USA > Illinois > Cass County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Cass County, Volume II > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
Judge William Thomas, although bearing the same name as his predecessor, does not appear to be related to him. He resided at Jackson- ville, at the time he was chosen judge of the First Judicial District, and afterwards became senator from the district composed of Cass and Morgan and other counties, and although he was a good lawyer and judge, yet he became most distinguished because of the services he ren- dered as a legislator from this district. The October term, 1839, was held by Judge Samuel 'H. Treat, and this was the only term of court in Cass County to be held by Judge Treat dur- ing his forty-eight years on the bench in Illinois. Judge William Thomas held the remaining terms until the change made by the law of 1841, legis- lating all circuit judges out of office and re- quiring the supreme judges to hold the circuit courts. Judge Samuel D. Lockwood, one of the ablest judges on the supreme bench, was assigned to the first district, and so held the Circuit court in Cass County until the change in the system introduced by the terms of the constitution of 1848. The last day of the Circuit court in Vir- ginia, before another change in the county seat, was held October S, 1844.
OPENING OF CIRCUIT COURT AT BEARDSTOWN.
The Circuit court was opened at Beardstown, which had again become the county seat, in the
new courthouse, in May, 1845, and Judge Lock- wood continued to hold the court from term to term until the change of the system in 1848. The new constitution having been adopted by vote of the people, and having gone into effect April 1, 1848, the supreme judges ceased to hold the Circuit courts, but Cass County still belonged to the First Judicial Circuit, and Judge David Woodson was elected judge of that district. The election was held on the first Monday of December, 1848. The first term of the year had been changed from May to March, and was held by Judge William A. Minshall of the Fifth Circuit, at the request of Judge Woodson. The October term, 1849, and the May term, 1850, were held by the regular judge of the district, Hon. D. M. Woodson. In 1850, the legislature changed the October term to November, which term was again held by Judge Minshall, at the request of Judge Woodson, and he also held the May terin, 1851. It appears that Judge Minshall had also been requested to hold the November term of 1852, for upon the records of that term is the following entry :
"November term, A. D. 1852. First day, judge did not appear." . "Second day. On Tuesday the second day of November, the second day of the term, the parties litigant, jurors, witnesses, and officers of the court waited the arrival of the judge until four o'clock P. M., and the said judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit not appearing the court stands adjourned by due course of law until the next term thereof."
The cases tried at the Circuit court during those days were the usual and ordinary cases of attachment, replevin, case and assumpsit, and chancery cases of foreclosure, partitions, and such other cases as pertain to the chancery side of the court, with now and then a criminal case of more or less interest, according to the nature of the crime and the standing of the defendants. At no time before or since then in the history of Cass County has there been a judicial execution of any person convicted of murder. There were a number of local lawyers at Virginia and Beardstown, but it was the day of traveling law- vers. They usually followed the court from county to county, traveling on horseback, or by stage coach or oftentimes in the old fashioned, high seated buggy drawn by a single horse. Every term of court in Cass County found some of the more noted lawyers of central Illinois in attendance, from Springfield, Quincy, Jackson-
687
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
ville, Peoria and Pekin. The first week of court was nsnally a busy time in the town where conrt was being held. There was no short cause cal- ender in those days, and no setting of the docket ahead of convening of court, so litigants, wit- nesses, jurors, grand and petit, lawyers, and the idle curious, gathered in great numbers, and made a rich harvest for the hotels and boarding houses.
JUDICIAL DIGNITY.
Many anecdotes are told of the characteristics and eccentricities of the early circuit judges. They exercised more of the powers and author- ities conferred upon judges by the common law, and were not hampered so much in the exercise of judicial prerogatives as judges of the present day. When judges held court in those earlier days they assumed there should be some dignity about the court, and that all that came within its jurisdiction should conduct themselves ac- cordingly. The records of the day show that the heavy hand of the court did not fall alone upon visitors to the courtroom, or upon litigauts or their respective counsel. At the November term, A. D. 1854, of the Circuit Court of Cass County, Judge Pinkney H. Walker, of the Fifth circuit, who was called to hold the Cass County court, entered two fines the same day against the sheriff, William Pitner, for failure to keep order in the court. The presumption is that the levying of the atoresaid fines had the desired effect, and the judge relented, for the record dis- closes that upon the last day of the term, just before adjournment, the conrt entered a remit- tance of "the fines heretofore assessed against the sheriff." Nor did the judges of the court in those days hesitate to apply the penalties of the law in matters other than decorum. A glance through the records covering a period of twelve years of the early part of the courts' existence in Cass County, shows the judges would not tolerate the taking of appeals for mere delay. In many cases wherein the appellant defaulted in prosecuting his appeal the judge assessed damages in favor of the appellee for the delay.
