USA > Indiana > Knox County > History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present; with biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc. ; together with an extended history of the colonial days of Vincennes, and its progress down to the formation of the state government > Part 57
USA > Indiana > Daviess County > History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present; with biographical sketches, reminiscences, notes, etc. ; together with an extended history of the colonial days of Vincennes, and its progress down to the formation of the state government > Part 57
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HISTORY OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
sett was convicted of having mortally wounded John B. Griffith with a knife, and was sentenced to two years in the penitentiary. In September, 1862, Mary Ann Strange was convicted of murder in the second degree, and sentenced for life to the State's prison. She had "choked, suffocated, strangled, bruised and wounded " her male child. Burton & Pierce were her attorneys. Clements probably prosecuted. In 1864 James McVicker, Louisa Rich- ardson and Edward Denney were sent to the penitentiary for grand larceny. Clements prosecuted and James T. Pierce, J. W. Burton and S. H. Taylor defended. Strong efforts were made by defending counsel. In a bastardy case in 1865, $200 was as- sessed against the defendant for the support of the child, which was declared to be his by a jury of twelve men. At the close of the war numerous suits against parties for selling liquor without license were tried. In August, 1866, a prominent citizen was found guilty of adultery and fined $180 and costs, and confined one hour in the county jail. The indictment against the lady was quashed. The case of the State vs. James A. Padgett was tried in August, 1867, the charge being murder, it is said. The defendant was sentenced for life. J. W. Burton served as special prosecutor, and was opposed by J. T. Pierce and W. Ray Gardi- ner. The trial was well contested. In March, 1868, a youth of sixteen years was convicted of incest with his sister, and sen- tenced to the house of refuge for four years. C. S. Dobbins prosecuted, and W. I. Mason defended. In this year also Will- iam Wade was convicted of grand larceny, and sentenced to three years. In 1869 Abigail Brattan recovered a judgment of $400 damages against William Jackson for slander. Burton defended. Katie Mosier was sentenced to two years for grand larceny in August, 1871. Joseph Tennis was sentenced to four years for manslaughter in 1874, but secured a new trial. A two-years' sentence for bigamy was secured by the prosecutor in 1874 against a citizen of the county.
THE COUNTY BAR.
The bar of Washington County has from the earliest times been noted for its ability, and many distinguished men from other counties than Daviess have, from time to time, practiced there.
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HISTORY OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
Among the prominent resident attorneys have been the following: Charles R. Brown and Amory C. Kinney. These were the first resident lawyers at Washington. After them came Erasmus, Harvey McJunkin, David McDonald, Capt. W. Warner, E. S. Terry, Samuel Howe Smydth, R. A. Clements, John N. Evans, Michael F. Burke, John Baker, and others. Among the foreign attorneys were the following, the first two being Alex- ander Buckner and Thomas H. Blake. Mr. Buckner came from Vincennes, Mr. Blake from Terre Haute. They were opposing counsel, it is believed, in the case of Thomas Proctor, charged with the larceny of nine beaver skins, mentioned in the para- graph in the circuit court. They quarreled on account of some- thing in connection with the case, and went over the Wabash to settle their differences by the code. The duel resulted without harm to either. Mr. Buckner afterward became United States senator from Missouri; Mr. Blake was the successor of William Prince as president judge of the circuit court, and later was com- missioner of the General Land Office under President Harrison. Other attorneys who have practiced at the bar are the following: Lovell H. and Richard H. Rousseau, John R. Porter, John H. Dowden, John S. Watts, Thomas H. Carson, Richard W. Thomp- son, George G. Dunn, Samuel B. Gookins, John Payne, James Hughes, Tilghman H. Howard, P. M. Brett, Elijah Bell, Delana R. Eckles, B. M. Thomas, Senator Albert S. White, Edward A. Hannegan (afterward United States Senator), A. G. Caldwell, E. B. Talcott, D. K. Weis, Charles Dewey (afterward judge of the supreme court), Elisha M. Huntington, Moses Tabb, John Law, Samuel Judah, Joseph Warner, Willis A. Gorman, Francis P. Bradley, William G. Quick, George Proffit (afterward minister to Brazil), Craven P. Hester, John C. Graham, Joseph Dunn, Will- iam E. Niblack, Henry S. Lane, Abraham Lincoln (who made a tariff speech at the time of his visit, and who was sworn to sup- port the Constitution of the United States and of Indiana in his practice before the court, by Col. John Van Trees, clerk), Hugh L. Livingston, G. W. Johnson, Paris C. Dunning, G. R. H. Moore, S. H. Buskirk, L. Q. De Bruler, A. B. Carlton, N. P. Usher, John Baker, J. W. Burton, C. M. Allen, William Jones, L. B. Parsons, Elisha Embree, and many others of later date.
