1932 Murders at a Church

The first inkling of trouble at Zion Traveler’s Church appeared in the Monroe News-Star of February 6, 1931. The Sons and Daughters of Zion society filed suit in the Ouachita Parish District Court, alleging the trustees and association of Zion Travelers’ Church sold some land to the V.S. & P. Railroad that the society co owned, without their permission.

By February of 1932, a suit was filed to oust the pastor of the church, Rev. W.W. Hill. It stated there was a meeting at the church on December 2, 1931 in which the members voted to declare the pulpit vacant. On December 30, Hill presided at another meeting where he was voted back as pastor. The suit alleged there was no notice and the majority of church members were not there to cast their votes. Another meeting was called and he was voted back out.

The argument went back and forth for months. Hill refused to give up his position and the two factions argued back and forth, stating the majority voted their position. Rev. Hill was actually thrown in jail for ignoring a judge’s order to stay away until the matter was over. The matter got so heated that the police decided to lock up the church until things cooled down. Two months later on August 31st, Superintendent of police L.V. Tarver handed the keys over to a deacon of the church and told the congregation to cool it. Any disturbances would not be tolerated. At a subsequent meeting, Hill was reaffirmed to not be the pastor and Professor M.J. Foster was elected the new pastor. Reverend Hill wasn’t there.

On September 4th, Professor Foster was about to start his sermon when four women stood up and demanded he stop. This caused an uproar. James Dugans who supported Rev. Hill, stood up and grabbed a chair and his pistol. George Daniels saw the gun and ran out the door to his house next door and grabbed his own gun. He stated later that he was prepared, since he had heard the Hill faction were threatening violence if Professor Foster preached. When Daniels returned, he heard that Dugans had shot his daughter Patsy in the stomach. Daniels immediately shot Dugans. The articles are a bit confusing here. Later articles state that Dugans shot Daniels through his left side and his daughter Patsy, which caused Daniels to run next door to get his gun. On his way down after getting shot, Dugans continued to fire his gun, wounding Robert Sam Lee, Mattie Levy and Clarence Burrell. After it was all over, Dugans lay dead on the floor. Mattie and Patsy were seriously wounded and taken to the hospital. Patsy would die the next day. Superintendent Tarver took the keys to the church back and nailed the doors shut.

On November 6th, the church congregation agreed to declare all positions in the church vacant. The keys were given to an attorney of the church and elections were held. Rev. Hill was barred from the elections. The fight was over. Rev. Hill went on to found Triumph Baptist Church and passed away in 1954.

FindaGrave Memorial for Rev. Hill: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/242592786/warner-washington-hill .

Eyewitness testimony printed in the News-Star of Sept. 5, 1932.