Montgomery Greenville Haston, born June 9, 1898, was the son of Isham (Isom) B. and Mary Emma Lewis Haston.  His grandparents were Montgomery Greenville and Rachel Wheeler Haston. He was the namesake grandson of Montgomery Greenville Haston, the prominent Van Buren Countian who died in 1869.  He was a great–great-great-grandson of Daniel Haston, but Daniel may have held him in his arms as a baby or a toddler. 

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Montgomery was completing his first term as Sheriff and was planning to run for another term, but that may not have been a factor in what happened about two months before the election. 

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On June 13, 1936, Sheriff Montgomery G. Haston was murdered by an angry citizen of Van Buren County, TN.  The Sheriff pulled in front of a business across the street from the county courthouse in Spencer, TN. Charles M. Clark pulled up, opened the door of his vehicle, confronted Sheriff Haston with a shotgun, and shot him point-blank.  Montgomery’s death certificate[i] says he was “shot down on the street; death was instantaneous.”  “Shot [twice] with a shotgun, 70 [# 8] buckshot in the abdomen.”  

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There are different versions of the story.  Mr. Clark’s granddaughter candidly shared with me the most likely real story.  As that story goes, Montgomery and his brother, Ray Haston, had an earlier disagreement with Charlie Clark over some wood that Charlie had cut on the Hastons’ property, a relatively minor matter.  

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Charlie Clark accused the Hastons of lying about him, which was the incident that sparked Clark’s volatile temper.  Clark was convicted of first-degree murder and spent several years in prison. 
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[i] “Montgomery G. Haston,” Tennessee, U.S., Death Records, 1908-1965 (Year 1936, Roll Number 6). Nashville, TN: Tennessee State Library and Archives.