USA > Illinois > Williamson County > History of Williamson county, Illinois, From the earliest times, down to the present, 1876, with an accurate account of the secession movement, ordinances, raids, etc., 1914 > Part 6
USA > Illinois > Williamson County > History of Williamson county, Illinois, From the earliest times, down to the present, with an accurate account of the secession movement, ordinances, raids, etc., also, a complete history of its "bloody vendetta," including all its recondite causes, results, etc., etc. > Part 6
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higher than these young men, I will still be safe living in Williamson County.
Twenty-two of these parties are young men like myself, and I know of no country where finer-looking, honester, friendlier or more sociable young men can be found. I associate with them with pleasure. Many of them are my lasting friends, and I will not denounce them because they have been charged with crimes of which they were not guilty. For the guilty I have nothing but charity; yet some of them committed the high crime of murder without excuse. I shall commence with the first homicide that occurred in the county, and give a 'brief sketch of each one as it occurred, up to the present time. Of the smaller offenses I have taken no notice, though they have been quite numerous and interesting. Some of them have been riots in which two or three men have been 'badly wounded. I estimate the number of assaults to murder that have occurred in this county at 285. Assaults with a deadly weapon, at 495; larceny, 190; rape, 15; burglary, 22; perjury, 20.
The first homicide occurred in 1813. Thomas Griffee was trying to shoot a bear out of a tree where the old court-house burned down in Marion, and he saw an In- dian aiming his gun at the same bear. Grif-
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fee leveled his rifle at the Indian and shot him dead.
The next murder occurred in 1814. Thomas Griffee had a man working in a saltpeter cave for him, by the name of El- iott, who was a little colored. He came in- to Griffee's one Saturday night, and a surveyor by the name of John Hicks raised a fuss with him, and stab'bed and killed him. Hicks then ran away, and at that moment a band of Indians came up to Griffee's from the camp at Bainbridge, and wanted to go in pursuit of Hicks, but Griffee would not let them go. Next morning Griffee and John Phelps started in pursuit of Hicks; they came on to him at the Odum Ford, and Hicks snapped his gun at Griffee's breast, but was taken. They took him to Kaskas- kia, where the nearest Justice of the Peace lived, and he was "whipped, cropped and branded," and let go.
In 1818 a friend of Isaac Herrin came to this county and found a man dead at the Stotlar place, unwept and unknown. This man was doubtless murdered by the In- dians, and if so, was the only one ever killed by them in this county.
The next murder occurred in 1821 in Rock-Creek Precinct, and was committed by Henry Parsons. It was late one evening,
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when the trees were robed in the regalia of Spring, and the great molten orb was quenching itself in the wild winds as they come sweeping against the rolling reach of upland, and the gentle mist was seemingly set to eddying by the rough elements, that this ruffian went walking down a little brook ; his keen, restless eye kept a constant look-out, he saw a man through the deep, green foliage, sitting on a log across the brook. He fired on him, and the unknown hunter slipped off the log into the water, never to rise again. Parsons buried him and his gun. He used to give as an excuse for this murder, that the Indians had mur- dered his father, and he intended to kill every one of them he could find, and he thought this man was an Indian. There nev- er came a more infamous devil out of the legions of horrid blackness than this man Parsons. I give a sketch of him from the mere love of relief. He lived unmatched in the history of villainy; he did not seek wealth, but lived in the woods. He was a cold, calculating miscreant. His passions had no touch of humanity, and his brutal fe- rocity was backed by a kind of brutal cour- age. Like an animal, he never pardoned an affront or rivalry, and to be marked in his tablets on either account, was a sentence of
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death. But still he was really a coward, and pulled the trigger of death with a hand that shook. His crimes were all cold-blood- ed, and not chargeable to passion. Free from rules and reckless of life, feeling no kindness for aught that was human, hated and dreaded by men, detested and shunned by women, he would lay around Davis' Prai- rie and kill Indians. With him the cham- bers of mercy had no relenting toward these blighted men of earth, but as a wasp is ever ready to inflict her sting, so was he ready to commit the crime of murder.
