JOE GREER ADMITTED TO BAIL IN THE SUM OF $5000- LOU PARROT HELD TO ANSWER WITHOUT BAIL THE EVIDENCE ON WHICH THE CASE WAS DETERMINED



Martinsville, May 26--


It is difficult to imagine a more horrible crime than the Wash Brown murder, if the sickening details as given by Willard Brown be true.
All day Friday the court toom was crowded almost to suffocation, each one endeavoring to catch every word that was spoken by the witnesses.
One Saturday, it was the same way. A large number of ladies were in attendance and the spectators crowded around the bar so persistently
that they had to be ordered back by the sheriff. Willard Brown closed his testimony by stating positively that he saw Mrs. Parrott, 
Joe Greer, and Lyman Greer divide the money in the kitchen. 

JAMES BROWN TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

I am a son of Wash Brown I went to Indianapolis on Tuesday and father went with me; when I got back, took my horse and went home;
I lived about a quarter of a mile from father's; I heard nothing unusual that night; between 12 and 1 o'clock my wife woke me up and told me
the bell was ringing at father's; I got up and just then Willard called me and told me someone had been in and struck father and mother;
my wife and I went over there; mother was sitting up and father was lying down; the bed was filled and covered with blook; especially
near the head of the bed; Lou was standing on the north side of the room and her shoes were laced up and tied, and the shoes were high;
as soon as I saw that I went up to Lou's room and saw that she had not been in bed; her little girl was lying on the forepart of the bed,
and the pillows were on the covers on the back part and the bed was not mashed down; there was an examination made of the bookcase and
no pocketbooks found; on Tuesday after my father was buried, I saw Lou go to the milkhouse and get two pocketbooks and put some money
out of them in her pocket and come to the house. Afterward part of the coroner's jury came back and found three pocketbooks in the bookcase.
I was within a foot or two of the milkhouse when I saw Lou take the money out of the pocketbooks. When we were summoned before the grand
jury, Lou beckoned Willard aside and told him to go and see Grubbs and Parks before he went before the grand jury and he did have a talk
with Parks. Here the judge remarked that he told Mr. Parks to advise Willard as to his rights before he went before the grand jury.
Mother and Lou did not get along well together.


RACHEL B. BROWN TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS:

I am the widow of Wash Brown; I am 51 years of age; my husband was about the same age; Mrs. Parrot, Willard, Jim, Belle and four others
are my children; I did not see or feel or hear any one the night of the murder; when I awoke my ear ached; I tried to awake Wash; but
could not; I got up and lit the lamp; no one was there but members of the family- my mother, and Cassius, I and Mr. Brown slept downstairs.
Lou and her little girl, Willard and his brother Joe all slept up stairs; my husband went to bed before I did; Lou was the last one
left in our room; I do not know when she went to bed; that day I threatened to slap her little girl and she got mad and said, "G_d durn you;
maybe you won't have a chance"; all had been good humored until then; for about two years before that there had been trouble between me
and her; she did not like her father and would not stay at home; once when Willard got in jail in Martinsville, Lou got mad at her
father becasue he would not go down and take him out; Lou said she could cut her father into inch pieces and that she intended to get
Willard to catch him in the field and cut him to pieces; once there was trouble about $8 in money, a watch and a revolver that was taken;
I guess her father laid the taking of it to her; one day I saw Lou with some bright looking metal which she said she intended to make
money out of; on Tuesday my husband gave me $75, which I gave back to him in the presence of Lou, Wednesday night; I don't know how much 
other money he had; he had $100 in gold which he brought home from California two or three years ago and about $115 more in gold which he 
got afterward; he also had about $100 in silver; the gold was buried; we dug it up and washed it Sunday night and put it in the cellar;
the gold and silver was after the murder brought to Martinsville and placed in the bank; no one knew where the gold and silver was except me; 
neither of these pocketbooks is the one he had on the night of the murder; that was a new pocketbook; I have not seen it since that night.
I saw him put $75 in his pocketbook and put it under his pillow; he usually kept his pocketbook under his pillow; it was past 11 o'clock 
when I went to bed. I spoke to Lou and told her it was time to go to bed; she did not make any answer that I heard; she was sewing on the
machine or sitting by it reading; Willard shot at a dog that night; Lou staid home until after the sale; she left saying she was going to
Indianapolis; Mr. Long was at our house the night before my husband went to Indianapolis; Lou had been at home that day, and when Mr.
Long came she went to Wills and did not come back until after Mr. Long went away; there usually were some sacks and old covers under the 
stairway.

