Hezekiah Clem: First Man Hanged in Harlan County? [Part 2]

Oral history and numerous retellings of the same story report that Hezekiah Clem was the first person hanged in Harlan County in 1860. What if Hezekiah wasn’t hanged?

In Part 1, we recount who Hezekiah Clem is, his family ties, and his notoriety.

In July 1859, Hezekiah and his brother John were arrested and indicted for the murder of Ben Irvin. At the request of the defense, the trials of Hezekiah and John were conducted separately as it was believed that John had done the stabbing.

The Harlan Circuit Court Minute Book for the September 1859 trial references the proceedings in the case of the Commonwealth of Kentucky versus Hezekiah Clem on a charge of murder.

Witnesses for the prosecution were:

• John Lewis, Sr.
• Noble Smith
• George W. Ball
• Hezekiah, Alabama, and Elizabeth Jennings (the jailer, to whose home Ben Irvin was stabbed, his wife and daughter)
• Hugh, Frank, and William Irvin (sons of Ben Irvin, the victim)
• Frank Unthank
• Adrian Nolen
• Pierce Daniels, Sr.
• Jennings Hensley
• Woodard Fouch, Jr.
• Luke Jones
• John B.A.T. Mills
• Andrew Osborne, Jr.
• A.J. Mills
• George W. Crider
• George Turner
• William Farley
• William Ball
• Jonathan Kelly
• George B. Howard
• Mike Howard, who testified that Hezekiah Clem had drawn a knife on him earlier in the day and that he believed it was the same knife in evidence.
• William Turner who testified that Mike Howard had been “drinking pretty smart” and had wanted to fight Clem.

Witnesses for the defense included the following:

• Luke Jones and Frank Unthank (who were also listed as witness for the prosecution)
• David Shoop
• Carr Brittain
• William Osborne
• William Clem, Sr. (Hezekiah’s father)

A warrant had been issued to Laurel County for the arrest of Hezekiah’s niece Drucilla Green to provide her testimony, although it is uncertain how she was involved, or if she would testify for the prosecution or defense.[1]

Details from the trial describe how on Wednesday, 07 July 1859, Jim Middleton and John Clem got into a fight. A 60-year-old man named Ben Irvin rooted loudly for Middleton which angered John. It is said that John kicked Irvin and threatened worse if he did not hush.

Irvin had started drinking early in the day and soon went to sleep at Dr. John B.A.T. Mills’ house, either on the porch or in the yard near the porch. Hezekiah saw him there and took a large stone and dropped it on or near his head, probably in spite over Irvin’s earlier support of Middleton. At this point or shortly thereafter, Irvin got up and began to walk up to the house of Hezekiah Jennings, the county jailer. Hezekiah followed him and as Irvin went to put his leg over Jennings’ gate, Hezekiah hit him in the side. Thinking he had only been hit with a rock, Irvin went on up to the porch and called out to Jennings.

It was later discovered that Irvin had been stabbed. Irvin accused Hezekiah of doing it although Hezekiah denied it. As Irvin’s condition appeared serious, Dr. Mills was summoned. Mills believed the wound was serious, but not necessarily fatal.

Clem and Jennings left the house to see why a calf was bawling. Clem kicked a dog off William Turner’s calf with Jennings returning to the house earlier than Clem. While they were out, Jennings’ wife Elizabeth and his daughter Alabama found a bloody pocket knife on the floor. According to the testimony in the case, this was not the only bloody pocket knife found that night. Frank Unthank testified he had found a similar knife at the corner of the courthouse, which was also bloody.

That evening, Hezekiah left the Jennings’ home and visited with his father-in-law Lewis Farmer at his stone house. After lying down to sleep for a few minutes, he went out again, speaking a while with his brother-in-law Leonard Farmer (Lewis’ son, Joicy’s brother). He was arrested that evening based on the testimony of those in the house hearing someone say to Clem “You are my prisoner.”

By Thursday morning, Irvin seemed worse and his sons were summoned. Hugh Irvin testified that he came to town to bring his father home.

“He rode my horse. He said on the road that he must die. He got down once. He then stated that he could not live and did not believe he could get home. At the ford of the creek he said Clem had stabbed him, that he was getting over the gate at Jennings’ when the wound was inflicted, that Clem followed him up to Jennings’, that Mills was sent for and he stayed at Jennings’ that night.”[2]

Irvin made it home and languished from his wounds until Saturday. The Irvin’s called on Dr. Pearson Daniels to attend to their father. Daniels testified that he bled him (a common medical practice of the time) and gave him medicine, but he doubted Irvin would live. He also testified that Irvin got up and went out in the yard, nearly falling if it hadn’t been for his son to catch him. A short time after coming back into the house, Ben Irvin died from internal bleeding.

If you put your jury hat on for one moment, think about the facts that were just presented to you. A drunk, 60-year-old man gets into an argument and goes to sleep it off in Dr. Mills’ yard. Hezekiah comes back to the scene of the argument, and after awakening Irvin, follows him to another house. While approaching the Jennings’ house, Hezekiah allegedly stabs Irvin.

If Hezekiah was such a ruthless murderer, there was ample time and opportunity to kill Irvin before he could stumble to the Jennings’s gate in his tired and inebriated state. Hezekiah had every opportunity to stab Irvin and leave. If Hezekiah was out to kill Irvin, why stay around the Jennings’ home… the man is the jailer and probably knows a thing or two about handling criminals. Hezekiah not only goes past the Jennings’ gate, across the yard, up onto the porch, and probably into the house, but he leaves the house, walks out across the porch, across the yard, into the livestock area to kick a dog, back across the yard, up onto the porch, and returns into the house. It’s difficult to determine, but Hezekiah may have been the one to summon Dr. Mills.

Was he loitering to finish Irvin? If so, why leave when Dr. Mills claimed the wound wasn’t fatal? Why not offer to help Irvin home and concoct a story that he died falling off a horse or that they were ambushed? The jurors undoubtedly had other questions about the other circumstances of the trial to consider such as where did the bloody pocket knife come from? And if Hezekiah didn’t stab Irvin, who did?

To be continued in Part 3…

[1] Drucilla was born about 1844, the daughter of William Hogan Green and Elizabeth Farmer (Hezekiah’s sister-in-law, Joicy’s sister). Elizabeth later remarried to Joseph Nolan Jr. in Harlan on 23 March 1853.

[2] Timm, Holly. “Details of Incident Leading to Hanging Recalled.” Harlan Daily Enterprise Penny Pincher (09 December 1987).

Philip Farmer assists families with breaking down their genealogical brick walls. He is currently assisting three families find information on their ancestors. Philip is also the author and publisher of “Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh,” a biographical history of Major Jasper Farmar’s family immigration from Ireland to Pennsylvania. Their story continues with their immigration out of Whitemarsh Township into North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee, concluding with a biographical sketch of Stephen Farmer who settled in Harlan County, Kentucky. The continuation of Stephen’s story is currently in work.