Western Auto of Benton’s “A Walk Through History”

A Murder at Hale Spring

Written by Justin Lamb

It was written years ago that Hale Springs was once “a place for picnics, revivals, dances, and drunken brawls.” Needless to say, this now almost forgotten place was a lively section of Marshall County, and in the early 1930s it cemented its notoriety when a drunken brawl turned into a heated murder.


Hales Springs is located a few feet back in the woods off the Brewers Highway near the community of Brewers in southwestern Marshall County. The pool is about two feet in diameter at the base of an old knotted tree where water is coming from the tree roots and from the base of the nearby hill. When the area was first settled a man named Hale owned the land and he was the one who discovered the spring thus the spring was called ‘Hale Springs.’ It was determined years ago that the spring is a six inch stream and in one day puts out 2,160 gallons of water. The spring forms a creek which runs along the highway and emptied into Solider Creek until the highway was built and it then emptied into the west fork of the Clark’s River.

During the years of Prohibition, the honky-tonk at Hale Springs owned by Dorris Pascal became a popular hangout. The speak-easy establishment was about 12’x20’ with five bar stools and a window to sell out of. In June 1933, Marion Reed of nearby Graves County and Cletus Singleton were visiting the bar when they became entangled in a heated argument among a large group. According to eyewitness Hubert Smith, Singleton pulled out a knife and Reed demanded he put the knife away before someone was hurt. Singleton replied that he would put the knife away but instead lunged toward Reed who pulled out his revolver and shot Singleton. The crowd quickly dispersed and Reed made a run for it while Singleton was carried off to Mayfield where he died in route to the hospital.

Reed eventually surrendered himself to the County Judge of Marshall County where he was charged with willful murder and his trial was set for the following October where he argued he acted in self-defense. Commonwealth Attorney H.H. Lovett reduced the charges to voluntary manslaughter. After a short trial with only four witnesses called, the jury became deadlocked. Circuit Judge Joe Price insisted the jury continue consideration of the evidence and after an additional twenty four hours of deliberation, the jury found Marion Reed guilty and he was sentenced to four years in the Eddyville Penitentiary.