Written by Dr. Tim Hudson

 

Attorney Allen Carr left Alabama in early 1837 and settled in the Pine Hills of Union Parish, establishing a large plantation two miles northeast of Farmerville.  Carr owned several slaves that he reportedly treated well.  In the spring of 1842 a Mr. Mullen arrived in Union Parish and settled near Carr’s plantation, and by late 1843 or early 1844, Mullen became indebted to Carr.  Over a period of time, Mullen gradually convinced two of Carr’s male slaves to murder their owner, hoping to avoid paying his debt.  On Monday, 15 April 1844, while Allen Carr sat beside and played with his young daughter, Sarah, at his plantation, the two slaves shot and killed him.  Local authorities captured the slaves but Mullen fled.  Sheriff James H. Seale built gallows for the slaves’ executions and they were hanged for murder in Farmerville on Friday, April 19.  Meanwhile, Frederick Brazeal apprehended Mullen, for which Carr’s estate paid him a reward of $150 for prosecuting Mullen.  It is not known whether Mullen was convicted.

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Dr. Tim Hudson is the mathematics department head at Southeastern Louisiana and an avid historian on Union Parish. Hudson is a Union Parish native and graduate of Farmerville High School.