The Shocking Truth: Wilkerson Shot and Wounded Old Man Floersh!

The Shocking Truth: Wilkerson Shot and Wounded Old Man Floersh!

Petition for Pardon, Weston, MO July 20, 1853 To his excellency Gov Price We your petitioners would respectfully solicit your excellency to extend your pardoning power to Philip and Jacob Floersh who are now confined in the penitentiary for the murder of Hall L. Wilkerson in October 1851. At the time the act was committed the boys were young and under the entire control of their father and we who live in the vicinity of the parties from the testimony as detailed Know that there were many palliating circumstances of excuse so far as the boys…

The State vs Philip Floersh and Others

The State vs Philip Floersh and Others

Liberty Tribune, November 12, 1852 The State vs. Philip Floersh and others - This case was finally disposed of in the Circuit Court on yesterday. Philip Floersh plead guilty of murder in the second degree, and the Circuit Attorney accepted the plea, and the Court assessed his punishment to imprisonment in the penitentiary of the State for the term of twenty-four years, being the same punishment inflicted by a verdict of a jury of this county, at the last term of the Court upon John Floersh. It appeared in evidence upon the first trial that John…

Circuit Court Commences for Trial of the Floersh’s for Killing of Hall Wilkerson

Circuit Court Commences for Trial of the Floersh’s for Killing of Hall Wilkerson

Liberty Tribune, November 11, 1852 Circuit Court commences in this city (a called term) on Monday next for the trail of the Floersh's for the killing of Hall L. Wilkerson. Other business, also, will be taken up in consequence of the adjournment of the regular term in August, produced by the illness of Judge Dunn.

Trial of Floersh’s for Murder Called

Trial of Floersh’s for Murder Called

Liberty Tribune June 18, 1852 The trial of the Floersh's for the murder of Hall L. Wilkerson, of Platte was called on Tuesday last, at the instance of the Attorneys for defendants, was deferred to August. Toombs, the American, who was implicated in the same bloody transaction, was acquitted.

3 Floersh’s Escape From Liberty Jail

3 Floersh’s Escape From Liberty Jail

Liberty Tribune Newspaper, March 26, 1852 We omitted to state last week that the 3 Floersh's (sic), charged with the murder of Wilkinson, made their escape on the night of the 12th by undermining the foundation of the jail. They were arrested next day, and lodged in jail. They traveled all night and were arrested in a mile and a half of town.

The State vs Floersh

The State vs Floersh

Liberty Tribune February 27, 1852 Indictment for the Murder of Hall Wilkerson, of Platte In this case on Wednesday morning last, the jury returned with a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree, and assessed his punishment to twenty four years in the Penitentiary. Similar prosecutions are pending against his sons as partines in the same crime, which will be for trial at the next term of the court. Counsel for the state, Judge Brown, of Platte City, and M. Oliver, Esq., Circuit Attorney. For the accused, Amos Rees, L.D. Bird and John Doniphan,…

Clay Circuit Court in Session

Clay Circuit Court in Session

Liberty Tribune, Feb. 20, 1852 The Clay Circuit Court is now in session, Judge Dunn presiding. The case of the State vs. Wright, sent from Platte county, closed on Wednesday. The jury sentenced W. to three years imprisonment in the penitentiary. The trial of the Floersh's for the murder of Hall Wilkerson, of Platte, is progressing.

The Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt: A History

The Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt: A History

Pictured above: Ludwig I- First Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt I. A Brief Introduction The Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt (it would be more properly termed the Grand Duchy of Hesse but the former title will be used throughout this history to avoid confusion with the elector state of Hesse-Kassel) rose out of the ashes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. It was in August of that year that the last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II, was forced to abdicate following his defeat at the hands of the forces of the French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. With his…

The French Revolution and Germany

<strong>The French Revolution and Germany</strong>

The French Revolution, which erupted in 1789 with the storming of the Bastille in Paris, at first gained the enthusiastic approval of some German intellectuals, who welcomed the proclamation of a constitution and a bill of rights. Within a few years, most of this support had dissipated, replaced by fear of a newly aggressive French nationalism and horror at the execution of the revolution’s opponents. In 1792 French troops invaded Germany and were at first pushed back by imperial forces. But at the Battle of Valmy in late 1792, the French army, a revolutionary citizens’ army…

Hesse-Darmstadt

Hesse-Darmstadt

former landgraviate, Germany Alternate titles: Hessen-Darmstadt By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Date: 1567 - 1945 Key People: Wilhelm Heinrich August, Freiherr von GagernErnest Louis Related Places: Germany Hesse-Darmstadt, German Hessen-darmstadt, former landgraviate, grand duchy, and state of Germany. It was formed in 1567 in the division of old Hesse; after Hesse-Kassel was absorbed by Prussia in 1866, Hesse-Darmstadt was usually known simply as Hesse. Hesse-Darmstadt was originally only the small territory of Upper Katzenelnbogen with Darmstadt, being situated in what is now the extreme southern portion of the present-day Land (state) of Hessen. But the…

Hochborn (Blödes Heim)

Blödes Heim in German means "dimwitted home". Hochborn From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hochborn (until 1971: Blödesheim) is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. This Ortsgemeinde earned a Germany-wide media presence in early 2001 when a television spot from the 1970s made by the then Südwestfunk was broadcast by Stefan Raab on his show TV total; it was about the place called Blödesheim. Stefan Raab then visited Hochborn during Carnival (locally known as Fastnachtszeit) and for a few weeks thereafter…

Abolitionists in Missouri

Abolitionists in Missouri
"Huck Finn and Jim" Lithograph by Thomas Hart Benton, Missouri State Historical Society

Two Kinds… Although there were people in Missouri throughout the pre-Civil War period who abhorred the institution of slavery, those who advocated its abolition were a minority.  Their views were bitterly opposed and often suppressed by the irate proslavery forces.  There were two kinds of abolitionists:  (1) those who only advocated ending the system and (2) those who acted illegally to spirit slaves away.  The Missouri slaveholder did not discriminate between the two and considered the first as bad as the second.  …Among Three Groups Abolitionists in Missouri can be classified into three groups:  (1) certain…

Half-Way House: A Platte County Landmark and More

Half-Way House: A Platte County Landmark and More

Photo above "Halfway House, Platte City-Weston toll Road, Hwy. 273" from Memories of Weston, Missouri, Vol. II Millennium Edition - 1837 to 2000, p. 16 The Half-way House, Underground Railroad, and John McCurdy Records from the Platte County Civil Court and from the Weston Court of Common Pleas, show that one John McCurdy was frequently arrested on charges of aiding and abetting slaves to run away to freedom. He was also charged with transporting them out of the State of Missouri. Most, if not all, of those cases occurred in 1850-1851-1852. It is known that John…

Peter Mortgages Lot 92 Block 8 Weston to Joseph Kurtz SEP 29 1859

Copy of the original handwritten record of Peter Floersch's mortgage of Lot #92 of Block 8 in Weston in 1859. The purpose of the mortgage is not known. Transcribed record of Peter Floersch's mortgage of Lot #92 of Block 8 in Weston in 1859. The purpose of the mortgage is not known.

Elizabeth Floersch Sells Platte County Farm to John Pitt – $600 ($20K) JUN 15 1855

Copy of the original handwritten record of Elizabeth's sale on 15 June, 1855 of the farm purchased by John Floersch in Oct,1843. Transcribed record of Elizabeth's sale on 15 June, 1855, of the farm purchased by John Floersch in Oct,1843. This sale followed the death of John on 13 Jan, 1855, in the Jefferson City, MO, Prison. Following this sale, Elizabeth moved to Pottawatomie County, KS to live with son Michael. Note the error in the description of the land at line 8: "South west quarter"; in the original sale to John, it was described as…