Albert Cosby Kills Frank Jackson Over Insult to His Wife, Boyle, 1876

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[July 14, 1876] -

HOMICIDE AT MITCHELLSBURG. -- Last Monday afternoon a difficulty occurred between Al. G. Cosby and Frank Jackson, at Michellsburg, in this [Boyle] county, which resulted in the former shooting the latter with a pistol, producing a wound which resulted in his death at 11 o'clock, A.M., on Tuesday. We have heard some particulars of the trouble, but perhaps it would hardly be proper to print them inasmuch as the examining trial is set for to-day (Friday). R. P. Jacobs, of this city, has been engaged for the defence, and Mr. Sam. Harding, County Attorney, will conduct the prosecution. [1]

Beatty Wickliffe Kills Evan Warren, Boyle, 1889

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[July 23, 1889] -

DANGEROUSLY WOUNDED. 

Evan Warren Shot by Beatty Wickliffe, a Negro Hackman, at the C. S. Depot. Wickliffe also Shot by Warren. 

The Condition of Warren is Extremely Critical. 

A difficulty took place at the [Danville] depot Monday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock between Evan Warren and Beatty Wickliffe, in which both were probably fatally wounded. Warren was shot through and through twice. Wickliffe received a wound under the right arm and the ball has not been found. So many reports are current regarding the beginning of the trouble that we are not able to give them with any degree of accuracy further than as reported to a representative of the Advocate by Jno. Crouch, who says he saw a portion of the shooting. Said he: "The first of the trouble that I saw was after the first pistol shot was fired. I then turned around and saw Evan Warren with a pistol in his hand and Beatty Wickliffe running. In running, Wickliffe threw a negro boy on the railroad track and the incoming train came near running over him. The next I saw, Bob Mayo and Flem. Murphy had hold of Warren, having wrenched his pistol from him. My attention was then attracted by two pistol shots fired rapidly at Warren while he was held by the two parties mentioned. Warren was shot in the back. He then broke loose and ran and the third shot was fired at him by Wickliffe." Mayo claims that when Warren fired at Wickliffe they grabbed Warren to keep him from shooting, and that when Beatty Wickliffe shot they turned Warren loose. They claim they did not know that Wickliffe was near when he shot Warren. At this writing the doctors are working with the wounded men and both are regarded as dangerously wounded. This is a most unfortunate affair, and from the fact that Warren was disarmed and held while shot down, puts a bad face on the matter for those concerned in it. The difficulty was the termination of a quarrel which the parties had at noon, and in which only fists were used. 

At the time of going to press the physicians stated that Evan Warren's condition is not hopeless, but his wounds are such that his chances for recovery are one in a hundred. One of the balls passed entirely through the body, perforating the liver, while the other struck him squarely in the chest and lodged there. Wickliffe's wound is not considered dangerous. The ball entered the right arm pit and its course was checked after passing a short distance into the flesh. The ball has not been extracted, but the physician says it is near the surface. [1]

William F. Kennedy Kills Frank Johnson, Garrard, 1863

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[February 28, 1879] -

Among the large number of indictments found this Court is one against E. B. Kennedy, for killing a negro in 1865, and the old one against W. F. Kennedy for the murder of Frank Johnson in 1863, was taken from its long resting place in the Circuit Clerk's office and reinstated. [1]

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[March 7, 1879] -

COURT ITEMS. -- On Saturday, the Grand Jury adjourned after finding more than eighty indictments. Among these was one against E. D. Kennedy, of Lincoln, for the killing of a colored man, named Wyatt Walker, thirteen years ago. Another against W. F. Kennedy, for killing Frank Johnson, sixteen years ago. The former was accompanied here by quite a retinue of gentlemen from Lincoln, who testified to his character as a peaceful and popular citizen ever since the fatal day when whisky branded him as a murderer. He was released in the sum of $7,000 to appear in April, by change of venue at the Lincoln Court. [2]

William Austin Hanged for the Murder of Betsy Bland, Garrard, 1882

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[January 24, 1882] -

Our Lancaster correspondent gives an account of another horrible murder in Garrard. The devil seems to have been turned loose again in that county. [1]

