Major William S. Harney was stationed at the Jefferson
Barracks in Missouri. In October of 1833, he had married Miss Mary Mullanphy of
St. Louis. The young lady had just inherited a fortune from her father, and
William hoped that the marriage would provide him with financial security and
enhance his reputation both inside and out of the military. He could not say
that he was madly in love with her, but no one would accuse him of making a bad
marriage. For her part, being married to a handsome young up and coming officer
would not hurt her reputation either.
2 “Would you newlyweds mind staying in my house while
I travel in Europe?” Mary’s sister, Ann Biddle, had asked them in April. “Of
course, we will dear,” Mary had responded for both of them. William obtained
permission from his superiors to join his wife at the residence and quickly
adapted to having servants at his beckon call.
3 By June, the household had settled into something of
a routine until the day that William could not find the keys he used to unlock
many of the buildings he was responsible for on post. “Have you seen my keys?”
he asked his wife. “No, dear, I’m afraid I haven’t seen them,” she replied.
“Oh, wait, I remember seeing Hannah place them on top of the bureau in our
bedroom the other day when she was dusting.” Hannah was one of the house slaves
who took care of cleaning and laundry in the residence.
4 Perturbed, William mounted the stairs two steps at a
time and confronted the startled servant in the hallway outside of the
bedrooms. “Hannah, have you seen my keys?” “No, sir, Master Harney, I ain’t
seen no keys,” she declared.
5 “Miss Mary saw you with the keys just the other
day,” the Major pressed. Hannah smiled. “No, sir, I ain’t seen no keys.,” she
repeated “That gal is lying through her teeth,” Harney thought as the anger
welled up inside of him.
6 “What kind of game are you playing, girl? Tell me
where those damned keys are this instant!” he demanded. “I done told you,
Master, I ain’t seen no keys!”
7 At that, William lost his temper and smacked her
across the face. Hannah started crying and turned to flee down the hallway.
William reached out and grabbed her by the arm. “You’re going to tell me what
you did with those keys, or I’m going to whip the hide off of you!”
8 He forced her along the hallway, down the stairs and
into the kitchen. He grabbed a rawhide strap hanging on the kitchen wall. “Are
you going to tell me where you’ve hid those keys?” he asked. He had a wild,
uncompromising look in his eyes that Hannah had never seen before, and it
frightened her. “No, no, no, no,” she shouted through her tears.
9 The strap fell across the top of her head, and her
knees buckled. The next blow fell across her back. After that, she lost track
of how many times and where the blows landed.
10 “I know that little nigger has hidden my keys
somewhere!” William exclaimed in exasperation. Mary didn’t say a word. She had
seen her husband get angry before, and she knew that he was beyond reasoning
with when he got this mad.
11 The next day, he confronted Hannah again. “Have you
decided to tell me where you’ve hid those keys?” he demanded. “I told you I
don’t know where those damned keys is!” Hannah defiantly proclaimed. William
dragged her back to the kitchen and gave her another good thrashing.
12 She staggered back to her bed and sobbed into the
pillow. When she finally got up, the sheets were covered in blood. Her eyes and
her face were swollen, and her body was covered in lacerations; but there was
no one to help her. She knew that tomorrow she would face her master’s wrath
once again.
13 Sure enough, the following morning provided no
relief for the battered slave. “You insolent little bitch! By God, you are
going to tell me where you have hidden those keys!” Harney snapped. Hannah just
collapsed on the floor and tried to shelter her head with her arms and hands.
Later that evening, Hannah mercifully died.
14 News of what had happened quickly spread around St.
Louis. And, although the beating of a slave was not uncommon and usually
elicited no notice outside of the household where it took place, everyone was
stunned by the barbarity of what had happened.
15 City officials demanded that the family turn over
the woman’s body for the coroner to examine. The coroner’s jury concluded that
Hannah had died as a consequence of the beating that she had received at the
hands of her master.
16 William’s superiors turned the case over to the St.
Louis County Prosecutor. William was astonished and dismayed. The tide of
public opinion had clearly turned against him. What should he do? He decided to
go to Washington and ask to be reassigned somewhere else.
17 “I think it’s for the best,” Brian Mullanphy,
Mary’s brother (who was also an attorney) advised him. Thus, William quietly
slipped out of town and headed for Virginia.
18 In the meantime, a mob of angry citizens had formed
outside of the Biddle residence and was demanding that Harney be surrendered to
them for justice. “Friends, Major Harney is not here,” Brian told them from the
front porch. “We’ll take this house apart brick by brick if you don’t surrender
him to us!” someone shouted from the crowd.
19 “He’s been called away to Washington on business
related to the Army,” he explained. “We don’t believe you!” several shouted at
once. “You can verify what I’m telling you with the commander of Jefferson
Barracks,” Brian offered.
20 While the crowd continued to murmur among
themselves and looked like they might storm the door at any minute, several men
at its head quietly huddled together and discussed the matter. After
deliberating for a few minutes, one of them turned to address Brian; and
everyone else fell silent.
21 “Mr. Mullanphy, we knew your father to be an
honorable man, and it appears that you have followed in his footsteps. It is,
therefore, our decision to take you at your word and verify what you have told
us at the barracks. Nevertheless, rest assured, if you have misled us in this
matter, or the Major does not return and surrender himself to the proper
authorities, we will be back!” With that, the crowd dispersed, and Brian
breathed a sigh of relief.
22 “You must not return here until the excitement that
this affair has inspired in the citizenry has had an opportunity to die down,
and that may take several years,” another family member wrote to William. “I
will inform you when it is safe for you to do so,” he concluded.
23 In September, William Lloyd Garrison’s newspaper, The Liberator, republished a piece that
had appeared earlier in an Ohio newspaper. The lead line of the article underscored the fury that Harney’s actions had
unleashed: “A MONSTER, by the name of Harney, has murdered a Negro woman, by
whipping her to death in St. Louis.” The major and his family began to wonder
whether he would survive the scandal.
24 In Washington, Harney was temporarily reassigned as
the paymaster of Camp Armistead near Knoxville, Tennessee. While there, he
learned from Mary’s family that the initial excitement over the death of Hannah
had abated, and that it would finally be safe for him to return to St. Louis
and deal with his remaining legal difficulties resulting from “the affair.”
25 On the way home, the major stopped by The Hermitage
to see the president. “I have been following the news of your difficulties,”
Jackson told him. “It is most unfortunate when we are confronted with these
kinds of issues, but you must be courageous and face your accusers,” the
president continued. “You must persevere and overcome your enemies!” Harney
thanked the president for his encouragement and continued on his way.
26 After a brief layover with family friends in
Illinois, William finally returned to St. Louis in November where he was
quickly arrested. His attorney immediately petitioned for a change of venue.
27 “It should be clear to everyone concerned that my
client cannot receive a fair trial in this jurisdiction,” he argued. The judge
happily shifted the proceedings to the circuit court at Union, Missouri for
later that month.
28 However, when time came for the trial to begin,
neither the prosecution nor the defense had assembled all of their witnesses,
and the case was postponed until the following spring.
29 Finally, at the end of March, the jury returned its
verdict. Major Harney was acquitted for the murder of Hannah. There would be no
justice for her. She was, after all, regarded as a piece of property by a
majority of White Americans. Moreover, “the affair” was quickly forgotten, and
the major went on to eventually become a general and a hero to the public of
the time.
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