 |
| Ballots from the July 1869 election From the South Carolina State Archives Courtesy of the author |
In the blogpost Chesterfield during Reconstruction: A murder on election day!, we discussed a murder on Election Day, Saturday July 24, 1869, at Mount Croghan in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. The Confederate veteran Archibald Nicholson was killed by the freedman Jacob Brewer. While the murder was reported in newspapers, the incident fell out of the public eye. In particular, it was unclear whether Brewer ever faced legal consequences. After a trip to the state archives, I now have a better understanding of what happened.
Recall the basics of the incident. On Election Day, Archibald and his brother John walked four miles from their home to the town of Mount Croghan. While there, Archibald decided to purchase cedar that was being sold near the polling station. While queuing in line, he got into an argument with a freedman (unnamed in press reports) who tried to push his way forward in line. Upset with the freedman, Archibald attacked him with a knife he was carrying. At this point, a race riot broke out. About thirty or forty men had come to town, and many of them began to fight, with white men trying to defend Archibald and Black men trying to defend the freedman. Jacob Brewer was among those who joined the fight, and he struck Archibald in the head with a gun he had picked up and then ran off. After the fight, Archibald went home, but his injury proved severe, and he died later that day.
Legal proceedings against Jacob Brewer began two days after the election day. The case was a major test for the legal system. South Carolina had been under military rule for several years, and the civil courts had only opened roughly a year earlier following a reorganization under a new constitution. The county jail was still under construction, so basic issues like where to imprison people were not yet resolved.
Under the newly reorganized legal system, the state official who was immediately responsible for handling matters was the magistrate, George W. Brewer. Brewer was a white farmer who had lived in the area since before the war. Little information is available about his politics, but he likely was an active Republican as he was appointed by Governor Scott. As was common for magistrates, Brewer does not appear to have had any formal legal training, but he was educated and highly literate.
Magistrates had limited authority over criminal cases, so G. W. Brewer's role was restricted to preliminary matters like ordering witnesses to testify. The grand jury hearing and the trial would be held in the Court of General Sessions in the town of Chesterfield. The presiding judge was Archibald J. Shaw. He had been elected on a conservative ticket and was the sort of man that conservatives wanted to place in office. He was a native South Carolinian who had practiced law in the antebellum and served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.
Most practical issues, like bringing the accused to court, were handled by the county sheriff, P. F. Spofford. Born in Massachusetts, Spofford had moved to South Carolina before the Civil War to work as a shoemaker in Cheraw. He appears to have embraced the state culture. Spofford had served in the Confederate army and had been elected on a conservative ticket, but he appears to have enjoyed broad support as he received a Republican endorsement in a few years later when he ran for re-election. Ultimately, he went in to serve in office for almost two decades.
The job of prosecuting the case was handled by the county solicitor, James M. Rutland. Rutland was also a native South Carolinian who had practiced law before the war, but he was one of the few prominent South Carolinians who had opposed secession and the Confederacy. However, he was also a political moderate who supported only limited political rights for freedmen. All in all, the county legal system was run by people who could be expected to prosecute the case against Jacob Brewer with vigor.
In the case of a suspected murder, legal proceedings begin with a coroner's inquest to determined the cause of the death. The details of the inquest were given in the blogpost "Chesterfield during Reconstruction: A murder on election day!" Magistrate Brewer held the inquest, and the outcome was predictable: two physicians testified that Archibald Nicholson was killed by a blow to the head, and several people testified to having witnessed Jacob Brewer strike the blow.
After the coroner's inquest, Magistrate Brewer recorded testimony from one additional witness, issued recognizances to three other witnesses (binding them to testify), and issued arrest warrants for two more witnesses.
The identities of the witnesses shed some light on the proceedings. The person who gave the witness testimony was Oliver P. Edgeworth, a white farmer who had served in the Confederate army. One of the two men that the magistrate issued an arrest warrant for (Alexander Oliver) was also a white farmer, but the remaining three were witnesses were Black, and likely freedmen. Two of them, Jacob and Essick Lowry, were among those who testified at the coroner's inquest, while the third was a new witness.
We can some get some additional insights from looking at the recognizances that were issued. The terms of each agreement was that the witness swore that, if they failed to appear as a witness before the court, then they were indebted to the state for a substantial amount of money, typically two hundred dollars. The witness did not actually provide the sum of money, but it was expected that they owned enough in land and other goods so that the state could recoup the debt. In case there was concern over whether the witness could cover the debt, a third party could cosign the agreement. Thus the existence a third-party co-signature suggests both that (1) the witness had limited financial means and (2) enjoyed a positive relationship with the third party.
A. M. Lowry cosigned for Sandy Gordan, Jacob Lowry and Essick Lowry. The common last name ("Lowry") suggests that A. M. may have enslaved Jacob and Essick before the war, in which case the two were likely still farming on A. M.'s land. In general, A. M. was heavily involved in the legal proceedings. He also served as foreman on the jury for the coroner's inquest and made the complaints that provided the basis for the arrest warrants issued for Chester McKenzie and Alexander Oliver. Likely this reflects A. M.'s strong engagement with local politics. A. M. was a successful small farmer who served in the state legislature during the antebellum. He would go on to lead efforts to "redeem" the state government and was elected to the legislature on the conservative ticket in 1872.
Over the course of summer and fall, Magistrate Brewer and Sheriff Spofford would work together to gather additional witnesses. They secured agreements to testify from all the witnesses from the coroner's inquest (Benjamin Blackeney, Edmond Moore, and Hardy G. Hendrick), the two men the magistrate had issued warrants for (Chester McKenzie and Alexander Oliver), and O. P. Edgeworth.
