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Wilkes

July 15, 2025

Taking a Bite Out of Crime

Wilkes County criminal papers from the 1800s reveal a lot about the issues that were facing the region at that time. One of the most prevalent crimes brought before the courts were for assaults, affrays, and other forms of fighting against each other. Sometimes, the losers of these fights lost more than their pride. Here are three separate tales of people in Wilkes County violently losing something valuable to them.

Thomas L. McEntire

March 1, 1811, was a bad day for Thomas L. McEntire in Burke County, NC. On that day Michael Wikle assaulted him and bit off the little finger of his right hand "to the great damage of him". The case against Wikle was scheduled to be heard at Morganton in Burke County, but his lawyer successfully got a change of venue. The case was moved to Wilkes County where it was heard in 1814.

March 1, 1811, indictment of Michael Wikle for biting off the little finger of Thomas L. McEntire.

I haven’t found records of the outcome of the trial yet. Online records suggest that Thomas L. McEntire was born in 1782 in Ireland. He died in 1846 in Morganton and was buried at the First Presbyterian Church. There was a Michael Wikle associated with Macon County, but it's not clear if he was the same person.

Joseph Laws

This time we go back to March 1, 1814, to the Boomer community of Wilkes County. Our vicitim is Joseph Laws. He found himself in a disagreement with William Rich who assaulted him and bit off his nose!

March 1, 1814, indictment of William Rich for biting off the nose of Joseph Laws.

The events that led to this painful outcome are murky, but the argument between Joseph Laws and William Rich involved money and the payment of debts among several individuals. Richard Hood owed money to Joseph Laws. He had also promised to pay Joseph Laws’ debts to both Archibald McEwin and John McEwin. Additionally, Richard Hood was to pay Joseph Laws “one certain bald horse” that John Laws had previously sold to William Rich. The day that a portion of these debts was to be repaid was the same day that William Rich bit off the nose of Joseph Laws.

There were two men named Joseph Laws in the 1810 Wilkes County census. Joseph Sr was over age 45, and Joseph Jr was between the ages of 26 and 45. One of them was likely the victim in the case.

William Rich does not appear in the 1810 or 1820 Wilkes census, but he did sell land on Little Warrior Creek to Lydia Pearson in 1809. In January 1814, William Rich sold 285 acres to John Laws on what is now called Blood Creek on the north side of Boomer Road. This was land that Joseph Laws had previously owned.

John Usery

For this case, we transport ourselves back to March 1833. While this is not technically a bite, it does involve the removal of a body part. Noel Stanley, “with force and arms and on purpose, of his malice aforethought” put out the left eye of John Usery. Ouch! Both men lived on the Hunting Creek watershed in the Brushy Mountains.

March 1, 1833, indictment of Noel Stanley for putting out the left eye of John Usery.

In the case John Usery v. Noel Stanley at the July 1833 session of court, the jury found in favor of the plaintiff, John Usery. He was awarded damages of a jaw-dropping 6.25 cents. When added to the court fees, Noel Stanley owed a total of $9.61. Perhaps John Usery got so little for having his eye put out because he had a history of being a troublemaker. Years earlier, at the July 1826 session of court, the sheriff was ordered to put John Usery in the stocks for one hour on three consecutive days. On the next day of court, the judge modified the sentence to become a single two-hour stint in the stocks.

In 1829 Usery assaulted a child. In 1830, he assaulted Thomas Love. Perhaps it was for one of these crimes that Usery spent time in jail. At the April 1832 session of court, Benjamin Clary charged the county for maintaining John Usery in jail for 191 days, an extraordinarily long period of time in those days. In 1855, when he was about 60 years old, Usery shot the work steer of Wesley Ball. The man clearly had some anger management issues that remained even as he got older.

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