Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-05-16
TESTIMONY OF MURPHY

IESIlMON1 Oh II. +. MI RPHA.
Mr., II. P. Murphy, Representative in the
Legislature from johnson county, was
then called as a witness for the State, and
being sworn, testified as follows:
/ was here at the meeting of the Legis-
lature convened to meet July 9Th, 1865. 1
arrived at Nashville on the 3rd. l was
| present at the c0nvening on the 4th. Mr..
| p. Williams member from Carter, came on
the first week Of the session. had con-
versation with him after he arrived.
! He was opposed 10 the amendment, and
said he could not consent to vote for it. 1
remember one day he had gone out to avoid
voting. / heard him say 10. We were
struggling then to get a quorum. MIR.
Martin, and DR.. Marable, of Benton
and Humphreys, were absent for a
| while. All Of these we're very violently
opposed to the amendment. Williams,
| / think, went home on or about the 10Th.
| He went home to prevent the amendment
from being adopted. The Legislature was
called together principally TO decide on
the amendment. The members used to
dodge for the purpose Of preventing a
| quorum from assembling. Williams was
generally in the House while in the city
| do not know that | heard him say any
thing about leaving l saw him when
brought back shout the 18th. He was in
the custody Of the sergeant~at-arms, and
so was Mr.. Martin, of Jackson county.
remained during the whole session.
thought / could see disposition to keep
the House out Of quorum.
Mr.. Trimble: Was there not a good deal
of lobbying going on
l NJ Eursp,. W. ,Isa,g -, ii. l. :
questioning. You must prove what some
body said or did
Mr.. Trimble, continued: Was there q
body Of men inside the bar of the Honse
and if so, what did they do2
Mr.. Ewing: ] object to your question
After a little alteration and debate be-
tween the counsel the examination of the
witness proceeded as follows:
| DO not know who the lobbying parties
were. There were a good many of them
and they frequently came inside the bar.
saw them occasionally in conversation with
the refractory members, while we were
trying 10 get together a quorum.
Williams, Martin, Marable, and Others
would leave the House if there was Just
enough present to form 4 quorum. ! was
generally present during the whole session
Of the House. i do not know that meT
would come into the lobby armed Their,
was a good deal of disorder. ] do no
know that members were advised to arm
themselves for self-protection. | could
hear Of caucuses being ,held. | heard i
said by members that such meetings wer,
held in the capitol. | was here wher
petition was made for a hobeds corpus OF
behalf of Williams. Mr.. Williams,
understood, filed the application. l 4,
not recollect the date exactly on which
heard the writ was sued out-about tn
18th or 18th think. ! was present at III
court. They were debating on the hdbea
corpus. l heard the opening speed
By Harrison. Nou yourself, TO Mr.. Trim
bic | believe, made the second address
A large number Of persons were present
including most Of the members Of the lie
gislaiure should think there were from
three 70 four hundred present The ROOD
H. large; should think as large az this
think some came inside the railing
There was considerable amount Of ex
element in relation 20 what was going on
/ heard them strike on the floor and cla
their hands when a speaker pleased them
Mr.. Harrison was not appauded. Nh
| bolNar vas applauded When arguing Al
favor Of issuing the writ, Judge Brie
ELECTED demonstrations Of applause. | q
not remember that he said anything in ia
vor of Governor Brownlow. The aPplaus
was called forth by something said agains
the Legislature. There might have beei
a thousand persons present perhaps
The weather was very warm and the crow
was so great that they could not all &c
seats. was there when the case was dc
cided BY Judge Frazier. There was
large crowd there. They come, l suPpos'
10 hear the decision. Some persons though
there was violence intended in the coul
room. do not know TO whom violenC
was intended. Capt. Heydt kept MART
and Williams in one Of the commitie
rooms Of the House Of Representative
When Judge Frazier delivered his opinio
there was loud applause. Williams an
Martin were taken out Of custody at nigh
DO not know how the sheriff entered th
capitol. II was done at night when | wi
not there.
Gross examined by Judge Gaut Marti
and Williams were in the committe
] a. ~. -. A.