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[January 24, 1882] -

The blood had scarcely dried on the axe which murdered the Wilmot family, before the tale of a most brutal murder, scarcely less bloody than its predecessor is brought to our ears. The victim this time is Miss Betsy Bland, aged 85; the murderer, is Wm. Austin, a young man about 24 year old. Jos. Bland, an old widower, lives about one-and-a-half miles from town, near the Danville pike. His sister, Miss Betsy, kept house for him. For about three months, Wm. Austin, a grand-nephew of theirs, has lived with them, helping about the work on the small farm. He is a wild, drunken fellow, and altogether his reputation is not of the best. Friday, January 20th, Jos. Bland came to town on business, and remained till about 5 o'clock. Austin also left home and was seen last (previous to any knowledge of the murder,) at Herring's still house, which place he left about 4 o'clock, for home. As a party of men were returning from town, they were met by Austin at the mouth of a lane leading to Bland's house, and he told them Aunt Betsy (as she was familiarly known,) had been murdered. At first they laughed at his story, but were finally induced to go to the house where they found the old lady lying on the floor with her head nearly severed from her body. They did not disturb it, but hastened back to town to inform her brother and the officers. As soon as they were notified, Sheriff Higginbotham, with Marshal Singleton, and a posse, went out to the scene of the murder, where they encountered Austin standing in the door, apparently very much affected. Suspicion had already pointed to him as the murderer, and when a little scrutiny revealed stains of blood on his pants and boots, he was arrested and put under guard. The Coroner not being convenient, Esquire Boyle, who is the nearest Magistrate, was summoned to hold an inquest. The Court was in session till near 10 o'clock, P. M., at which time sufficient circumstantial evidence had been obtained to confirm the suspicion that Austin was the murderer. The Court adjourned, how ever, without a verdict till next day. In the meantime, Austin's pants and boot had been taken from him. After supplying him with these articles from Mr. Bland's wardrobe, he was mounted behind the Sheriff, brought to town and lodged in Jail. Had the citizens been fully convinced of his guilt it is quite probable an attempt would have been made then and there to administer justice on a speedier plan than the one by which that article is usually obtained. The body of Miss Betsy was still warm when the officers arrived, which, with the fact that she had made a fire in the stove for the purpose of getting supper, goes to prove that she was killed only a short while before. Her head and face bore several deep gashes from an axe, three of which, beside the lick across the neck, which severed the vertebra would have been instantly fatal. Her face also bore marks of a boot heel as if the wretch had stamped her. When the Court of inquest convened the next day, several witnesses were examined as to the relative time of Austin's being seen on the way home, and his first appearance after the murder. All this testimony strengthened the chain of circumstantial evidence which, with the addition of another link furnished by his clothing has bound him so closely that his life will no doubt pay the forfeit. When his pants were produced in Court, besides the blood on the legs, the right hand pocket was found to be bloody. An inspection of the boots revealed clinging to the heel of one of them several long gray hairs which corresponded exactly with the hair of the murdered woman. Austin told several tales in regard to the blood on his clothing. One was that when he opened the door his aunt in her death struggle threw the blood on him -- another to account for the blood and gray hair on his boot, was that he caught a rabbit on his way home, put his foot on its head and pulled it off, the blood spurting on his boot, He did not produce the rabbit, however. But one reason can be given for the perpetration of such a cruel murder. It was generally known that Miss Betsy kept some money in the house, never less than fifty dollars, and some time more. This she kept in the drawer of a sideboard, the keys to which she carried. The keys were found lying on the floor near her. The drawer had been forced and it is presumed, robbed as but about two dollars were found which in his haste or purposely, the murderer had left. No money was found on Austin, with the exception of twenty-five cents, which he proved by a negro to have been paid him that day. Austin was not brought into Court Saturday, whether from an apprehension of a mob or not, I don't know. But there was a crowd in town and excitement was very high. A leader could in a few moments have organized a mob, but whether he could have got hold of Austin or not, is another question. Beside putting Austin in a cell, no other precaution against a mob has been taken. The fact that Circuit Court convenes today, and that the Grand Jury might attend to his case as it deserved, may have something to do with preventing an outbreak of popular indignation. [2]

Eb Cooley Kills George Scott, Garrard, 1886

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[October 5, 1886] -

On last Wednesday about two miles from Lynchburg, this county, Eb Cooley killed George Scott with an ax. The particulars as we learn them are as follows: Cooley and Scott were at the home of a neighbor and became engaged in a difficulty, probably over a woman. Cooley to avoid trouble left the place and went some distance away, but was followed by Scott, who renewed the trouble, when Cooley struck him several times with an ax, inflicting wounds from which he died the next day. There were no eye witnesses to the deed and the above is Cooley's own version of the affair. He surrendered himself to Esquire Walker and will have his examining trial Tuesday, when it is quite likely he will be acquitted. Both men were drinking at the time of the difficulty and both were reputed to be fearless men. Coroner A. O. Burnside held an inquest on the remains last Friday, when the jury returned a verdict that George Scott came to his death from wounds inflicted by an ax in the hands of Eb Cooley. [1]

