Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-06-13
THE CRANE MURDER.
FULL PARTICULARS FROM THE JACKSON
PAPERS
The Cause.-The Result Of the COrOner's
Jury.
Heart-rending Scenes 6ver Cranes Body
His Biography. lB.

4 official proceedings OF the deceased
which are better explained by the fO
lowing advertisement that appeare
on the Sd of June:
NoTICE.-By virtue of a warrant {
| distress, dated the 4th day of June
1869, to the undersigned, Marshal {
! the city OF Jackson, directed by tn
honorable the Mayor of said city,
have distrained and levied upon tn
| hereinafter described personal proper
| ty OF f. NJ. Yerger, for taxes due ant
in arrears by him to said city, and vii
proceed to sell in front of Bloom
store, in the city of Jackson, Missis
sippi, at public Outcry, for cash, to th'
highest bidder, on the 10th day o
June, A. D., 1869, within legal hours
the following described personal prop
erty, levied on to satisfy the amount
OF said taxes and all cOSts-One piano
". =. FREEMAN, Marshal.
Jackson, Miss, June 4, 1869.
When this property was attached
+. NJ. Yerger was in Memphis. Or
his return, Tuesday morning, he sem
several messages to Col. Crane, the
purport of which was an invitation tC
official character, in order to give him
satisfaction for what he esteemed to
be an affront. We are informed that
Or. Harrington, who, after repeated
solicitations, bore one oftheSe commu-
nications, finally consented to do so,
with a purpose in his mind, when ex-
planning to Col. Crane the intent oi
Yerger, to advise him not to 90 upon
the streets, and that he did so, stating
that Herger was armed and that his
passions were greatly Intensified by
liquor. Unfortunately there is no liv-
ing witness of this fact. But it is the
statement Of DR.. Harrington, who is a
truthful, kind-hearted, generous man
of peace, and would be the last person
on earth TO produce dissension, and
the first to save a fellOw-mortal from
the horrors of such a death as over
took the deceased. Chief of Police
Isler, as will be seen by his testimony,
gave the same advice which DIR. Har-
rington had given, but unfortunately
il was not taken. Strange enough the
deceased did not, as a cOnservator of
the peace, order the arrest of Yerger,
Notwithstanding his belligerent mes
sage, from the streets, nor did he pre-
pare himself with arms for a deadly
encounter, nor still did he keep out of
harms way. The cause Of his failure
to adopt come precautionary measure
Is explained in the testimony of Isler
A short time before the fatal meeting,
he was on President street examining
a sidewalk which had been reported
TO him to be in a condition to need
repairs. The parties met on the cor
ner of State of Capitol streets.
The Plot says: g Yerger was absent
when the property was attached. His
wife sent him sstelegram. He re-
piled, insultigly, to the Mayor. He
got home yesterday morning, and sent
challenges or belligerent notes to the
Mayor. The Mayor paid no attention
to the notes. He appeared on the
street unarmed. He met Yerger near
the corner of Main and Capitol streets.
Yerger assaulted him and murdered
him, according to the finding of the
COroner's jury as given below. There
was a tremendous excitement on the
street. A crowd gathered around Mr..
Browns family grocery store, where
the corpse of Col Crane lay, and an
improper or an injudiciOus word
would have SET the town in a riot.
Good dcitizenaebmbined to keep down
mob spirit, and succeeded. Yerger
was arrested, and is now in the hands
of the military, at camp. The heart
rending scene which occurred at the
spot Of the tragedy, when the young
wife of the murdered man came and
threw herself upon his PROSTATE, life
less and bloody form, and in piteOus
walls cried, Oh, Joseph! speak to
me! Say that you are not dead!
Oh, God, what have | done that my
dear husband should be thus snatched
from me-? was indescribable. The
crowd looked, and silently wept
earnest tears with the bereayed wife.
She was borne from the spot almost a
maniac, amidst the sympathy of the
entire gathered population"
The jury examined the body Of Col.
Crane but found no weapon upon it.
FINDING OF THE JURY.
lSute Of Mississippi, County Of H5tds:'
We, the undersigned, jury Of in
quest, being summoned to view the
body of Joseph G.. Crane, find that he
came to his death by murder inflicted
upon him by the hands of Z. NJ. Yer
ger, with a sharp edged instrument,
commonly called dirk, in the city of
Jackson, county and State aforesaid,
on the Sth day of June, A. d. 1869.
COoTE LOMBARD, Foreman.
c. A. Brougher, JnO. w. Robinson,
IL. &. Fulmer, Jas. NJ. Mckee,
f... w. H. II. Green.
Col. Crane was the son of Jgfge Jo-
seph IL. Crane, for many year. Judge
of the Common Pleas Court in our
city, and Representative of this dis
trict in Congress for three terms. His
mother was Julia Ann Elliott, whose
family emigrated from Marietta to
Dayton, soon after itsettlement. Col.
Joseph IL. Crane, the deceased, was
born in Dayton, October 10th, 1925,
and passed his boyhood here. He
studied law in his fathers Office, was
admitted to the bar, and from 1852 to
1854 was engaged in the practice OF
law in partnership with +. W. Davies,
ESQ. At this time he was elected
Judge Of the Probate Court of Mont
gomery county, which Office he re-
tanned for three years, when he re-
moved to Rensselaer,, Ind, to engage
in railroad business. The breaking
out of the rebellion called him at once
to the field. In the brigade COM
manded by Gen. Schenck, which serv-
ed in Virginia, he was appointed COM
missary with the rank of Captain in
the volunteer army. He afterwards
was attached to the staff of Gen,
Schenck, with whom, through all the
battles in Northern Virginia, he re
manned till the resignation of the lat
ter. Subsequently he was promoted
to the cOmmissariat in the regular
army, and after the close of the wal
was assigned to the Department Of the
Mississippi, on the staff of Ma. Gen.
Z. o. G. Ord. After the departure o.
the latter to the Pacific coast, Col
Crane was on duty at Cincinnati for 9
brief period, when he was transferred
TO the District of Mississippi, under
Brevet Ma. Gen. Robert s. Granger
The State Of Mississippi, it is vel
known, is one of the three which il
not yet reconstructed, and hence it il
still under military government
Gen. Granger some time ago assigned
Col. Crane to duty as acting Mayor o.
Jackson, the capital of the State. We
n n n n =.