The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1869-07-01
VOL, XXXII--NO. 30.
Trial Of E. M. Yerger
before N Military Commission, for
the killing OF Joseph G. Crane,
TENTH DAY.
TUESDAY, June I'D, 1865

/ eTgeT IaLe IN the afternoon OF that DAY
! met her On the street near my residence !;
she was walking very rapidly, and did not
| speak 10 me, contrary to her usual custom !;
| / was struck with her unusual appearance
and was curious to know what was the mat
/ ter; on Striving at home my wife informed
me that the levy had been made and the pi-
| ano removed. The manner of Mrs. 1erger
| was such "a TO impress me with the fact that
| something unusual and distressing had oc-
| Cured.
/ Judge Nerger here asked "a question in ref
| erence to the condition of the street in front
of Mr.. Herger's residence.
| Judge Advocate Layton objected 10 the
question as being irrelevant.
| Judge 1erger said he desired To show That
there was cause for Mr.. Yerger's refusing
| to pay his taxes, and he thought the ques-
ton was proper.
The Commission was cleared, and upon
| re-opening it was announced that the OBJ
| lection was OverTuled.
! Mr.. Taylor then proceeded and said
| Every heavy fall of rain the grounds over
| flowed, owing to the incapacity OF the Gull
verts 10 carry of the water Some SIX weeks
| ago the iron railing, together with the brick
| foundation WAS washed away; it-would cost
$500 or a $1,000 to rebuild the same; | do
not know the amount OF damage sustained
| to the property inside the fence; have not
been there since; / first made the acquain-
tance of accused about the year, 1850; on
| one occasion about four months ago, | no.
ticed some peculiarities in his conduct; 4
| went to ms h )use at the request of his uncle
| John X. Nerger; the accused seemed to be
l&bOring under some great mental depres-
sion: he had conceived the idea that there
( was a robber in the house. aud that he had
been struck by the robber; he was bleeding
| from The head profusely; as went in met
him on the gallery; we went into the libra
| ray: ordered a tub of water, aud at once
| commenced bathing him, and the bathing
| seemed to have good effect; ] requested
his uncle to go for the family physician; he
was very much excited, and seemed possess
| cd of the one idea that there was robber
| in the house, and he would not sleep until
he caught him. l remained there one and
| half or two hours; the excitement contin-
| ued as long as | remained with him. DIR.
ICraft, his family physician. arrived some 80
or 40 minutes after my arrival. When | en-
| tered the library his pistol was lying on a
| book case and his knife on the mantel- piece;
he walked toward his pistol and said he
! would 90 out after the robber; if he was
| labC ring under delirium tremens it was diff
| ferent from any l had ever seen; he had but
| the one idea that there was robber about
! the house, don't know if there was an eff
| fort made to convince him that there was
no robber in the house. Mr.. and Mrs. An
| derson, and Mr.. j. III. Echols were there;
came after ] had arrived; John X. 1erger
| went for the family physician | don't know
/ hoN the cut on the head occurred; ] don't
know what became of the pistol; my impress
sion as to his mental condition was that he
| was not in his right mind and was deranged
at the time; there was no appearance of In
toxication that | could discover
| By Judge Advocate:
This occurred some four months ago. |
have seen him frequently since have noticed
nothing since that time to denote deran2e-
ment, except the fact that he has had an I'M
migration scheme in his head which look
ed upon as altogether visionary. He told
extrayagant stories about the immense sums
of money he would make for himself and
friends. Have seen several persons under
influence of deltriuEs trGmen3. He had no
other idea than that there was robber IN
the house. | don't remember TO have seen a
person appear Intoxicated in detertUm ire
| mems. He mentioned his immigration scheme
to me frequently; said he would explain it
to me, but never did; he proposed to make
| milliOnares of his friends.
By the Commission:
| | had no intimaton of Mr.. YeTgers iutoK-
icatiOn on that day. | don't know that any
one else is concerned with him in this imml-
grafton scheme. Never of my own knowl-
| edge knew him to be Intoxicated; have
seen him under the influence of drink. /
| thought this immigration scheme was i'm
practicable. and knew it was impossible to
realize the immense sums of money that he
expected to realize. ! know that lmmigra-
ton schemes generally are endorsed by
new spapers, but never saw mention ma !e of
this particular scheme.
TESTIMONY OF A. J. DAVIS.
have known Mr.. Yerger for fifteen years.
On the morning OF the 1st of March, the day
the Clarion Office burned. while standing
near that fire. Mr.. Ierger came up TO me
| and asked why | was hunting him with
double baTrclled shot-gu lie said the son
of "A woman who made mattras ses in town
had told him that | was hunting for him
| | asked friend who was by me II he heard
that? He said no. Mr.. Ierger kept watch
ing me. L was struck with his appearance.
and conduct, and left the place. thinking he
! mi oh n Il liffIcnlfV
reported the case to my mother, and she said
| 1T was only one of Col. ergeF'S crazy its,
| | never had a word with Col crger preyi-
| Gus TO that time.
| BY Judge Advocate:
have not seen Col Ierger since that day
until to-day. don't think ne was lntoHl
Gated; if he had been, might have smelled
| his breath. He looked as though he wanted
| to raise n difficulty with me.
TESTIMONY OF JAS. d. STEWART.
reside in Jackson; am brother n-law to
| accused, having married his sister; have
! known him about Is years; our social rela-
! tions for the past Is months have been un-
\ friendly; no intercourse whatever, and /
don't think we have spoken tor 10 months !;
I the circumstances that l suppose led to the
| unfriendly feeling were rather OF private
| nature than otherwise: about II months ago
| was in Eyrich's Book store, when Mr.. err
ger sent me message requesting that !
| would come up and take drink of liquor
| with him. | replied by the messenger:
Please excuse me, L do not wish to drink"
In few minutes, Mr.. Yerger came in. very
much excited, and asked me if / had not
refused his friendship: 1 remarked that
that was not the question it was simply as
to the drink. He then cursed me. / rose
from my seat with the intention of striking
| him, under the infiuen 3e OF the excitement,
when he put his hand behind him, as if to
| draw a weapon. / saw that | was in very
awkward position. | said to him, you are
armed. and am not. He Immediately pull
ed out pistol, and said he had two, and
said we would fight it out then. / replied
that owing TO peculiar relations would de-
| cline to do so il was not necessary TO state
them, he ought TO be aware of them. lie
| then proposed that we should go on the
| street and settle it, which he said could be
4 done in ten minutes. / declined that also,
\ and said that l would send note to
| him by a friend, and that l thought that
| gentleman ought to be satisfied with
promise of that sort. He then threw
| the pistol at my feet and it went on;
the pistol was picked up and put away
| by some one; presently he called for it and
| it was given him. He asked me then if l
would 90 up aud take drink with him; |
| refused. and he wanted an explanation. and
/ [ told him that the rude manner and often
sive language in which he accosted me,
made me decline again. lie asked what
would satisfy me- and told him that an
/ apology or retraXit. He in very curious
manner, and great deal of gesticulation.
said the expression was not strong enough,
/ than it was oblitered from his memory. or
some such strange language. l then went
| to Spengler's saloon and took lemonade
with him. He then remarked that this fam
lily feud would have to be settled. or there
would be hell of difficulty. l said that
was matter entirely with himself BY
| agreement he proposed to meet me at my
| house at O'Clock and we would talk the
matter over; he failed to come, another APP
pointment was made, and he failed again.