After the death
of his two sons James Ford was, in a sense, obliged to stand alone and face, as
best he could, any and all reflections upon his reputation. According to one
tradition, some of the law-abiding citizens continued to regard him as an
innocent victim of treacherous associates. It appears that among the members of
the Ford's Ferry crowd there were only a few whom he dared trust. Henry C.
Shouse was one of them and he, with two others, as is shown later, played an
important part in the closing act of the mysterious band.
From the time
of the lawsuit between Ford and Simpson each lay perdu awaiting the action of
the other. Each realized, so runs the tradition, that the other "knew too much."
One morning, shortly after the death of Ford's second son, Shouse approached
Simpson at Ford's Ferry and tried to arouse the ferryman's anger and lead him
into a fight. Simpson, suspecting a hidden motive, quietly withdrew. A few days
later Shouse accused Simpson of treachery, claiming, among other things, that
Simpson had circulated a report to the effect that "some one will soon turn
state's evidence, and certain robbers, counterfeiters, and murderers will then
quit business for good." A lively fight followed; both men were badly bruised,
but neither was victorious.
Thus did Shouse, greatly influenced by
others, make and set his trap for Simpson. Simpson, sensing the situation,
immediately prepared for any defense that firearms might afford him. These
strained relations between the two men, each watching the other, continued for
about a week. On June 30, 1833, Simpson went in his boat from Ford's Ferry down
to Cave-in-Rock and, upon his return, stopped at Cedar Point and walked up to
the home of Shouse. Whether Simpson had gone there to kill Shouse or to attempt
to bring about a reconciliation is an unsettled question. He had reached a point
in Shouse's yard when, without warning, some one, firing from the second story
window of Shouse's log house, shot him in the back, inflicting a wound of which
he died next morning.
News that Simpson had been shot spread fast.
Shouse was, of course, immediately accused of the murder. Those most familiar
with the general state of affairs suspected that James Mulligan and William H.
J. Stevenson, both of whom lived near by, were accessories. A search was made in
the neighborhood, but not one of the three men could be found. The law-abiding
citizens on both sides of the Ohio recognized in the death of Simpson the
removal of a man who, either through a selfish motive or for the good of the
public, contemplated revealing secrets the exposition of which would have led to
the extermination of a band of men who had disturbed the community for many
years. Pursuing parties were sent out and messengers and letters dispatched in
every direction in an effort to capture the three fleeing men and bring them
back for trial and punishment.
In the meantime, the situation and its
causes were taken under consideration by certain citizens not in any of the
posses. Most versions have it that a few days after Simpson had been killed a
small number of men who chanced to gather at the home of his widow, took up, in
secret, the question of avenging Simpson's death. It is said that no definite
decision was reached by them, but that each trusted the vengeance to fate
itself. However, three men were appointed to ride to Ford's residence and ask
him to come to Simpson's in order that he might be prepared to join the crowd
which was, early the next morning, to appear before the grand jury and give
testimony as to the killing.
On their way the messengers met Ford near
the Hurricane Camp Ground. After hearing their mission he stated he was then
riding to the ferry to learn the latest news and offer his services. The
messengers, accompanied by Ford, rode back to Simpson's, where they arrived
about sundown. A few minutes later Ford and a dozen or more men present were
invited to take supper, but all declined, apparently for the reason that they
were occupied discussing their plans for the next day. After night had fallen
the invitation was again extended. About half the number then went into the
kitchen to eat, and the rest stood in the open passage that ran between the two
rooms of the log house. Ford, accepting a chair, leaned it against the log wall
and sat down. The men, one by one, stepped out of the passage, leaving Ford
comfortably seated alone in the dark. While in this position a man handed him a
letter, in the meantime standing to one side and holding a lighted candle over
Ford's head, seemingly for the purpose of throwing light on the paper. Ford was
engaged in reading the letter when someone concealed behind a rose bush in the
front yard, shot him through the heart, the bullet lodging in the log wall
against which he was leaning. Ford fell on the floor dead. The body was
immediately carried out in the yard and preparations were soon begun to send it
to his home.
