Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1859-12-01


walked up. getting nearly opposite TO where he was
shot, perhaps ten twelve feet from it, heard Mr..
Hall call out 'stopp Not directing any attention to
Mr.. Hall at the time, did not know who 1t was Mr.
Pondexter about twelve feet from Mr.. Ewing's
door. then looked towards Mr.. Hall and heard
him say again. stop sr!' something to that effect
and Mr.. Poindexter still advanced. He again called
to him TO stop, but he did not and Mr.. Hall fired.
heard him call 'stop" three times. Mr.. Poindexter
did not stop at all as | saw. He had his umbrella
spread over him. l cOuldn0t see which hand 1t was
IN / thought he advanced little faster as he
was told to stop. 1t is a gradual ascension. l
suppose about one or two seconds interviewed be-
tween the last call and the firing. don't know as
could say distinctly about the interval between the
EXPLANATIONS. had not seen him (Hall) previous to
that time, that morning. My impression IS, he lev
eled the gun DIP to his shoulder when he first ex-
claimed STOP did not notice the umbrella until
after had assisted to carry Mr. Poindexter into the
office. The word fstop" was SAID in a very loud
and distinct voice l did not see any pistol at ALL
He was going towards the UNION AND AMERICAN of
fee from the direction of the Commercial Hall. 1t
threw his right hand towards me. was about forty
five of. There was nothing TO obstruct my view. l
could not see his right hand and saw no pistol at all
in the affair | saw the the umbrella subsequently.
Nv son took charge of it. l did not recognize any
one that knew but Mr.. Venable then There was
another gentleman in advance, but did not know
who he was | don't know whether / was acquant-
ed with him or not. don't know that / saw any
one in the door OF the NeWs office. Ny attention was
not directed to the door at ALL no persons run
nIng abont DeaderIck street at that time did not
hear any one say any thing like "where is he1 or
.he Is at Dea lerick street" heard no exclama-
ton EXCEPT the word stop There were four
persons that | saw that side of the street
They were Mr.. Hall, Mr. Poind5Kter Mr.. Nenable
and another gentleman | did not know This oc-
Cured between and o'clock / think though
don't know. ] was not personally acquainted with
Mr. Poindexter. did not KIN Nv him when saw him.
The umbrella when saw it was not hosted. after
my got it. stepped of the distance between
the two parties. | made it between 40 and As feet
did not hear any EXCAVATIONS from Mr.. Poindex-
ter. either after previous to the shooting He was
going when he was shot moving litde faster after
the first exclamation ! cannot state whether Mr.
Poindexter Mr.. Hall or not.
Cross examination by Gov Brown There was
nothing prevent his seeing him. His fire was to-
wards him He was going in that direction. When
told to stop, he mended his pace. He did not stop
at all till he shot.
Direct examination resumed.
He did not release his hand from the umbrella as
far as saw before he was shot did not see his
hands however.
DR.. b. F. Wright, direct examination was cali
cd in to make examination of the BODY Of Mr.
PoindeXteP after he was shot. made some exami-
nations at the request of Dr.. Winston | probed the
wounds TO ascertain which of the shots penetrated
the cavity Of the chest and in what direction they
seemed TO 60 That was on the morning thas he
was shot, near as can state about half an hour
after he was shot 1t was in the office of Mr. Chill
dress. ItoCk memorandum at the time with which
l will refresh my memory. There were several
wounds IN the chest one in the right side and two
or three in the arm. made separate notes Of the
wounds. They seemed to be made with buck-shot
or small bullets. The first wound was a little to
the right OF the center of the sternum or breast
bone just at The place where the third rib unites
with the breast bone. The probe passed broken frag-
ments of the bleastbOne going in and advancing in
an obllgue direction towards the right and then
coming contact with resisting body no doubt
the heart. 1t penetrated about two inches. The
second was rather more to the rghtat the junction
of the fourth rib with the breast-bone. The probe
passed fragments of bone and advancing in the same
direction, little towards the right penetrating a
good deal deeper, say some three or four inches
having met with no resistance. From which cir
curnStance the probe must have passed through the
the heart else passed BY t-mOSt likely passed by
it. The third wound was just below the left fifth rib
one inch from the sternum The ball wounded the
cartilage of the fifth rib without entering thatcavity
at least the probe unable TO follow it. The
fourth considerably more to the right. 1t was
between the sixth and seventh ribs on the right side
about three inches TO the right of the of the
chest. The probe passed through to the opposite
wall Of the thOraX, entirely through the chest and
encountered fractured rib thePa. That ball doubt
less broke the rib, both it went in and came out
There were two other wounds, which did not penc-
trate the skin, but merely bruised it. \ bali was
detected near the skin the back and fracture of
the rib apparently the detected in the wound
last described. There besides three gun shot /
wounds in the upper surface of the left forearm the
larger bone of which was fractured These are the |
notes of the examination made BY me in the pre- |
sence of Drs. HaSkins. Winston and Mavfield and |
signed by all four of US. The direction in which
the probe entered seemed indicate that the shots
came from gun, fronting the deceased, he having
his left breast little more advanced than his right
At the same time the shots took effect rather
more to the right than to the left The left breast
was probably advanced, inasmuch as the wounds
NrA h.. plrv l,g4, a.
left arm must have been in the front of the thorax
and the balls must have come straight towards the
center of the breast-thOugh it is not always that
balls take the direction after entering the body
as when they strike it, If the balls that made III,
had come point blank, they probably
would not have made that appearance unless some
thing had wa1ded them off. All the wounds indca-
ted that Mr. POindeXter standing witt his left
side towards the gun. One of the bullets that went
into his arm doubtless afterwards entered his chest
We did open the cavity of the thOrax and so did
not find any balls within it. We found bal in the
back but did not extract it. The ball was not larger
than good sized buck-shOt small bulle'. Tn "
all indicated the same thing There W re nlne
wounds altogether that we could identify 49,. that
did not imply nine bullets for one, possibly two,
that struck his entered his chest. There must
have been from seven to nine bullets to make the
wounds. / was acquainted with Mr.. Poindexter.
de was a small man, not more than five feet and
six eight inches high. His weight would be un-
Ter l4O pounds. / think it would not be much more
han 100 pounds. though am not judge in these
matters His health has not been very good for some
lime. As physician had attended him. He had
'Ome iniGmmatOry disease and was in rather low
state of health, as had been dieting him. He mad
10 hemmOrragesIunderm my charge. have known hi |
very intimately for the last six months but not
much before that time. lived in the same building
With him. know his character for peace and vio-
encc from reputation and from good deal of inter-
course have had with him latterly, especially hav
ng discussed questions relating to difficulties he had
been in should not say that Poindexter the liz
nan to provoke quarrel-very much the opposite II
lie was the man to take It up when one was ten 10
Tered to him. That is matter any can Judge I'm
IT. have more than discussed this question Ig
With him. have heard him spoken of lately. l
oppose every one in town has given an opinion |
egard him peaceabe man. He was peaceable / n
far as not to be the man to provoke quarrel but
he would not retire from one Ii
Cross-examination by Gov. Brown: If he thought v
himself insulted. he would undoubtedly seek repair
ton, even at all risks to himself persOnaysI think
e would give his opponent fair chance. No risk
o himself would prevent his seeking PREPARATION. [ k
hnk he was disposed to Judge of his own case "a Il
her than conhde IN the judgment Of his friends. He
would not follow his own incnations but his own r.
Judgment l made no remOnstrance with him in N
egard to this When he regarded himself in tt
uted, he would pursue the object without regard e
D personal safety. He would abstain from provok- a.
lg quarrel put would pursue any quarrel forced HI
pom him TO all lengths do not say that he said RI
lis but it is what infer He was sensitive to kind
ess and unkindness a.
Direct examination resumed: | think he felt HI
cutey anything done by others in which he was con-
erned whether it friendly or the reverse He ri
ppreciated friendly act highly and frowned upon ii
wrong that was done him. | don't think he was 81
apabe of taking advantage of any man. He ~
-Ould rather resign his own life than to do So q
Dr.. John d. Winston. Direct examination: have NJ
acquainted with Mr. POindexter now for seven ia
eight years are related dstanty His father and
y father were sisters children. He was a small
IAN, and don't suppose would weighmO than ITO
lI5 pounds. have not had the charge of Mr. he
ondexers health, and could not tell what his gen al
'al health was. was present with his BODY both sp
little while before his death and afterwards On ce
riday last was sitting in my Office alone lust af hi
r an early breakfast and heard the report of a or
IN, but 1t did not attract my attention saw some 50
iclement across the street and went to the door til
Id DR.. Mayfed, my next door neighbor came | az
ong. and seeing the excitement at Mr. Childress' do
,0r, asked what it He said ne did not know a.
I'd proposed go and see but Idecre The excite nc
ent seemed to increase. He asked me again to 90 ha
it'll him. told him did not wish 10 90 but as he
e excitement increased, Mr.. Barnes passed bv. Ic
quired of Mr. Barnes what the excitement was. on
e remarked that Mr.. Hall had killed Mr. Pondex- no
r, AMI said " Hurrah for Hall" | made nv way of
the place and entered the room. Mr. Poindexter re
as unconscious, and in the act of diving and died SD
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