Leonard McCowin

Leonard McCowin, 21, a World War II Army veteran who worked on a farm and at a cafe in Center, was struck with the butt of a rifle by City Marshal Bryan McCallum on November 4, 1947, and died of the injury; his death certificate recorded the cause as homicide. A contemporaneous Black newspaper reported that McCallum had likely mistaken McCowin for his brother, who had recently been beaten by a mob following an altercation with a white man. The Shelby County sheriff required only a $2,500 bond from McCallum, and a grand jury investigated but declined to indict him; an attorney representing McCowin's family reported to the NAACP that jurors felt indicting McCallum “would give the Negroes too much leeway in that community.” The FBI declined to investigate. In April 1948, McCowin's father Ezekiel, represented by attorney W.N. Harkness with NAACP support, filed a wrongful death civil suit against McCallum, his bondsman, and the city; a district court judge dismissed the case that November, reportedly due to a misspelling of McCallum's name in the court filing. McCowin's descendants have since sought a historical marker at the site; his sister, who was 12 when his body was brought home, was still alive as of a 2025 news account.

Center, TX · Shelby County

• 1947: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• Victim identity, background, and the November 4, 1947 date and circumstances, per the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board's official case file and contemporaneous NAACP investigative correspondence.
• City Marshal Bryan McCallum was investigated by a grand jury, which declined to indict him; a subsequent civil suit against him was dismissed in 1948, per the same records and 2025 reporting by Capital B News.

• No one was ever criminally charged or held liable in McCowin's death.
• Whether McCallum genuinely mistook McCowin for his brother, as contemporaneous press reported, or acted for some other reason, was never resolved.

• Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board — official case file
• Capital B News — “Texas Man's Fight to Move a Lynching Marker Sparks New Battle for Truth”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs