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THE 


Chisolm  Massacre : 


A    PICTURE    OF 


"Home  Rule"  in  Mississippi. 


By  James  Mf' Wells. 


Of  the  U.  S.  Internal  Revenue  Service. 


SECOND    EDITION. 


WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 

Chisolm    Monument  Association. 
1878. 


K2V/3X 


COPYRIGHT, 

BY    JAMES    M.    WELLS. 

1S77. 

By  Transfer 

D.  L   Public  Libripy 

AUG   1  7   1936 


TO   EMILY   S.   M.  CHISOLM, 

The  Faithful  Wife,  Fond  Mother  and  Devoted  Friend, 

whose  bitter  tears, 

like  the  blood  of  her  martyred  and  beloved  dead, 

fall  to  the  earth  and  pass  from  sight 

Unheeded  and  Unavenged, 

these   pages  are  affectionately  inscribed- 


INTRODUCTION. 


On  Sunday,  the  twenty-ninth  of  April,  1877,  a  body 
of  three  hundred  men,  styHng  themselves  "the  best  citi- 
zens" of  Kemper  county,  in  the  State  of  Mississippi, 
conspiring  together  and  co-operating  with  the  sheriff 
and  other  officers  of  the  county,  coolly  and  premedi- 
tatedly  murdered  three  men  and  two  children;  one  of 
the  latter  a  young  and  beautiful  girl,  and  tKe  other  a 
delicate  boy  aged  thirteen  years.  Against  this  act 
humanity  itself,  where  humanity  finds  lodgment  in  the 
breasts  of  men,  still  cries  out  for  vengeance;  and 
the  withering  condemnation  of  an  outraged  public  senti- 
ment is  everywhere  turned  upon  the  whole  people  of  a 
State  who  stand  supinely  by,  dumb  and  immovable 
spectators  of  such  a  crime  without  so  much  as  a  pre- 
tended effort  toward  the  enforcement  of  the  law  against 
its  perpetrators. 

The  inability  of  the  courts  of  the  country  to  arrest  or 
punish  is  now  admitted,  and  it  is  sought  to  palliate  and 
justify  the  offense  by  invading  the  forbidden  and  hal- 
lowed precincts  of  the  grave,  and  assailing  the  characters 
of  the  victims  whose  voices  are  hushed  in  the  unbroken 
sleep  of  death.  In  behalf  of  justice  to  the  living  or 
dead,  the  laws  of  the  land  and  the  wail  of  the  widow 
and  orphan  are  alike  unavailing. 


5  Introduction, 

Having    been   providentially   called    to   witness   this 
atrocity  and  its  results,  in  their  worst  form  and  aspect, 
and    knowing  much   of   the    men   whose   hands    were 
employed  in  the  bloody  work,  as  well  as  of  the  causes 
which  prompted  them  to  its  enactment;  and,  above  all, 
being  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  lives  and  char- 
acters of  the  victims  and  the  circumstances  surrounding 
those  who  are  left  to  mourn  their  untimely  and  terrible 
death,  a  sense  of  a  solemn   and   imperative   duty  has 
impelled  the  author  to  undertake  the  difficult  task  which 
has  resulted  in  the  production  of  these  pages.     Nor  has 
this  been  done  with  the  hope  of  feward  or  fear  of  con- 
demnation from  any  political  organization  or  other  source. 
The  book  is  a  simple  record  of  facts,  and  for  whatever 
there  may  be  in  them  calculated  to  win  plaudits  from 
one  or  incur  the  displeasure  of  another  the  writer  is  in  no 
way    responsible.     In    their    preparation,    however,   the 
necessity  of  producing  something  more  than  a  simple 
and    unqualified    statement   by  which  to   establish  the 
authenticity    of    the    subject    treated    has    been    kept 
steadily  in  view,  and  where  the  circumstances  seemed  in 
any  way  to  require  it,  some  data  or  tangible  proof  of 
the  correctness  of  every  assertion  made  has  been  given, 
and  the  time,  place  and  manner  of  its  occurrence  fixed. 
The  facts,  dating  back  as  far  as  1870,  are  gleaned  from 
personal  observation  of  the  author,  whose  business,  car- 
rying him  into  different  parts  of  the  State,  has  been  of 
such  a  nature   as  to   lead   to   a   close   investigation   of 
the   moral,  social  and    political    status  and   conduct  of 
the  people.     The  past   four  years,  living   in   a   county 


Introduction,  y 

adjoining  that  of  Kemper,  which  he  has  visited  regularly 
and  often,  he  has  been  made  acquainted  from  time  to 
time  with  the  men  and  things  here  discussed. 

With  regard  to  the  existence  of  the  conspiracy  to 
murder  Judge  Chisolm  and  his  associates  —  which  had 
its  beginning  soon  after  the  close  of  the  war,  and  culmi- 
nated only  when  the  last  sod  of  earth  was  placed  upon 
the  grave  of  the  faithful  and  heroic  daughter,  Cornelia  — 
the  circumstances  of  the  murder  itself,  the  subsequent 
treatment  of  the  wounded,  their  sufferings  and  the  man- 
ner of  their  death  and  burial,  the  writer  is  indebted  to 
his  own  eyes,  to  the  death-bed  declarations  of  Judge 
Chisolm,  and  to  the  story  as  it  came  from  the  pale  lips 
of  the  martyred  girl,  while  the  angels  stood  waiting  to 
waft  her  spirit  above.  To  all  this  is  added  the  sworn 
testimony  of  more  than  twenty  unimpeachable  wit- 
nesses now  living,  whose  names  for  their  safety  only  are 
as  yet  withheld. 

This  evidence  was  taken  by  order  of  Attorney-General 
Devens,  at  the  instance  or  demand  of  the  British  Min- 
ister at  Washington,  and  was  done  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  the  facts  with  regard  to  the  citizenship  and 
death  of  Angus  McLellan,  the  alleged  British  subject, 
one  of  the  victims  of  the  slaughter.  To  make  this  work 
complete  and  reliable,  a  special  agent  —  Mr.  G.  K.  Chase 
—  was  sent  from  Washington  to  co-operate  with  U.  S. 
District-Attorney  Lea,  of  Jackson,  Mississippi,  and  these 
gentlemen,  in  company  with  Gen.  Geo.  C.  McKee,  of 
Jackson,  and  the  writer,  visited  Meridian  and  De  Kalb, 
where  the  facts  were  obtained,  in  strict  accordance  with 


8  Introduction, 

which  these  pages  are  written.  The  coohiess  and  delib- 
eration of  the  plot  to  entrap  the  victims  under  a  hollow 
pretense  of  executing  the  law,  and  then  to  murder  them 
in  cold  blood;  the  shooting  of  Gilmer  and  McLellan  on 
the  streets  and  the  assault  of  the  mob  upon  the  jail 
soon  after;  the  murder  of  the  little  boy  Johnny  by 
Rosser,  the  leader  of  the  savage  horde,  and  the  terrible 
vengeance  visited  upon  the  assassin's  head  by  Judge 
Chisolm;  the  heroic  defense  of  the  father  by  the  brave 
girl,  and  the  patient  suffering  of  the  wounded  through 
all  the  days  that  followed  the  dark  Sabbath,  till  death 
came  to  their  relief;  all  taken  together  afford  a  theme 
well  calculated  to  enliven  the  fancy  of  a  writer  of  the 
most  extravagant  tale  of  fiction,  and  cannot  fail  to 
arouse  the  sympathy  and  indignation  of  every  honest 
heart  throughout  the  world  where  the  facts  are  known. 
A  reproach  to  the  civilization  of  the  century  in  which 
we  live,  the  cheek  of  every  true  lover  of  all  that  is 
worthy  of  adoration  in  woman  will  mantle  with  shame 
when  a  record  of  this  horror  shall  desecrate  the  pages 
which  perpetuate  the  memory  of  a  boasted  chivalry,  and 
American  manhood  must  deny  its  name  and  existence 
so  long  as  the  blood  of  Cornelia  and  Johnny  Chisolm  is 
unavenged. 

"  And  do  we  dream  we  hear 
The  far,  low  cry  of  fear, 
Where  in  the  Southern  land 
The  masked  barbaric  band, 
Under  the  covert  night, 
Still  fight  the  coward's  fight. 
Still  strike  the  assassin's  blow — 


Introduction. 

Smite  childhood,  girlhood  low  ', 

Great  Justice!  canst  thou  see 

Unmoved  that  such  things  be? 

See  murderers  go  free, 

Unsought?     Bruised  in  her  gi-ave 

The  girl  who  fought  to  save 

Brother  and  sire.     She  died  for  man. 

« 
She  leads  the  lofty  van 

Of  hero  women.     Lift  her  name 

With  ever-kindling  fame. 

Her  youth's  consummate  flower 

Took  on  the  exalted  dower 

Of  martyrdom.     And  death 

And  love  put  on  her  crown 

Of  high  renown.     *     *     *     * 

Cease,  bells  of  freedom,  cease ' 

Hush,  happy  songs  of  peace ! 

If  such  things  yet  may  be. 

Sweet  land  of  liberty. 

In  thee,  in  thee !  " 


Notices  of  Press  and  Distinguished  Men. 

*M  do  not  know  what  arrangements  have  been  made 
for  the  distribution  and  sale  of  this  thrilling  volume,  but 
it  ought  to  find  a  place  in  every  public  library  at  the 
North,  and  deserves  to  be  read  and  pondered  in  every 
family.  Sitting  down  to  its  perusal  I  allowed  nothing 
to  interrupt  me  until  I  had  read  every  line  of  it.  "^  * 
This  volume  if  widely  circulated,  cannot  fail  to  do  much 
towards  opening  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  unstopping  the 
ears  of  the  deaf,  and  melting  the  hearts  of  the  obdurate." 
—  William  Lloyd  Garrison. 


10  Introduction. 

"We  would  not  be  surprised  to  see  it  circulate  as  ex- 
tensively as  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin." — National  RepublicaUy 
Washington^  D.  C. 

"What  heroism  !  What  wonderful  courage,  endurance, 
love !  Cornelia  Chisolm  will  live  with  Virginia  and  Lu- 
cretia.  I  trust  her  sad  story  may  be  told  to  endless  gen- 
erations, and  that  the  fearful  caste  that  destroyed  her 
may  find  her  memory  ever  its  most  deadly  foe." — Eugene 
Lawrence^  of  Harpers'  Weekly. 

"  Discloses  a  condition  of  society  which  it  is  impossi- 
ble for  one  not  personally  cognizant  of  the  facts  to  com- 
prehend. *  *  *  The  heroism  of  the  dying  girl  is 
deeply  touching." — Inter-Ocean^  Chicago^  III. 

"A  lurid  picture  of  Home  Rule." — Chicago  Tribune, 

"A  picture  of  society  which  is  horrible  to  contemplate." 
— Indianapolis  Journal. 

"A  complete  history  of  the  Chisolm  tragedy,  including 
the  causes  leading  to  this  and  other  terrible  crimes." — 
Burlington  (la.)  Hvwkeye, 

"A  faithful  history  as  far  as  it  goes,  of  the  civilization 
we  have  in  Mississippi.  *  *  -j^-  ^  chapter  of  the 
outrages  practiced  upon  Republicans,  which  equals  the 
religious  persecutions  as  given  in  Fox's  book  of  Martyrs." 
— Ho7t.  H.  R.  Pease. 

"  The  book  is  written  with  deep  feeling,  yet  with  a 
personal  repression  in  the  writer,  that,  under  the  circum- 
stances, reaches  the  sublime." — Mary  Clemmer. 

"The  book  itself  is  a  monument  to  Judge  Chisolm 
and  his  dutiful  and  heroic  children." — R.  B.  Stone,  late 
Chancellor  of  Mississippi. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I — (p.  15) — Biographical  Sketch  of  W.  W.  Chisolm  and 
Emily  S.  Mann,  his  wife.     Birth  of  Cornelia. 

CHAPTER  II— (p.  22.)— Life  in  Kemper  in  the  good  old  ante-bellum 
times. 

CHAPTER  III— (p.  30.)— The  Gullys.  Their  early  career  and  reign 
of  outlawry.  Death  of  Sam  Gully  and  attempt  of  the  Gullys  to 
assassinate  Rush.     The  'Acre  Tax."     Pioneer  Repubhcans. 

CHAPTER  IV — (p.  46.) — The  caldron  of  political  rancor.  Intro- 
duction of  the  Free  School  system,  and  origin  and  growth  of 
the  Ku  Klux  spirit.  The  *' Sixteenth  Section"  school  fund. 
Report  of  Superintendent  Pease  for  1870.  The  killing  of  Ball, 
and  other  terrible  crimes  committed  by  the  Klan. 

CHAPTER  V— (p.  64.)— Murder  of  Judge  John  McRea,  and  other 
deeds  of  blood.  John  P.  Gilmer  and  the  death  of  Hal  Dawson. 
Judge  Chisolm  elected  Sheriff  by  the  popular  vote. 

CHAPTER  VI— (p.  73.)— Invasion  by  Alabamians  into  Mississippi. 
The  Meridian  riot  and  massacre. 

CHAPTER  VII— (p.  80.)— Second  invasion  of  Alabamians.  Attempt 
to  murder  Judge  Chisolm,  Gilmer  and  others.  Sworn  testimony 
in  the  case. 


^^  Contents, 

CHAPTER  VIII  (p.  86.)-Southern  Republicans.  Unsuccessful  at- 
tempt of  Judge  Dillard  to  take  the  life  of  Judge  Chisolm.  The 
combat.  Anxiety  of  Cornelia  for  the  welfare  of  her  father 
Murder  of  Hon.  W.  S.  Gambrel. 

CHAPTER  IX-(p.  94.)_  Judge  Chisolm  again  elected  sheriff  Nu- 
merical strength  of  the  two  parties  in  Kemper.  A  large  white 
repubhcan  vote.  Taxation  and  its  causes.  "  Speculations  "  in 
cotton.  Charge  of  "forgery"  against  Judge  Chisolm.  which 
?i  /,^^^.;^-ace  war"  of  1874,  and  conspiracy  to  take  Judge 
Chisolm  s  life. 

CHAPTER  X-(p.   io9.)-The  Chisolm   family  at   DeKalb.      Their 
daily  life      The  political  contest  of  1875.     Incendiary  speeches 
ot  the  -gifted  Lamar,"  and  others.     Sworn  testimony  of  J   P 
Gilmer     Cornelia  graduates   with,  high  honors.    Character  of 
the  girl. 

CHAPTER  XI-(p.   i25.)-The  canvass  for  congress  in  1876     Re 
peated  attempts  to  intimidate  and  murder  Judge  Chisolm      His 
house  assailed  at  night  by  a  mob.     The  assault  renewed  at  day- 
light.    Sam    Meek  and  John  W.  Gully.     Letter  from  Cornelia 
Sworn  testimony  of  Judge  Chisolm  relating  to  the  campaign. 

CHAPTER  XII-(p.  I39.)_lndictment  of  the  rioters  who  assailed 
Judge  Chisolm  and  his  family.  Unsuccessful  attempts  of  the 
Deputy  U.  S.  Marshal  to  make  arrests.  The  Hon.  Mr.  Money 
contributes  means  to  defend  his  constituency.  Attempt  to 
assassinate  John  W.  Gully.  Suspicion  is  directed  upon  B.  F 
Rush. 

CHAPTER  XIII-(p.  146.)-"  Home  rule  and  local  self  government" 
established.  Judge  Chisolm  and  Cornelia  visit  Washington  and 
the  North.     Letter  from  the  latter  descriptive  of  her  trip. 

CHAPTER  XIV-(p.  i54.)_The  Judge  and  daughter  turn  their  faces 
homeward.     A  glimpse  of  Kemper  county  society  in  the  spring 


Contents,  15^ 

of  1877.  Robbery  and  corruption.  The  Chisolm  family  again 
at  home.  Death  of  John  W.  Gully.  Rush  charged  with  the 
crime. 

CHAPTER  XV — (p.  162.) — Burial  of  Gully.  Conspiracy  to  assassinate 
Judge  Chisolm  and  all  his  associates.  George  S.  Covert  acting 
under  the  advice  of  eminent  counsel.  The  fraudulent  warrant 
of  arrest. 

CHAPTER  XVI— (p.  170.) — The  Klans  called  together  at  DeKalb  in 
the  dead  hour  of  night.  Sinclair,  the  imbecile  sheriff  and  ready 
tool  of  the  conspirators.  Arrest  of  the  two  Hoppers  and  Judge 
Chisolm.  They  are  all  taken  to  jail.  The  Judge  is  followed  by 
his  family  and  Angus  McLellan.  Gilmer  and  Rosenbaum  arrested 
and  the  former  shot  to  death. 

CHAPTER  XVII — (p.  176.) — Mrs.  Gilmer  and  the  aged  mother  of  the 
murdered  man.  Whipping  and  hanging  of  the  two  colored  men 
to  enforce  evidence.  The  guards  inside  the  jail.  Cornelia  goes 
for  ammunition.  The  mother  and  Willie  go  to  the  stable 
McLellan  shot.  The  mob  break  into  the  jail.  The  struggle  of 
Mrs.  Chisolm,  Cornelia  and  Johnny  against  the  savages.  Johnny 
murdered  and  Rosser  killed.    The  terrible  scenes  which  followed. 

CHAPTER  XVIII— (p.  189.)— Second  assault  of  the  mob  upon  Judge 
Chisolm  and  Cornelia;  both  shot  and  mortally  wounded.  The 
Judge  carried  home  in  a  dying  condition.  Third  assault  of  the 
mob ;  heroism  of  the  wounded  girl.  Assistance  arrives.  Gover- 
nor Stone  visits  the  scene  of  the  massacre. 

CHAPTER  XIX — (p.  200.) — Letters  of  condolence  and  sympathy  for 
the  distressed  family. 

CHAPTER  XX— (p.  216.)— Mrs.  Chisolm  appeals  to  Governor  Stone 
for  aid ;  it  is  denied.     Death  of  Judge  Chisolm  and  CorneHa. 

CHAPTER  XXI— (p.  227.)— The  character  of  the  victims  assailed 
after  death.     The  newspapers  of  the  State  defend  the  murderers. 


14  Contents, 

CHAPTER  XXII— (p.  241.)— The  innocence  of  Rush  established. 
Attempt  to  kidnap  and  murder  him  in  Alabama.  Grand  Jurors 
chosen  by  democrats.     False  argument  of  J.  Z.  George. 

CHAPTER  XXIII— (p.  255.)— The  Governor  has  "no  power  to  do 
anything  at  all" — and  again  he  is  all  powerful.  The  real  facts 
analyzed  and  the  true  state  of  Mississippi  society  and  politics 
disclosed. 

CHAPTER  XXIV— (p.  265.)— Governor  Stone's  action  endorsed  by 
the  people.  Welch  elected  Sheriff  of  Kemper  county.  The 
Circuit  Court.  Six  or  seven  of  the  murderers  indicted.  Judge 
Hamm's  charge  to  the  Grand  Jury.  Walter  Riley  condemned  to 
death.  No  arrest  of  those  indicted.  Bulldozers  still  rampant 
and  un whipped.     The  Governor's  "powers  "  oncfe  more. 

CHAPTER  XXV— (p.  276.)— Names  of  the  DeKalb  rioters.  They  will 
be  remembered. 

CHAPTER  XXVI— (p.  279.)— Tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  martyred 
dead. 

CHAPTER  XXVII— (p.  287.)— A  retrospect.  Deductions  drawn 
therefrom,  left  to  the  reader. 


The   Chisolm    Massacre; 

A  PICTURE  OF 

"HOME   RULE"  IN    MISSISSIPPI. 


CHAPTER   I. 


William  Walla«e  Chisolm,  a  sketch  of  whose  eventful 
life  and  late  tragic  death  will  form,  perhaps,  the  most 
important  feature  in  the  progress  of  this  work,  was  born 
in  Morgan  county,  Georgia,  December  6th,  1830.  At 
the  age  of  sixteen  years,  together  with  his  parents,  he 
became  a  resident  of  Kemper  county,  Mississippi,  a 
countiy  v/hich,  then  as  now,  was  infested  with  great 
numbers  of  wicked  and  lawless  men,  the  records  of 
whose  bloody  crimes  are  still  fresh  in  the  memor>^ 
of  many  of  Kemper's  oldest  and  most  respected  citizens. 
So  marked  was  the  spirit  of  violence  and  so  light  the 
regard  for  human  life  that  the  growth  and  improvement 
of  the  country  was  very  slow;  a  condition  which 
has  followed  its  fortunes  up  to  the  present  time.  The 
accession  of  sober,  industrious  and  trustworthy  families 
to  a  community  like  that  of  Kemper,  in  those  days,  was 
welcomed  and  hailed  with  delight  by  all  good  people  far 
and   near,   and    the   Chisolm   family   were   not    long   in 


1 6  TJie  Chisolm  Massacre. 

establishing  their  claim  upon  the  latter  class,  where  they 
ever  after  took  rank  among  the  first. 

In  the  month  of  March,  185 1,  the  head  of  the  family 
died,  leaving  William  —  then  a  boy  nineteen  years  old  — 
its  guardian  and  protector.  Three  of  the  children  were 
younger  sisters,  and  on  his  death-bed  the  father  exacted 
of  the  son  the  promise  that  he  would  discharge  all  obli- 
gations of  the  estate,  which  amounted  to  a  large  sum 
for  those  early  times  and  primitive  surroundings,  and 
that  he  would  also  educate  the  three  sisters  and  provide 
for  them  comfortably  in  life.  To  the  faithful  perform- 
ance of  this  duty  young  Chisolm  at  once  set  himself  at 
work.  How  well  he  carried  out  this  pledge  the  creditors 
or  their  heirs,  and  two  of  the  sisters  in  good  homes,  sur- 
rounded by  happy  families,  are  still  living  to  attest, 
while  the  mother,  now  at  the  ripe  old  age  of  seventy- 
four  years,  is  provided  with  a  neat  cottage,  situated  on  a 
farm  which  yields  her  a  bountiful  support,  and  that 
within  sight  of  her  early  home  in  Mississippi,  where  all 
her  children  were  reared  and  around  which  the  survivors 
and  their  descendants  are  clustered  to-day,  if  not  happy, 
certainly  honored  and  revered. 

The  29th  of  Oct.,  1856,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  married  to  Emily  S.  Mann,  an  accomplished  young 
lady,  a  daughter  of  John  W.  Mann,  who  was  a  native 
of  Amelia  Island,  Florida,  a  prominent  lawyer  and 
a  gentleman  of  high  literary  and  social  culture.  The 
career  of  the  Manns,  in  the  early  settlement  of  Florida, 
was  somewhat  remarkable.  The  grandfather  of  Emily 
S.    Mann,   who    owned    a    large    tract   of   land    under 


^^ Home  Rule'''  in  Mississippi.  ij 

a  Spanish  grant,  was  the  first  settler,  and  built  the 
first  house  where  the  city  of  Fernandina  now  stands. 
In  the  dispute  between  the  early  American  settlers 
in  Florida  and  the  Spanish  authorities,  in  which  the 
former  sought  to  take  from  Spain  the  lands  claimed 
by  that  government,  the  Manns,  among  others,  took 
prominent  part,  and  by  virtue  of  superior  intelligence, 
skill  and  bravery  soon  rose  to  distinction.  These  set- 
tlers were,  many  of  them,  driven  from  their  homes,  while 
others  were  put  to  death  outright  or  carried  off  and 
compelled  to  drag  out  a  life  of  refined  torture  as  pris- 
oners in  Moro  Castle,  Cuba.  Whether  the  theory  is 
correct  or  not,  it  is  one  of  the  inherent  elements  of 
human  conjecture  to  credit  and  foster  the  belief  that  the 
strong  characteristics  which  may  in  any  way  distinguish 
the  conduct  of  individuals  are  sure  to  mark  and  mould,  in 
some  degree,  the  fortunes  of  their  lineal  posterity.  Per- 
haps the  bold  and  venturesome  spirit  which  charac- 
terized the  lives  of  this  family  in  generations  past,  when 
the  iron  rule  of  Spain  was  laid  heavily  upon  these  early 
settlers,  has  had  its  influence  in  shaping  the  remarkable 
life  and  character  of  Emily  Mann  Chisolm. 

The  education  acquired  by  young  Chisolm,  up  to  the 
date  of  his  marriage,  was  only  such  as  could  be  gleaned 
at  odd  times  in  the  common  schools  of  the  country, 
which  were  then  very  poor;  but  with  the  assistance  of  a 
dutiful  and  fond  wife,  his  acquirements  were  soon  made 
to  equal  the  spirit  of  enterprise  and  just  emulation 
already  settled  upon  his  heart.  This  dates  the  beginning 
of  an  eventful  and  prosperous  life. 

2 


1 8  TJic  CJiisolm  Massacre 

Full  of  vigor  and  manly  strength,  young  Chisolm  first 
entered  upon  the  business  of  farming,  almost  the  only 
legitimate  pursuit  then  open  to  the  young  men  of  the 
country,  most  of  whom  preferred  a  life  of  idleness  and 
debauch  to  one  of  uninterrupted  toil. 

The  30th  of  January,  1858,  W.  W.  Chisolm,  at  a 
special  election  held  for  the  purpose  of  filling  a  vacancy 
in  the  office  of  magistrate,  was  elected  to  that  important 
and  honorable  position  in  the  beat  or  township  in  which 
he  lived. 

It  was  on  the  eleventh  of  February,  1858,  that  Cor- 
nelia Josephine,  the  first  fruit  of  the  marriage  of  W.  W. 
Chisolm  and  Emily  S.  Mann  was  born.  The  sublime 
character  of  this  pure  girl,  who,  nineteen  years  after,  fell 
a  victim  of  savage  outlawry,  and  died  while  defending 
her  father  against  the  assault  of  a  blood-thirsty  mob,  is 
worthy  the  emulation  of  America's  most  exalted  woman- 
hood. Her  young  life,  yielded  up  on  the  altar  of  filial 
love,  and  devotion  to  those  principles  of  justice  and  right, 
which  ever  inspired  the  hearts  of  parent  and  child  alike, 
cannot  have  been  given  in  vain.  The  lesson  taught  by 
her  example  will  live  on,  after  the  generation  and  the 
spirit  which  prompted  these  inhuman  acts  shall  have  been 
forgotten  or  numbered  with  the  things  of  the  past.  As 
time  advances  and  the  proud  names  of  our  countr}^'s 
noble  women  are  recorded,  that  of  Cornelia  Chisolm  will 
be  written  in  golden  letters  on  the  brightest  page. 

From  this  slight  digression,  the  reader  is  brought  back 
to  the  historical  events  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence, 
which  enter  into  the  ground-work  of  this  narrative. 


^'' Home  Rule'"  in  Mississippi.  19 

In  October,  1858,  at  a  general  election,  young  Chisolm 
was  again  made  the  choice  of  the  people  of  his  district, 
who  re-elected  him  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  a  term  of  tvvo 
years,  which  time  he  served  with  honor  and  credit  to  him- 
self and  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his  constituency. 
At  all  events,  so  well  were  the  duties  of  this  office  per- 
formed, that  in  November,  i860,  he  was  made  Probate 
Judge  of  the  county,  a  place  which  he  held  almost  unin- 
terruptedly until  the  year  1 867,  when  he  resigned  in  favor 
of  John  McRea,  who  was  appointed  by  the  then  Provis- 
ional Governor  of  the  State.  During  the  long  term  in 
which  he  held  this  important  position.  Judge  Chisolm 
was  elected  three  times,  running  against  Judge  Gill,  an 
older  man,  and  one  said  to  have  been,  next  to  Judge 
Chisolm,  the  most  popular  ever  elected  to  an  office  in  the 
county. 

In  all  these  years  in  which  he  enjoyed  the  confidence 
of  his  countrymen  to  such  a  high  degree,  Judge  Chisolm 
was  a  pronounced  Union  man  of  Whig  proclivities,  and 
an  uncompromising  enemy  of  the  party  which  precipi- 
tated and  hurled  head-long  upon  the  country  the  terrible 
consequences  of  the  rebellion.  When  the  tide  of  seces- 
sion swept  over  Mississippi  like  a  devouring  flame,  he, 
with  thousands  of  others  like  himself,  who  shuddered  at 
the  thought,  in  an  unguarded  moment,  through  force  and 
intimidation,  cast  a  vote  favoring  the  disruption  of  the 
Union,  an  act  which  it  is  known  he  regretted  all  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life.  As  a  civil  officer  and  citizen  he  was 
always  opposed  to  the  fratricidal  contest,  to  which  he 
steadily  refused  to  lend  any   personal   service,  and  never 


20  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

entered  the  army  save  only  in  the  thirty  days  militia,  and 
then  under  protest.  The  popular  voice  of  the  county,  in 
the  meantime,  was  in  favor  of  a  vigorous  prosecution  of 
the  war,  even  unto  the  "  last  ditch." 

Against  all  these  odds  Judge  Chisolm  was  continued 
in  office,  from  term  to  term,  Whig  and  Unionist  as  he 
was. 

Young  and  inexperienced  in  politics,  there  must  have 
been  in  him,  from  the  beginning,  something  which  won 
the  hearts  of  his  fellows  and  called  around  him  the 
elements  of  his  unbounded  success.  At  the  close  of  the 
great  struggle,  he  was  among  the  few  Southern  men  who 
early  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  reconstruction  and 
the  principles  of  the  dominant  party  of  that  day,  and  to 
which  he  ever  after  adhered  with  a  steadfastness  and  zeal 
amounting  to  patriotic  devotion.  Such  were  the  leading 
characteristics  of  Judge  Chisolm  in  youth  and  early  man- 
hood, and  which  gathered  strength  as  time  and  age  ad- 
vanced, and  through  life  marked  the  conduct  of  his 
public  and  private  career. 

Through  an  acquaintance  with  the  people  of  Kemper 
county,  as  they  were  found  in  an  early  day,  before  the 
spirit  engendered  by  rebellion  could  have  had  anything  to 
do  in  moulding  Southern  character,  the  reader  will  be 
enabled  more  clearly  to  comprehend  the  peculiar  state  of 
morals  which  is  found  to  have  existed  among  them  in 
later  years;  and  which  it  must  be  believed  is  the 
natural  outgrowth  of  a  long-neglected  and  depraved  con- 
dition of  society.  To  make  this  point  clear,  the  two  fol- 
lowing chapters  are  written.     That  there  were  then,  as 


^' Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  21 

now,  many  good  and  true  men  and  women  living  in  this 
wild  and  unreclaimed  region  cannot  be  doubted,  and  they 
have  nothing  to*  fear  from  this  record.  To  them  every 
meed  of  praise  is  given,  and  should  the  eyes  of  any  such 
chance  to  meet  these  pages,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  only  "  the  wicked  flee  when  no  man  pursueth." 


CHAPTER   II. 

For  many  years  before  the  war  and  at  its  close,  Kem- 
per county,  if  not  the  whole  State  of  Mississippi,  might 
well  have  been  included  with  Kentucky  in  her  historic 
designation  of  "  the  dark  and  bloody  ground ;"  for  its 
population  was,  to  a  great  extent,  made  up  from  a  class 
of  men  who  disregarded  alike  the  laws  of  God  and  man, 
and  "  upon  whom  the  multiplied  villanies  of  nature 
swarmed  in  unwonted  profusion."  But  unlike  Kentucky, 
the  deeds  of  barbarity  committed  within  the  borders  of 
Kenfiper  were  not  chargeable  upon  the  untutored  red 
man.  None  but  the  pure  Anglo-Saxon  race,  and  those 
to  the  manor  born,  were  in  any  way  responsible  for  the 
facts  which  are  here  recorded.  Against  this  class,  the 
efforts  of  the  better  citizens  were  often  powerless  and 
futile ;  and  the  officers  entrusted  with  the  execution  of 
the  law,  either  did  not  have  the  ability  or  were  wanting 
m  the  disposition  to  arrest  and  punish. 

In  the  little  town  of  Narkeeta,  in  the  year  1837,  there 
was  a  tavern  kept  by  one  Geo.  Capers,  and  a  grog  shop 
which  was  presided  over  by  a  rare  genius  named 
Nicholas  Caton.  The  courts  of  the  country  at  that 
time  had  very  little  influence  in  controlling  the  actions 
of  men,  as  the  judge,  the  sheriff  or  the  juries  were  sure 
to  have  friends  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  question 
to  be  settled ;  hence  brute  force  became  the  only  arbiter 
of  peace.     As  a  natural  consequence  of  this,  little  neigh- 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  23 

borhood  factions  would  spring  up,  hold  brief  but  abso- 
lute sway  for  a  day,  or  a  month,  and  then  as  quickly 
give  way  to  the  temporary  rule  of  another,  which  had 
proved  itself  more  valiant  in  the  use  of  the  pistol  or 
knife.  For  many  years  at  Narkeeta  there  were  two  par- 
ties of  the  kind  described,  which  alternated  in  the  brief 
establishment  of  their  authority,  sometimes  extending  all 
over  the  county.  These  were  led  by  the  Doughtys  on 
one  side  and  the  McLeans  on  the  other.  Horse  racing, 
rapine,  robbery  and  murder  were  of  almost  weekly  if  not 
daily  occurrence  throughout  that  and  other  sections.  It 
is  impossible,  at  this  time  to  furnish  the  details  of  all  the 
diabolisms  that  were  then  and  there  witnessed,  as  they 
would  furnish  a  record  of  crime  containing  volumes. 
Only  the  most  aggravated  case,  the  details  of  which  are 
still  fresh  in  the  memory  of  Narkeeta's  oldest  citizens,  is 
here  recounted.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  say,  that  from 
the  year  1837  to  1842,  there  were  committed,  in  the 
neighborhood  spoken  of,  eighteen  murders,  the  most  dia- 
bolical of  which  occurred  in  the  year  1839;  in  which 
George  Capers  waylaid  and  shot  Nicholas  Caton  by  the 
roadside.  Caton,  it  appears,  was  apprised  of  his  danger, 
and  fearing  death  from  a  concealed  enemy,  while  making 
a  short  journey  through  the  country  on  horse-back,  took 
up  before  him  on  the  saddle  a  little  child,  eighteen 
months  old,  believing  that  its  tender  years  and  innocent 
prattle  would  form  a  temporary  safeguard  against  the 
assassin's  bullet.  But  in  those  days,  as  has  been  proved 
in  more  modern  times,  the  presence  of  childhood  had  no 
power   or   influence   in    staying    the   hand    of    violence. 


24  The  Chisolni  Massacre. 

While  passing  through  a  thicket,  Caton  was  shot  from 
his  horse  and  fell  to  the  ground  dead,  still  clasping  in  his 
arms  the  innocent  child. 

