Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-07-28
sEDUcTlOk AND RETRlBUTIOE.
A Yirginlsn SedHcss his Sister-in Law and
Is Shot Dead by the Bedside sf-a
Of his Victim.

| Va, lately residing at Chester, haC
/ two daughters; one of them, Mis-
Laura Hayward, was recently mar
ried to BENJAMIN III. Lindsay, tht
hotel keeper of Chester.
On Tuesday morning Lindsay came
| to Richmond for the purpose of see
| ing the Governor in the interest of {
cOlOred man named Robertson, Wh(
had been recently convicted of rob
berry in Chesterfield county and sen
fenced to the penitentiary. Upon the
ears he joined company with Captain
w. l. ClOptOn, who was likewise
going to Chester. Arriving at Chester
the two got off the cars together and
went into Hayward's bar, which adj
joins the hotel. Hayward was behind
the counter, and mixed drinks for al
three. Captain ClOptOn noticed al
the time there was peculiarly
troubled look upon his face, but only
a few words were passed.
Captain Clopton left Hayward and
Lindsay together. Captain Hayward
said to Lindsay: "There is young
man up stairs who desires to see you
Lindsay inquired who IL was, and
evinced some anxiety to know, sug'
gesting the names OF several persons
whom he thought likely to call "a
see him, but to all his inquiries Hay.
ward responded: f" Never mind, you
will see who it is when y0u get up
there" The two went into the hotel,
and up to the second floor, and Cap,
tain II. opened his unmarried daugh.
ter's Miss Ella Hayward's) chamber
door. Miss Ella was in bed, and DR..
Ingram, physician Of the place, was
sitting in a chair beside her. Hay
ward led Lindsay up to the bedside,
and turning down the sheet, showed
him a newborn male child, at the
same time remarking:
LET me introduce you to your son
the victim of your villainy."
Lindsay seemed overwhelmed with
guilt and despair. He sat himself
down on the bed, looked at the child
and the mother, but said not a word.
Hayward sternly demanded, "Are
you the father of this child?"
Lindsay said, "If she says so, i
reckon l am" .....-- -
Hayward then turned to his daugh.
ter, and asked, My daughter, / ask
you in the presence of this man, is he
the father. of the child?'
She replied, He is"
Hayward then menacingly faced
Lindsay, and inquired, "If he had
anything in Justification of his crime
to say" Lindsay rejOined, quite
eOolly, 81 must have time TO con-
sider;" and Hayward told him, l
viii give you time." He waited about
three minutes.
Lindsay still kept his seat, and
Hayward was standing near the head
of the bed. DIR. Ingram also retained
his seat. Hayward repeated: " Have
you anything TO say?" and upon
Lindsay saying that he had not, and
that he supposed the child was his,
drew from his right pantalOons pocket
a fOur-barreled, silver-mounted Smith
4 WessOn pistol, and deliberately
fired at Lindsay, who still retained
his position upon the bedside. The
first shot missed him, though the two
could not have been four feet apart.
At the second shot Lindsay jumped
up, and ii also missed him. Before
the third shot was fired he had ap-
preached Hayward, and made futile
endeavor to get possession of the
pistol, but before he could do so
il was fired again, and the ball entered
his right thigh. Hayward now ap-
preached Lindsay, and the latter
stretched out his hands toward the
former to grasp the pistol, and had
gotten one of his fingers upon his neck
when the fourth and last shot was
fired and entered the abdomen near
the navel. Lindsay fell back upon
the bed, begging that he should be
troubled no more, as he had received
his death wound. All of this occurred
in a few moments. DIR. Ingram was
pOwerless to interpOse. Miss Ella ut
tered the most frantic screams and
vainly struggled to raise herself in
bed, and the scene was one of indie
scribable horror.
Lindsay was taken up by DIR. In
gram and young Mr.. Hayward, and
carried into a room opposite, where
he lay upon a bed and his wounds
were carefully dressed. He expressed
great penitence for his crime; said be
knew that he was going to die, and
did not blame Hayward for what he
had done. he eonversed freely with
several persons who came to see him
during the night, and would not
allow any one to persuade him that it
was possible for him to survive. He
made his will a little before daybreak,
and on Wednesday morning about 81
O'Clock, breathed his last. He died
comparatively easy, was calm and Sc
rene to the last, but made no appeals
for mercy TO the Heavenly throne
above.
A jury of inquest was Immediately
impaneled. DIR. Ingram testified
that he was in the room at the time
the shooting took place; he had been
called in to attend Miss Ella Hay
ward in confinement; about an hour
before Hayward and Lindsay entered
the room together a male child was
born; Hayward was not present at the
delivery, but had been in and out of
the room frequently during labor
pains; when the two came in together
he was about to deliver the after birth /;
Lindsay said he did not think any
harm had been done to Miss Ella
when he married her sister; they were
married, think, about Christmas; he
said he had told me this thing six
months ago, but he did not tell the
name of the party; told me at that
time that he had got into a scrape
with Richmond girl.
Colonel Amber, Commonwealth
Attorney, addressed the presiding
magistrate. and said no jury, white or
black, savage or civilized, would find
the accused guilty of murder. The
accused should be discharged. Then
it would warn men of libidinOus ap-
petites that when they do these deeds
they do them not only at the risk OF
an avenging father but of an avenging
public also.
The magistrate then said, "Captain
Hayward, stand up."
"Under these circumstances cam
not express my feelings. / think it
my duty toannOunee your discharge. "
There was every evidence of APP
proval at the termination of the case
on the part Of the spectators, but no
noisy demonstration was made.
Lindsay was forty-fve years old,
quite handsome, had dashing man
neT, and a winning way.
His wife, formerly Miss Laura Hay
ward, is in a greatly distressed and
delicate position.
Miss Ella Hayward is seventeen
years OF age. Her condition was not
discovered by her family until con-
finement, because she was supposed to
have the dropsy, and was doctored for
that disease.
Benjamin f. Lindsay, the deceased,
was man of great local prominence
in Chesterfield. He has occupied va
riOns positions of trust in that county,
such as Presiding Justice, Registrar,
etc. He was the Conservative eandi-
date for the Legislature at the last
election, and was also the candidate
for the nomination to the Constitu-
tional Convention in 1867. BE lived
for some years in this CITY. He was a