Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1826-09-14

uor Court of Law for kanawha Coun-
ty, commenced its session ON Monday
the 2lst inst. the Hon. Lewis Summers
presiding. The same day, the Grand
Jury returned four bills oiIndIctments a.
galnSt John and Matthew kiacaid. char
| sed with The burning OF Gauly Bridge.
Upon tho first Indictment, which was
for arson at the common law. charging
the prisoner with having burned GER
tain public blidge, across Gauly Riv-
er, near the mouth of the side river.
known By the name Of tue GauIy Bridge
belonging to the Commonwealth of Vir-
gina, aud in the care OF one Mile :
hancer, adjacent and appmtsaaat TO a
/ certain house IN the possession aud &C.
cupancy of The said Miles Maucer, also,
belonging To the said Commonwealth
John Ancad was arraigned on Tues.
day, aud his counsel demurred to the
Indictment, alleging for reason. that
il did not substantially charge fell
ony; that the terms "adjaeen, aud APP
1 purtenant TOP did not show that the
Bridge was parcel of and within the
curtilege OF Mancer's house; and that
ihdepende Mt oi this relation, which did
not in fact subsist, by the omission al the
legislature, The burning of a bridge was
not n felony, either by statute or b,
common law. Upon these grounds, tie
Court sustained the demurrer 10 the
second Indictment, which charged Mat
thew kincaid the same offence. the
Attorney for the Commonwealth enter.
ed a nolle ;aosequi On Wednesday,
john and Matthew kincaid were put on
trial, upon a joint Indictment, for mis-
deme amor under the Virginia statute,
and put in the plea of"Not guilty. A
motien was submitted by their counsel,
for change of venue, upon the ground,
that the public mind in this county was
highly excited against them, that il had
been arifully inhamed by false rumours;
and that fIom these causes, they belle
we'd they could not obtain fair trial.
This motion, for want Of sufficient evi-
dence OF these facts, was overruled.
The trial then, proceeded A jury OF
highly respectable and impartial men,
was without difficulty empanneled. A.
bout thirty witnesses were examined on
the part Of the Commonwealth. The
evidence against John kncaid was that
he and his sons had owned the land on
both sides of the river, which had been
condemned for the Bridge, that they had
previously TO the erection OF the Bridge,
kept ferry, which thereby had been
destroyed, that TO John, the Bridge had
always been source oil uneasiness and
dissatisfaction at different times
and TO different persons, he had threat
ened TO destroy it; and on one Or two
occasions, he had said he would bien
it--particularly ifMancer, who appear.
ed to have been the peculiar object Of
his jealousy and aversion, continued to
keep it--thathe was absent from home
that night ii was burned, and gave con
Trajectory accounts of himself. Ex
preston he had made, after his appre-
hension, indicating consciousness, Of
guilt aud fear of punishment, weie
likewise given in evidence against him.
gainst Matthew kincaid it was pro
we'd, that he, too. in prophetic spirit,
had foretoldthe obstruction Of the Bridge
that to one Of the witnesses, he re
marked, shortly before the burning OF tile
Bridge, that before long he could keep
ferry over Gau!y river, and being re-
minded that the Bridge would render the
ferry useless, he replied, tie bridge
wiH mi stand long; The James Ripsr
Company has made a great deal Of money
there and IL shall be my fsun so0n.o -
That if not at the spot, he was in the
vicinity of the bridge, the night it was
burned; that he was there early the next
morning, and took possession of the ferry,
and eyinced every disposition, if he
had not participated in the crime, at
least, to avail himself of the advanta.
ges of it, Ali Of Wednesday, and part
of the following day, were taken UP in
the examination of witnesses. The pri-
soners offered no evidence Of previous
good character, by. which the strong
presumptions againstSaem would have
been lessened, had their past lives Sc
cured them the benefit OF such testimo-
ny.
The cause was argued on the part Of
the prosecution, by Dir. Wilson, Attor-
ney for the Commonwealth assisted by
Mr.. S. L. Mitchell; and on that of the
defence, by Messrs. Lowell, Baldwin,
and White; and the Jury, after retiring
about fifteen minutes. brought in yer