When Lincoln Defended A Killer: The Story of Peachy Quinn Harrison

The stakes were high – and not just for the young man on trial for murder. But also for his defense attorney, Abraham Lincoln. Not only did he know both the victim and the killer, but the case marked the only time the full trial would be written down and published for everyone to see. One major slip could lead to the gallows for his client and end his hopes for the presidency.  Listen to the true crime documentary that featured a future president.

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Executive Producer- Clare O'Donohue
https://clareodonohue.com

Executive Producer - Margaret Smith

Editor – Jessica Stokey

Social Media Manager & Design - Mikayla Bogus
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IT Manager - Conor Sweeney

The History of Murder Logo - Bernadette Carr
https://www.bcarrdesign.com

Theme Song “My Carnal Life I Will Lay Down” - Rob Brereton
https://robertbrereton.com
 
Interview: Brian "Fox" Ellis 
https://www.facebook.com/brian.f.ellis.5

Voice of Abraham Lincoln: Randy Duncan
Email: no_malice03@yahoo.com

Voice of Peachy Quinn: Ryan Hultman
Instagram: @rhults11

Voice of Greek Crafton: Mike Canale

This was truly a team effort, and we’re grateful to everyone who played a part.

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Transcript

(00:07)
Springfield, Illinois, 1859. Two men got into a fight in a drug store. One was killed. The other was charged with his murder. While it seems like a pretty straightforward case, it might have changed history in a massive way. It's the History of Murder, and I'm your host, Clare O'Donohue.

On July 16th, 1859, 22-year-old Simeon Quinn Harrison, known by the nickname Peachy, was reading the paper at the Short and Hart Drugstore in Pleasant Plains, Illinois, about 16 miles from Springfield.

23-year-old Greek Crafton came into the store with his brother John. There was a fight between Greek and Quinn, which ended when Quinn slashed both brothers with a four-inch knife. Greek was stabbed in the stomach, John in the wrist. John survived, but Greek died two days after the stabbing. The events in the drug store were not in dispute, but pretty much everything else was. Before we continue, please remember to leave a comment

Like the video and subscribe to our channel. It will help us continue to make new content. Now, back to the story.

Who had started the fight? Why was Quinn carrying a weapon? And perhaps most importantly, what had Greeks said in the days between the incident and his death? All of those questions lingered in the air after the stabbing, and they were about to be answered by an unlikely choice for a defense attorney.

In nearby Springfield, Illinois, there was a 50-year-old lawyer, Abraham Lincoln. According to Brian Fox Ellis, performer and author of Lincoln the Lawyer as Told by Billy Herndon, by the time of the murder, Lincoln was incredibly successful. Lincoln and Herndon was probably one of the most lucrative law offices in the country. Their offices was right across the street from the state Capitol in the Supreme Court building because

Almost every case that came to the Illinois State Supreme Court, one side or the other, would be to path over to Lincoln and Herndon, because if one side didn't hire him, the other side did. He had been legal counsel in nearly 5,000 cases in his career. Almost 300 of those were criminal cases, 26 murder cases. He was well-liked and well-respected. So why was he an unusual choice for the defense? Because of the identity of the victim.

Greek was a clerk in the Lincoln-Herndon law office. And so he assisted Billy Herndon with some of the preparatory work for upcoming trials. Lincoln liked him, thought he was smart and well-mannered. Now he was being asked to defend his killer. But Lincoln was also a friend of Quinn's father and a friend of Stephen Trick Logan, the other lawyer hired for the defense. He had conflicted loyalties. Population of Pleasant Plains wasn't more than a few hundred.

and Lincoln knew most of them and they all knew him. That was the intriguing thing about this case is Lincoln knew both families well. Lincoln signed up for the case because he believed that Quinn had acted in self-defense and believing in his clients was an absolute for Abraham Lincoln. No client ever had money enough to bribe my conscience or stop its utterance against wrong and oppression.

somebody's trying to hire Lincoln and Herndon and Lincoln's listening and scratching his head and he says, you know, I could take that case and I could probably win it. But while I'm arguing with the jury, I'd be thinking to myself, Lincoln is a liar. Lincoln is a liar. Lincoln is a liar. And I might just say it out loud. So he refused to take that case. Lincoln had partnered with William Herndon in 1841 to form Lincoln and Herndon law offices.

