History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 40

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co.
Number of Pages: 698

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WILLIAM OGLE, Justice Peace.

This commitment is briefly endorsed : "Executed," N. Buckmaster sheriff, no dute. On the 28th of December Buck- master addressed the following letter to Hon. John Reynolds, judge, then residing at Clear Lake.

SHERIFF'S OFFICE, Edwardsville, Feb. 28, 1823.

JUDGE REYNOLDS : Dear Sir, Painful as it is to me it be- comes my duty to inform you that there was committed to the common prison of this county on the 25th of December a man by the name of Eliphalet Green charged of having committed a murder on the body of one William Wright. I take this opportunity of making the facts known to you and should you think proper to order a special court, give timely notice and I will govern myself accordingly.

Yours respectfully,

N. BUCKMASTER, Sheriff. V

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

N. B : It will be for your consideration whether a speedy trial will be to the interest of the country or not.

A special term of the court was ordered to be held on the 13th day of January, 1824, when the following freeholders of Madison county were duly impanneled as grand jurors, to wit : Emanuel J. West, foreman, Lyman Gillet Ephraim Wood, Matthew B. Torrence, William Hinch, John Gonter- man, Julius Barnsback, John Good, Caleb Gonterman, Guy Paddock, Jacob Judy, John T. Lusk, Low Jackson, James Watts, Oliver Balster, James Tunnel, Erastus Brown and John C. Barnett.

The grand jury heard the testimony of William Ogle, James Dabs, Susannah Bradley, Amos Bradley, Polly Brad- ley, George Debaum, Abel Moore and wife, and returned the following bill or indictment on the same day, to wit :

State of Illinois, Madison county. At a special term of the eireuit court begun and held for the county of Madison aforesaid, in the Court House in the town of Edwardsville in said county, on the 13th day of January, 1824, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty- four. The Grand jurors of the people of the state of Illinois, residents and good and lawful men of the county of Madison aforesaid, impanneled, sworn and charged to inquire for the body of the county of Madison aforesaid in the name and by the authority of the people of the state of Illinois, upon their oath present that one Elipbalet Green, late of said county of Madison, yeoman, not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil, on the twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, in the county of Madison aforesaid, with foree and arms felonously, wilfully and of his malice afore- thought did make an assault upou the body of one William Wright, in the peace of God then and there being, and the said Eliphalet Green, a certain gun of the value of twenty dollars, then and there charged with gunpowder and one leaden bullet, which gun so loaded and charged as aforesaid he the said Eliphalet Green in both his hands then and there had and held to, against and upon the said William Wright, then and there, felonously, wilfully and of his malice afore- thought did shoot and discharge and the said Eliphalet Green with the leaden bullet aforesaid, out of the gun afore- said, then and there by force of the gunpowder shot, dis charged and sent forth as aforesaid, the aforesaid William Wright in and upon the right side of him the said William Wright, near the right pap of the right side of him the said William Wright, then and there with the leaten bullet aforesaid out of the gun aforesaid, by the said Eliphalet Green so as aforesaid shot, discharged and sent forth, felon- ously, wilfully and of his malice aforethought, did strike, penetrate and wound, giving to the said William Wright, with the leaden bullet aforesaid so as aforesaid shot, dis- charged, and sent forth out of the gun aforesaid by the said Eliphalet Green in and upon the right side of him the said William Wright near the right pap of him the said William Wright one mortal wound, of the depth of four inches and of the breadth of two inches, of which said mortal wound the said William Wright then and there instantly died, and

so the jurors aforesaid upon their oath aforesaid do say, that the said Eliphalet Green felonously, wilfully and of his mal- ice aforethought, him the said William Wright, then and there in manner and form aforesaid did kill and murder, to the great displeasure of Almighty Gol, to the evil example of all others in like eases offending, contrary to the form of the statute in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the same people of the state of Illinois.

JAMES TURNER, Attorney.

The trial ended on the 14th day of February, 1824, and resulted in the following verdiet: We the jury fiud the prisoner guilty of murder.

JAMES MASON, Foreman.

This verdiet is written in lead peneil on the indictment and has no date.

The following is the sentence pronounced by the court. It is copied from a paper on file in the handwriting of Judge Reynolds :

WEDNESDAY, January 15, 1824.

