Lincoln's defense of Duff Armstrong : the story of the trial and the celebrated almanac

Illinois State Historical Society

APRIL 1910

THE STORY OF THE TRIAL AND
THE CELEBRATED ALMANAC

By
J. N. GRIDLEY

Virginia, Illinois

Re-Print from the Journal of the Society of April 1910

Illinois State Historical Society

APRIL 1910

LINCOLN'S DEFENSE OF DUFF ARMSTRONG

THE STORY OF THE TRIAL AND
THE CELEBRATED ALMANAC

By
J. N. GRIDLEY

Virginia, Illinois

Re-Print from the Journal of the Society of April 1910

LINCOLN'S DEFENSE OF DUFF ARMSTRONG.
The Story of the Trial and Celebrated Almanac.

About forty years ago, the writer, a young man, and a
comparative stranger in Beardstown, Illinois, heard a
conversation in that city between two persons, not known
to him. One of them, whom I will designate as Brown,
was telling the other of the trial of Duff Armstrong in
Beardstown in the spring of 1858. Brown said that he
heard the trial; that a witness for the People testified
that the prisoner assaulted the deceased at 10 o'clock
at night; that the moon was directly overhead, and it
was as light as day; that he stood near by, and saw
Armstrong strike the deceased several terrible blows
with a slung shot. Brown said the State's Attorney
then rested his case, and the court adjourned for the day.
That night Lincoln went to a drug store at the corner
of the square on State street and procured a number of
almanacs, which he took to his room, and with them
"manufactured" an almanac which showed there was
no moon on the night of the assault; this "doctored"
almanac was introduced to the jury and resulted in the
acquittal of the prisoner. Brown said that Lincoln was
a very able and shrewd lawyer, thus to be able to de-
ceive the court and jury and to succeed in clearing his
client. A few years previous to this conversation I had
attended political meetings, held in Michigan, during the
campaign of 1860, and heard the republican candidate
spoken of as "Honest Old Abe," and thought if the
management of this Armstrong case was a specimen of
his honesty, that he did not deserve the appellation.

In Barrett's "Life of Lincoln," in referring to this
trial, the author, after describing the testimony of the
prosecuting witness as to the position of the moon says:

"At this point Mr. Lincoln produced an almanac which
showed that at the time referred to by the witness there
was no moon at all, and showed it to the jury."

Herndon, in his "Life of Lincoln," in which he gives
an account of this trial, says :

"Lincoln floored the principal prosecuting witness, who
had testified positively to seeing the fatal blow struck in
the moonlight, by showing from an almanac that the
moon had set."

In February 1909, the ladies of Beardstown, Illinois,
held a public meeting in commemoration of the birth of
Abraham Lincoln; they had assigned to different mem-
bers of their club subjects upon which to prepare papers
to be read upon the anniversary occasion. To Mrs. Dr.
Schweer was assigned the task of writing up the "Arm-
strong Trial." This lady visited Mr. A. P. Armstrong,
of Ashland, a town thirty miles distant from Beards-
town — this gentleman was a brother to Duff Armstrong.
A. P. Armstrong was born in 1840, and was 17 years of
age when his brother was tried. Mrs. Schweer relied
upon the statements of this brother which she used in
the preparation of her very well written paper, from
which I make the following quotation:

"A fellow by the name of Allen, from Petersburg, was
the chief witness for the State, and whether he was the
one who really killed this Metzker, or (as some thought,
he had fallen from his horse in a drunken stupor and
died from the injuries received), we do not know. How-
ever, Allen was sworn in as chief witness for the State.

' ' The case was finally brought up for trial. The Arm-
strongs had taken this Allen to Virginia and had him
put away in the old Virginia house, so that he could not
testify, but Lincoln insisted on his being brought into
the court room.

"Collier, of Petersburg, was State's Attorney. He
gave his testimony, and . showed, what appeared to the
audience, a strong proof of murder. Lincoln cross-ex-
amined very little, only looking up and ascertaining a
few dates and places. His own witnesses were to show
comparatively good moral character for the prisoner
previous to the time of the murder. Collier, feeling sure
of his case, made but a short and formal argument. Then
Lincoln followed for the defense. He began calmly,
slowly and carefully. He struck at the very heart of the
State's evidence, that of the chief witness, Allen. He
followed up first one discrepancy, then another, and then
another ; finally he came to that part of the testimony of
the chief witness where he had sworn positively by the
light of the moon he had seen the prisoner deliver the
fatal blow with a sling-shot. Then he asked a cousin
of Armstrong, Jake Jones by name, to go out and get
him an almanac at the nearest store.

