Newton County GaArchives News.....THE KILLING OF WM. DUKE January 5 1888
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Phyllis Thompson http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00011.html#0002524 June 27, 2004, 11:00 pm

The Georgia Enterprise
     The preliminary trial of Noah L. Parker for the killing of Wm. Dukes, on 
the night of Dec. 24, came off in Covington Thursday last. After a full and 
fair hearing Justice J. G. Lester declined to bind Mr. Parker over for murder, 
but required a bond of $1,000 for his appearance at the March term of our 
court. Being unable to give the bond, up to the present time, Parker is still 
in jail. The Covington correspondent of the Atlanta Constitution gives the 
following particulars of the recent killing in Newton County. Some of the 
enemies of Parker say that the article is not as impartial as it should be- as 
to that we know nothing, but presume it is about as correct as such articles 
generally are:
     Since reporting the killing of William Duke by Noah L. Parker on the night 
of the 24th Dec., there has developed some additional information in regard to 
the tragedy. As before stated, drunkeness and an old family feud constituted 
the occasion of the homicide. About twelve or fifteen years ago Jack and Tom 
Parker,  brothers of Noah L. Parker, were at a party in Butts county, at which 
William Duke was also present. During the evening Jack Parker was engaged in 
whittling on a chair, and Duke reproved him for so doing. This reproof led to 
an altercation and fight between them. Tom Parker interfered for the purpose of 
separating them and stopping the difficulty. Duke turned on him and either cut 
or stabbed him to death. Duke was tried for the homicide, found guilty of 
manslaughter and sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of several years. 
After his return from prison something like a reconciliation was effected 
between him and the Parker boys (one of whose sisters he had married), but from 
time to time there were evidences of the fact that no great degree of 
friendliness existed between them. On Saturday night Duke was at the house of 
Noah L. Parker, where there was a social gathering of some kind. He and Parker 
were both under the influence of liquor, and during the  evening Duke got mad 
with Parker, alluded to the old grudge which he alleged that the Parkers had 
against him for the killing of Tom Parker, and seized Noah Parker and dragged 
him out of his house, threatening to kill him. Noah Parker begged him not to 
hurt him, telling him that he had nothing against him, and finally got loose 
from him. Mrs. A. V. Parker, the mother of Noah Parker, got Duke to go into her 
house, which was about twenty or thirty steps from Noah's house, and it is 
said, that whilst he was in there he began to abuse her. Noah hearing this 
abuse of his mother stated to his wife that he could not stand it, and started 
toward his mother's house armed with a double barrel shot gun. Mrs. A. V. 
Parker came out of her house and started toward the house of Noah Parker.- She 
was closely followed by Duke with an open knife in his hand. A few moments 
afterward she heard the report of a gun; on turning back, discovered
that Duke had been shot by her son Noah, a short distance from her house. As 
stated in my former report, nobody seems to have actually seen the shooting, 
and hence aside from Noah Parker's statement, it is impossible to ascertain the 
exact circumstances under which it was done. Parker says that it was done in 
self defense and that he confidently expects an acquittal when brought to 
trial. He made no effort to escape, and says he does not fear the result of the 
investigation. The verdict of the cornoner's jury was that Duke came to his 
death by unlawful means at the hand of Noah L. Parker.

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