Dr. H. Evins Defends Himself

Louisville Daily Journal, September 2, 1850

To the Editors of the Louisville Journal
Garrard Co., Ky Aug 24, 1850

Gentlemen: A correspondent of Boyle county, is in a communication to your paper in May last, having, as I conceive, done me a great injustice in his attempt to give an account of the difficulties between Mr. Hills and myself and family. I feel it due to us that the facts as they really transpired, and as they have been_______upon judicial investigation, should be given to the public. When the communication alluded to made its appearance, a friend of mine who was cognizant of all the facts addressed a letter to the writer telling them first in detail, and, having every reason to hope the proper correction would be made without laying me under the necessity of clearing my name before the public, I have remained silent, when perhaps justice to myself would have demanded an earlier notice of the matter at my hands.

For the last twelve or thirteen years, I have had reason to believe that the Hill family had hostile intentions toward me, not I believe on account of any personal dislike for me on their part, but were prompted to it by one or two others, who had mistreated and assaulted me in the most brutal and dastardly manner, and who, writhing under their own shame and the fierce chastisement of public indignation, have in their malice instigated and brought about all the difficulties between the Hills and myself. Up to a little over a year ago, however, no serious demonstrations had been made.

In July, 1849, one of the Mr. Hills gave a public dinner in Garrard county, the public generally were invited. I was waited upon by two of the family and especially requested to attend. Believing it an overture of friendship and an offer on their part to heal wounds, which they had inflicted contrary to their own convictions of right, to gratify the malice of others, more wicked and designing and less magnanimous than they, I willingly and gladly grasped the olive branch of peace, and went, where I was never more politely and respectfully treated. Indeed, I conceived that the Hills, one and all, treated me with more attention and kindness and were at greater pains to render me agreeable than any guest in attendance - all, as I at the time supposed, to evince to me the sincerity of their professions, and were unsuspectingly so received by me. In the evening, I was preparing to leave for home, and a friend, who was going with me, requested me to wait a short time, to which I assented. By the time he was ready, it was thick dusk.

We started in opposite directions for our horses. On my way to my horse, I was told that the Hills and their party, some fifteen or twenty in number, were preparing to make an attack on me. I replied that such could not be the case - that they had invited me there and had manifested none but the kindest feelings toward me, that all old difficulties, or something to that effect, were healed. Believing that my informant was mistaken, I thought nothing of it, mounted my horse and rode up within about twenty yards of the company to await the return of my friend who had gone after his horse.

While sitting on my horse, one of the Hill party called to me and asked me if I was going home. I told him I was. He replied that he had a word with me, and walked up to my horse, I stooped toward him, and while he was pretending to whisper in my ear, I received a violent blow on the back of my head, from what I afterward ascertained to be a piece of iron.

From the position in which Jesse Hill stood - one had invited me there - I felt confident that he must of struck the blow, which has since turned out to be true. He immediately advanced close to my side, and I asked him why he had struck me. He denied it, but said he could do so damned quick if I wanted him to. I begged him not. He said he would give the damn old scoundrel a few rocks anyhow. And he and the Hill crowd immediately fell to and commenced pelting me and my horse with stones and clubs. I was driven in between a fence and a tobacco house, where they kept up a shower of stones and other missiles, some of them hitting me with sticks, and one of them hit me several severe blows with a large dogwood fork. By what means my horse carried me out of this place it is almost impossible to conceive, as he must have jumped over the fence, which was very high, or have passed between the fence and the corner of the house, a narrow defile said not to be more that two feet wide. He, however, escaped with me, or I should beyond all doubt have been killed there. My horse started off with me down a hill, the crowd still after me, keeping up their blows. Exhausted from fatigue and the loss of blood, I fell from my horse, unconscious of my condition. My son, who by this time, had come to me, took me up on the horse, and by shrinking and dodging through the timber and around the hill, they lost me, and gave up the pursuit. Several pistols were fired at me during the time, and the crowd kept up a general cry of kill him, kill him, etc. I was taken home by son and a neighbor, my jaw-bone and several of my ribs broken, my head cut to the skull in a great number of places and my body literally beaten to pieces. I was confined to my room for six weeks and never expected to recover from the effects of the beating.

