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[January 24, 1873] -
Murder in Boyle County.
On last Saturday evening, about two o'clock, a most brutal murder was committed at Shelby City, in Boyle county, about eight miles west of this place, on the Knoxville Branch railroad, the particulars of which are about as follows: Two men, Bill Wilson and Clay Drye -- the former a notorious desperado and outlaw -- rode into Shelby City and stopped at the drug store of J. B. Williamson, where the proprietor and his two sons, John and Robert, were sitting around the stove engaged in social converse. The two men were exceedingly boisterous and insulting in their conduct, demanding liquor, which Mr. Williamson declined to sell them, saying that it would be a violation of law. Young Drye drew his pistol and threatened to kill elder Williamson, who grasped the weapon and a struggle ensued. J. B. Williamson attempted to assist his father, when Wilson drew his pistol and fired, the ball taking effect in the head of the young man. Drye, being released, also shot young Williamson. The two men were total strangers to the Williamsons. The first shot killed young Williamson instantly. It is reported that the two murderers also shot a negro man on the road from Shelby City to Hustonville, after leaving the store of Williamson. A party of men are out in pursuit of the murderers, and, it is hoped, will be able to secure their arrest. We have no sympathy for the dastardly villains who committed this brutal murder, but deeply sympathize with the bereaved friends of the murdered man and the relations of young Drye, who are among the most respectable families of our county. This is another case to swell the terrible docket against the traffic of ardent spirits. [1]
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[January 31, 1873] -
The Governor offers a reward of $500 each for the apprehension of Clay Drye and Bill Wilson, charged with the murder of John Williamson. [2]
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[February 12, 1873] -
The sheriff and his posse are out after Drye and Wilson, and will return some time this week to this county. He has about fifty men under command. [3]
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[February 14, 1873] -
Capture of Drye and Wilson.
The Sheriff of Boyle county, with a strong guard, passed through our town, yesterday morning, with Wilson and Drye, the murderers of young Williamson. We learn from one of the guards the following particulars of their capture. Drye and Wilson arrived at Jamestown, Fentress county, Tennessee, took quarters at the principal hotel, and were having a jolly good time, drinking and carousing, gambling, etc. Their actions excited suspicion, and several citizens of the town laid a scheme for their capture, believing them to be the murderers of Williamson. The Sheriff, with ten men well armed, walked into the public room of the hotel and demanded their surrender. Drye showed fight, but finding it useless, threw away his arms. The prisoners were safely conducted to the Danville jail, there to await trial and justice. The enormity of their crime naturally excites the passions of the public, but we hope no violence will be resorted to, as is apprehended. If the murderers desire death, the law should in this, as in all other cases, be allowed to take its course. [4]
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[February 19, 1873] -
THE BOYLE COUNTY TRAGEDY.
Examining Trial of Drye and Wilson, the Murderers of Williamson--They are Sent to Louisville for Safekeeping.
(Special Dispatch to the Courier-Journal.)
LEXINGTON, KY., Feb. 18. -- J. B. Caldwell, deputy sheriff of Boyle county, with a guard of four, reached here this afternoon, having in charge H. C. Drye and Wm. Wilson, charged with the murder of young Williamson at Shelby City a short time ago. Caldwell has orders to take them to Louisville for confinement in jail. At the trial in Danville, this morning, examination was waived. Considerable excitement over the matter exists there, and fears of a mob are entertained by some. The circumstances of the murder are these: The brother of Drye was shot by some party in Hustonville a while before this, and Drye and Wilson, while looking for the murderer, got drunk and raised a fuss with Williamson, and shot him. They claim that it was done in self-defense. They shot a negro near Parksville, Boyle county, and one near Milledgeville, in the same county, the same day. One is reported dead; the other one recovered. They were arrested by the sheriff of Fentress county, Tenn. Wilson is twenty-seven years old, six feet high, light hair and whiskers, and is powerfully built, Drye is twenty years old, five feet eleven high, 175 pounds, black hair and mustache, well made and good looking. Neither is married. Drye is of a family in good circumstances. He has borne a tolerable reputation. Wilson is regarded as a desperate character. Caldwell denies the report sent to the Courier-Journal that he had fifty men when he got them. He had only five. [5]
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[February 21, 1873] -
Drye and Wilson.
Tuesday last was the day set for the examining trial of Wilson and Drye, in Danville, for the murder of Williamson. They waved a preliminary trial, and were remanded to jail on the charge of murder in the first degree. On motion of the counsel for the defense, the prisoners were ordered to be transferred to the Louisville jail for safe custody, based upon the supposition that violence would be resorted to if they remained in the vicinity in which the crime was committed. The Sheriff, with a guard of well-armed and courageous men, determined to defend their prisoners from friends and foes alike, accordingly started via Nicholasville with them on Tuesday, and reached Louisville without molestation. It came to the ears of the counsel for the defense that a meeting, ostensibly for the purpose of exciting a mob, had been held some four miles from Danville. It was also rumored, upon the authority of several reliable citizens in the vicinity of Hall's Gap, that on the evening the prisoners passed through Stanford a large number of persons -- perhaps more than two hundred -- were seen going toward Somerset, the impression is, for the purpose of either rescuing the murderers, or administering summary punishment. We are glad the prisoners are removed remotely from the scene of their terrible crime, and hope, by the time their trial takes place, that the public fury will be abated sufficiently to give them a fair and impartial trial, and the majesty of the law be fully vindicated.
In regard to the capture of Drye and Wilson, we stated last week that ten men were summoned by the Sheriff, Mr. Taylor. We learned from the Tennessee guards, as they passed through on their return home, that only five besides the Sheriff were engaged in the capture, viz: S. V. Bowden, L. C. Rich, Berry Taylor, Pleas. Taylor, and one other. The Sheriff was informed of the murder of young Williamson by a stock drover from this county, who pointed out to him the two men whom he believed to be the perpetrators of the horrible deed. Mr. Foster, one of the guards, informed us that Wilson made an attempt to escape, and that Drye, when first mounted, made a dash for his freedom, but was caught. Wilson told the guard that he expected to be shot down at any moment by his implacable enemy, Blu. Kennet, who had openly avowed his intention to slay him whenever and wherever he met him, and manifested great fear when passing through the different towns along the route. Our readers are familiar with the past history of Wilson, and it is unneccessary to recount it now. When the rope is adjusted around his neck and the trap sprung, the country will be rid of the most desperate, daring, and dangerous man that ever existed in this State, and not a few will rejoice over the event. [6]
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[March 14, 1873] -
Drye and Wilson.
The Boyle County Circuit Court is now in session. On Friday last Drye and Wilson, charged with the murder of young Williamson at Shelby City, were brought from Louisville to Danville and lodged in the county jail. On Monday night a mob of about thirty men slipped into town and reached the vicinity of the jail before they were discovered. Demanding the person of Bill Wilson, the guard in the prison opened a sharp fire upon them; but, owing to the position of the mob, they were beyond range of the bullets. In the court-house were a number of Drye's friends, who sallied forth upon the first intimation of danger, and opened a fire upon the mob which put them to flight. It is thought that no one was wounded.
On Tuesday, Judge Fox read in open court a communication addressed to himself, and signed "K. K. K.," threatening violence to his person if he granted a change of venue to another county in the Drye and Wilson case. The Judge fearlessly declared that he would not be influenced in his decision of the matter by any such infamous documents. The case was called on Thursday, and a change of venue was overruled, the case continued, and the prisoners returned to Louisville jail. [7]
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[March 14, 1873] -
Attempted Mob Violence in Danville.
