Stories of Salem: The Murder of Elias Voorhees

SPONSORSHIP NOTE: Stories of Salem is made possible through the assistance and resources of the John Hay Center, located at 307 E. Market Street in Salem. Open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10 to 5, they are an invaluable source of information for anyone interested in the history of their hometown. Learn more at johnhaycenter.org!

---

In recent years, hearing the name "Voorhees", would cause many to think of Jason, the supernatural antagonist of the Friday the 13th slasher series. However, in Washington County, the name brings to mind a different ghastly murder story.

The difference is that this one is true.

That being said, accounts do differ. The John Hay Center's newspaper archives only go back to around the time of the Civil War - at least 10 to 20 years after these events. As a result, this story must be told from a combination of several sources that vary in reliability, including the books The Centennial History of Washington County, The Bicentennial History of Washington County, word-of-mouth accounts passed down through family histories over the years, and one particular letter to the editor of The Salem Democrat written by early Washington County historian A.W. King. Since King was a contemporary of Voorhees and quite possibly even a witness to some of these events, I will be deferring to his account in the event of a discrepancy.

A.W. King's letter to The Salem Democrat's editor. Year unknown. Courtesy of the John Hay Center.

In September of 1836, (other sources say 1840 - either way, it is said to have been the year of a presidential election involving Van Buren and Harrison), Washington County was shaken by the violent and mysterious murder of Deputy Sheriff Elias Voorhees (originally Varis or Voris, but the family's name has evolved over the years). A physically imposing man from Johnson County, Voorhees had been traveling back through Salem after delivering prisoners to the state penitentiary in Jeffersonville. He never made it home.

The site of James Markwell's hotel and tavern, now home to the Women's Shelter.

Voorhees was accompanied by two fellow law officers, and the three stopped for lunch at James Markwell’s hotel and tavern on the corner of Salem’s Main and Poplar Streets (currently the site of the Women's Shelter). While there, as the story goes, they encountered three men from Kentucky by the name of Blackgraves (other sources say Hargrave), cattle drovers who had been selling livestock in the area. As the men began to talk politics over whiskey shots, an argument broke out. The Indiana men supported Democratic nominee Martin Van Buren, while the Kentuckians were supporters of Whig candidate William Henry Harrison. Tempers flared, and upon Voorhees rising and drunkenly proclaiming that he could "lick" any of his opponents, the disagreement escalated into a physical altercation. One of the Blackgraves men spat in Voorhees' face, and the lawmen responded by beating the tar out of the Kentuckians.

The Kentuckians immediately filed charges of assault and battery before Justice of the Peace Alex Crooks, and warrants were issued. Voorhees and his companions were arrested and held for trial. At some point later that day, Voorhees reportedly left custody—possibly while unguarded or permitted to roam freely—and mounted his horse to leave town. Rather than taking the correct road home through Brownstown, he accidentally followed a less-traveled path known as Cox Ferry Road.

The Blackgraves, still angry from the tavern fight, are said to have offered a cash reward for Voorhees' capture, one of them supposedly even offering $100 for Voorhees' right ear. Four men from Washington County—Jeremiah Dennis, Michael Atkinson, Isaac Gordon, and John Goodwin—began searching for him, claiming they were acting to bring the fugitive back to justice. They returned later that evening, saying they had not found him.

Two days later, two young boys—Phineas Little and John Williams—were searching for lost cattle along Cox Ferry Road. At the edge of a field near a fallen tree, they discovered the decapitated body of Elias Voorhees. His severed head had been placed on a stick nearby, the right ear missing.

The discovery shocked the community. Suspicion immediately fell on the four Washington County men who had searched for Voorhees. Authorities arrested Goodwin, Dennis, Atkinson, and Gordon. The trial was set to begin in Salem, but defense attorneys argued that local public opinion was too inflamed for a fair hearing. A change of venue was granted, and in early October the case was moved to Corydon in Harrison County.

At the Corydon trial, a lack of direct evidence and missing witnesses weakened the prosecution’s case. Much of the earlier testimony recorded during the initial hearings was not carried over, and the connection between the defendants and the murder could not be firmly established in court. All four men were acquitted.

Even so, public suspicion remained, particularly toward John Goodwin and Jeremiah Dennis, both of whom fled town after the trial. Years later, a boy hunting in the woods near the murder site went to retrieve a rabbit out of a hollow log, only to pull out a blood-stained overcoat.

The coat was identified by locals as belonging to John Goodwin.

An 1860 map of Washington County. The red circle indicates the area where Voorhees' body was supposedly discovered. Around the area you can see both the names W.P. Williams and John P. Williams, undoubtedly either relatives of the Williams boy who found Elias, or, in John P.'s case, possibly even the boy himself 20-25 years later. It also stands to reason that little John Williams may have grown up to be the reason that the ill-fated "Black John" Williams was given his local nickname (See Stories of Salem: The Sundown Town). Map courtesy of the John Hay Center.

The same area today.

Goodwin was never heard from again, but Elias Voorhees was. In the years following his death, many travelers on Cox Ferry Road would claim to see the terrifying sight of a headless apparition near the area that would eventually become known as "Dead Man's Holler". However, no reports of this can be found after the turn of the 20th century, and now the exact location of Voorhees' untimely death is unknown, although historians agree that it is somewhere between the intersection of Cox Ferry and Dog Trot Road and Partin's & Son Auto Salvage & Recycling. There is a field halfway between these two points, but a landscape can change quite a bit in nearly 200 years. Chances are, the actual clearing Voorhees was murdered in has long since grown into the surrounding forest and is now forever lost to time.

The field off Cox Ferry Road between Partin's and Dog Trot that may or may not be the site of Voorhees' murder.

It is a story passed down in fragments—through retrospective newspaper clippings, family histories, and local legend. While some details may have become blurred with time, the core facts remain, and the death of Deputy Elias Voorhees remains one of the earliest, most disturbing, and most haunting murder cases in Washington County’s history.