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HISTORY OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
T. A. Howard became United States senator, gubernatorial candidate of the State; Dunning became governor of the State; McDonald judge of the United States District Court, and author of "McDonald's Treatise;" Gorman was colonel in the Mexican war, a general in the Rebellion, a member of Congress and gov- ernor of Minnesota; Smydth was a brilliant young man, and died in France, an officer of the United States; Watts was appointed judge in New Mexico by President Fillmore, and died there; Thompson was member of Congress and Secretary of the Navy under Hayes; G. G. Dunn was the greatest orator in Indiana, and a member of Congress; Terry became judge of a circuit in the northern part of the State; was a graduate of West Point. He was the second of G. G. Dunn in an "affair of honor" with James Hughes, whose second was Hugh L. Livingston. The affair was honorably settled without the effusion of blood. Lovel H. Rousseau was captain in the Mexican war and a major-gen- eral in the Rebellion; James Hughes was judge, congressman, West Point graduate, lieutenant in the Mexican war, and major- general of the Indiana Legion during the Rebellion. Many of the others became judges, and several reached prominent positions in the State and Nation.
The present bar of Washington is composed of the following members and firms: Gardiner & Taylor, J. W. Burton, Bill- heimer & Downey, Haynes & Hardy, O'Neal & Hefron, Ogdon & Burke, C. K. Tharp, J. M. Barr, John Baker, John H. Spencer, G. G. Barton, E. F. Meredith, and John M. Van Trees. On the whole, this bar is one of exceptional ability.
THE MURDER OF BENJAMIN SHODA.
This murder occurred December 24, 1834. Benjamin Shoda or Choto, was of French and German origin. He came to Daviess County from Kentucky about 1830. He was unmarried, and set- tled within half a mile of N. Read's house. For a bachelorhe was comfortably situated. On the Christmas eve above men- tioned he had invited his friends, William Scott and James Right, to celebrate with him, and had a gallon of whisky ready for the occasion. Toward midnight Right fell asleep, and slept very soundly until near daylight. When he awoke Scott was
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HISTORY OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
gone, and Shoda was, as he thought, asleep, so he passed out quietly and went home. Scott had already gone home, but feel- ing uneasy, started for town, and on his way met some one and told him about the fight he had with Shoda, and he said he sup- posed him dead by that time, as he had left him in a dying con- dition. Shoda had a shoe bench and tools, and his shoe knife was found bent double, and his poker, a seasoned sassafras stick about three feet long, and about as thick as a man's wrist, was ly- ing on the floor. There was no blood on either knife or stick, but from the imprints of the stick upon Shoda's face and head, and from the fact that the knife was bent double, it was inferred that the two had quarreled over their game of cards, and that Shoda had met his death from blows received from the sassafras poker in the hands of Scott. Scott made no attempt to escape, and was imprisoned. He was indicted by the grand jury for murder in the second degree. The verdict of the jury that tried the case was guilty as charged, and the sentence imposed was that Scott should serve two years at hard labor in the State prison. Scott served- out his time, and lived the remainder of his life in the hilly country between Washington and Jeffersonville. For several weeks after the burial numerous people saw at night Shoda's ghost, as they believed, hovering near the grave. The apparition caused a genuine sensation for a considerable time, and as the grave was on high ground, in a lonely spot some dis- tance from the road, the true state of affairs was not discovered, as has been intimated, for weeks. At length what was generally believed to be a ghost was found out to be a white heifer, which had found her way into the small field containing the grave, but could not find her way out. Thus the secret of the ghost was re- vealed.
THE MURDER OF DAVID YOUNG.
