William Hilgedick
Justice Mercy
By Kathleen Eleanor Buescher Milligan
Hon. Joseph GILLESPIE on the bench. . . . (the) period (of 1861-1873) excelled all previous and all subsequent terms in the number of murder cases, some of which may be traced to the violent passions prevalent during the civil war, while a majority of them were the out-cropping of depravity…
William HILGEDICK, indicted for an assault with intent to kill, was sentenced to 14 years penitentiary. He had clubbed his wife, and thinking her to be dead, threw her helpless body under the hoofs of his mules, so as to escape suspicion. While in jail awaiting trial, HILGEDICK seemed as unconcerned as though he had not done any wrong. His ideas on the question of woman's rights smacked of barbarian ages.
It was Thursday morning, 9 June 1870, when Dr. John H. WEIR, a prominent physician in Edwardsville, Illinois, was summoned to a farm 3 or 4 miles outside of town. He expected to be find a woman's body, killed by a farm animal. Instead, he found a mutilated human being, but one who was clearly alive. WEIR later recalled the incident: William HILGEDICK decoyed his wife into his horse stable on the morning of the 9th of June 1870, requested her to pick up some egg lying on the floor, and while she was stooped down in the act of picking up the eggs, he struck her over the head with a piece of oak plank 1 inch thick 2 inches wide and some three feet long, and repeated his blows, cutting to the skull in 13 different places, fractured the skull in two places, placing his wooden shoe during the time, on her throat to keep her from alarming the neighbors and her mother. In her efforts to ward off the blows, he broke her arm and two of her fingers. After he thought she was dead, he took the blood with his hands and rubbed it on the horse's legs, and threw her under the horse, to give the impression that it was done by the horse, and then washed his hands and gave the alarm. . . . I soon found it was not the work of a horse, and had him arrested.
The 16 June 1870 edition of the Edwardsville Intelligencer reported Mrs. Lisette HILGEDICK put the scenario this way: I was feeding the pigs this morning before breakfast; my husband called me into the barn and pointing to two eggs on the floor he asked me if I had put them there; I told him I did not; he said: I guess you did; and while I was stooping down to pick up the eggs he struck me on the head with a board. I called for mother, then he struck me again. I recollect that he put his knee on me and held my nose with one hand and struck me many times with a board which he held in the other. He then picked me up and threw me under one of the horses' feet; that is all I remember till now. The newspaper account goes on to say that Mrs. Hilgedick made other statements to the effect that her husband was going with other women and that he had not performed the duties of a husband since the first two weeks of their marriage.
Finally, William HILGEDICK weighed in with the story that his wife went up into the loft over the stable to hunt eggs; that she stepped on a loose plank which tipped up and threw her below under the horse's feet, and that the cuts on his wife's head were done by the horse.
After his arrest, HILGEDICK was placed in the Madison County jail, indicted by the grand jury for an assault with intent to kill and had bond set at $5,000. HILGEDICK pled not guilty.
He happened to be a prisoner in the Madison County Jail when the 1870 Census was taken:
Name: Wm HILDERDICT
Age in 1870: 35
Birthplace: Prussia
Home in 1870: Edwardsville, Madison, Illinois
Occupation: Farmer
Value of Personal Est.: $600
Background
Ernst Wilhelm William HILGEDICK was the 6th of 7 children born to Ernst Heinrich and Catharine Maria Elisabeth (Kriegen) HILGDIECK in Lienen, Westphalia, Germany. William was born 26 Jan 1835. He had two older siblings and one younger who immigrated to the United States and settled in Illinois. William immigrated about 1868; his intention for naturalization was filed in 1868 in Madison County.
William married Lisette ALTESELMEIER in Madison County on 3 March 1869. Services were conducted by E. H. Kriege, minister of the Gospel at the German M.E. Church in Edwardsville. (German emigration records show a Catharine Lisette ALTESELLMEIER, born 13 Aug 1846, emigrating in 1867 from Lienen, Westphalia, Germany. Perhaps the HILGEDIECK and ALTESELLMEIER families knew each other in the Evangelical Church of Lienen.)
