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Cold Spring murders

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</style><table class="infobox vevent"><caption class="infobox-title summary">Cold Spring murders</caption><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Date</th><td class="infobox-data" style="text-align: left;">September 12, 1868 (1868-09-12)<a href="#cite_note-indenc-1">[1]</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Location</th><td class="infobox-data location" style="text-align: left;">Cold Spring, Indiana</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Cause</th><td class="infobox-data" style="text-align: left;">Shooting</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Deaths</th><td class="infobox-data" style="text-align: left;">Jacob and Nancy Young<a href="#cite_note-indystar-2">[2]</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Suspects</th><td class="infobox-data" style="text-align: left;">William Abrams, Silas Hartman, Nancy Clem</td></tr></tbody></table>

On September 13, 1868, in what became known as the Cold Spring murders,<a href="#cite_note-marion-3">[3]</a> the bodies of Jacob and Nancy Young were found along <a href="White_River_(Indiana)" title="White River (Indiana)">White River</a> in Cold Spring, near <a href="Indianapolis" title="Indianapolis">Indianapolis</a>. Both the husband and wife had been shot in the head the day before, and a gun belonging to William J. Abrams was found near the crime scene. Abrams, Silas Hartman and Hartman's sister Nancy Clem were arrested for the murders.<a href="#cite_note-indenc-1">[1]</a><a href="#cite_note-marion-3">[3]</a>

The crime attracted nationwide attention at the time due to one of the murder suspects, Clem, being a woman.<a href="#cite_note-indystar-2">[2]</a> <a href="Benjamin_Harrison" title="Benjamin Harrison">Benjamin Harrison</a>, who later became the <a href="List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States" class="mw-redirect" title="List of Presidents of the United States">23rd President of the United States</a>, gained fame as the public <a href="Prosecutor" title="Prosecutor">prosecutor</a> in Clem's murder trials.<a href="#cite_note-Ben-4">[4]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Arrests_and_trials">Arrests and trials</h2></div>

William Abrams was arrested on September 15, 1868, followed by Silas Hartman on September 21, and Nancy Clem on October 7.<a href="#cite_note-indenc-1">[1]</a> Evidence suggested that Nancy Clem, a businesswoman, had been involved in a business scam<a href="#cite_note-indystar-2">[2]</a><a href="#cite_note-nyt-5">[5]</a> and was heavily indebted to one of the victims, Jacob Young.<a href="#cite_note-indenc-1">[1]</a>

Due to the <a href="Circumstantial_evidence" title="Circumstantial evidence">circumstantial evidence</a>, the first trial resulted in a <a href="Hung_jury" title="Hung jury">hung jury</a>. All three suspects were found guilty in the subsequent second trial.<a href="#cite_note-marion-3">[3]</a> Hartman then confessed to the murders and later committed suicide in his cell.<a href="#cite_note-marion-3">[3]</a> Abrams was convicted of murder and sentenced to <a href="Life_imprisonment" title="Life imprisonment">life imprisonment</a>; he was <a href="Pardon" title="Pardon">pardoned</a> by <a href="Governor_of_Indiana" title="Governor of Indiana">Governor</a> <a href="James_D._Williams" title="James D. Williams">James D. Williams</a> in 1878.<a href="#cite_note-marion-3">[3]</a>

Clem's murder conviction in the second trial was touted as prosecutor <a href="Benjamin_Harrison" title="Benjamin Harrison">Benjamin Harrison</a>'s greatest courtroom victory at the time.<a href="#cite_note-Ben-4">[4]</a> However, the <a href="Indiana_Supreme_Court" title="Indiana Supreme Court">Indiana Supreme Court</a> overturned the guilty verdict, and Harrison retried the case, again winning a conviction.<a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a> After the second murder conviction was again overturned by the State Supreme Court, <a href="Boone_County%2C_Indiana" title="Boone County, Indiana">Boone County</a> <a href="County_commission" title="County commission">commissioners</a> dismissed the case.<a href="#cite_note-marion-3">[3]</a> Clem was tried five times for the murders in total but was never convicted for them.<a href="#cite_note-indenc-1">[1]</a>

