USA > Indiana > Hamilton County > History of Hamilton County Indiana, her people, industries and institutions > Part 46
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HAMILTON COUNTY, INDIANA. 469
About the time of the removal of the first courthouse to the square a fight between two men occurred in Noblesville. One of them was arrested on the charge of assault and battery and was taken before a justice of the peace. There was a large number of witnesses, so the justice held the trial in the courthouse. After hearing all the evidence and arguments of the attorneys the justice directed the constable to lock all the doors leading from the court room. When this was done the justice delivered an opinion. He said that it appeared from the evidence that the parties who engaged in the fight differed in a conversation between them upon some matter not made clear to the court; that they had fought an honorable battle and that there was doubt in the mind of the court as to which of the men was the aggressor; that the prisoner was entitled to the benefit of this doubt. The court finds that the justice and the constable have done all the work in this matter and that the audience has had all the fun. It is therefore ordered that the audience pay the costs of this trial and that they remain in the court room until the costs are paid. The joke was such a good one that the costs were then and there paid and court adjourned.
MISCELLANEOUS.
INDIAN MURDERS IN FALL CREEK TOWNSHIP.
The first settlers in Fall Creek township were two men by the name of Bridge and Sawyer. These men built the first cabins in the township as early as the year 1821. One of the cabins was built on the south bank of Fall creek at the mouth of Thorpe's creek, but was before the latter creek was named. The other cabin was built on the north bank of Fall creek where the old Indian trace, leading from Noblesville to Greenfield crossed the creek. When, a few years later, other settlers came to the township, they found these two deserted cabins and never knew who built them. Mr. Shirts gives the following explanation of the mystery of the two lone cabins in the wilderness. "The writer of this history learned by accident that the last named cabin was built by a man named Bridge, and, as will be shown here- after, it is probable that the first named cabin was built by a man by the name of Sawyer, who was a brother-in-law to Bridge. Bridge frequently visited the trading post of William Conner. There was at that time an Indian trail leading past Bridge's cabin from the east to William Conner's trading post and when asked what he was doing he ( Bridge) said hunting and trapping. Bridge, Sr., Bridge, Jr., and Sawyer resided in Fall Creek township, Hamil-
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ton county, Indiana. Hudson lived in Hancock county, Indiana, very near Sawyer and the Bridges. It is not known where Harper lived. It was evi- dent that the conspiracy to murder these Indians was formed in Hamilton county and as three of the guilty parties resided therein, it is proper that the whole circumstance should be related in this work." He further gives his authority for the reports of the murder trials from O. H. Smith's Early Indiana Trials and Sketches and the other facts were gathered from old settlers of the county. The facts concerning the murder trials following were obtained from the same source, which is undoubtedly a reliable one, as Hon. O. H. Smith was the attorney for the state in the trials of Sawyer and the Bridges and he was largely responsible for obtaining a verdict of first degree murder in the trial of Sawyer.
A FOREST CONSPIRACY.
