Collection #

SC 2759

 

 

william lummis
document, 19 January 1829

Collection Information

Historical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Contents

Cataloging Information

 

 

 

Processed by

Susan A. Fletcher
15 August 2005

Manuscript and Visual 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:

19 January 1829

PROVENANCE:

Historical Collectible Auctions, Graham, NC, 25 February 2005

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:

2005.0168

NOTES:

 

HistoricaL SKETCH

On 19 January 1829 a group of men discovered William Lummis, “lying dead.” James Blacklidge, the Franklin County coroner, along with thirteen other men, performed an inquisition into Lummis’ death. They concluded that he “came to his death by voluntarily hanging himself with a rope made of the shirt of him, the said William Lummis, between the hours of ten o’clock a.m. and six o’clock p.m….in a fit of insanity.” Benjamin S. Noble, David McKee, Charles Banks, George Lynn, Elisha Spralding, Henry Hartman, Andrew Reed, Henry Coalscott, William Dewese, Daniel Pursel, Hiram Banks, Elliot Rucker, and John Templeton signed the document attesting to their findings.

The above jurors were prominent men in Franklin County. James Blacklidge became the Franklin County Coroner in 1825. Benjamin S. Noble served as a colonel in the Indiana 7th Regiment. He was a physician in Brookville in 1830 and was admitted to the bar that same year in addition to serving as a representative to the Indiana legislature. William Dewese was the minister of Little Cedar Church, the first Baptist church in Indiana.

Sources:

Material in collection

Reifel, August J. History of Franklin County, Indiana : Her People, Industries and Institutions. Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen, 1915. (F532.F8 R4 1915)

 

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of one “return of the coroner’s inquest on the body of William Lummis” of Franklin County. A group of men headed by county coroner James Blacklidge investigated the incident on 19 January 1829 and came to the conclusion that Lummis had hanged himself “in a fit on insanity.” The document bears the signatures and seals of Benjamin S. Noble, David McKee, Charles Banks, George Lynn, Elisha Spralding, Henry Hartman, Andrew Reed, Henry Coalscott, William Dewese, Daniel Pursel, Hiram Banks, Elliot Rucker, and John Templeton.

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Inquest, 19 January 1829

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://opac.indianahistory.org/

2.      Click on the "Basic Search" icon.

3.      Select  "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.

4.      Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, SC 2759).

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