Clem was later convicted of <a href="Perjury" title="Perjury">perjury</a> and <a href="Forgery" title="Forgery">forgery</a> in another case involving a financial scam, for which she received a 4-year sentence.<a href="#cite_note-marion-3">[3]</a><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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</style><cite id="CITEREFBodenhamerBarrows1994" class="citation book cs1">Bodenhamer, David J.; Barrows, Robert G. (November 22, 1994). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=bg13QcMSsq8C&q=cold+springs+murders+nancy+clem&pg=PA456">"Cold Spring Murder Case"</a>. The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. p. 456. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>9780253112491</bdi>.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-indystar-2">^ <a href="#cite_ref-indystar_2-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-indystar_2-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-indystar_2-2">c</a> <cite id="CITEREFHiggins2016" class="citation web cs1">Higgins, Will (September 12, 2016). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.indystar.com/story/life/2016/09/12/how-murders-shed-light-womens-history/89592220/">"How murders shed light on women's history"</a>. The Indianapolis Star.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-marion-3">^ <a href="#cite_ref-marion_3-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-marion_3-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-marion_3-2">c</a> <a href="#cite_ref-marion_3-3">d</a> <a href="#cite_ref-marion_3-4">e</a> <a href="#cite_ref-marion_3-5">f</a> <a href="#cite_ref-marion_3-6">g</a> <cite id="CITEREFSt._John2002" class="citation book cs1">St. John, Philip A. (2002). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=r4V7tfTqlCAC&q=Nancy+Clem&pg=PA26">"Police and Politics 1865-1900"</a>. Marion County Sheriff's Department. Turner Publishing Company. p. 26. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>9781563117602</bdi>.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-Ben-4">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Ben_4-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-Ben_4-1">b</a> <cite id="CITEREFMooreHale2006" class="citation book cs1">Moore, Anne Chieko; Hale, Hester Anne (2006). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HKBFgjrulnUC&q=nancy+clem+benjamin+harrison+prosecutor&pg=PA52">"Successful Attorney and State Politician"</a>. Benjamin Harrison: Centennial President. Nova Publishers. pp. 52–53. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>9781600210662</bdi>.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-nyt-5"><a href="#cite_ref-nyt_5-0">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFStasio2016" class="citation web cs1">Stasio, Marilyn (October 25, 2016). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/books/review/notorious-mrs-clem-and-more-true-crime.html">"New True-Crime Books for Fall"</a>. The New York Times.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFNelson2015" class="citation book cs1">Nelson, Julie (2015). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Uf8TBwAAQBAJ&q=Nancy+clem+1869&pg=PA324">"1869"</a>. American Presidents Year by Year. Routledge. p. 324. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>9781317477112</bdi>.</cite>

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<li id="cite_note-7"><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFStall2013" class="citation web cs1">Stall, Sam (March 5, 2013). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.indianapolismonthly.com/news-opinion/indy-10-most-notorious-crimes-of-all-time/">"Indy's 10 Most Notorious Crimes of All Time"</a>. Indianapolis Monthly.</cite>

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2></div>

<ul><li>Clem, N. E., Hartman, S. W., & Marion County (Ind.). (1869). The Cold Spring tragedy: Trial and conviction of Mrs. Nancy E. Clem for the murder of Jacob Young and wife... Indianapolis, Ind: A.C. Roach.</li>

<li><cite id="CITEREFGamber2016" class="citation book cs1">Gamber, Wendy (2016). The Notorious Mrs. Clem: Murder and Money in the Gilded Age. Johns Hopkins University Press. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>9781421424279</bdi>.</cite></li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-04-04" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Cold_Spring_murders&oldid=1283918870">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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