It was on the second floor of a building on Fifth Street in Springfield, Illinois. The city had only been the state capital for 20 years. Lincoln, as a state legislator, had fought hard for that designation. And now, as a private attorney, he was enjoying having his business in the state's capital city. But the success of his law firm might not have been apparent to visitors seeing Lincoln's very messy desk. He was the consummate attorney in the courtroom.

When it came to arguing cases, head and shoulders above anyone else. But he was not very good at managing the office. And that's in part why he hired Billy. Billy Herndon did all the accounting and bookkeeping, did a lot of the research. And Lincoln took on another part of that practice. Lawyers at the time were on the road a great deal. They went from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, taking on civil and criminal cases.

They would write out a will in the morning and defend a horse thief in the afternoon, then be on the road again. Most lawyers would ride the circuit for a couple of years. And Lincoln famously rode the Eighth Circuit through central Illinois. And after a couple of years, you would get tired of traveling. You would find a small town that needed a lawyer where you had friends, you'd built a reputation, and you'd settle down in that town. But Lincoln loved riding the circuit. Billy didn't.

So Billy would manage the office in Springfield and Lincoln rode the circuit for more than 20 years. That also helped to launch his political career because he had friends and supporters in every little town. And not only did he ride the Eighth Circuit, but if somebody wanted him, he would gladly jump on a case in the Ninth or the Tenth or the Sixth or the nearby circuit courts. Lincoln, it was said, loved it.

According to his partner William Herndon, his love of the circuit was second only to his love of the law. He had a keen sense of justice and struggled for it, throwing aside fans, methods, and rules until it appeared pure as a ray of light flashing through a fog bank. A story that many who knew Lincoln liked to tell was the time he was the defense attorney for a 70-year-old woman named Melissa Goings.

Melissa Goings was accused of murdering her husband who was a known abuser. He had knocked her to the ground, was sitting on her chest strangling her, shouting, I'm going to kill you. She believed him. She reaches out and grabs a stick of firewood, clubs him and he dies. Lincoln actually put his political career on hold in the middle of the Lincoln Douglas debates, took the trial pro bono because he wanted justice to be served.

And his first line of argument was against the sins of spousal abuse. But knowing a jury of your peers were all men and they didn't want their wives to get any ideas, he wasn't convincing them. So he switches tactics and begins to argue for self-defense. Put yourself in her shoes. If someone knocked you to the ground, strangling you, shouting, I'm going to kill you. Would you defend yourself? Of course you would. But he still didn't feel like he was swaying enough of the jury. So he turns to judge. says, excuse me, sir. Can I have a moment alone with my client?

Now in a small rural courthouse court was adjourned and Lincoln actually went downstairs under the main courtroom. There was a little room he could be alone with her and they were gone for a long time. When Lincoln come back and the whole jury, the whole town's there. They all want to hear Mr. Lincoln. The judge looks around and realizes Melissa Goings is gone. And says, Abraham Lincoln, did you tell your client to flee? And he says, no, I wouldn't aid in the abet of the escape of a wanted criminal. And he turns back to the jury and resumes his argument going on and on and on.

the judge interrupts him again and says, if you didn't tell her to flee, what did you tell her? And Lincoln pauses for a moment and says, well, my client told me she was thirsty and I told her there's some mighty fine water in the state of Tennessee. And she was never seen in central Illinois again. We also know that he met with the prosecutor in Peoria a couple of weeks later on his way to the last of the Lincoln Douglas debates.

And they signed the paperwork so that all charges were dropped and no posse went looking for her. Now, a friend of mine used to work at that courthouse and he did the research and tracked her down and found her in the census that she had taken the advice of Horace Greeley, go west young man, and actually immigrated to San Diego and lived into our nineties. The case of Quinn and Creek was a bit more complicated. These were two young men from prominent families. Just a few days before,

Most people would have said that both of them had really bright futures. But now Quinn had disappeared and Greek was lying on a trundle bed in his doctor's house saying goodbye to friends and family. Among them, Reverend Peter Cartwright, Quinn's maternal grandfather. Even though he's related to P.G. Quinn, he was invited to Greek's final moments because everyone respected him and well earned respect from everything I know.

