Nathaniel Carnagy
39 YOA
Marion, IA
Linn County
April 4, 1847
Nathaniel Carnagy was brutally attacked by James Reed on March 20, 1847 and died of a skull fracture two weeks later.
Accounts differ on where Carnagy was bludgeoned and what weapon was used.
Some say Nathaniel Carnagy was traveling a road connecting Marion and Cedar Rapids and that about halfway between the two cities encountered James Reed, who lived on the Bachman farm.
Something transpired between the two men; and Reed struck Carnagy in the head with a sled stake, fracturing his skull.
Another account was that James Reed confronted Carnagy in the Marion City Square Park because he was owed money and that Reed attacked Carnagy with a wooden club or tree branch — what was called in court “a billet of wood.”
Whatever the location or weapon, Carnagy died on April 4, 1847 from his injuries.
James Reed was brought to trial for the murder but was found not guilty.
Newspaper accounts of the time termed the murder “an old feud fueled by drink.”
Carnagy was the first known murder victim in Linn County, Iowa.
Nathaniel Carnagy was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, in 1808 to Mary Swem and William Carnagy. His siblings were Nancy, Jane, William, Alexander, Hannah, James, Susan, Anthony, and Elizabeth “Eliza” Carnagy.
He married Elizabeth Myers and lived in Beaver and Alleghany counties in Pennsylvania before moving to Iowa. He was survived by Elizabeth and their five children: Henry, Sarah Ann, John, Benjamin F., and William Cullen Carnagy.
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DID THEY HAVE AN AUTOSPY ON NATHANIEL CARNAGY?
It’s not mentioned in historical accounts of the case.