crawford Counties in Missouri, although mostly in Franklin County. Sullivan is important to me because it is where my ancestor, Richard Marshall, was murdered, being shot to death. The story begins in Washington County, so I also share on this page in the above video where they lived and mapping the initial murder scene that involved Richard Marshall. Yes, this is a murder - murder story. This is a genealogy adventure I have been on and I went on location to attempt to discover where the scene of the first murder crime occurred in Washington County and where the second murder crime scene occurred in Sullivan. I believe we have a good guess! If you love an adventure and want to read this and decide for yourself if he is guilty or not, the synopsis is here: My Synopsis and Thoughts  but you can read the actual transcription of the documents on the other pages.

My first visit to Sullivan, Missouri, was on June 9, 2019, and my purpose was to photograph the scene were Richard was murdered by Smith Jackson. The Baker family's story is that Richard was murdered in front of Clark Store which was on the corner of Clark Street across from the train depot. There is no building for Clark store currently, but the street corner is shown in this photo across from the train depot. It is my understanding that this was the commercial depot, and that the passenger depot was further down the street (near a gazebo that is present today), so there is some question about where Smith Jackson was standing. The story as passed down Richard Marshall's family is that Richard was shot dead before he ever left the train in that Smith Jackson boarded the train and shot him on the train.

I believe the store fronts continued in line in front of this blue "western" building and the Clark store in our store was in the parking lot here where the car is parked.

When I visited Sullivan on October 11, 2021, and drove around the town, I discovered some amazing Autumn colors in the city.