Cass County Jail Inmate Search

Abraham Lincoln used to be a regular at the Cass County jail in Illinois. When he was practicing law before his turn at politics, he had connections to the county. He would represent people in court regularly. His most famous case there was when he defended William “Duff” Armstrong for the murder of James Preston Metzger. Lincoln was a friend of the Armstrong family, having worked for Armstrong's father when Armstrong was just a baby. While the murder took place in Mason County, it got moved to Cass. During the trial, the main witness was Charles Allen. Allen claimed on the stand to have identified Armstrong from 150 feet away at night. Lincoln opened up a Farmer's Almanac and showed everyone what it said about that night. Because the moon and time of night, Lincoln discredited Allen on the stand.

Sometime between 1918 and 1922, when the sheriff was George Farrer, two men escaped and that led to a firefight. They had made it to Aranzville, to the Zillion home. The men were trying to beg for food and clothes from the family. The two men, the last names being Riggs and Spencer were found and they opened fire. Farrer was injured. They evaded everyone after that and headed to Meredosia.

A man by the name John Hickman was tried for murder in Cass County. He had been born in Tennessee in 1826 and was a Mexican War veteran. He moved to the county and lived about two miles south of Virginia. He was married and had two children. He was tried for the murder of his first wife. She was sickly and had annoyed Hickman. At that point, he took a frying pan to her head. His son went after him and Hickman nearly killed him with a club. The wife died within a day of the attack. Hickman was found to be insane and spent a year in an asylum.

Within a few years, Hickman was married again. After an argument, he knocked her down with a stick and slit her throat. They took him to jail, having to protect him from a lynch mob. He was convicted to life in jail.