Tom Baughman Kills brother-in-law Ben Givens[?], Lincoln, 1877

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[January 5, 1877] -

SHOOTING. -- Tom Baughman, a man of color, shot and seriously wounded his brother-in-law, another colored man. The wound was in the abdomen. The difficulty arose out of a quarrel about the wife of Baughman, who was a sister of the man wounded, whose name is Ben Abrahams. The wife had left her husband, who tried to compel her to return, when her brother interfered, with the foregoing result. [1]

Bettie Fish Kills Henry Alford, Lincoln, 1879

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[August 1, 1879] -

A FATAL BLOW. -- Henry Alford, a well known colored boy of town [Stanford], died last Saturday under suspicious circumstances. Coroner James P. Goode was notified of the fact and an inquest held, which resulted in a verdict that Alford came to his death from a blow on the side of his head from a stick or stone in the hands of Bet Fish, a colored prostitute, with whom he had been intimate. The blow was inflicted two weeks before, and although a post mortem examination by Drs. Peyton and McRoberts showed that the skull was crushed in and pressing against the brain, he went about as usual up to the night before his death. The woman was arrested by Town Marshal W. T. Saunders, of Crab Orchard, and lodged in jail here. [1]

Father and Son Murder Witness Against Them, Hanged by Mob, Boyle, 1866

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[April 12, 1866] -

FOUL MURDER OF AN OLD LADY NEAR PERRYVILLE. -- We yesterday received the startling information that Mrs. Polly Bottoms, and old and highly respected lady, residing near Perryville, in Boyle county, was foully murdered on Tuesday night last, by a man named Bill Taylor. Our informant states that some time ago the murderer and two other men committed a robbery at the house of Mrs. Bottoms, for which two of the perpetrators, having been caught, were tried and convicted and are now undergoing sentence at the Frankfort penitentiary. Taylor, the guiltiest of the wretches, made his escape at the time of the robbery, and has been at large ever since. Recently he was recognized as one of the robbers by a little daughter of Mrs. Bottoms, whereupon he visited the house about 10 o'clock Tuesday night, and deliberately murdered the old lady. He could have had no other object in perpetrating this cold blooded deed than to silence an important witness against him. We fervently hope that speedy and terrible justice will overtake the unmitigated demon. [1]

One Regulator and Several Occupants Killed in Attack on Residence, Pulaski, 1868

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Updated: Sept. 2017. Added July 12, 1895 article based on information from anonymous commenter.

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[September 23, 1868] -

TERRIBLE AND BLOODY AFFAIR IN LINCOLN COUNTY.

Tragical Result of an Old Feud.

Two Men and One Woman Killed.

The Full Details of the Tragedy.

CRAB ORCHARD, KY., Sept. 20, 1868.

To the Editor of the Louisville Courier:

A year or two since an unfortunate difficulty occurred near this place at a meeting-house, in which men named Anderson and their friends upon one side, and the Adamses with their friends upon the other, were engaged. In this fracas a man named Simms, son-in-law of the elder Adams, was killed and several others on each side were shot or otherwise wounded. A trial at the time of each party resulted in an acquittal of all concerned. A short time after this as the elder Adams was returning home from Lancaster he was assassinated by being shot from his buggy by some one stationed in a church near the road side.

The most deadly enmity has existed ever since between the belligerents, and many men have been suspected by the Adamses ex particeps criminis to the murder of their father. Among the the number accused, or who was thought by the Adams family to have been concerned in his death, was a man named Cummins, who lived near the Lincoln and Pulaski county line, beyond this place eight or ten miles. Threats have been made, we learn, by the Adames, upon Cummins, and last night it culminated most tragically. It seems, from what we can learn, that two of the Adames, together with three or four of their friends went to the house of Mr. Cummins, at night -- demanded admission, which was refused; and thereupon Rodney Adams broke down the door and as he entered was shot dead. The [assault?]ing party then fired, killing a young lady, daughter of Mr. Cummins, and also shot and killed Cummins. They shot at Mrs. Cummins also, but missed. It is not known whether any others of the assaulting party were injured or not. It is reported that the party took young Adams away from the house, and carried him to a house on the wayside, and left him, and that one of the party told the landlord that there was a dead man, his brother, and he wanted him to stay there until morning; and after putting a pillow under his head, he stooped down and kissed him. This is thought to be young Mack Adams, the only brother of Rodney, except a small boy.

