Collection #

SC 2694

 

 

indiana circuit court (switzerland county)
indictment records, 1857

Collection Information

Historical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Contents

Cataloging Information

 

 

 

Processed by

Wilma L. Gibbs
25 October 2002

Manuscript Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

www.indianahistory.org

 

COLLECTION INFORMATION

VOLUME OF
COLLECTION:

1 folder

COLLECTION
DATES:

1857

PROVENANCE:

Alexander Autographs, Inc., P. O. Box 101, Cos Cob, CT 06807, July 2002

RESTRICTIONS:

None

COPYRIGHT:

 

REPRODUCTION
RIGHTS:

Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society.

ALTERNATE
FORMATS:

 

RELATED
HOLDINGS:

 

ACCESSION
NUMBER:

2002.0677

NOTES:

 

HistoriCAL SKETCH

In 1857 Samuel Mead was accused of killing an unidentified man of color.  A coroner’s jury found a verdict of murder against Mead in the 24 June 1857 incident.  According to a newspaper account from a nearby county, Mead fled to Kentucky after he shot a runaway slave in Switzerland County, Indiana.  During the November 1857 term, a grand jury of the Circuit Court of Switzerland County returned a verdict of murder against Mead.  The jury charged that Mead shot the victim in the stomach, and that he died instantly. 

The indictment lists Francis Adkinson as prosecuting attorney, names William Munn as the jury foreman, and identifies Larkin Johnson, Robert McKay, William McKay, and Dovier Carin as state witnesses.

Sources:

Materials in the collection

Announcement, New Albany Daily Ledger, 30 June 1857, p. 3, c. 1.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The one-folder collection contains two documents that pertain to the indictment of Samuel Mead for murder of an unidentified man of color in Switzerland County, Indiana in 1857.  The items include the grand jury’s manuscript indictment of Mead that has the signature of prosecuting attorney Francis Adkinson. There is also an order dated 11 November 1857 to arrest Mead.  It is directed to the Sheriff of Switzerland County and is signed by the Ohio County (Indiana) clerk.

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Indictment for murder documents, 1857

Folder 1

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1.      Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog:  http://157.91.92.2/

2.      Click on the "Traditional Search" icon.

3.      Click on the "Call Number" radio button.

4.      Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, SC 2694).

5.      When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.