{"id":686,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:48:37","latitude":39.0914262000000007901689969003200531005859375,"longitude":-84.8497035999999980049324221909046173095703125,"title":"The Murder Ballad of Fuller and Warren","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/1116993443f2a22f794ebdaee70b7b95.jpg","address":"165 Mary St, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025","all_locations":[],"zoom":6,"creator":["Caroline Emenaker"],"description":"On January 10, 1820, Amasa Fuller shot and killed Palmer Warren in his office in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Fuller had been engaged to a young lady when he left for Brookeville, Indiana, in late 1819. That December, Amasa received a letter from Palmer Warren, signed by Fuller’s future wife, renouncing her love for Fuller and returning his ring. In response, he left Brookville on foot and arrived on January 7th, 1820. He borrowed two pistols and challenged Warren to a duel on the 10th. When Warren refused, he shot him dead and supposedly proclaimed, “I have been ridding the earth of a vile reptile! I glory in the deed!” Fuller was charged with murder. Despite six defense attorneys, he was convicted and executed on March 31st, 1820. The case became a local sensation. Murder ballads are cautionary tales. Most stories are warnings to women about love and deceitful men. Themes of broken engagements, cheating scandals, and witchcraft are found in most murder ballads that survive today. They served not only as a way to spread tantalizing news, but as a reminder to their singers of the passive role women should take in society to prevent these bloody crimes.
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\r\nMurder ballads have been an American tradition since the founding of the country. They were made popular in Europe by the development of broadsides in the 16th century. Broadsides were cheap pamphlets and posters that were printed to make news accessible to everyone. They took stories—often true crime—and set them to poems and songs. While not everyone could read, many could sing using their memory. Broadsides were posted in taverns and public spaces for entertainment and educational purposes. Early American colonists brought broadsides and their musical tradition with them.
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\r\nThe story of Fuller and Warren was turned into a murder ballad in 1820. It became so popular that over forty-four versions have been found throughout the United States and Canada. Yet the lady's name, Catherine Farrar, was only identified years after the incident. In the ballad, she carries the burden of the murder, not Fuller. “Fuller and Warren” is Indiana’s continuation of balladry tradition.","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"This is the current location of the Dearborn County Prosecutor's office. The courthouse in 1820 was around this area.","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["

Halley, Catherine. “The Murder Ballad Was the Original True Crime Podcast.” JSTOR Daily, January 30, 2021. https://daily.jstor.org/the-murder-ballad-was-the-original-true-crime-podcast/.

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","

Hastie, Christina Ruth. \"This Murder Done\": Misogyny, Femicide, and Modernity in 19th-Century Appalachian Murder Ballads.\" (2011).

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Stephenson, Wendell Holmes. “Amos Lane, Advocate of Western Democracy.” Indiana Magazine of History 26, no. 3 (1930): 177–217. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27786448.

"],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/1116993443f2a22f794ebdaee70b7b95.jpg":{"id":3355,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"The Execution of Fuller by Alfred Johnson Cotton","description":"This broadside is the original version of the Fuller and Warren ballad from 1820. It later came to be known as Fuller and Warren. The song details the case with extra commentary on the situation. | Indiana Historical Society | 1820 | Alfred Johnson Cotton","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/1116993443f2a22f794ebdaee70b7b95.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/ad029b36f4635ccf672423bb5d0573c4.jpg":{"id":3356,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"A New Song on the Unhappy Fate of the Late Mr. Fuller","description":"This ballad, also published in 1820, is an alternative version of the first ballad. This one was written by Thomas Thompson. According to this broadside, it was from 1802, well before the murder. It is possible this version was adapted from an earlier song Thompson wrote. | Indiana Historical Society | 1820 | Thomas Thompson","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/ad029b36f4635ccf672423bb5d0573c4.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/fullsize/048e86fb002599f554d9ba680f3d9e50.jpg":{"id":3357,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Trial for Murder!","description":"On March 25, 1820, the Indiana Centinel reprinted an account of the murder from the Indiana Oracle. They recounted the trial of Amasa Fuller, as well as a description of the events of the murder. Fuller would be executed just six days later. | Hoosier State Chronicles | March 25, 1820 | Indiana Centinel","thumbnail":"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/square_thumbnails/048e86fb002599f554d9ba680f3d9e50.jpg"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/original/cb84b92efb1c09903f5a08ce22a99572.mp3":{"id":3358,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"Fuller and Warren, Emma Dusenbury","description":"Emma Dusenbury was recorded by Alan Lomax singing the ballad in 1936. Dusenbury lived in Arkansas, demonstrating how far the song traveled throughout the United States. | Library of Congress American Folklife Center | August 1936 | Alan Lomax"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/original/95e62fde3a9797b551eca47fc8af97e0.mp3":{"id":3359,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"Fuller and Warren, George Vinton Graham","description":"George Vinton Graham’s version of Fuller and Warren is the most unrecognizable of the recordings. The lyrics vary greatly from any printed versions. It was collected in 1938 in California. As music moves out of its original location, lyrics and tune variations are common. | Library of Congress California Folk Music Project Collection | December 1938 | Sidney Robertson Cowell"},"https://discoverindianahistory.org.curatescape7.reclaim.hosting/files/original/65b11dc55eead8002d6e17bfcdd88972.mp4":{"id":3360,"mime-type":"video/mp4","title":"Fuller and Warren, Devilish Merry","description":"This version of Fuller and Warren was performed by Devilish Merry in 1979 on his album “The Ghost of His Former Self.” | Frank Lekstutis | 1979 | Devilish Merry"}}}