Placed in a rude box, on a wagon drawn by two oxen, Ford's
body was taken to the Ford farm and there prepared for burial, which took place
a day or two later. According to tradition, the only persons present at the
funeral were his wife, his daughter and her husband, two of his neighbors and
about half a dozen slaves. A terrific storm suddenly came up while the little
procession was marching from the house to the family graveyard, a distance of
about a quarter of a mile. The slaves were in the act of lowering the coffin
when a crash of thunder frightened one of them so badly that he dropped the rope
with which he was helping to lower the corpse, and ran away. The head of the
coffin struck the bottom of the grave and wedged the box into an angular
position. Attempts were made to pry it to a level, but without success. While
the storm was raging the remaining slaves, with all possible haste, filled the
grave. After completing the mound, these superstitious negroes ran to their
cabins and from that date "saw things" that have not been seen since, but have
entered into many traditions pertaining to the Fords. For example: Some of them
saw "Jim Ford land in Hell head foremost."
The names of the man who held
the candle and the one who fired the shot that killed Ford were never revealed,
then or thereafter. It is said that no investigation of the assassination was
ever made, and, furthermore, that if official proceedings had been attempted, no
evidence of any kind could have been procured.
Ford was suspected to be
the leader, adviser, and protector of the so-called Ford's Ferry band, but
whether or not he was actually all these was never positively proved. Had his
wife lived a little longer, she in all probability, would have carried out his
suggestion to erect a monument over his grave. If so, the inscription would have
followed, more or less, the lines prepared by him as his son William's epitaph.
There would have been some truth in words to the effect that James Ford had not
only rendered much assistance to widows and orphans, but also to the poor and
destitute, and that his "firmness caused his enemies to tremble." As to how he
was "appresst while living" it is impossible to determine now. That he was "much
slandered since dead" is true, judging from some of the tales told about him
even to this day.
One of these improbable stories is that Ford punished
a slave by placing the man's head in a vise and while it was thus fastened cut
off the negro's ears and pulled out his teeth.
Another is to the effect
that after the Ford's Ferry men had murdered and robbed a flatboatman they
learned from papers in his pocket that his name was Simmons. They buried their
victim on the hill near the Ferry. Soon thereafter it was noticed that many
persimmon sprouts began to shoot up out of the grave and the ground near by.
Although grubbed out a number of times they reappeared each succeeding spring.
Ford, seeing that the matter was viewed as an evil omen and working on the
superstition of some of his men, ordered the remains taken up and ceremoniously
lowered into the river below Cave-in-Rock, "where," as one man expressed it,
"Simmons couldn't sprout any more." But the sprouts continued to sprout on the
hill overlooking Ford's Ferry and today "the old 'simmons thicket" helps
perpetuate this old tale.
[Footnote 37: The Chicago Times published an
article July 17, 1879, entitled "Hell on the Ohio," which, in 1888, was
republished in The Life of Logan Belt, a book by Shadrack L. Jackson, who then
lived in the village of Cave-in-Rock. This distorted account of Ford is here
reprinted as an example of one of the many absurd and almost groundless stories
that have gained wide circulation:
"Not far from Cave-in-Rock is Ford's
Ferry, which gets its name from a man who was one of the noted criminals of
pioneer history. He lived on the Kentucky side about two miles above
Cave-in-Rock and was ostensibly a farmer, owning a large tract of land. He also
kept a hotel. Ford was always surrounded by a gang of desperate men, highwaymen
and murderers, and, while nothing was ever proved on him, he was looked upon as
equal to his companions in guilt. He was a robber of flatboats and of emigrants.
Dead bodies were found near his house, and isolated and freshly made graves were
discovered in that neighborhood. Men were known to start West with a little
money, to locate, and were never after heard of. Their friends would inquire,
follow them to Ford's and there lose all traces of them. It was one of his
habits to cut down trees and obstruct the road to rival ferries, until the
owners would be compelled to quit and leave, thinking retaliation only a means
of provoking death. But Ford brought on himself the penalty of his lawlessness.
