Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-07-01

last mornlse he appeared much more &C
than during the week; / thought hi
mind was very unsettled he was very
much excited and his talk was very ex'
travagant on everything; while at Mem
pbis, l saw him take three drinks,
think, aud that wine; mentioned there
and after came home, that would moi
be surprised II Colone! Yerger never
came home, that l believed he was de.
ranged; recollect particularly mention
ing it to Colonel Hamilton.
By Judge Advocate:
/ last saw the prisoner at Memphis, on
Saturday morning, the week of the Con-
vention it was the week beginning the
nth May; I saw prisoner almost every
day, but not frequently; do not know to
what extent he drank; ! advised him to
quit drinking because my impression
was, from his excitement, that he was
under the influence of liquor; thought
afterwards his excitement arose from
other causes than drinking liquor;
this man CrandalPs dispatch seemed
to excite him greatly; he seemed to
think that Crandall was coming to break
him down before the Convention /
thought he was drinking; he did not stag
ger; he was so much excited that | at
tributed it to the use of liquor; and the
knowledge of the dispatch seemed to irri-
tate him; he read that immigration
scheme to me; thought there were great
difficulties for want of money; if he had
as much money as he desired, there was
nothing wild or visionary in it; he said
he thought he could get million dollars
to carry out the scheme; the letter of
Boston banker was written in rather mys-
FERROUS language, and requested Colonel
Yerger to say nothing of the scheme; it
did not enter upon the merits of the
scheme particularly; it said they would
organize at some future time; there was
no offer of money in it so far as Mr..
Yerger read it to me; / left Mem
phis on Sunday night, and reached
jackson on Friday following; |
spoke of this occurrence, | think on
Saturday morning as well as recollect
it was the first time | met Col. Hamilton
he took me aside, and asked me what had
become of Col. Yerger; he said that his
property had been levied on here, and
that his family were in great distress, and
asked me when / thought Col. Yerger
would be home; / replied that would
not be surprised if Col. Yerger never
came home that I believed he was de-
renged; did not know what his de-
proceeded from; this immi-
grafton scheme was the most important
thing before him, and he seemed to be
very much excited about it, and seemed
to think that any one who said anything
about it in the Convention or out of it
was making some attack upon his pros
poets; l did not believe him to be under |
the influence of liquor at any time after
the first day; / do not know how much
he drank during his stay in Memphis;
saw him at no time after leaving emphis |
until after the homocide; when met him |
first in Memphis, my conclusion vas that |
he had been drinking, and l told him SO;
that he could not pursue his scheme |
properly before that kind of Convention |
under his state of excitement; that he |
ought to quit drinking, get cool, and to
study his subject. He assured me that |
he was not drinking, that he had only |
taken three drinks that day. The next
time that saw him, that made any i'm
preston on me, was when he was writing |
that note of challenge to ms uncle. The |
last time saw him was after he had bad |
the difficulty with Colonel Crandall; he
was unusually excited for sane man;
don't know whether he had been drink
ing or not; the morning of the affair
with Crandall, only saw him take a
glass of wine; his excitement, actions and
manners at that time produced the inn
preston upon me that be was deranged,
and 80 told Colonel Hamilton when / |
got here; / did not look upon it at that |
time as the result of iatoxication; / do |
not know if he had been drinking; he |
to be very much excited, and
denounced Crandall bitterly.
By the Commission:
When made the remark to Colonel
Hamilton that l believed Colonel Yerger
was deranged, and would not come back,
- mas INV 90 ndid onininn