“Whoever said that told a damned lie!”: The Witcher-Clement Feud

Whether attributable to St. Augustine, Chaucer, or Aesop the trope that familiarity breeds contempt has plenty of historical precedent – the Hatfields and McCoys, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla, or Biggie and Tupac. Familiarity had a similar result in Southside Virginia in the mid-19^th century when a woman from the Witcher family married a man from the Clement clan.

Both families had made reputable names for themselves in their respective localities, the Witchers in Pittsylvania County and the Clements across the border in Franklin County. Given their similar social caste, the well-to-do families were known to socialize. For example, several men from both families belonged to the same Masonic Lodge in Callands (Pittsylvania Co.), Vincent Witcher Lodge, No. 87.

Vincent Oliver Witcher, known as Captain Witcher for his War of 1812 service, represented Pittsylvania County in the Virginia General Assembly between 1823-1857, serving in both the House and Senate as a member of the Whig Party. After retiring from politics, he became president of the Richmond & Danville Railroad for two years. Captain Witcher returned to his career as a lawyer and gentleman farmer after the stint in railroads.

The patriarch of the Clement family was no slouch himself. Dr. George Washington Clement, Sr. attended Hampton-Sydney College and went on to earn his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He built a large two-story brick home fronting the Pigg River Valley and dubbed it “Mountain View.” Dr. Clement married twice, fathering 10 children by his first wife and another 6 by his second wife. Five of those 16 children would die tragically. Our story today concerns three of the children– his sons who all died on the same day, February 25, 1860.

We must, however, begin at the beginning. In March 1858, Captain Witcher’s granddaughter, Victoria C. Smith, married James R. Clement, seventh son of Dr. Clement. By all accounts, Victoria was a beautiful and vivacious person. That fact, along with her status as a member of one of the leading families in the area, meant that she got a great deal of attention from would-be suitors before settling down with James, at least according to later news accounts.

According to court documents, jealousy and insecurity were immediately evident in the newly inked union. At a dance held at Captain Witcher’s just three days after their wedding, James became “sullen and angry” when Victoria joined in the frivolity. Victoria alleged that he “reproached her for joining in the dance and for conversing with the young persons present, telling her that she was a married woman and should not converse with other men or join in any gaiety.”¹ Sadly, this interaction would seem to set the tone for their relationship going forward.

A year after marrying, Victoria gave birth to a daughter, Lelia Maud, but that did little to calm James’ suspicions. He continued to accuse her of entertaining other men, even suggesting that their daughter was not his. According to the bill of complaint, Victoria alleges that James rarely let her out of his sight, kept loaded guns and knives at the ready (note this for later), and made repeated threats of violence. After one night when William P. Gilbert stayed at their home, along with some Witcher relatives, James made accusations of adultery because, in the morning, he found an exterior door ajar. Victoria alleged that following that incident, he kept all door bolted and set up chairs and string to make elaborate obstacles to catch anyone sneaking in or out of their bedroom in the middle of the night. James’ erratic behavior caused her to flee to her mother’s house at one point, but she returned following his expressions of remorse.

The relationship did not improve after her return home. In fact, if Victoria’s allegations were true, the situation turned downright depraved. She accuses James of physically assaulting several of the enslaved people in their household, including a young boy, on more than one occasion. His goal, apparently, was to extract a confession of infidelity either from her or about her.

At some point during the day of August 24, 1859, James demanded that all the enslaved servants leave that house. He threatened to shoot any that returned inside. Victoria became convinced that he was preparing to murder her in their absence, so she fled the house and ran to their neighbor Sherwood Shelton’s home for sanctuary. In her terror, she said, she left behind her daughter. James pursued her to Shelton’s house, and they argued. Mrs. Shelton then accompanied Victoria to her mother’s nearby home. A few days after this domestic upheaval, Victoria filed a chancery suit in Franklin County for a divorce a mensa et thoro (from bed and board) and requests that the court enjoin James to hand over Lelia Maud to her and pay for her legal representation. Judge George H. Gilmer orders James to comply with every one of Victoria’s requests and orders the sheriff to compel him to do so, if necessary. It’s about to go down, folks.