On one occasion A. Keaster met him on the prairie, and he threw up his gun and told Keaster to stop, which he did. Soon after he heard the keen crack of his rifle, and then met him again. Parsons told him he had just killed a bear back there and he could have it. But Keaster knew too well that down in the dark, thick bushes lay an innocent red man weltering in his own blood. The little birds of different species flew across the open space and 'back again turn- ing and whirling in manifold gyrations over the scene, where the ineffable glories of sun- set had been insulted by bloody murder. What a scene was this! an innocent, un- taught man lying wounded in the bushes, dreading the return of his slayer! What
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a thrill of joy would have electrified his soul to have seen a helping hand! Alone with his God and the winds and trees and flowers and birds, he died. The traces of his blood are hidden by the bushes and tall grass, but so long as Nature knows her own lament, will the cries of this murdered man be borne on the wild winds of heaven. I can not contemplate the character of a man 'but with astonishment that can look with fiendish complacency on the bleeding form of a brother man slain.
In 1823, Parsons killed Parson Crouch. They lived on the Crab Orchard, near the Cal. Norman bridge, and Parson bought Crouch's improvements, and was to have possession as soon as convenient; but Par- sons got in a hurry, and told Crouch he must get out by Saturday night, or he would get stung with the "yeller jacket," a name for his gun. Crouch went to Equality that week for salt, and when he got within
a quarter of mile of home, as he was driving along in a bit of dark and lonely forest, this sluth hound shot him dead, from behind a tree. He was found with his pockets full
of toys for his little children. Parsons went to D. Odum's, threw down his gun and de- manded a horse. Odum was afraid to re- fuse him, and he left the country. The
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whole country was raised and went in pur- suit, but never overtook him. He went to Tennessee, and one of his sons came to this county years afterwards and said that a black dog had always followed his father, so that he could see no peace. He died a violent death. Thus "doth Providence with secret care often vindicate herself," and justice is continually done on the trial stage of life.
In 1833, James Youngblood was at a rock quarry, on the Saline, and was mak- ing his dog kill a snake, when Gideon Alex- ander appeared on the bluff above and shot him through the breast. Youngblood rose and attempted to shoot Alexander, but fainted. Alexander ran down to him, helped him home, and protested that he saw nothing 'but a white spot down through the foliage, and thought it was a deer's tail. He waited on Youngblood constantly, and paid all bills. Youngblood lived five or six years, but finaly took to bleeding at the bul- let hole, and died on the cold, damp dirt of his cabin. This was a curious case. Noth- ing was ever done with Alexander for this foul murder.
In 1841, Jeremiah Simmons got into a fight with J. G. Sparks, in Marion. William Benson, constable, interfered and stopped
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it. Simmons then commenced on Benson. The latter started home, Simmons ran aft- er him with a knife; Andrew Benson came up at the time, ran up to Simmons and asked him to stop. Simmons looked over his shoulder and saw who it was, and stabbed backward, striking him in the ab- domen, from which he died. Simmons made his escape. Benson offered five hun- dred dollars reward and the Governor two hundred dollars for his arrest. In about six months he wrote to his wife and was de- tected and brought back from Iowa by Ben- son. He was tried and acquitted. His counsel were General Shields and General McClernand.
In 1854, John Mosley killed James Bur- nett, by striking him on the head with a club. The difficulty arose over a dog fight. Mosley ran away and was captured in Mis- souri by hounds following his trail. He was tried and sentenced for six years, but after one year's confinement was pardoned.
George Ramsey shot and killed Jack Ward in 1859. They had run a horse race, and Ward had won it, which made Ramsey mad. He threw a rock at Ward, then when Ward started towards him, shot him dead and ran away, and has never come back.
In 1859, John Ferguson, then a boy,
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went out into the country and found Ellen Reed lying in bed sick, when he shot her dead. He said his father had too much business with her. He ran away, and years afterwards came home and soon died.
In the same year, an unknown man was found hanging dead on the Crab Orchard, south of Marion. The facts about it were never known, but suspicion rested heavily on a man who lived near by in the bottom, at that time.
In the spring of 1861, an Irishman pass- ed the house of R. T. McHaney, four miles east of Marion; McHaney came up about that time and found that the man had in- sulted his wife. He got his gun and shot the unknown Irishman dead. He was tried and acquitted on the ground of defending his family.
In 1862, Reuben Stocks, a soldier in the Seventy-Eighth Illinois Volunteers, had been transferred to a gun-boat and furloughed home; he brought several of the boys with him conducted himself rather offensively to some people. One day he was in Blairsville, and fell in with the "Aiken gang," some of whom he treated roughly. That night some men went to his house, on the Eight Mile, and called him up, telling him that they wanted him to go back to the gun-boat.
