Murder

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Know When To Fold ‘Em

~ michaelhvs ~ Leave a comment

From the Philadelphia Inquirer of March 9, 1836, reporting on the stabbing death of my first cousin (five times removed), Robert Allen Jr:

“We learn with much pain, that Robert Allen, esq., son of Col. Robert Allen, of Smith County, and formerly of this place, was stabbed by a blackleg, on the 29th January, on board the steam boat Selma, about twenty-five miles above Bayou Sarah, on the Mississippi river, of which wound he died in New Orleans.

The circumstances we understand to be these. At the dinner table, in conversation with other gentlemen, Mr. Allen expressed himself in strong terms of professional gamblers – remarking in substance that he considered them little better than horse thieves. After dinner, a man named Hamilton Taylor, formerly of East Tennessee, who was at the table when the remarks were made, called upon Allen to know if they were intended to allude to him. Allen replied that his observations were general – that he knew nothing of him [Taylor] or his profession; but that if he were a professional gambler he fell under the general remark.

After some warm words, Taylor struck Allen with his left hand and immediately thereafter with a large clasp knife stabbed him just below the right nipple through the lungs. Taylor was secured and will be tried at the May term of the Feliciana criminal court.

Mr. Allen was a young man of high promise – a member of the Bar – and was on his way to Alexandria in the state of Louisiana where he intended to settle himself, with a view of attending to his profession.”

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotape, audio recordings, photos, negatives and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website. And be sure to watch our TedXEustis talk and let us know what you think.

James and The Silver Mine

~ michaelhvs ~ Leave a comment

Col. James Harrod, one of Kentucky’s greatest pioneers and the founder of Harrodsburg KY, was the father-in-law of my aunt’s 5th great-grandfather. His death in 1792 is still somewhat of a mystery.

In those early days of settlement, there were numerous land disputes and court cases involving Kentucky settlers who were forced to protect their land rights from newcomers. James was involved with a number of them, many against a man named Bridges. Despite these disputes, Bridges asked James to accompany him in his search of a supposed Silver Mine thought to exist in the area. His wife, Ann, not trusting Bridges, begged him not to go but James could not be persuaded. Finally Ann just asked him to take another friend which he did.

According to that friend, James had gone upstream to check some traps and Bridges disappeared from camp. He heard a gunshot, but thought one of them had just shot their next meal. Suddenly Bridges comes running back into camp shouting about seeing many Indian footprints and that he had seen James get killed. He convinced the friend not to go search of James due to the many Indians that were around them.

James was said to have been wearing a shirt with distinctive silver buttons engraved with the letter H. Some time later, it was told that Bridges tried to sell those buttons at a distant trading post. Family members then returned to the campsite and while they did find a skeleton in a cave nearby, positive identification was not possible.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotapes, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website. And don’t forget to check out our TEDx talk! https://youtu.be/uYlTTHp_CO8

The Death Ballad of Abner Vance

~ michaelhvs ~ Leave a comment

As reported in The Logan Banner, Nov 23, 1979

“One of the most legendary characters in Logan County history was Abner Vance. [A distant relative of my niece’s husband.] He was also a Revolutionary War veteran from North Carolina, an Indian scout, and a surveyor. As a Baptist minister, Abner spent many years traveling the countryside spreading the Baptist faith. He loved to write and sing the early mountain ballads and hymns.

According to the legend, Abner Vance had a daughter named Betty. Betty eloped with one Daniel Horton. Horton was a Virginia doctor and he took Betty off to Baltimore, had his way with her for two weeks, then brought her back to her father’s house and dumped her unceremoniously in the front yard, saying something to the effect of “Here’s your heifer back.”

In a fit of rage, Abner Vance pulled down his shotgun and killed Lewis Horton, Daniel’s brother, though he may have been aiming at Daniel, as he tried to cross the Clinch River.

Abner stayed in this area [Logan Co., VA] until friends convinced him that if he went back to Russell County, he would get a fair trial. But the trial ended in a hung jury, and was moved to Washington County. In the second trial, Abner was found guilty and sentenced to hang. Tradition says that while in jail awaiting his execution, Abner wrote the famous Death Ballad of Abner Vance, which he sung standing on the scaffold minutes before he was hung. A newspaper account of the hanging says that Abner addressed the spectators, about 4,000, for an hour and a half, with considerable ability.

Ironically, he did receive a pardon from the Governor of Virginia, but the pardon arrived after the hanging.”

Click below to hear the song:

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotapes, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.