LEXINGTON, March 12. -- A mob tried to take Wilson and Drye out of the Danville jail last night, but were repulsed by a guard of ten men on duty. One horse was shot, and one of the mob is supposed to be mortally wounded. The town is in arms to-night, and there is great excitement. The Sheriff is determined to protect his prisoners at any cost. [8]
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[March 21, 1873] -
We were glad to learn that the mob spirit which manifested itself there [Danville] recently, in reference to Wilson and Drye, has entirely subsided. We hope civilized men will see the error and folly of their way, and not attempt to divert justice from its course by threats of violence to a Judge whose duty it is to see the law enforced and justice dealt out to all. [9]
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[December 26, 1873] -
Wilson and Drye, notorious for the murder of John S. Williamson, of Shelby City, were brought from Louisville Wednesday, the 17th inst., and safely lodged in jail in Danville. Their trial was fixed for the 23d of December. [10]
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[January 2, 1874] -
One of the most appalling crimes that was committed in Central Kentucky during the year was the murdering of young J. B. Williamson by Bill Wilson, a notorious desperado, and Clay Drye, a boon companion of Wilson's, at Shelby City, on the 19th of January. The murderers were captured in Tennessee a few weeks after committing the awful deed and are now in prison awaiting trial for their lives. A few days before this crime was committed, some one, supposed to be a man by the name of Meredith, shot Major Watt Drye through a window of the hotel in Hustonville. Major Drye recovered, and Meredith is in prison awaiting his trial before a jury. [11]
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[February 27, 1874] -
The regular March term of the Boyle Circuit Court will convene next Monday. On the docket are 104 ordinary cases, 33 equity, and 2 appeals, -- making 139 in all. The case of the Commonwealth vs. Wm. Wilson and H. C. Drye for the murder of Jno. B. Williamson, is set for the second day of the Court (Tuesday). The prisoners were brought to Danville from Louisville, last Friday. All the other Commonwealth cases, of any importance, except that of Perry West, for robbery, were continued until the September term of the Court. [12]
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[March 6, 1874] -
The great matter of interest in the Court is the trial of the case of H. C. Drye charged with the murder of Jno. B. Williamson, which was taken up on Tuesday. Wm. Wilson, charged with the same offence, will have a separate trial. Up til yesterday, (Thursday,) noon, a jury in Drye's case had not been obtained, although a large number of the citizens of the county had been summoned. The prosecution will be conducted by M. H. Owsley, Commonwealth's Attorney; Messrs. Van Winkle & Rodes, and R. J. Breckinridge. The defence by R. P. Jacobs, Hill & Alcorn, G. W. Dunlap, F. L. Woolford, A. H. Sneed, and C. H. May. [13]
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[March 13, 1874] -
OUR CIRCUIT COURT.
The Case of the Commonwealth vs. H. C. Drye.
THE TESTIMONY FOR THE COMMONWEALTH IN FULL.
Interesting and Important Particulars.
The case of the Commonwealth against H. C. Drye, charged with the murder of Jno. B. Williamson, in Shelby City, on the 19th of January, 1873, has been pending in our Circuit Court since Tuesday of last week. The time was consumed in the effort to obtain a jury. This county was exhausted, and the Judge was compelled to order the Sheriff to Mercer to summon jurors. The panel was completed on Wednesday noon, of the present week, and is made up as follows: Saml. Stone, Danl. Medsker, J. S. Kincaid, Woodson Arnold, A. W. Bricken, Henry Vauderiffe, T. W. Bottom (all of Boyle), and J. F. Burrows, Hiram Bradshaw, Jos. A. Nichol, Wm. Lyon, John Lyon, of Mercer.
The following is a copy of the indictment:
The Grand Jury, of Boyle County, in the name and by the authority of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, accuse H. Clay Drye and Wm. Wilson of the crime of murder, committed as follows, viz: The said H. Clay Drye and William Wilson did, on the 19th day of January, A.D. 1873, in the county aforesaid, feloniously and with malice aforethought, with pistols loaded with powder and leaden balls or some other hard surface, shoot, wound and murder John Williamson. He the said Williamson, then and there dying of the wounds inflicted on him by H. Clay Drye and Wm. Wilson as aforesaid.
A separate trial having been demanded, the examination of the witnesses for the Commonwealth against Drye commenced on Wednesday afternoon.
Owing to the very great interest felt in this entire section of the State with regard to this trial, we herewith surrender a considerable space to the publication of the testimony, which has been reported for us, very accurately, by Mr. George Moore.
Jas. H. Wiliamson, (father of deceased.) Examined by Owsley. -- Am father of deceased. Was in my son's drug store, Sunday afternoon, Jan. 18th, 1873. Three men came to drug store. They walked in. My sons and two others were in drug store. Son says, "Good evening, boys?" They took seats. One of them I didn't know. One sat to my right. I sat facing the door. Son sat left of isle. McElroy sat back of me. Drye sat near me. Wilson sat to the right of Drye. Drye halloed, not loud, afterwards loud. Says I: "Don't make any fuss, it is Sunday." Son says, "No, don't." As he said this Drye drew his pistol, and aimed to point it at son. I caught it. Both Drye and I arose to our feet. I told him "to put up his pistol." He cursed son bitterly. We struggled back. I tried to get him to the door. Son came around near me. Drye tried to point his pistol at son. Wilson put his pistol over my shoulder and shot son in the face. I saw he was shot and turned and said: "You have shot my son." Drye turned and shot son after he fell. After Drye shot him son shoved feet straight out. Wilson put his pistol in my face. I looked him in the eye and told him "he could kill me if he would, he had killed my son." Drye went out and afterwards came back and snapped his pistol at son. They got on their horses and rode away, pointing their pistols at men on the street. Wilson came near riding over a lady. They went towards Hustonville. Didn't see them any more. It was in the afternoon. I was in drug store 10 minutes. I came out and saw them go off. I recognize defendant as one of the men. Didn't see them until Court. I did not try to have them arrested. They were brought back some 2 or 3 weeks after. I was unwell, and did not see them when brought back. He, (my son,) was 19 years old. Drug store is in Shelby City, Boyle County. Occurred 19th of January, about one year ago. Son did not try to injure either of them at the time. He never spoke, except as said before. Wilson never spoke in house that I heard. I said first "not to make any fuss," calling them friends. My son said just after: "No, don't make any fuss." Drye drew his pistol as soon as son made the remark. No one said anything to him at first. He (Drye) at first sorter jumped up. He had a large, new over-coat on. Drew his pistol from right side, when I grabbed it. Pulled pistol while he was sitting down. Both sitting when he drew pistol. Both rose; son was sitting. Son had nothing when he came around to Drye. My two sons and Sluder all had knives out when they came in. Were comparing knives. Son came around and took hold of Drye. Don't think he would have held Drye if he had knife. He had no knife when I saw him fall. Did not examine wound made by Drye. It was in left breast. Dr. Grinstead, I heard, examined wounds. After Drye shot son he did not seem to be alive any more. McElroy, my two sons, Sluder, boy Sturges, and myself were present in drug store; all here except Sluder. He left in December last. Have not heard of his being back. Cross examined by Dunlap. -- Draws diagram of room, &c., with chalk given him by defendant's counsel. Locates different parties in room. Imitates Drye's first halloe. Halloed twice before interrupted by me with the remark, "not to make any noise." Drye threw his pistol almost across my lap, pointing towards son. Don't know name of pistol, but think it was a navy; barrel long. My son then said: "No, no noise." Drye drew pistol then, when we both rose. I shoved him towards door, son coming on and catching Drye by the collar. When son caught hold of him he, (son,) said nothing. Son had nothing in his hand then. Did when they came in. (Presents knife son had, and indicates Wilson's position in room, by diagram.) When son took hold, Drye made a circle. Wilson shot son when my back was toward towards him, (Wilson). Son was shot over my right shoulder. Wilson was taller than son. Wilson's ball went in the right cheek of my son. Don't know whether ball passed out. (Describes how son fell.) Son was lying on his back when Drye shot him. (Describes position of son when Drye shot him in left breast.) His feet moved then. When Drye shot him I told him "not to shoot a dead man." I did not know either, and son did not. I thought when Drye came in he looked like a gentleman, and was sober. Don't know why he halloed. He walked in and took a seat boldly. He said once he was d--d drunk. Never asked for whisky. Re-examined by Owsley. -- My son was a robust boy, broad-shouldered, and was healthy and stout. I thought he weighed from 136 to 145. He was smaller than either the other men. (Describes again how son fell to counsel.) It was a two-story house. Son fell near the stove, raking Drye's back with his hands as he fell. Straightened out his legs after being shot by Drye.
Robert Williamson (brother of deceased.) Examined by Owsley. -- Is shown diagram of store where killing occurred, drawn by father. Don't exactly recollect time they came in. Names parties who were in the room. McElroy came with them. I shut the door, and came back and took position near Wilson. Drye put his feet on the stove and said he was pretty d--d drunk. Father told him it was Sunday and not to make a fuss. (Describes position of parties in room when Drye and father were struggling.) Wilson drew his pistol and shot over father's shoulder. Drye shot second. First shot struck brother below the eye on right side of the face. I think Drye's sho took effect in the heart. I was pretty close to brother when he was first shot by Wilson. He straightened out when Drye shot. Drye shot just as soon as he could get to brother, after he fell. Wilson and Drye went out to where their horses were and left town with pistols in their hands. Drye gave a whoop or two when he put his feet on the stove. Brother told him to "go slow." Drye commenced drawing his pistol while in chair. Father took hold of pistol, when they struggled towards the door. Could not hear what Drye said. Wilson was sitting down when Drye first drew his pistol, but jumped up afterwards. Brother, I and Sluder had knives out when they came in. Saw knife on floor after brother was shot. When brother went towards Drye he, (brother,) made no demonstrations to do him harm. Brother was heavy-set, not as large as Drye or Wilson. Did not see Drye and Wilson when they were bringing them in after arrested. I never was hunting after them, nor do I know of anyone who was. Brother was taller than I. I am 17; he was 19. Cross examined by Dunlap. -- McElroy said nothing when they came in. Drye said "Good evening." Wilson said nothing at all. (Describes position of parties in room.) Did not see Drye draw pistol, but heard him cock it. It was rather a cool day. We had fire. I never heard them say they were cold. (Describes knife with hawk blade which his brother had.) Saw knife laying open on the floor after brother was shot. Never saw brother try to use knife. The large blade was open when I saw it on the floor. (Describes how his brother came up to his father and Drye.) Did not hear brother say anything when he came p. Brother said at first in substance, "if you are drunk, go slow." Did not attempt to get up. He was leaning against the counter. I heard father say to Drye, "My son's killed; don't shoot him." Knife spoken of was just in front of brother when he was laying on floor. Brother lay between stove and door, with knife laying at his feet. All had knives in hands when the three men came in. I did not see brother catch hold of Drye. Drye did not seem drunk but drinking. Father spoke to them first, brother afterwards.
