I have this hard to read damaged copy from a newspaper, transcribed below:
Looking for info on Thomas
Judge and also if James St. Ledger was ever found.
email if you have info
SAVAGE BUTCHERY.
_____
THOMAS
Judge MURDERED
AT ELLERY.
_____
JAMES ST. LEDGER FI[RED] [TH]E
FATAL BULLET.
_____
And the Victim Fell Stabbed a[nd]
Gashed by Another Man.
_____
THE CRIME THE CUL[?]
ATION OF A FEUD OF
LONG
STANDING_____
$200 REWARD OFFERED BY THE
COUNTY FOR THE ARREST AND
CONVICTION OF JAMES
ST. LEDGER.
Last Friday morning the entire town
and community became greatly agitated
when the news spread telling of the com-
mittel of a murderous deed at
Ellery the
evening before which must result in the
death of a good citizen of the county and
the possible infliction of the death pen-
alty on the culprit who committed the
crime.
Thomas
Judge, in the main a peacea-
ble young farmer, residing with his wife
and three young children in the south-
western part of the country, had had re-
peated difficulties with two of the St.
Ledger boys, James and Henry, and at
times the ill feeling between the parties
had their friends had been intense.
James, the elder of the St. Ledgers,
had twice been indicted for misdemean-
ors, and he had attributed this trouble
to the action of Thomas
Judge in mak-
ing complaint. There had also a few
months ago been a disagreement be-
[tween] the St. Ledgers and
Judge over a
proposed horse-race between animals
owned by them. On account of the
failure of the St. Ledgers to come to
time
Judge had claimed and been award-
ed the forfeit money, and all this tended
to increase the tension of the ill feeling
and embitter the feud of other years.
Tuesday evening of last week Thomas
Judge and Homer
Mason passed the resi-
dence of Oscar
Chappel, about three
miles southeast of
Ellery, while a dance
was in progress near the roadside. A
disturbance arose and fora time it seem
ed that there was imminent danger of a
general riot. The result was that
Judgeswore out warrants for the arrest of
James St. Ledger, John St. Ledger, Rob-
ert
Glover and James
Schofield, charging
them with a disturbance of the peace.
The trial was set for the afternoon of
Thursday, August 25th, before Esquire
William
Michels, at
Ellery. A continu-
ance was obtained until eight o'clock.
James St. Ledger was arrested in the
afternoon by
Constable George Chal-
craft and afterward St. Ledger was turn-
ed over to the care and keeping of
RookPatterson, who was especially deputized
for that purpose. A considerable crowd
assembled in the yard adjoining Esquire
Michels' residence awaiting the time for
the trial. Judge was there and also
James and Henry St. Ledger and Robert
Glover, the latter having his horse with-
in the yard. Some challenging and in-
sulting words were spoken by Henry St.
Ledger, and
Judge construed them as
addressed to himself personally. Angry
[?] followed, resulting in
Judge strik-
ing Henry St. Ledger who responded
The testimony of the bystanders is that
Judge, being the more muscular of the
two was getting the better of the con-
[?], whereupon James St. Ledger, who
was at quite a distance, still under ar-
rest and in charge of
Rook Patterson,
[drew?] his revolver, and in the [?] [?]
[?] before anyone could prevent this
[all unreadable]
Judge[all unreadable]
[all unreadable]
[all unreadable]
[all unreadable]
sitting on [all unreadable] having
trouble [all unreadable] shooting.
St. Ledger [all unreadable]
Glover from
the horse and rode away.
Immediately after the shooting the
the wounded man was carried away [bleeding?]
very profusely., but still [conscious?] [?]
little while later the discovery was made,
that he had been cru?ily gashed with a
knife in addition to being shot. Doctor
[?] at
Golden Gate, was basically sum-
moned, but nothing could be done to
save the man's life which became ex-
tinct at about eight o'clock the following
morning.
Coroner Franklin? was [all unreadable]
prepar [all unreadable]
inquest. Before bolding the [all unreadable]
however, it was deemed necessary to
have an autopsy in order to determine
absolutely the cause of death. Accord-
ingly, Doctor Taylor, of
Golden Gate, and Doctors
MOss and Willams, of Albion, made a post mortem [all unreadable]
continuing two and one-half hours.
They found that the immediate cause of
death was hemorrhage of the bowels,
resulting from the bullet wound. The
bullet had penetrated the abdomen, four
inches above and one and one-half
inches to the right of the navel, [?]ed
directly toward the vertebra of the back-
bone which it penetrated. The ball also
passed through a portion of the stomach,
grazed the liver and went through the
gall-bladder. The efforts to recover the
bullet from the vertebra were not suc-
cessful. After, the conclusion of [?]
autopsy Coroner Franklin [?]
with the inquest over the remains.