In  the  early  spring  of  i860,  Adam  Calvert  had  on  his 
place  two  colored  boys,  the  property  of  some  heirs  for 
whom  a  Mrs.  Davis  was  guardian.  The  negroes,  when 
hired  to  Calvert,  had  just  recovered  from  an  attack  of 
measles.  Mrs.  Davis  stipulated  in  the  contract,  before 
letting  them  go,  that  they  should  be  subjected  to  no  un- 
necessary exposure  to  the  weather. 

Ferguson,  Calvert's  overseer,  a  man  of  low  instincts 
and  beastial  habits,  had  these  two  boys  at  work  hauling 
rails,  one  day  in  the  early  spring,  when  there  came  up  a 
very  heavy  and  driving  rain.  Ferguson  himself  repaired 
to  a  shelter,  leaving  the  injunction  with  one  of  the  lads 
that  if  he  should  stop  his  team  to  take  shelter  from  the 
rain  it  would  be  done  at  the  peril  of  his  life.  But  the 
storm  came  thicker  and  faster,  and  the  poor  fellow,  chilled, 
benumbed  and  blinded,  took  refuge,  for  a  few  moments, 
under  a  large  tree  near  by.  When  the  rain  had  passed, 
Ferguson  gave  him  a  terrible  beating,  and  left  him  with 
the  promise  that  he  would  renew  the  punishment  on  the 
following  day.  The  boy,  then  suffering  from  a  raging 
fever,  fearing  that  Ferguson  would  kill  him,  ran  back  to 
his  mistress,  Mrs.  Davis,  to  whom  he  told  the  story  of 
the  cruel  treatment  he  had  received.  It  will  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  penalty  for  harboring,  or  in  any  way  aiding 
a  runaway  slave,  was  very  severe;  and,  although  Mrs. 
Davis'  heart  bled  for  him,  she  was  compelled  to  send  the 
boy  back,  with  a  note  to  Mr.  Calvert,  asking  him  not  to 


^'Home  Ride''  in  Mississippi.  25 

inflict  too  severe  punishment,  and  not  any  until  he  should 
recover  from  his  fever.  Mr.  Calvert,  it  appears,  had  gone 
from  home  that  morning,  and  when  the  slave  reached  his 
place  he  handed  the  note  to  Mrs.  Calvert.  Before  sun- 
rise of  the  next  day  Ferguson  took  him  out  behind  a 
stable,  stripped  and  tied  him  across  a  log,  and,  with  a 
large  rope,  having  knots  tied  in  the  end,  whipped  him  in 
a  most  shocking  and  outrageous  manner.  The  victim's 
screams  were  heard  by  the  neighbors  living  a  mile  and  a 
half  distant  in  every  direction,  and  then  to  conclude,  the 
brute  jumped  upon  his  back  and  stamped  him  with  his 
coarse  heavy  boots.  On  being  released,  it  was  found 
that  the  boy  could  not  walk,  and  his  brother,  who  was 
compelled  to  stand  by  and  witness  the  scene,  was  ordered 
to  carry  him  to  the  house,  where  he  lingered  in  great 
agony  until  death  came  to  his  relief.  The  brother  then 
ran  away,  but  was  subsequently  caught  and  the  same 
treatment  inflicted  upon  him ;  and,  with  the  blood  run- 
ning from  his  wounds,  he  was  lashed  to  a  plow  and  made 
to  follow  it  all  day,  without  food  or  water.  Ferguson 
was  never  molested  for  this  in  any  way. 

Some  five  or  six  years  before  this,  there  was  a  man  liv- 
ing near  Scooba,  who  hired  a  negro  child  belonging  to  the 
McCaleb  estate,  and  while  having  it  in  charge,  whipped 
the  child  to  death.  The  people  of  the  neighborhood 
were  indignant  at  this  outrage,  and  the  murderer  was 
compelled  to  pay  damages  for  the  property  thus  des- 
troyed. 

Years  passed,  and  with  them  the  spirit  of  outlawry 
increased,  when  men  became,  of  a  necessity,  the  more 


26  The  CJiisolin  Massacre. 

ready  to  take  the  law  into  their  own  hands.  Such  a 
thing  as  redress  through  the  courts  for  any  personal 
offense  was  rarely  thought  of  A  man  named  Evret 
Roberts  hired  another  to  go  to  the  house  of  Mr. 
McLawrin,  against  whom  Roberts  entertained  a  belief 
that  he  had  been  wronged,  for  the  purpose  of  whipping 
him.  McLawrin  shot  and  killed  his  assailant.  At 
another  time,  and  on  a  pretext  equally  as  trifling,  John 
Edwards  killed  a  man  by  the  name  of  Eakins.  Ed- 
wards' father,  and  his  uncle,  Jack  Edwards,  employed 
Mr.  Simms,  a  lawyer,  to  go  with  them  to  examine  some 
witnesses  to  the  murder;  but  before  arriving  at  the  place 
of  their  destination,  jack  Edwards  —  the  uncle — shot 
and  killed  Simms.  It  appears  they  had  had  a  difficulty 
before  this,  but  were  friendly  at  the  time. 

This  terrible  tragedy  was  soon  followed  by  another, 
more  appalling.  A  man  named  Tyson  assaulted  Mr. 
Spear  with  a  hoe,  while  in  a  field  at  work.  Spear 
was  thus  slain  and  his  head  beaten  to  a  jelly.  One  of 
the  Spears  then  killed  a  man  by  the  name  of  Goins; 
stabbed  him  with  a  knife  in  the  town  of  DeKalb.  Sat- 
isfied with  nothing  short  of  a  bloody  vengeance,  a 
brother  of  the  murdered  Goins,  aided  by  a  man  named 
Diffey,  killed  Spear.  They  shot  him  from  the  bushes 
while  Spear  was  at  his  supper. 

At  Blackwater,  in  Kemper  county,  George  Alexander, 
a  brother-in-law  of  one  Phil  Gully  —  whose  character 
and  name  will  be  more  fully  discussed  hereafter — had 
some  words  with  Ben  Caraway.  They  subsequently 
made  friends,  shook  hands  and  separated ;  and  from  all 


''Home  Rule"  in  Mississippi.  27 

civilized  or  savage  usages  of  which  we  have  any  account 
one  might  suppose  that  further  danger  of  assault  by 
either  party  was  at  an  end.  But  not  so  in  Kemper. 
Caraway  was  a  blacksmith,  and  went  to  work  in  his 
shop,  little  thinking  of  danger,  when  Alexander  walked 
stealthily  in,  stepped  up  behind,  and,  at  a  single  blow 
with  a  heavy  piece  of  wood,  struck  him  dead.  For  this 
murder — an  unusual  occurrence  in  cases  of  the  kind  — 
Alexander  was  arrested,  placed  under  guard,  and  that 
night  it  is  said  Phil  Gully  procured  his  escape.  Gully, 
on  being  asked  if  it  would  not  have  been  better  had 
Alexander  been  tried  before  leaving,  replied  that  he 
thought  not;  he  had  taken  counsel  of  Judge  Hamm  — 
then  a  practicing  lawyer  —  and  Hamm  had  told  him 
that  if  tried,  Alexander  would  certainly  be  hanged. 

After  the  war  closed  there  came  from  Alabama  to 
Kemper  county  a  young  man  named  Jones,  who  first 
lived  with  a  Mr.  Madison,  as  a  common  laborer.  Jones 
had  had  a  difficulty  with  his  step-father,  in  which  he 
killed  the  latter  in  self-defense,  and,  to  evade  the  ven- 
geance threatened,  fled  to  Mississippi.  All  this  the 
young  man  very  prudently  kept  to  himself,  remaining  at 
his  work,  until  one  day,  not  many  months  after  his  arrival 
at  Mr.  Madison's  he  discovered  a  number  of  men  riding 
up  to  the  place,  who  inquired  for  a  certain  house  in  the 
neighborhood  where  they  believed  Jones  to  be.  A  man 
named  Hal  Dawson  —  of  whom  more  will  be  said  in 
another  chapter — was  at  the  head  of  this  party,  among 
whorn  the  boy  recognized  the  friends  of  his  step-father, 
from    Alabama.     When   these    men   had    ridden    away 


28  The  Chisolvi  Massacre. 

Jones  told  a  neighbor  all  about  the  trouble  which  had 
caused  him  to  leave  his  home,  and,  knowing  the  desper- 
ate character  of  Dawson,  he  was  advised  to  go  at  once 
to  the  home  of  his  uncle,  Mr.  Mardis,  who  lived  in  the 
same  county.  In  compliance  with  this  suggestion  he 
went,  and  while  at  his  uncle's  house,  and  before  revealing 
to  him  the  secret  of  his  troubles,  he  again  saw  Hal 
Dawson  ride  up,  in  company  with  one  Sloke  Gully,  a  rel- 
ative of  Phil,  the  one  alluded  to  on  another  page.  Jones 
now  told  his  uncle  why  he  had  left  his  home,  and  at 
once  determined  to  go  back,  and  accordingly  started  on 
foot  for  Alabama ;  but  while  on  the  road  he  lost  his  way 
and  came  out  at  Sloke  Gully's  house.  Feeling  hungry 
and  not  knowing  who  lived  there,  the  young  man  asked 
for  something  to  eat.  This  was  given  him,  and  while 
partaking,  who  should  again  appear  but  Dawson  and 
Gully  himself.  On  seeing  them,  Jones  sprang  from 
the  table  and  ran  down  across  a  field,  hotly  pursued  by 
Gully  and  Dawson.  After  he  had  reached  the  cover  of 
the  woods — still  pursued  —  several  shots  were  heard  in 
that  direction  by  the  people  who  had  been  observing. 
In  a  few  minutes  Gully  and  Dawson  returned,  stating 
that  they  had  been  unable  to  overtake  the  object  of  their 
pursuit.  A  few  weeks  thereafter  some  ladies,  when  out 
walking,  discovered  the  body  of  the  murdered  boy  in  the 
creek  which  runs  near  the  place  from  whence  the  firing 
was  heard. 

Meantime  Mr.  Mardis,  supposing  his  nephew  had 
gone  back  to  Alabama,  said  nothing  of  the  matter, 
until   one  day   some   two   months   afterward,  when   in 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  29- 

DeKalb,  he  was  accosted  by  John  W.  Gully,  then  sheriff,, 
who  told  Mardis  that  he  had  better  "go  slow,"  adding 
at  the  same  time,  "  there  is  catching  before  hanging,  and 
you  can't  prove  who  killed  young  Jones." 

It  was  before  this  that  "  Etna,"  a  colored  woman,  was 
taken  out  by  some  unknown  parties,  tied  to  a  tree  and 
whipped  to  death.  Her  body  was  found  there  on  the 
following  day,  in  a  perfectly  nude  state. 

About  the  same  time,  a  colored  man  named  Moses 
McDade  was  found  dead  in  the  road.  He  had  been  wan- 
tonly shot  by  some  parties  unknown.  A  Baptist  minister 
by  the  name  of  Henry  White  was  present  at  the  lynching 
and  hanging  of  a  negro  for  some  alleged  offense  during 
the  war,  and  lent  material  aid  in  the  performance  of  the 
murderous  act.  He  afterwards  asserted  that  he  was 
ready  and  more  than  willing  to  engage,  at  any  time,  in  an 
undertaking  of  the  kind  when  his  pastoral  duties  did  not 
interfere. 

In  the  spring  of  1865,  James  Johnson,  a  white  man, 
was  waylaid,  when  going  from  his  home  in  the  South- 
west Beat,  to  DeKalb,  shot  and  instantly  killed.  John- 
son had  been  a  merchant  and  was  highly  respected. 