Witness No. 3. Wm. Sturges, boy. -- Am 14 years old, 12th of April. Was in the store when Williamson was shot. Wilson and Drye came in. Drye said he was damn drunk. Put his feet on the stove. Mr. Williamson spoke to the first -- Don't make any fuss, this is Sunday. Then young Williamson spoke, when Drye drew his pistol. Col. Williamson caught it; they scuffled, when Wilson came up and shot Young Williamson. After Wilson shot him, Col. Williamson let Drye loose, when Drye also came up and shot him. Afterwards Drye came back and snapped his pistol at him. They then got on their horses and rode off. Describes position of men in room. Col. Williamson threw pistol up when Drye drew it. When they scuffled yougn Williamson walked up to Drye and Col. Williamson. Young Williamson dropped his knife on the floor. Had it out when they came in; was whittling; put his hand on his breast after Drye shot him. Have told few about the killing since. Have told aunt and uncle about the killing; never told them that young Williamson drew a knife on Drye. Told them the same tale I have told you; told them about it Saturday evening; said they had sommoned Pendleton uncle to see if I told the same tale. Have lived with Williamson in Shelby City, Ky. Did not tell uncle and aunt that Williamson had cut Drye with a knife on the evening of the killing. Re-examined. -- I was over at Pendleton's when they said that Drye and Wilson had summoned Pendleton here to see if I would tell the same tale I told them. Re-cross examined. I live now in Shelby City; live at home now. Had not lived with Williamson before killing. Pendleton asked me to come in when I was in the yard; that is the way I came to be there.
Witness No. 5. -- I. M. White -- Examined by Carsley[?] -- I lived in Shelby City at time of killing, across the street from drug store. Saw two men going out of town after the killing; didn't recognize them. They were riding in a loop; did not see them afterwards. Don't know anything about the arrest. They were holding pistols in their hands as they went out. [Not crossed.]Witness No. 6 -- T. C. McElroy. -- Examined by VanWinkle. -- Live in Marion co., Ky. Lived near Shelby City when Williamson was killed. I was in town on that day. I have seen Wilson before that; did know Drye; saw them first on that day in the hotel. They came in the hotel and sat down at the stove. I knew Drye; spoke to him; I called Drye out and asked him to be quiet twice; young Williamson spoke to him also. I think Drye was irritated by what Col. Williamson said in regard to its being Sunday. Drye got out his pistol and Col. Williamson and I tried to pacify him. A shot was then fired from behind me; I looked around and saw Wilson with a pistol. I then drew Wilson towards the door, when I heard another shot and saw Drye with a pistol. He must have made the shot; I was standing with Wilson at the door; I let go of Wilson. Young Williamson, I think, had a knife in his hand about the time they came in; he was whittling, as was his habit; he made picture frames; saw a knife on the floor after he was shot; it was close to his feet. Young Williamson said something to the men; don't know what it was. I don't think young Williamson made any effort to cut them. Col. Williamson spoke to the men in a mild way; Drye began to arise about the second time Col. W spoke to him. Drye saying he was the 'best man in town.' I took hold of Drye when he arose by the right arm; had hold of him when young Williamson came up. After the shooting they went deliberately to the hotel. Can't say whether they were drunk or not; got their horses; still had pistols in their hands. I went out with Col. Williamson; when I went back young Williamson was dead. I think the first shot struck Williamson under the left eye; the other shot through the left breast.
Cross-examined by Hill. -- I saw a knife in young Williamson's hands; it was before the scuffle; did not see the knife when young Williamson came up; he was by the side of his father, behind the stove. Young Williamson never got hold of Drye at all; he was 3 or 4 feet from Drye when Wilson shot him. He might have made a step or two; when first shot was made he began to stagger; I think young W advanced a step or two after the shot; my back was turned with the second shot was fired. Neither had whisky that I know of; Drye was noisey in the house; said he was the 'damndest best man in town.' I went to the stable; I gave Drye a dram; we then went into the house; think I suggested that we go in and warm; only a few minutes after we got in Drye was noisy. Saw knife open after young Williamson was shot, on the floor.
Witness No. 7. -- J. B. Caldwell, Deputy Sheriff -- Examined by VanWinkle. -- I was ordered by the County Judge some time in February or March, 1873, to summon men and meet the party who had Wilson and Drye; went with the to near Monticello, Ky. Met the sheriff of Fentress co., Tenn., who had defendants in charge; came on to Danville and delivered prisoners to jailor of Boyle county.
Witness No. 8. -- James Coppage. -- Examined by Owsley. -- Live in Shelby City. Lived there at the time of killing. Saw two men that day. Don't know whether they were Wilson and Drye or not. I knew Mr. Drye; when I first saw them they were riding down street in Shelby City, toward Hustonville. They were making threatening demonstrations. I was eating my dinner, and I heard two shots; went to the door with my wife; saw the two men and run back. Saw young Williamson; saw wound in cheek; was dead when I got there. Did not examine him. Cross-examined. I knew Drye; wound was under right eye. Did not see where it come out.Witness No. 9. -- W. D. Latimer. -- Examined by Van Winkle -- Saw Drye and Wilson on the day of the killing in Parksville. It was between 12 and 1 o'clock. They came from towards Mitchellsburg, and stopped at my house to get cigars. They were acting part of the time together and part separately. If you call shooting and cutting up noisy, they were noisy.
The above is all the testimony for the Commonwealth. The testimony for the defence was being taken on yesterday, (Thursday) afternoon, when we were compelled to make our paper ready for the press. We will print this testimony (defence,) in our next issue, together with any other important particulars that may be elicited in the progress of the trial. It was expected that the argument would begin this, (Friday) morning, and will doubtless consume the day, and perhaps tomorrow. [14]
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[March 20, 1874] -
OUR CIRCUIT COURT.
The Case of the Commonwealth vs. H. C. Drye.
THE TESTIMONY FOR THE DEFENCE.
Instructions of the Commonwealth and the Court.
Verdict of the Jury -- Manslaughter and Four Years Imprisonment.
We printed in the last issue of the Advocate the evidence for the Commonwealth in the case of H. Clay Drye charged with the murder of Jno. Williamson. The evidence for the defence was being taken when our paper went to press on Thursday afternoon, of last week. This evidence was concluded that afternoon, and was as follows:
WITNESS NO. 1. David Williams. Examined by Dunlap. -- I live in Hustonville, Lincoln county. I stayed all night at Parksville, night before the killing. Was in Shelby City before killing. I was Marshal of Hustonville at the time Major Watt Drye was shot and a writ was put in my hands to arrest Merriday, who was supposed to be near Parkville, in the Knobs. I was in Shelby City about 12 o'clock the day before the killing. Lucas and Jones were with me. Clay Drye was to meet me at Parksville, at 10 o'clock. I could not say I summoned Drye. I was armed. This was Saturday evening, and I was to wait until 10 o'clock the next day. He had not come at that time. Never saw Drye until Court. Have known him since a boy. He is 20 or 21 years old now I suppose. I could not say I knew Drye's character in immediate vicinity where he lived. I knew Drye's character up to 18, when at school. His general character, up to 18, was very good for sobriety and good citizenship.
Cross-Examined by Van Winkle. -- Drye lived 9 miles from me. I wasn't well acquainted in his neighborhood. Don't think I ever heard majority of the people speak of him. Have heard some of his school mates speak of his character. Could not tell the number. Have known him since he left school. Have heard of his getting on "highs." Don't know about his carrying weapons. Did hear he had one fist-fight. Don't recollect to have heard of his having other difficulties. Have not heard of his being a violent character.