This murder occurred about February 1, 1866. By whom it was committed was never legally ascertained. William J. Wil- son, Young's partner for some years in business at Epsom, Da- viess County, was suspected, and, by a change of venue, tried in Pike County for the crime, in September of that year. Circum- stantial evidence was all that could be produced, but not enough to satisfy the jury of his guilt. In the trial the State was repre-
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HISTORY OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
sented by Prosecuting Attorney William R. Gardiner, Richard A. Clements and Alexander C. Donald, of Princeton, who was em- ployed by the Masonic lodge. The defense was conducted by Judge J. W. Burton, of Washington, and Col. Cyrus M. Allen, of Vincennes. At the termination of the trial, which lasted nearly a week, the prosecution through Mr. Donald, admitted that the State had failed to make out a case, saying in his concluding speech to the jury: "I firmly and honestly believe him guilty, but have failed to prove it." After his acquittal Wilson remained at home until the following February, braving the storm of indig- nation caused by the general belief in his guilt. At that time he suddenly disappeared, deserting his wife and family, all of whom except his son still reside in Daviess County. The circumstance which came to light after the discovery of the body by a young woman named Johnson, in the evening of Friday, February 8, proved the murder to have been one of the most cold blooded in the annals of crime, and for which it is probable his own super- stition was largely instrumental; but circumstances are numerous, and are intricately connected with individuals and religious be- lief. The above is the theory generally accepted, but it is proba- bly not the correct one. Evidence is in existence closely connect- ing other parties with the crime. As, however, no one else has ever been tried, it would be inappropriate to introduce guess work.
THE ASSASSINATION OF CAPT. M'CARTY.
Capt. Eli McCarty had belonged to Company G, Forty-second Indiana Volunteers, but on account of having been wounded in battle he was appointed notifying officer at the time of the draft in 1864. At that time feeling ran very high throughout this State against the Government, against the further prosecution of the war, and especially against the draft. Numerous individuals in the southeastern part of the county had sworn to resist the draft, and to kill any officer of the Government who should notify them that they were drafted. Meetings were held by those taking this position, most if not all of whom, it is believed, were members of that treasonable order known as the "Knights of the Golden Cir- cle." Among the leaders in the special episode resulting in the death of Capt. McCarty, were at least two of the Slicer boys, and
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HISTORY OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
Hillory Madden. The names of others will appear later on. In the performance of his duty, Capt. McCarty, on October 3, 1864, notified Samuel and Thornton Slicer, Jr., sons of Thornton Slicer, Sr., of their being drafted, the former of whom said very quietly but very determinedly, "I will see you later, Mr. McCarty." Capt. McCarty then went to the house of William Jackson and took dinner. While there he manifested considerable uneasiness, which Mr. Jackson noticed, understood the reason, therefore, and offered to accompany the Captain. This offer was declined, and McCarty went on his mission. He next notified James Nash, who was chopping near William Madden's barn. Mr. Nash, though a Democrat, did not approve of the movement to resist the draft, but in the barn, unknown to him or the Captain, were two of those who did propose to resist it, and to kill any notifying officer. These two men were Samuel Slicer and Hillory Madden. Mc- Carty having proceeded eastward a short distance they came out of the barn and started in pursuit, swearing they would kill the Soon they jumped the fence and ran across the fields to head him off. McCarty was shot not by them, but probably by John Macaboy, who stood on a slight elevation of ground, near a dead white oak tree and behind a thick clump of bushes, and was thus unperceived by his victim. The shoot- ing was done with a rifle, the ball entering near the right shoul- der, passing down obliquely through the lungs and severing the main artery near the heart. The Captain rode on about fifty yards before falling from his horse. Other shots were fired but no other took effect. One of the party almost immediately came back to where Nash was at work, and throwing his pistol down at Nash's feet, exclaimed, "By -, we've killed him, and if you peach upon us we'll serve you the same way." The Captain's horse with the empty and bloody saddle on his back, galloped down the road past Jackson's, and soon afterward the news spread throughout the neighborhood that harm had come to McCarty. The entire country became aroused, collected at James W. Por- ter's and the next morning began the search for the body. In the meantime the Captain's horse had been captured by his assas- sins, led back to where the dead body lay, and compelled to carry his dead owner to the East Fork of the White River. Into this
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HISTORY OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
river at Green's Bend, on the Ballow farm, the body was thrown, weighted with a stone of about 100 pounds. It was no difficult matter to fasten suspicion upon some of the guilty parties, but the exact number and the particular individuals implicated have probably not been ascertained. Twenty-five or thirty were arrest- ed by a self-constituted posse of citizens and soldiers home on furlough, and held at the house af James W. Porter. A portion of those arrested were taken to Washington and given a prelim- inary trial, but as sufficient evidence of their guilt could not then be obtained, they were permitted to return to the neighborhood of the commission of the crime, under guard. A Deputy United States Marshal soon arrived on the ground under whom the posse organized. About the time the parties who had been given a trial at Washington arrived at Mr. Porter's house, which was head- quarters for the posse and where the prisoners were held, a run- ner came in and announced that the body of McCarty had been found. The course followed to the river had been easily traced, and Dr. Mitchell, by diving, found the body at the bottom of a hole in the river about twenty feet deep. The commission of the deed was surely being traced to the right parties by contradictions in their testimony as to their whereabouts and occupations on the day of the murder, when indications of weakening were observed in Charles Mallory, who was finally unable to hold out, and turned State's evidence against his fellows.
