Grave Spotlight of the Month - April 2026 - Cornelius "Crook" Mershon

Welcome to this month's Grave Spotlight.  Because I believe that all sides of history are important, this month we are taking a look at Cornelius A. Mershon, also known as Crook, a former Civil War soldier and also a slave-catcher.

Cornelius A. Mershon, Crook as we will call him for the remainder of this post as not to confuse him with his father, was born in either 1842 or 1844 in Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana to father Cornelius Mershon (1791-1867) and mother, Cynthia Mariah Corsaw Mershon (1824-1855), the former a native of Virginia and the later a native of Ohio.  He was the eldest of five children, the remaining being Jonathan Daniel Mershon (1846-?), (burial unknown); Charles Napier Mershon (1849-1935), (burial unknown); Laura Elizabeth Mershon (1852-?), (burial unknown)  and James A. Mershon (1855-?), (burial unknown).

When looking at the information for the burial on Find-A-Grave, the names of the siblings do not match the information above, so I am wondering if there is another Cornelius A. Mershon.  The burial listing has the following for his siblings: William A. Mershon (1818-1837), buried in Rose Hill Cemetery; Christopher C. Mershon (1820-1849), buried in Rose Hill Cemetery; John M. Mershon (1822-1825), buried in Rose Hill Cemetery; Margaret O. Mershon (1824-1843), buried in Rose Hill Cemetery; and Cornelius A. Mershon (1844-1876), buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.  This is rather confusing, as the parents are the same and Cornelius' information is the same, but the siblings are not.  

Crook was married to Martha Louise Stout Mershon (1845-1897) and they had three children: William Edgar Mershon (1871-1932), buried in Rose Hill Cemetery;  Gertrude "Gertie" Hattie Mershon Riley (1871-1932), buried in Rose Hill Cemetery; and Blanch/Blanche Fern Mershon Cole (1882-1919), buried in Rose Hill Cemetery.  I also found the name of a child who passed after only about a year or so, Lula Mershon (1869-1870), (buried in Rose Hill Cemetery). Martha lived at the corner of 3rd and Morton Street when she passed and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, likely near Crook, but there doesn't appear to be a headstone for her.

Crook served in the Civil War as a musician in the 14th Indiana Infantry.  He is said to have been a soldier, but I can't find anything other than him being enlisted as a musician.  But prior to the war, he was a slave-catcher.  After the war, he and his brothers, specifically Charles, were involved in so many crimes.

It would seem that Crook had been behind the murder of a man named John Moore from McClean County, Illinois.  The man was in Bloomington visiting his uncle, Reverend Farmer, when he encountered Crook at Oscar Sowder's saloon.  Crook knifed the man for money, killing him and dragging him into an alley behind saloon.  Two men saw this crime, but Crook threatened them with hanging if they told anyone what they had seen.  These men immediately left town in fear of their lives.

In the early morning hours of February 8, 1876, a group of masked men jumped the town marshall, John Showers, tied him up and stole the keys to the jail.  The made their way in, found Crook and his brother Charles, also known as "Hoosier".  They locked up John Showers and proceeded to shoot Crook three times, twice in the head and once in the chest.  After this, they hanged him.  His killers left a note for the marshall that if anyone tried to find out who they were, they would face the same fate.

I found a newspaper article from The National Banner, Volume 10, Number 43, Ligonier, Noble County, February 17, 1876.  Unfortunately, the clipping is rather blurry, so I will relate it below:

A MASKED PART OF LYNCHERS BREAK INTO BLOOMINGTON JAIL

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They shoot and kill Crook Mershon, Murderer

Dispatches from Bloomington, Indiana, give details of a startling tragedy enacted there are two o'clock of Tuesday morning, Feb. 8th.  About that hour the night watchman was seized, while on his beat, by a party of masked men, bound , gagged, and taken to the jail.  Sheriff McKinney was then called up, and, on appearing, was also bound and gagged.  he and the watchman were then laid upon the floor of the hall, upon their faces.  They keys of the jail having been secured, a part of the crowd repaired to the jail while others stood guard over the bound captives and the sheriff's wife.

Among the prisoners in the jail was Crook Mershon, who was, eight months ago, convicted of murder and sentenced to the penitentiary for life, but had been returned to the jail at Bloomington, Monroe County, under a decision of the Supreme Court, to await a new trial.  His cell was entered by the mob, who fired six shots at him, four of which took effect - one bullet passing through the brain and causing instant death.  The party then retired, as mysteriously as they came.  There were two other prisoners in the jail, but neither they nor the officers could recognize any of the lynchers.  It is not believed that they belong in the vicinity.  As soon as they had departed, Mrs. McKinney unbound her husband and the watchman, and the alarm was promptly given, but too late to effect the capture of any of the gang.  About fifteen of the men entered the jail, but a considerable force remained on the outside.  They were all masked and thoroughly disguised.  They left behind them in the jail a rope, from which it is presumed their original design was to hang Mershon.  They also left behind them a paper from which we extract the concluding portion:

"To thieves of all grades:  Your cases will not be overlooked.  There must and will be a change in many thing.  When murderers, thieves, burglars and house burners have their own way and get a strong bolt upon the legal profession of the country, and through its trickery goes unpunished, then forbearance ceases to be a virtue, and like other counties we have to take the law in our hands and call for Judge Lunch to preside.  The friends of the above who go then bail, and also those that affords them sustenance and maintenance of all kinds, may take warning.  We mean business from this time forth and forever.  Vengeance is our.  VIGILANCE."

This article contradicts some of the former information. First off, the article states that he was shot four times and assumedly left for dead, while in another article is states that he was lynched afterward.  The article notes that they left a rope to possibly lynch him.  It also states that the law enforcement officer was Sheriff McKinney, while another article says that it was the town marshall, John Showers.

It's hard to figure out exactly what was real and what was embellished, but what we do know is that Crook killed a man and was killed for it.

I also found another article from the Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, January 8, 1875.  This article paints Crook Mershon in a different light less than a year before he murdered a man.  It's so strange.

That is all I have for Crook Mershon.  He seems like a very bad man who got what he gave.  I didn't find much about his time as a slave-catcher, but I believe that he was part of a group in Bloomington, Indiana that basically watched for slaves who were trying to get to the Covenanters and into the Underground Railroad.  From what I read, somewhere, he ran a group that would chase them down and try to get paid for returning the runaway slaves to their owners.  

If I find anything more about it, I'll make sure to update this post. 

Instead of my usual ending of RIP, instead I want to say Rest In Peace to John Moore who was murdered by him and Rest In Peace to the slaves that didn't get to safety on the Underground Railroad.

REFERENCES

Bloomingpedia - Crook Mershon

Monroe County Historian, April 2010 - Sarah Showers: The Oldest Sister

WikiTree - Crook Mershon

Hoosier State Chronicles - The National Banner

Hoosier State Chronicles - Jasper Republican