The Williamstown Courier Williamstown Grant County Kentucky Thursday, November 22, 1894 MOTHER AND CHILD (Harriet Butler, colored) REUNITED. The latter is from Williamstown and she left for Memphis, Tenn. to meet her mother, 63, who was sold in the days of slavery.
Williamstown Courier
Thursday, December 8, 1892
"Judge C. C. Cram directed and authorized the Elder of the colored church at this place [Williamstown] to perform marriage ceremonies and to compel all the members of his church who are living together as man and wife without authority of law to present themselves at the alter of his church for marriage. Dan Brown and Miss Hume were married last Tuesday night, being the first couple to present themselves to receive this solemn right."
Williamstown Courier
Thursday, December 22, 1892
Death: "Jas. Bond, a colored brute was hanged by a mob at Guthrie last Monday night for an attempted outrage on Mrs. Clarence Covington."
The following was extracted from The History of Grant County, edited by John B. Conrad
Published by the Grant County Historical Society
Note: This excellent book consists of over five hundred pages and covers all aspects of Grant County history. It is available in hardback from the Grant County Historical Society.
THE HANGING OF SAM EUSTIS
The Williamstown Courier, May 31, 1901
In the early 1850s, a Negro man named Sam Eustis was brought to Williamstown on a change of venue from Owen County. He was accused of killing his mistress. He was given a fair trial and the statement of his master played an important part in his conviction.
He declared himself innocent to the last, but the proof against him was sufficient. The jury brought the verdict of guilty and a death sentence was imposed. The Negro was taken to a gallows outside town located on the property of the County Poorhouse on present Cynthiana Street, where the old James Kells house now stands. He was asked of he had anything to say. He declared that he was innocent and that time would prove him right. He predicted that a certain tree standing nearby would be struck by lightning and this would prove his innocence. Later that summer, the tree was struck by lightning and people began to believe his prediction. A few years later, the master of the Negro, on his deathbed, confessed of the crime.
THE HANGING OF WARRICK FORD
The Williamstown Courier, May 31, 1901
During the same decade [1850s], another Negro was hanged near the same spot. He was Warrick Ford, a slave of John Ford, who killed his master. The proff was convincing and Warrick confessed his guilt. He was tried, found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. He was taken to the County Farm and hung between two sycamore trees, and buried there on the farm. Fifty years later, one of the trees was still standing. Today there is no trace.
Carried in a northern Newspaper- during the Civil War
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