Criminal proceedings against Jacob Brewer should have begun at the August session of the Court of General Sessions. However, shortly before the July election, the judge issued a letter that he would not be holding court that term. Thus legal proceedings first began in January 1870.
The record of what transpired is confused. There is no mention of the case against Brewer in the criminal journal of the court. However, incitement papers state that the grand jury issued a true bill of indictment against Jacob Brewer. Based on the indictment, the judge issued a warrant for Brewer's arrest, and the solicitor was able to present the case against Brewer at a jury trial.
It appears that the sheriff was unable to locate Jacob Brewer, but the jury trial against him was held in May term. The petit jury found him guilty of murder, and a second bench warrant was issued for his arrest on May 9. The sheriff reported on September 4 that he had been unable to locate Brewer, and the judge decided to sentence Brewer in absentia that month. The exact terms of the sentence are unknown as the records were sealed, but a second arrest warrant was issued on September 17. The sheriff spent the next few months searching for Brewer, but reported on December 31 that he was unable to find him. This brought matters to anti-climatic end. Presumably, Jacob Brewer, recognizing that he was facing serious criminal charges, had fled the county. Certainly, in the chaos of post-war South Carolina, it would not have been difficult for him to leave without the sheriff noticing.
The fact that the legal proceedings against Jacob Brewer went unrecorded in the criminal journal of the Court of General Sessions is worth inspecting further. This likely reflects simple incompetence on the part of the court system rather than an intentional effort to conceal operations. Other important legal cases also went unrecorded. For example, records of the state penitentiary show that two men (A. Roberts and E. Simmons) were found guilty of crimes during the January court term yet those legal proceedings also went unrecorded in the criminal journal. Moreover, the crimes were very serious. One man (A. Roberts) was given a life sentence for murder, while the other (E. Simmons) was given a ten year sentence for burglary, larceny, and horse stealing.
The citizens of Chesterfield County themselves appear upset with the legal system. Each term, the Grand Jury issued a presentiment in which they described problems with the county government. In a typical presentment, the Grand Jury might describe problems with infrastructure like bridges and roads or the poor house or the county jail. The Grand Jury organized for the January term singled out for criticism Magistrate Brewer's handling of the election: "We present Mr. G. W. Brewer for not discharging his duties as magistrate in not attempting to preserve the peace at Mt. Croghan on or about the 24th July 1869 at which time and place there was a considerable riot."
The whole incident seems to confirm the opinion Wilmington Evening Star that "Riots and murders seem to be the order of the day." However, while the newspaper blamed lawlessness on "radical [Republican] rule," few, if any, of the individuals responsible for maintaining law and order in Chesterfield were radical Republicans. While there were valid complaints against the new Republican state government, the difficulties also strongly reflected problems with South Carolina's historical criminal justice system. In the antebellum, South Carolina's legal culture was distinctive for being weak and inefficient. Many in the state lived in rural areas, on farms or plantations, and a majority of residents were enslaved people who enjoyed few if any legal rights. The state government gave planters and farm-owners broad discretion in how they maintained order on their lands (enslaved workers could be beaten for arbitrary reasons), and disputes between planters were often resolved informally. This system became unsustainable following Emancipation and the collapse of the planation system. Events in Chesterfield show that the new judicial system created by the 1868 state constitution only had a limited ability to maintain order, but given the poverty, disorder, and destruction that was pervasive within the state, its hard to imagine how any newly legal system could have achieved more than a limited success.
Testimony of Oliver P. Edgeworth
After being duly sworn says that he was at Mount Croghan in the County of Chesterfield in the Lancaster Road near Mr. Burch's field. Mr. Archibald Nicholson standing near the field and saw person person [sic] run up and strike Mr. Nicholson was a stout man and struck with a gun holding it in both hands and struck a hard lick and believes the person to be one Jacob Brewer and he ran off immediately after he struck the blow he also states that one Edmond Moore told him at the time the blow was struck that it was Jacob Brwer that struck the lick inflicted upon Nicholson
this July 21 1869
Oliver P. Edgeworth
Witnesses
Chester McKenzie (b. 1829) Virginia. Black. Chester McKenzie was a farmer in Mount Croghan. He was still living in Mount Croghan in 1900.
Alexander Oliver (b. 1849) White farmer living in Mt. Croghan.
A second possibility for "Alexander Oliver" is:
Alexander Oliver (b. 1833) White. Alexander Oliver was a farmer in Cole Hill.
Bondsman
A. M. Lowry
Albert Robinson
Heinson Jordan
S[amuel] D[avis] Watts
Simon P. Burch: 42 year old Black farmer in Mt Croghan.
A. D. Watt
Richard Oliver
January Term Grand Jury
Malcolm McColeman (foreman)
Lat. C. Burch
A. H. Blakeney
Jackson Copeland
D. G. Campbell
John Ellerbe
Wm. Ganzy
Robt g. Griffith
David Hancook
Alfred Johnson
James C. Lee
Thos. F. Malloy
James Massey
Lewis Melton
W. J. Rivers
Geo. W. Spencer
Frank Wilk
May Term Petit Jury 1
Richmond McMeans?
Adam Eubanks
Wm. Cassady
John Agerton
Evis Bittes
Lal McLead
Josiah Murmmlyan
G. W. Davidson
L. M. Hough
Frank Pate
W. A. Courtney
Sam Williams
May Term Petit Jury 2
L. C. Evans
Albert Evans
R. E. Evans
George Blackwell
Jack Baken
Chaos. Gathings
John Highlands
Alex Roninson
B. A. Evans
Alex Linton
Lee Brewer
Levi McFarlands
No comments:
Post a Comment