The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1855-01-25

SUIT for one of the prisoners. The we'd
ding came off, We believe before thu
: trial and acquittsl, at Harrodsbufg, the
prlsonefs being at large on bail. 6 7
Another unfortunate affair took place II
Louisville afew years after this, with Iii,
circumstances of which our memory is no
particularly charged. 1t resulted in The
death by shooting, of Mr.. Leonard Bliss
! a young gentleman Of literary pursuit from
lone of the Northern States; Che friend anc
assistant of Mr.. Prentice of the Journal,
at the hands of Mr. Godfrey Pope, CON
nected with rival paper. The provoca.
ton universally regretted, although Pope,
ona change of venue to Shelby county,
we believe was acquitted ON his trial
The last of this character to which we
propose to refer, was the unprovoked mur.
der of young drug salesman in the
Phoenix Holeiat he@tngieH, by Il member
Of the Shelby family. There was no pre-.
vious acquaintance or alteration between
Shelby and his unofending victim. They
met at the dinner table; Shelby iutoxica-
4 ted or laboring under the effects of itoxi-
cation. The fancied insult which promp-
/, ted him to use the firearms, which are al
most as commonly worn by the idle OF
4 sporting young bloods of the State as side
arms by the nobility in England a century
or two ago, was that the salesman took the
liberty of eyeing him across the. table,
from which he was commanded to desist,
and upon making some quiet or perhaps
dignifed or indifferent reply, he was shot
through the heart The occurrence was
sudden, uncalled for, and dastardly in the
highest degree, but it was the act of a
maddened inebriate, whose wealthy and
Influential family procured the ablest coun-
sel-Mr. Clay Of the number, much to the
regret Of many of his f,iends--to defend
him on this plea, as they did do, success
ully. p 800
| A correspondent has called our atten-
ton to another murderous occurrence, OF
rather serious or deadly affray, between
two families in Garrard county. But this
family feed, came down from one genera
ton to another, in which both parties were
in a large measure culpable, and the fata)
events of which are scarcely to be quoted
as an illustration of the course of criminal
Jurisprudence in the Commonwealth.
In the capital offences of Kentucky
punished as such by the death penalty
there are tive or three very remarkable
caser of circumstantial murder, by lyiDs
in wait for revenge or shooting with inten
TO rob, the records Of which are refreshed
by the Ward trial. The murder Of Bake
by Desha, in 1925, we have already refer
red to, but without alluding to the attemp
'frcu- sWicide. OF the muraerer,rw while in jail
which led to a surgical operation on hi
windpipe, which he cut with a razor, il
stead of cutting the carotid artery. Th
act of the murder of Baker was not see
: by a single witness. The last person see
with him as Desha and the first person +
whom his ready money was traced wa
I Kesha. He would never confess the erin,
however, and it was found exceedingly diff
ficult to fasten so horrid crime upon tn,
son of the Governor of the Commonwealth
( committed for the mean motive of enjoy
( ing his victims money, about $50 in a
mount.
There was an early occurrence, under
'somewhat similar circumstances as early
as 1919-20, in the county of Barren, fol
which the supposed murderer, John Ham
llton, was convicted and executed. The
standingof Hamilton sfamily was as incon-
slstent with the crime ofmurder as Desha's.
Hisfather was wealthy, and an exemplary
member Of the Presbyterian Church, and
the state.and circumstances of his broth
ers aid sisters rather above the ordinary
class of country society, They were es-
teemed proud and naughty by their neigh
bors, and this was the great misfortune TO
the supposed murderer on his day of trial
His family had reasonable share of wealth
They were exemplary withal, but not pop
tiular in their bearing, and too proud to
make their wealth influential John Fam.
ilton was the eldest son. He was bold
! speculator, making his annual adventures
to New Orleans, conducted at that day
chiefly on flat-boats; the master and bands
returning by steam or overland through
the Indian country. On one Of these trips
Hamilton fell in with DIR. Sanderson, Of
Natchez, on his way to Kentucky to pur-
chase negroes for the plantations then set
t'eing on thclowe Mississippi. Hamilton
was man of the world, of pleasing address
and captivating manners. He soon won
Sanderson's confidence, and took him tc
his fathers house, which he made his TEN.
rary home. He had a large amount oI
money with him in United States Bank
notes. @3 ta
| On the morning the two set out togeth.
erat or before sunrise, Sanderson to 60 tc
a distant part of the neighborhood to looI
at some negroes. In about an hour, by
the sum- Hamilton and a stranger were
seen to pass cabin by the roadside, and
soon after the witness, 1.-THE milk-woman
belonging to the cabin, heard what she
l supposed to be the report Of d gun. The
horse Of Sanderson returned that day the
house Of the senior Hamilton without his
saddle, and John Hamilton went to the
town Of Glasgow, some twelve miles dis
tant, also the same day, where he paid of
certain debts in United States Bank notes,
The disappearance of Sanderson some
weeks after led inquiry and seach. The