Dispatch, October 31, 1878

Murder Will Out.

reprinted from Portsmouth Times, April 30.
Moral -- Murder

A Man Arrested After Sixteen Years' Wandering.

Yesterday afternoon about 5 o'clock Constable J. L. E. Kellum and Dr. Bell, of Princess Anne county, brought to this city and lodged in jail a man by the name of Samuel Sherrar, who is accused of having shot and killed a man by the name of William Walker in Drummondtown, Accomac county. Sherrar was arrested Monday afternoon at Princess Anne Courthouse, where he was seen and recognized. The party is on its way to Accomac county, where the prisoner will be examined on the charge.

In the absence of any record of the affair for which Sherrar is under arrest we give the following statement, as made to us, the story of the killing being told only as a rumor:

At the breaking out of the war Sherrar was living in Princess Anne county, and joined the company of cavalry raised in that county. He obtained a transfer to the Wise Legion, put in a substitute, and went to Accomac county to live, and engaged in running the blockade. He was a man of some means, fond of sporting, of a convivial nature, and a favorite with nearly every one. At Drummondtown he, with two friends, were enjoying themselves one day, when the friends became in an altercation, ending in blows. Sherrar, the friend of both combatants, drew a pistol, and said he would shoot the first man who interfered. Walker did so, was shot and killed, and Sherrar escaped.

At the close of the war he came to this city and visited Princess Anne for the purpose of selling some property which belonged to him in the county. He then disappeared and although frequently heard from in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, was not seen in this section again until Saturday night, when he appeared at Dr. Bell's house, near North Landing. He was welcomed as an old acquaintance, and remained until Monday, when he, with Dr. Bell, visited the court-house for the purpose of examining the records, and seeing what disposition had been made of the proceeds of his estate, which had been sold by the Messrs. Tazewell Taylor and Charles Sharp by order of court. He had examined the records, and was talking with an old acquaintance, when he was arrested on a warrant issued by Judge Keeling on the complaint of Mr. Kellum, for the murder committed sixteen years ago. He was lodged in the county jail on Monday night, was brought to the city yesterday, and this morning will be taken to the Eastern Shore for examination. At his request, Dr. Bell was deputized as a guard to accompany him on the trip.

Mr. Sherrar supposed, it is said, that the affair had blown entirely over, having met in Baltimore in friendly manner the brother of the man who, it is alleged, he murdered.