In February, 1857, the General Assembly of Illinois, then in session, passed an act establish- ing the Twenty-first Judicial Circnit. The act was approved February 7, 1857, and the new district was composed of Tazewell, Mason, Menard, Woodford and Cass counties. The act further provided for an election in all the coun-
ties composing the district to be held the second Monday of March following, for the election of one circuit judge, and a state's attorney for the district. James H. Harriott was elected judge, and Hugh Fullerton was elected state's attorney.
A CELEBRATED TRIAL,
These two names are connected with a famous trial which occurred at Beardstown, at the Cir- cuit court, the next year, although at the time no very great importance was attached to the case except by the parties directly interested. The case was entitled "The People vs. William Armstrong," and known in history as the famons "Duff Armstrong Trial." The notoriety was occasioned solely by the fact that Abraham Lin- coln appeared for the defendant, Armstrong, and by his able management of the case and his eloquent argument to the jury succeeded in clearing his client. Much space is given to this case as it is a part of Cass County history and more or less extended mention is made of it in every published life of Mr. Lincoln. A re- cital of the facts which led up to the trial is as follows. '
In August, 1857, a religious camp meeting was in progress in Mason County, Ill., in a grove six or seven miles southwest of Mason City, and northeast of the junction of Salt Creek and the Sangamon River. It would be useless to occupy space with a description of a camp meet- ing. All the readers are more or less familiar with such meetings, either from personal ex- perience, or from having read of them many times. They were an annual affair in the re- ligious circles of the early days. Many hucksters gathered at these meetings to sell their wares to those in attendance, so that all who came were not of a religious turn of mind. A number went out of idle curiosity, many in order to meet with and visit their neighbors, and some went to raise trouble if an opportunity offered. The meeting was to close on Sunday, August 30, 1857, and on Saturday afternoon, August 29, quite a crowd of lovers of one of the principal , sports of the times, horse racing, gathered about the luckster wagons some little distance from the meeting tent, in the hope of getting up a horse race, knowing that William Armstrong, commonly called "Duff" was there with his running horse. Although it was unlawful to do so, intoxicating liqnor was frequently sold by disreputable persons at such gatherings; and at
1
688
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
any rate liquor was always bought and freely drunk by the more reckless, and often by those who were ordinarily fairly good citizens. The race came off and the winners celebrated by par- taking of large potations of "sod-corn juice" and generously sharing their joys with the losers, until all were far beyond the pale of any in- fluence for good that might have been engendered by the religious services in the meeting tent.
Duff Armstrong was a young man about twenty-four years old, was kind hearted, peace- able and quiet when sober, and not of a vicious nature even when in liquor. Late in the evening after the racing and jollification attendant there- on was over, Duff Armstrong, who had been drinking heavily, was lying on a bench near the Watkins and Armstrong wagous, sleeping off the effects of the liquor. About eight o'clock, one James P. Metzker, who lived a few miles across the county line in Menard County, came up to the bench on which Duff was lying. Metzker had also been drinking, and catching hold of Duff, jerked him off the bench, and, according to the statement of A. P. Armstrong, a brother of Duff, who was present and saw the whole transaction, spit in Duff's face. This naturally angered Duff, and a fight ensued, but neither of the belligerents were very much hurt, and friends separating them, they both took a drink, and the trouble seemed at an end. Metzker, it is said, was very quarrelsome when drinking, and being a large, powerful man, relied on that fact to care for himself in any physical encounter. Late in the night, between ten and eleven o'clock, Metzker was engaged in an encounter with one James H. Norris, and another man, presumably Duff Armstrong, as the second fight occurred near the Armstrong wagons, and witnesses claimed that Norris hit Metzker on the back of the head with a large stick of wood. Others claimed that Duff Armstrong struck Metzker with a slung shot. Metzker, however, was not so severly injured but that he could and did mount his horse and rode away towards home, and it was also said by some that he was in a drunken condition when he left, and on his way" home, fell from his horse and received injuries which caused his death, as he died three days later. However, the general impression prevailed that Metzker was so badly beaten by Norris and Armstrong that it was from the effects of their blows that he died. Norris and Armstrong were both arrested, and at the October term A. D.