It would not have been seen as unusual for the killer's grandfather to be comforting the victim. Not in this case. The Reverend was an important member of the community. Exactly who the Craftons would have called on for comfort. When you're in a small town and you are from a prominent family, the families knew each other. They lived down the road. They probably passed each other every day just because they were in Pleasant Plains, Illinois. The Craftons were wealthy and well connected.

But so were the Harrison's. In fact, they were connected to each other. Greek's brother William was married to Quinn's sister Elizabeth. The marriage was said to be very troubled. There were rumors of abuse.

at a July 4th picnic less than two weeks before the stabbing.

Quinn and Greek nearly came to blows regarding their siblings. A friend had pulled them apart. In the weeks that followed, Greek told people that he intended to beat Quinn up. But when he had his chance, it didn't work out that way. On August 1st, Quinn turned himself in. A family friend had hidden him until legal representation could be found. He was initially charged with manslaughter, which meant he could get out on bail. His family had

quickly secured his freedom with $10,000. That's over $380,000 now. But then a grand jury indicted him for murder. At the time, murder charges didn't come with bail. So Quinn was re-arrested and sent to jail to await trial. My impression is, you know, he was a mousy little guy who wasn't the most pristine character in the community, wasn't maybe as well-loved.

Nobody deserved what he got, but there wasn't a lot of empathy or sympathy. was more than just sitting in jail that had changed for Quinn. Manslaughter generally had an eight year sentence. Now he was facing something much harsher. If it was malicious intent, ⁓ capital punishment was still in play. On August 31st, the trial started.

The Craftons had hired the prosecutors, John Palmer and Norman Broadwell, two well-known local attorneys. Lincoln and Steven Trigg Logan were the lawyers for the defense. Everyone knew Lincoln had a special gift in the courtroom. When he was talking to the judge, he could and would speak in clear legal terms. But he was informal when he spoke to the jury. Lincoln had this uncanny ability to explain complicated legal matters.

in everyday language. He had grown up in rural Illinois, or as he loved to say, I was born in Kentucky, grew up in Indiana, but raised to be a man in Illinois. And so he knew the local farmers, he knew the shoemaker, the cobbler, the teamster, the barber, and he could explain these ideas in a language that they understood.

He also dressed to match the jury. Away from the big city, his clothing was simple. It made sense for cases in small courtrooms and with rural juries. But in Springfield, he wore clothing that suited his success. He knew it was what the judge and jury would expect. It's a high likelihood that Lincoln knew everybody on the jury and may have even been friends with several of them.

and may have even defended several of them in prior court cases because Lincoln did a lot of work in that area. And so there was probably some affection for Lincoln in the jury before the case even started. Lincoln's style was he was quiet. He didn't make too many objections. He let the prosecution make their case, then he made his, often getting the witness to backtrack on earlier testimony. Lincoln's secret weapon,

was he listen. Make few statements, for if I made too many, the opposite side might make me prove them. The opposite side was that the death of Greek Crafton was premeditated because Quinn was carrying a knife with him. Palmer would argue that Quinn was not only ready for a fight, he was looking for one.

I believe the argument, I disagree, but it is leaning towards this idea that this was a scuffle. There was no need to up the ante and a couple of men throwing fists or even throwing a piece of furniture does not warrant murder. The defense would point out that Quinn was 5'7 and about 125 pounds. Greek by all accounts was much larger. He had also repeatedly threatened to hurt Quinn.

Whether Quinn was carrying the weapon around or not, his lawyers would argue, he wasn't looking for a fight. He was trying to survive one. Put yourself in Peachy Quinn Harrison's shoes. These are two guys who are larger than him, and there are two of them. And they had kind of cornered him. And according to some of the eyewitness accounts, a chair was thrown in self-defense, and the men still kept coming after him.

and they were hurling objects in the store at the same time. Yeah, pulling a knife and defending yourself seemed like the only thing he could do. The law stated that someone could only kill in self-defense if they were in imminent danger. But Quinn was the only one armed with a weapon. So was he really in imminent danger? According to Illinois law at the time, members of the jury could interpret self-defense

anyway they pleased, which made the job of the lawyers harder. They weren't there to prove whether Quinn had killed Greig. Everybody knew he had. They were there to determine what was in Quinn's heart when he did.

Like Lincoln, several members of the jury knew both the victim and the defendant. It wasn't surprising in a small town. Also not surprising was that unlike other trials, potential jurors wanted to serve on the case. For serving on the jury, they would get $1.50 a day pay, around $58 now, and something more valuable, a seat at the standing room only trial. Today, one of the most popular things on TV are court ring dramas.