Of those pointed out by him as being participants in the crime, the following parties were tried and convicted for resist- ance to the draft at Indianapolis by a military commission, and sentenced to the penitentiary for six years: John Macaboy, Dan- iel Scales, William Whitesides, Washington Hedrick and Yokum Scott. Whitesides and Hedrick died before the beginning of their terms. The others served the full six years, and were then released. The Slicer boys and young Madden, who were equally guilty, managed to entirely escape, went West and joined Quan- trell's guerrilla band, and afterward went to California, where they are believed to be at the present time, except Thornton Slicer, who, a few years since, was living in southwest Missouri. Had the younger men of the county had their way, very few, if any, would have been tried by a military commission or escaped, for
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HISTORY OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
their determination was to hang every one believed to have been guilty to the nearest tree, but the counsel of cooler heads prevailed.
Capt. McCarty was buried in the graveyard near the Eben- ezer Methodist Episcopal Church. A monument was erected soon afterward over his grave, bearing the following inscription: "Eli McCarty, Capt. of Co. G., 42d Indiana Volunteers; born November 26, 1826; killed October 3, 1863, by eight Peace Dem- ocrats, while notifying drafted men. He entered the service of his country September 26, 1860; was wounded at the battle of Perryville, October 8, 1861; resigned March 16, 1862. He was a volunteer, and had served in the Mexican War. 'All things work together for good to those who love and serve God.'"
THE PROBATE AND COMMON PLEAS COURTS.
The probate court of Daviess County held its first meeting July 14, 1817. The associate judges of the circuit court were ex officio probate judges from the time of the establishment of this court until 1830. These associate judges were at first Will- iam H. Routt and James G. Read. Very little business of im- portance came before the probate court for some time. The first will admitted to probate was that of Thomas Horrall, December 18, 1818. The first probate judge was James Breeze, in 1830. James McDonald was commissioned probate judge in 1832, for seven years. W. G. Cole went on the bench in 1839, and served until 1849, when, on account of his death, Gov. Dunning com- missioned Alfred P. Davis. John Brayfield was commissioned probate judge September 7, 1850, and served until this court was changed to the court of common pleas in 1852. Succeeding him have been Richard A. Clements, Sr., who served from January, 1853, to May, 1866, when James C. Denney was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by his death. Judge Denney was succeeded by Richard A. Clements, Jr., who was elected, and commissioned by Gov. O. P. Morton November 12, 1866. Upon the death of Judge Clements, William R. Gardiner was appointed by Gov. Baker, October 2, 1867, to fill the vacancy. In November, 1867, Judge Gardiner was succeeded by J. T. Pierce, who was elected at the general election that year. Judge Pierce served as com- mon pleas judge until 1873, when a law was passed by the Leg- islature repealing the statute creating the court of common pleas.
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HISTORY OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
CHAPTER VI.
PREPARED BY WESTON A. GOODSPEED.
MILITARY HISTORY-THE MEXICAN SOLDIERS-EVENTS PRECEDING THE REBELLION-THE FALL OF SUMTER AND THE CALL TO ARMS-WAR MEETINGS AND VOLUNTEERS-SKETCHES OF THE VARIOUS REGI- MENTS-CASUALTIES AND RECRUITS-LOYALTY AND DISLOYALTY- GUERRILLA ALARMS AND PERSONAL ENCOUNTERS-THE VETERANS- THE DRAFTS-SUMMARY OF MEN-BOUNTY AND RELIEF-THE LEGION .- CALLS OF THE GOVERNMENT.