Early in the spring of 1824 a party of Seneca Indians, consisting of two men named Ludlow and Mingo, three squaws and four children were en- camped on the east side of Fall creek about eight miles northeast of the pres- ent site of Pendleton. The surrounding country was all new at that time and there were but a few scattered settlements between Indianapolis and Pendleton. Madison county had just been recently organized with Pendle- ton as the seat of justice. The country around the Indians' camp was one unbroken forest. As all the Indians had not gone west at this time it was no uncommon thing for parties to locate and hunt in any of these unsettled localities, as the hunting and trapping were excellent at this early day, al- though it is said the white settlers were uneasy when it was known a band of Indians were near and, while the settlers left them unmolested, a sharp watch was kept on the movements of the natives. The Indians began their season's work, the men hunting in the woods with guns and the squaws set- ting traps, caring for the children and cooking and preparing the game. The children of the party consisted of two boys about ten years of age and two girls somewhat younger. A week passed in this manner and the Indians had had fair successes but the season was still early and they had prospects of better successes to come. Ludlow and Mingo with their squaws and chil- dren were seated around their camp fire, unsuspicious of harm and un- conscious of any approaching enemies, when there approached through the woods five white men, Harper, Sawyer, Hudson, Bridge, Sr., and Bridge, Jr. Harper, being the leader of the band accosted the Indians as friends and took Ludlow by the hand. He told the Indians his party had lost their horses
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and begged the assistance of the red men to help locate the missing animals. The Indians "void of offense" toward any man and unsuspicious of any treachery readily consented to lend their assistance in the search. Ludlow went in one direction and Mingo in another, with Harper following the former and Hudson the latter, keeping some fifty yards behind their intended victims. When they had traveled some short distance from the camp, Harper shot Ludlow through the body killing the Indian almost instantly. He fell on his face dead. This being the signal, Sawyer hearing the shot, fired in- stantly at Mingo, the ball striking him just below the shoulder blade and passing entirely through his body. Mingo also fell dead. Then the murder- ers met and all returned within firing distance of the camp to complete their bloody deeds. Sawyer shot one of the squaws through the head. She died without a struggle. Bridge, Sr., and Bridge, Jr., each fired and killed the other two squaws, killing both instantly. Sawyer then fired at the oldest boy but only wounded him. Other members of the party killed the other three children. Harper then led the way into the camp which but a short time before had been a happy family circle and now in which only one boy re- mained alive, though wounded. Three squaws and three children lay dead. Sawyer completed the terrible deed by taking the living child by the heels . and dashing his brains out against the end of a log. Then the marauders completed the deed for which the murders had been the preface. They robbed the camp of furs. game and everything of any value, carrying away the booty with them. Harper, the leader of the gang, left immediately for Ohio and was never brought to justice. Sawyer, Hudson, Bridge, Sr., and Bridge, Jr., were arrested shortly after the crime and placed in jail in Pendle- ton. Mr. O. H. Smith gives the following description of the prisoners. "When I first saw them they were confined in a square log jail, built of heavy beech and sugar tree logs, notched down closely and fitting tight above, below and on the sides. I entered with the sheriff. The prisoners were all heavily ironed and sitting on the straw on the floor. Hudson was a man about mid- dle size with a bad look, dark eye and bushy hair, about thirty-five years of age in appearance. Sawyer was about the same age, rather heavier than Hud- son, but there was nothing in his appearance that could have marked him in a crowd, as any other than a common farmer. Bridge, Sr., was much older than Sawyer; his head was quite gray, he was above the common height, slender, and a little bent while standing. Bridge, Jr., was some eighteen years of age, a tall stripling. Bridge, Sr., was the father of Bridge, Jr., and the brother-in-law of Sawyer."
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HAMILTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
PRIMITIVE JUSTICE.
The news of this terrible crime spread like wild fire. The settlers were greatly alarmed for fear the other bands of Indians would wreak vengeance on the innocent settlers for the crime of these white men. An account of the murders was sent to the war department at Washington. Colonel John Johnston of the Indian agency at Piqua, Ohio, hearing of the crime took a hand in the matter. He, with William Conner, who was personally ac- quainted with most of the Indians, visited all the Indian tribes and assured them that the government would punish the offenders, and obtained the promise of the chiefs and warriors that they would wait and see what their . "Great Father" would do before they took the matter into their own hands. The fears of the settlers being thus allayed, the Indians and the white settlers went quietly about their respective work and the preparations went forward for the trial. A new log building was erected in north Pendleton, probably for the direct purpose of holding the great trial. It contained two rooms, one for the court and the other for the grand jury. The court room was about twenty by thirty feet with a heavy "puncheon" floor, a platform three feet high was across one end, enclosed by strong railing and containing a bench for the judges and a table for the clerk. In front on the floor was a long bench for the counsel, a little pen for the prisoners and a side bench for the witnesses, the whole being separated from the remainder of the court room by a strong pole with heavy supports, thus keeping the court and bar separate from the crowd. The jail was well guarded both day and night to prevent the prisoners' escape. The court was composed of three judges, William W. Wick, presiding judge, Samuel Holliday and Adam Winchell, associates. Judge Wick was young on the bench but with much experience in criminal trials. Judge Holliday was described in the Smith narrative of the trial as "one of the best and most conscientious men I ever knew." Judge Winchell was a blacksmith and had ironed the prisoners; he was an honest. rough, frank, illiterate man, without any pretensions to legal knowledge. The clerk, Moses Cox, could barely write his name. When a candidate for justice of the peace at Connersville, he insisted he was better qualified than his opponent because, he said, "I have been sued on every section of the statute and know all about the law, while my competitor has never been sued and knows nothing about the statute." Samuel Cory, the sheriff, was a typical Hoosier of that time, tall and strong from clean living, with a voice that made the woods ring as he called the jurors and witnesses.
