Mystery Monday: An 1868 American Assassination
When asked about 1860’s American political assassinations, it is fair to assume that most minds would immediately wander to the infamous assassination of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. His 1865 murder at the hands of John Wilkes Booth has received popular treatment spanning several books, film depictions, plays, parodies, and even video game cameos!
Yet, Lincoln was not the only prominent politician murdered during the 1860’s (a rough estimate places the number at 6 depending on your definition of prominence), and today we are focusing in on the death of congressman Thomas C. Hindman, fatally shot while reading a newspaper in his parlor room, surrounded by family on a cold September evening in 1868.
Portrait of General Thomas Hindman in his military uniform as provided by https://digitalheritage.arkansas.gov/ and replicated for educational purposes
Born to wealthy planter family in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1828, Hindman was afforded excellent education at the Classical Institute in Lawrenceville, NJ. At the tender age of just 17, Hindman returned south, this time joining a Mississippi Volunteer Infantry unit that saw little action over the course of the Mexican War. Following a military career that saw him advance to the rank of Lieutenant, Thomas Hindman officially entered the political stage as a Democrat, winning election as a Mississippi House of Representatives member in 1854, following a military show of force comprised of duels with several of his political opponents. Hindman would however serve only one term as a state rep, as his political aspirations eventually lead him to Helena, Arkansas where he started a law practice and entered a marriage with Mary Biscoe, the daughter of a local wealthy planter.
It was in Arkansas where Hindman would win his first national election, serving two terms in the US House of Representatives, a period over which his political actions and public speeches established himself as an ardent segregationist. With the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in 1860, Hindman resigned his political post and instead resumed his military career; this time as an officer for the Confederate forces. In a short military career marred with several tactical failures, Hindman’s command officially ended with his defeat at Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia, after which he escaped with his family to Mexico to avoid political persecution by Andrew Johnson. An enemy of the state with an outstanding warrant for his arrest on the basis of war crimes committed as a Confederate General, Hindman returned to Arkansas in 1868 attempting to keep a low profile. It was here, in his Helena home, where Hindman would eventually meet his demise at approximately 9:30 PM on September 27th.
Accounts of Hindman’s murder vary, but the basic facts of the case which have been substantiated are that Hindman was home reading a newspaper with his children when several musket shots tore through his parlor window, striking his jaw and throat. While his injuries proved fatal just eight hours later, Hindman is noted for addressing an audience from his porch as he bled to death, calling for his political supporters to broadly pursue an agenda of unity and peace.
Who was the assassin who fired the bullets that fatally wounded former congressman Thomas Hindman? Potential suspects and motives vary from political opponents to African Americans seeking restorative justice against Hindman for his abhorrent previous support of slavery and possible (but unsubstantiated) connection to the unjust hanging and lynching of Helena resident Lee Morrison. Ultimately, investigations into Hindman’s murder were unsuccessful and outside of unsubstantiated theories and anecdotal evidence, there are no leads or legitimate suspects in what remains an unsolved assassination of a former American Politician.
Want to learn more about Thomas Hindman or alternative theories regarding his murder? Check out this article from Battlefields.org which provides a historical narrative that explores Hindman’s life and career in greater detail. Interested in learning more about unsolved mysteries from the Victorian era? Check out our blog and @my_dear_holmes every Monday for new content to scratch that mysterious itch while you wait for your next Dear Holmes letter!
Sources & Additional Resources:
https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=H000628
https://digitalheritage.arkansas.gov/exhibits-online-civil-war/223/
https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/thomas-carmichael-hindman-1672/