The Solgohachia Murders

While few people might know where Solgohachia is, the murders there in 1915 put it on the map, almost destroyed a family, and impacted laws and trials across the United States. The Fryer family was a typically large rural family living near a small Arkansas community. While maintaining their farm, they also held local positions such as postmaster and justice of the peace. However, they suddenly became the focus of national news due to the killing of four family members by a former in-law. Almost 50 years of trials, escape, recapture, furloughs, stalking and horror followed that night of terror. Even today, the initial shooting and the trials that followed still impact the legal system nationwide. This book looks at the Fryer family and their relationship with Solgohachia, Arkansas. It focuses on the shootings of April 26, 1915, the series of trials that followed, and the decades of impact that it all had on members of the Fryer family, my family.