The court met according to adjournment, present: John Reynolds, judge.

THE PEOPLES 28.

) plaintiff. Indictment for murder.

ELIPHALET GREEN. j

defendant.

The said defendant, Eliphalet Green, who stands con- vieted of murder, was led again to the bar in cus- tody of the sheriff, and it being demanded of him if any thing for himself he had or knew to say why the court here to judgment and execution against him and upon the premises should not proceed, he said he had nothing but what he had before said. Therefore it is considered by the court that he he hanged by the neck until he be dead, dead, dead ! and that the sheriff of Madison county to cause ex- tention of this judgment to be done and performed on him, the said Eliphalet Green, on Thursday, the 12th February, 1824, between the hours of ten o'clock in the morning and three in the evening at some " convenient " place near the town of Edwardsville, and it is furthered ordered that the said defendant pay the cost of this prosecution.

The manuscript of Judge Reynolds shows plainly the agita- tion of his mind in passing sentence, it contains many cor- rections and changes of words, at a " convenient " place near the town of Edwardsville are interlined and undoubtedly written at a later day or hour, the ink used being of a dif- ferent hue.

The agitation of the judge was observed by bystanders and may, together with the "convenient place " and may have been he cause of the following version of the affair, as re- peated by J. T. Hair, in Madison county Guzetteer, Alton 1866.

It is stated that the judge in passing sentence of death upon the prisoner made use of language something like the following : Well Mr. Green the jury in their verdict found

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

you to be guilty of murder, and the law says you are to be hanged. Now I want you and your friends down on Wood river to understand that it is not I, that condemns you, but the jury and the law. Now I wish to allow you all the time you want to prepare, so the court wants to known at what time you would prefer to be hanged, etc. The story is continu- cdl extensively. Green replied that any time would suit him. Then the Judge wants to know if four weeks from this day is on a Sunday and the like. Next follows a colloquy between Judge Reynolds and the attorney general about the pro- priety of endeavoring to impress upon the conscience of the culprit a sense of his guilt and to lead his thoughts to a seri- ous preparation for death, to which suggestions the judge is said to have replied as follows : Oh, it is no use Mr. Turner, Mr. Green understands the whole matter as well as if I had talked to him for a week. He knows he is to be hanged this day four weeks. You understand it in that way, Mr. Green, don't you?"

The death warrant of Eliphalet Green was issued on the 11th of February, 1824, signed and sealed by Joseph Con- way, clerk of the circuit court of Madison county.

On the reverse side of this warrant we found the follow- ing brief endorsement :

"Executed ou the 12th of February, 1824, at half past two of the clock, A. M.

N. BUCKMASTER, Sheriff.

The " convenient" place selected by the sheriff was in the creek bottom, near the bridge, on the Springfield road. Spectators had come from a distance, and it is related that a number of Indians had assembled to see how civilized people killed their fellow men. Green died like a man, sincerely repenting his wicked deeds. The opinion of the public was divided in reference to his crime and its penalty. Some of the leading men had their sympathies aroused for the poor fellow. He was buried near the place of execu- tion. It is stated that Paris Mason guarded the grave against body snatchers, and caused the corpse to be taken up and re-interred in his (Mason's) own graveyard.

The sheriff, about as much agitated at the execution as the judge had been at passing sentence of death, certified as seen above, that he had hung Green at two o'clock in the morning.

The story would not be complete if left without the bill of costs. The writer found it among the vouchers of the year 1824. It reads as follows :

Madison County, to N. BUCKMASTER, Sherif.

1824, March Term.

Cash to Watts for making gallows and coffin for E. Green, . $25 50

Paid cash to White for a hook to hang him on, . 2 00

Cash to Paris Mason for a rope, . 1 50

Cash for a small rope at Pogue's, 50

Cash for digging grave and filting it, to Jarrot and Roberts, . 3 50

Cash for shroud and cap, 4 18

Cash paid to Jarrot for driving wagon with coffin to place of execution, . 50

C'ash to Meeker for nails to make the gallows 1 40

All specie,

Illinois State paper now being worth 30 cts. per dollar, this amount of $39.081, in specie, is equal to $130.30 in State paper.