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When he went to the door, they shot him full of buckshot, from which he soon died. The perpetrators of this murder have never 'been discovered.
In 1862, when the One-Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Regiment left this county, and got to the Crab Orchard bridge, in Jack- son county, Terry Crain got into a difficulty with John Burbridge, and struck him on the head with a stone, from which he died. Crain was not indicted until October 1875. He was arrested and admitted to bail on habeas corpus, in the sum of $15,000. In August 1876, he was tried, convicted and sentenced to fifteen years' confinement.
In this same year, William Stacey stab- bed and killed Henderson Tippy. They were boys, bathing in the Crab Orchard, near Marion, and got to fighting. Stacey was acquitted.
In December 1862, James Baker was as- sassinated in Bainbridge Precinct. He walked out one night and was shot dead with a shot gun. It was thought that this was done because he was telling where deserters were.
In 1863, James Emerson, an ardent Re- publican, was assassinated while hunting his horses in the woods, near Blairsville. No cause for his murder is known, unless it was his politics. The assassin is unknown.
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After George Aikin was frustrated in his efforts to sell out the One-Hundred and Twenty-Eighth, at Cairo, he went to Mis- souri, and got Allen Glide and Charley Glide, and came back here. These, and his son John Aikin, are the ones supposed to compose the "Aikin Gang." This gang flourished here in the spring of 1863, in the north part of the county, during which time several murders were committed, and no less than fifty of our citizens robbed. Dr. Bandy was taken out and whipped unmer- cifully, and George Cox was attacked in his house and fired on several times. This band soon got so large that it became un- wieldy, and they got to stealing horses. Several of them were arrested, tried and bailed and left the country. Among the men arrested was James Cheneworth.
In 1863, six men in disguise of soldiers went to Daniel Robertson's, in Lake Creek Precinct, and told him he must go with them to hunt a deserter. He said he would if they would go by for his brother, Jo- seph. They did so. About one and one-half miles from Joseph's, one man fired on Dan- iel, the ball striking him in the forehead, and he fell dead. Then, all six fired on Jo- seph, shooting four holes in his clothing, but he jumped from his horse and made his
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escape. They turned back, went to Peter Wascher's, and fired at him, and he at them, and he escaped. It was supposed to be some of his gang.
In 1863, James Stilly was killed by Ben Batts. The latter was working in his field, and Stilly came to him and they got into a fight, when Batts killed him with a hoe, and ran away.
In the same year, William Moulton was killed by some unknown assassin. Joshua McGinnnis, Dock Dickson, Thomas Murray and Henry Norris were arrested for this of- fense, but there being no evidence, they were acquitted. McGinnis may have been guilty, but the others were not.
One morning in 1864, Samuel Moore was found dead at the door of a saloon in Jef- fersonville. Parties had 'been drinking late the night before, and some one had killed him with a club. A man by the name of Wash- um was indicted, tried and acquitted; and his blood is unexpatiated to this day.
During this year, Vincent Hinchcliff shot and killed James Pickett, a young lawyer of Grassy Precinct, at Blairsville. Pickett was appearing in a case against the administra- tor of William Hinchcliff's estate, and he and Vincent got into a fight, with the result
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I have mentioned. Vincent was tried and acquitted on the ground of self-defense.
The last homicide of this year occurred on the 24th day of March. Several of the Parkers and Jordans got into a general fight in Marion, over an old feud, and William C. Parker shot and killed Richard Jordan. Two or three others were wounded. Parker ran away and has never been caught.
In 1865, Isham Canady was shot and kill- ed, in Marion, under circumstances of such a justifiable nature, as to render the homi- cide almost an improper incident for a catalogue like this, because the killing was not the result of malice, but of a combination of circumstances which made it absolutely necessary at the very moment. The defen- dant was tried and acquitted on the ground of self-defense.
The next homicide of the year was that of Christopher Howard, who was assassin- ated near Herrin's Prairie, on Sunday, 'by some unknown villain, supposed to be on ac- count of politics. He was a Republican.
In 1866, William L. Burton and Samuel McMahan were both shot and killed in a general fight in Sulphur Springs. The fight grew out of politics. They were both Republicans. Dixon B. Ward was indicted for the killing, but there was no evidence of his guilt and he was acquitted.
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In 1867, Horace Sims and John Latta got into a rough-and-tumble fight, at Sim's Mill, on the Saline, and Sims stabbed Latta in the thigh, from which he bled to death. Sims was tried and acquitted on the grounds of self-defense, he being on the 'bottom at the time.