The Trial
On 6 Feb 1871, the trial began before the Honorable Joseph GILLESPIE, Judge of the 24th Judicial Circuit of the State of Illinois and sole presiding Judge of the Madison County Circuit Court. HILGEDICK was represented by attorneys IRWIN and KROME. Robert A. HALBERT, State's Attorney, and Robert W. CRAWFORD, Sheriff of Madison County were also present. (G.B. BURNETT assisted in the prosecution according to the newspaper account. ) Herman H. KUHLENBECK was the Court Clerk. A Jury of twelve good and lawful men was selected:
Peter DECK James BARMON John LONG George CARTWRIGHT John N. ASHLOCK Henry COOK J.H. STREETER Thomas LONG W. H. NEWLIN L. H. CHARLES P. DEGNEN John FRUIT
In the newspaper account of the trial, it was reported that Mrs. HILGEDICK's appearance in court "excited the sympathy of all present. Her head is not yet entirely healed. The marks of the plank with which the brute beat in her skull were plainly visible to the spectators as she stood upon the witness stand. There was but very little hair upon her head, nearly the entire scalp and some portions of the skull having disappeared altogether." The newspaper goes on to say that HILGEDICK showed no emotion during the trial. While in jail, "he had acknowledged on several occasions that he tried to kill his wife, and he was almost certain that he had accomplished his desire; but felt very sorry for what he had done."
Verdict
On 10 February 1871, after hearing the evidence and argument of counsel, the jury found the defendant guilty and fixed his term of confinement in the Illinois State Penitentiary at Joliet at fourteen years, with one day of solitary confinement and the remainder at hard labor.
Divorce
Lisette (nee ALTESELLMEIER) HILGEDICK was granted a divorce from her husband. The divorce was filed in October 1870 and finalized four months later on 10 February 1871 (the same day her husband's guilty verdict was handed down). Six months later, on 31 August 1871, a Lisette ALTESELLMEIER married Herman ENGELHARDT in a wedding performed by T. MEYER, minister of the Gospel in Madison County.
State Penitentiary at Joliet
On 2 March 1871, Robert W. CRAWFORD, Sheriff of Madison County, delivered William HILGEDICK to the State Penitentiary at Joliet to begin his sentence.
ILLINOIS STATE PENITENTIARY (Joliet, IL): CONVICT REGISTER
When Received: March 2, 1871
Height: 5 feet, 7 inches
Number: 6388
Complexion: Light
Names: William Hilgedick
Color of Hair: Brown
County: Madison
Color of Eyes: Blue
Crime: Assault to Kill Relations
Sentence: 14 years
Wife? No
Good time Granted (none)
Parents? No
Good time Lost (none)
Children? No
Good time Made (none)
Religion: Lutheran
When Discharged:
Habits of Life Temp
Age: 36
Education: R and W
Nativity: Germany
Term of Court: February
Occupation: Laborer
Remarks (none)
Petitions for Clemency
In May 1872, written communications began to arrive in Governor John M. PALMER's office in Springfield. With only one exception, the correspondence urged the governor to exercise executive clemency to grant HILGEDICK a pardon.
A 3 June 1872 letter from H.M. VANDEVER to Gov. PALMER introduced Herman KETTELKAMP who desired to present the Petitions of divers persons of Madison and Christian Counties for the Pardon of Wm. Hilgedick, . . . The Petitioners are Germans. . . . I am personally acquainted with many of them and . . . they are among our most worthy and respectable citizens. And would not be induced to sign the Petition unless they believed there was merits in the application. KETTELKAMP followed up with a letter of his own to Governor PALMER on 16 June 1872 inquiring why he had not yet had a response.
A second letter from VANDEVER written 10 Nov 1873, introduced Ernst KETTLECAMP, his German friend as HILGEDICK's brother-in-law. (HILGEDICK's younger sister, Catherine Friederike Hilgedieck was married to Ernst KETTELKAMP.)
The petitions that follow are assumed to be those referred to in VANDEVER's first letter.
To His Excellency John M. PALMER Governor of the State of Illinois.
We the undersigned residents of the State of Illinois, would respectfully represent unto your Excellency that at the February Special Term of the Madison County Circuit Court A. D. 1871 one William Hilgedieck was tried for the crime of an assault with intent to commit murder, was found guilty, and sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment in the State Penitentiary. Your petitioners would further represent that the said Hilgedieck was a native of what is now the Empire of Germany, and that they have known him intimately from his youth up to the present time both in Germany and while in this country; that he has always from his youth up, borne the very best of character as to honesty, peaceableness, quiet industry and truth; and your petitioners from a knowledge of all the facts in the case, sincerely believe that the ends of justice have been fully satisfied by the confinement in the state prison for over a year of the said Hilgedieck, and they would respectfully recommend unto your Excellency that he the said Hilgedieck is a fit and proper subject upon whom executive clemency might be exercised; and would earnestly pray for his immediate pardon; and as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
Herman KETTELKAMP
Ernst KETTELKAMP
Rika KETTELKAMP
Friederike KETTELKAMP
Lisette KETTELKAMP
Elisabeth APPEL
Friedrich R. BLOEMKER
Friederike BLOEMKER
M. HENSCHEN
Lisette BROCKMANN
William KRIEGE
Hermann BOLLMANN
Heinrich RIEKBERT
Friedrich HUNSCHE
Caroline ENGELMANN
Friedrich BERLEMANN
Ernst BOTHMANN
Heinrich WELP
Sophie WELP
Ernst B SKER
Lisette B SKER
Ernst BLOM
Wilhelmine BLOM
Scharlotte SUHRE
R. HILGEDIEK
Conrad BALDELEIER
Fredericke BALDELMEIER
R. BARDELMEYER
Catherine ABDOY
Elisabeth BOLLMANN
Friederike WIENEKE
To His Excellency John M. PALMER Governor of the State of Illinois.
We the undersigned residents and citizens of the State of Illinois would respectfully represent unto your Excellency, that we have read the foregoing petition, and have known personally the said William Hilgedieck since he has been in this country some three years or more before this conviction; that we believe the said petition to be true in every particular, that as far as it relates to the character of said Hilgedieck, and his conduct while in this country we know the same to be true. That from a knowledge of all the facts connected with his case we believe him more sinned against than sinning; and would therefore join our prayer with the above petitioners for an immediate pardon by your Excellency:
Fr. KETTELKAMP
Wilhelm KETTELKAMP
W. R. KETTELKAMP
R. W. KETTELKAMP
F. HENSCHEN
W. BROCKMANN
H. BOLLMANN
Wm. HUNEKE
Ebrath HUNSCHE
Wilhelm PETERS
Wilhelm FR CTHOFF
William DELBRUGGE
Kasper ENGELMANN
Ernst HOLSCHER
John T. SOHON
John CHR DER
Herman GIESE
Ernst KRAFT
Carl PLETTENBERG
Ernst SCHOMBERG
August BEGEMANN
Rudolph STOLTE
John MERKLES
Hermann H LSCHER
Heinrich WESSEL
Friedrich PROTT
Heinr. KRIEGE
Willem KRIEGE
Hermann KRIEGE
Ernst KRIEGE
Ernst BREWE
John F. LUBKE
Charles SALTER
H. SUHRE
H. H. KUHLENBECK
Clerk Circuit Court
Madison County
R. M. CRAWFORD, Sheriff
Madison Co.
Jno. A. PRICHETT
Wm. C. POWELL
B. E. HOFFMANN, Clerk Co Court
Wm. H. HALL, Deputy
Hermann STOLTE
Nelson MONTGOMERY
Geo R. STOCKER, Co. J
P. DEGNAN, Jury
T. M. LONG, County Surveyor, Jury
J. H. STREEPER, Jury
James BARROW Dr.
Louis KLINGERSMANN
Friedrich ALDRUP
Rudolph FRICKENSTEIN
Ernst BARDELMEIER
J. S. WRIGHT
John ZIMMERSCHIED
John HULKSTEN
Karl DUDA
Harmon FOSS
John FOSS
Friedrich ST NKEL
Adam SCHERF
Crist BRUENING
Wm. A. KROME
Heinrich DAMME
Carl LEUCHEL
C. M. SCHWARZ
Wm. BROWN Co. J.
T. H. KENNEDY, Treasurer
Bernard DURER
Frank J. HAAG
E. S. STRIDEY, Dpty Sheriff
John G. IRWIN
Hermann ENGELKING
W. S. WILSON
John J. WILSON
M. D. YATES
J. D. HELM
James N. PUCKETT
Rudolph SCHMIDT
Henry A. UHLEMEYER
To His Excellency John M. PALMER, Gov. of Illinois
We the undersigned know most of the parties who have signed the foregoing petitions, and from our personal knowledge of their character reputation and acquaintance with them, certify that their character and reputation for honesty, frugality, industry and for truth is exceedingly good; and their statements entitled to great credit; and from their statements we would recommend to your Excellency that the pardoning power be exercised in the case referred to in the foregoing petition.