The knife wounds, although of a very
serious nature, were not deemed by the
doctors of such a character as ordinarily
to produce death under careful surgical
treatment. These wounds were found
to be two in number. Once in the [?]
side of the back was a clear-cut g[?]
seven inches in length extending tr[?]
versely from almost under the left
to the center of the back, the point of
the knife raning upward and penetrat-
ing to a depth of one and one-half inches.
The other knife wound, a superficial stab
beneath the left breast, just two inches
below the nipple, was seemingly aimed
at the heart. The sharp point of a knife
had been thrust in toward the left and
twisted downward over the ribs to a dis-
tance of two to three inches. The cav-
ity of the body was not penetrated.
The jury was composed of the follow-
ing named persons: W. J. Angel, fore-
man; and Alfred McKibben, Harry Woods, F.E. Scott, Oscar
Chappel, Lee
Parks. The finding of the jury was in
conformity with the facts just stated,
that the deceased came to his death from
the effect of a gun-shot wound inflicted
by James St. Ledger.
Henry St. Ledger, who escaped at the
time of the shooting, was captured Fri-
day afternoon during the holding of the autopsy, near
Ellery. He was brought
to Albion that same evening and placed
under a bond of [?], his preliminary
hearing on the charges of attempt to do
bodily injury, being set to take place at
nine o'clock, Monday before Esquire W.
B.? Schofield. When Monday came by
agreement of
Judge Campbell, attorney
for the defense, and States Attorney
Fitch, the trial was continued until nine
o'clock Tuesday morning. At that time
Judge
Campbell asked for change of
venue to Esquire
Ham, at Browns, which
was granted. The hearing finally took
place before Esquire
Ham Tuesday aft-
noon [all unreadable] under
[all unreadable]
[all unreadable]
court, which the grand jury [?] investi-
gate his case.
No one at the [all unreadable]
swore to seeing Henry st. Ledger [?]
anyone else, for the matter, [all unreadable]
but the witnesses were [all unreadable]
agreed that no one else was [all unreadable]
during the [all unreadable] in [all unreadable]
where it would have been possible to in-
flict the knife wounds found upon the
body of
Judge Saturday afternoon the county com-
missioners of Edwards county met in Special session and offered
a reward of $200 for the arrest and con-
viction of James St. Ledger.An attempt
was also made to communicate with the
Governor for the purpose of inducing the
State to offer a similar reward, but with-
out success in consequence of Mr. Tan-
ner being in
Washington at that time.
Saturday morning Mr. Morris
Emmer[?]
[?] telephoned over from Me. Vernon,
that James St. Ledger was seen early
Friday morning in Manion's restaurant
or saloon in the city, before it was
known that he had committed the
crime. He called for breakfast, but as
the coffee was not hot hurry, eating a
cold lunch, saying that he was in a hurry
and could not wait. It was believed in
Mt. Vernon that St. Ledger boarded the
L. & N. morning train for St. Louis.
Since that time no authentic information
has been received from him.
James St. Ledger has spent a good
portion of his time during the past few
years in Southeastern
Missouri, and it
may not be forgotten to some of the
JOURNAL'S readers that only a few
months ago an item, based on a current
rumor, was published in these columns
announcing his death in a saloon row in
Missouri. It may be that he has re-
turned to his old haunts. He is gener-
ally regarded as a desperate character
when angry. Two years ago while at-
tending the Grayville fair he participated
in a drunken row and emerged with a
badly slashed throat, a wound that would
have caused his death had it been a little
deeper.
The notices sent out by the County
Board offering the $200 reward contain
the following description of the mur-
derer:
"James St. Ledger is about six feet
high, has sandy complexion, is [all unreadable]
cross-eyed in one eye, had th[all unreadable]
carries his head to one sid[all unreadable]
about 175 wounds; ha[all unreadable]
scar[all unreadable]
[?]ut from knife and [all unreadable]
wounds on his body [all unreadable]
years of age."
The following para[all unreadable]
from last evening's e[all unreadable]
Vernon
Daily News:
George Elmers, accompanied the Ed-
wards county officers as far as Bird's
Point, Mo., yesterday, returning home
this morning. The man St. Ledger.
whom they were pursuing, went from
here to Ashley last Friday morning,
where he took his breakfast. He then
went to Cairo where he remained till
Sunday, when he crossed to the
Missouri side. The trail was a [all unreadable]
hopes [all unreadable]
capture of the fugitive.