We cannot vouch for the truth of this latter statement, but give it as we heard it. It may be proper to state that the community doubt that Cummins had anything whatever to do with the killing of the elder Adams.

The story, true or false, of Cummins having a hand in the death of J. Q. Adams, certainly did not, nor does it, excuse this party in assaulting a whole family, and [striking?] down an innocent girl, who certainly was guilty of no wrong, unless they deemed it wrong to be the child of a suspected man. There is but one remedy for these multiplied evils which daily teem the press, and it is for the "halter" applied to the culprit's neck by the slow and uncertain forms and process of the law, or if need be, to quell it by the hands of an outraged community.

We know nothing of the real facts in this case beyond what we have attempted to give from hearsay; but if  it be that this midnight assaulting party perpetrated these bloody deeds without cause amply sufficient for their justification, our community owe it to themselves, to the State, to the world of law and order at large, and especially to the stricken survivors of this afflicted family, to search out to the bitter end the perpetrators of this most hideous and diabolical outrage, and see that justice, stern and inflexible, is meted out to each and every one of them.  M. [1]

[I have been unable to find newspaper articles detailing the meeting-house killing, or J. Q. Adams' death in or about February of 1866. Please email me if you have any.]

Three Sisters Arrested For Killing Sister-in-Law, Pulaski, 1876

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Thanks to Jessy S. for helping with this one. Thank you! 


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[October 17, 1876] -

6.  Nancy Surber, 19, Murdered. October 17, 1876. [1]













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[October 27, 1876] -

The most horrible and bloody murder that ever startled a civilized community, was committed near Buncombe, in Pulaski county, last week. The victim was a woman, and the perpetrators of the awful crime, strange to say, are also women, and sisters-in-law of the deceased. The murdered woman, Mrs. Surber, had been left by her husband at home with her little baby, early in the morning, and it was not until four o'clock in the evening that the deed was discovered, and then by a sister of the deceased, who was passing. Certain threats and other suspicious circumstances, led to the arrest of a number of the Surber family, and at the examining trial, three of the women were sent to jail to await the action of the grand jury. The evidence is overwhelmingly against them. The axe and knife, with which the deed was committed, their bloody dresses and hands, all go to show the guilt which they do not pretend to deny. [2]

Woman Found Shot in the Road, Rockcastle, 1888

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[June 5, 1888] -

MURDERED IN THE ROAD.

A Woman Found Dead With a Bullet In Her Brain Near Mt. Vernon.

Mt. Vernon, Ky., June 4. -- (Special.) -- At 11 o'clock this morning Mrs. Ann Decker was found in the road four miles southwest of this place dead, with a bullet hole in her brain. Her body, when found, was nearly a mile from her home, and from the surroundings it appeared that she had been carried some distance after being murdered. At the Coroner's inquest this afternoon her eighteen-year-old daughter testified that her mother retired last night at 8 o'clock with one of the younger children, in a different room from the other occupants of the house, there being six children in the family. This morning nothing was thought strange of the absence of the mother, as she had been in a habit of going over to a neighbor's at an early hour to work, and at times not returning until toward nightfall. When the body was found she had on different clothing from that which she had on when she retired last night.

The ball that did the fatal work was of forty-five caliber. It entered just above the left ear, and came out above the right, tearing off a large portion of the right side of the head. Frank Decker, the husband, left Mrs. Decker some three years since, owing to a charge of lewdness being brought against her, and has never returned. There is no suspicion as to who did the shooting. [1]

Mary Eades James Kills Smith Burton, Pulaski, 1882

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[April 6, 1882] -

Somerset Reporter: A little thirteen year-old daughter of Mary Eads (the woman who recently killed Smith Burton and is now a fugitive from justice) applied to Judge Cosson last Saturday for a home, and when the Judge proposed to get a home for her she concluded she didn't want a home, but wanted to be sent to Louisville. The young girl was rather pert, and as she was not furnished transportation she returned to her home in the country. [1]

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[May 25, 1882] -

ALLEGED MURDER.

