Wells Spicer

Infobox Person
name = Wells W. Spicer


caption = Cropped from a group photo of John D. Lee's defense team in 1875
birth_date = 1831
birth_place = Chemung, New York
death_date = Disappeared January 1887
death_place = Last seen in Pima County, Arizona
other_names =
known_for =
occupation =Justice of the Peace, journalist, prospector, lawyer, politician

Wells W. Spicer (1831-1887?) was an American journalist, prospector, politician, lawyer and judge whose legal career immersed him in two significant events in frontier history: the Mountain Meadows massacre in the Utah Territory in 1857; and the 1881 shootout commonly known as the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona Territory.

Early life

Spicer was born in Chemung, New York to William and Seba Spicer, both farmers of Presbyterian faith. He had two siblings: an older brother, George, and a younger sister, also named Seba. The family relocated to Tipton, Iowa when Wells was about 9 years old. [Bailey 1999, pg 11] As a young man, Spicer worked as a clerk for William H. Tuthill, a respected lawyer, banker, and storekeeper. Under Tuthill’s tutelage, Spicer was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1853. In the same year, Spicer and his associates began publishing the "Cedar County Advertiser" [Ibid pg 12] ; Spicer would become the sole publisher and editor the following year, eventually selling his successful newspaper four years later [Ibid pg 14] . After unsuccessfully running as a Democrat for county prosecutor in 1854, Spicer became a Republican and won the race for county judge in 1856. [Ibid pg 13] In July of the same year, Spicer married Abbie Gilbert and would have a son, Earnest, a year later. [Ibid pg 14] Abbie and Wells would separate in 1876, though Wells considered himself still married years later. [Ibid pg 132]

Utah Territory

After briefly taking up residence in Onandaeg City, Colorado, Spicer would leave his family behind in Tipton and make his way to the Utah Territory along with his former fellow publisher, Charles Swetland in 1869. [Ibid pg 15] They sought an audience with Governor of Utah Brigham Young, who most likely advised them to travel to Corrine City, then one of few towns where non-Mormons ("Gentiles") could find property and opportunity. [Ibid pg 16] Spicer was admitted to the Utah bar and specialized in mining suits and claims, and he started a hotel in Corrine City. Swetland died shortly thereafter, but Spicer would be joined by Abbie and Earnest around the same time. Spicer and his family moved to Ophir City in 1871 and began similar legal activity as well as prospecting and starting a tunneling company [Ibid pg 21] . Spicer continued his journalistic efforts, contributing to the Salt Lake "Daily Tribune" and "Utah Mining Gazette". [Ibid pg 22] When Ophir’s silver veins began to dry out, the Spicers moved to Salt Lake City in 1872. There Spicer was appointed U.S. Commissioner by the Supreme Court, hearing cases mostly in Bingham. [Ibid pg 37] In 1874 Spicer leased Rollins Mine, a defunct lead mine, in the Lincoln Mining District 18 miles west of Beaver near Minersville. After striking a profitable vein of lead and gold, the area was revitalized. [Ibid pg 51-52] It was through his connections in Beaver that Spicer would be involved in one of Utah’s darkest events. [Ibid pg 53-54]

John D. Lee and the Mountain Meadows Massacre

"Main article: Mountain Meadows massacre"

In November 1874, Sheriff William Stokes of Beaver arrested John D. Lee in Panguitch, less than 50 miles away, and jailed him near Beaver. Lee was one of eight men with arrest warrants for the murders at Mountain Meadows. It’s not known how Spicer and Lee were introduced, [Ibid pg 54] , but Lee would retain Spicer’s services despite his initial wishes to represent himself. Spicer advised Lee to make a full confession, but Lee did not wish to implicate members of the Mormon hierarchy. [Ibid pg 56-57] Spicer assembled a legal team that consisted of Enos D. Hoge and William W. Bishop with eyewitness John McFarlane as an assistant (the team of George Bates and Jabez Sutherland was there more to protect the LDS Church than to defend Lee). [Ibid pg 63] Lee’s trial began in late July 1875. After the prosecution spent several days detailing the “lurid and horrible details” of the massacre, Spicer presented his opening argument by spending 3 hours detailing other possible theories: that the Indians were solely responsible and Lee tried to save the doomed families; that the marauders were blind followers of the Mormon church under orders from church leaders; or that the victims were reckless and “had no regard for property or person”, behavior which served to anger the Indians. Spicer concentrated on the theory of religious fanaticism. [Ibid pg 66] Despite Spicer’s tactics, no Mormons testified against Lee. The result was a hung jury with eight Mormons voting for acquittal and four Gentiles opting for a guilty verdict. Spicer now found himself ostracized: by non-Mormons who felt he became “the most complete jack Mormon” by defending Lee; and by Mormons who were incensed by his defense strategies. [Ibid pg 67] Both sides were openly critical of him in their respective newspapers, often referring to him simply as "One Spicer". [Ibid pg 65, 67]

