Dewey Lee Barton

Dewey Lee Barton was a banjo picker who wrote the song Old Richmond Prison. The song was a true story written about himself and an incident that occurred in 1964. According to my grandfather, Garland Morgan Sullivan, The Buchanan County Sheriff came looking for Dewey Lee, he tried to get away over the county line but the sheriff chased him out of his jurisdiction into Dickenson County. That's when Dewey Lee shot him. According to 'Officer Down Memorial' web page Deputy Eulis Breeding was shot and killed while attempting to serve papers on a man near the Buchanan County - Dickenson County line. Deputy Breeding, accompanied by then Patrolman Shaw of Honaker, Virginia, went to the suspects' home to serve the suspect a warrant. When they discovered the warrant had been left in the vehicle, Patrolman Shaw went back to the vehicle to retrieve it and while doing so heard gunshots from the home. Deputy Breeding was shot 3 times, once in the chest, once in the left wrist and once in the back.

The suspect was apprehended and convicted of Deputy Breeding's murder. He served 18 years of his sentence in the Old Richmond Prison and was released.

Deputy Breeding had served with the agency for nine years. He was survived by his wife. According to the song Dewey Lee admits that he did in fact shoot the Sheriff Deputy. Another account of the incident on a police memorial web site states that the crime was committed with a .22 caliber pistol and that Deputy Eulis was struck in the chest, the wrist, and the back. The song was written after Dewey Lee was released from prison and was performing bluegrass music with the Barton Brothers and The Big 'A' Mountain boys. The song later attracted the attention of Dr. Ralph Stanley who performed it many times at live venues and released it on his own albums a time or two.