On April 6, 1896, around three o’clock, George Tankard, a colored man living in the village of Redford, was lying on a lounge in his kitchen when his wife, Hattie, crept up behind him with a small-caliber revolver and shot him in the back. The wound was very dangerous, if not fatal. Dr. C.S. Haynes was called, but his efforts to extract the bullet were unsuccessful.
The previous summer, Mrs. Tankard had tried to poison George with Paris Green, but the attempt failed due to an overdose. No one knew her motives. Hattie was noted as Native American when she attempted to burn down a neighbor’s barn, but was described as white when charged with shooting her husband. She had been heard saying she would “fix him” the first chance she got. It was believed the wound might prove fatal, but George survived both attempts on his life.
Hattie was arrested for shooting her husband and sentenced to Auburn Prison for four years and eleven months for assault. She was sentenced on December 19, 1896, and released on July 10, 1900.