Lee’s silence would not only go unrewarded, it would be his undoing. Church elders struck a deal with the prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney's office, [Lubet, 2004, pg 78] who would initiate a second trial and populate the jury with Mormons and “exonerate Mormon authorities of complicity in the massacre” [Bagley, pg 300] . Brigham Young would reciprocate by providing perjured evidence and testimonials against Lee. Charges against other church leaders would be dropped. Despite defense claims that prosecution witnesses were also willing participants in the massacre as well as glaring inconsistencies in their testimonies, Lee was found guilty in September of 1876 and sentenced to death. [Lubet 2004, pg 78-79] Spicer and Bishop appealed the conviction, which was upheld by the Supreme Court. Spicer then requested clemency by Gov. George W. Emery, which was denied due to Lee’s reluctance to make a full public confession. Spicer attended Lee’s execution by firing squad on March 22, 1877. The unsettling trials and aftermath inspired Spicer to refer to himself as the “unkilled of Mountain Meadows”. [Bailey 1999, pg 97-98]

Spicer, who had been renamed U.S. Commissioner for Utah Territory by the Supreme Court in 1876, remained in Utah until the end of his commission in 1878. Discouraged by the recent turn of events, Spicer headed for southeastern Arizona Territory upon hearing of a silver strike. [Ibid pg 99]

Tombstone, Arizona Territory

The first verifiable evidence of Spicer’s presence in Tombstone was his appointment as a special correspondent for the "Arizona Daily Star" on January 3, 1880, though earlier articles bearing the names of “Utah” and “W.S.” may well have been Spicer’s. As in his Utah days, Spicer’s articles dealt mainly in the area of mining. [Ibid pg 101-102] He resumed his other mining activities, such as prospecting and practicing mining law. A previous acquaintance, Charles G.W. French, was named Chief Justice of Arizona by President Ulysses S. Grant and in turn named Spicer a justice of the First District Court in June 1880. [Ibid pg 109]

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

"Main article: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral"

A coroner’s inquest that followed the events of October 26 1881 merely stated the facts of the gunfight and not whether the shootings were justifiable or criminal. [Tefertiller 1997, pg 129] Ike Clanton subsequently filed first degree murder charges against Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp, and John H. "Doc" Holliday the following day. [Ibid pg 130] A preliminary hearing was soon underway with Judge Spicer presiding. Though such hearings were held merely to ascertain if enough evidence was present to warrant holding the defendant(s), both the prosecution and the defense presented their cases as if the hearing was a full trial (the prosecution doing so as it was common at the time for criminal charges to be dismissed quickly in preliminary hearings; the defense perhaps because they felt Spicer shared the Earps’ Republican law-and-order stance whereas the Earps and Holliday would likely face a pro-Democratic, pro-Cowboy jury in a full trial; both sides had reason because witnesses would often disappear due to the transient - and often deadly - nature of frontier life). [Lubet 2004 pg 74] .