1857, of the Mason County Circuit Court, were jointly indicted for the murder of Metzker.
THE INDICTMENT.
The indictment contained three counts, each count having the following peculiar language not found in indictments of the present day. The persons indicted naming them "not having the fear of God before their eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil, etc." The first count charges that Norris struck Metzker in the back of the head with a piece of wood about three feet long, and that Arm- strong struck Metzker in the right eye with a "hard metalic substance called a slung shot." The second count charges that both Norris and Armstrong struck Metzker in the right eye with a slung shot ; and the third count charges that both Norris and Armstrong struck Metzker on the back of the head with a "certain stick of wood three feet long and of the diameter of two inches," from which wounds Metzker died on the first day of September, 1857. The indict- ment was signed by Hugh Fullerton, state's at- torney. and the following names endorsed as witnesses: Grigsby Z. Metzker, Charles Allen, James P. Walker, William M. Hall, Joseph A. Douglas, William Douglas, B. F. Stephenson, Hamilton Rogers, William Killion, Joseph Speltz and William Haines. The indictment was also endorsed "not bailable, James Harriott," and was filed in the court November 5, 1857.
When the case was called, Norris stated to the court that he was poor and unable to employ counsel. Judge Harriott, who was presiding, appointed William Walker. senior partner of Lyman Lacey, to defend Norris. The law firm of Dilworth & Campbell had been employed by Mrs. Hannah Armstrong, the mother of Duff, to defend him. A motion was made to quash the indictment, which motion was overruled. A change of venue was asked on behalf of Arm- strong, on the grounds of prejudice of the minds of the people of Mason County against the de- fendant Armstrong. The motion was allowed, and the venue was changed to Cass County, in the same judicial district, and adjoining Mason County on the south. Norris entered a plea of not guilty, and went to trial. As a result of the trial, Norris was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to the penitentiary for eight years. The penitentiary at that time was located at Alton, and as the most convenient mode of travel
CARRIE BLUME
689
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
from Havana to that place was by river steamer on the Illinois River, and as Beardstown, then the county seat of Cass County, was on the way, the sheriff of Mason County, started for Alton with Norris, as soon as the Mason County court adjourned, and took Armstrong with him as far as Beardstown, where he was delivered over to the sheriff of Cass County, and placed in the county jail at Beardstown. A transcript of the entire record of the case in Mason County, was sent to the circuit clerk of Cass County, and with it the indictment and all files and papers connected with the case. They are now on file in the office of the circuit clerk of this county. From these files and the records of the Cass County Circuit court all information pertaining to the court proceedings in this case has been obtained. It is a singular fact that with all that has been told and written about Abraham Lincoln's connection with this case there is not one item of record that bears his name, nor does his name appear on any paper filed in the case. Two of the instructions given by the court to the jury are unquestionably in the handwriting of Abraham Lincoln, and his appearance for the defendant Armstrong, in the Cass County Circuit court is well authen- ticated by testimony of many witnesses, some of whom are still living in this county.
The Circuit court of Cass County for Novem- ber, 1857, convened November 16, with Hon. James Harriott, judge presiding, Hugh Fullerton, state's attorney, James A. Dick, sheriff, and James Taylor, clerk of the court.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN ENTERS THE CASE.