"Taking this almanac Lincoln showed that on the
night sworn to and the hour sworn to, the moon had not
risen, proving that the whole of this testimony was a
perjury. ' '

The reader of this part of the account would naturally
wonder why Allen would commit perjury in order to
send Duff Armstrong to the gallows, when he had agreed
to stay away at the instance of Armstrong's friends. A
reluctant witness, who is brought into the witness box
by an attachment, is not likely to swear falsely to aid
the cause of the party that dragged him into court.

Having read these various accounts, and having heard
from numerous persons of the fraudulent almanac, and
being absolutely unable to believe that Abraham Lincoln
would be guilty of such outrageous conduct, I concluded
to look into the matter, late as it was.

I first directed a letter to the Professor of Astronomy
of the University of Illinois, inquiring the position of the
moon in this latitude and longitude on the night of

August 29th, 1857, when the assault was committed. In
reply he wrote me as follows :

"URBAN A, ILL., March 2, 1909.
MR. J. N. GRIDLEY,

Virginia, Illinois;
DEAR SIR:

Answering yours of Febr. 24, the moon was at first
quarter Aug. 27, '1857, at 9 A. M. On the night of Aug-
ust 29 the moon was two days and a half past first quar-
ter, and crossed the meridian at 7:44 P. M. local time.
The time of moonset, was within 15 minutes of midnight,
but to give this closer, I would have to know the exact
locality for which to compute.

Trusting that this information is what you want, I
am, Very truly yours,

JOEL STEBBINS,

Director Observatory."

To a second letter I received the following reply:

"URBANA, ILL., March 29, 1909.
MR. J. N. GRIDLEY,

Virginia, Illinois;
DEAR SIR:

I have been rather busy of late and have neglected
answering your last letter.

I computed the time of moonset for Longitude 90 de-
grees west of Greenwich, and Latitude 40 degrees.

For August 29, 1857, I find the moonset at 12 h 05 m.,
i. e. five minutes after midnight of August 29.

You understand this refers to the disappearance of
the moon's upper edge below the true horizon.

I am sorry that I cannot inform you about the period
called the 'dark of the moon.' It may have an exact
meaning but I cannot find the term used in any of the
text-books, or in any standard work. I am under the
impression that the period extends from last quarter
until new moon, but that is only a guess. In 1857 there
was new moon on August 19, 10 A. M.; first quarter

John T. Brady, the sole survivor of the jury that tried
Duff Armstrong at Beardstown, 111., May 7, 1858.

you have, full moon on Sept. 3d, 11 P. M. and last quar-
ter on Sept. 10, 5 P. M.

Hoping that this is suitable for your purpose, I am,
Very truly yours,

JOEL. STEBBINS,

Director Observatory."

The reader can now see that if an almanac was intro-
duced at the Armstrong trial that showed there was no
moon to be seen at 10 P. M., the hour all the witnesses
agreed the assault took place, that the Court and the
jury were deceived.

Having proceeded thus far, I examined the record to
learn whether any of the jurors were living, who might
be able to remember the details of the trial. I found the
names of the jurors were as follows : Horace Hill, Mil-
ton Logan, Nelson Graves, Charles D. Marcy, John T.
Brady, Thornton M. Cole, George F. Sielschott, Samuel
W. Neely, Matthew Armstrong, Benjamin Eyre, John M.
Johnson, and Augustus Hoyer.

I knew two of these jurors, Milton Logan and John T.
Brady, both of whom were then living, and to them I
addressed letters of inquiry. I received no answer from
Mr. Logan, and learned that his memory had wholly
failed him ; ; he died in Feb. 1910 at his home in Boone,
Iowa, at the advanced age of 90 years.

I became acquainted with Mr. John T. Brady in 1864,
when he was visiting his friends in this county on a
furlough from his regiment in the Union Army. He was
then a citizen of Kansas; I have met him frequently
since that date, and last summer had the pleasure of
visiting him and his family at their home in Pomona,
California. He is a retired capitalist, in the enjoyment
of excellent physical health, and his mental powers un-
impaired. He is a man of much more than ordinary
intelligence, and he has written me at length, of his recol-
lections of the Armstrong trial, and I have every con-
fidence in the reliability of his information. I have care-

fully examined the record of the trial, have written to
Judge Lyman Lacey, of Havana, 111., who, with his for-
mer partner, William Walker, also represented Duff
Armstrong in this trial; I also have interviewed Mr. A.
P. Armstrong, the brother before mentioned, and believe
that I have learned the truth in the matter of this trial.

