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- [S106] The Mountain Press, 18 Apr 2011.
Upland Chronicles: Horrible murder in 1826 stirred Sevier County, made headlines
By Carroll McMahan
In the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, Oct. 10, 1826, one of the most shocking crimes in the history of Sevier County occurred when one of the most prominent men in the county was brutally attacked with a hatchet while sleeping in his own bed.
The victim was Cap. Simeon Perry, the second Circuit Court Clerk of Sevier County.
Simeon Perry was a son of Francis Perry, early settler of Sevier County. Simon was a captain and commander of a company of Sevier County men in the War of 1812; his company was part of the regiment commanded by Col. Samuel Wear.
His first wife was Mary Wear, daughter of Col. Wear.
After her death in 1821, he married Elizabeth Rogers, daughter of Josiah Rogers.
A muster roll of Capt. Simeon Perry’s Company of Mounted Infantry included some of the most prominent names in Sevier County at the time. Among the regiment were Thomas Atchley, Richard Catlett, Adam Fox, James Hatcher, Michael Houk, Andrew Wells and many others who became upstanding members of their respective communities.
Perry became circuit court clerk about 1812, and represented Sevier and Blount counties in the Senate during the legislative session of 1815-1816. In 1817, Col. Wear’s death vacated the position of county court clerk and Simeon Perry was chosen to succeed him.
No Sevier County Circuit Court records exist of Perry’s murder because such records were lost in the court house fire of 1856. The only written records of the tragic event are the accounts in the two Knoxville newspapers of the day.
A report in The Knoxville Enquirer on Oct. 18: “Horrible murder. On Tuesday night last, Major Simeon Perry, of Sevier County, was assailed by an assassin, when asleep in his own house, and a severe wound was inflicted on his head with a hatchet, of which he died on the 13th. Major Perry was a highly respectable citizen and a worthy man. We understand the murderer has been apprehended.”
The Oct. 25, 1826 edition of the Knoxville Register identified the alleged murderer in the following way: “Died on Friday, the 13th at his residence, Col. Simeon Perry, in the 41st year of his age, from a wound received at 5 o’clock A.M. on Tuesday the 10th, whilst asleep in his bed. He was hit with a hatchet by a person since identified as John J. Nichols.
“Shortly after Perry was wounded, Serriff W.H. Rogers received information that a certain John J. Nichols, Esq. of Sevier County, with whom he had a difference, had threatened to take his life privately, on which Nichols was arrested these facts being proved before John Brabson, who held the examining court, and a hatchet being found concealed under Nichols’ floor, after his arrest, of a size corresponding with the wound, he was committed to the jail of Sevier County to stand trial at the next term in January.”
John J. Nichols came to Sevier County with his family in 1819 and settled near Sevierville. His wife was Margaret Scantlin Nichols and they had three sons, Elijah, P.B. and Wyatt, and two daughters, Clarissa and Sarah. John Nichols was the nephew of Flayl Nichols, Revolutionary soldier and state senator.
Nichols was released after the confession of an African-American slave who took officers to the murder weapon, the bloody hatchet. The hatchet found earlier at the home of Nichols had know displayed evidence of blood. The slave was hanged for the crime, but no records remain as to his motive.
The Tennessee Archives in Nashville contains recorded proof of the innocence of John J. Nichols. Preserved there is a report of cases docketed in the Sevier County Circuit Court from January, 1885 to July, 1829, filed by Pleasant Wear.
In the January 1827 term, John J. Nichols was acquitted of the charge of murder, but no details were given.
Therefore it is safe to assume that the Sevier County Circuit Court acquitted Nichols of the Perry murder in January 1827, about three months after the commission of the crime.
It is not known if the confessed murderer was given a trial or simply taken out and hanged after his confession. Neither the identity of the slave or his motive was recorded unless there were written documents regarding the case that were destroyed in the court house fire.
Oral tradition indicates that the punishment was carried out at a place that became known as “Hangman’s Hill” or “Gallows’ Hill.”
The hill is located above New Salem Baptist Church and is now a residential area known as Marshall Heights. Older members of the local African-American community remember the bend in Middle Creek below directlybehind New Salem Church referred to as “Hangman’s Hollow”
Ironically, another sensational murder in Sevier County over a century later claimed the life of another man whose last name was Perry.
On Sept. 19, 1949, Charles Perry and another victim, Josie Law, were stabbed to death by intruders arriving in the dark.
The two men were not related.
— Carroll McMahan is the special projects facilitator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce. The Upland Chronicles series celebrates the heritage and past of Sevier County. If you have suggestions for future topics, would like to submit a column or have comments; contact Carroll McMahan at 453-6411 or email to cmcmahan@scoc.org; or Ron Rader at 604-9161 or email to ron@ronraderproperties.com.
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