WITNESS NO. 2. Dr. Willis, By Dunlap. -- I know defendant. Saw him about 18th or 19th of January, 1873. He was at my house. It was on Sunday morning. It was the day I heard Williamson was killed. Wilson was with him. They called for whisky and I got a quart. I lived on the Rolling Fork, 9 or 10 miles from Parksville. It was about 8 o'clock.They went towards North-Fork Station. I told them the best road to Parksville. They said they were cold and wanted the whisky. They did not seem to have been drinking.
Cross-Examined by Owsley. -- I live 4 miles from North-Fork Station. Knew these men by sight before. Did not see them until they got in my yard. Had not known Drye long. Never saw Drye on sprees. Don't know what effect liquor has on him, not being well acquainted with him.
Re-Examined by Dunlap. -- Had not heard of Major Drye being shot before they were at my house. They furnished the bottle I filled with whisky.
WITNESS NO. 1. David Williams. Examined by Dunlap. -- I live in Hustonville, Lincoln county. I stayed all night at Parksville, night before the killing. Was in Shelby City before killing. I was Marshal of Hustonville at the time Major Watt Drye was shot and a writ was put in my hands to arrest Merriday, who was supposed to be near Parkville, in the Knobs. I was in Shelby City about 12 o'clock the day before the killing. Lucas and Jones were with me. Clay Drye was to meet me at Parksville, at 10 o'clock. I could not say I summoned Drye. I was armed. This was Saturday evening, and I was to wait until 10 o'clock the next day. He had not come at that time. Never saw Drye until Court. Have known him since a boy. He is 20 or 21 years old now I suppose. I could not say I knew Drye's character in immediate vicinity where he lived. I knew Drye's character up to 18, when at school. His general character, up to 18, was very good for sobriety and good citizenship.
Cross-Examined by Van Winkle. -- Drye lived 9 miles from me. I wasn't well acquainted in his neighborhood. Don't think I ever heard majority of the people speak of him. Have heard some of his school mates speak of his character. Could not tell the number. Have known him since he left school. Have heard of his getting on "highs." Don't know about his carrying weapons. Did hear he had one fist-fight. Don't recollect to have heard of his having other difficulties. Have not heard of his being a violent character.
WITNESS NO. 2. Dr. Willis, By Dunlap. -- I know defendant. Saw him about 18th or 19th of January, 1873. He was at my house. It was on Sunday morning. It was the day I heard Williamson was killed. Wilson was with him. They called for whisky and I got a quart. I lived on the Rolling Fork, 9 or 10 miles from Parksville. It was about 8 o'clock.They went towards North-Fork Station. I told them the best road to Parksville. They said they were cold and wanted the whisky. They did not seem to have been drinking.
Cross-Examined by Owsley. -- I live 4 miles from North-Fork Station. Knew these men by sight before. Did not see them until they got in my yard. Had not known Drye long. Never saw Drye on sprees. Don't know what effect liquor has on him, not being well acquainted with him.
Re-Examined by Dunlap. -- Had not heard of Major Drye being shot before they were at my house. They furnished the bottle I filled with whisky.
WITNESS NO. 3. Austin Thompson, Examined by Dunlap. -- I live in Casey county, near Marion line. Live 6 miles from defendant's father. Know his general character among neighbors. Never heard anything injurious to his character except that he was a wild boy. He was lively and jokey. For our country down there he was rather over an average boy for morality and sobriety.
Cross-Examined by Owsley. -- Have known defendant since he was a little boy. If Drye got drunk I would not care about him fooling with me. A dram or two would not make him dangerous. When he was sober he was as genteel as any boy in our neighborhood, but when drunk was reckless. Re-examined by Dunlap. -- Drinking would effect anybody violently.
Re-Cross by Owsley. -- My opinion is that liquor did effect defendant more violently than other men.
WITNESS NO. 4. John A. Bogle. By Hill. -- I live in Hustonville, Lincoln county., Know defendant Drye. Have known since he was small. Am acquainted with his general moral character among neighbors. Never heard anything alleged against him before this. His standing was good in general society. He was not regarded as a religious man. He was received well among religious people. I taught school in Hustonville. He never went to me.Cross by Van Winkle. -- Have lived no nearer than 6 miles from Drye. Have heard no generality of people in his vicinity talk about him. Only know him in that respect from my own intercourse. I enquired of his character from people in his neighborhood and in Hustonville. Have heard that he was drinking sometimes. Have not inquired fully into his character.
Re-Examined by Hill. -- Drye was well-known in Hustonville. He had two brothers living near Hustonville. Upon inquiry I agreed to admit Drye into my family as boarder.
Re-Cross by Van Winkle. -- Did not inquire of many people. Inquired of my wife principally. I am a preacher of the gospel now.
WITNESS NO. 5. G. H. Williams, By Hill. -- I live in Casey county, about 3 miles from Drye's father. Have known Drye since a boy. Can't say that I am well acquainted with Drye's character, he being a younger man than I. Have met him frequently. When sober he was a well-behaved, polite young man. Have heard that when drinking he was wild. Never saw Drye drunk but once. Have, however, heard about Drye being drunk.
Cross by Van Winkle. -- I am not related to Drye. For a year or so have heard he was wild and reckless when drinking. Can't say that I heard he was inclined to get into difficulties when drinking.
WITNESS NO. 6. A. A. Woolford, By Hill. -- I live in the West End of Lincoln county. Have lived there 2 years. Lived in Casey before, in sight of defendant's father. Have known Drye since infancy. I am pretty well acquainted with Drye's moral character. Think it was tolerable good. He sometimes drank a little whisky. Had been drunk a great deal until year before this killing.
Cross by Owsley. -- I saw Drye once when under the influence of whisky. Liquor made Drye more reckless than some and less than some. He seemed very much excited when I saw him under influence of liquor, halloeing, driving, &c. Have heard of Drye's having a difficulty or two before. Don't know whether he was drunk or not at those times.
WITNESS NO. 7. L. G. Edelen, By Dunlap. I live in Casey county, 1/2 of a mile from Drye's father. Have known Drye since 1868. I know his general character among neighbors. It was good.
Cross by Van Winkle. -- Have heard his character was good among those who live near him. Was reckless when under the influence of whisky.
Re-Examined by Hill. -- Drye was intemperate for about 1 year before killing.
WITNESS NO. 8. Edward Wilkerson, By Defense. -- I live in Casey county, 12 miles from Drye's father. Have lived there all my life. Have known Drye 14 years. Don't know his general character.
WITNESS NO. 9. Vincent Peyton. By Hill. -- Live in Casey, on Fork. Known Drye since infancy. Know his character among neighbors. He was a clever boy when sober. Drye began to drink about one year before killing. He was at my house evening before killing. Nobody was at our house that evening while I was there.
Cross by Van Winkle. -- Saw Drye evening before killing. There was no one with him. Don't know where he stayed that night. I live 7 or 8 miles from Dr. Willis. Drye drank for 1 year, more or less, before difficulty. I suppose he was regarded reckless and dangerous when drinking.
WITNESS NO. 10. Dr. Wm. Drye, By Dunlap. -- Am brother of defendant. Saw my brother day of killing, at Hustonville. He remained some 3 or 4 hours. Went towards Rolling Fork. Think he lived there at that time. He left the State 3 or 4 days after the killing. He was advised to leave. Friends advised him to leave to avoid trouble and excitement that was growing up. Cross by Van Winkle.-- He remained in the neighborhood 2 or 3 days before leaving State.
WITNESS NO. 11. Jas. Minor. By Hill. -- Live in Boyle county, Northfork Station. Lived there 4 years. Saw Drye sometime in January, 1873, at my house. Wilson was with him. They got a drink or two each. They were cold and apparently drinking. Drye got me to fill a bottle. They came from over the Northfork and went towards Parksville. Have known Drye since he was an infant. Can't say that I know his general character with his neighbors.
Cross by Owsley. -- My house is 4 or 5 miles from Northfork Station. It is 13 miles from there to Shelby City. They were drinking when I saw them. Drye was drinking more than Wilson. Wilson went into my family room and sat until Drye called him to go. Drye seemed to be somewhat excited and talked considerable. He was a boy, and I, as a man, of course did not associate with him especially. Wilson and Drye came to my house together. I knew his family well.
WITNESS NO. 9. Vincent Peyton. By Hill. -- Live in Casey, on Fork. Known Drye since infancy. Know his character among neighbors. He was a clever boy when sober. Drye began to drink about one year before killing. He was at my house evening before killing. Nobody was at our house that evening while I was there.
Cross by Van Winkle. -- Saw Drye evening before killing. There was no one with him. Don't know where he stayed that night. I live 7 or 8 miles from Dr. Willis. Drye drank for 1 year, more or less, before difficulty. I suppose he was regarded reckless and dangerous when drinking.