During this year, John Cheneworth was assassinated in the woods, near his house, in Herrin's Prairie. He was not found un- til several days after. Mr. Cheneworth was a still, quiet gentleman. William Chitty and one of his sons were arrested for the crime, but there was not a shadow of evidence against them.
At the November election, 1868, a shoot- ing scrape occurred between the Stanleys and Cashes, in Southern Precinct, in which several shots were fired, and Wm. Stanley was killed. Isiah Cash was accused of the crime, but the evidence tended to show that another man was guilty. This was an old family feud, warmed up by politics, the Stanleys being Republicans. In 1870 Isiah Cash was driving along on his wagon, when he was assassinated, fourteen buckshot piercing his body. His slayer has never been known, but enough is known to say that suspicion has rested on the wrong man. One summer night in 1868, Charles
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McHaney and a 'boy by the name of Rogers got into a fight, five miles east of Marion, when Rogers stabbed and killed McHaney. He was tried and acquitted on the ground of self-defense.
In 1869 George Mandrel, a lunatic in Northern Precinct, met his father in the road and slew him with an ax. The scene was a bloody one, and Mandrel's lunacy is the only thing that saved his neck.
On the first day of January, 1869, Sam- uel Cover shot and killed Phillip Thompson Corder in Marion. The difficulty arose about a difficulty between Cover and a brother of Corder's. Corder was striking at Cover with brass nuckles, when he was shot. Cover was then put in jail to keep him from being mobbed. He was afterwards tried and acquitted on the ground of self- defense.
On the first day of December, 1868, Wil- liam Barham shot and killed Andrew J. Lowe, in Marion. Barham was a young man, afflicted with lunacy, and while in this con- dition stepped into Mr. Lowe's saloon, and shot him in the forehead. Barham was ar- rested by B. F. Lowe, and lodged in jail. On the 7th day of September, 1869, he broke jail and escaped. Five years afterwards he was betrayed by a young lady in Tennes-
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see, and arrested by Thomas Ballou, and brought to Marion. He was tried, found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced for one year.
In 1870, Thomas Pinkey White, a promi- nent citizen of Herrin Prairie, was seen crossing his field in his shirt sleeves. He was never seen again. At the back of the field where he went out, were signs of violence-a little blood and the tracks of two horses from there to Muddy River. It is evident that he was assassinated, but there are some who do not share this opin- ion. No cause for his running away was known to exist to anybody. He was an outspoken Republican, and his conduct in this line made him some enemies.
In 1871, Mastin G. Walker, an old and respected citizen of this county, living seven miles northeast of Marion, was met on his farm by a ruffian, beaten over the head with a barrel of a gun, and slain. John Owen, an old man (one of his neighbors, with whom he had some trouble about land), was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenc- ed for twenty-five years to prison; and is now at Joliet.
In 1871, Valentine Springhardt got into a difficulty at a mill in Marion, and was struck on the head with a large wrench and killed. The defendant gave himself up and
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 107 was afterwards tried and acquitted on the ground of self-defense.
On the 15th day of April 1872, Isaac Vancil, the first white man born in this county, a man seventy-three years old, liv- ing on Big Muddy, was notified to leave the county or suffer death. He did not obey the order, and on the night of the 22nd, ten men in disguise of Ku-Klux, rode up to the house, took him out about a mile down the river bottom, and put a skinned pole in the forks of two saplings and hung him, and left him hanging. Next morning he was found, and all around was still, 'blank and lifeless. I
suppose that it must be a source of but lit- tle satisfaction to that infamous herd of des- perate men to look upon that horrible scene, and feel and know they are the guilty authors. They are hid from the face of men, but a just, certain, inexorable ret- ribution awaits them. In the last day, God will make requisition for the blood of Van- cil, which has stained Heaven with its vul- gar blot. Until then we must submit to the arbitrament of time, and calmly wait with patience and resignation the unbiased in- quest of the future.
