Mike Fincher-Killer in Wheelerville
Fred Fincher is half-brother to Mike Fincher; Henry Baker is half-brother to Mike Fincher. >>Mike's new home, his family and his three children, the eldest four years old.--Mike Fincher's description at his death was 5'9" tall, 180 lbs, blonde sandy hair, mustache--his mother was alive at his death>>> Mike Fincher's elder brother was Tom Fincher and was 10-15 years older than Mike--Mike assaulted Mary Jane Taylor (Lula??). Mike killed Calvin Taylor, Mary Jane's father.>> all from newspaper articles around July 5, 1893.

Mike Fincher supposedly shot a man (Calvin Taylor, June 1891) through a window with buckshot (killed him). This happened in Wheelerville, Ala. According to the booklet,Judge Wittner's Wheelerville, Mike raped Taylor's daughter and Taylor was about to go to the grand jury that was in session. To stop him, Mike shot him the night before. Some people took the daughter to the jury and a sentence of 20 years imprisonment was fixed for Mike. He started serving his time in the coal mines and another indictment was brought to him for killing Taylor. (2 charges-total 119 years). He served 4 years but escaped by tunneling out of the coal mine. He went home without being caught. His relatives helped keep him out of sight for a while, but he got bold and began to build a house. Judge Wittner (the author of the booklet) came upon him by chance when Wittner was visiting someone else. Fincher put a scare in Wittner (without even trying to). There was a reward for Fincher ($400). A West Thomas determined to capture Fincher. He camped out in the woods where he was sure Fincher would pass by. On July 3, 1893 Mike and his brother, Fred, went near the Thomas camp. West shot Mike (killing him). Fred ran off. Mike's half-brother Henry Baker brought him to the Wheelerville cemetery the next day.

There was no mention of West Thomas being a deputy, but the booklet did say that he was a friend of Wittner, who was a justice of the peace. Henry Baker, Mike's half-brother was also a justice of the peace for Wheelerville.

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The only other thing that I know about Mike Fincher is that he was gunned down by a deputy sheriff (John Wesley Thomas)from Whistler in, I believe, the first week of July, 1893. The deputy sheriff was himself shot to death on July 10th and at first people thought that friends of Mike Fincher had gotten revenge on him, but the murderer turned out to be unconnected to Mike Fincher.
The Mobile Register carried the story of the deputy's murder and the chase after the suspects for several weeks. I would look for the information regarding the shooting of Mike Fincher in microfiche's of the Mobile Register for the first July week in 1893.