WITNESS NO. 10. Dr. Wm. Drye, By Dunlap. -- Am brother of defendant. Saw my brother day of killing, at Hustonville. He remained some 3 or 4 hours. Went towards Rolling Fork. Think he lived there at that time. He left the State 3 or 4 days after the killing. He was advised to leave. Friends advised him to leave to avoid trouble and excitement that was growing up. Cross by Van Winkle.-- He remained in the neighborhood 2 or 3 days before leaving State.
WITNESS NO. 11. Jas. Minor. By Hill. -- Live in Boyle county, Northfork Station. Lived there 4 years. Saw Drye sometime in January, 1873, at my house. Wilson was with him. They got a drink or two each. They were cold and apparently drinking. Drye got me to fill a bottle. They came from over the Northfork and went towards Parksville. Have known Drye since he was an infant. Can't say that I know his general character with his neighbors.Cross by Owsley. -- My house is 4 or 5 miles from Northfork Station. It is 13 miles from there to Shelby City. They were drinking when I saw them. Drye was drinking more than Wilson. Wilson went into my family room and sat until Drye called him to go. Drye seemed to be somewhat excited and talked considerable. He was a boy, and I, as a man, of course did not associate with him especially. Wilson and Drye came to my house together. I knew his family well.
WITNESS NO. 12. Commonwealth introduces Patrick Powers. By Van Winkle. -- In January 1873, I lived at toll-gate beyond Shelby City. I saw Drye and Wilson on day of killing. Saw two men on horses coming. They got down and came in and I asked them to have chairs, but one of them stood between me and stove. One of them went out saying, "hurry on." They pulled out pocketbook and gave girl change. (25 cents.) Did not seem very drunk. They rode off galloping.
WITNESS NO. 13. Bruce McDonald, By Van Winkle. Was at Hotel in Shelby City day of killing. Saw Drye there before killing. He talked with others in the public room. Did not seem very drunk. Did not observe any evidence of drink about him. I was not acquainted with him. Distance between Parksville and Shelby City is about 6 1/2 or 7 miles. I live between the two places and am familiar with the roads.
(Both sides here concluded the evidence, and counsel prepared instructions. Jury retiring to their room. -- REPORTER.)
INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY THE COURT.
If the jury believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant shot and killed Williamson with mal[i]ce aforethought, the jury ought to find him guilty, and fix his punishment by confinement in the penitentiary for life, or death in the discretion of the jury.
By the use of a deadly weapon, the jury may or may not presume malice, according to the testimony, facts and circumstances proven in the case, in the discretion of the jury.
But if the jury believe the defendant Drye at the time he shot and killed Williamson, was so much under the influence of spirits, or so drunk as not to know right from wrong and incapable of control[l]ing his passions, and shot Williamson without any proven prov[o]cation, the jury may take into consideration the facts as tending to negative malice, and if the offense was committed without mal[i]ce, the jury should convict the defendant of manslaughter and fix his punishment by confinement in the penitentiary at not less than two (2) nor more than ten (10) years.
If the jury have a reasonable doubt, whether the defendant is guilty of murder or manslaughter, the jury should find him guilty of manslaughter.
In determining the question of malice, the jury have a right to take into consideration all the facts and circumstances in proof, including the fact that defendant was intoxicated, (if they believe, from the evidence, that defendant was under the effects of intoxicating liquors, at the time of the shooting.) And they have also the right, in deciding on the question of malice, to take into consideration the previous good character of defendant.
While the law presumes malice from the use of a deadly weapon, the jury may, for the purpose of rebutting that presumption, take into consideration the fact that defendant was absent from home in aid of a peace officer, in search of a person charged with a felony, the fact that deceased was an entire stranger to defendant, his youth and condition, arising from the excessive use of intoxicating liquors, and other facts and circumstances proven in the case, provided, the jury believe, from the evidence, that such facts are proven.
INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN AT THE INSTANCE OF COMMONWEALTHS' ATTORNEY.
That if the jury believe from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendent, H. Clay Drye, did with malice aforethought, shoot and kill Jno. Williamson, as charged in the indictment, they should find the defendent guilty of murder, and fix his punishment by confinement in the penitentiary for life, or death, in their discretion.
2. If the jury should believe beyond a reasonable doubt, from the evidence, that the defendent with malice aforethought, shot and wounded Jno. Williamson, as charged in the indictment, and that such wounding accelerated or in any way contributed to his death, the defendent is guilty of murder, and the jury should so find, as though they may believe from the evidence that said Williamson, was then laboring under a mortal wound, inflicted upon him by Wm. Wilson, provided they believe from the evidence that the wound inflicted by the defendant on Williamson was, in its nature, a mortal wound.
No. 3 -- Malice is either expressed or implied by law. Expressed malice is when one person kills another with a sedate and deliberate mind and formed design, being evidenced by external circumstances, discovering the inward intention, as lying in wait, antecedent menaces, former grudges and concerted schemes to do the party some bodily harm.
No. 4 -- If one man kill another suddenly with a deadly weapon without any or without considerable provocation, the law presumes malice, and such killing is presumptively murder; but in determining whether the homicide in this case was done with or without malice, the jury should take into consideration the whole of the evidence before them.
After the conclusion of the evidence for the defence, on Thursday afternoon, the counsel on both sides squabbled for some [t]ime before they could agree upon instructions. This, however, was accomplished on Friday morning, and the argument begun. Hon. G. W. Dunlap of Lancaster, opened in behalf of the defendant, and was followed by Mr. J. S. Van Winkle for the Commonwealth. He in turn was followed by Col. Frank Wolford, of Casey, for defence. The Court then adjourned until the following day, (Saturday,) when speeches were made by Col. R. J. Breckinridge, and Maj. Owsley for the Commonwealth, and Col. T. P. Hill for the defence. After the conclusion of the argument, the case was given the jury, but after remaining in their room some time, reported they could not agree. The Judge authorized the Sheriff to take them in charge until Monday morning, at which time the following verdict was returned:
VERDICT.
We, of the jury, find the defendent, H. Clay Drye, guilty of manslaughter, and fix his punishment at four (4) years confinement in the State penitentiary. J. S. BURRUS, one of the jury.
This was the conclusion of a case which has excited more interest, perhaps, than any other that has been tried since the county was formed. [15]
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[March 20, 1874] -
The cases of the Commonwealth vs. Drye and Wilson have consumed most of the time of the Court.
The case of the Commonwealth vs. Wm. S. Wilson, charged with the murder of Jno. B. Williamson, was called on last Monday. A flaw was found in the original indictment, and a new grand jury was summoned and a new indictment returned. The Judge ordered the Sheriff to Garrard county to summon a jury, and after a good deal of hard work fifty-four men were impanneled, of which number ten were selected as competent jurymen. On yesterday, (Thursday,) noon, the panel was exhausted, and it being found impossible to get the two remaining jurymen in time to take up the case and complete it, the same was continued until the September term of Court. The defendant will be taken to Louisville next Monday, and his companion, H. Clay Drye, to the penitentiary, to begin his four years' service. [16]
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[June 26, 1874] -
Bill Wilson was concerned in a plot to escape from the Louisville jail, which was discovered last Tuesday, and he and five companions were removed to more secure quarters. In the cell of one of his companions two fine saws and four false keys were found, and a piece of plank in one corner had been carefully sawed off and the tools placed under it. [17]
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[August 21, 1874] -
Bill Wilson, now in the Louisville jail, charged with the murder of Jno. B. Williamson, had a serious affray in the jail, some days ago, and was cut by a fellow prisoner in several places. His wounds were not serious, although he was badly "hacked up." [18]
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[September 11, 1874] -
The case of Wm. S. Wilson, charged with the murder of John B. Williamson, is set for next Friday, and it is possible that a trial may take place, the sheriff has been directed to go to Marion county for jurors, and jury material in this county and in Mercer and Garrard counties having been exhausted on a previous occasion when a trial was attempted. [19]
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[September 11, 1874] -
The case of the Commonwealth vs. Wm. Wilson, for the killing of young Williamson, in Shelby City, was called on Tuesday, with Jno. G. Kyle, Esq., of Mercer, sitting as Special Judge in the case. An effort was made by the counsel for the defence to get a continuance, but their grounds were overruled, and the trial begun. The Sheriff was ordered to Marion county to summon two hundred men to appear this (Friday) morning, from which number it is expected a jury can be selected. [20]
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[September 25, 1874] -
The trial of Wm. S. Wilson for the killing of young Jno. B. Williamson, at Shelby City, about a year ago, was had at Danville, last week, and the jury rendered a verdict against him of murder in the first degree and fixed the penalty for the crime imprisonment in the State penitentiary for his natural life. A motion was made by his counsel for a "new trial," but was promptly over-ruled, as we learned from a gentleman who was present at the trial. [21]
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[September 25, 1874] -
Bill Wilson the man who was convicted of murder at the present term of the Boyle Circuit Court and sentenced to imprisonment for life in the State penitentiary escaped from custody by jumping from the Car while they were in motion as he was being conveyed to the penitentiary on wednesday last. [22]
Bill Wilson the man who was convicted of murder at the present term of the Boyle Circuit Court and sentenced to imprisonment for life in the State penitentiary escaped from custody by jumping from the Car while they were in motion as he was being conveyed to the penitentiary on wednesday last. [22]
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[September 25, 1874] -
BILL WILSON.
