1921 - Shooting on Slate Branch
On January 16, 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was ratified. Prohibition - the "Noble Experiment" - was underway. While, nationally, all eyes were on Chicago, Detroit and New York as illegal liquor was brought in by the truckloads across the Canadian border, Johnson County had its share of illegal alcohol, as well.
Traffic in bootleg liquor and, more frequently, moonshine became a profitable business. Federal Revenue agents joined with city and county police and sheriff's deputies in an effort to eradicate the problem. It was easier said than done.
Moonshine, before, during and after Prohibition, was often a traditional family affair with the skill handed down to succeeding generations.
On August 26, 1921, Paintsville Police Chief James Melvin, Assistant Chief Manuel Fitzpatrick and Revenue Agent J. H. Reynolds rode on horseback to the Slate Branch area of Johnson County. They were in search of moonshiners.
Word had reached the officers that a still was being operated on a farm occupied by Pate McKenzie and his two brothers, Hugh and Ray.
Approaching the vicinity of what they thought to be the McKenzie farm, the three officers tied their horses and began walking toward a small cabin. As they approached within about 20 yards, shots rang out. Eight men were in the cabin...Pate McKenzie, Hugh McKenzie, to whom the cabin belonged, Ray McKenzie, Tolly King, Elbert Dye, Harry Stambaugh, Otto Young and Dennis Blevins.
When the affray was over Police Chief James Melvin and Revenue agent J. H. Reynolds were dead and Assistant Chief Manuel Fitzpatrick was badly wounded. Of the moonshiners, only Pate McKenzie was so severely wounded that he was not expected to live.
Fitzpatrick managed to escape and, although suffering from his wounds, made his way to Paintsville. A posse was formed which rushed to Slate Branch where all but two of the culprits were arrested. The McKenzie brothers were joined in jail by Blevins, King and Young. The posse continued their search for Dye and Stambaugh.
Pate McKenzie was tried and convicted of the murder of J. H. Reynolds in November 1921. Dye was later captured in Florida in 1922 and he, too, received a life sentence for the murder of James Melvin.