CHAPTER    III 

During  all  these  years  a  family  by  the  name  of  Gully — 
the  same  already  mentioned  —  held  almost  undisputed 
control  of  the  public  patronage  of  Kemper  county. 
From  the  Sheriff's  office  down  to  the  Beat  Magistrate 
and  Constable,  a  Gully  or  some  one  of  their  immediate 
connections  wore  the  official  robes,  carried  the  baton  of 
authority  and  the  keys  of  the  exchequer.  By  free  use 
of  the  jug  and  kindred  influences,  their  election  was  se- 
cured from  term  to  term,  and  when  installed  in  office  the 
courts  and  the  juries  were  by  them  manipulated  and 
controlled.  So  notorious  had  this  become  that  it  was  a 
matter  of  common  observation,  as  it  was  a  fact,  that  un- 
less a  man  could  establish  his  relationship  to  the  Gullys, 
or  in  some  other  way  ingratiate  himself  into  their  favor, 
it  was  useless  to  look  for  political  honors  within  the  gift 
of  the  people  of  the  county ;  but  when  this  relationship 
was  once  established,  a  carte  blanche  for  political  promo- 
tion and  immunity  for  any  offense,  however  grave,  was 
secured. 

The  first  Sheriff  of  Kemper  county  defaulted  and  ran 
away.  The  second  was  "Sloke"  Gully,  the  father  of 
Phil,  Henry,  Sam,  Jess  and  John  W.  The  third  Sheriff 
was  James  Hull,  a  Northern  man,  who  came  to  Missis- 
sippi, in  an  early  day,  and  married  a  Gully.  Hull  held 
the  office  for  eight  years  and  then  vacated  it  to  accept 
that  of  Circuit  Clerk,  which  he  held  for  sixteen  years. 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  3i 

Phil  Gully  was  the  next  in  order,  and  became  Hull's  suc- 
cessor to  the  sheriff's  office.     "  Old  Sloke,"— as  the  father 
was  commonly  called  —  politically  was  a  Whig,  and  some- 
times said  that  if  heaven  was  to   be  governed  by  demo- 
crats he  did  not   care  to  enter  its  pearly  gates.     For- 
tunately, as  is  believed,  politics  does  not   enter  into  the 
conduct  of  affairs  in  that   brighter  world ;  besides   it   is 
the  opinion  of  those  who  know  the  GuUys  best,  that 
their  counsels  will  never  be  sought   nor  obtained   there. 
Phil  was   recreant    to   the  early  teachings  of  his  father 
and  espoused  the  more  popular  cause  of  democracy,  as 
did  all  of  his  brothers.      During  Phil's   administration 
the   people   complained   bitterly  of  the   long-continued 
reign  of  the  Gully  family.      Notwithstanding   this,  by 
sheer    power   of    numbers    and    brute   force,   John    W. 
Gully   became    Phil's   successor   and  held  the  office  for 
eight  years,  during  which  time  the  war  came  on.     The 
Gullys,  although  valiant  in  words,  overbearing  and  aggres- 
sive when  certain  of  their  ability  to  surmount  opposition, 
were,  in  fact,  non-combatant  all   through  the  memorable 
struggle  for  their  "most  sacred  rights."     During  that  time 
John  W.,  himself  exempt  from  military  duty  by  virtue  of 
being  sheriff,  had  fourteen  different  members  of  his  family 
appointed  as  deputies,  which  position  also  relieved  them 
from   the   hazardous   responsibilities   of   a   soldier.      So 
chronic  was  the  desire  of  the  Gullys  for  office,  that  while 
the  State  was  under  Confederate  management,   Henry 
and  Phil  became  opposing  candidates  for  the   Legisla- 
ture, and  the  contest  between  them  is  said  to  have  been 
like  that  when  "  Greek  meets  Greek."     Only  one  of  the 


32  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

name — Henry — did  any  service  in  the  army.  John  W. 
was  what  is  familiarly  termed  in  the  South  a  "  butter- 
milk" soldier — a  home  guard  —  a  hero  of  thirty  days' 
duration.  His  conduct  in  the  department  of  his  choice 
is  said  to  have  been  "  gallant,"  as  was  that  of  the  whole 
command  to  which  he  belonged.  A  recent  newspaper 
eulogium,  written  by  Judge  Foote  of  Macon,  Mississippi 
—  and  who  was  Colonel  of  the  "buttermilk  brigade" — 
on  the  life  and  character  of  John  W.  Gully,  assures  the 
public  that  "Captain  Gully  gave  him  —  the  Colonel — 
very  little  trouble."  Doubtless  Gully,  if  living,  could 
say  as  much  for  Foote.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that 
these  two  gentlemen  must  have  "  fought  like  brave  men^ 
long  and  well,"  in  defense  of  their  "  fires."  As  it  could 
not  have  been  Gully's  superior  prowess  as  a  soldier  that 
gave  him  character  and  influence,  the  theory  already 
advanced  is  the  more  easily  understood ;  that,  by  close 
and  intimate  connection  with  the  worst  element  of  socie- 
ty, strengthened  by  the  great  numbers  of  his  own  family 
connection,  he  became  the  acknowledged  leader  of  his 
clan ;  for  certainly  the  "  many  virtues "  usually  claimed 
for  men  seeking  the  patronage  of  an  indulgent  public, 
were  never  found  in  this  man,  who  for  so  many  years 
controlled  the  political  destinies  of  the  county.  He  was 
coarse,  vulgar  and  illiterate;  ambitious,  arrogant  and 
overbearing,  as  will  be  seen ;  with  a  moral  status  which 
cannot  be  said  to  have  been  above  reproach.  The 
soubriquet  familiarly  applied  to  him,  is  in  itself  a  very 
fair  index  to  his  character.  Wherever  known  he  bore  the 
more  appropriate  than  chaste  appellation  of  the  "  Bull 
of  the  Woods." 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  y^ 

So  long  had  the  Gully  family  and  their  adherents 
managed  all  public  enterprises  in  the  county  where  a 
pecuniary  reward  was  made  the  chief  incentive  to  action 
that,  as  might  be  supposed,  they  could  but  illy  brook 
opposition,  and  terrible  indeed  must  have  been  the 
jealousy  and  hatred  which  this  clan  bore  toward  the 
men  who  first  had  the  hardihood  and  daring  to  "beard 
the  lion  in  his  den,"  and  who  were  finally  successful  in 
loosing  his  strong  grip.  But  year  after  year  passed 
by,  while  the  iron  heel  of  the  Gully  rule  became  more 
and  more  irksome.  It  is  told  of  Hull,  while  sheriff,  that 
he  would  enter  a  man's  house  ostensibly  for  the  purpose 
of  serving  some  legal  process,  and  then  demand,  by 
authority  of  his  high  office,  any  sum  of  money,  no  mat- 
ter how  exorbitant  and  unjust.  These  sums  were 
frequently  paid  over  to  him,  and  one  of  the  victims  of 
this  peculiar  style  of  robbery  is  living  in  Kemper  to-day, 
and  who  has  kindly  lent  the  weight  of  his  experience  in 
the  establishment  of  these  facts.  Charges  of  corruption 
in  office  and  crime  out  of  it  were  almost  continually 
being  brought  against  one  or  another  of  this  clan  of 
public  plunderers.  As  sheriff,  the  most  unreasonable 
and  unjust  accounts  were  presented  by  Gully  to  a  board 
of  supervisors,  generally  under  his  control,  many  of 
which  were  by  them  allowed,  and  the  money  for  the 
whole  account  finally  wrenched  from  the  poor  taxpayer. 
Accounts  of  this  kind,  for  extra  services  rendered  and 
special  deputies  employed,  have  first  to  be  approved  by 
the  presiding  judge  of  the  court  and  district  attorney. 
When    these    gentlemen     could    not     be    conveniently 

3 


34  TJie  Chisohn  Massacre, 

reached,  Gully,  it  appears,  was  in  the  habit  of  affixing 
their  names  to  the  bills  himself. 

Some  years  after,  when  John  E.  Chisolm — a  brother 
of  Judge  Chisolm  —  became  sheriff  by  appointment  of 
the  governor,  a  warrant  thus  fraudulently  obtained, 
amounting  to  two  hundred  and  forty  dollars  —  more  or 
less  —  was  taken  by  Judge  Chisolm,  then  performing  the 
duties  of  the  office  of  sheriff  for  his  brother,  for  taxes 
due  the  county.  But  now  that  a  man  of  a  political 
faith  which  they  did  not  endorse  had  the  handling  of  the 
public  funds,  claims  of  every  description  presented 
against  the  county  underwent  the  most  rigid  examina- 
tion by  a  democratic  board  of  supervisors,  and  this 
warrant,  offered  by  Judge  Chisolm,  was  rejected  by 
reason  of  the  exorbitancy  of  the  account  on  which  it 
was  based,  and  other  gross  irregularities.  One  reason 
assigned  for  this  was,  it  had  been  taken  by  Judge  Chisolm 
at  a  discount,  and  that  he  now  sought  to  turn  it  over,  in 
settlement  for  taxes,  at  its  face.  The  judge  called  up 
the  man  of  whom  he  took  the  paper — Mr.  John  A. 
Minniece,  who  swore  that  he  had  been  allowed  its  full 
value.  Upon  further  investigation  it  was  found  that  the 
original  account  itself  was  a  forgery,  as  it  had  never  been 
approved  by  the  presiding  judge  or  district  attorney. 
At  least  the  prosecuting  officer,  Mr.  Thomas  H.  Wood, 
declared  at  the  time  that  the  signing  of  his  name  to  the 
document  was  a  forgery,  and  so  it  was  rejected  by 
the  board.  Judge  Chisolm's  only  recourse  then  was  to 
sue  Gully  for  the  amount,  which  he  did,  obtaining  a 
judgment    against    him    accordingly.     Gully    appealed 


''^ Ho7ne  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  35 

and,  for  some  error  in  the  declaration,  the  supreme  court 
remanded  the  case,  where  it  remained  unsettled  until 
Gully's  death. 

With  George  Welch  —  the  present  deputy  sheriff — as 
clerk  of  the  court,  and,  by  virtue  of  that  office,  clerk  of 
the  board  of  supervisors,  some  $1,900  in  warrants  thus 
fraudulently  obtained  were  found,  which  the  taxpayers 
were  compelled  to  cash,  and  for  which  no  satisfactory 
explanation  has  yet  been  made. 

It  is  said  that  while  sheriff  of  Kemper  county  after 
the  war,  John  W.  Gully  turned  over  to  the  treasurer 
between  two  and  three  thousand  dollars  of  old  Confed- 
erate warrants,  issued  by  the  board  of  police  —  or  super- 
visors—  during  the  progress  of  the  rebellion,  and  with 
them  paid  the  county  tax  of  1866.  One  of  the  items 
was  a  warrant  for  $500,  issued  to  him  for  collecting  a 
military  tax.  This,  with  the  balance,  had  been  paid  in 
Confederate  money.  These  warrants  were  received  by 
the  treasurer  on  Gully's  making  oath  that  he  had  paid 
their  face  value.  By  this  the  crime  of  perjury  was 
added  to  that  of  unlawfully  taking  the  people's  money. 
By  the  aid  of  his  ring  of  Confederates  he  bought  up 
warrants  at  twenty-five  to  forty  cents  on  the  dollar,  and 
turned  them  over  to  the  treasurer  dollar  for  dollar,  under 
oath  that  he  had  taken  them  for  taxes,  without  dis- 
count. For  three  years  following  that  of  1856  this  man 
collected  a  sum  of  money  due  from  the  county  to  the 
Mobile  &  Ohio  Railroad  Company,  amounting  to  $3,000, 
and  which,  up  to  the  year  1870,  at  least,  had  not  been 
given   to  that    corporation;    while  the   receipts  for  the 


36  The  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

money  paid  to  Gully  can  be  seen  to-day.  During  this 
great  and  good  administration  of  the  people's  affairs, 
many  disgraceful  acts  and  foul  crimes  not  connected 
with  his  office  were  charged  against  him.  The  nature 
of  these  are  such  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  their 
publication  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  and  it  is  with  pleasure 
that  a  further  recital  of  this  peculiar  phase  of  Kemper 
county  society  is  omitted. 

