John Cicero Shope

John Cicero was shot 5 times with a .32 caliber revolver in his garden beside the Shope Creek Road by a neighbor, Monroe Sanders in a dispute over the disappearance of a hog. Monroe claimed Cicero had stolen the hog and butchered it. Cicero's son, Carl, then 18 years old, saw his father attacked and ran to his aid. He picked up a huge stone and penned Monroe down until he could check on his father. After finding Cicero dead, he returned and used the stone to kill Monroe Sanders by crushing his scull. Carl Shope then walked to Otto, NC and the nearby train stop. He caught a train and fled Macon County via train to the State of Washington where he lived out his life. He was never charged in the killing. His body was returned to Macon County after his death for burial. The disputed hog returned to the Monroe Sanders' home a few days after the killings.

Edgar Burton "Bud" Shope has the revolver Monroe Sanders used to kill Cicero.

A few additional details were told to me by my father ledger Brownlow shope.  Brownlow said that the story was told to him by his father, Zeb Shope, years after the incident but at the site of the incident. Carl was supposedly a robust well-built young man at the time of the incident and he chased Monroe Sanders (who was a relatively old man at the time) down and they had a fight and Carl Ended up breaking Monroe Sanders arm and Monroe gave up then. The two of them walked back to the site of the incident so that Carl could check on his father and when he found him dead he picked up a rock and finished off Monroe Sanders.

The Sanders’, and apparently the law, were told that Cicero and Munrow had exchanged blows and Cicero had killed Munrow by hitting him in the head with the hoe he was using at the time and Munrow had killed Cicero in the exchange by shooting. There was apparently no legal action taken against anyone but Carl stayed away “just in case”.

• Residence: Macon, North Carolina, United States - 1860
• Residence: Smiths Bridge Township, Macon, North Carolina, United States - 1870
• Residence: Smiths Bridge Township, Macon, North Carolina, United States - 1880
• Residence: Smith's Bridge Township, Macon, North Carolina, United States - 1900
• Residence: Smiths Bridge, Macon, North Carolina, United States - 1910
  • Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Mar 13 2023, 19:37:54 UTC