The testimony in 19^th century chancery causes was not taken in open court like we see on TV legal dramas today. Instead, parties in the suit, their counsel, and witnesses would meet at a designated spot– typically a store, tavern, or private home– to take depositions. On September 14, 1859, some Witchers, some Clements, and their witnesses met at Sandy Level in Pittsylvania County to take testimony. In one version of events, during the questioning of the former house guest, William P. Gilbert, “a charge was made by the husband, Mr. James Clement, which involved alike the honor of his wife and that of Mr. William P. Gilbert…, which was resented by Mr. Gilbert on the spot. Pistols were drawn, and nine shots exchanged, five of which took effect[.]”²

The shootout at Sandy Level wounded James Clement, his brother Johnson, William Gilbert and his brother. The Clement brothers were bedridden for a time, and the Gilberts left town. The court proceedings were accordingly delayed. A fact attested to in an affidavit filed by James in the divorce case on September 20^th noting his inability to attend the taking of depositions “due to wounds received on the 14^th Inst[ant].”³

The two sides met again on February 25, 1860, at Dickinson’s Store in Franklin County to take testimony. You might be able to guess the rest, but here it is anyway. A fair-sized group from each family was in attendance in a 16 x 18-foot room at Dickinson’s– Captain Witcher, John A. and Vincent O. Smith (Victoria’s brothers), Samuel Swanson and Addison Witcher (additional grandsons of Vincent Oliver), and James Clement and his brothers, Ralph and William. According to some newspaper accounts, “a question propounded by Capt. Witcher so exasperated Mr. James Clement, the defendant in the suit, that he resorted to the use of his pistol for answer.”⁴ Who fired first is a matter of debate, but bedlam followed the first shot.

When James’ shot missed Captain Witcher, the Captain drew his Colt Navy revolver and fired, killing his granddaughter’s 28-year-old husband instantly. Ralph Clement leapt to his brother’s defense and was felled in the same manner by the elder Witcher. Though one account has Ralph claiming with his last words (he lingered for hours after being shot) that Addison Witcher held him around the waist so that he could not draw his gun. William Clement (in some news stories, misidentified as Johnson Clement) fired his pistol hitting John A. Smith in the shoulder. Despite his wound, Smith charged William with a Bowie knife and eviscerated him. When the smoke cleared, the three Clement brothers were dead, and the Smiths and Swanson wounded. Some news reports also claimed that James’ throat was cut.

Captain Witcher and his grandsons, according to contemporary reporting, surrendered themselves to authorities. On March 15, 1860, they were brought before the justices of the Franklin County court, who examined witnesses to the incident. The murder inquiry was conducted daily through March 23^rd, at which time the court ruled that “there is not probable cause for charging the said prisoners with the offense [murder] aforesaid, and doth order that they be acquitted and discharged of said offense.”⁵

Unsurprisingly, opinion on the acquittal varied widely. Some folks certainly saw it as a complete miscarriage of justice perhaps permitted because of Captain Witcher’s outsized influence in the community. Dr. Clement was so aggrieved that he printed a book of the depositions that were being taken prior to the shootout, an effort that appears to be a clear recrimination of the men’s acquittal. Others who aligned with the Witchers may have seen the outcome as fair given the allegation that James Clement fired first. There are various and differing accounts of what happened at Dickinson’s Store that day some of which paint the Witchers as the aggressors and some that make the Clements out to be the provokers. Ultimately, the story is a tragedy for all involved.

In a last bit of legal confrontation, in April 1861, Victoria files a chancery cause demanding one-third of her deceased husband’s estate despite James’ will, written after his first wounding at Sandy Level, omitting her and leaving everything to Lelia Maude. Victoria sues James’ executor, Charles Clement, another the Clement brothers. The ultimate outcome of the estate is unclear, as the chancery suit is dropped at Victoria’s request in October 1866. Victoria Smith Clement remarries in 1862 to Captain Samuel Southard Berger, who became prominent in the North Carolina tobacco business after serving in the Confederate Army.