In  the  spring  of  1868  this  man  Gully,  who  had  been 
ungovernable  and  rebellious  toward  the  authorities 
placed  over  the  State  by  the  General  Government,  was 
removed  from  the  office  of  sheriff,  and  A.  H.  Hopper,  an 
ex-Confederate  soldier  and  a  native  of  Alabama,  was 
appointed  in  his  place.  Benjamin  F.  Rush,  who  was 
also  a  Southern  man  of  high  personal  character,  and 
who  had  been  a  soldier  of  marked  gallantry,  was  made 
Hopper's  chief  deputy. 

On  the  accession  of  Hopper,  county  warrants  were  a 
drug  in  the  market  at  twenty-five  cents  on  the  dollar,  and 
bankruptcy  and  ruin  stared  the  people  in  the  face. 

Before  this,  however.  Rush  had  been  associated  with 
Gully  and  another  gentleman  in  the  mercantile  business, 
during  which  time  they  quarreled,  and  Gully  openly 
accused  Rush  of  foul  dealing,  while  Rush  preferred 
counter  charges  against  Gully.  A  personal  difficulty, 
which  appears  to  have  been  the  only  means  of  settling 
disputes  of  the  kind,  was  the  result,  when  Rush  attacked 
Gully  with  a  pistol,  driving  him  within  the  cover  of  his 
house.  From  the  date  of  this  collision*  the  war  of  crim- 
ination and  re-crimination  ceased  between  them,  and  they 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  37 

met  again  on  terms  of  comparative  friendship.  It  was 
not  until  Rush  became  the  recipient  of  the  emoluments 
of  the  sheriff's  office,  which  had  so  long  been  an  undis- 
puted heritage  of  the  Gullys,  that  a  second  rupture 
occurred  between  them. 

From  the  date  of  the  appointment  of  Hopper,  Gull/s 
persecution  of  Rush  knew  no  rest,  and,  already  leaning 
toward  republicanism,  the  latter  was  soon  driven  into  the 
ranks  of  that  poor  and  despised  party ;  while  Chisolm, 
McRea,  Hopper  and  one  or  two  others,  formed  a  nucleus 
around  which  a  strong  and  effective  organization  sprung 

up. 

"  This  marked  the  beginning  of  a  war  of  political  perse- 
cution and  proscription  —  somewhat  local  in  its  character, 
it  is  true — as  cruel  and  unjust  as  the  religious  oppression 
of  the  Huguenots  under  the  reign  of  Philip  the  Second 
of  Spain,  or  that  of  Pedro  Melendez  in  the  early  history 
of  our  country.  What  added  fresh  fuel  to  the  flame  of 
disappointed  ambition,  the  colored  man  stepped  forward 
with  that  most  potent  of  all  weapons  in  a  political  con- 
test  the  ballot  —  and  rallied  around  the  men  who  had 

been  first  to  espouse  the  principles  guaranteeing  to  them 
equal  and  exact  rights  under  the  law.  Thus  shorn  of 
their  power,  the  Gullys  — most  of  them  illiterate  as  the 
negroes  themselves  —  first  grew  restive  and  then  desperate 
as  the  vision  of  their  former  greatness  began  to  fade. 
Like  many  others,  they  feigned  the  belief  that  the  negro 
was  soon  to  be  made  the  equal,  socially,  morally  and 
politically,  of  the  proud  Caucassian  race,  his  "natural 
master."     For  it  is  a  fact,  and  upon  reflection  the  prin- 


38  The  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

ciple  is  readily  understood,  that  the  greater  the  ignor- 
ance and  the  lower  the  moral  status  of  a  white  man 
reared  in  the  South,  the  more  bitter  is  his  prejudice 
against  the  late  slave,  and  the  greater  his  fear  that  the 
despised  race  will  eventually  become  the  white  man's 
equal  in  the  common  scale  of  humanity. 

Up  to  this  date,  through  all  the  years  of  Judge  Chis- 
olm's  public  career,  he  had  been  so  well  liked  by  the 
Gullys  that  at  all  times  he  received  their  earnest  and 
hearty  support ;  for  without  it  he  could  not  have  been 
continued  so  long  in  one  of  the  most  honored  offices 
within  the  gift  of  the  people  of  the  county,  in  which  the 
political  power  and  numerical  strength  of  the  Gullys  was 
so  great,  and  this  fact  is  conceded  by  Gully's  friends 
to-day.  Aside  from  his  individual  merits,  Judge  Chisolm 
had  growing  up  around  him,  at  this  time,  an  interesting 
and  cultivated  family.  The  early  training  of  his  accom- 
plished wife,  had  peculiarly  fitted  her  for  that  compan- 
ionship so  much  needed  by  a  man  surrounded  with  the 
exciting  and  often  demoralizing  influences  incident  to  and 
inseparable  from  public  life ;  while,  to  her  children,  she 
was  at  once  a  true  mother,  a  faithful  tutor  and  an  engag- 
ing companion,  as  well  as  a  blessing  to  the  society  which 
she  adorned. 

Thus  is  outlined  at  the  beginning  the  characters  of  the 
individuals  whose  life-record  furnish  much  of  the  material 
upon  which  this  truly  remarkable  narrative  of  facts  is 
founded.  Their  relations  to  each  other  and  the  commu- 
nity in  which  they  lived  for  so  many  years  before  the 
direful  consequences  of  the   civil   war   came   upon    the 


'^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  39 

country,  have  been  presented.  The  social  and  moral 
standing  of  each  is  truthfully  given,  and  it  will  not  re- 
quire the  closest  attention  in  the  progress  of  this  work, 
to  enable  the  reader  to  mark  the  causes  of  complaint  as 
subsequently  charged  upon  one  by  the  other,  and  to 
discriminate  between  the  false  and  the  true.  If  a  just 
discrimination  should  thus  be  arrived  at,  after  reading, 
then  the  great  object  for  which  these  pages  are  written 
will  have  been  well-nigh  accomplished ;  for  to  refute  false 
charges  made  against  the  dead  —  and  the  living  who  are 
equally  powerless  for  defense — charges  given  strength 
and  currency  through  the  agency  of  a  partisan  press,  as 
incapable  of  truth  in  the  discussion  of  any  topic  where 
political  questions  are  in  any  way  involved,  as  it  is  weak 
and  imbecile  upon  all  others,  has  been  one  of  the  chief 
inspirations  of  this  undertaking. 

The  14th  of  September,  1869,  John  E.  Chisolm,  the 
same  spoken  of  on  a  preceding  page,  who  lived  near 
the  old  family  homestead  in  a  remote  part  of  the 
county,  was  appointed  by  Governor  Ames  to  succeed 
Hopper  as  sheriff;  while  Judge  Chisolm  —  then  ineligible 
on  account  of  having  served  in  a  civil  capacity  under  the 
Confederate  government  —  was  made  his  brother's 
deputy,  and  assumed  the  whole  responsibihty  of  the 
office. 

Before  the  administration  of  John  E.  Chisolm,  under 
the  supervision  of  a  democratic  board  of  supervisors,  a 
tax  was  levied  upon  the  county  which  was  known  as 
the  "  acre  tax,"  and  against  which  there  appeared,  at  the 
time  of  the  levy,  no  especial  objection;  but  when  Judge 


40  TJie  CJiisolm  Massacre. 

Chisolm  undertook  to  collect  the  tax  there  went  up  a 
terrible  cry  against  the  law  which  was  characterized  as 
a  great  "radical  steal."  No  better  explanation  of  this 
matter  can  be  given  than  that  found  in  the  sworn  testi- 
mony of  Judge  Chisolm  before  the  Congressional  Inves- 
tigating Committee  at  Washington,  February  14th,  1877, 
page  757,  and  but  a  few  weeks  before  his  cruel 
assassination. 

In  answer  to  a  question  by  Mr.  Teller,  Judge  Chisolm 
said^:  "There  was  a  tax  levied  in  1869  by  a  democratic 
board  of  supervisors  of  the  county  for  county  purposes, 
levied  upon  land  —  upon  the  acres  of  land.  One  cent 
given  in  upon  land  at  such  a  price,  two  cents  upon  land 
given  in  at  another  price,  and  three  cents  upon  land  given 
in  at  the  highest  price." 

Question. — "Per  acre?"  Answer. — "Yes;  the  tax  books 
were  turned  over  to  me,  or  rather  to  my  brother  (I  was 
doing  the  collecting  and  was  running  the  office;  it  was 
before  my  disabilities  were  removed),  and  a  number  of 
gentlemen  asked  me  what  I  thought  about  the  levy.  I 
told  them  that  it  was  not  my  business  to  decide  any 
legal  question;  it  was  simply  a  matter  to  enjoin  the 
sheriff  about,  or  else  to  pay  the  tax ;  that  the  board  of 
supervisors  left  no  discretion  with  me.  I  had  to  collect 
the  tax  or  be  enjoined.  A  majority  of  the  land  owners 
of  the  county  enjoined  the  sheriff  from  collecting  the 
tax.  Some  paid  the  tax  rather  than  enjoin.  That  tax 
was  paid  over  to  the  county  treasurer,  and  I  got  his 
receipt  for  it.  I  never  heard  any  one  make  complaint 
about  it  except  Esquire  Mills,  who  was  a  kind  of  crazy 


'■''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  41 

man  down  there.  He  paid  the  tax,  and  then  commenced 
a  lawsuit  against  me  for  not  paying  it  back  to  him.  It 
was  my  duty,  under  the  law,  to  pay  it  to  the  county 
treasurer." 

Question.  —  "Did  you  pay  it  to  the  county  treasurer?" 
Answer.  —  "I  did;  I  paid  it  to  the  county  treasurer.  Mr. 
Mills  commenced  suit  against  the  treasurer,  and  the  cir- 
cuit and  superior  courts  both  decided  that  I  had  done 
right  in  the  premises." 

