The date was 26 June 1817 and the county of Barren was only 18 years old, a beautiful area of the state, fast filling up with people moving in from various locations. Dr Alexander Sanderson's murder that day, in what is now Metcalfe Co, shattered the serenity of the county for a long time. He had been found murdered with the butt of a Revolutionary War gun imbedded in his skull, one of a matched set of John Gorin's of Glasgow. He had been carrying a lot of money which was of course was missing and was on his way home to MS after a trip here. Without going into great detail of the murder (which is well-documented), a trial began and the Glasgow newspapers carried each detail and the newsman sat in on every day of the trial, taking copious notes which ran immediately in the next edition. Testimonies went on for a long time and the accused, John Hamilton, declared his innocence over and over. The case hung on a pair of bloodied pants found on his property. One of his slaves admitted that he had stolen those pants and later gotten into a fight with another slave - then hiding them so his master wouldn't find them. But it didn't matter. Judge Christopher Tompkins heard the case; Richard A Buckner (Commonwealth Attorney) was involved, Solomon Sharp assisted. It was insisted by the defense that Sanderson and Hamilton were friends and that Hamilton would have had ample opportunity to rob Sanderson if so desired, but hadn't. The Grand Jury was made up of many of our outstanding citizens of the day: Daniel Curd (foreman, our County Surveyor), Robert Field, Thompson Crenshaw, James G Hicks, Samuel Malone, Henry Roundtree, Samuel Anderson, William Bowles, John Donan, Abraham Twyman, Thomas Jones, Samuel E Carpenter, William Kerr, John Duff, Thomas Ferguson, Isaac Davidson, Joseph Souther, John Sanders and George Jameson. The witness list was even larger: Mrs Rebecca Wilson, James P Hamilton, Hiram Decker of Vincennes, IN, Richard Garnett (Clerk, Barren Co Court), Simon Buford, Robert Lane, Thomas Hall, Andrew Beard, Edward Young, Maximillian Haley, John Jamison, Gabriel Ament, Alexis Rice, Peter Frank, Billy Sneed, William Abbott, David Mize, John Robertson, Alexander Adair, Josiah Moss, PASCALL D CRADDOCK (Sheriff), Abner Hamilton (father of John), P V Young, a Harper, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Nunn, Mrs. Branstetter, Mr Leeper, a Jones, Ruth Hamilton (sister of John), Mrs Abner Hamilton, (mother), Elisha Edwards, a Shockley, Jeremiah Harper, Mrs. Harper, Mrs Levina Harper, Absolom Harper, a Clemans, Jonathan Clark, Marquis Hardin, Mr. Beard, Mr. Edwards, Thomas Stockton, John Gorin Sr (his gun was used in the murder and he had loaned it to Sanderson for protection), Charles Harvey (Gorin's son-in-law), Samuel Wilson, William R McFerran, Joseph Winlock, John McFerran, Sampson Jones, A Hamilton, William Rennick, William Kirkpatrick, Algernon Sydney, Col. Sharp, Samuel Bell, Nathaniel Forbis, Thomas T Conner, Adam Hamilton, Mrs M H Dickerson, W G Hughes, Brent Adams, Mrs Sallie Anderson, R V Evans, General Richard H Rousseau and Col. Gibson. Testimony on both sides was heated and argument ensued. Many just gave testimony of when they last saw Sanderson and Hamilton, women were asked what time their horses rode by (as Hamilton had planned on riding part of the way with Sanderson), where the gun was obtained, where the ammo was purchased, what sounds were heard, etc. It would be imagined that during the trial not much was accomplished other than citizens gathering in the small court facilities or listening through the windows to hear every word .. and gossip was likely rampant. Based on this totally circumstantial evidence, John Hamilton was found guilty and sentenced to be hung. On May 17th, 1818, almost a year after the murder, John C Hamilton was taken from the jail by the Sheriff (Craddock), led to the gallows which had been erected in the hollow by Cleveland Avenue and Leslie Avenue (where to this day nothing exists, a triangle of land devoid of anything now), and hung by Craddock. His remains were carried to the cemetery at Old Liberty Church about 1/2 mile west of Cave Ridge in Metcalfe Co and placed in an unmarked grave. The tale of the first murder and the first hanging was over. But - was it? Sandi SCKY Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=south-central-kentucky Barren Co Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=kybarren Sandi's Puzzlers: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gensoup/gorin/puz.html