Mary Eades Arrested on the Charge of Killing a Man near Somerset, Ky.

Policemen Reid and Broderick arrested a woman named Mary Eades, alias James, at Emma Hedges' bagnio, on North College street, yesterday afternoon, on the charge of the murder of a man named Samuel Burton, near Somerset, Kentucky, about three months ago.

An American reporter visited the prisoner at the work-house, and asked her how the killing was brought about. She said that there were about twenty-one in the party, and all of them had been drinking more or less. Burton, throughout the day, had been threatening to kill somebody, and had beat his nephew. Burton had gone into the house of a woman and was beating her, when Eades appealed to two men to know whether they would stand on the outside and hear the shrieks of the woman and not offer any aid. They told her that if she would break down the door they would see that she was not harmed, as Burton would kill one of them if they dared to do what they requested of her. Feeling a deep sympathy for the woman and having herself taken several drinks, Eades assented, broke down the door and prevented the further beating of the woman. Subsequent to that time, Burton brought in a single-tree and threatened to kill Mary Eades, but it was taken away from him by his nephew.

He then threatened to kill her with an ax. She asked him whether he would kill her, when he responded that he would, and drew back the ax to strike her. At that moment, someone gave her a knife, and under the excitement of the moment, she stuck it in his breast, and ran away, he following her, as she believed at the time. She said that the act was done purely in self-defense. Burton was considered a desperado, and had in his shoulder eight buckshot, which he had received in a fight. He did not believe that lead would kill him. Eades said she regretted the occurrence, but it was an act which could hardly have been avoided. Burton's nephew, after the affair was over, brought her down the river in a skiff, and put her on a steamboat for Nashville, where she had since remained. She had been separated from her child, and did not know who had the care of it. She believed she would be able to prove that the deed which had been forced upon her had been done in self-defense. She had preferred to have gone to Somerset and to have given herself up, but she had been persuaded to come to Nashville and remain until the excitement had died away. With even half justice she would be cleared.

Mrs. Eades is a small woman, was neatly attired in black, and it would seem strange that she had the courage to attack a man who is said to have been a stalwart blacksmith. She said that he had previously struck her three times and that the knot from a blow still remained on her head to testify his assault. [2]

Pulaski County Woman Escapes Kentucky Penitentiary, 1909

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[July 17, 1909] -

WOMAN PRISONER

Escapes From Prisoner at Frankfort.

Frankfort, Ky., July 4.-- Dicie Gilpin, an 18 year-old girl, who hails from Pulaski county, has the distinction of being the only woman prisoner who has ever scaled the walls of the Frankfort penitentiary. But womanlike she sprained her ankle after accomplishing the feat and could not get away. The girl had been sent up from Pulaski county to serve a year for grand larceny. She managed to hide out in the yard when the other prisoners were locked up for the night, then got to the top of the twenty-five foot wall by the aid of a ladder and dropped to the ground. She struck across the country, but her injured ankle gave her so much pain that after travelling a few miles she was forced to give up. [1]

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[1] "Woman Prisoner." Hopkinsville Kentuckian, Hopkinsville, KY. July 17, 1909. Page 5. LOC. http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86069395/1909-07-17/ed-1/seq-5/

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Serial Rapist Lynched in Burnside, Pulaski, 1883

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[November 10, 1883] -

A Ravisher Lynched.

SOMERSET, KY., November 10.-- James Truxtall, charged with a brutal outrage on Mrs. Coomes, a married woman, near Clio [Whitley County], was arrested several days ago and privately taken to be identified by his victim. This was done yesterday. This morning Truxtall's body was found hanging from the Cincinnati Southern Railroad bridge over the Cumberland river. He had been taken from the officers and thus disposed of by a mob. [1]

Woman Commits Suicide After Quarrel With Her Lover, Pulaski, 1883

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[September 21, 1883] -

Minnie Kesler, a woman of loose character, suicided about nine o'clock Monday morning, at Somerset, by firing a pistol down her throat. [1]

Father Stabs Son to Death During Family Dispute, Rockcastle, 1896

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[March 6, 1896] -

George Todd, a youth, was killed at Wildie, by his father, during a drunken quarrel. The father was lodged in jail here. [1]

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[March 10, 1896] -

Clint Todd, who killed his son in Rockcastle county, was held over under bond of $500. It was claimed that George went to the old man's house and told him he had come to thrash him for treating his mother badly, when the father whipped out a knife and stabbed him to death. [2]

Man Kills Another For Alleged Relationship with His Wife, Rockcastle, 1888

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[December 4, 1888] -

DROPPED DEAD.

