The St. Louis Republic, November 03,
1901
William Coffey Is Again In
Jail
This Time a Young Woman Prefers a Charge of
Assault, Which He Denies
Before Courts Ten Years
First Gained Notoriety for His Prosecution
of Whitecaps*, Who Beat Himself and Wife Unmercifully
 |
| William Coffey from St. Louis Republic article |
Evansville, Ind., Nov. 2, -- William Coffey of whitecap fame is again in
jail at Jasper, having been arrested a few days ago at a small station on the
Southern road near Huntingburg, on a charge of attempted assault, preferred by
Miss Ella Smith of Ireland.
It is said that to try all the cases in which Coffey has been plaintiff
or defendant would take a continuous session of court for a solid year.
Coffey first came into prominence when he as whipped by whitecaps in
December, 1890. He was living with his
wife, Mary, in a little log hut near Ellsworth, sixteen miles east of here,
near the Crawford County line.
Just what the
whitecaps had against him will never be known, as no one would own up to being
one of the crowd.
About midnight on
December 4, 1890, while he was at home asleep with his wife and 4-years-old
girl, a noise of running men was heard, and his door was broken in by a
cross-tie. A dozen masked men rushed
into the room and, without allowing him to dress, dragged him out into the cold
night. He was taken about 200 feet from
the house and tied to a tree, after being blindfolded. His shirt was stripped off his back, and the
leader, whom Coffey always maintained was John H. Brown, a prominent and
well-to-do farmer of the neighborhood, gave the order for “No. 1” to proceed.
Beaten by Whitecaps.
“No. 1” stepped
forward, picked up a strong hickory with, and gave Coffey five vigorous blows
on the back. Coffey claimed that “No. 1:
was Thomas Higfill. “No. 1,: at the
command of the leader, was followed by “No. 2.” “No. 3,” “No. 4” and “No. 5,”
who each gave him five hard lashes as “No. 1” had done. Not a word was spoken by anyone except the
leader. No names were spoken, each
member being designated by number. About
twenty-five were present, all disguised and masked. Coffey did not pretend to know all the crowd,
but insisted that “No. 2: was Henry Sutton and “No 3” William Highfill. Among others he
claimed to
recognize were James Ellis, Levi Ellis, Levi Jacobs and John and Wesley
Kellams. All these were prominent and
well-respected men.
At the January term
of court Judge Oscar M. Welborn gave pointed instructions to the Grand Jury and
directed them to return bills against all the whitecappers if any evidence
could be secured against them. Both
Coffey and his wife appeared before the Grand Jury and identified each of the
suspected men and several others, but the Grand Jury refused to return any
bills.
Again Beaten.
During the
following spring and summer there were numerous whitecap outrages along the
Dubois and Crawford
County
Coffey and his wife
made their way to his mother’s house, a quarter of a mile distant, where Coffey
fell fainting in her door from loss of blood.
His life was despaired of for more than three weeks. He finally recovered and he and his wife
appeared before the September Grand Jury and testified that the same men
whipped him who had whipped him the year before. Though Judge Welborn gave charge after charge
and time and again sent them back to their rooms, the jurors refused to return
any whitecap indictments. John H. Brown,
whom Coffey identified as leader, was foreman of the Grand Jury. They did, however, return two or three bills
against Coffey for provoke [sic] and assault and battery.
Alleged Whitecaps Tried.
During all this
time the newspapers all over the country were urging the prosecution of the
whitecappers and were wanting to know why it was not done. As soon as court was over Coffey was sent for
by Deputy Prosecutor Richard M. Milburn and affidavits were made against all
the parties whom Coffey claimed to recognize.
All were arrested
and demanded a change from Judge Welborn.
This was granted and Thomas Duncan of Princeton was appointed special
Judge to try the cases. The first case
to be tried was that of John H. Brown.
The trial lasted a week. More
than fifty witnesses testified that Coffey’s reputation for truth was bad.
After being out
twenty-four hours the jury brought in a verdict of guilty, fixing Brown’s
punishment at two years in the penitentiary.
Brown escaped and has never been seen in the county since. He is said to be in Texas.
The next cases to
be tried were those of Thomas Highfil [sic] and his son, William. Each occupied a week. Thomas was found not guilty and William was
given two years in State Prison. He
served his time and is now living in the eastern part of this county. Henry Sutton pleaded illness and his case was
continued.
It is now seen that
the back of the defense was broken and that unless something desperate was done
that all of the defendants would go to the Penitentiary, as there were three
cases against each defendant, two for whipping Coffey and one for whipping his
wife.
Charged with Perjury.
A change of venue
was granted and the cases sent to Pike County.
At this state of the game, it is said one of the accused men offered
Coffey $7,000 is he would make an affidavit that he had nothing to do with the
whipping and was not present. Coffey
agreed to this. The money was to be
placed in a hollow oak tree and as soon as he had signed the affidavits he was
to go and get the money. However, when
he signed the papers and went to look for the money he found nothing bu some
strips of brown paper.
Shortly afterwards,
Sutton’s case was called and these affidavits introduced in evidence. Sutton was acquitted and the prosecution in
disgust quashed the remaining cases.
Coffey was indicted
for perjury, but escaped. He wandered
around and was arrested at Vincennes for stealing a turkey and sent to the
penitentiary for a year. Upon the
expiration of his sentence he was arrested on an old charge of perjury at
Petersburg. The jury, after hearing the
evidence for a week, were out for three days and failed to agree. After this the case was continued a time or
two and, after Coffey had been in jail for nearly a year, he was released by
the Judge on his own bond. The officers
hoped he would leave and never come back for trial, but on the first day of the
next court he was on hand. After an
attempt to get the witnesses, the case was nolled. [sic]
Trouble With His Wife.
Coffee [sic] had
three cases for damages against each of the parties charged with taking part in
whitecapping him, but never recovered anything.
He and his wife separated, and he was arrested on the charge of sending
a letter containing obscene matter through the mails to her. He was taken to Evansville and lodged in jail, and after an
examination by Commissioner Wartmen was bound over to the United States
District Court at Indianapolis and sent to the Marion County
Since then he has
figured in two or three cases of some sort at every term of court. He is about 35 years old, is a hard worker
and can do as much manual labor in a day as any man in the county. A few nights ago Miss Ella Smith of Ireland
claims he broke into her room where she was sleeping with some younger brothers
and sisters and attempted to assault her.
An outcry from the children, however, frightened him and he fled. Her father and mother were both away and this
was about midnight. She swore out a
warrant against him. He is now in jail
awaiting trial on this charge and denies that he is guilty.
*Whitecaps were
also known as Night Riders
Please write if you know who William's parents were!
Jack