His Conviction of Murder and Sentence of Life.
HE MAKES A BOLD LEAP FOR LIBERTY.
AND IS SUCCESSFUL.
THE FULL PARTICULARS.
In the Advocate, last week, we announced the fact that the trial of Wm. Wilson for the murder of Jno. B. Williamson, was in progress. The case was not submitted to the jury until Saturday afternoon, and very soon thereafter a verdict for murder was returned, with imprisonment for life in the State Penitentiary. Sentence was pronounced by the Court on last Turesday.
The verdict of murder was rather unexpected. The public had concluded that inasmuch as H. C. Drye had been convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to four years, for participation in the same crime, that Wilson would not, in any event, have to suffer more severe punishment than the utmost penalty attached to manslaughter, viz. Ten years in the Penitentiary. But the public was in error!
Wilson was defended in an able and faithful manner by his counsel. They contended for a continuance, and when that was overruled, they fought the Commonwealth on every inch of ground, until the conclusion was reached. Having published the testimony in full, when Drye was tried, we d not think it proper to burden our volumes with it again. But the instructions to the Jury are different from those given in the Drye case, and we print them below, both for the Commonwealth and the defence:
Instructions for the Defendant.
1. Before the Jury can find a verdict against the defendant, it is indispensably necessary that his guilt should be fully proven. A mere preponderance of evidence will not authorize such a verdict. The evidence must be sufficient to produce a full conviction of guilt, to the exclusion of all reasonable doubt.
2. If the Jury believe from the evidence that, at the time of the killing, the accused had reasonable grounds to believe, and did in good faith believe, that H. C. Drye was in danger of his life, or great bodily harm, then and there intended to be inflicted on him by the deceased, and there was no other apparent safe means of protecting Drye, then the accused was justified in using such means as were necessary to protect Drye from death or great bodily harm.
3. If the Jury have a reasonable doubt of the accused being fully proven to be guilty, they must acquit him.
4. If the Jury have a reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant is guilty of murder or manslaughter, they should find him guilty of manslaughter.
5. A rational doubt is one arising out of the evidence, or from a want of evidence, showing the defendant's guilt.
6. A rational doubt is a doubt as to any or all of the constituent elements essential to legal responsibility or punishable guilt, and unless they all concur, acquital is the consequence.
7. That a killing to constitute murder must be done unlawfully, and unless it be unlawful, it cannot have been done with malice aforethough, although it may have been predetermined.
8. The Jury may consider the evidence tending to show that Wilson, at the time of the killing, was intoxicated, or under the influence of liquor, in connection with all the facts and circumstances proven in the case, in determining whether the killing was malicious.
9. If the Jury believe, from the evidence, that Drye and Wilson had their pistols for the purpose of assisting a peace officer in arresting Mereday, (who had shot and wounded Maj. Drye.) and that there was no concert or agreement between Drye and Wilson to attack deceased, or his father, or do any other unlawful act for any lawful or illegal purpose, the fact of their having and using pistols, under these circumstances, can raise no presumption of malice against the accused in killing young Williamson.
10. If, from the evidence, the Jury believe that the accused did, in a sudden affray, or in a sudden heat and passion, without legal provocation, and without previous malice, and not in self-defense, or defense of H. C. Drye, shoot and kill Williamson, then they cannot find him guilty of murder, but they must find him guilty of manslaughter, and fix his punishment at not less than two, or more than ten years in the State Penitentiary.2. Court instructs the Jury that if they believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant before the finding of the indictment and in Boyle county, with malice aforehtought, and not in his necessary self defense, shot and wounded Jno. Williamson, as charged in the indictment, and inflicted a necessary mortal wound on him, they should find him guilty of murder and though they may further believe from the evidence, that one H. Clay Drye, did immediately thereafter shoot and wound said Williamson and that said wounding produced instantaneous death.
3. Malice is either express or implied by law. Express malice is where one person kills another with a [?]ate and deliberate mind and form[ed] design; such formed design being [evid?]enced by external circumstances, [ma]nifesting the inward intention; as [lay?]ing in wait, antecedent menaces; fo[rm?]er grudges and concerted schemes to [..] the party some bodily harm.
4. Malice is [..]lied by law, from any voluntary, c[..] act, committed by one person again[st] another, however suddenly done as [wh]ere one kills another with a deadly [we]apon, without any or considerable provocation, and not in his necessar[y] selfdefense. In determining the gu[ilt] or innocence of the defendant, including the question of malice or want of m[al]ice, the Jury should take into consideration all the facts and circumstances in evidence before them.
5. Words of menace however grievous, provoking actions or gestures expressive of reproach or contempt without an assault on the person of one who kills another, do not amount to such provocation in law as will reduce a homicide from murder to manslaughter.
6. Drunkenness neither excuses nor mitigates crime, but evidence of intoxication in prosecution for murder, is admissible in connection with other evidence as tending to establish or disprove malice in the person killing, still the act of a drunken man in killing another is to be tested by the same rules of law, as apply to a sober man, in determining his guilt or innocence when charged with and on trial for the same crime.
7. Voluntary drunkenness, that merely excites the passions and stimulates to the commission of crime, in a case of homicide, by one in such condition, without any provocation, neither excuses the crime nor mitigates the punishment.
8. Evidence tending to show that a witness has made to other persons, different or contradictory statements concerning the matters in controversy, to those testified to by such witness before the Jury, is only admissible as affecting the credibility of such witness; but such evidence is not to be considered by the Jury as tending to prove the facts which the witness thus contradicted, fails or refuses to testify to before the Jury.
9. The Jury are the judges of the credibility of the witnesses and the value of their testimony, and in determining these, they should take into consideration all of the facts and circumstances in proof before them.
Jno. G. Kyle, Esq., of Harrodsburg, who acted as the Special Judge in the case, presided with firmness and impartiality, and decided the controverted points promptly. Geo. Denny, Jr., Esq., made his first speech in a criminal prosecution, as the Attorney for the Commonwealth in our Judicial Circuit. He acquitted himself in excellent style, and confined himself to the law and testimony in the argument. He evidently made an impression upon the Jury.It having come to the ears of Judge Owsley that an attempt would be made to take the prisoner from the jail, in Danville, he promptly issued the following order:
DANVILLE, KY., Sept. 22nd, 1874.
J. L. Minor, Jailor of Boyle County:
You will summon a guard of ten good men, well-armed and equiped, to guard the jail for to-night, information having reached the undersigned that an attempt will be made to rescue Wilson, confined therein, or to take him out for other purposes. You will hold the prisoners at all hazards.
M. H. OWSLEY.
Judge 8th Judicial District.
Wilson's counsel having taken an appeal, Mr. J. B. Caldwell, Deputy Sheriff, with two guards, started with him to Louisville, on Wednesday morning, where he was to have a stay in the execution of the judgment for twenty days, in order that the Court of Appeals might have time to consider the matter of appeal. While en route Wilson suddenly jumped from the car-window [...] miles South of Louisville and escaped. The Sheriff and guards made every e[ffort] to re-take him, but the nature of [..] country was such as to facilitate h[is] escape. Wilson is a thoroughly desp[erate] man, and would risk the chances [...] would appal the stoutest heart. [...] in jail here, after his conviction, [...] [ob]tained a key and two small saws [...] which to effect his escape, but Mr. [...] our valiant jailor, discovered [...] time to prevent their use. Howe[ver ...] were roughly made, and could [not] have served his purpose, but th[...] that he was determined to use [... op]portunity to save himself from [...] doom. Possibly, before we g[...] we may be able to get some f[ull] [par]ticulars of his escape, and wil[l ...] before our readers.