From this time forward, the Hills went in a crowd, armed to the teeth for the avowed purpose, as they insisted to diverse responsible citizens, of taking my life. The went neither to court, to muster, nor any other public place, nor did they even pass though the neighborhood unless several of them were together and had their rifles on their shoulders. I could not pass to a neighbor’s house in safety, and not unfrequently, when attending to the duties of my profession among the sick, had to be guarded. My stock was found shot dead upon my farm. My servants and little boys were repeatedly shot at and run from the field when at work. My dwelling-house was on diverse occasions besieged and shot into, as its walls and windows now testify; and finally, to protect myself and family from outrage, I was forced to keep almost constantly a standing guard, composed of my neighbors, who kindly volunteered their services.

This state of affairs continued until the March county court, 1850. On that day, Jesse Hill was in Lancaster - was drinking, and was a very violent, dangerous man when in that condition - who was always seeking difficulties, and had had many bloody fights. He had sworn to several persons in town that morning that he would kill some man on that day; and not more that fifteen minutes before he was killed, had his pistol out in the tavern and drank, and said at the same time that was the last drink he would take until he had killed some one, and started for the courthouse, where Judge Robertson was making a political speech. He came into the house and caught at a boy about twelve years old, who, as the witnesses stated, resembled in size and appearance as my little son who gone to town with me, but, as they did not know my son, they could not state positively that he was the same. The boy aimed to run within the bar, but could not get through the crowd and went out the door. Hill followed on out, and, not finding the object of his pursuit, he spit in the face of an old man and drew his pistol to shoot him. He was caught by a man and led off some ten feet and struggled loose and made an attempt to shoot the man who held him. Just at this moment a gentleman came to me and told me Hill was at the door drunk, and that my boys were there - that I had better go and see to them. I walked to the door, and as soon as I got there, Hill saw me and advanced toward me. I beckoned to him with my hand and told him two or three time to go away. He exclaimed that he was not afraid of hell, at the same time drawing his pistol out of the pocket of his pantaloons or from under the skirt of his coat, when I drew my pistol and fired, and he fell with his pistol in his hand pointed toward me, and he trying to pull it off. He expired in a few seconds.

I immediately went into the courthouse intending to surrender myself into the hands of the law when the commotion of the crowd subsided. This I could not do with any degree of safety. The cry of kill him arose, and between one hundred and two hundred persons collected on the public square, and, as myself and two sons galloped out of town, they followed in hot pursuit with pistols, rocks, etc. One of the crowd in advance of the rest came within a few feet of my son, who was behind - presented a pistol, and demanded his surrender. My son turned on his horse and advised his pursuer to desist - he heeded the admonishment and the pursuit was abandoned.

At the May election, 1850, my sons Samuel and Thomas, the one in his 19th and the other in his 17th year, were by themselves in Lancaster. About 3 o’clock in the evening they went from Kincaid’s store to a saddler’s shop, to get a new saddle they had bought, and from there to go home. Samuel walked across the square, and went above stairs into the shop to get the saddle. Thomas rode his own horse and led his brother’s across. Just as he alighted from his horse to receive the saddle when his brother should bring it down out of the shop, Isaiah Hill saw him and made toward him at the same time drawing his pistol, Thomas drew his pistol, and two of the Hills fired at the same time. Isaiah and Russell Hill caught him and cut him down with a bowie knife, and, while they were cutting at him as he lay at the foot of the stairs, Samuel came down and commenced firing at them. In the meantime, some fifteen or twenty of the Hill party closed in on Thomas as he lay weltering in his blood, and were also engaged in firing up the stairway at Samuel. After four of the Hills had been shot and dangerously wounded, the rest left and got their rifles, which they had brought with them and deposited in different points in town, and on their return, it was with difficulty they could be kept from shooting Thomas, who, everybody that witnessed the scene, believed already dead. He was taken from the square, and here the encounter ended.

It is proper to remark my sons were under bonds to keep the peace at the time, and had been bound over by the Hills sometime before.

As soon as I was assured that I would not be murdered by the Hills while in custody of the law and in despite of its officers, I surrendered myself up to justice, was tried, and unhesitantly acquitted by my peers of any blame for the killing of Jesse Hill. At the next circuit court, the grand jury returned indictments against nearly all the Hills for their assault on me and the attempt to murder my sons.

None of my family or myself were indicted, not withstanding the Hills went before the grand jury and testified against me.

The foregoing statement contains substantially the facts elicited on my trial and the investigation before the grand jury. They were taken down by a skillful and faithful hand under the direction of the court, and read and signed by the witnesses and are now on file in the office. I leave a just and enlightened public to form their own opinion, which they could not have done with any degree of correctness from the imperfect statement of your Boyle correspondent.

H. Evins

Contributed by Sandra Hurt-Norris