Edward M. Yerger
Edward M. Yerger | |
---|---|
Born | 1828 (1828) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Died | April 22, 1875(1875-04-22) (aged 46–47) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
Allegiance | Confederate States |
Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Alma mater | Oakland College |
Edward M. Yerger (1828 – April 22, 1875) was an American newspaper editor and military officer. After a career in the newspaper industry, Yerger was arrested for the stabbing death of the provisional mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. His claim of habeas corpus after he was arrested by military authorities was appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court in Ex parte Yerger, a case tried before the Supreme Court of the United States.
Early life and education
Yerger was born in 1828 in Nashville, Tennessee, the youngest son of Tennessee Attorney General George Shall Yerger.[1] Edward and his family eventually relocated to Mississippi. Yerger graduated from Oakland College and served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.[2][3]
Career
Yerger edited several newspapers, including the Jackson Daily Mississippian, the Jackson Daily News, the Vicksburg Herald, and the Baltimore Evening Journal.[4][5][6] On April 6, 1867, while on the staff of Daily Mississippian, he engaged in a duel with I.M. Patridge of the Herald. Yerger had taken offense to an article that appeared in the latter paper, disparaging the Mississippian.[7] Yerger was also involved in conflicts with Colonel Manlove of the Vicksburg Times and Major Barksdale of the Jackson Clarion.[8] Yerger was later employed by the Vicksburg Herald. He announced his resignation from the staff of the Herald on January 28, 1868.[9] Yerger was described by a historian as "mentally unsound".[10]
Murder of Joseph G. Crane
In 1869, Major Joseph G. Crane became acting mayor of Jackson, Mississippi by military appointment. Yerger, a resident of Jackson, had refused to pay his taxes in 1867 and 1868.[5] In order to collect the money Yerger owed, Crane seized Yerger's piano to sell at auction.[4] At the time. Yerger was out of town and unable to prevent the seizure. He returned home on June 8, and confronted Crane the next day. An argument ensued and Yerger stabbed Crane to death.[11] Yerger was arrested and set to be tried by a military commission.[12][13] He was represented by his uncle William Yerger, a former justice on the Mississippi Supreme Court, who sought a writ of habeas corpus from the circuit court.[14] The resulting case, Ex parte Yerger, was heard by the Supreme Court of the United States.[15] Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase concluded that the court had jurisdiction to hear the case, which meant Yerger did not have to be tried by the military commission. The attorney general and William Yerger agreed that Yerger be turned over to civilian authorities for prosecution.
Yerger was never tried for murder, and, after a stint in a Mississippi jail, was released on bail and moved to Baltimore, Maryland.
Death
Yerger died in Baltimore, Maryland on April 22, 1875.[6]
References
- ^ Miller, Mary Carol (1996). Lost Mansions of Mississippi. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-61703-421-3.
- ^ Howell, Kenneth Wayne (2012). Still the Arena of Civil War: Violence and Turmoil in Reconstruction Texas, 1865-1874. University of North Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-57441-449-3.
- ^ Davis, Jefferson (2008-11-15). The Papers of Jefferson Davis: June 1865–December 1870. LSU Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-5895-1.
- ^ a b Nossiter, Adam (2009). Of Long Memory: Mississippi and the Murder of Medgar Evers. Da Capo Press. p. 113. ISBN 9780786748488. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ a b Ward, Francis McRae. "Chapter 7: The Killing Of Colonel Crane, Military Mayor Of Jackson, Mississippi". "Vignettes" of the Civil War. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ a b "Death of E.M. Yerger". Public ledger. (Memphis, Tenn.). 23 April 1875. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "Duel Between two Mississippi Editors". The Charleston daily news. (Charleston, S.C.). 6 April 1867. p. 4. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "The Duello in the South". The evening telegraph. (Philadelphia [Pa.]). 13 April 1867. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "Mississippi Items". Memphis daily appeal. (Memphis, Tenn.). 2 February 1868. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ Nossiter, Adam (2009-06-16). Of Long Memory: Mississippi And The Murder Of Medgar Evers. Hachette Books. ISBN 978-0-7867-4848-8.
