John Milton Elliott (May 16, 1820 – March 26, 1879) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge from

Prestonsburg, Kentucky Prestonsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Kentucky, United States. It is in the eastern part of the state in the valley of the Big Sandy River. The population was 3,255 at the time of the 2010 census, d ...

. He was assassinated by a fellow judge. Elliott represented

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1853 until 1857, and served in the

First Confederate Congress The 1st Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, convened between February 18, 1862, and February 17, 1864. This assembly took place during the first two years ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Life and career

Elliott was born in

Scott County, Virginia Scott County is a county located in the far southwestern part of the U.S. state of Virginia, on the border with Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,576. Its county seat is Gate City. Scott County was formed by an act of ...

, on May 16, 1820, to John and Jane Elliott. The family moved to Kentucky during his childhood, with his father serving two terms in the Kentucky General Assembly. In 1841, he began practicing law in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. He was elected to the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

in 1847, representing Floyd, Pike, and Johnson Counties. He later followed it with a stint in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1853 to 1859. In 1861 he went back to the Kentucky legislature, but was expelled by Judge Bland Ballard on December 21, 1861, for giving aid to the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), also known as the Confederate States (C.S.), the Confederacy, or Dixieland, was an List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United State ...

. He then turned his loyalties to the Confederacy, helping to form the

Confederate government of Kentucky The Confederate government of Kentucky was a government-in-exile, shadow government established for the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Kentucky by a self-constituted group of Confederate States of America, Confederate sympathizer ...

, and served in its Senate as a Senator from Kentucky. After the war, he moved to

Bath County, Kentucky Bath County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,750. The county seat is Owingsville. The county was formed in 1811. Bath County is included in the Mount Sterling, KY Micropolitan ...

. In 1876, Elliott began serving on the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

Murdered by a fellow judge

On March 26, 1879, Judge Elliott and fellow jurist Thomas Hines left the Kentucky State House, when they met a judge from

Henry County, Kentucky Henry County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky bordering the Kentucky River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,678. Its county seat is New Castle, but its largest city is Eminence. T ...

, Colonel Thomas Buford. Buford's late sister had lost her land to pay back a debt of $20,000; Elliott had ruled against her in a court proceeding in which she had attempted to save the property. After Hines had turned and walked away from Elliott, Buford asked Elliott whether he wanted to go on a

snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. ''Gallinago'' snipe have a nearly ...

hunt, then shot him point-blank with a double-barreled 12 gauge

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

loaded with

buckshot A shotgun cartridge, shotshell, or shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) ammunition used specifically in shotguns. It is typically loaded with numerous small, spherical sub-projectiles called shot. Shotguns typically use a ...

, as he had sworn on his sister's grave he would do. Hines inspected the body as Buford turned himself in to a deputy sheriff who had come to see where the shotgun blast came from. The assassination made news throughout the country. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' opined that the murder "could scarcely have taken place in any region calling itself

civilized A civilization (also spelled civilisation in British English) is any complex society characterized by the development of the state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond signed or spoken language ...

except Kentucky, or some other Southern state".Kleber pg. 291

Aftermath

Buford offered a defense of

not guilty by reason of insanity Not or NOT may also refer to: Language * Not, the general declarative form of "no", indicating a negation of a related statement that usually precedes * ... Not!, a grammatical construction used as a contradiction, popularized in the early 1990 ...

during his trial. The jury did indeed find him insane, after an initial 6–6 deadlock. Buford was sent to the Central Kentucky Insane Asylum in

Anchorage, Kentucky Anchorage is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky, Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,500 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 2,348 at the 2010 Un ...

, but would eventually escape in 1882 to

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, where he was unable to be extradited from. He voluntarily returned to the asylum in 1884 and died on February 12, 1885. Elliott was buried at

Frankfort Cemetery The Frankfort Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located on East Main Street in Frankfort, Kentucky. The cemetery is the burial site of Daniel Boone, the famed frontiersman, and contains the graves of other famous Americans including seventeen ...

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...

. His wife had a statue erected in his honor at the courthouse of

Boyd County, Kentucky Boyd County is a County (United States), county located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 48,261. The county seat is Catlettsburg, Kentucky, Cat ...

Catlettsburg, Kentucky Catlettsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The city population was 1,780 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area. History Early history Cat ...

. It is debated whether

Elliott County, Kentucky Elliott County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Its county seat is Sandy Hook, Kentucky, Sandy Hook. The county was formed in 1869 from parts of Morgan County, Kentucky, Morgan, Lawrence County, Kentuck ...

is named for Elliott or his father.Smith pg. 222

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, John M. 1820 births 1879 deaths 19th-century Kentucky state court judges Assassinated American politicians Burials at Frankfort Cemetery Deaths by firearm in Kentucky Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Deputies and delegates to the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States Judges of the Kentucky Court of Appeals Members of the Confederate House of Representatives from Kentucky Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives People from Bath County, Kentucky People from Prestonburg, Kentucky People from Scott County, Virginia People murdered in Kentucky Assassinated American judges Politicians assassinated in the 1870s 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly People murdered in 1879

Life and career

Murdered by a fellow judge

Aftermath

See also

References