And  thus  vanished  in  smoke  the  first  specific  charge 
of  dishonesty  ever  preferred  against  Judge  Chisolm  by 
his  malicious  and  vindictive  enemies,  seeking  only  to  des- 
troy the  power  and  influence  of  the  man  who,  of  all 
others,  now  stood  most  in  their  way.  Meantime  the 
slanderous  tongue  of  hatred  spared  neither  age  or  sex, 
and  the  sanctity  of  republican  homes  was  invaded  when 
all  other  efforts  failed  to  catch  the  quick  ear  of  an  ignor- 
ant rabble,  whose  passions  and  prejudices  might  thus  be 
further  excited  against  the  men  whose  ruin  had  already 
become  the  chief  goal  of  democratic  ambition  in  the 
county.  Gully  once  more  took  up  the  cudgel  against 
Rush,  pursued  him  with  a  keen  scent,  and  all  the  venom 
of  his  nature.  Unable  to  bear  his  taunts  and  insults 
longer,  Rush,  sometime  in  August,  1870,  sent  Gully  word 
that  he  would  attack  him  on  sight.  Gully  armed  him- 
self with  a  gun,  and  in  company  with  his  brother,  Sam, 
and  a  Dr.  Smith,  started  down  the  street,  in  DeKalb, 
toward  his  home,  on  horseback.  Rush  saw  the  three 
men  coming  and  approached  them,  with  a  gun  in  his 
hands,  from  an  open  square,  in  plain  sight.     Gully  reined 


42  l^Jic  CJiisohn  Massacre. 

his  horse  across  the  street,  bringing  his  orother  and 
Smith  between  himself  and  Rush.  Rush  called  out  to 
him  to  stop  —  that  he  wanted  to  settle  their  difficulties 
then  and  there.  At  this,  Sam  Gully  shot  Rush  with  a 
pistol  which  he  had  previously  drawn,  and  at  the  same 
moment  seized  Rush's  gun,  which  went  off  in  the 
struggle  that  followed.  Upon  this  Smith  fled  for  his 
life,  and  John  Gully  jumped  from  his  horse,  ran  behind 
the  nearest  building  and  then  turned  and  fired  twice  upon 
Rush,  one  shot  taking  effect,  bringing  him  to  the  ground. 
At  this'time  it  was  discovered  that  Sam  Gully  had  been 
shot  in  the  right  leg,  which,  while  sitting  on  his  horse 
in  the  position  he  occupied  when  struggling  with  Rush, 
was  on  the  side  next  to  his  brother  John.  Sam  Gully 
died,  from  the  effects  of  his  injuries,  that  night.  The 
evidence  elicited  before  the  grand  jury  was  to  the  effect 
that  a  shot  from  Rush's  gun,  at  the  time,  could  not  have 
inflicted  the  wound  that  caused  Gully's  death.  Not- 
withstanding this  fact,  an  indictment  was  found;  but  it 
is  believed,  to  this  day,  by  all  who  have  gone  into  an 
impartial  investigation  of  the  subject,  that  John  Gully, 
in  shooting  at  Rush,  accidently  shot  and  killed  his  own 
brother.  Rush  was  carried  home,  and  lingered  for  days 
and  weeks  at  the  point  of  death.  His  trial  was  after- 
ward had  in  the  circuit  court  for  the  killing  of  Sam  Gully, 
and  he  was  acquitted.  John  W.  Gully  stood  trial  for 
the  shooting  of  Rush,  and  was  also  acquitted.  After  the 
trial  of  these  men,  the  decision  of  the  public  seemed 
to  be  that  honors  were  now  easy,  and  in  all  probability, 
there  would  be  no  more  personal  collisions  between  them. 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  43 

But  in  this  they  were  mistaken,  for  Gully  proved  to  be 
as  vindictive  and  untiring  in  the  pursuit  of  an  enemy,  as 
he  was  arrogant  and  ambitious  of  political  power  and 
distinction,  and  Rush  had  no  sooner  recovered  from  the 
effects  of  his  wouads,  and  entered  upon  his  accustomed 
avocation,  than  Gully  renewed  his  attack,  but  this  time 
in  an  entirely  new  and  unlooked-for  manner.  Rush  had 
always  been  open,  bold,  and  when  driven  to  the  wall, 
aggressive.  All  through  the  war,  while  Gully  was 
screening  himself  and  his  relations  from  the  rigors  and 
hazards  of  the  tented  field.  Rush  stood  without  a  peer 
in  everything  that  went  to  make  up  the  gallant  soldier. 
His  public  and  private  record  was  without  a  blemish, 
and  no  one  believed  that  he  could  have  had  an  enemy 
so  cowardly  and  mendacious  as  to  undertake  to  assassin- 
ate him  in  cold  blood ;  and  certain  it  is  that  no  one  but  a 
Gully  has  ever  been  accused  of  that  crime. 

In  the  month  of  March,  following  this  disastrous 
collision,  in  August  an  attempt  was  made  to  assassinate 
Rush,  which  came  very  near  proving  a  success.  He  was 
shot  from  behind  a  church  —  a  singularly  chosen  place  to 
screen  an  assassin  —  which  stands  just  across  the  street, 
opposite  his  house,  while  going  into  his  gate,  after  dark. 
The  best  idea,  perhaps,  of  how  this  attempt  to  murder 
was  brought  about,  and  by  whom,  can  be  gleaned  from 
the  testimony  of  Judge  Chisolm,  as  taken  before  the 
Joint  Select  Committee  of  Congress  of  1871,  appointed 
to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  late 
insurrectionary  States. 

On  page  247  of  the  official  report  will  be  found  the 


44  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

following:  In  answer  to  a  question  by  Mr.  Poland, 
the  chairman,  Judge  Chisolm  said  : 

"  I  was  the  first  man  who  got  to  Rush's  after  he  was 
shot ;  was  at  the  court  house  when  I  heard  the  shots. 
We  were  trying  to  secure  a  person  at  the  time  Captain 
Rush  left  the  court  house.  I  had  seen  a  great  deal  of 
maneuvering  going  on  among  men  whom  I  regarded  as 
very  bad  men  in  the  community.  Just  at  dark  I  told 
Captain  Rush  that  I  thought  he  had  better  look  out, 
that  I  thought  there  was  going  to  be  another  raid  in  the 
county,  that  I  saw  some  maneuvering  going  on  that  I 
did  not  like.  I  told  him  that  I  thought  we  had  better 
do  all  we  could  to  the  jail  and  get  back  home  before 
dark.  There  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hunger  in  jail 
for  housebreaking.  He  came  near  escaping  two  or  three 
times.  He  seemed  to  be  a  very  powerful  man.  Captain 
Rush  said  to  me  just  as  he  left,  ^ Judge,  you  stay  here 
until  the  workman  has  done  all  he  can  do  to  the  jail,  and 
I  will  go  home,  for  I  do  not  feel  well.'  His  house  was 
perhaps  seventy-five  yards  from  the  jail.  Rush  was  my 
deputy,  and  had  charge  of  the  jail." 

Question.  —  "You  said  you  had  discovered  some  suspi- 
cious movements,  then,  that  day?"  Answer.  —  "Yes,  sir; 
and  I  had  informed  Rush  and  three  others  there,  that 
evening,  that  there  was  something  wrong  going  on ;  that 
the  men  who  had  concocted  bloody  schemes  before  were 
concocting  them  again,  and  I  requested  three  different 
men  to  have  their  guns  ready  for  a  night's  fight  if  it  was 
found  necessary  to  make  it.  These  movements  con- 
sisted   mainly   of    seeing   a   number   of    men    collected 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  45. 

in  the  back  of  GuUy's  store  —  a  gentlemen  there  whom  I 
think  every  man  in  the  county,  irrespective  of  party, 
regards  as  one  who  does  not  care  anything  about  having 
the  law  executed.  There  were  several  men  there  from 
out  in  the  country;  two  of  them  brothers  of  this  man 
Gully,  and  several  other  suspicious  characters.  There 
was  one  other  man  in  town  whom  I  did  not  know 
at  all." 

Question.  —  "Why  did  you  suspect  these  men  of  hos- 
tility toward  Rush?"  Ansiver.  —  "I  suspected  them  of 
hostihty  toward  any  man  who  was  opposed  to  lawless- 
ness, and  rioting,  and  doing  things  illegal  and  wrong  in 
the  county;  more  especially  to  Rush,  because  he  and 
they  were  not  friendly,  as  these  parties  are  not  friendly 
to  any  man  who  does  not  agree  with  them  in  politics. 
Captain  Rush  was  a  republican  and  the  others  were 
democrats.  Rush  was  very  badly  wounded.  The  mid- 
dle finger  of  his  right  hand  was  shot  off,  and  he  was 
shot  through  the  groin  and  through  the  abdomen ;  but 
the  bullets  did  not  go  to  the  hollow.  Four  shots  struck 
him ;  but  his  pocketbook  and  knife  turned  them,  and  I 
think  saved  his  life.  His  right  hand  was  in  his  pocket 
when  he  was  shot.  He  was  shot  twice  with  a  double- 
barrel  gun.  He  was  about  ten  steps  from  his  gate 
when  the  first  shot  was  fired  at  him.  He  then  made  a 
spring  for  his  gate,  when  they  fired  at  him  again.  It 
was  the  first  shot  that  hurt  him  worst.  When  they 
fired  at  him  the  second  time  some  of  the  shots  went 
into  the  house,  and  came  very  near  killing  his  wife." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Years  have  passed  since  the  government  emerged  from 
a  life  struggle  scarcely  equalled  in  the  history  of  nations. 
Old  land  marks  are  lost  sight  of,  the  statute  books  of 
the  country  changed,  and  the  constitution  of  the  fathers 
has  been  remodeled  and  placed  upon  a  higher  plane  of 
justice  and  humanity.  But  civil  convulsions  or  the  visi- 
tations of  Providence,  no  matter  how  sudden  and  terrify- 
ing, do  not  always  appeal  to  the  reason  or  conscience. 
The  wicked  hearts  of  men  are  slow  to  chansfe,  and  in 
Mississippi,  in  1866,  are  found  the  same  discordant  and 
turbulent  elements  which  existed  there  in  1836. 

The  caldron  of  political  rancor  had  now  been  raised  to 
a  boiling  heat  throughout  Mississippi,  and  the  hand  of 
persecution  and  the  ban  of  social  ostracism  fell  heavily 
upon  every  one  who  dared  to  express  an  opinion  that 
was  not  first  entertained  by  the  leaders  of  the  old  seces- 
sion party.  Ku-Klux  organizations  existed  in  a  majority 
of  the  counties,  while  those  not  so  fortunate  as  to 
possess  a  safe-guard  of  the  kind,  had  only  to  despatch 
couriers  to  adjoining  counties,  or  even  States,  when  an 
emergency  seemed  to  demand  it,  and  before  the  sun  rose 
on  the  day  following  the  despatch  fifty  or  a  hundred 
mounted  and  masked  men  would  appear  ready  for  the 
execution  of  any  crime,  no  matter  how  cowardly  and 
dark.  The  system  of  free  schools,  which  had  been 
established    in   the    State,    seemed    to    be  one   of    the 


^^ Home  Rule'''  in  Mississippi.  47 

strongest  incentives  to  the  development  of  the  Ku-Klux 
spirit,  and  the  whipping  of  teachers,  the  killing  of  negroes 
and  burning  of  school  houses,  proved  an  occupation  in 
which  they  took  special  delight.  It  is  hardly  necessar)' 
here  to  undertake  to  impress  upon  the  reader  the  magni- 
tude of  this  great  evil,  which  extended  all  over  the 
southern  States.  Its  history  is  well  known,  and  the  sub- 
ject is  alluded  to  only  as  a  link  in  the  continued  chain 
of  events.  The  estimate  placed  upon  the  education  of 
the  youth  of  the  State  in  ante-bellum  times,  and  the 
care  taken  of  the  funds  donated  by  the  General  Govern- 
ment for  that  purpose,  will  throw  a  light  upon  this 
subject  not  generally  understood.  It  will  account  in 
some  degree,  perhaps,  for  that  hostility  claimed  to  have 
existed  against  the  inauguration  of  the  free  school  sys- 
tem in  the  State;  and  it  will  strengthen  the  evidence 
already  adduced,  tending  to  show  the  outlawed  condition 
of  society  wherever  republican  institutions  were  sought 
to  be  introduced  and  maintained.  By  the  twelfth  sec- 
tion of  the  Act- of  Congress  of  March  3,  1803,  regulating 
the  grant  and  disposal  of  lands  south  of  the  Tennessee, 
the  section  number  sixteen  in  each  township,  "  is  reserved 
for  the  support  of  public  schools  in  the  same."  Missis- 
sippi received  a  large  proportion  of  this  grant.  The 
report  of  Hon.  H.  R.  Pease,  State  Superintendent  of 
PubHc  Education  for  the  year  1870,  which  is  in  part 
reproduced,  will  show  the  condition  in  which  this  fund 
was  found  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Here  are  the  reports 
of  the  various  superintendents  of  the  counties : 

In   Claiborne  county :  "  The  work  of  ascertaining  the 


• 


48  TJlc  Chisolni  Massacre, 

exact  condition  of  the  school  lands  was  very  much 
retarded  on  account  of  the  loose  manner  in  which  the 
business  has  heretofore  been  done.  With  regard  to  the 
claims  due  the  school  fund,  the  amounts  '  regarded  as 
worthless,'  are  worthless  indeed.  Some  are  against  per- 
sons that  are  dead,  and  have  left  no  estate,  or  one  cov- 
ered up  by  judgments;  some  are  against  persons  who 
have  bankrupted  against  them,  and  a  few  are  barred  by 
limitation.  I  think  much  of  the  above  funds  could  have 
been  saved  if  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Police  had 
taken  steps  to  secure  it,  as  required  by  an  Act  of  the 
Legislature,  approved  December  2,  1865,  and  entitled 
'An  Act  the  better  to  secure  the  payment  of  the  School 
Funds  of  the  State.'  See  Acts  of  1865,  Chapter  20. 
Of  the  amounts  ^  regarded  as  good,'  there  may  and  prob- 
ably will  be  some  considerable  loss  when  the  solvency  of 
the  debtors  is  tested  in  court." 