N. B., Sheriff.

1824, March Term. Hon. John Reynolds on the Bench. Augustus Langworthy, foreman of the grand jury.

The case of William Parkinson, indicted for forgery, was found guilty of the intent to defraud John Ilerrin to the amount of $80.00. Parkinson took an appeal to the su- preme court and gave bail in the sum of $6,000.00, with Washington Parkinson and William Lee as sureties. Wil- liam Parkinson, who had brought a damage suit against Herrin for assault and battery, obtained a judgment for $93.00 against Herrin.

The celebrated suit of Madison county versus Edward Coles was commenced at this term of court. This suit had its origin in personal hatred and malice. We have shown on a preceding page, that W. L. May had by a well writ- ten representation of facts in the case, succeedel in making the county commissioners believe it to be their duty to prose- cute Governor Coles for manumitting his slaves, ten in num- ber. Gov. Coles spoke of this suit in a private letter to Robert Vaux, Philadelphia, in January 1824, in the follow- ing manner : " For having been instrumental in effecting the defeat of the pro-slavery convention plans, and also for having acted up to my principles in restoring liberty to certain slaves given to me by my father, it would seem I am never to be forgiven, but to be subject to an unrelenting and cruel persecution, which aims to destroy not only my political influence, but my personal character and property. After having resorted to various means to injure my standing with the people au effort is now made to cripple my pecuniary resources and thus to disable me from promoting the cause of freedom and of punishing me for what I have done in this way. A suit hus recently been instituted against me to recover the penal sum of $200, for each negro emancipated and brought by me to this state. This suit has been brought under a law passed about the 1st of April, 1819, which pro- hibited any person from bringing into this state any negro for the purpose of emancipation, unless he would give bond under a penalty of $1,000, that the negro should not become a county charge, and that if the emancipator neglected to give this bond he should forfeit the sum of $200, for each negro emancipated. My negroes emigrated to and settled in this state about one month after the passage of this act, but more than five months before it was printed or promul- gated. To the peculiar hardship of my case, from the im- possibility of knowing of the existence of the law, until after I had violated its provisions and incurred its penalty, is to be added the fact of my not being content with freeing the negroes in Virginia, and thus relinquishing more than one-third of the property given me by my father, but from a desire to promote their interest, removed them to this state at an expense of between five aud six hundred dollars, and then gave them as a remuneration for their past services aud a stimulus to future exertion, one hundred and sixty acres of land to each one who had passed the age of 24. They all behaved uniformly well, and are honest, industrious and prosperous. And what is truly farcical in this suit is,

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

that it has been instituted at the instance of a worthless fel- low,* the tool of a faction, who is destitute of property t and pays no tax, and of course has no direct interest whether the negroes become a county charge or not. Never having been sued before I feel the more mortified at being perse- euted for violating the laws of a state over which the people have called me to preside."

Another passage in this letter is so beautifully character- istic of this noble and generous citizen of Madison county, that the writer of this sketch feels it his duty to copy it also : " Having had the good fortune, through every period of my life, to live in great harmony with my fellow-men, the enmity and persecution I have lately had to encounter have created a new state of feeling and cause me to look into my own conduct to see whether it has been correct. In this view I have been gratified to find that I have not given just cause of offense to any one ; but I have been grieved to per- ceive with what virulence I have been pelted, when the only complaint against me is, that I am a friend to the equal rights of man and am considered a harrier to my opponents acquiring the power of oppressing their fellow-men. Under this view of my situation, I am gratified that Providence has placed me in the van of this great contest, and I am truly thankful that my system is so organized as to leave no room for doubt, fear or hesitation. My opinions have long since been naturally formed, and my course deliberately taken, and is not now to be changed by destraction, prose. cutions or threats of ' convention or death.' "

They were sterling words. Honor to the man who uttered themu. No wonder that the greatest American of the age, Thomas Jefferson, had honored Edward Coles with his friendship, love and confidence, and that James Madison entrusted a highly responsible mission to St. Petersburg to him.

