Murder in the Classroom: Privilege, Honor, and Cultural Violence in Antebellum Louisville

Murder in the Classroom: Privilege,Honor,and Cultural Violence in Antebellu, n Louisville ANN HASSENPFI.UG n Wednesday,November 2,1853,Matthews E Ward murdered principal teacher William H.G. Butler in his schoolrc, om iii the Louisville High School in Louisville,Kentucky. On the previous day Butler had disciplined Ward's fifteenyear old brother,William. Matt and the younger William were members of one of the wealthier families in the city and were extremely wellconnected in the state of Kentucky as a whole. The tragic murder of William Butler and the public reaction to it supply insight into, but also raise qtiestions abotit, class and section, 71 conflicts within the antebelliim culture of Louisville. The murder, the subsequent trial, and ultimate acquittal of Matt created public outrage in Louisville and across the country. The Wards were part ot a circle of powerful and wealthy Kentucky families,while William Butler was a selfemployed schoolmaster from Indiana. The tragedy illuminates the relationship between students and teachers and between parents and teachers in antebellum schools. Moreover, while the southern code of honor played a significant part in the fateful events,they ( and particularly their aftermath)suggest * the limits of this code in the border city of Louisville. The urban setting as well as the diverse culture of the Ohio Valley region framed the unique circumstances of the tragedy and directed its equally unique outcome. Other than their age,the principal antagonists could .5* 14 not have been more different. Matthews Flournoy Ward ( or Matt,as he was called)was a literary and welleducated young man who,after attending Harvard,had published two books about his travels in Europe, the Middle East, and England. He and William Butler were almost the same age. Butler was twentyeight ,and Matt, twentyseven .'Each was married, but only Butler had a child. The Wards were known for their flamboyant lifestyle. The senior Robert Ward was a land speculator as well as part owner of a very lucrative New William H. G. Butler and bis wife, Elitabetb Peck Butler. Tbe Filson Historical Society SUMMER 2004 5 MURDER IN THE CIASSROOM Sallie W, ird Hitilt DOIL' its. the sister of tbe , 1,· clised Mattbetes F. Ward. it, as it· elikiit , n jit l. imhpme fc, r ber dramatic [, ehavic, r. Tbis image,pai, ited by Cle d,» p 94*, W«' ip= d gl«« m, * d 81* p : « 44*( 60 I -• did not subside aftel st ''« 9» 4 WS # dea, vors I J I -# 0. u., bp, 4.$* ty, Plitm, ty, S . tdi tukiminid M 1 1.0 IL, the tune, al and the reopening of the school, I 4 , n*32* . 3» 8 * 0 14. . ' t continuing on even aftei r . ll . =% * . t.. I I %, ' 0341 1 Ir1* L* 71* . : 8 / i : , , , f the police court hearing and subsequent grand jury Cove}of pampblet, " A indictment of the Ward brothers in Decembet The murder of a wellliked Tnbute to tbe Me, non' teacher by a wealthy aristociat's son had outraged residents of all classes in of William H G Butter" Louisville Feating that it would be impossible to find an iniparti, 11 Jury there, by lobit Heywood, a printed copy of tbe lettei the Wards' attorneys requested a change of venue toi the trial The Judoe b frc, Mi Bittler'> students agreed to move the trial flom the Jeffeison County Cit cuit Court in Louisville ivi itten to Heywood abc, lit to the Hardin County Circuit Court in Elizabethtown At the beginning of pul, lisbing bis se, mon, February, local authotities moved Matt and Rc, bert to the Hardin County and Heywood' s } eply Tbe lail The Jailei partitioned its one room into two, one for Robeit and one foi Filson Histoi ical Sc, ciety Matt and his wife w Among the leclsons that the defense offeted for the change of venue was the collective behavic, i of the editors ot the I. ouisville newspapet s In the months until the tital began in midApril 18 54,the three malor daily papers published atticles attacking each other's coveiage of the murder and the subsequent public reaction The Louisville Journal' s Whig editor,Cleorge Pientice,a friend Of...