Sheriff Sidener's Tragic Death

Hugh Ewing Sidener was related to a long line of Montgomery County sheriffs and lawmakers. He served as sheriff from 1869-1873. His brother, James Bartholomew, was one of his deputies, serving for eighteen months. His brother-in-law, James Wilhite, would serve as sheriff a few years later, 1881-1883. Sidener's uncle, William K. Wallace, served as sheriff from 1857-1859. And finally, another brother-in-law was a Judge!

Sidener was born around 1837 to James E. and Elizabeth (Smith) Sidener. He married Susan Britton on December 31, 1862. The couple had one son, William, who was born in 1867. The couple later adopted Bertha, who was born in 1878 (Bertha was living with the family at the age of 2 in the 1880 Federal Census). During this time, the family moved to Michigan City, where Sidener worked at the prison.

The family either moved back to Crawfordsville or was visiting Crawfordsville in the spring of 1889. On the morning of March 13, 1889, Sidener either fell or threw himself under the tracks of the O.I. & W. Passenger Train at the corner of Water and Franklin Streets in Crawfordsville. He was killed instantly. The Rockville Republican reported that it was a suicide and Coroner later agreed as reported in the Crawfordsville Star a week later. Another obituary, however, reports that Sidener suffered from vertigo and that the noise and draft of the train may have caused him to faint just as the train passed by.

Sidener apparently was suffering from depression, or "profound melancholia" as the Star described it. The Coroner found that Sidener "came to his death by throwing himself under the wheels of a moving train, while laboring under a temporary aberration of the mind." He also had not been working for some time; perhaps this prompted the move back to Crawfordsville. Another obituary reported that he had once been successful, but had lost his money. Sidener was 52.

Note: Sheriff Sidener never lived in the sheriff's residence, now part of the Rotary Jail Museum (it wasn't built until 1882). But, since he was a Montgomery County Sheriff, we consider him a part of our history!