There is nothing remarkable in the history of this
trial; but in order to state the facts, and to correct the
wrong impressions that have been made by the various
accounts of the trial, this paper has been prepared.

In August 1857, a religious camp-meeting was held in
Mason county, Illinois, at a grove about six miles north-
east of the junction of Salt Creek with Sangamon River,
and about seven miles southwest of Mason City. Camp
meetings were common in those days, as country churches
were then few and far between. They usually continued
for ten days or two weeks; the tents of canvass, or
rough sheds of lumber were built on the circumference
of a circle; stands four feet square and four feet high
were erected within the circle, constructed of posts and
covered with earth, upon which bright fires were kept
burning through the night, attended by watchers, who
guarded the sleepers from the attacks of outlaws, who
infested this country, who delighted to annoy quiet
people whenever they had the slightest opportunity.
These tough characters amused themselves by running
horses, drinking whiskey, and fighting. This camp meet-
ing was due to close on Sunday, August 30, 1857. On the
afternoon of Saturday, August 29th quite a number of
men had gathered about the huckster's wagons that were
encamped a short distance (perhaps a quarter of a mile)
south of the tents. Among these men was Duff Arm-
strong, then a young man of 24 years, who owned a race
horse and who was very fond of running it. He was not
a vicious man, was kind hearted, and friendly, but fond
of whiskey, as most young men of those days in that
section were. He had been indulging in drinking on that
Saturday afternoon, and had also been engaged in horse

8

racing. He had become intoxicated, and early in the
evening was lying upon a bench or table sleeping off
his drunkenness. About seven or eight o'clock P. M.
James P. Metzker, a farmer, who lived near Petersburg
in Menard county, a few miles southeast of the Salt Creek
camp ground, arrived on the scene. Metzker is said to
have been quarrelsome when in liquor, and, it is said,
came there in an intoxicated condition, riding a horse.
Seeing Duff Armstrong lying on the bench asleep, he
seized him by the leg, and dragged him to the ground;
Armstrong being partially drunk, and half asleep and
thoroughly angered, attacked Metzker, and a fight en-
sued. The character of this attack was discussed at the
trial, and will be commented upon later. A. P.- Arm-
strong says he was present and witnessed the affair,
says that after the fight, Metzker and his brother Duff
shook hands and drank together, and soon after J. H.
Norris and Metzker had a fight. Metzker mounted his
horse and started homeward at a late hour, and, it is
said, fell from his horse one or more times, being greatly
under the influence of liquor. The third day after this
trouble Metzker died and Norris and Armstrong were
arrested for murder, and on account of -the great ex-
citement of the people over the affair, and because the
Mason county jail at Havana, HI., was rather insecure,
the prisoners were taken across the Illinois river into
the adjoining county of Fulton, and incarcerated in the
jail at Lewiston.

At the October term, 1857, of the Mason County Cir-
cuit, both Norris and Armstrong were jointly indicted
for the murder of Metzker. The indictment was as fol-
lows:

State of Illinois,

Mason County.

Of the October Term of the Mason
County Circuit Court in the year
of Our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.

The Grand Jurors chosen selected and sworn in and
for the County of Mason aforesaid in the name and by
the authority of the People of the State of Illinois upon
their oaths present that James H. Norris and William
Armstrong late of the County of Mason and State of
Illinois not having the fear of God before their eyes, but
being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil,
on the twenty-ninth day of August in the year of Our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven with
force and arms at and within the County of Mason and
State of Illinois, in and upon one James Preston Metz-
ker in the peace of the said People of the said State of
Illinois then and there being, unlawfully, feloniously,
willfully, and of their malice aforethought did make an
assault. And the said James H. Norris with a certain
piece of wood about three feet long which he the said
James H. Norris in his right hand then and there held
the said James Preston Metzker in and upon the back
part of the head of him the said James Preston Metzker
then and there unlawfully, feloniously, willfully, and of
his malice aforethought, did strike, giving to the said
James Preston Metzker then and there with the stick of
wood aforesaid in and upon the said back part of the
head of him the said James Preston Metzker, one mortal
bruise and the said William Armstrong with a certain
hard metallic substance called a slung-shot which he the
said William Armstrong in his right hand then and there
had and held, the said James Preston Metzker, in and
upon the right eye of him the said James Preston Metz-
ker then and there unlawfully, feloniously, willfully and
of his malice aforethought did strike, giving to the said
James Preston Metzker then and there with a slung-shot