But to return to the suit : The case came up for trial during this (March 1824) term of court, but went over to the September term. At this term John Reynolds pre- sided again. The plea of the Statute of Limitations and several special pleas put in by defendant to the declaration of the plaintiff had been demurred to and the demurrer had been sustained by court. The defendant now pleaded nil debit (he does not owe anything). Issue was joined and the ease submitted to the jury, Oliver Foster, Daniel Brown, William B. Penny, William Head, Daniel Wise, Thomas Bates, Philip Penn, Alfred Allen, Julius L. Barnsback, John Howard, Curtis Blakeman and Paris Mason, who re- turned a verdict against defendant for two thousand dollars. From a bill of exceptions taken during the trial and spread upon the records of the court, it appears that the defen- dant offered to give in evidence aud prove to the jury that three of the negroes mentioned in the declaration of

* This fellow " was W. L. May, subsequently member of Congress for the Springfield District."

+ May was one of the early merchants in Edwardsville, but had probably become poor. A. W. L. May was indicted for burglary in Edwardsville, September term, 1823. It is impossible to ascertain if this May and the one who caused this suit to be instituted are identi- cal.

the plaintiff had departed this life before the commencement of the suit, but the court would not permit the testimony to be given, thus practically deciding that it was necessary to give a bond to hold the county harmless from the support of " dead negroes." The defendant then offered to prove by, Joseph Conway, the clerk of the County Commissioners Court, that the defendant had never been notified or re- quired to give bond, but the court would not permit such evidence to be given. The defendant farther offered to prove by Daniel T. Cook, the attorney under whose advice he acted, the conversation he had with him before the date of certificate of manumission, and that Cook advised him to give such certificates in order to protect the negroes; and also to prove by said Cook all the circumstances and con- versation between said witness and defendant, all of which evidence was rejected, the record to state that the plaintiff gave in evidence the following certificate:

" Whereas, my father, the late John Coles, of Albemarle, in the state of Virginia, did in his last will and testament give and bequeath to me certain negro slaves, among others Robert Crawford and his sister Polly Crawford, the said Robert being a mulatto man, about 5 feet seven inches high, and now about twenty-seven years of age ; and the said Pol- ly being a mulatto woman about five feet one inch high, and now about sixteen or seventeen years of age. And whereas, I do not believe that man can have a right of property in his fellow-man, but on the contrary, that all mankind are endowed by nature with equal rights, I do, therefore, by these presents, restore to the said Robert and his sister Pol- ly, that inalienable liberty of which they have been de- prived ; and I do hereby renounce for myself and my heirs forever, all claimt of every description whatever to them and their services, and I do hereby emancipate and make free the said Robert Crawford and his sister Polly Crawford. In testimony whereof, the said Coles set his hand and scal, on the 10th day of July, 1819."

The motion for a new trial, which had been made in the case at the September term, 1824, was not decided at that term, and the case went over to the March term, 1825. At this term of the court Judge Samuel MeRoberts presided, who overruled the motion for a new trial at once. Between Sep- tember 1824 and March 1825, the legislature passed an act releasing all penalties incurred under the act of 1>19 (in- cluding those sued for) upon which Coles was prosceuted. The law required a condition precedent to the release of the penalties, the execution of a bond that the negroes should not become a charge upon any county in the state, and that all the costs of the suit and damages incurred should be paid. To enable the defendant to take advantage of this act at the June term, it was moved at the same time to set aside the verdict and judgment to enable him to plead puis- ne durrein continuance. McRoberts proved equal to this last phase of the case ; he overruled the motion for a new trial and rejected the plea, hokling that the legislature could not make a law to bar the recovery of the penalty in this case. The judge, however, was not able to prevent the defendant from taking an appeal to the Supreme Court of the state. This appeal was taken at the June term of the

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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

court at Vandalia, 1826. The Judgment of the Circuit Court was reversed and the cause remanded with instruc- tions to receive the defendant's plea. The case was argued before the Supreme Court by Henry Starr for Coles and Turner and Reynolds for the county of Madison.

The case was finally disposed of in July term 1927, as will be seen from the following extract of the records :

The county commissioners of Madison county vs. Edward Coles. On motion it is ordered that the judgement of the Supreme Court rendered in this cause be spread on the re- cord of this court, which is in the following words, to wit : " At this day came again the parties aforesaid by their at- torneys aforesaid, and the court having diligently examined and inspected as well the records and proceedings aforesaid as the judgement given upon the same and being now suffi- ciently advised of and concerning the premises. For that it appears to the court, that in the records and proceedings aforesaid and also in the rendition of the judgement afore- said, there is manifest error. It is considered by the court that for that error and others in the records and proceed- ings aforesaid, that the judgement aforesaid be reversed, an- mulled and entirely for nothing esteemed, and that the aforesaid plaintiff be restored to all things which he may have lost by reason of the judgement aforesaid. It is further considered that the proceeding be remanded with directions to the Circuit Court to receive the defendant's plea upon his paying costs, etc.

