George Dekle - Abraham Lincolns Most Famous Case

The Almanac Trial

George R. Dekle, Sr.

Copyright 2014 by George R. Dekle, Sr.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dekle, George R., 1948- author.

Abraham Lincolns most famous case : the Almanac Trial / George R. Dekle, Sr.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 9781440830495 (hardback) ISBN 9781440830501 (ebook) 1. Armstrong, Duff, 18331899Trials, litigation, etc. 2. Lincoln, Abraham, 18091865Career in law. 3. Trials (Murder)IllinoisBeardstown. I. Title.

KF223.A47D45 2014

345.773'0252309773553dc23 2013044678

ISBN: 9781440830495
EISBN: 9781440830501

18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5

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To my wife, Lane, without whose help and support this book would not have been possible.

Ecclesiastes 12:12 says that of the making of many books there is no end, and those words seem to describe the situation with the literature on our sixteenth president. The flow of books about Abraham Lincoln began almost immediately upon the heels of his death, and it continues unabated to this day. Every aspect of his life and thought has seen treatment in print, from his health to his religious beliefs to his practice of law. Why, then, another book on Lincoln? Will Rogers once said that we know a lot of things that just arent so, and that is certainly the case with Lincolns famous defense in the Almanac Trial. The history of the trial has acquired so many accretions over the years that it is hard to tell where the legend ends and the truth begins. If this book can dispel the confusion about the trial and extract the fact from the fiction, then its modest contribution to the history of our greatest president might make it worthy of a place in the literature on Lincoln.

Any practicing lawyer who has ever attended a continuing legal education class on trial advocacy knows some version of the story of Lincolns performance in the trial. Whenever the topic turns to cross-examination, the speaker will likely describe how Lincoln saved an innocent man from the gallows by using an almanac to expose the perjury of a villainous witness. The speaker will sometimes even quote portions of the cross-examination to demonstrate exactly how Lincoln accomplished his spectacular feat. Shortly after I retired from the active practice of law, I sat in such a class listening to the speaker expound on Lincolns cross. As the speaker dissected the examination question by question, it occurred to me that his transcript did not agree with another transcript of the cross I had recently seen. I resolved to do a little research and see if I could reconcile the discrepancies between the two transcripts. The more deeply I looked into the matter, the more confused the issue became. I uncovered what I felt to be good evidence that Lincoln not only did not cross-examine the witness, he did not cross-examine anyone. Many sources claimed that a lawyer named William Walker conducted the cross-examination while Lincoln sat silently at counsel table. I also found a strong undercurrent of suspicion that Lincoln achieved the acquittal of his client with a forged almanac.

The literature on the trial presented a nice murder mystery. Did Lincoln use chicanery to unjustly free a murderer, or did he use his considerable skill as a trial lawyer to engineer the brilliant defense of an innocent man? Although I am neither a historian nor a Lincoln scholar, I felt equal to the task of unraveling the Almanac Trial because if I learned anything during my three decades as a criminal trial lawyer, I learned how to investigate, prosecute, and defend murder cases. In the spirit of those scholars who quest for the historical Jesus, I began a quest for the historical Almanac Trial. My quest did not reveal a cardboard saint with superhuman legal skills, but a human being who possessed good trial skills and impeccable ethics. Many nonlawyers and even some lawyers have questioned the propriety of several things that Lincoln did during the trial, but I hope to show that none of his actions warrant reproach. Did Lincoln save an innocent man, or did he knowingly free a killer? You must decide that for yourself. I will, however, attempt to demonstrate that the guilt or innocence of his client is irrelevant to the question of whether Lincoln behaved ethically.

Two other aspects of the book should be mentioned. During the nineteenth century even the well educated used nonstandard spelling and punctuation. In quoting letters and court documents from that era, I have standardized their spelling and punctuation. There were many interesting aspects of the case that could not be fitted into the word limit. I have set up a blog, almanac-trial.blogspot.com , that the curious reader can visit to learn more about these things.

Such an undertaking as this cannot be the product of one writers unassisted effort. I owe a debt of gratitude to many people who have helped me in my quest to learn the facts of the Almanac Trial. Professor Ron J. Keller, the director of the Lincoln Heritage Museum at Lincoln College rendered invaluable assistance in providing me with back issues of the Lincoln Newsletter. Michael Burlingame, the Chancellor Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair in Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois, graciously shared some of his personal research with me. Professor Brian Dirck of Anderson University answered my questions and helped me through some problems with my research. David Joens, the director of the Illinois State Archives, helped me locate the pardon papers for James H. Norris, the co-defendant who went to prison for the murder. Christine Colburn, Rena Schergen, and Thomas Whittaker of the Special Collections Research Center of the University of Chicago Library assisted me with tracking down William E. Bartons papers on his research of the trial. Kathryn Harris of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library helped to locate references on the trial. Joshua Caster at the University of Nebraska assisted me in obtaining a copy of the photograph taken of Lincoln on the afternoon of the trial. Camille Apodaca, from the Permission and Licensing Department of PARS International Corporation; Dennis Anderson of the Peoria Journal Star; and Carolyn Conklin of the Peoria Public Library all helped me track down reprints of archival news articles. Jane Westenfeld, of the Pelletier Library at Allegheny College, helped me find my way through Ida Tarbells papers on the trial, and Brent Abercrombie, the Manuscript Librarian at Indiana State Library, rendered the same sort of help with Albert Beveridges papers. Doug Hansen and Ardis Nelson of Hansen Wheel and Wagon Shop in Letcher, South Dakota, gave me an education on wagon hammers and neck yokes, two items that figured prominently in the story of the murder. When I could not find an authentic old-fashioned wagon hammer, Terry Moore of Texas Wagon Works in Gonzalez, Texas, used his blacksmithing skills to make one for me. Katherine Duncan, a barrister in Bell Yard Chambers, London, explained the nuances of cross-examination in England. Sarah A. Kiley of the C. A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the University of Florida consulted on issues relating to blunt force trauma to the head. Dr. Sharon Packer, assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, consulted with me on issues relating to memory. Amy Mills, of Amy Mills Portrait Designs in Lake City, Florida, took the photographs of the slungshot for me. Duffy Soto of Hunter Graphics in Lake City, Florida, helped in the preparation of the other illustrations for the book. Rachel Williams of Easton, Illinois, helped me to find the defendants grave in the Walnut Grove Cemetery. Corky Kinstle gave me a tour of the old Beardstown courthouse where the trial was held and showed me the jail where the defendant awaited trial. I was saved from numerous errors by those who graciously gave of their time to read and critique the manuscript: I have already mentioned Professor Brian Dirck, Professor Michael Burlingame, Professor Ron J. Keller, and Dr. Sharon Packer. Others who read and critiqued the manuscript were Ron Clark, distinguished practitioner in residence at Seattle University Law; Professor Daniel Stowell, director and editor of