"An old feud existed between him and the father-in-law of a man named
Simpson, and Ford killed his enemy. Simpson gathered a crowd of friends and went
armed to Ford's house for the purpose of killing him. They found him on the
Illinois side loading a boat. He knew at once why they had come, begged for his
life and appealed for protection to one of their number, Jonathan Brown by name.
Brown was touched by the appeal and interceded for the terrified man. The plea
was so far successful that the crowd waited two or three hours, but when
darkness came, they took him out and shot him dead when he was begging hardest
to be spared. It is said that none of the crowd proper did the shooting, but
that Simpson compelled his negro to do the deed." ]
There is an absurd but widespread tradition that James Ford had acquired, through his "frolics at the ferry," a vast fortune consisting of "dozens of farms, hundreds of slaves, and barrels of money" and that in his will he not only named every man connected with the robber band, but gave each a slave or mule. This story, like many of the others, is absolutely without foundation. His will, recorded August 5, 1833, indicates that he was not a man of more than ordinary wealth. It was written in his own hand. It contains many errors in composition and spelling and, like many other early documents, is sparsely punctuated. It is nevertheless evidence that his practical education was far above most of his contemporaries, though his scholastic training was slight. His penmanship was good, as can be seen by his signature here reproduced.
[Footnote 38: It may be proper here to record that descendants of James Ford, like the descendants of other crude but strong pioneer stock, rose to deserved prominence in the business and social life of several western cities. The family is scattered, but the respect its members command and the success they have achieved bears testimony to the strain of ability and energy inherent in the blood. It leads also to deeper consideration of one of the theories in the Ford's Ferry mystery, that James Ford was perhaps a victim of circumstances growing out of his peculiar personality in a dangerous surrounding. ]
Tradition has it that Ford had been buried only a few days when the report reached Ford's Ferry that Shouse, Mulligan, and Stevenson, who were accused of having killed Simpson, had been overtaken. The three had started for Texas, but were arrested in Arkansas. Shortly after the guards and their charges started on their return the captives tried to escape. Each prisoner was then placed astride a horse and his feet tied under the animal. In due time they were landed in the jail at Equality, Illinois, then the county seat of Gallatin County. "
[Footnote 39: The crime was committed in that part of Gallatin County which in 1839 (when Hardin County was formed out of parts of Gallatin and Pope counties) became the eastern portion of Hardin. Previous to the organization of Hardin, Cave-in-Rock was a "corner" at the southern extremity of the line separating the two original counties. ]
The court records show that
the Gallatin County grand jury at its September term, 1833, indicted Shouse
for the murder of Simpson, with Mulligan and Stevenson named as accessories
to the crime. The original indictment is still preserved. The greater part
of the document is a repetition of old and verbose legal phraseology,
reciting what is summed up in the following extracts :
"That . . .
not having the fear of God before their eyes, but being moved and seduced by
the instigations of the Devil on the thirtieth day of June . . . with force
and arms ... in and upon one Vincent B. Simpson, in (violation of) the peace
of God and of the people of the said State, feloniously, wilfully, and of
their malice aforethought, did make an assault, and that the said Henry C.
Shouse, with a certain gun called a rifle, of the value of ten dollars, then
and there charged with gun powder and a leaden bullet . . . did shoot off
and discharging said rifle gun, so loaded . . . did wound the said Vincent
in and upon the left side of the back bone near the shoulder blade,
inflicting a mortal wound in and through the body . . . of which said mortal
wound said Vincent did languish and languishing did live until the first day
of July . . . and of said mortal wound did die. . . And that the said James
Mulligan and the said William H. J. Stevenson, then and there, feloniously,
wilfully, and of their malice aforethought, were present, aiding, helping,
abetting, comforting, assisting, and maintaining the said Henry C. Shouse,
the felony murder aforesaid to do and commit."
A careful perusal of
the court records and documents leads to the discovery of these facts : The
case was called for trial a few days after the indictment had been found.