The O.K. Corral Inquest or Spicer Hearing, as the proceeding would eventually be called, began on November 1, 1881 [Tefertiller 1997 pg 131] and concluded 21 days later. [Bailey 1999 pg 119] While fairly even-handed during the hearing, Spicer made at least two decisions that benefitted the defense. The first, allowing Wyatt Earp to testify by way of reading from a prepared statement without being cross-examined. Territory law allowed a defendant to make a narrative statement instead of the customary question/answer procedure with no cross-examination, but the law was vague as to whether the defendant could read from a written statement verbatim. The prosecution objected, but Spicer ruled that the “statute was very broad…(Earp) could make any statement he pleased whether previously prepared or not.” [Lubet 2004 pg 137] Two, Spicer’s decision to interview witness Addie Borland at her home after she presented confusing testimony and to recall her to the stand to answer "his" questions, much to the dismay and objections of the prosecution. In her second visit to Spicer’s courtroom, she testified that she did not see any of the Cowboy faction raise their hands to surrender…testimony that contradicted that of prosecution witnesses Ike Clanton, West Fuller and Billy Claiborne. [Tefertiller 1997 pg 150-151]

Spicer made his decision on November 30. [Bailey 1999 pg 119] While he criticized Virgil Earp’s decision to call upon his brother Wyatt and Doc Holliday as “an injudicious and censurable act”, he nonetheless could “attach no criminality to (Virgil’s) unwise act”. [Ibid pg 122] Spicer went on to give a lengthy dissertation as to how he came to his decision. By the time he was done, the Earps and Holliday were free from a full trial [Tefertiller 1997 pg 152-155] despite Ike Clanton’s efforts to try them again in nearby Contention City. [Ibid pg 194] The grand jury accepted Spicer’s ruling and refused to indict Holliday and the Earps. [Bailey 1999 pg 127]

Spicer was again newspaper fodder. The Democrat-leaning "Tombstone Nugget" stated that “in the eyes of many (Spicer) does not stand like Caesar’s wife ‘not only virtuous but above suspicion’”. The newspaper to which Spicer once contributed, the "Arizona Daily Star", said that he “was guilty of culpable ignorance of his duty or was afraid to perform the same, or acted improperly in discharging them”. [Ibid pp 127-128] Death threats were leveled against several men, including Mayor John Clum, Wells, Fargo agent Marshall Williams, and defense attorney Tom Fitch. Judge Spicer received the following: Quote box
quote = Sir, if you take my advice you will take your departure for a more genial clime, as I don’t think this One Healthy for you much longer. As you are liable to get a hole through your coat at any moment. If such sons of Bitches as you are allowed to dispense Justice in this Territory, the Sooner you Depart from us the better for you And the community at large you may make light of this But it is only a matter of time you will get it sooner or later So with those gentle hints I Will Conclude for the first and last time.
source = A MINER
width = 50%
align = center

Spicer, in characteristic fashion, wrote a lengthy retort in the "Tombstone Epitaph," that said that some of the citizenry “would like to be thugs if they had courage; would be proud to be called cowboys, if people gave them that distinction; but as they can be neither, they do the best they can to show how vile they are…”, concluding that “I will be here just where they can find me if they want me”. [Ibid pp 128-129]

Disappearance

Spicer returned to prospecting, first in Pima County, Arizona, then in Ures, Sonora, Mexico. A silver strike was made in the Quijotoa Mountains near Tucson. Spicer put all of his resources into a mine at Quijotoa, but the veins were not deep enough. It is widely believed that a destitute Spicer wandered into the Arizona desert in January of 1887 and took his own life. An article 3 months later in the "Daily Star" stated that shortly before his disappearance while en route to Covered Wells, Spicer visited a man named Bill Haynes and tried to commit suicide twice while there.

One theory is that Spicer, who had a history of evading creditors, planned his “suicide” by pretending to be despondent while at Haynes’ cabin and then quietly made his way to Mexico (possibly Ures) where he would spend the rest of his days. [Ibid pp 132-136] [Lubet 2004 pg 219]

Portrayals in film/television

John Lawlor in "Wyatt Earp" (1994) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111756 imdb.com]

James Seay in "The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp" (Episode titled “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral”, 1961) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0631789 imdb.com]

William Schallert (as Judge Herman Spicer) in "Hour of the Gun" (1967) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061787 imdb.com]

ources

Bagley, Will. "Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Mountain Meadows Massacre" (University of Oklahoma Press)

Bailey, Lynn R. "A Tale of the “Unkilled”: The Life, Times, and Writings of Wells W. Spicer" (Westernlore Press, 1999)

Lubet, Steven. "Murder in Tombstone: The Forgotten Trial of Wyatt Earp" (Yale University Press, 2004)

Tefertiller, Casey "Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind The Legend" (John Wiley & Sons, 1997)

References