10

aforesaid in and upon the said right eye of him the said
James Preston Metzker one other mortal bruise, of which
said mortal bruises the said James Preston Metzker from
the said 29th. day of August in the year aforesaid until
the 1st day of September in the year aforesaid at the
County of Mason and State of Illinois aforesaid did
languish, and languishing did live on which said first
day of September in the year aforesaid the said James
Preston Metzker in the County and State aforesaid of
the said mortal bruises died; and so the jurors
aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid do say that the said
James H. Norris and William Armstrong the said James
Preston Metzker in manner and form aforesaid unlaw-
fully, feloniously, and of their malice aforethought did
kill and murder contrary to the form of the statute in
such cases made and provided and against the Peace
and dignity of the same People of the State of Illinois.

And the Grand Jurors aforesaid in the name and by
the authority aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid do
further present James H. Norris and William Arm-
strong late of the County of Mason and State of Illinois
not having the fear of God before their eyes but being
moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil, on the
twenty-ninth day of August in the year of Our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven with force and
arms at and within the County of Mason and State of
Illinois in and upon one James Preston Metzker in the
Peace of the said People of the said State of Illinois then
and there being unlawfully feloniously, and willfully and
of their malice aforethought did make an assault; and
that the said James H. Norris and William Armstrong
with a certain hard metallic substance commonly called
a slung-shot which they the said James H. Norris and
William Armstrong in both their right hands then and
there had a^id held, the said James Preston Metzker in
and upon the right eye of him the said James Preston
Metzker then and there unlawfully, feloniously, willfully
and of their malice aforethought did strike, beat and

11

bruise, giving to the said James Preston Metzker then
and there with the slung-shot aforesaid by striking, beat-
ing and bruising the said James Preston Metzker in and
upon the right eye of him the said James Preston Metz-
ker one other mortal bruise of which said mortal bruise
the said James Preston Metzker from the said twenty-
ninth day of August in the year of Our Lord one thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty-seven aforesaid until the
first day of September in the year aforesaid at the
County of Mason and State of Illinois aforesaid did lan-
guish, and languishing did live on which first day of Sep-
tember in the year aforesaid the said James Preston
Metzker in the county and State aforesaid of the said
mortal bruise 'died. And so the jurors aforesaid upon
their oaths aforesaid do say that the said James H. Nor-
ris and William Armstrong the said James Preston
Metzker in manner and form aforesaid unlawfully, felon-
iously, willfully and of their malice aforethought did
kill and murder contrary to the form of the statute in
such cases made and provided and against the Peace and
Dignity of the same People of the State of Illinois.

And the Grand Jurors aforesaid upon their oaths
aforesaid in the name and by the authority of the People
aforesaid do further present James H. Norris and Wil-
liam Armstrong late of the County of Mason and State
of Illinois on the twenty-ninth day of August in the year
of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven
not having the fear of God before their eyes, but being
moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil with
force and arms at and within the County of Mason and
State of Illinois in and upon the said James Preston
Metzker in the Peace of the People of the said State of
Illinois then and there being, unlawfully, feloniously,
willfully and of their malice aforethought did make an
assault; and that the said James H Norris and William
Armstrong with a certain stick of wood three feet long
and of the diameter of two inches which they the said
James H Norris and William Armstrong in their right

12

hands then and there had and held the said James Pres-
ton Metzker in and upon the back side of the head of him
the said James Preston Metzker then and there felon-
iously, willfully, unlawfully, and of their malice afore-
thought did strike, beat and bruise, giving to the said
James Preston Metzker then and there with a stick of
wood aforesaid in and upon the said back side of the head
of him the said James Preston Metzker one other mortal
bruise of which said mortal bruise the said James Pres-
ton Metzker on the said twenty-ninth day of August in
the year aforesaid until the first day of September in the
year aforesaid at the County and State aforesaid did
languish and languishing did live on which said first day
of September in the year aforesaid at the County and
State aforesaid of the said mortal bruise died ; and so the
Jurors aforesaid upon their oaths aforesaid do say that
the said James H. Norris and William Armstrong the
said James Preston Metzker in manner and form afore-
said, unlawfully feloniously, willfully, and of their malice
aforethought did kill and murder; contrary to the form
of the statute in such cases made and provided and
against the Peace and Dignity of the same People of the
State of Illinois.

HUGH FULLERTON,

States Attorney.
Filed November 5th 1857.