I know nothing of Ku-Klux, but conclude that they are 'bound by abhorrent oaths, for a squadron of devils could not drive them from their allegiance. It is a hard thing for
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a man to swear blind allegiance and implicit servitude to a master over both soul and con- science, and never again feel the pure, un- tainted, dashing blood of freedom course his natural veins. Who can succumb to such a disgraceful yoke? Leon in his holy indig- nation could make no greater demand than this. A den of these infernal demons hold- ing their hellish, midnight rivelry, with their blood-shot eyes glaring with untold crimes, and their haggard visages bloated with an impress that tells of woe and mean distress, must be a nice gathering! It may be that some old bridge, on some lone creek, could tell a tale of a soul in mortal strait, and the constellation of the weeping Hades dropped tears on a scene like this, where the trees have plead for mercy for some other man in the clutches of these men, sneaking, low- down, white-livered scoundrels. Vancil was an honest, hard-working man, but had some serious faults. Still, God gave an equal right to live and none the right to deal death and ruin in a land of peace. Soon after his death eighteen men were arrested in Franklin county, charged with the mur- der ; 'but were acquitted. Pleasant G. Veach, Francis M. Gray and Samuel Gossett were then arrested in this county, and admitted to bail in Benton. In a few days, Jesse Cavens,
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Wm. Sansom, Samuel Sweet, Jonas G. Ellett and John Rich, of this county, were arrest- ed and lodged in jail at Marion. In eigh- teen days, Ellett and Gossett were bailed, and the others sent to Perry County jail, where they remained until December, when they were all tried in Franklin county, on change of venue, and acquitted. Some of these parties were indicted in the United States Court at Springfield, under the Ku- Klux Act, but all came clear. Colonel Am- brose Spencer prosecuted them, and he was, on the 6th of January 1873, arrested for having them falsely imprisoned, and put in jail himself for a short time, and Jonas G. Ellett got $4,000 damages against him in this county.
In 1872, James Myers was hauling, near his house on the Eight Mile, when he was shot from behind a tree with a shot-gun. He was taken to his house, and Samuel Tyner, one of his step-sons, with whom he had had a few words, was there and asked him what he could do for him. Myers told him to go for a doctor. He went to Dr. Hinchliff, and told him where Myers was shot, when he had no time to find out. He had the day before borrowed a gun from Dr. Hinchliff, and it was found the next day where he had hid it. Young Tyner was arrested and ad- mitted to bail. Myers not being dead, he
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ran away and has never been found. Myers died soon after.
In August 1872, Richard Allison shot and killed Samuel A'bsher, in a fight which arose about some chicken-coops, in Rock Creek Precinct. Allison ran away, and has never been caught. He stands indicted for manslaughter.
In April 1873, Francis M. Wise and William Newton, of Saline, were riding along the highway together. They had bar- tered mules, and Wise wanted to rue, but Newton would not. Wise then shot him dead from his horse and made his escape. He is indicted for the crime of murder.
In 1874, James Gibbs and Dock Burnett, two young men, got into a fight at a party, seven miles south of Marion. They agreed to fight fair, and walked out with seconds. Bennett had a knife handed to him, with which he stabbed and killed Gibbs. Young Gibbs stood up and fought desperately with his fist, while Burnett was cutting him to pieces. He fell, and a cry went up to Heaven from the more tender-hearted in the crowd, at the cruel murderous exhibition. Burnett fled the county, and a reward of $500 was offered for his arrest.
September 17, 1874, Stewart Culp, a re- spectable citizen of this county, was on his
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way from DeSoto, when he was shot and killed. He lay in his wagon with his head and one arm hanging out. His neck seemed to be broken. His horses went home with him in that condition. Nothing is known of his murderers.
During this same year, William Meece was assassinated by Samuel Keeling, who shot him in the back at church in Northern Precinct. They were both young men, and had had a fight a few days before. Keeling escaped, and one year afterwards he was ar- rested in Kansas by John Fletcher, and brought back to Marion. He changed the venue in his case to Saline county, and was tried and sentenced for life to prison.
The next homicide that occurred in this county was that of Capt. James B. Murray, who was walking along a street in Marion, when he came to where Leander Ferrell was sitting. He made a halt, and was fired on by Ferrell. Several shots were exchanged between them, and Murray fell, mortally wounded, and died next morning. Ferrell was arrested and bailed on habeas corpus, and was tried in 1876, and acquitted of man- slaughter. Murray was a large, powerful man, cool and deliberate, but a man of the greatest courage. Ferrell has been a quiet, peaceable citizen. They had several difficul-
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ties before, in which Murray came near kill- ing Ferrell.
In the summer of 1876, John Kelly and Samuel Lipsy got into a fight in Carterville, and Kelly stabbed Lipsy in the back. Lipsy afterwards died, and it is now claimed from the effects of the wound. Kelly is in jail awaiting a trial.
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