- ^ "Terrible Tragedy". Public ledger (Memphis, Tenn.). 9 June 1869. p. 3. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ Wiecek, William M. (October 1969). "The Reconstruction of Federal Judicial Power, 1863-1875". The American Journal of Legal History. 13 (4): 333–359. doi:10.2307/844183. JSTOR 844183.
- ^ Biographical and historical memoirs of Mississippi, Vol. II. Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Company. 1891. p. 29. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ Kutler, Stanley I. (April 1967). "Ex parte McCardle: Judicial Impotency? The Supreme Court and Reconstruction Reconsidered". The American Historical Review. 72 (3): 835–851. doi:10.2307/1846658. JSTOR 1846658.
- ^ PAUL FINKELMAN & MELVIN I. UROFSKY, Ex parte Yerger, in LANDMARK DECISIONS OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT (2003), available in CQ ELECTRONIC LIBRARY, CQ Supreme Court Collection, http://library.cqpress.com/scc/lndmrk03-113-6430-338597 (last visited April 4, 2007). Document ID: lndmrk03-113-6430-338597.
Further reading
- Wilkinson, W. S. M. (1869). Trial of E. M. Yerger, before a military commission for the killing of Bv't-Col. Joseph G. Crane, at Jackson, Miss., June 8th, 1869. Jackson, Miss.: Clarion Book and Job Printing Establishment. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- Eubank, Sever Landon (1950). The Yerger case: a side light of reconstruction. Thesis (M.A.)--Colorado College. OCLC 26510569.
- Works related to Ex parte Yerger at Wikisource
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- Thomas H. Dickson 1834
- S.P. Baley 1835
- Thomas H. Dickson 1836
- S.P. Baley 1836
- John P. Oldham 1837–1838
- John P. Oldham 1839
- H.R. McDonald 1840
- John P. Oldham 1840–1841
- James H. Boyd 1842–1843
- John P. Oldham 1844–1849
- James H. Boyd 1850
- J. P. Jones 1851
- William H. Taylor 1852–1853
- Richard Fletcher 1854
- William H. Taylor 1855–1857
- James H. Boyd 1858
- W. A. Purdom 1859
- Richard C. Kerr 1860–1861
- Charles Henry Manship 1862–1863
- D. N. Barrows 1864–1867
- Thomas H. Norton 1868
- Lt. Col. James Biddle 1868
- James P. Sesseons 1868–1869
- Rhesa Hatcher 1869
- Lt. Col. Joseph G. Crane 1869
- Captain F.A. Field 1869
- A. Way Kelly 1869
- E. W. Cabiniss 1869–1870
- Oliver Clifton 1870–1871
- Rhesa Hatcher 1871–1872
- Marion Smith 1872–1874
- John McGill 1874–1888
- William Henry 1888–1893
- L. F. Chiles 1893–1895
- Oliver Clifton 1895–1897
- Ramsey Wharton 1897–1899
- H. M. Taylor 1899
- W. W. Morrison 1899 (Mayor Pro Tem.)
- John W. Todd 1899–1901
- William Hemingway 1901–1905
- Oliver Clifton 1905 (died before taking office)
- Ramsey Wharton 1905–1908 (died in office)
- A. C. Crowder 1909–1913
- S. J. Taylor 1913–1917
- Walter A. Scott 1917–1945
- Leland S. Speed 1945–1949
- Allen C. Thompson 1949–1969
- Russell C. Davis 1969–1977
- Dale Danks 1977–1989
- J. Kane Ditto 1989–1997
- Harvey Johnson Jr. 1997–2005
- Frank Melton 2005–2009 (died in office)
- Leslie B. McLemore 2009 (interim mayor)
- Harvey Johnson Jr. 2009–2013
- Chokwe Lumumba 2013–2014 (died in office)
- Charles Tillman 2014
- Tony Yarber 2014–2017
- Chokwe Antar Lumumba 2017–present