Witnesses : Grigsby Z. Metzker, Charles Allen, James
P. Walker, William M. Hall, Joseph A. Douglas, William
Douglas, B. F. Stephenson, Hamilton Rogers, William
Killion, Joseph Speltz and William Haines.

Not bailable : James Harriott.

The defendant Norris, had, before that time, killed a
man named Thornsbury, and had been indicted for his
murder, but was cleared on a plea of self defense; per-
haps, on account of this record, he labored under a dis-
advantage ; he stated to the court, that he was unable to
employ counsel, and the judge (James Harriott) ap-
pointed William Walker, who was the senior partner

13

of Lyman Lacey, who was then a young man of some 26
years, to defend Norris. In the meantime, Dilworth and
Campbell, attorneys of the Mason County bar, had ap-
plied for a change of venue from Mason County, Arm-
strong having made affidavit that the people of that
County were so prejudiced against him, that he could
not have a fair trial. Judge Harriott ordered the venue,
as to Armstrong, changed to Cass County, which is in the
same Circuit and adjoined Mason County on the south.
Walker and Dilworth and Campbell defended Norris,
in Mason County, and Hugh Fullerton, the State's At-
torney of the Circuit prosecuted him. The jury found
Norris guilty, and he was sentenced to the Penitentiary
for the term of eight years.

While Duff Armstrong was lying in the Fulton county
jail, his father Jack Armstrong died; on his death bed
he advised his wife, Hannah Armstrong, to save Duff if
she could, if she had to give up her little farm of forty
acres. She employed Walker and Lacey to look after
Duff's defense at Havana.

Upon the adjournment of the Mason County Circuit
Court, the Mason County sheriff, started to the state
penitentiary, then at Alton, Illinois ; by steam boat down
the Illinois river from Havana to Alton; as Beardstown
was on the route, the sheriff handcuffed Norris and
Armstrong together and began the journey. While on
the way, Norris urged Armstrong to walk about the boat
with him, but Armstrong complained of weariness, and
kept his seat. He afterwards explained to his friends
that he feared Norris might attempt to escape, and drag
him overboard. Arriving at Beardstown, the two men
were separated, and Duff Armstrong was locked up in
the Cass county jail, in that city, and Norris taken down
to Alton.

In the meantime Mrs. Hannah Armstrong was advised
to secure the services of her old friend Abraham Lincoln.

Rev. J. T. Hobson, of Lake City, Iowa, in 1909 pub-
lished an interesting little book entitled, ''Footprints of

14

Abraham Lincoln." This work was published by The
Otterbein Press of Dayton, Ohio. This author states
that Mr. Lincoln addressed a letter to Mrs. Armstrong as
follows :

Springfield, Ohio, [ ?] September 18,

1 'Dear Mrs. Armstrong:— I have just heard of your
deep affliction, and the arrest of your son for murder.
I can hardly believe that he can be guilty of the crime
alleged against him. It does not seem possible. I am
anxious that he should have a fair trial, at any rate ; and
gratitude for your long continued kindness to me in ad-
verse circumstances prompts me to offer my humble ser-
vices gratuitously in his behalf. It will afford me an
opportunity to requite, in a small degree, the favors I
received at your hand, and that of your lamented hus-
band, when your roof afforded me grateful shelter with-
out money and without price.

Yours truly,

Abraham Lincoln."

In August, 1831, Abraham Lincoln, then a youth of 22
years, made his appearance in New Salem, Menard
county, Illinois, a small settlement on the Sangamon
river, a few miles above Petersburg, Illinois. He was
employed as a clerk by a man named Offut, who was the
proprietor of a store. Offut very soon became a warm
friend of his young clerk. He boasted that Lincoln could
outrun, whip, or throw down any man in Sangamon
county. (Menard was then a part of Sangamon.) A
quotation from "Herndon's Life of Lincoln reads thus:

"In the neighborhood of the village (of New Salem),
or rather a few miles to the southwest, lay a strip of
timber called Clary's Grove. The boys who lived there
were a terror to the entire region— seemingly a necessary
product of frontier civilization. They were friendly and
good natured ; they could trench a pond, dig a bog, build
a house; they could pray and fight, make a village or
create a state. They would do alm9st anything for sport
or fun, love or necessity. Though rude and rough,

