ALVIN SALISBURY ca. 1837-1880, burial at Webster Cemetery, Hancock County, Illinois

WEBSTER CEMETERY
HANCOCK COUNTY, ILLINOIS

ALVIN SALISBURY
ca. 1837-1880
(tombstone not yet photographed)

MY HUSBAND

ALVIN
SALISBURY

DIED
AUG. 21, 1880
AGED
43 YEARS

[Lengthy faded epitaph]

The Quincy Daily Whig
August 24, 1880

FATAL FUE [sic]

Resulting in the Death of Alvin Saulsbury, of Fountain Green, Ill.

Full Particulars of the Terrible Tragedy and the Causes Leading Thereto.

The Keokuk Gate City of this morning has the following account of the Fountain Green (Hancock county) tragedy:

"There was an enthusiastic Garfield and Arthur meeting at Fountain Green, Hancock Co., Ill., Friday evening. Maj. McClaughrey, warden of the Illinois penitentiary, made an address, which was an eloquent and highly appreciated effort. The Fountain Green and Blandinsville Garfield and Arthur clubs gave a torchlight procession, and were enthusiastically cheered by the assembled multitude.

When the meeting was going on inside

A ROW OCCURRED ON THE OUTSIDE, which resulted in one man losing his life and another staining his hands in a fellow-being's blood. Alvin Saulsbury, who has been a democrat for twenty years, and who recently left that party and joined the Garfield and Arthur club, was engaged in conversation with a crowd of men, and remarked that the democrats drank too much whisky [sic]. He had hardly uttered sentence when Thomas Duff, a son of Joshua Duff, a well-known farmer of Hancock county, who was standing at one side said his father was a democrat.

It seems there had been

AN OLD FEUD between the parties, and angry words were passed, culminaiing [sic] as usual, in a fight. Duff used a knife, stabbing Saulsbury twice in the stomach and cutting the muscle of the right arm, below the elbow, inside, entirely off. He finally struck Saulsbury in the forehead with the knife, the blade penetrating the brain. Duff then jumped on his horse and rode home. He was arrested, taken to Carthage, and placed under $1,000 bonds.

SAULSBURY DIED Saturday night and was buried Sunday, the neighbors turning out en masse, and the greatest excitement prevailing. Duff was rearrested on the charge of murder, and had a preliminary examination at Fountain Green, Monday.

The meeting was not disturbed as the parties inside the hall knew nothing of what occurred outside."

The Quincy Daily Whig
August 27, 1880

The Tragedy at Fountain Green, Last Friday Night--
Duff Held to Answer, Without Bail.

The examination of Thomas Duff, for the killing of Salisbury, at Fountain Green, Hancock county, last week, which had been in progress at Carthage, was concluded Wednesday morning. All during the examination an immense crowd of people was in attendance. Prosecuting Attorney Mason, assisted by T. C. Griffiths and O. F. Berry, conducted the prosecution, and Peterson & Rogers, assisted by S. H. Benson, the defense. The Gate City says that on Monday evening the examination of Duff was commenced. Over 100 witnesses had been summoned to appear on both sides. The principal facts elicited were that as Salisbury was talking to some friends about the democrats drinking so much whisky [sic], Duff stepped up and made some remark about his (Salisbury's) father. Salisbury told him to shut his mouth. But few more words were exchanged when both struck. Several passes were made, when Duff commenced using his knife, at the same time calling for the crowd to take him (Salisbury) off. The first cut severed the muscles of the left forearm just below the elbow. The second was made on the breast, striking the sternum and glacing downward, Salisbury staggering back, his head falling forward. Duff again struck, making the wound in the brain. Duff immediately fled on his horse, but was caught and brought back. At the close, the verdict was announced: "Guilty of murder." Not being a bailable case, he was taken to Carthage and confined in the county jail. This is the culmination of a feud that has existed for years.