In those days, there was no TV. And reading this in the paper every day, and I did read a couple of the newspaper excerpts, people followed it closely. And so I'm sure that there were a lot of people who felt like you should hang him. And there were probably more people who said, he's innocent. Greek is a bully. And my gosh, he might be hung. It seems the whole of Springfield, maybe the whole of Illinois had an opinion on this case.

and as many as could crowded into the courtroom to hear the details. For Lincoln, there was an added bit of pressure. There was a spotlight on him after the recent Lincoln-Douglas debates had made him a national figure. There was even talk of his running for the presidency. If Lincoln lost or even made a major mistake at trial, that spotlight could dim.

Another potential layer of pressure. This trial would be transcribed. Whatever was said would be written down and perhaps published around the country. The stenographer was somebody who was a somewhat famous, somewhat local reporter who had transcribed the Lincoln-Douglas debates. And that by itself was a savvy political move. Lincoln hired a transcription of the debates because Lincoln knew

that 10,000 people showed up to hear the debate, but there were a million more he could reach. 25-year-old Robert Hitt, an expert shorthand writer, had done the transcripts for the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Now he'd been hired by the Illinois State Journal because of the high interest in the case. Aside from its value for possible appeals, those who could not attend the trial in person wanted to know all the details.

It is, by the way, the only Lincoln trial with a transcript. Now that's standard procedure, but back then that was very unique. So to have word-for-word transcriptions of all of the arguments and all of the witnesses is kind of a field day for a scholar.

The prosecution called Fred Henry, who told of the fight between Quinn and Greig on July 4th. The witness confirmed that the argument was about their siblings and that Greig wanted to turn the war of words into one of fists. Quinn said he didn't want to fight, so Greig told him he would, quote, whip him, unquote, in the future. Quinn, the witness said, threatened Greig twice, first in the moment and then a few minutes later. Damn you. If you ever lay hands on me, I'll kill you.

At the picnic, Grieg apparently threw dirt at Quinn and tried to grab him. Fred Henry stopped it from going further. The intent of the prosecution was clear. Quinn had threatened to kill Grieg if the two men met again. The prosecution then called Silas Livergood, who had been in the drugstore when the fight happened. On the day of the killing, Quinn was at the counter reading a paper in the short and hard drugstore when Grieg and John walked in.

Silas told the court that when he came, had Quinn's arm. Quinn said he didn't want to fight. He was holding onto a railing at the counter so hard it pulled away from its mountings. And Greek was essentially bear hugging him from behind, trying to unseat him. Benjamin Short, one of the drugstore's owners, was trying to separate the men. But Greek's brother, John, pulled Short's hand away and let the fight continue. Peachy, said the witness, tried to avoid the fight.

He didn't reach for his knife immediately. At first, he's trying to defend himself in other ways and they're hurling furniture at each other. Lincoln, it should be said, smiled at the admission that Quinn did not want to fight. made a note of it. The witness continued. He explained there were some boxes toward the back of the store and the two men moved there. Quinn had shouted out, have I no friends here?

Rick leaned down, but according to Silas, there was no weapon in his hand, nothing to indicate Quinn was in mortal danger. And yet, as prosecutor John Palmer made clear, Quinn responded with deadly force. He pulled out a knife and he slashed both of them. Rick's brother had a terrible scar on his arm, which based on what I read, if it was just another inch or two over, may have slit his wrist or hit an artery and he'd had two deaths on his hands.

John Crafton, Greek's brother, was also called to testify. He asked the court if a small demonstration could be put on to make things easier to understand. He played his brother's role. Lincoln volunteered to play Quinn, despite the obvious physical difference, and Palmer, the prosecutor, stood in for Benjamin Short. John confirmed what other witnesses had said, that Quinn was holding onto a railing at the counter. But he denied that Quinn had said anything about not wanting to fight.