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HAMILTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
While the county was thus fortifying itself for the coming trial, the government was also busy. Colonel Johnston, the Indian agent, was to attend the trials and see that the witnesses were present and their fees paid in full. The secretary of war employed General James Noble, at that time United States senator, to prosecute and having power to fee an assistant, he employed Philip Sweetzer, his son-in-law, an excellent young man as his assistant. . The regular prosecuting attorney was Calvin Fletcher, a young man of no mean ability.
THE SCENE IN COURT.
The trial of Hudson was the first on the docket and the great day finally . arrived. With it began to arrive the great lawyers from this state and Ohio. Judge Wick was absent at the beginning of the trial, which left the associate judges in charge. William R. Morris, one of the lawyers for defense, arose and moved, "I ask that these gentlemen (referring to the lawyers) be ad- mitted as attorneys and counsellors at this bar; they are regular practitioners,; but have not brought their licenses with them." Judge Winchell-"Have they come here to defend the prisoners?"
"The most of them have."
"Let them be sworn; nobody but a lawyer would defend a murderer."
Mr. Morris-"I move the court for a writ of habeas corpus to bring up the prisoners now illegally confined in jail.
Judge Winchell-"For what? A writ of habeas corpus? What do you want with it?"
"To bring up the prisoners and have them discharged?"
"Is there any' law for that?"
Morris read the statute regulating the writ of habeas corpus.
"That act, Mr. Morris, has been repealed long ago."
"Your honor is mistaken, it is a constitutional writ, as old as Magna Charta itself."
"Well, Mr. Morris, to cut the matter short, it would do you no good to bring out the prisoners, I ironed them myself, and you will never get those irons off until they have been tried, habeas corpus or no habeas corpus." That settled the question, and then Judge Wick entered and took his seat be- tween the two associates.
General Sampson Mason published in an Ohio paper the following description of the court scene. "As I entered the court room the judge was sitting on a block paring his toe nails, when the sheriff entered out of breath
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and informed the court that he had six jurors tied and his deputies were run- ning down the others."
Mr. Smith remarks, apropos of this description, "General Mason, with all his candor, unquestionably drew upon his imagination in this instance." The grand jury all answered to their names and were sworn before noon. After noon the grand jury brought in an indictment for murder drawn by the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Fletcher, against Hudson. The prisoner was then brought into court by the deputy and two guards. His term of confine- ment had told greatly on his appearance, as he was now haggard and worn and with eyes downcast and faltering voice and he answered "not guilty" upon his arraignment. The petit jury were strong, hardy pioneers, wearing "moccasins and side knives." The evidence in the case occupied but one day and was conclusive and positive, closing every avenue of hope for the doomed man. The prosecuting attorney read the statute concerning the punishment to a homicide and plainly stated the substance of the evidence. The attorneys for the defense made able and eloquent speeches appealing to the prejudice of the jury against the Indians, relating at length the various Indian massacres of white men, women and children, reading the principle incidents in the life of Daniel Boone and other Indian fighters. General Noble closed the argu- ment for the state in a very able and forcible speech. He presented the bloody garments of the murdered Indians, appealed to the justice and love of law of the jury and adding as a final argument that the lives and safety of the settlers in the state might depend largely upon justice being done in the trial in hand. Judge Wick charged the jury at length, especially emphasizing the fact that "the murder of an Indian was equally as criminal in law as the murder of the white man." The jury retired and when court convened the following morning they brought in a verdict of "guilty of murder in the first degree." Motion for a new trial being overruled, the prisoner was brought into court and received his sentence of death from Judge Wick. The time for execution was set and the prisoner returned to jail. Before the day of execution arrived. however, the prisoner made his escape from the guard one dark night, fled to the woods where he hid himself in a hollow log. But his freedom was short lived for he was hunted and found in the log and brought back and lodged in jail, where he remained until the fatal day.
