St. Clair County IL Archives Obituaries.....Ambrose, Capt James 1862
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com April 29, 2007, 5:35 pm

The Daily Dispatch, Jan 18, 1862
The Nephew of the Deceased charged with the commission of the Crime. 

From the St. Louis Republican, of the 27th ult., we copy the following 
particulars of a murder recently perpetrated in Illinois: 

One of the most shocking murders ever committed in the West has just been 
brought to light in St. Clair county, Ill., opposite this city. About one 
month ago, Capt. James Ambrose, residing one mile east of O'Fallon station, on 
the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, in St. Clair county, Ill., suddenly 
disappeared. He was an old and wealthy citizen, highly respected, and well 
known in this city. His sudden disappearance excited considerable surprise, 
and his continued absence and the attending circumstances finally led his 
neighbors to suspect that he had been foully murdered. A search was 
instituted, and yesterday morning, 25th inst., the body was found, and the 
suspicions of the neighbors fully realized. The facts in the case are 
substantially as follows: 

Captain Ambrose possessed a large property, and having no family, had taken a 
nephew to live with him, by the name of Curry. Some time since this Curry and 
the captain not agreeing, Curry was ordered from the place, and rented a farm 
about one mile north of the old gentleman's place. When the captain 
disappeared about a month ago, Curry gave out that he had gone to Cincinnati 
on business. A few days after his departure Curry also left, as he stated, for 
Louisville, Kentucky. He was absent some days, and when he returned he 
represented that he had met his uncle in Louisville, dined with him, and 
settled all their past difficulties, and that his uncle had sent him back to 
attend to his affairs in Illinois, and would not return until some time next 
spring. The citizens in the vicinity disbelieved his story, as Curry was 
detected making different statements as to the whereabouts of his uncle. The 
suspicion became general that the captain had been ordered, and so, a few days 
since, the citizens resolved to take the matter into their own hands, and 
instate search for the captain's body. Their search continued until Christmas 
morning, when the body of the captain was found buried near a charcoal pit in 
the neighborhood of Curry's house, about two feet under ground, where a fire 
had been burning for several days. 

The body presented a shocking spectacle.

It appeared that the deceased had been shot in the abdomen, and that 
subsequently his skull had been completely crushed in pieces. Curry was 
arrested, and also two women, suspected as accomplices, and the examination of 
the parties was progressing before a justice at a late hour Wednesday night. 
Curry acknowledges that he killed his uncle, but declares he killed him in 
self-defence. Capt. Ambrose was a most excellent citizen beloved by his 
neighbors and all who knew him. He possessed property amounting to more than 
one hundred thousand dollars. 


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