When last we left the Little Family in Clarke County, Clinton Little had been murdered, his mother had been wounded, Oscar and Lycurgus were in jail in Berryville awaiting their trial, and Columbus claimed it was all a giant accident of boyhood exuberance ( Staunton Vindicator , Shepherdstown Register ). The postmortem and coroner's inquest determined Clinton's death was a case of premeditated homicide. Medical Updates Reports on the seriousness of the mother's injury varied, ranging from minor since no bone was broken and no artery was severed, though several sources reported that she developed erysipelas , or a bacterial infection in the skin, which was seen as potentially serious ( Shepherdstown Register , Staunton Vindicator , Virginia Herald ). It appears this was successfully resolved, however, and she came to no lasting harm. Columbus and Gilbert were allegedly hit on the head with a pistol during the struggle in the dining room but suffered no more than bruises fr...
While looking for mentions of the Ancient Order of Hibernians for the previous Saint Patrick's Day post, I saw mention of a murder trial for Oscar Little in Winchester. I had not come across a mention of this person or case before, and it turned out to be quite the deep and twisting rabbit hole. While I will be quoting liberally from some primary source material, I know at least one of my readers is squeamish about medical content. Be advised that if you click the links to read the full articles, there will be possibly more details on the case than you might want to read. (A number of testimonies from the trial describing the wounds are covered in some detail, as you'd likely expect in a murder case.) This first entry in a multi-part story will set the stage for the trials to come. Let's get started. Setting the Stage The tragedy occurred in the Little family home, involving the parents Franklin and Mrs. (Margaret or Mary Jane) Little, their six adult sons and one daughter...