Finally the day arrived for the execution. Multitudes of people were there and among them were several Senecas, relatives of the murdered Indians. The gallows was erected just above the falls on the north side. The people covered the surrounding hills and at the appointed hour, Hudson, by the forfeiture of his life, made the last earthly atonement for his crimes.
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HAMILTON COUNTY, INDIANA.
Such was the result of the first case on record in America where a white man was hung for killing an Indian. The other cases were continued until the next term of court. This trial and execution took place in 1824.
TRIAL OF SAWYER.
Monday morning of the next term came, and court met. Judge Eggles- ton and Judges Adam Winchell and Samuel Holliday, associate judges, took their seats, with Moses Cox at the clerk's desk, Samuel Cory on the sheriff's platform and Col. John Berry, captain of the guards, leaning against the logs. The grand jury were called, sworn and charged, and court adjourned for dinner. In the afternoon the evidence of the main witnesses was heard. O. H. Smith; prosecuting attorney, had prepared indictments in his office in Indianapolis. These he presented to the foreman of the grand jury. The foreman signed the bills on his knee, and they were returned into court before the adjournment that night. The court met the next morning. It was agreed between counsel for the state and defense that Sawyer should be tried first for the shooting of one of the squaws. The prisoner was brought into court. He appeared haggard and very much changed by his long confinement. The court room was crowded. Gen. James Noble, Philip Sweetzer and O. H. Smith appeared for the state and James Rariden, Lot Bloomfield, William R. Morris and Charles H. Zest for the prisoner. Judge Eggleston- "Sheriff, call the petit jury." Judge Winchel-"Sheriff, call 'Squire Make- peace on the jury, he will be a good juror. He will not let one of these mur- derers get away." Judge Eggleston, turning to Judge Winchell -- "This will never do. What, the court pick a jury to try a capital case?" The jury was soon impaneled. The evidence was conclusive that the prisoner had shot one of the squaws at the camp after the killing of Ludlow and Mingo by Harper and Hudson. The jury, too, were a hardy, heavy-bearded set of men, with side knives in their belts, and all wore moccasins. Mr. Sweetzer opened for the state with a strong speech. He was followed in able speeches by Mr. Morrison, Mr. Zest and Mr. Rariden for the prisoner. General Noble closed for the state. The case went to the jury under an able charge from Judge Eggleston and court adjourned for dinner. At the meeting of court after dinner, the jury returned the verdict of guilty of manslaughter, two years of hard labor in the penitentiary. Sawyer was immediately put upon trial be- fore the same jury for the murder of the Indian boy at the camp. The evi- dence was heard and was conclusive against the prisoner. Able speeches were made by counsel for the state and also for the prisoner. The jury was
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charged by the court and retired for deliberation. After an absence of only a few minutes the jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree. The prisoner was remanded and court adjourned.
The next morning the case of Bridge, Sr., for shooting a little girl at the Indian camp, was called. The prisoner entered with the sheriff. A jury was impaneled. The proof was positive. The case was argued as in the case of Sawyer; the jury was charged and after a few minutes' absence, returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree.
The only remaining case, the one of young Bridge for the shooting of the other Indian boy at the camp, came on next.