15

though life's forces ran over the edge of the bowl, foam-
ing and sparkling in pure deviltry's sake, yet place be-
fore them a poor man who needed their aid, a lame or sick
man, a defenseless woman, a widow, they melted into
sympathy and charity at once. They gave all they had,
and willingly toiled or played cards for more. Though
there never was under the sun a more (generous parcel of
rowdies, a stranger's introduction was likely to be the
most unpleasant part of his acquaintance with them.
They conceded leadership to one Jack Armstrong, a
hardy, strong, and well-developed specimen of physical
manhood, and under him they were in the habit of
''cleaning out" New Salem whenever his order went
forth to do so. Offut and "Bill" Clary— the latter skep-
tical of Lincoln's strength and agility— ended a heated
discussion in the store one day over the new clerk's
ability to meet the tactics of Clary's Grove, by a bet of
ten dollars that Jack Armstrong was, in the language of
the day, "a better man than Lincoln." The new clerk
strongly opposed this sort of an introduction, but after
much entreaty from Offut, at last consented to make his
bow to the social lions of the town in this unusual way.
He was now six feet four inches high, and weighed, as
his friend and confidant, William Green, tells us with
impressive precision, "two hundred and fourteen
pounds. ' ' The great contest was to be a friendly one and
fairly conducted. All New Salem adjourned to the scene
of the wrestle. Money, whiskey, knives and all manner
of property were staked on the result. It is unnecessary
to go into the details of the encounter. Every one knows
how it ended; how at last the tall and angular rail-
splitter, enraged at the suspicion of foul tactics, and
profiting by his height and the length of his arms, fairly
lifted the great bully by the throat and shook him like a
rag; how by this act he established himself solidly in
the esteem of all New Salem, and secured the respectful
admiration of the very man whom he had so thoroughly
vanquished. Prom this time forward Jack Armstrong,

16

his wife Hannah, and all the other Armstrongs became
his warm and trusted friends. None stood readier than
they to rally to his support, none more willing to lend
a helping hand. Lincoln appreciated their friendship
and support, and in after years proved his gratitude by
saving one member of the family from the gallows."

Shortly after the above encounter, Lincoln became a
member of the Armstrong family. The family then
lived three and a half miles north of Petersburg, Menard
county, two or three miles from the Sangamon river,
near Concord church. Here the future president made
rails, studied surveying, and helped the farmers of the
neighborhood with their work. Mrs. Armstrong would
often tell of having " foxed" Lincoln's trousers with
deer skin, so they would better sustain the rough usage
to which they were subjected in his surveying trips,
through tall prairie grass, timber and brush, which he
travelled through in establishing the lines of the lands
of the early settlers.

Mrs. Armstrong drove all the way to Springfield to
consult Mr. Lincoln, hoping he might be able to secure
the release of her son before his trial.

Mr. Lincoln attended the November Term of the Cass
Circuit court in order to get his client admitted to bail.
The result of this effort is shown by the following tran-
script of the record of the court :

November 19, 1857. The People of the State of Illinois
vs. William Armstrong; Venue from Mason County.

And now on this day come the People of the State of
Illinois, by their attorney, Hugh Fullerton, Esquire, and
the prisoner William Armstrong, who is brought here to
the Bar in proper person. A motion is made by the
prisoner, to admit him to Bail. Whereupon a motion
was made on the part of the People for a continuance
until the next Term of this Court, which, after due de-
liberation by the Court, was granted, and the motion to
admit to Bail, was overruled.

17

Mr. Lincoln then told Duff that he must remain in jail
until the next spring, and then he would come down and
get him out. Mrs. Armstrong was present at this time.
An old school teacher, who was confined in the same jail
for larceny, proposed to Duff's mother, that if she would
buy him a pair of spectacles and some books, he would
teach her son to read during the long hours that were
to come, before the advent of spring; the mother gladly
did this, and Duff emerged from the jail the following
May, very thin and pale, but his education had been much
improved.

The May term of the Circuit Court of Cass county con-
vened on Monday the 3d instant; Mr. Lincoln arrived
on Thursday the 6th, and found that the most important
witness for the People, Charles Allen, had not arrived,
and that an attachment had been issued for him. He
inquired of the friends of Armstrong what they knew
of Allen, and was told that Allen had agreed with them
to remain at the hotel at Virginia, 13 miles away, pro-
vided his expenses were paid, and in case they wanted
him present, he would come if they would come after
him. Mr. Lincoln soon explained to them that if Allen
did not appear, he having been summoned to come, the
case would be continued, and Duff would remain in jail
for six months to come. Two cousins of Duff hitched
up the team to their wagon and drove off to Virginia
and brought Allen into Beardstown that night, and on
Friday the 7th instant, the trial began. The case was
prosecuted by Hugh Fullerton, the State's Attorney,
assisted by an attorney named Collier, from Petersburg,
who had been employed by a brother of Metzker, the de-
ceased. Mr. Lincoln was assisted by William Walker,
the senior member of the firm of Walker & Lacey, of
Havana, Illinois.