Fifteen witnesses had been summoned; all were ready to give testimony for
the state, but none for the defense. After considerable discussion by the
attorneys, a change of venue to Pope County was granted, and the case was
docketed for trial at Golconda in November. Beginning November 21, 1833, and
continuing six days, Shouse's attorneys, Fowler and Gatewood, made every
effort to secure a postponement, claiming technical errors committed by the
court. Failing in this, they presented the fact that Mulligan had died in
jail and Stevenson had escaped, and on that ground succeeded in deferring
the trial until the May term following. There is nothing to indicate the
circumstances of the death of the one, nor the escape and disappearance of
the other.
On May 21, 1834, the case was again presented and the
attorneys argued for further delay, but failed. Shouse stood trial, and
after a two days' hearing the jury was instructed to consider the evidence.
There is nothing in the written records showing for what motive Shouse
killed Simpson. In fact, the records contain little other than stereotyped
legal phrases relative to postponing the case. They throw practically no
light on the evidence heard. No summaries of the testimony have been found.
Shouse denied his guilt. The name of Ford does not appear in any of the
documents. Tradition says that Shouse not only did not betray Ford, but
shielded him whenever an opportunity presented itself.
After the
jury had retired, one William Sharp appeared on the scene and begged to be
heard. Shouse's attorneys prepared a written avowal of what Sharp's
statement would contain and presented it to the judge with an argument that
in view of the new evidence by a material witness the case be retried,
regardless of the verdict of the present jury. This was overruled. This
document is the only one from which can be gathered any suggestion as to the
character of evidence probably employed by the defense. Its plea was that
"Shouse expects to prove by said witness (Sharp) that the deceased Simpson
told him about a week before his death that he had some short time before
collared the defendant Shouse and dared him to cut, that he intended then in
a few days to take his pistol and go over to Shouse's house and settle him."
This was a plea of self-defense. But, as already stated, this motion was
overruled. The jury, after due deliberation, found Shouse "guilty as
charged."
According to most traditions, Simpson had more knowledge
of the criminal conduct of the Ford's Ferry outlaws than it was safe for one
man to have. It was rumored that a large reward was about to be offered for
evidence leading to the conviction of any member of the band, and Simpson's
confederates feared he would be tempted to betray them. Shouse, it seems,
was selected - or volunteered - to see that "dead men tell no tales."
No man of his time was more familiar with the details of the Shouse
murder trial than William Courtney Watts. He furnished the following
statement to a representative of the Louisville Courier- Journal which
published it March 27, 1895 :
"Shouse was one of the ring-leaders of
the notorious Ford gang and it is generally believed that Ford deputized him
to kill Simpson. It was observed that after Shouse was sentenced to be
hanged, his attorney, Judge Wyley P. Fowler, spent a large part of his time
in the cell of Shouse. It finally leaked out that Shouse was dictating to
Judge Fowler a history of the robber band to which he had belonged and that
his statements implicated some of the wealthiest and most prominent citizens
in Livingston County. At that juncture Judge Fowler received a number of
anonymous letters in which writers threatened his life in the event of his
ever making public the communications made to him by Shouse. By the advice
of friends Judge Fowler spent the succeeding winter in Frankfort. Upon his
return Mr. J. W. Cade, the circuit clerk, asked Judge Fowler if the Shouse
history had been destroyed. He replied: 'No good could come of its
publication. It would cast a shade upon the reputation of some of Livingston
County's most esteemed citizens.' Nothing further was ever heard of the
manuscript and it is believed that Judge Fowler destroyed it."
It is
said Judge Fowler's notes were based on the dictations the doomed Shouse
intended for the public, and on such reports as were being openly discussed
among the people. Judge Fowler, however, having been Ford's attorney for a
number of years and having represented Shouse in his last trial, recognized
that any statement he made would be considered as based on confidential
information received by him as an attorney, and that, in consequence, he
would be unjustly condemned.