A FEW of the earliest residents of the county served in the Revolutionary war and in the brief struggle of 1812. but as no record of them was kept, their names and services can- not be given here. After the war of 1812 the militia system was fully kept up until all apprehension of danger from Indians was past, and was then suffered to slowly fall into disuse. There were made in the county two separate recruiting efforts for the war with Mexico in 1846-47, though but little can be said con- cerning them. Under the first effort Charles Childs, Thomas Coulter, Gabriel Moots, Nelson Boulton, Patrick Carley and Jacob Leap enlisted, and served in Company H of the Second Indiana Regiment, under Capt. Joseph W. Briggs, of Sullivan County. They left the county about June, 1846, and served for one year. They fought at Buena Vista. In 1847 Capt. Ford, of the Third United States Dragoons, recruited Alexander H. Do- herty, Thomas Coulter, William Samples, John Samples, Jacob Leap, William Sanders, William Smith, William Hubbard and Nelson Jackson. These men went no farther than St. Louis, owing to the closing of the war. Peace was then enjoyed until the slaveholders' rebellion of 1861-65.
EVENTS PRECEDING THE REBELLION.
During the presidential campaign of 1860, the most exciting and ominous that had ever occurred, up to that time, in the his- tory of the Government, the citizens of Daviess County realized
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the magnitude of public events and the danger which threatened the dismemberment of the Union. As time passed, and the Southern States one after another enacted ordinances of secession, took possession of important military points and supplies, and formed a confederacy to assist one another in the common deter- mination to set up a separate government, many in the county lost all hope of their restoration to the Federal Union. Compro- mises of all descriptions were discussed with an earnestness and vehemence that revealed the fires of patriotism burning in all breasts. All views, from the rankest Southern to the hottest Northern, were publicly expressed. The Telegraph, edited at Washington by S. F. Horrall, took a loyal position from the start. In his issue of February 1, 1861, he said: "That the action of South Carolina and other seceding States is treason against the General Government is true; and yet, strange as it may seem, we find men in the free States who try to justify this treason, as if there could be any justification of a crime so heinous and damna- ble. However, we never find one who is not willing to admit that secessionists have acted hastily, that they have been guilty of treason; but for all this they are disposed to say: 'Let the seceders alone! If you disturb them, if you execute the laws, they will fight, and down goes the fabric of the Government.' But can any human power satisfy the seceders? Are they not bent on doing violence to the laws of the Government, setting the powers that be at defiance, regardless of any consequences ? Has one word been uttered by any one of the seceding States that in case of a satisfactory compromise, giving them all they have ever asked, that goes to prove that they would accept the compromise and come back into the Union? We can hardly be- lieve that they will ever willingly come back until, by experience, they have learned the sad lesson of secession. As to war, God knows we hope we may never see the day that the first blow will be struck, for then we may not even guess at the end. We hope that the virtue of forbearance will be clung to till the last ray of hope shall have vanished, then, if it comes to the worst, let us prepare to meet the issue."
Subsequent events have proved that the view of the Telegraph regarding the Southern situation was singularly correct. Janu-
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ary 25, 1861, it said: "Southern Democrats demanded more than Northern Democrats were willing to concede, hence the se- cession took place there first. First they determined to dissolve the Democratic party, which they did; then the Union, which they say they have fully accomplished; but Uncle Sam has not yet given up the ship, and we hope never will." In the issue of February 1, it also said: "The fidelity of Southern seceders to the Democratic party has always depended upon the extent to which the party was willing to yield to their desires." The facts contained in these extracts were, at that time, known only to per- sons who had made the questions which divided the North and the South an intelligent study. Many in the county not conver- sant with details and justifiable conclusions, really thought that the South had been unjustly treated; not so the editor of the Tel- egraph. No week elasped that he did not denounce the imbecil- ity, if not absolute disloyalty, of the neglect of Buchanan's admin- istration to strangle the hydra of secession in its monstrous in- fancy. He looked for immediate and warlike action from Mr. Lincoln; but as time passed and his hopes, with those of thou- sands of others, were not realized, he at first lost heart; but soon rallied, as the wisdom of peaceful overtures and deliberation was developed. March 15 the Telegraph said: "It appears to be the policy of the administration to evacuate Fort Sumter. This is regarded by some as a master stroke of policy, and by some just the contrary. We have every confidence in the wisdom and pa- triotism of the administration, and feel sure that the best efforts will be made to guide the ship of state aright and a collision avoided if it can be done. It is evident that the secessionists have hoped to bring about a collision with the General Government, and that their only hope of success lies in this direction. If we had our way we should say, 'hang the rebels;' but he who plunges into a long and bloody war when there is a probability of reach- ing the desired end peaceably, will surely take a great and awful responsibility npon himself; therefore, the administration being one of wisdom and full of patriotism, we presume every move- ment in this critical time of national affairs will be well weighed before it is made. Statesmen express strong hope that the Union will yet be safe, and that our country may again be the same happy land of freedom. God grant it!"
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