I will allow Mr. Brady, the only juror now living, who
tried this case, to describe the trial in his own way :

"The prosecuting witness, Allen, testified in the trial
that the reason he could see a slung-shot that Armstrong

18

had in his hand, with which he struck Metzker, was that
the moon was shining very bright, about where the sun
would be, at one o'clock in the afternoon. Mr. Lincoln
was very particular to have him repeat himself a dozen
or more times during the trial about where the moon
was located, and my recollection is now, that the almanac
was not introduced until Mr. Lincoln came to that part
of Allen's testimony telling the Court where the moon
was located. Mr. Lincoln was very careful not to cross
Mr. Allen in anything, and when Allen lacked words to
express himself, Lincoln loaned them to him. Allen was
the only witness for the State, and there were eight or
ten witnesses for the defense, and they all swore that
Armstrong struck Metzker with his fist, and I am satis-
fied that the jury thought Allen was telling the truth. I
know that he impressed me that way, but his evidence
with reference to the moon was so far from the fact's that
it destroyed his evidence with the jury. The almanac
that was produced was examined closely by the Court,
and the attorneys for the State, and the almanac showed
that the moon at that time was going out of sight; set-
ting ; and the almanac was allowed to be used as evidence
by Judge Harriott.

There has never been a question in my mind about the
genuineness of the almanac, that it was an up to date
almanac; this I am sure of, as it was passed up to the
Judge, jury and lawyers, who all examined it closely, and
the State's Attorney said 'Mr. Lincoln, you are mistaken,
the moon was just coming up instead of going down at
that time' and Mr. Lincoln retorted: 'It serves my pur-
pose just as well, just coming up, or just going down, as
you admit it was not over head as Mr. Allen swore it
was.' As to the question of the validity of the almanac,
Mr. Lincoln's long and honorable life is a distinct re-
futation of any such dishonorable action on his part.
My recollection of Mr. Lincoln's appearance as he ad-
dressed the jury is very vivid. The day was warm and
sultry, and, as he rose to make his closing argument he

19

removed his coat, vest, and later, his 'stock,' the old
fashioned necktie worn by men in those days. His sus-
penders were home-made knitted ones, and finally, as he
warmed up to his subject, one of them slipped from his
shoulder, and he let it fall to his side, where it remained
until he had finished speaking. In this 'backwoodsy'
appearance he was about as homely, and awkward ap-
pearing person as could be imagined; but all this was
forgotten in listening to his fiery eloquence, his masterly
argument, his tender and pathetic pleading for the life of
the son of his old benefactor. Tears were plentifully
sned by every one present; the mother of Duff Arm-
strong, who was present, wore a huge sun-bonnet, her
face was scarcely visible, but her feelings were plainly,
shown by her sobs.

As we were leaving the court room to pass into the
jury room, I heard Mr. Lincoln tell Mrs. Armstrong that
her boy would be cleared before sundown, which proved
to be true. We were out less than an hour; only one
ballot was taken, and that was unanimous for acquittal.
After we rendered our verdict, Mr. Lincoln shook hands
with Duff Armstrong and then led him to his mother
and gave him a short lecture on making a man of him-
self and being a comfort to his mother, telling him to
care for her and try to make as good a man as his father
had been. ' '

Hon. J. Henry Shaw, an eminent lawyer, who practiced
his profession in Cass county for many years, in writing
an account of this trial said:

"He told the jury, of his once being a poor, friendless
boy; that Armstrong's parents took him into their house,
fed and clothed him, and gave him a home. There were
tears in his eyes when he spoke. The sight of his tall,
quivering frame, and the particulars of the story he so
pathetically told, moved the j.ury to tears also, and they
forgot the guilt of the defendant, in their admiration of

* Only two instructions were given to the jury in behalf of the de-
fendant, and these are in the handwriting of Mr. Lincoln. A fac similie
of them appears in this paper.

20

_ .::}

(", ';. --.- •:_ , ...-.• • • . •• - >'

Fac-simile of the instructions to the Jury in behalf of the defend-
ant. Armstrong trial, Beardstown 111., May 7, 1858.
In Mr. Lincoln's handwriting.

his advocate. It was the most touching scene I ever
witnessed."

