The death of the popular Webb resulted in the quick formation of a lynch mob. Hardin's parents and wife were taken into protective custody, while his brother Joe and two cousins, brothers Bud and Tom Dixon, were arrested on outstanding warrants. A group of local men broke into the jail in July 1874 and hanged Joe, Bud, and Tom. After this, Hardin and Jim Taylor parted ways for good. Hardin would claim that he twice drove away men connected to the feud who had come after him, killing a man in each encounter. On November 18, 1875, the leader of the Suttons, ex-Cuero, Texas, town marshal Reuben Brown was shot and killed by five men in Cuero along with a negro named Tom Freeman, with another negro being wounded. In his autobiography, Hardin made only two references to Brown: that "Rube" Brown had arrested William Taylor before sending him to Galveston, Texas, for trial, and that Brown had been among the leaders of a Sutton "posse" that had been out to "get" him in Gonzales County, Texas. It is not known if Hardin was directly or indirectly involved in the killing of Reuben Brown, as he makes no further mention of the incident in his life story.