He couldn't remember hearing that. What he did remember was that Benjamin Short was trying to pull Greek off Quinn and Quinn was trying to pull Short off his brother, telling Short that Greek could, quote, whip Quinn. The men moved to the back of the store with Greek still holding Quinn from behind. Right before the stabbing, Greek let go of one of Quinn's arms and hit Quinn in the head. With his now free arm, Quinn took out the knife.

and stabbed Greek in the side. When the demonstration was done, it was the defense's turn to question John. Lincoln asked him about the whipping that Greek had promised Quint. I suppose that when you told Short to leave him alone, that Greek could whip him, you had the ordinary meaning and wanted Greek to whip him. I thought after they got into a fight that Greek could whip him. And you wanted him to? Well,

Certainly I did. It was a subtle but effective way of reminding the jury that John was not an impartial witness. He wanted his brother to fight Quinn. He pulled the store owner away to let the men fight. Further, Lincoln was able to establish that Greig and John had been walking around Pleasant Plains looking for Quinn. And they knew that Quinn was carrying a knife. He had made that known to anyone who would listen.

The defense witness, Benjamin Short, the store owner, confirmed that Quinn had said he didn't want to fight, had wanted to get away, but couldn't because he was trapped by Greig. Pretty clear cut. Except the prosecutor focused on the weapon Quinn had with him. If he hadn't wanted to fight, Palmer asked, why had he carried a knife with him? While Lincoln said that Quinn was prepared based on Greig's threats since July 4th, Palmer pointed out that there was no evidence, no witness.

who spoke of having told Quinn directly that Greek was threatening to hurt him. It would be hard not to know, but at the same time, small town gossip. If Greek is spewing this foaming at the mouth rage, I would guess Peachy probably got wind of it. The prosecution argument is that if Quinn didn't know of Greek's threats, then he could not have been carrying the knife as a preemptive self-defense weapon.

The question of why Quinn carried the knife, if left unanswered, could lead to a guilty verdict and the hangman's noose. The logical thing to do would have been to put Quinn on the stand so he could testify why he felt threatened. But in the 19th century, defenders weren't allowed to testify. The assumption was that they would lie, so their testimony had little value. Lincoln didn't agree, but he accepted it. A law

may be both constitutional and expedient, and yet may be administered in an unjust and unfair way. Lincoln, therefore, had to rely on other witnesses to make the case for self-defense. And the best witness he had was in some ways the worst witness, Quinn's grandfather, the Reverend Peter Cartwright. He was boisterous, full of braggadocio. He was

hellfire and brimstone Methodist preacher. Reverend Cartwright was well known and respected. It was assumed by both sides that he would tell the truth. One contemporary said about him, quote, when he thought he was right, no earthly power could persuade him to abandon his principle. Cartwright was an adamant abolitionist, even though he was from the South. As a Methodist minister, he preached out against slavery and

Often on a Sunday, he would be in the pulpit. And then on a Monday, he would be given a stump speech speaking out against slavery. And people didn't like the fact that he blended religion and politics. Ain't that a debate that won't go away? Cartwright and Lincoln didn't like each other. The men had run for office against each other twice. The first time, for a seat in the state house, Cartwright had won. Then in 1846, they ran against each other for a seat in Congress.

When Lincoln and Cartwright ran against each other, the story that I believe is a true story is that Lincoln went to hear Cartwright preach just to see who his opponent was. Lincoln's tall, so when he slinks in the back and sits down trying to hide, of course Cartwright saw him. And so Cartwright interrupts his sermon and decides to play a little joke on Lincoln and says, and all of ye who plan to go to heaven, please rise.

And everyone leaps to their feet. Except Mr. Lincoln. And so Cartwright puzzled by this, decides to push the point a little and virtually the next sentence in his sermon says, and all of ye who wish to go to the fiery gates of hell, please rise. And of course, nobody rises, including Lincoln. So Cartwright feels like he's got Lincoln where he wants him. And he says, sir, when I asked if you want to go to heaven to rise, you refused.

I asked if you wish to go to hell to rise and you did not. If you are not going to heaven or hell, where are you going? And Lincoln calmly says to Congress. And he did. And he beat Cartwright in that race. Representing central Illinois and Washington DC for one term.

It was well known that they didn't like each other and therefore very exciting for the entire courtroom if they had to be on the same side in this trial. Cartwright had an explosive piece of information that could sway the jury toward not guilty. So Lincoln had no choice but to put him on the stand and Palmer had no choice but to try and keep him off it. Cartwright, who had been at Greig's bedside after the stabbing, said that Greig knew he was dying when he told him something.