September term 1824. This term was held immediately after the most exciting election on the convention question, and the reader need not be surprised that 42 cases of assault and battery were put on the docket. There were 3 cases of kidnapping disposed of by heavy fines, to wit: $600 and various and diverse " lashes well laid on, " ordered and decreed.

March term 1825-Samuel McRoberts, judge, Emanuel J. West, clerk by appointment of the judge, who was not at all friendly disposed to Joseph Conway, former clerk- now superseded.

Palemon H. Winchester, a prominent member of the bar, was indicted at this term for murder, the second case of that crime in Madison county. Winchester had slain a certain Daniel D. Smith for pasquilling Mrs. Col. Se- phenson, mother-in-law of Winchester. Smith was the great caricaturist, the Nast or Kepler, of the times, and his cartoons, pen or pencil sketches only had quite a renown. In this case his caricature had become a pasquil, by insin- uating criminal intimacy between the virtuous and excel- lent lady mentioned above and Governor Edwards. The case was tried at a subsequent term. The prosecution was conducted by Benjamin Mills and Alfred Cowles, the defense by Henry Starr of Edwardsville and the famous Felix Grundy of Nashville, Tennessee, formerly chief justice of Kentucky, and later, 1829, senator of the United States.

Winchester was acquitted amidst the rejoicing of his fel- low citizens, men and women alike.

Mrs. Stephenson must have been an exemplary lady, for it is not often that a son-in-law will take up the cudgel in defense of a mother-in-law, or even risk his life to avenge

her, as Winchester did. All honor to Winchester. Win- chester subsequently removed to Carlinville, Macoupin county, where he became the first attorney.

William Cornelius was indicted and tried for horse steal- ing, the first case on record-March term 1825, and was- acquitted, nevertheless he received his 20 lashes well laid on for some other and minor offense.

An uninteresting divorce case-Barbara Burton es. Wm. Burton-ou account of desertion was tried before Judge McRoberts in August 1825, at which term the judge is ac- cused of having persuaded the grand jury to indict Gov. Edward Coles for " libel." The hatred of McRoberts against Coles was so intense that his acts became very in- discreet. Washburne, in his sketch of Governor Coles, makes the following comments in reference to this libel matter: "In a temperate article in a newspaper he (Coles ) made a legitimate criticism on some of the outrageous and indefensible rulings of Judge McRoberts in the case of Madison county against him for freeing his slaves without giving bonds. Eagerly seizing hold of this publication, the judge had the gross indelicacy to go before the grand jury of his own court, and by virtue of his official influence and position, he procured an indictment for libel against Governor Coles. As that was not enough, he commenced a civil suit against the governor, laying his damages at five thousand dollars. This action of MeR. was as malicious as was the suit of Madison county, as the sequel proved. A nolle prosequi was entered in the case of indictment, and the civil suit was never brought to trial. The following letter of the governor to A. Cowles, the circuit attorney, shows that he never consented to the dismissal of the in- dictment, and that he was determined to probe the judge's conduct to the bottom. It is to be regretted that the answer of the circuit attorney is not to be found.

EDWARDSVILLE, August 16, 1826.

DEAR SIR : Believing that I should have been able to prove that I had not lib lled Judge McRoberts and explain how the grand jury had been induced to present me for so doing, it was with great regret that I heard you had thought proper to dismiss the prosecution. Fearing that some ma- licious person may misrepresent this transaction at some future day, when those who now understand it may have forgotten many of the details in relation to it, or perhaps be dead, or have removed from the country, I have deter- mined to ask the favor of you to give me a written answer to the following questions :

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History of Madison County, Illinois With biographical sketches, Part 40

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co. Number of Pages: 698

Author: Brink, W.R. & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Edwardsville, Ill. : W. R. Brink & co.
Number of Pages: 698