Kentucky Lawyer

A Kentucky ghost story

7 Mac Swinford “Somewhere, my friends,” he said, “in some unknown and distant spot—maybe on a bald mountain top, maybe in some hidden valley—but somewhere on this earth is the grave of Judas Iscariot. Immediately after this election is over, the Democratic party should appoint a committee to locate that grave and when our speaker of the afternoon comes to his final demise, the Democratic party should send his remains to that spot and bury him beside the malefactor of our Saviour and erect a joint headstone with the inscription: ‘Here lies Judas: Here lies Hallam.’” A Kentucky ghost story No accumulation of the legends and actions of Kentuckians would be complete without a ghost story. This romantic land, with its rivers, hills, valleys and wooded bluegrass pastures, lends itself to mystery. The following story illustrates a gross miscarriage of justice and its consequences . In the hills of eastern Harrison County in a country churchyard stands a small monument of native limestone . It is covered with moss, and the stone itself seems to have aged far more than the near century and a quarter it has marked the final resting place of a lovely young Kentucky woman. Blackened by time, its inscription is still legible: In Memory of Nancy Ann Daughter of J. and Nancy Maynor Born Jan. 1, 119 Murdered June , 17 73 Kentucky Lawyer The story behind this lonely grave is tragic and yet thrilling . David Sheely was a young farmer, and he and his wife, Nancy, lived in a two-room log cabin on Crooked Creek near where the stream flows into the Licking River. In the late afternoon of June , 17, David and a group of his friends went to Beaver Creek, some distance from his home, on a fishing party. The fish were “biting,” and by midnight the men had made a great catch. Unfortunately , their fishing was interspersed with frequent drams of whiskey. At about midnight the whiskey gave out and the fish quit biting. In a drunken boast, David invited the fishermen to go home with him where he said he would have his good wife, Nancy, draw and clean the fish and cook for them a fine breakfast of fish and cornbread. All of the men in a drunken condition arrived at the Sheely cabin at about two in the morning. Nancy was awakened and ordered to get dressed and to clean and cook the fish. This she positively declined to do, and an argument ensued between her and her husband. David was subjected to the ridicule of his drunken friends because he could not control his wife who persistently refused to obey him. Finally the laws of nature prevailed and the intoicated men were overcome by sleepiness. David lay down in the bed beside his wife. The others sprawled on the floor of the cabin or on the grass in the yard outside the door. When Sheely awoke the following morning all of the men were gone. His wife, Nancy, lay dead beside him, apparently strangled to death. A neighbor went to the house during the day and found the body of the dead woman on the bed. Her husband was nowhere to be found, and 7 Mac Swinford the small cabin was deserted. An alarm was given and there was great ecitement which soon spread throughout the county. The sheriff formed a posse to track down the missing husband. He was discovered hiding in the chimney of the old stone fireplace in his home. On September 1, 17, the Harrison County grand jury returned an indictment charging David Sheely with the wilful murder of his wife, Nancy. From the dusty archives of the Harrison County Circuit Clerk’s office the following entitled record is brought to light. First, tied with a neat black tape is this paper: Commonwealth vs. David Sheely Net: Commonwealth vs. David Sheely A true bill. J. D. Thomas, Foreman Filed 1th Sept., 17. The case was tried at this same September term of court before Circuit Judge Richard A. Buckner, Jr. Upon arraignment, the prisoner entered a plea of not guilty. While the defendant had a few sympathizers, the people of the county were generally incensed over the Transcript of Record } Murder } 7 Kentucky Lawyer death of an innocent young housewife as the direct result of drunken rowdyism by a bunch of ruffians...