I brought it upon myself and I forgave Quinn. He had acknowledged his responsibility and in essence cleared Quinn of the killing. Yes, Reverend Cartwright was the defendant's grandfather, but it cannot be overstated how strongly the judge and jury would have seen him to be a man who told the truth. His statement would have punched a hole through the prosecution's case. The prosecution argued to Judge Edward Rice that it was hearsay.

hearsay is when a witness makes a claim about what another person told them. So normally Cartwright testifying about what Greek said would be hearsay and not admissible at trial. One of the few exceptions is a dying declaration. The assumption dating back to the 12th century is that someone about to die would not lie. Their focus would be on their immortal soul and they would not want to die with a lie on their lips.

If a minister who is a friend of the family is there for a deathbed confession and says, this is what Greek told me, why wouldn't you believe him? Why would that not be admissible? It was pretty much settled law. So Lincoln and his co-counsel, Stephen Logan, felt confident. But the prosecution had another argument. Greek was making a statement of opinion by accepting responsibility. He was not making a statement of fact.

If he had named his killer, that would be considered a dying declaration. But what he said could be interpreted many different ways. Was Greek saying that Quinn did indeed act in self-defense or that Greek contributed to Quinn becoming a murderer? To Palmer and the other prosecutors, the fact that it was opinion meant it was not an exception to the hearsay rule.

The judge seemed persuaded by the prosecution and likely to rule in their favor. But before he could, Lincoln jumped from his seat. It stunned the courtroom. He practically shouted, Your Honor, we need to see this through every last bit of it. Some in the courtroom would note that they had never seen him act with such passion. Lincoln was probably adamant that this would be the deciding factor.

that if the jury hears a Methodist minister who has a great reputation in town, everybody knows him, say that he gave me a deathbed confession, then I see Lincoln's frustration. Why wouldn't the judge allow this? And again, we'll push back just a little. know, Lincoln as a human had a lot of emotion and he was very good at not so much controlling his emotion, but knowing when to express that. And there were times where he would flare up and often it was ...

to make an important political point, to let folks know that he wasn't happy with what was going on here. Whatever Lincoln stated to the judge later, it was not on the record, but it seemed to persuade him, and he let the dying declaration in. The whole courtroom waited to see Lincoln and Reverend Cartwright, these two giants, these two men who publicly disliked each other, now fight for the same cause. And they were disappointed.

The other lawyer in this case, Stephen Logan, questioned Cartwright. It was determined by him and Lincoln that it would be less distracting that way. Cartwright took the stand and talked about what he had been doing that day and what happened at Greig's bedside. He then told the court what Greig had said. I brought it upon myself and I forgave Clint. The defense was satisfied, but the prosecution wasn't done.

They wanted to recall Dr. J.L. Million, who had treated Greek after the stabbing and at whose home he had lingered and died. Dr. Million had testified earlier in the trial about Greek's injuries, but now was recalled to the stand. He said that Grieg had not said anything of forgiving Quinn or taking responsibility, and he had spent considerable time with the young man. Grieg had, in fact, spoke of Quinn negatively.

I think both could be true. That when the doctor was there and he's in agony and Greek is crying out and he's trying to stitch up his guts quite literally, he would be very angry at Peachy Quinn. But when it's obvious the end is near and he's talking to his Methodist minister and family friend, he would have a come to Jesus moment and say, you know, I'm the one who started the fight. Don't blame Peachy Quinn.

Million admitted that he had not overheard the conversation between Greek and Reverend Cartwright, and the negative statements that had been made about Quinn had been made prior to Greek's final confession. For Judge Rice, that was an important point. What Greek said to Dr. Million was before he knew his wounds would be fatal, therefore it was hearsay. And since he hadn't heard the conversation Cartwright testified to, he could not rebut it.

The judge did not let his statements in. It was then the prosecution rested their case. I guess I am biased. do side with Lincoln in most things. But this was pretty easy. ⁓ And yet it wasn't. That's the intriguing thing about this case is a first read, it's like, yeah, this is obvious. But then you get into the nuts and bolts of it and the judge's decision and the prosecutor's attempt, you're like, he could have hung.

He could have been found guilty. It wasn't that obvious to everybody at first. We do not know what the lawyers said at the closing arguments because this part was not transcribed. But Leonard Sweat, a lawyer and contemporary of Lincoln, gave us an idea of what might have happened when he said about Lincoln, quote, what he cannot accomplish with a jury. No living man need try, unquote. Today, they pay big money for a consultant who can read the jury. But Lincoln was a master.