The actual facts relative to the killing of Metzker are
doubtless disclosed by these recitals in the letters to me
of Mr. Brady, which are as follows :

"One of the witnesses in the Duff Armstrong case
was Will Watkins, whose father lived near Petersburg,
in Menard county. About two months after the Arm-
strong trial, T. B. Collins and myself were in the Wat-
kins neighborhood buying cattle; Mr. Watkins sent his
son Will with us, to help look up cattle. I recognized
him as being the witness that Mr. Lincoln used to prove
that Duff Armstrong did not have the sling-shot which
was exhibited at the trial, in his possession. It naturally
followed that we talked of the trial. Will Watkins told
me that Mr. Lincoln sent for him to come to Springfield;
he questioned him about the sling shot, and asked how
it happened to be lost, and then found near the spot
where Metzker was killed. He said he told Mr. Lincoln
that when he laid down that night under the wagon to
go to sleep, that he laid the sling shot upon the reach of
the wagon, and in the morning, forgot to get it, and when
the wagon was driven away, it dropped off at the place
where it was found. Watkins said that he told Mr. Lin-
coln that he (Lincoln) did not want to use him (Wat-
kins) as a witness, as he knew too much, and he began
to tell Lincoln what he knew, and Mr. Lincoln would not
allow him to tell him anything and said to Watkins:
'All I want to know is this: Did you make that sling-
shot? and did Duff Armstrong ever have it in his po-
sesion?' Watkins said he replied: 'On cross-examina-
tion they may make me tell things I do not want to tell'
and Mr. Lincoln assured him he would see to it that he
was not questioned about anything but the slung-shot.
Watkins told me that Duff Armstrong killed Metzker by
striking him in the eye with an old fashioned wagon
hammer and that he saw him do it. Watkins said that
Douglass and all the other eight or ten witnesses for

21

Armstrong who swore that Armstrong hit Metzker with
his fist, all swore to a lie and they knew it, as they all
knew he hit him with a wagon hammer. During the trial
Allen testified that Duff Armstrong hit Metzker with a
sling-shot and I felt he was telling the truth until Mr.
Lincoln proved by the almanac that Allen was so badly
mistaken about it being a bright moonlight night; then
Allen's whole testimony was discredited."

To arrive at a sensible conclusion in this matter, I will
re-capitulate the facts:

Metzker was engaged in a personal conflict, with at
least two opponents, about ten o'clock of the night of
August 29th, he died on the third day thereafter. A. P.
Armstrong, then 17 years of age, who. was present at the
scene of the encounter, and who attended the trial says
that at the time Metzker dragged his brother Duff off
the bench or table, he spit in his face; that Duff was
under the influence of whiskey ; that Metzker was a large
and powerful man, and Duff was one of twins, weighed
about 140 pounds and not nearly so strong as Metzker;
as Armstrong was so much the weaker man he would be
very likely to sieze any suitable weapon, as there were
numerous wagons near at hand, he doubtless grasped a
wagon-hammer ; that Allen in describing the encounter in
court, illustrated the manner in which Duff delivered his
blows, which A. P. Armstrong in my interview with him
repeated to me, by raising his right hand as high as his
face and striking an " over-hand" blow. Allen was not
hostile to the Armstrong people, as he agreed with them
to stay away from the trial ; I have examined the records,
and find that the State's Att'y caused an attachment to
issue for him on May 6th, which was returned served into
open court on the next day. Mr. Brady states that Allen
impressed him, and the other members of the jury, as a
truthful witness. Had he not made the mistake of his
location of the position of the moon, it is altogether likely
that the eloquence of Abraham Lincoln could not have
saved his client from punishment. The files in the case

22

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show, that 15 witnesses appeared in behalf of the defend-
ant, and it is very likely that " eight or ten" of them
testified, as Will Watkins related to Mr. Brady a few
weeks after the trial. A cousin of Will Watkins who
lives in my city, tells me that he died several years since
at his home in Menard county.

Hannah Armstrong married Samuel Wilcox, and
moved to Iowa, where she died August 15, 1890, at the
age of 79 years.

Duff, and three of his brothers enlisted in the civil war ;
about 1862, Duff was sick in an army hospital in the east ;
his mother wrote the President, telling him of the ser-
ious illness of her son, and asking him to send him home ;
Mr. Lincoln immediately sent an order for his discharge,
and Duff returned to his mother, who nursed him back
to health. He lived an honorable and useful life, and
died in this county, on the 5th day of May, 1899, at the
age of sixty-six years.

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