FIRST INDICTMENT FOR MURDER.
At this term the first indictment for murder in the county was found. Andrew Ferguson and
Julius Dugger were charged with the murder of Isaac Edwards. The murder was charged to
have been done with an ax.
Elkins Smith,the Prosecuting Attorney, assisted by Addison Smith and Isaac Naylor,
prosecuted the case. These assisting attorneys were employed by the county to prosecute.
The defendants were defended by Craven P. Hester and John Law. The defendants demanded
separate trials, and Ferguson was tried at that term and acquitted. The case was continued
as to Dugger. Before the first trial, the defendants were sent to Bloomington, Ind., for
safe keeping, and after Ferguson was acquitted, Dugger was sent to Spencer for safe
keeping.
The trial created great excitement among the people throughout the county. The original
jury was challenged entirely, after which forty-eight others were brought in, and with
these they could not impanel a jury. Twenty-five others were brought into court, making,
in all eighty-five. From this number they selected a jury composed of Moses Ritter, John
Burch, George Burch, Simon Snyder, John Uland, Joel Benham, Daniel Ingersoll, George
Padgett, Joseph Mise, Alexander Craig,, John
Breece and John Moore.
The case was ably prosecuted and as ably defended. The jury found the defendant guilty of
manslaughter, and he was sentenced to the State prison for four years.
--- From "History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana, The Earliest
Time to the Present; Together with Interesting Biographical Sketches, Reminences, Notes,
etc.", page 85
At this time I forget where I heard this from from, but somebody told me
that the murder was actually a form of "frontier justice". That Julius' sister
(unknown which one), was raped, so Julius and Thomas waylaid the culprit and killed him.
