Grave Spotlight of the Month - July 2022 - Hugh L.W. Butler

 An assuming grave in the lovely Presbyterian Cemetery in Ellettsville for a young man, sits on the left side of the cemetery drive, facing toward the south.  It's made of limestone and in good condition considering it is over 160 years old.  

Hugh L.W. Butler was born on November 22, 1832 and died on April 12, 1854 when he was injured and killed.  He was not necessarily an innocent by-stander in the incident as he was part of a gang of three men who attacked a man named Harrison Spear at his home.  

It was reported in the April 12, 1854 Bloomington Newsletter about the attacked.  Supposedly, Harrison Spear was living with a woman of ill-repute, so having been "into their cups" Hugh Butler, Jacob Young and Jeff Raper, decided to attack Spear's house.  They lobbed bricks and stones at the house, even exploding a keg of gunpower at one end of the house.  Somewhere in the chaos, someone fired a gun.  The bullet struck Butler, but he was not serious injured and the three men, joined now by Hugh's brother, Frederick, took off after Spear, who had fled for his life.  Spear was armed with a knife and used it to defend himself, stabbing Butler in the side.  This wound was the fatal one, as he died almost instantly.

Spear fled the scene, finding himself at Worley's Tavern, where he barricaded himself in an upstairs room.  The tavern owner found him in the room, covered in blood, clutching the bloody knife, terrified.  He convinced Spear to give himself up.  Spear was taken to jail while Raper and Young fled.  

The case was brought before Judge Sluss, with Paris Dunning as a prosecuting lawyer.  There is no mention of Spears' defense attorney.  On May 6, 1854, it was reported that "no bill" was found against Spears in the killed of Hugh Butler.  

After the trial. Harrison Spear fell off the radar.  I am not sure where he went.  Jacob Young and Jeff Raper both appear to have disappear as well.

There no other Butler's from the right time frame buried in Presbyterian Cemetery, so I am not sure who his family was.  He has a marker on his grave for a a US VETERAN, but I can't imagine what war he would have been involved in.  I have a feeling that this silver marker was placed on his grave by accident.

Hugh may have gotten himself into trouble and gone off to do something he shouldn't have done, but his life didn't have to end in such a tragic manner.

Hugh Butler.  You are not forgotten.

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REFERENCES

Monroe County History Center Research Library - Ellettsville