Later. -- Mr. Caldwell retur[ned to]day, and we get from him the particulars of Wilson's escape half-mile west of Gethsem[... ...] was sitting in the set with [...] latter on the inside) with th[...] on the seat in the front. S[...] without the slightest warn[...] intention, Wilson doubled h[...] and leaped from the car-wind[ow ...] most, and fell flat of his [...] his head toward the engine. [...] out the window Mr. Cald[well ...] his feet but the motion of [...] broke his hold. The train was [...] or 20 miles to the hour, and [...]abbed the bell rope to stop [...] but it went at least 100 yards [...]e Wilson fell before Mr. C[aldwell's] guards could get off. -- they le[...] ground before the train st[...] place where Wilson fell w[...] [...]lected to facilitate his escape, [...] not seen after his "leap for lif[e" ... w]as tracked for 50 yards and t[... tra]ce of him was lost, although M[r. Caldwe]ll searched, with about ten men [... ne]ighborhood, all that evening a[... ...]y morning, Mr. Caldwell ex[...] hand-cuffs just a short time [...] jumped, and they were secure. [...] remarkable escape, and it is al[..] possible to conceive how it co[..] [..]he without the loss of life or the t[... ...]ng of limbs that would prevent [...] locomotion. No blame can be [...] to Mr. Caldwell, as the same would likely have occurred with [any ot]her vigilant officer. [23]
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[October 2, 1874] -
THE ESCAPE OF WILSON -- COMMENTS OF THE PRESS. -- We find our Kentucky exchanges generally publish articles commenting on the remarkable escape of Bill Wilson. Some of them censure the officers for not exercising more diligence, but those who copy the account of his escape furnished by Mr. Caldwell, from last week's Advocate, conclude that it was a bold stroke on the part of Wilson, and that he is indebted to his "good luck" for getting off without breaking his neck. But the sharpest criticism we have seen is from the Louisville Evening Gazette, a new paper just started, and is as follows:
HURRAH FOR WILSON!! - While the Deputy Sheriff of Boyle county was bringing William Wilson to the jail of this city [Louisville] for safe keeping, yesterday afternoon, the manacled convict leaped from the train and made his escape. Well, who is Wilson? some one will exclaim. Nobody but a murderer. What? rejoice over the escape of a murderer? Why not? Entire communities, Louisville particularly, have signed before now petitions to the Governor imploring pardon for worse men than Wilson, who had committed murders in this city to the full as unprovoked and atrocious as that of young Williamson at Shelby City, and for which the man who escaped yesterday evening was condemned to the penitentiary for life.
But there is this feature in the case of Wilson that moves us to look upon his enlargement with some degree of satisfaction. Williamson was murdered by two men -- Drye and Wilson. Both took in hand, or rather, a shot in the killing, and, if one was more of the leader in the cruel deed than the other, Drye was that one. There was a wide difference between the two murderers, socially. The only bond of union, sympathy and association between them that woeful day was -- whisky. They were drunk, and deserved hanging for that. Drye not only belonged to a wealthy family, but had ten thousand dollars in available funds of his own. And these fortunate circumstances did him good service when he stood at the bar of justice in Boyle county to answer for his atrocious crime. He was sentenced to the penitentiary for four years, for the perpetration of the foulest, cruelest and most unprovoked murder ever perpetrated on the blood-sodden soil of Kentucky. Wilson, his comrade and accomplice in the crime, was tried at the same bar, last week, and sentenced to the penitentiary for life! It was while bringing him to this city, from which he would have gone to his doom at Frankfort, that he made his escape as aforesaid.
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[October 2, 1874] -
Hurrah for Wilson!
While the Deputy Sheriff of Boyle county was bringing William Wilson to the jail of this city [Louisville] for safe keeping yesterday afternoon, the manacled convict leaped from the train and made his escape. Well, who is Wilson? some one will exclaim. Nobody but a murderer. What? rejoice over the escape of a Murderer? Why not? Entire communities, Louisville particular, have signed before now petition to the Governor imploring pardon for worse men than Wilson, who had committed murders in this city to the full as unprovoked and atrocious as that of young Williamson at Shelby City, and for which the man who escaped yesterday evening was condemned to the penitentiary for life.
But there is this feature in the case of Wilson that moves us to look upon his enlargement with some degree of satisfaction. Williamson was murdered by two men -- Drye and Wilson. Both took in hand, or rather, a shot in the killing, and, if one was more of the leader in the cruel deed than the other, Drye was that one. There was a wide difference between the two murderers, socially. The only bond of union, sympathy and association between them that woeful day was -- whisky. They were drunk, and deserved hanging for that. Drye not only belonged to a wealthy family, but had ten thousand dollars in available funds of his own. And these fortunate circumstances did him good service when he stood at the bar of justice in Boyle county to answer for his atrocious crime. He was sentenced to the penitentiary for four years, for the perpetration of the foulest, cruelest and most unprovoked murder ever perpetrated on the blood-sodden soil of Kentucky. Wilson, his comrad and accomplice in the crime, was tried at the same bar, last week, and sentenced to the penitentiary for life! It was while bringing him to this city, from which he would have gone to his doom at Frankfort, that he made his escape as afore-said.
Now we are not a believer in this Kentucky system of one law for the rich man and another for the poor one. Our goddess of justice may be impartially blind, but then she is a very strumpet, and does not exhibit her charms gratuiously. She is a regular Lafayette street demi-rep and sells her favors for the cash in hand. That this is a fact, no man in the State can deny. If a rich man has been hanged for murder in Kentucky, in the last twenty-five years, no record is in existence to show for it. When Shelby killed poor young Horine, at Lexington, twenty-five or thirty years ago, for eating at the same table with him, the vi[rtue of our Kentuc]ky goddess wa[s then and there corrup]ted, and lavish expenditure of moneys led her astray. And she has been going astray in the same manner ever since, whenever a rich man was to the fore for killing a fellow citizen. We, for one, are tired of this thing of bought and sold justice. And while Wilson and Drye ought both to be hanged as high as Haman -- and would be if our justice were not a brazen-faced bawd, who shelters the rich scoundrel under her bedclothes and kicks the poor one from her front gate -- we are glad the former has escaped.
Now we are not a believer in this Kentucky system of one law for the rich man and another for the poor one. Our goddess of justice may be impartially blind, but then she is a very strumpet, and does not exhibit her charms gratuiously. She is a regular Lafayette street demi-rep and sells her favors for the cash in hand. That this is a fact, no man in the State can deny. If a rich man has been hanged for murder in Kentucky, in the last twenty-five years, no record is in existence to show for it. When Shelby killed poor young Horine, at Lexington, twenty-five or thirty years ago, for eating at the same table with him, the vi[rtue of our Kentuc]ky goddess wa[s then and there corrup]ted, and lavish expenditure of moneys led her astray. And she has been going astray in the same manner ever since, whenever a rich man was to the fore for killing a fellow citizen. We, for one, are tired of this thing of bought and sold justice. And while Wilson and Drye ought both to be hanged as high as Haman -- and would be if our justice were not a brazen-faced bawd, who shelters the rich scoundrel under her bedclothes and kicks the poor one from her front gate -- we are glad the former has escaped.
The above we clip from the new candidate for public favor, the Evening Gazette, of Louisville. Wilson was an old offender, while Drye was arraigned before the bar of justice for the first time. This fact is said to have had a mellow influence upon the jury that made oath to deal out to him simply justice -- that and nothing more. It is doubtless true, as suggested by our contemporary, that the aid of influential counsel, which money alone can procure, and his respectable relations, operated in his favor in procuring the verdict of a nominal punishment. The same influences, we learn, are procuring the signatures of ex-judges, jurors, and citizens to a petition for Drye's release from the penitentiary! We do not rejoice over Wilson's escape, nor do we attribute his escape to the interposition of the god of Justice, as some do. That is a curious name for official neglect -- perhaps CRIMINAL CARELESSNESS! Drye's youthfulness in crime, his respectability, nor his money should have procured for him any mitigation of punishment; nor should these influences, or any others that could be brought to bear, secure his release form prison. He committed the crime, and the proper vindication of our laws demand that he pay, to the fullest extent, the prescribed punishment. We have too much confidence in the stability of our Chief Magistrate to believe that he will suffer himself to be influenced even by the array of respectable petitioners, whose names will shortly be presented in a petition praying for the release of the youthful perpetrator of a terrible murder. Wilson should be captured if it costs the State a half million dollars. Drye should be held in confinement until the debt he owes the Commonwealth is fully liquidated; and the escape of Wilson carefully, earnestly and desperately investigated. [25]
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[October 2, 1874] -
Wilson is still at large, and, we learn, swears vengeance upon a number of persons; and has declared his intention never again to be taken alive, and never to leave the State until he has slain, with his own hands, certain persons whom he regards as his personal enemies. It was reported that he was at Gravel Switch last Sunday with four of his companions. Our civil officers should put on their armor and proceed to relieve the country of the villain instanter. We have no desire that he shall be captured alive. The report of the discovery of a mammoth lead mine in his skull would be a relief to the entire country. [26]
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[October 9, 1874] -
The Louisville Daily Gazette is encouraged by a letter from Stanford, from which it quotes as follows: "Your article upon the escape of Wilson has won you many admirers in this locality. The people want an influential journal, that has the boldness to take hold of individual criminals. They have no confidence in these sensational sheets that talk of crimes in general, and throw the blame upon all sections of our State alike." It promises to continue its warfare against the influence of money in shielding crime from punishment. It says: "Kentucky must be relieved from the opprobrium that covers her name with infamy all the country over. And we never can relieve her until we dissolve the mutual admiration society which has been the bane of Kentuckians for so man[y] years. We must realize the fact that a Kentuckian is better than anybody else only when his conduct is better than anybody else's conduct. We must learn to look upon murder when committed by a Kentuckians as foul as a crime as when committed by a citizen of some other State. We must, above all things, disabuse our minds of the erroneous idea that Kentuckians are too good to be hanged. We must use the gallows industriously, and put a summary stop to imprisonment as a punishment for murder. God is wiser and more just and impartial than any Legislature, and He provides DEATH as the penalty for murder. That's first principles. That's sense.