In the meanwhle Jack Armstrong, the father of Duff, had died, and as a last request urged his wife, Hannah, to use every effort possible to clear their son. Mrs. Armstrong, calling to mind her friend of twenty years before, Abra- ham Lincoln, now a leading lawyer of Spring- field, drove all the way to the state capital to see if she could secure the services of that dis- tinguished man to get her son admitted to bail. Mr. Lincoln had been introduced to the Arm- strong family soon after his advent. in New Salem, through engaging in a friendly wrestling. match, to comply with the incessant urging of his friends, with Jack Armstrong, who was not only a bully of the neighborhood, but also a physically strong, courageous man. The wrest- ling match resulted in Mr. Lincoln conquering
the backwoods athlete, thus winning the ad- miration of all the men of that section, includ- ing his opponent, and gained, through his pluck, the lasting friendship of Armstrong and all his relatives. Mr. Lincoln soon after the encounter went to live with the Armstrong family, and often spoke of the motherly kindness of Mrs. Armstrong towards him when he was a penni- less young man, struggling to fit himself for some useful employment in life. His own, kindly, sympathetic and generous nature never permitted him to forget a kindness to himself, so when Mrs. Armstrong saw him at Springfield and related her trouble, represented the haz- ardous position of her son before the law, Mr. Lincoln at once promised assistance. Although a very busy man, he ascertained when court would be in session at Beardstown, and set out on horseback for that place to see what could be done to restore the son of an old friend to freedom. The record of the court for that term in that case is as follows :
"November 19, 1857. The People of the State
of Illinois
Vs. Venue from Mason County
William Armstrong.
"And now on this day come the People of the State of Illinois, by their attorney, Hugh Fuller- ton, Esquire, and the prisoner, William Arm- strong, who is brought here to the bar in proper person. A motion is made by the prisoner, to admit him to bail. Whereupon a motion was ' made on the part of the People for a continuance until the next term of this court, which after due deliberation by the court, was granted, and the motion to admit to bail, was overruled." Mr. Lincoln then promised he would return at the next term of the court, which would be in May of the next year, and assist Armstrong.
During the ensuing winter, Duff Armstrong remained in Cass County jail at Beardstown, and on May 3, 1858, the regular May term of the Cass County Circuit court convened with Judge Harriott presiding, and the same court officers present and acting who had served at the No- vember term, 1857. Subpoenas had been issued for witnesses for the people and for the de- fendant, to appear on the first day of the May term, 1858. There were eleven for the people, and twelve for the defendant. It appears from the subpoenas on file that none was issued for the witness, Charles Allen, until May 5, when one was sent to the sheriff of Menard County, at Petersburg where Allen resided. The name
690
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
of Dr. B. F. Stevenson was also included in this subpoena. The sheriff's return states that he served Stevenson, but that Allen was not found and that he, the sheriff, was told that Allen had gone to Beardstown. On May 6, an attachment was issued for both witnesses, Stevenson and Allen. The return of the sheriff is that he served the attachment by arresting Allen and having him in court on May 7, 1858. No return is shown in the case of Stevenson. The story is told by those who claimed to know the facts, and it has been incorporated in state- ments by various writers relative to this portion of the narrative, that Allen had been persuaded by friends of Armstrong to remain concealed at Virginia, thirteen miles east of Beardstown. until he should be wanted by them, if at all, and that when Mr. Lincoln arrived at Beardstown on May 6, and found Allen was not there, he told Armstrong's friends that he must be pro- duced, or Duff might have to remain in jail another six months, as the cause would be con- tinued at the instance of the prosecuting attor- ney ; that thereupon two cousins of Duff hitched up to a wagon, went to Virginia, and returned with Allen. This may all be true, but if so, the sheriff either took a hand in getting Allen into court, or made a false return, which is not at all likely. However it is a fact, vouched for by several creditable persons that Mr. Lincoln did arrive at Beardstown May 6, 1858, having come on horseback from Springfield.
