The Hanging of Bill Sketoe (1864) Historical Marker

Near this marker was the location where local resident Bill Sketoe was hanged on December 3rd, 1864 by Confederate soldiers. Sketoe was a Methodist minister and Confederate soldier who had served in the Confederacy's army for 3 years. He had returned home on leave with medicine to aid his sick wife. Upon making it to Newton Alabama, he was stopped by Captain Joseph R. Breare’s company. Breare and his men accused Sketoe of having deserted the army and arrested him. Not long after, they hung him from a nearby tree. When initially hanging him did not work due to his tall stature, the soldiers used one of their crutches to dig a hole underneath his feet, finishing the job. Today a historical marker and replica hanging site shares the story of the death of Bill Sketoe which also serves as a reminder of the tragic violence that typified the American Civil War and countless other civil wars in world history. The bridge was later named in honor of Sketoe.

During the Civil War, the southern states were not without strife and difficulties within their borders. Union spies attempting to disrupt the Confederacy and localized Raiders caused chaos within the south. Around the Dale County region, there had been an engagement with the Confederate Unit captained by Joseph R. Breare and some raiders who had attacked nearby Newton. The two men that Breare’s company had captured were hanged in early December of 1864.

On December 3rd, 1864, Breare and his company stopped Methodist Minister and Confederate Soldier Bill Sketoe. Sketoe had been returning home with medicine after having been given leave from the army to tend to his ailing wife. The Confederate company arrested Sketoe, claiming that he was a deserter, and promptly hung him in a nearby region. Unfortunately, Sketoe did not initially die from the impromptu hanging due to his tall stature. One of the soldiers used their crutch to dig a hole underneath his feet, eventually causing him to die from asphyxiation.

The original hole and tree where the hanging occurred have since been destroyed by the Choctawhatchee flood of 1990. The original site did at one point have a bronze marker on the tree that denoted its historic importance but was lost during the flood. The bronze marker was found and now remains at a local museum. A historical marker was erected by the Newton Historical Society in 2006 to honor the event and wrongful death of Sketoe.

Cox, Dale. The Ghost of Sketoe's Hole, ExploreSouthernHistory.com. October 12th 2017. Accessed December 9th 2020. https://exploresouthernhistory.com/sketoe.html.

Gibb, Elton. Rev William H. “Bill” Sketoe Sr., FindAGrave.com. October 19th 2006. Accessed December 9th 2020. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16248476/william-h.-sketoe.

Hilton, Mark. The Hanging of Bill Sketoe, Historical Marker Database. March 14th 2018. Accessed December 9th 2020. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=115011.

Hulsey, Flavia. Sketoe tale memorialized, The Southeast Sun. October 26th 2006. Accessed December 9th 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20110608043030/http://www.zwire.com/news/newsstory.cfm?newsid=17383910&title=Sketoe+tale+memorialized&BRD=1145&PAG=461&CATNAME=Top+Stories&CATEGORYID=410.

Staff. Bill Sketoe's Hole, Digital Alabama. November 28th 2020. Accessed December 9th 2020. https://digitalalabama.com/alabama-ghosts-and-haunted-places/bill-sketoe/23698.