What Shouse's history and confession
contained was the subject of much speculation for a generation or two. There
is an impression among some people living in the lower Ohio River valley
that Judge Fowler's alleged manuscript on the history of the robber band
still exists. Inquiry recently made among his descendants resulted in
learning that many years before his death in 1880, he, in the presence of an
intimate friend, destroyed all his data on the subject. Judge Fowler never
permitted any one to see his notes and seldom discussed the matter. It is
said that on one occasion when he was asked whether or not the Ford's Ferry
band was a branch of the clan led by John A. Murrell, he left the impression
that it had at one time made some preparations to work in conjunction with
the great western land pirate and his band of negro stealers.
More
or less has been written by historians and novelists about John A. Murrell,
but no writer connects him with Cave-in-Rock or Ford's Ferry. The History of
Virgil A. Stewart, a book on the life of Murrell, compiled by H. R. Howard
and published in 1836, gives an incomplete list of Murrell's associates.
Among the four hundred and fifty names there recorded there is none familiar
to persons now living near Cave-in-Rock. Tradition says that Shouse made a
few trips between the Cave and Marked Tree, Arkansas, to meet Murrell or
some of his representatives for the purpose of delivering and receiving
messages pertaining to negro stealing and the disposition of counterfeit
money. But whether or not the Ford's Ferry band was ever part of the John A.
Murrell clan will remain, in all probability, one of the Ford's Ferry
mysteries.
[Footnote 40: The fact that the names Murrell and Mason
sound somewhat alike is sometimes the cause of confusion. For example,
occasionally one hears that Little Harpe cut off the head of Murrell,
whereas Harpe was hanged when Murrell was four or five years old.
On
a map of the Ohio, compiled 1911-14 under the supervision of the Ohio River
Board of Engineers on Locks and Dams, Cave-in-Rock is erroneously designated
Merrell's [sic] Cave.
One absurd tradition has it that James Ford's
first wife was a sister of Murrell, and another is to the effect that both
Ford and his wife were related to Mason, Murrell, and the Harpes. ]
On June 7, 1834, Judge Thomas C. Brown sent a writ to Joshua Howard, Sheriff
of Pope County: "Whereas .. . Judgment hath been given in our said court
that the said Henry C. Shouse shall be hanged by the neck until he is dead
and that execution of said judgment be made and done on Monday the ninth day
of June A.D., 1834, between the hours of twelve of the clock at noon and
four of the clock in the evening of the same day, at some convenient place
in the vicinity, not more than one-half mile from the town of Golconda in
said county, in the usual manner of inflicting punishment in such cases. .
." And on June 9 Shouse paid the extreme penalty.
Tradition has it
that on the day of the hanging thousands of people came to Golconda from
Gallatin and Pope counties, Illinois, and from Livingston County, Kentucky,
and other sections, to see the first legal hanging in the county and to
witness the death struggle of a Ford's Ferry and Cave-in-Rock outlaw. Even
to this day, a large crowd in that section of the country is measured as
being "as big as the one when Shouse was hanged." The execution took place
in the creek bottom immediately north of the town limits, at a spot where
the slopes of the hills converge to form a natural amphitheatre. About two
o'clock in the afternoon Shouse was placed on an ox-cart and driven to the
scaffold that had been built by erecting two heavy timbers with a cross beam
over them. Between these two upright posts the cart was placed, and into it
the condemned man's coffin was then shoved, thus serving the purpose of a
platform and trap. Shouse's hands were tied behind his back; he was
blindfolded and made to stand erect upon his coffin. The suspended rope was
looped around his neck; the oxen pulled the cart forward and Shouse fell.
Thus terminated the career of one of the members of the mysterious
Ford's Ferry band, and with it passed away forever bloodshed and robbery at
Cave-in-Rock.
Extracted 29 Mar 2020 by Norma Hass from The Outlaws of Cave-In-Rock, written by Otto Rothert, published in 1924, pages 307-319.
| Saline | Gallatin | Union KY |
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| Livingston KY Crittenden KY | ||
