Escar Thompson

Escar Lee Thompson (1911-1932) was a Scott County man killed during a shootout in Winfield in 1932 that was part of the broader Jerome Boyatt saga of 1933, although Thompson was not connected to Boyatt in any way. His name was spelled Esker in some newspaper reports at the time.

Biography

Born Dec. 8, 1911, Escar L. Thompson was the son of John Marion Thompson (1889-1961) and Etta Ethel Price (1893-1990). His siblings included Elsie Nora Chitwood (1913-1982), Warren Odie Thompson (1915-1971), Violet Eva Stanley (1917-1994), Elmon Thompson (1921-1925), Etta Pearl West (1926-2007), and Ethel Mae Bridges (1926-2020).

The Thompson family was well-known in Winfield at the time, and John Marion Thompson served as a deputy sheriff under Scott County Sheriff Esau Laxton. Prior to the move to Winfield, the Thompson family lived in the Black Oak community west of Oneida. Thompson’s great-grandfather, Lewis Thompson, is buried in the Keeton Cemetery there.

Death

Thompson and another man, Namon Terry, were killed during a shootout with James Harvey Winchester on Nov. 27, 1932.

According to a Chattanooga Daily Times account from Nov. 28, 1932, deputy sheriff John MarionThompson — Escar Thompson’s father — received a report that Winchester, Sterling Meadows, and “a youth named Baker” were “blocking the highway at Bear Creek Junction.” Sterling Meadows was the 24-year-old son of the couple Winchester was boarding with in Winfield when the 1930 census was taken.

Thompson deputized his son and Terry and headed for the scene.

Upon reaching the scene, Thompson reported that Winchester began shooting, killing Terry and Esker Thompson. J.M. Thompson returned fire but did not strike Winchester. He later arrested Winchester and turned him over to Sheriff Esau Laxton.

Aftermath

Harvey Winchester was kidnapped from the Scott County Jail in Huntsville on June 9, 1933, as he awaited trial. Another man, Jerome Boyatt, was also kidnapped. The next morning, the two men’s bullet-riddled bodies were discovered alongside U.S. Highway 27 near Helenwood.

Boyatt appeared to be the main target, and was being sought by family and friends of Pickett County Sheriff George Winningham and Winningham’s deputy son, Floyd Winningham, who Boyatt was accused of killing at a Rock Creek logging camp in April 1933. However, the lynching of Winchester has long led many to believe that Scott Countians were also involved.

No one was ever charged.

Escar Thompson was buried at Winfield Cemetery.