Records of the Circut Court

The caption of the first entry of records of the circuit court is as follows: "At a circuit court held for the county of Marshall, within the Eighth Judicial Circuit in the State of Tennessee, at the house of Abner Houston, being the place appointed by law for holding courts in said county on the fourth Monday in November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, being the twenty-eighth day of the month, before the Honorable. Edmund Dillahunty, Esquire, one of the judges of 'he Eighth Judicial Circuit, and for the State of Tennessee, the following proceedings were had, etc." David McGahey was appointed clerk pro tempore, and entered into bond tor the faithful performance of his duties. James H. Thomas appeared and took the oath of attorney-general.

The sheriff presented the names of twenty-five men upon whom he had served a venire facias, whereupon the said names were written on scrolls of paper and drawn from a hat by a child under the age of ten years, when the following body of good and lawful men, citizens of Marshall County, was elected, empaneled sworn and charged to enquire for the body of the county of Marshall, to wit:

Henry Bishop, James Brown, John Hatchett, Jesse Morton, James Kennedy, William Rosson, Thomas Ross, Samuel Radford, William Wilkes, James V. Ewing, William M. Orr, James Osborn and James B. Lowry, of whom James Osborn was elected foreman."

This day the attorney-general presented to court an indictment against James Orr for "mare stealing" and for stealing money, notes and other valuable papers. Orr was found guilty as charged and given three years at hard labor in the penitentiary. A judgment was rendered against him to recover $13.25, the amount of unreturned stolen property. This was the first case before the court.

To this term were presented five indictments for affray," three for "unlawful gaming," and one for "assault and battery." A fine of $10 was assessed in each of these cases with one exception, in which the accused was acquitted.

In a slander suit for $1,000 damages, William Wilkes recovered from John Wilkes $150.

George Purdan was fined $5 for entering court in a state of intoxication. The wounded dignity of the State was healed by two fines of $2.50 each for "contempt shown to this court" by Samuel Bickett and William Perry.

The failure of John R. Hill, the sheriff, to preserve order before his Honor, cost him a fine of $10.

At the March term, 1837, Robert Liggett, Bryant Crow, Wyatt Hill, William Roane, John Coggins and Wade McCrery were fined $5 each for unlawful gaming, to which they pleaded guilty.

For malicious mischief Allen Gates paid a fine of $10 and was "held in jail until sunset."

Henry Morris and Charles Thompson pleaded guilty to presentments for affrays, and paid fines of $5 each, and pleading guilty to "assault and battery" by William Wadkins cost him $2.50.

In the July term against John A. W. Jackson was instituted the first case of forgery which resulted in Jackson "making good, the damages," and paying the cost of prosecution.

Indictments for assault and battery and for affrays were the most frequent subjects for the court's consideration this year, and up to the close of the half century the most numerous cases of indictments were "keeping tippling houses," "retailing spirituous liquors," "open and notorious drunkenness," "assault and battery," "affray," "unlawful gaming," and "betting on elections," with the other crimes common to the age.

In 1838 Joseph Winston was found guilty of usury and fined $19.33¼ (the amount of overcharged interest) and costs.

In the same year Daniel Doxie was sent to the penitentiary for two years for malicious stabbing, and was the next year followed by James Joyce, who had a sentence for the same length of time for malicious shooting.

In 1838, for the first time, the court "absolutely and forever" burst asunder a matrimonial bond liberating James Gates from his sacred vows to Elizabeth Gates.

In 1839 Mathew Thomas, Lucy Sorrell, Betsy Turner, Patsy Hicks and Betsy Sorrell pleaded guilty to a presentment for an unlawful assembly, thereby contributing $1 each to the State fund.

In the same year Andrew Duncan began a four years' term in the State prison for counterfeiting.

Haywood Keith went for three years for horse stealing, and Guilford Paine four years for larceny.

In 1842 the grand jury presented that "Robert Bogle, of said county, yeoman, not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being instigated by the devil, with force and arms in the county upon one Caleb Pyle in the peace of God and of the State, with a certain piece of timber of no value, did assault feloniously, unlawfully, willfully, deliberately maliciously, premeditatedly and with malice aforethought," etc., inflicting "mortal wounds of which said Pyle instantly died." Bogle was convicted of manslaughter and given six years' confinement in the State prison.

In the same year, after a long and tedious trial, John J. Elzey was found guilty of murder in the second degree, and sent to the penitentiary for ten years.

In 1848 Hardy Bloodworth and Mary Ford were indicted for duplicity in murder of the first degree. Bloodworth was found not guilty.

After a protracted effort to get a decision, Mary Ford was granted a change of venue. Leth Walker, after being on trial for a number of years for the same offense, was also granted a change of venue. These were aggravated cases, both parties having been accused of murdering "infants of young and tender years."

Josiah B. and Claiborn W. Black were acquitted of a charge of murder in 1850.

In 1855 Martin, a slave, murdered his master, Lawrence, and in 1856 was hung. Never has any other capital execution taken place in the county.

In 1866 Marshall Hopewood was cleared of the charge of murdering Robert Ross.

Hiram C. Harris, for murdering Willis Frank, was sentenced to ninety-nine years in the penitentiary, the decision of the inferior court having been sustained by the Supreme Court.

About the same time Isaac Daws was found "not guilty as charged" of the murder of C. C. Gulley.

In 1867 John B. Short was proceeding to the matrimonial altar (to be a justice of the peace) with his intended bride on the same horse behind him.

He was followed by Sambo and W. J. Cook, brothers of the bride, and shot, from the wounds of which he died in a few days. The Cooks were indicted for murder in the first degree, but broke jail.

Isaac B. Collins was accused of instigating the murder, and for five years this case was before the court, costing the State about $2,000, and resulting in his acquittal.

 Marshall County|AHGP Tennessee

Source: History of Tennessee, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1886