On May 7, 1858, which was Friday, the fifth day of court, the case of the People vs. Arm- strong, was called. The prisoner arraigned, and a plea of "not guilty" was entered, a jury was called, and the following named persons were selected and sworn to try the cause: Horace Hill, Milton Logan, Nelson Graves, Charles D. Marcy. John T. Brady, Thornton M. Cole, George F. Sielschott, Sam W. Neely, Mathew Armstrong, Benjamin Eyre, John W. Johnston, August Hoyer. The first four above named were of the regular panel of jurors for the term, but the others were summoned by the sheriff after the regular panel was exhausted. Just how many witnesses for the prosecution were sworn and testified, nor how many testified for the de- fendant, cannot now be known. There was no stenographic report, and nothing remains but the memory of man upon which to base a con- clusion. Some persons have said, and some writers accept the statement as true, that only one witness was introduced for the people, and
that was Charles Allen. William Douglas, who at that time lived in Mason County, but who subsequently resided at Ashland, in this county, for many years, who was one of the witnesses endorsed upon the indictment, and subpoenaed to testify, said that he was the first witness called for the people; that all witnesses had been excluded from the courtroom during the trial, and he being thus first called, heard the whole trial. While the short duration of the trial made it impossible to have heard many wit- nesses, it is hardly possible that the people could have proven all the elements necessary to be proven in such a case by the one witness, Charles Allen. The deepest interest certainly centered in the testimony of Allen, who swore that Armstrong struck Metzker in the face with a slung shot ; that it was between ten and eleven o'clock at night; that he was near the wagons where the fight occurred and plainly saw the blow struck by Armstrong. On cross examina- tion, which was conducted by Mr. Lincoln, Allen was asked how he could see so plainly, it being late at night. The witness replied that it was bright moonlight; that the moon was right up overhead, about where the sun would be at one o'clock in the afternoon. Being ques- tioned particularly about the moon, he again repeated the statement as to its locality in the sky, so there could have been no misunderstand- ing on the part of court or jury, as to where the witness stated the moon to have been.
MIR, LINCOLN HEARS HIS CLIENT.
After the evidence of the witnesses was all in, Mr. Lincoln asked if someone would bring him an almanac. This was produced. and as olle of the jurors, J. T. Brady says in a letter on the subject, it was handed up to the judge, examined by counsel, and by the jury, and showed that the moon could not have been in the position in the sky where the witness said it was, for the moon set at 12:05 p. m. on the night of August 29, 1857.
The arguments of counsel were made; the instruction of the court given, and the jury re- tired in custody of an officer to consider their verdict. All which the record recites and con- cludes with the following :
"And afterwards to wit, on the same day, the said jurors came into court in charge of the officer aforesaid, and the said prisoner, Arm- strong, being brought into court in proper person
691
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
by the sheriff of said county of Cass, the said jurors for verdict on their oaths do say that the said defendant is not guilty in the following words, to wit, We the jury acquit the de- fendant from all charges preferred against him in the indictment." The trial did not occupy much time, and the jury was not out long in arriving at a verdict. Positive proof of this fact is furnished by the record of the court of that day. One William McCrudden was tried the same day by a jury on a charge of riot. On the jury that tried McCrudden were three of the jurors that sat on the Armstrong trial, namely : Charles D. Marcy, John T. Brady and Nelson Graves. The jury in that case also returned its verdict that same day.
CORRECTING FALSE STATEMENTS.
Many absurd, and some very ridiculous stories are told and statements made, concerning this trial, and the assault which caused it. Not the least ridiculous is the statement in an account published in McClure's magazine of August, 1896, which is credited to Miss Ida Tarbell. In that article appears the following statement :
"That same night Metzker was hit with an ox-yoke by another drunken reveler, Norris by nanie."
Anyone who ever saw an ox-yoke might ask about this "reveler," as the innocent child asked of a certain distinguished personage of ancient history. "Was he like old Goliath, tall, his spear a hundred weight?"
The almanac and the moon have come in for a great share of notoriety in connection with this celebrated case. This article is not written to prove or disprove anything, but is recorded simply as one of the celebrated events in the history of Cass County. Yet the truth ought to be ascertained, if possible, and be here repre- sented, for there are some stories which have gained currency and are believed by many who are not conversant with the real facts, that merit attention. That there was an almanac in the trial is almost beyond any question of doubt ; and that it was a genuine almanac of the date 1857, is attested by creditable witnesses. That which casts doubt upon whether it was a genu- ine one or a "faked" one, is the many state- ments made by persons who claimed to have been present at the trial, and by writers who have accepted such stataements and recorded them without investigation.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.