A Load of Buckshot Ends the Checkered Career of Lee B. Carter.

The Man Who Killed the Moore Brothers Shot By a Friend He Had Wronged.

Mt. Vernon, Ky., Dec. 3. -- (Special.) -- At 5:10 this evening Lee B. Carter fell with fourteen buckshot in his breast and two through the heart, from a gun in the hands of James Frazer. Carter had had no warning of his impending fate. He, with the proprietor of the Joplin Hotel, had just finished supper and stepped out on the pavement in front of the hotel, when the deadly shot was fired. Not a word was passed after the shot. Carter threw up his hands and ran into the hotel and fell on his left side, expiring immediately. Frazer went to Jailer Arnold and surrendered.

At the Coroner's inquest, the verdict was given according to the facts as above stated. It is thought the trouble originated Saturday night, when Carter remained over night at Frazer's residence, in the east end of town. During the night Frazer woke up and thought he discovered Carter in a compromising position with Mrs. Frazer. He accused Carter of wrongdoing and they quarreled for some time, when Carter left the house, followed by threats from Frazer. The parties had not met until to-night, in front of the Joplin House. Frazer had lain in wait for Carter. Frazer was thought to be intoxicated when the shooting was done. Carter had only been acquitted at Stanford a month since for the killing of Tom Moore, which took place here in July, 1886, when both Jack and Tom Moore fell from buckshot fired by Carter. Frazer is a nephew of the slain Moore boys.

A strange coincidence connected with the killing of Carter is that he was killed by the same kind of gun, buckshot, at the same time of day to almost a minute, and within two hundred feet of where the Moore boys fell. Carter's father, Judge James G., had lately married Miss Marry Miller, an aunt of Frazer, and a sister of the Moores. Lee Carter had lately sold out his possessions here and was to move to Missouri within a few weeks. [1]

Woman Drowned By Her Seducer in the Rockcastle River, Rockcastle, 1883

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[April 24, 1883] -

[Special to the Interior Journal.]

MT. VERNON, April 23. -- Th[e] woman found in the river was named Mamie Bryant. She was brought to Dan Ball's by Bill Dunnegan, from Jackson county. Dunnegan had threatened to kill her if he could not get rid of her any other way. She had been missing since April 6th, Dunnegan left for Texas on the 9th. All the above was developed at the Coroner's inquest.     J. B. FISH [1]

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[May 11, 1883] -

CAUGHT.-- Wm. Dunegan, the scoundrel who is charged with seducing the drowning Nannie Bryant, in Rockcastle river, has been captured in Madison, Ark., and will be brought back for trial.  Larkin Bird, who was sent here for safe keeping from Laurel, says he heard Dunegan say he intended to kill the girl if he could get rid of her in no other way. [2]

Man Kills Brother-in-Law for Deplorable Treatment of Family, Rockcastle, 1890

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[March 4, 1890] -

Saturday evening near Wildie, this county, Aus. Henderson was shot and instantly killed by James Bunlin, his brother-in-law.  The weapon used was a 44 Colts.  Four balls passed through Henderson's body, tearing great holes.  The cause of the shooting is said to have been on account of the bad treatment of his wife by Henderson, who has been in numerous escapades with other women.  Bunlin, who lives in Garrard county, with two men came to Henderon's on the above date and went into the house.  Henderson stepped out to get some wood followed by Bunlin, who drew his pistol.  Henderson cried don't shoot.  Bunlin replied "That's my business" firing with above result.  Bunlin and the other two men left.  No arrest. [1]

Man on Trial for Murder Marries Victim's Daughter After Acquittal, Rockcastle, 1879

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[December 29, 1879] -

HOMICIDE.

On Friday the festivities for the week concluded with a homicide on Skagg's creek, in this [Rockcastle] county. An unmarried daughter of Alfred Smith had recently given birth to a child, the father of which was reported to be William McKinney. McKinney was at Smith's house on Friday, when Smith, who was drunk, told him to take his daughter and the baby and provide for them. McKinney agreed to do so, and, taking the child in his arms, started away, accompanied by Smith's daughter. Smith, very much enraged, followed them, and, drawing a knife, stabbed McKinney in the back. McKinney turned, drew his pistol, and shot Smith through the heart. He died without a groan. McKinney has not yet been arrested. []