He could tell midstream if he was pursuing a line of argument and the jury wasn't responding, he could shift gears. Lincoln also talked about his thoughts on the subject when he spoke of the jury's role. Here the lawyers make their arguments as patiently as you can. And after the evidence and the lawyers arguments are through, then stop one moment and ask yourself, what is the justice in this case?

and let that sense of justice be your decision.

The judge and the prosecutor seem to be against P.G. Quinn. It took only an hour and nine minutes for the jury to return a not guilty verdict. The courtroom received the news with, quote, great and long considered applause, unquote. There's this gasp of relief, whether you're for or against. It was done. This wasn't quite the OJ trial.

But it did get a lot of press and it was a big deal for the region, in part because both families were known. William B. Thompson, who was a boy in Springfield at the time, said, quote, Mr. Lincoln saved Quinn Harrison, but it was a very hard fight. We boys followed it throughout. All of us who were able climbed to the windows. The others hung around the doors of the old courthouse. We listened with the most careful attention to everything Lincoln said.

We boys agreed that Lincoln's speech and earnest manner did it rather than the evidence." Unquote. Months after the trial, Quinn reached out to Lincoln and asked for his advice. John Palmer, the prosecutor in the case, was running for a seat in Congress and Quinn wanted to know should he vote for him. Lincoln responded. He is good and true and deserves the best vote we can give him.

Just prior to the Civil War, John Palmer was appointed by Lincoln to serve on a delegation to find peace with the South. It didn't succeed. Palmer would later serve in the Union Army, eventually as a Major General. Later, he would become Illinois's governor and a U.S. People had devoured Hitt's record of the case. For those on the fence about this seemingly simple man from the Midwest, it made clear he was anything but.

Though excerpts of the transcript were published at the time, the full original transcript was lost. That is until 1989, when it was discovered in the basement of a house in Fresno, California. The house was owned by Quinn's great-grandson. But perhaps a greater mystery about the transcript remains. Did it help Lincoln become president? That's up for debate. He already had a name, a reputation.

There had been seven Lincoln-Douglas debates the year before. They had become national news. If you've already read the Lincoln-Douglas debates, so your mind is primed and you're looking for things, and then this salacious trial, this obvious stabbing and all these political figures involved, it certainly drove the conversation and helped implant Lincoln into the minds of the general public in a different way.

highlighted Lincoln's genius as a lawyer, highlighted his savvy rhetorical skills, and endeared Lincoln to the readers because he won for the right reasons, defending the underdog against a bully. Lincoln became president in March of 1861. His life as a lawyer was behind him, though not out of his thoughts entirely.

Before he left for the White House, Lincoln asked William Herndon if the law practice could remain Lincoln and Herndon until Lincoln returned from the presidency. Herndon promised it would. He maintained Lincoln and Herndon's law offices until Lincoln's death and would leave the law in the 1870s to work on a biography of his famous partner, which was called Herndon's Lincoln. The book published less than 25 years after Lincoln's death was controversial.

Herndon did not like Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, and had been clear about that in the book. He also spoke of Lincoln's depression, and of his being a religious skeptic. But his admiration for the man came through. Don't forget if Lincoln had some faults, Washington had more, few men have less. Greek's brother, John Crafton, served in the Union Army, and later became a police magistrate in Springfield.

He died in 1909. Peachy Harrison died in 1920 at age 82. He's buried in an unmarked grave in Missouri, over 300 miles from Springfield and the rest of his family. Given a second chance by Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Trigg Logan, and the jury, he hadn't made much of it. He had married and had two children, but the marriage didn't seem to go well.

Gwyn was described as having a violent temper and would leave home for years at a time. In 1885, he shoved his sister, Sarah, breaking one of her ribs and causing other serious injuries. He was arrested, but ultimately released. By the end of his life, he was estranged from his wife and son, and his daughter had died. In a newspaper article written the year before his death, he talked about how his life had not turned out the way he had hoped.

This is quite a come down in life for me. I used to know William Jennings Bryan in Illinois. My grandfather beat Abe Lincoln in a lawsuit in Jackson. Times have changed. Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theater on April 16th, 1865. He is perhaps the most famous murder victim in American history.

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