Henry JONES
A.P. WOLF
Jos. M. McKEE
Joseph CHAPMAN
Henry BEST
Wilhelm VALLBRACHT
Friedrich MAREINER
Wilhelm ZIMMERMAN
Wilhelm ELMERS
Albert ELMERS
William GREENWOOD
Geo. A. APPEL
H. F. KLAUS
Friedrich KRUMMEL
Heinrich KRUMMEL
Edward PHILLIPS
Christian P. SMITH
Henry STULLKEN
F. W. WOLD
T. H. KLAUSTERMEIER
F. MEJER
Louis FIEHLAND
Heinrich NIEDERSCHULTE
Ernst HUNSCHE
Friedrich HAGEDORN
W. ABENBRINCK
Ahrend ENGELMAN
Munke DICKEN
Lorenz GALLOWAY
Friedrich KRUMME
Joseph MERKEL
Andreas L HRKOLB
Henry HILLE
Andrew GREMER
Heinrich FISCHER
August SUHRE
Fred SUHRE
Heinerich SUHRE
Christian H RMANN
J. T. GARISON
Madison GARISON
Ernst JOHNSON
Letters supporting Clemency
J. GILLESPIE, the judge in whose court HILGEDICK was sentenced, sent a letter to Gov. PALMER saying that circumstances have since transpired which occasion doubts in the minds of some persons as to the propriety of the punishment and many believe that it was in great measure undeserved. Those who ought to be best capable of judging maintain that HILGEDICK was more sinned against than sinning and that the conduct of (his) wife was such as to make his life an intolerable burden and drive him to a state little short of insanity. . . . In view of the respect I have for the men who are interesting themselves in endeavoring to procure a Pardon for this man and feeling assured that they would not do so without being satisfied of the rectitude of their course and believing likewise that it is better at all events to err on the side of mercy if an error is to be committed, I unite in recommending Hilgedick to the exercise of your Executive clemency and believe that it would be well to Pardon him.
George B. BURNETT, who assisted in the prosecution of Hilgedick, assured Gov. PALMER that if returned to liberty (Hilgedick) will become a good citizen, and never again be party of crime. H. H. KUHLENBECK, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Madison County, a signatory on one of the petitions, informed the governor in a letter that HILGEDICK's wife is a very high tempered and jealous woman and she made her home unhappy for her husband. In fact she almost drove him to despair by her taunts and abuses. These facts were substantiated at the trial by his Neighbours. Even Robert FRIDAY, jailor of the county jail, urged clemency for HILGEDICK based on his having behaved and deported himself properly and with due propriety during his confinement in the Madison County Jail.
E. H. KRIEGE, Minister of the Gospel at the German M.E. Church who married William and Lisette, wrote to the governor stating that he believed Hilgedick was more forced by his now devorsed (sic) woman to act as he did than by his own will.
Only John H. WEIR, M.D., submitted a dissenting viewpoint. WEIR had been the first on the scene at the time the assault occurred and after assessing the situation had HILGEDICK arrested. In his letter to Gov. PALMER, WEIR recalled that HILGEDICK denied having anything to do in the matter, until after his conviction, and then gave as a reason that his wife's mother was the cause of disturbance. He and his friends say, 'a man has a right to whip his wife when she deserved it' but I think he carried it a little too fare (sic). The truth is, so fare (sic) as we can learn, that there was a girl in the neighborhood with whom HILGEDICK was very familiar, and he wished to get rid of his wife, so as to marry this girl. Such a diabolical attempt at wife murder, in my opinion, should not be pardoned, on account of a few sympathysing (sic) friends who do not look upon such things as much of a crime. I have no prejudice against this man, only knowing all the circumstances, I believe the law should have its full course in such cases, as a warning to evil doers in the future, and learn . . . that we have law in the country that must be obeyed.
Pardoned
An application for HILGEDICK's pardon was filed in the Executive Office on 6 June 1872 by E. B. Harlow, Private Secretary to Governor John M. PALMER. However, it was only after John Lourie BEVERIDGE became governor that HILGEDICK's situation was received sympathetically. BEVERIDGE pardoned HILGEDICK on 22 March 1875, releasing him the following day.
Life Post-Pardon
By the time of his release, HILGEDICK's older sister Catherine HILGEDIECK BUSKER/BUESCHER had passed away. Within 3 years, his older brother Eberhard Rudolph HILGEDICK would be deceased, as well. No doubt William's notoriety in Madison County would have precluded his settling down there to a quiet life. HILGEDICK next appears in Rush County, Illinois Township, Kansas, in the 1880 U.S. Census where he seems to have lived out the remainder of his life unmarried, working as a farmer, and living alone or as a boarder. He last appears in the 1910 U.S. Census, still in Rush County, Lone Star Township, living as a boarder with the Reinhardt family.
Epilogue
William HILGEDICK was my g-g-uncle. His older sister, Catharine Elisabeth HILGEDICK was my g-g-grandmother. She married Ernst Wilhelm BUSKER / BUESCHER in Lienen, Westphalia, Germany in 1852 before moving as a young family to a new life in the United States.
The irony of this story is that in the year 2005, the St. Louis-based nonprofit organization I work for - Provident Counseling - operates batterer's intervention programs in both Madison and St. Clair Counties, Illinois.
I am grateful to the following people and organizations for their help with this project:
Wilhelm Hilgedieck
Mary Schuette McKenzie
Illinois State Archives
Edwardsville Intelligencer
Madison County Genealogical Society
Madison County Historical Society
Madison County Courthouse Archives
Back to Madison County Main Page.
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