Matrix Founding for Backstories provided by an anonymous donor, the National

Dama for the Humanities, and the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

From Virginia Humanities, this is Backstory.

Welcome to Backstory, the show that explains the history behind today's headlines.

I'm Ed Ayers.

If you're new to the podcast, my colleagues, Brian Ballot, Joanne Freeman, Nathan

Colin, I are all historians. And each week we explore the history of one topic that's been in the news.

We're going to start today in Springfield, Illinois. It's summers in, 1859, and jury members are

being selected for a murder case. P.E. Quinn Harrison, just 22 years old, is on trial for the

murder of Greek craften, stabbed after an altercation in a local drug store.

The different lawyers took turns questioning prospects. Do you know the defendant or his family?

Did you know the deceit, or as the prosecution pointedly described Greek, the victim, or his family?

What is it you do to earn a living? Once even, are you sober?

Do which came the response? You mean right now?

Do you consider yourself a political man? Have you read about this case in the newspapers?

As the afternoon heated up, the jury box started to be filled.

Basically what had happened is the two of them had been friends, were no longer friends.

And they got into some sort of dispute. It's unclear exactly what led to the dispute.

Their number of theories is to what led to it. But regardless, they start telling friends,

so the victim, whose name was Greek craften, starts telling friends that he's going to beat up

the defendant, P.E. Quinn Harrison, he's great 1800s names, Greek and P.E.

And he says he's going to beat up P.E. Harrison and P.E.

...