JOE GREER WAS THE NEXT WITNESS. HE TESTIFIED:

I am one of the defendants. I was 26 years old last January; I married Wash Brown's daughter; have been married for five years; was 
up six or seven weeks before the murder to see Peter Morningstar about renting some ground of him; I was up again on Sunday before the
murder; saw Mr. Morningstar and he said he could not give me an answer unitl he saw his partner, Mr. Poor, whom he expected home in a few 
days; I went to David Greer's and staid there that night; I staid the next night at Jonah Waggaman's on Tuesday about 2 o'clock I passed
Wash Brown's and saw Mrs. Parrot, her little girl and Willard Brown; Mrs. Parrot asked me how I was getting along and how Belle was; I
told her I had been sick again; Willard invited me in; I did not go in; Lou asked me when I was going home, and I told her in the morning;
she said she would send some things to Belle; I went from there to David Greer's; there was no such conversation as Willard testified to;
not one word about killing Mr. or Mrs. Brown; I staid at David Greer's Tuesday night; on Wednesday, Lewis Davis started home with me; he
was going along to see about renting a farm; before we started, Mrs. Parrott came to David's and gave me a shawl and feather for Belle; Mrs.
Parrot and her little girl started away at the same time Davis and I did; I went to the shed where my mare was and found her lying down 
with the saddle; when I got on her she appeared to be sluggish; Davis proposed not to go until next day as it was late and my mare seemed 
sick. I consented to it and we agred to meet next morning at James Greer's; I went to Lyman Greer's and stayed there that night and was 
not away from there that night; this was Wednesday night, the night of the murder; the family were there and Eli Williams came over and
stayed until between 9 and 10 o'clock; I slept in a room with Elihu Greer, a little boy about six years old; Lyman Greer showed me 
where to sleep; took my boots off in the family room; three beds in there; James Greer, Bedford Greer and Lyman's two girls, Miss Broom,
myself and the little boy all slept in this room; James woke me up when he came in; it was about 9:30 when I went to bed; Lyman came in and
woke me about daylight, and I got up; I was not outside of that room that night; Davis came to Lyman's next morning and told me that 
my father-in-law had been murdered that night; James Greer went with me and we went after Belle and got her and come back; we got to Mr.
Brown's about daylight; last fall a year ago I had some trouble with Mr. Brown about some wheat; my wife stepped between us; he pushed 
her away and when he did I struck him and we had a fight; my health has been bad for some time, and at the request of my wife and others 
I have since moved on the Brown farm.

The testimony of Joseph Greer was given in a straight forward manner and while he was testifying many ladies stood up and the large crowd
pressed closely around the bar, and outside of the questions and answers the silence in the court room was profound. Joe Greer
supported his testimony by an alibi that was simply iron-clad. He slept in a room where six others besides himselp slept, and talked 
with different persons long after the time when Willard and Brown testified that he and Lyman Greer were at the well at Wash Brown's. 
Elihu Williams was at Lyman Greer's talking to Joe and Lyman until near 10 o'clock and noticed nothing to excite his suspicions in
the least and when he went away they asked him to stay longer. Lyman Greer was on the witness stand and said Joe went to bed between 9 
and 10 o'clock and that he woke him up about 5 o'clock next morning; that so far as he was concerned he was not at Wash Brown's that night;
he did not help in the murder; knew nothing of it; received no money by it and did not know or have the least suspicion that Brown was to 
be murdered and the universal opinion here is that he told the truth. Other witnesses carried the alibi forward until nearly midnight.
Mrs. Parrot did not testify. There was a ripple of fun all over the court room when Mrs. Will Brown was on the stand. She testified that
Lou came to their house on Monday night and stated that her father had been to Martinsvile and had brought "Rat" Long home with him;that 
she did not want to see "Rat" that she tried to get "shut of him" by talking to him, but she could not and that she was now getting rid 
of him by running away from him.
When the evidence was in, the judge promptly admitted Joe Greer to bail and b agreement of the attorneys on both sides, his bail was
fixed at $5000. Mrs. Parrot was held without bail. On account of the unwholesome condition of our jail she will be sent to Bloomington
or Franklin.


Submitted by Debbie Jennings