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Pinkey Blakely

A Black man named by the Clarke Courier's 1869 inquest account as the man who stabbed Alec Cary. The same account says he escaped. Three weeks later the paper reported that a grand jury had found a true bill against "Pinkey" for the killing, and that a constable had gone to arrest him in Madison County, his former home, on a report that proved false. No arrest, trial or outcome appears in any report found.

What the sources support

The Clarke Courier of October 6, 1869 reported, under the heading "HOMICIDE", that about 11 o'clock on the previous Wednesday night Alec Cary was killed on the turnpike between Millwood and Berryville by Pinkey Blakely.

✓ Supported by a source
See the source and its limits
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of October 6, 1869 reported, under the heading "HOMICIDE", that about 11 o'clock on the previous Wednesday night Alec Cary was killed on the turnpike between Millwood and Berryville by Pinkey Blakely.

What the source supports

That the killing was reported, with a named road, a stated hour and both men named.

Uncertainty

The paper's own account. Both men are described only as "colored"; nothing else about either is in the item.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The opening sentence, naming both men, the road and the hour.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 6 October 1869, page 3: "HOMICIDE"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1869-10-06 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, item headed "HOMICIDE", opening

Relevant passage
HOMICIDE—About 11 o'clock last Wednesday night Alec Cary, (colored) was killed on the Millwood and Berryville Turnpike by Pinkey Blakely (colored). The circumstances, as elicited at the inquest, were substantially as follows: Alec, and Pinkey, in company with another negro man and a girl, were walking together, when an altercation sprung up between the two resulting in a scuffle, in which Alec, the deceased, got somewhat the better of Pinkey,

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1869-10-06-homicide. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-23. How this project checks its sources

The item summarises what it says was elicited at the inquest: an altercation between the two became a scuffle in which Cary got somewhat the better of Blakely, whereupon Blakely drew a knife, cut Cary on the arm and stabbed him in the chest, and the wound proved fatal in a few moments.

✓ Supported by a source
See the source and its limits
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The item summarises what it says was elicited at the inquest: an altercation between the two became a scuffle in which Cary got somewhat the better of Blakely, whereupon Blakely drew a knife, cut Cary on the arm and stabbed him in the chest, and the wound proved fatal in a few moments.

What the source supports

The sequence of events as the newspaper reported the inquest account.

Uncertainty

This is a newspaper summary of an inquest, not a transcript and not a court finding. No inquest record has been inspected.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The altercation and the scuffle.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 6 October 1869, page 3: "HOMICIDE"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1869-10-06 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, item headed "HOMICIDE", opening

Relevant passage
HOMICIDE—About 11 o'clock last Wednesday night Alec Cary, (colored) was killed on the Millwood and Berryville Turnpike by Pinkey Blakely (colored). The circumstances, as elicited at the inquest, were substantially as follows: Alec, and Pinkey, in company with another negro man and a girl, were walking together, when an altercation sprung up between the two resulting in a scuffle, in which Alec, the deceased, got somewhat the better of Pinkey,

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1869-10-06-homicide. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The knife, the wounds and the death.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 6 October 1869, page 3: "HOMICIDE"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1869-10-06 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, item headed "HOMICIDE", close

Relevant passage
whereupon Pinkey drew a knife and cut Alec on the arm, and then stabbed him in the chest. The wound proved fatal in a few moments. Pinkey escaped. The difficulty is thought to have been connected with the girl.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1869-10-06-homicide. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-23. How this project checks its sources

The Clarke Courier of October 27, 1869 reported that the circuit court had adjourned on Saturday the 23d after a session of two weeks, and that its grand jury had found a true bill against Pinkey for killing Elliott Cary.

✓ Supported by a source
See the source and its limits
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The Clarke Courier of October 27, 1869 reported that the circuit court had adjourned on Saturday the 23d after a session of two weeks, and that its grand jury had found a true bill against Pinkey for killing Elliott Cary.

What the source supports

That an indictment was reported, three weeks after the paper's first report of the killing.

Uncertainty

A true bill is an indictment. It is not an arrest, a trial or a verdict, and the item reports none of those. The item gives Pinkey no surname and calls the dead man Elliott; it is read as this case because of the names, the act and the NO ARREST item beside it. It dates the court's adjournment, not the grand jury's finding, and the month of the adjournment is read from the issue date.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The adjournment and the true bill.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 27 October 1869, page 3: "CIRCUIT COURT" and "NO ARREST"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1869-10-27 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, Local Items, item headed "CIRCUIT COURT"

Relevant passage
was adjourned on Satu[r]day, 23d, after a session of two weeks. A large amount of business was disposed of.— The Grand Jury found a true bill again[st] Pinkey (colored), for killing Elliott Cary (co[l]ored).

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1869-10-27-local-items. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

The same issue reported that Constable Fryer had gone a few days earlier to Madison county, Pinkey's former residence, to arrest him on a report that he was there; that the report proved false; and that people in his old neighborhood had heard of the killing only a few days before the constable arrived.

✓ Supported by a source
See the source and its limits
✓ Supported by a sourceAn account exists

The same issue reported that Constable Fryer had gone a few days earlier to Madison county, Pinkey's former residence, to arrest him on a report that he was there; that the report proved false; and that people in his old neighborhood had heard of the killing only a few days before the constable arrived.

What the source supports

That an attempt to arrest him was reported, and that it failed.

Uncertainty

The item names the constable by title and surname only, and this project does not identify him further. It dates the trip only as "a few days ago", names no state for Madison county, and says nothing of where Pinkey was or of any further search.

Source

Reporting

Evidence role: supports. The whole NO ARREST item.

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va., 27 October 1869, page 3: "CIRCUIT COURT" and "NO ARREST"

Clarke Courier, Berryville, Va. · 1869-10-27 (publication)

Locator: Page 3, Local Items, item headed "NO ARREST"

Relevant passage
NO ARREST.—Constable Fryer went a few days ago to Madison county, the former residence of the negro Pinkey, who killed Alec, (or Elliott) Cary, for the purpose of arresting Pinkey, a report having reached here that he was there; but it turned out to be a false report; the people of his old neighborhood had only heard a few days before Mr. Fryer's arrival, of the killing.

Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.

Open source

Source family: clarke-courier-1869-10-27-local-items. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.

AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5.5) · 2026-09-24. How this project checks its sources

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Land, work & community✓ Supported

Alec Cary: a killing on the turnpike

On a Wednesday night in September 1869 four people were walking the turnpike between Millwood and Berryville. The Clarke Courier named two of them. One of those two did not reach the end of the road. By the end of October the same paper had reported an indictment against the other, and an attempt to arrest him that failed.

What the evidence says Three inspected newspaper items in two issues. A killing reported, an indictment reported, an arrest attempt that failed, two people never named, and no trial or outcome in any of them.

  • 3 min read
  • 2 sources
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