A murderer once hanged and buried cannot commit other murders. The grave is a penitentiary from which executive clemency cannot rescue the murderer, and turn him loose to again prey upon his fellow-men the first time he gets drunk. Holding to these opinions, we opposed the law leaving it to juries to imprison or hang, as they may choose. It is silly, it is mischievous, it is infamous. This year the murder calend[a]r in our State has been more than doubled already, and a quarter of the year yet to come; ad this infamous act of the General Assembly, is the cause thereof. We must work for its repeal, every one of us who value our own lives and the lives of our neighbors, and the good name of our commonwealth. We also must work for the removal of the barricades the statutes have erected around the murderer, and which effectually resist every attempt of justice to sustain the majority of the law, and exact of him the penalty of his crime. All these things the people of Kentucky must accomplish, for the honor of our grand old State. [27]
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[October 1, 1875] -
ANOTHER ROBBER CAUGHT. -- Mr. Wilhite, Cashier of the National Bank of Monticello, wrote to the Cashier of the Farmers' National Bank of this place, that the Sheriff of Fentress county, Tennessee, and his posse, captured another of the Huntington, West Virginia, bank robbers, on Tuesday, of last week. The rascal had on his person, $4,494.25 in bills ranging from $100, down to 25 cents, fractional currency, and two large army pistols. The Sheriff of Fentress, is the same officer who arrested Clay Drye and Bill Wilson. He has demonstrated his efficiency as an officer, very clearly, and deserves the praise of all law-abiding citizens. We hope he will get a reward commensurate with his services and intrepidity. [28]
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[December 10, 1875] -
The notorious Bill Wilson, whom our readers will remember as having jumped from the train while on his way to the Penitentiary, is said to have been shot in Casey county, and dangerously wounded. It is difficult to get any one to arrest him. He will probably make his escape. A gentleman from this county, while hunting in Casey county, the other day, came up suddenly on a camp where Wilson and several of his palls were stationed, all of whom, were armed, and they drew their guns down on him, and he left instanter. The gentleman recognized Wilson, so there can be no doubt of Wilson being in the county, and wounded. [29]
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[December 17, 1875] -
So far as we have been enabled to learn, the escaped convict, Bill Wilson, is safe in his forest home among the woods and hills of Casey county. It is a shameful comment upon the officers of our State, that a man who has been found guilty of murder, can thus escape arrest and punishment. [30]
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[December 24, 1875] -
We don't know it to be true, but give the report as we heard it. The other day a man was riding through the tangled forests of Casey county in search of cattle, when "all at once" he came upon the secluded camp of the notorious Bill Wilson, where he and three of his confederates were concealed. They had a picket out on the watch, who called him to a halt and demanded of him his business. On giving them a statement, he was permitted to depart in peace. The man told our reporter that the Wilson's party intended to go out of the county within a few days, and that all the militia of the State couldn't arrest them. This statement may have been mere talk, but it may have been true. [31]
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[March 24, 1876] -
We learn from good authority that Bill Wilson, of Casey county notoriety, was in Perryville on Friday night last, and spent the night there. He had on his person, five navies and two bowie knives, and was very anxious to get some whisky, but couldn't find any there. He ought to have come to Harrodsburg. --[Harrodsburg Reporter. [32]
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[March 25, 1876] -
A. L. McAnelly, Shelby, Isaacs, and Wm. Evans, of Casey county were arrested in Louisville, a few days ago, and tried in the City Court on the charge of carrying concealed weapons. At the examination facts were developed which showed that the citizens of Casey where Bill Wilson has his 'head quarters' stand in perfect dread of the convicted murderer. This was brought out from the fact that McAnelly alleged that he had been endeavoring to capture Wilson, and that the other parties being bosom friends of Wilson had followed him to Louisville for the purpose of taking his life. Isaacs and Evans being sworn, admitted that they were companions of Wilson, and had often been with him since he escaped, and that they did not like McAnelly, who had been endeavoring to capture him. [33]
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[May 12, 1876] -
We learn that John Saunders, who is charged with killing his father, Robert Saunders, in Lincoln county, about two years ago, and who broke jail about four months ago, at Liberty, has been seen in that county, and pursued by the officers of the law, but up to this time has not been recaptured. Rumor says that the County Judge, Sheriff and the minor officers, are on the hunt for him, and that their intention is to arrest Bill Wilson also. --[Times & Kentuckian. [34]
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[1] "Murder in Boyle County." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 24, 1873. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1873-01-24/ed-1/seq-3/
[2] Excerpt from Column 4. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 31, 1873. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1873-01-31/ed-1/seq-2/
[3] Excerpt from "A Put-up Highway Robbery in Boyle County." The Courier Journal, Louisville, KY. February 12, 1873. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[4] "Capture of Drye and Wilson." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. February 14, 1873. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1873-02-14/ed-1/seq-3/
[5] "The Boyle County Tragedy." The Courier Journal, Louisville, KY. February 19, 1873. Page 1. Newspapers.com.
[6] "Drye and Wilson." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. February 21, 1873. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1873-02-21/ed-1/seq-3/
[7] "Drye and Wilson." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. March 14, 1873. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1873-03-14/ed-1/seq-3/
[8] "Kentucky." The Tennessean, Nashville, TN. March 14, 1873. Page 1. Newspapers.com.
[9] Excerpt from "A Visit to Danville." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. March 21, 1873. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1873-03-21/ed-1/seq-3/
[10] Excerpt from "Kentucky News." The Courier Journal, Louisville, KY. December 26, 1873. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[11] Excerpt from "Local Matters! A Resume of Lincoln County News for 1873." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. January 2, 1874. Pages 1 & 4. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1874-01-02/ed-1/seq-4/
[12] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. February 27, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[13] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. March 6, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[14] "Our Circuit Court." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. March 13, 1874. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[16] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. March 20, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[17] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. June 26, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[18] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. August 21, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[12] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. February 27, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[13] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. March 6, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[14] "Our Circuit Court." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. March 13, 1874. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[15] "Our Circuit Court." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. March 20, 1874. Page 1. Newspapers.com.
[16] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. March 20, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[17] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. June 26, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[18] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. August 21, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[20] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. September 11, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[21] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. September 25, 1874. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1874-09-25/ed-1/seq-3/
[22] Excerpt from Column 2. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. September 25, 1874. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1874-09-25/ed-1/seq-2/
[23] "Bill Wilson." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. September 25, 1874. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[24] Excerpt from Column 2. The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. October 2, 1874. Page 2. Newspapers.com.
[25] Excerpt from "Hurrah for Wilson." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 2, 1874. Page 2. LOC.http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1874-10-02/ed-1/seq-2/
[26] Excerpt from "Home Jottings." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 2, 1874. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1874-10-02/ed-1/seq-3/
[27] Excerpt from Columns 1 and 2. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 9, 1874. Page 2. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1874-10-09/ed-1/seq-2/
[28] "Another Robber Caught." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. October 1, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-10-01/ed-1/seq-3/
[29] Excerpt from Column 3. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. December 10, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-12-10/ed-1/seq-3/
[30] Excerpt from Column 2. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. December 17, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-12-17/ed-1/seq-3/
[31] Excerpt from Column 3. The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. December 24, 1875. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1875-12-24/ed-1/seq-3/
[32] Excerpt from "State News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. March 24, 1876. Page 1. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1876-03-24/ed-1/seq-1/
[33] Excerpt from "Local and Personal." The Kentucky Advocate, Danville, KY. March 25, 1876. Page 3. Newspapers.com.
[34] Excerpt from "State News." The Interior Journal, Stanford, KY. May 12, 1876. Page 3. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84038328/1876-05-12/ed-1/seq-3/
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