The trial was more brief, but the result was the same-verdict of murder in the first degree, but with a recommendation to the Governor for a pardon in consequence of his youth, in which the court and bar joined. The trials closed, motions for new trials overruled and court adjourned until the next day. The next morning the prisoners were brought into court and the sentence of death pronounced. The time for the execution was fixed for a distant day, but it soon rolled around. The gallows were erected on the north bank of Fall creek, just above the falls. When the hour for the execu- tion had arrived, thousands surrounded the gallows. A Seneca chief, with his warriors, was posted near the brow of the hill. Sawyer and Bridge, Sr., ascended the scaffold together and were executed in quick succession, dying without a struggle. The vast audience was in tears. The exclamation of the Senecas was interpreted. "We are satisfied." An hour expired, the bodies were taken down and laid in their coffins, when there was seen ascending the scaffold, Bridge, Jr., the last of the convicts. His step was feeble, requiring the aid of the sheriff ; the rope was adjusted. He threw his eyes around upon the audience and then down upon the coffins, where lay, exposed, the bodies of his father and uncle. From that moment his wild gaze too clearly showed that the scene had been too much for his youthful mind. Reason had par- tially left her throne and he stood wildly looking at the crowd, apparently un- conscious of his position. The last minute had come, when James R. Ray, governor of the state, announced to the immense assemblage that the convict was pardoned. Perhaps never before did an audience more heartily respond, while there was a universal regret that the executive mercy had been deferred to the last moment. Thus ended the first trials in the United States where convictions for murder were had and followed by the execution of white men for killing Indians.
Bridge, Sr .. Bridge, Jr., and Sawyer resided in Fall Creek township, Hamilton county, Indiana. Hudson lived in Hancock county, Indiana, very
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HAMILTON COUNTY, INDIANA. 477
near Sawyer and Bridge, Sr. It was not known where Harper lived. It was evident that the conspiracy to murder these Indians was formed in Hamilton county, Indiana, and as three of the guilty parties resided therein, it is proper that the whole circumstance should be related in this work. The main facts in connection with the murders and trials of murderers have been taken from the reports of the murders and trials written by O. H. Smith and published in his work entitled, "Early Indiana Trials and Sketches." The other facts were learned from the old settlers.
THE SAD EXPERIENCE OF ELI TERRY.
Eli Terry was a free negro living near Broad Ripple. In 1841 he was employed by a white man named James Carter to do a year's work which in- cluded a trip to Missouri and other work when the journey there and back should be completed. Immediate preparations were made for the journey which was made without any incident of note happening. Carter had one son with him. After a short stay in Missouri, Carter announced to Terry that he was ready to return to Indiana. In payment for services already rendered, Carter turned over to the negro a horse, saddle and bridle. They were now in the wilds of Missouri and one dark night Terry was awakened without previous notice and the journey presumably to Indiana was begun. After a few days travel, Terry observed to the white man that he believed they were traveling in the wrong direction. Carter replied that he knew they were not going home now, that he had a brother in Arkansas whom he wished to see and after arriving there they would return by boat on the river as it was much easier traveling that way. Finally they arrived at the sup- posed destination, but Carter's brother was mysteriously absent, having re- moved to Red River, Texas. It seemed very urgent that Carter see his brother so the party set out for Texas, passing through the Choctaw Indians' . land. Arriving in Texas, Carter told the negro it was unlawful for a free negro to remain in Texas, as he was liable to be caught and sold into slavery. To prevent such a happening Carter warned Terry to acknowledge him (Carter) as his master while on Texas ground. Clarksville is sixteen miles from Red River and when within two miles of the former, Carter concluded that was a good place to stop. The father and son arranged for the negro to remain with their camp while they went to town, saying they would re- turn when their business was completed and the whole party would return to Indiana. Accordingly, Carter went to Clarksville and there, under the as- sumed name of Brewer, sold Terry to a man named West, the consideration
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being six hundred dollars, one-half in money and a note for the remainder. The note, drawn in the name of Brewer, was then traded to a man named Reed for a tract of land. Carter immediately sold the land for cash. After thus carefully covering his tracks, he and his son left in the night after visit- ing the camp and after taking the horses and other available things with them. They left the negro to his fate, while they returned home with their ill-gotten gains. The next day West came and claimed Terry as his property and for the first time the negro saw how he had been tricked. Terry's assertion that he was a free negro was unheeded by West, who, in spite of Terry's plead- ings, took him into bondage. Can the poor man's misery be imagined? Many miles removed from his friends and relatives, among a people hostile to him as a free man and made to labor and toil for a cruel master, with almost no hope in the future of his condition being bettered. For eight long years he toiled as a slave of West. Then West sold the negro to a man named Chat- field who was going to take Terry farther south and sell him there. If any- thing could be more miserable than slavery in Texas, it was slavery farther south. Terry's heart died within him at the news but help was nearer than he thought.
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