A DESPERADO
KILLED
Simeon Garrard of Warren County, Indiana Submitted
by Adina Watkins Dyer
Simeon Garrard was the son
of John Garrard and Elizabeth Martindale, and an uncle of
my great-grandmother, Jane Garrard Watkins.
Newspaper articles concerning Simeon Garrard: Warren Republic Warren County, Indiana November 18, 1886 A DESPERADO KILLED
"Recently farmers about Battle Ground, Tippecanoe County,
had been missing property from their premises and the
pilferings had become so extensive that the Horse and
Cattle Protective Association took the matter into hand,
determined to bring the guilty parties to justice.
On Wednesday morning of last week, John C. Shaw, Edwin
Birch, John Cunningham, and Jesse Shortridge, of Battle
Ground, got on the trail of one Simeon Gerard and of his
probable whereabouts. Procuring a double-seated
buggy the four started out Wednesday for Attica where they
arrived in the evening and immediately made known their
business to Marshall Beymer and all started up the river
on foot, going up on the west side. Arriving at the
mouth of the Kickapoo they discovered a tent which they
immediately recognized as their property. A fishing
boat was found which also had been stolen. Going
inside the tent they found no one, but discovered boots,
socks, a clock, spoons, cooking utensils, knives and
forks, a pair of eyeglasses, rubber boots, overcoat, a
dagger, 2 revolvers, 4 pocket knives, lap robes, a coat
and vest, a pair of red woolen mitten, a lady's gossamer,
a pair of pants, screw drivers, razors, a double-barreled
shotgun, etc., some of the articles being readily
identified, and some having the name of the owner plainly
marked. The four men concluded to remain until their
man returned, and Beymer returned home. A watch was
kept all night and at 4 o'clock Thursday morning they
decided to take their property, put it in the boat and
return to Attica. As by accident one of the party
looked in the direction of the west bank of the creek,
which is high and steep, and saw a man standing some 30
steps away, and just as he called the attention of his
companions, the fellow raised his revolver, aimed and as
he was in the act of firing, he fell, rolled down the bank
and remained in the tall weeds of the bottom land.
No one dared to go to him for they did not know what he
might do. when daylight came a search was made and
the man found--dead, only a short distance from where he
fell. Three buck shot had pierced the right side and
breast and on the right forearm. The authorities of
Attica were immediately informed and Coroner Lewis of this
county sent for, who went to the scene and investigated
the matter. The dead man was identified by J. H.
Messner, W. P. Ermy, Elisha Little, Chas. Riggs and Robert
Hall as Simeon Gerard. Deceased was 48 years of age,
about 5 feet 8 inches in height, heavy build, weighing
about 180 pounds, dark hair and beard. He was born
and raised in this county about 3 miles south of Pine
Village. Mr. Lewis rendered a verdict of death from
gun shot wound, fired by parties unknown. Mr. Lewis
took charge of the body, had it prepared for burial and
brought to Hillside Cemetery where it was properly buried
Thursday afternoon."
There were some who didn't think the killing of Simeon Garrard was justified: Lafayette Daily Courier Lafayette, Tippecanoe Co., Indiana Saturday Morning, November 20, 1886 WAS IT MURDER! Revengeful Relatives After The Horse Company Whose Carbines Filled the Body of Sim Gerard with Buckshot-Details of the Tradgedy-Gerard Offered no Resistance--Was He Murdered!
"The fact that Sim Gerard made a raid upon the silverware
belonging to our Battle Ground neighbors would not justify
any individual or company in shedding his blood. We
are not authorized to do evil that a good result may
follow, neither are we justified in taking human life to
avenge the taking of a "pewter spoon." Sim Gerard
(or Jarret) lived for years in the neighborhood of Pine
Village, and was not angelic by any means, and yet he did
not have the horns of a demon. The day before his
tragic death he rode to Attica with Hon. Elish Little of
Warren county, and behaved himself unusually well.
He was an athlete, a great wrestler, and prided himself on
being able to jump a greater distance than any man in the
county. He was not quarrelsome, but would always resent an
insult. His greatest fault was found in the fact
that his fingers formed a kind of "magnet," and things not
his own would naturally follow his hand. It may be
that the Battle Ground Horse Detective company took the
life of a worthless cuss, but the important question now
presents itself, "Why was (he) killed?" Was he
likely to take three prisoners and burn them at a
stake? Did he quite suddenly (with blood in his eye)
get the drop on three men who carried loaded
muskets? The JOURNAL don't profess to know anything
about the death of Sim Gerard. If he had ambushed
himself among the shelving crags and mossy rocks of the
secluded Kickapoo and was trying to play "Peekaboo" with
our Horse Marines then he died just in time, but if he
came out of his hiding place and walked leisurely toward
the tent offering no demonstration of harm then the Battle
Ground boys have "got their foot in it." The Attica
Ledger of yesterday contained the following:
"Sim Gerard was quite well known over the country as Sim Jarret, though the former is his correct name. From youth he had been of a roving disposition and was known for expertness in the use of firearms and in athletic sports. He was one of the finest built small men ever seen in this vicinity, having solid muscles without an ounce of superfluous flesh, and very wiry and able to endure almost any physical hardship. He was a good marksman, it being told of him that he could get a squirrel from the tallest tree with one shot from his revolver. He was in the Union army for a while during the late war, deserting from his regiment and afterwards becoming a bushwhacker. He did not know fear and his dare-devil bravery pulled him through scrapes that would have cause other men to quake in their boots. Simeon was 39 years old. A brother and sister of the deceased are well known and respected citizens of Adams township, Warren county. There have been may rumors flying concerning the killing of Gerard, among them one to the effect that the four men from Battle Ground would be arrested on the charge of murder, and that the brother of the dead man would institute proceedings in that direction. To back this rumor it was also reported that Gerard made no resistance; that he was shot down before being given an opportunity to surrender, that he had no revolver in sight, and that he could have been captured alive with proper precaution. It is quite probable that these and the various other rumors concerning the affair have no real foundation. The Ledger has made diligent inquiries and believes that the report of the tragedy, given in last week's paper is substantially correct. It came from first hand, within an hour after the man was known to be dead, and at present there is no ground for disbelieving it. The verdict of the coroner was "death from buckshot wound, at hands unknown." Warren Republic Warren County, Indiana Thursday, January 19, 1888 John Cunningham, of
Tippecanoe county, residing near Battle Ground, committed
suicide on Monday, January 9, by jumping from the cupola
on his residence, causing instant death. It will be
remembered that he was one of the party of three men who
in the early part of last year came to Attica, Ind. on the
hunt of one Girard, a notorious character of the Wabash
who had stolen, as was believed, article from the three
men. They got trace of their game at Attica and
learned his place of rendevous, and following him up and
waiting for him overnight, succeeded early the following
morning in killing him. Cunningham, it seems,
believed he was the one who fired the fatal shot and this
so preyed upon him that he became unbalanced in his mind,
and admitted one day to a friend that he found it was with
great difficulty that he resisted the tempation to kill
himself. The attempt was made the same day he jumped
from his cupola to take his life, by firing a gun into his
mouth. The family had taken the precaution before
hand of drawing the load and thus foiled him in his
murderous intent. The deceased was a man advanced in
years. Shortly after his acquittal here last spring
for the shooting of Girard, he was compelled to borrow
$300, and to secure payment of the sme gave a mortgage on
his farm. This was the first time in his life he had
been compelled to do such a thing, and he felt, as he
expressed to friends, that ever since the killing of
Girard everything had gone wrong. He believed this
firmly and it had such a depressing effect upon his mind
that he sought relief in taking his life. The
remains were buried last Thursday.
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