In  Clarke  county :  "  Sometime  has  been  spent  in  inves- 
tigating the  condition  of  the  Sixteenth  Section  Fund 
and  all  school  moneys.  The  old  records  of  this  county 
have  been  so  badly  kept,  that  no  satisfactory  results  have 
been  obtained." 

In  Tallahatchie  county :  "  Prominent  amongst  the 
difficulties  we  have  been  called  upon  to  encounter,  is  the 
fierce  opposition  of  the  white  people  to  paying  taxes  for 
the  establishment  and  support  of  colored  schools,  for 
'  ruining  and  demoralizing  the  negro.'  This  prejudice, 
bitter  and  uncompromising,  has  deterred  many  appli- 
cants for  certificates  from  accepting  colored  schools. 
The  party  recently  appointed  to  the  office  of  treasurer 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  49 

of  the  county  is  known  as  an  open  and  uncompromising 
enemy  of  .public  schools,  and  he  has  informed  applicants 
for  certificates  that  they  would  not  be  paid,  as  there  was 
no  money  in  the  treasury,  and  that  the  tax  levied  for 
'Teachers'  Fund'  would  be  paid  in  depreciated  county 
paper." 

In  Yazoo  county:  "At  this  date,  February  9,  1871, 
there  are  in  operation,  under  the  free  system,  forty-one 
schools  in  this  county.  We  find  it  impossible  to  get  at 
a  correct  estimate  of  the  'Common  School  Fund.'  The 
ante-bellum  claims  are  in  such  a  fix  that  but  Httle  will 
be  realized  from  them.  Bankruptcy,  death  and  emigra- 
tion has  destroyed  all  hopes  of  getting  the  most  of 
them.  Many  of  the  papers  are  either  destroyed  or  mis- 
laid. Some  thirty-six  thousand  dollars  of  this  fund  was 
invested  in  the  Mississippi  Central  Railroad  stock,  some 
twelve  or  fifteen  years  ago.  The  'Sixteenth  Section 
Fund'  is  in  a  very  bad  condition,  so  much  so  that  nothing 
approaching  accuracy  can  be  stated." 

In  Kemper  county:  "When  organized,  my  Board  of 
School  Directors  went  to  work  looking  after  the  notes, 
books  and  papers  due  the  several  townships,  for  the  pro- 
ceeds of  sale  of  Sixteenth  Section  lands,  which  were 
turned  over  to  Esquire  A.  G.  Ellis  for  collection.  I  can- 
not give  you  a  definite  answer  as  to  the  condition 
of  these  claims ;  but  am  of  opinion  that  about  half  of 
them  may  be  considered  good.  *  *  *  We  have 
several  school  houses  free  of  rent,  and  with  the  excep- 
tion of  two  sub-districts,  the  people  have  built  their  own 
school  houses,  and  all  seem  satisfied;    except,  however, 

4 


50  The  Chisohn  Massacre. 

the  disappointed  party  —  the  revolutionists  or  seces- 
sionists. They  are  not  satisfied,  and  would  not  be  at 
anything,  be  it  to  their  interest  ever  so  much.  We  have 
now  between  forty  and  fifty  schools,  with  good  teachers, 
organized  and  in  a  flourishing  condition.  I  adopted  in 
the  outset  the  prerequisite  ^that  no  teacher  should  be 
employed  unless  indorsed  by  the  parents  and  guardians 
of  the  neighborhood  in  which  he  or  she  proposed  to 
teach.'" 

In  Franklin  county:  "I  have  made  every  effort  to 
obtain  from  the  old  school  officers  the  notes  ivJiicJi  were 
in  their  possession,  showing  the  disposition  which  has 
been  made  by  them  of  these  funds,  and  the  indebtedness 
of  parties  to  whom  the  funds  have  been  loaned.  Many 
of  these  notes  I  find  to  be  against  persons  who  are  now 
insolvent,  and  many  are  barred  by  limitation." 

In  Jackson  county :  "  Most  of  the  records  were 
destroyed  by  fire  during  the  year  1862,  and  lately  the 
minute  book  of  the  board  of  police  has  been  spirited 
away  by  some  unknown  party." 

In  Neshoba  county :  "  I  have  heretofore  informed  the 
State  Board  of  Education  that  the  school  lands  of 
the  county,  known  as  the  Sixteenth  Section  Lands,  were 
nearly  all  disposed  of  by  lease  or  otherwise  many  years 
ago,  and  that  the  proceeds  arising  from  the  leasing  of 
the  same  have  been  so  managed,  both  during  and  since 
the  war,  that  they  are  at  this  time  almost  entirely  worth- 
less. The  aggregate  amount  of  school  funds  on  out- 
standing claims  is  $18,738.73;  one-half  of  the  above 
amount  secured  by  very  doubtful  paper,  and  in  a  manner 
worthless." 


^' Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  51 

In  Prentiss  county :  "  We  labor  under  another  disad- 
vantage, which  perhaps  is  not  general.  The  ignorance 
among  the  people  in  the  rural  districts  here  is  absolutely 
astounding.  Indeed  in  some  localities  they  seem  to 
need  missionaries  to  teach  them  civilization  more  than 
school  teachers." 

To  conclude,  Superintendent  Pease  himself  subjoins 
the  following : 

"  Over  thirty  buildings,  used  for  school  purposes,  have 
been  destroyed  by  mobs  or  burned  by  incendiaries  in  the 
past  year.  The  following  extract  from  an  official  report 
received  at  this  office,  will  exhibit  the  character  of  hos- 
tility manifested  in  certain  localities  of  the  State :  "^  * 
'  Duty  once  more  prompts  me  to  inform  you  what  has 
transpired  in  relation  to  the  public  schools  of  the  county 
since  my  last  communication  upon  this  subject.  There 
have  been  four  school  houses  burned  since  my  last  report, 
two  of  which  were  used  for  white  pupils  and  the  other 
two  for  the  colored  children.  We  do  not  know  whether 
these  outrages  were  committed  by  private  parties  or  by 
the  Ku-Klux.  The  town  of  Louisville  was  visited,  a  few 
nights  ago,  by  some  thirty-six  or  seven  disguised  horse- 
men. They  went  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Fox,  an  honor- 
able and  well  known  gentleman,  who  was  engaged  in 
teaching  a  public  school,  and  forbade  him  further  comply- 
ing with  the  contract  made  with  the  Board  of  Directors. 
They  then  went  in  search  of  one  Peter  Cooper,  a  colored 
man,  employed  in  teaching  a  colored  school,  and  failing 
to  find  his  person,  they  sought  revenge  in  destroying  his 
property.      They   burned   his   trunk,  together  with  the 


52  TJie  Chisolm  Massacre. 

most  of  his  clothing,  also  destroyed  or  carried  off  twenty- 
six  dollars  in  money.  They  then  called  on  two  others, 
using  the  lash  pretty  freely,  then  departed  to  parts  to  us 
unknown.  They  have  notified  a  good  many  of  the 
teachers  to  stop  teaching  public  free  schools  in  the 
county,  some  of  whom  have  obeyed  their  command. 
There  have  been,  by  burning  and  otherwise,  eleven  public 
schools  stopped  in  the  county.  They  seem  determined 
to  break  up  all  the  schools  in  the  county.'  Many 
instances  of  a  similar  character,  in  the  eastern  counties, 
have  been  reported.  I  will  state  to  your  honorable  body, 
in  reply  to  your  resolution  requiring  the  location  of  the 
school  buildings  destroyed,  that  I  am  unable  to  report 
the  exact  location,  as  the  reports  from  which  my  state- 
ment is  taken  simply  give  the  numbers,  without  giving 
the  exact  location.  I  have  taken  steps  to  secure  this 
information,  and  will,  if  required  by  competent  authority, 
furnish  the  same,  accompanied  .by  affidavits  setting  forth 
the  facts. 

"  From  the  reports  received  up  to  date,   I   am   able  to 
present   the  following  results.     I  will  add,  in  this  con- 
nection, that  these  figures  exhibit  the  result  of  a  prelim- 
inary investigation  only : 
Amount  of  loss  in  loans  for  want  of  proper 

security, $6i,66o  oo 

Amount  of  loss  in  rents  of  school  lands,     .       58,960  cx> 
Number  of  acres  of  school  lands  occupied  for 

which  no  rent  has  been  paid,      ....     16,018  00 
Total    amount    of    loss  of    school  lands  on 
account  of  neglect  and  want   of  proper 
management  on  the  part  of  former  school 
officers, 402,729  00 


''Home  RuW  in  Mississippi.  53 

"I  am  of  the  opinion  that  when  full  and  complete 
returns  are  made  of  the  amount  of  los^  of  the  sixteenth 
section  school  funds  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  the  semi- 
nary fund,  and  the  Chickasaw  fund,  will  exceed  ONE 
MILLION  OF  DOLLARS  absolutely  squandered  and  irre- 
trievably lost." 

In  Kemper  county  the  spirit  of  blood-thirsty  intoler- 
ance toward  the  negro  and  his  "  white  allies,"  as  all  white 
republicans  were  called,  became  so  great,  and  murders 
and  whippings  by  the  Ku-Klux  so  alarmingly  frequent, 
that  troops  were  finally  called  in  and  a  military  camp 
was  established  at  Lauderdale  Springs,  the  most  accessi- 
ble point  on  the  Mobile  and   Ohio   Railroad.     Among 
the  nightly  raiders  upon  the  unoffending  blacks  of  Kem- 
per county  there  came  up  at  this  period  a  special  genius 
named    Ball.     He   was    arrested    by   the   military   and 
carried  to  Lauderdale,  charged  with  murder.     He  subse- 
quently made   his   escape   and   fled,  as   is   believed    to 
Texas.     So   aggravating    was   this    case    that    a   large 
reward  was  offered  for  Ball's  apprehension.     But  a  few 
months  passed  before  he  secretly  returned :  yet  strange 
to  tell,  did   not  ally  himself  with  his  old  associates  in 
blood.     This  strange  conduct  aroused  a  suspicion  in  the 
minds  of  his  former  confederates  that  he  was  about  to 
turn  State's  evidence  and  expose  all  their  iniquities.     At 
any  rate,  one  dark  night  his  house  was   surrounded  by 
some  unknown  parties  and  several   shots   fired  into  it, 
in  precisely  the  same  manner  in  which  Ball  himself,  with 
his  masked  brethren,  had  so  often  fired  into  the  cabins 
of  defenseless  negroes.     His  guilty  and  cowardly  heart 


54  ^^^^  Chisohn  Massacre, 

doubtless  revealed  to  him  the  terrible  truth  that,  who- 
ever his  assailants  might  be,  their  purpose  was  to  avenge 
the  blood  for  which  his  own  hands  were  accountable, 
and  under  cover  of  the  thick  darkness  he  sought  to 
escape  by  flight;  but  was  finally  shot  down,  receiving 
wounds  from  which  he  died  in  a  few  days.  This  oc- 
curred near  the  house  of  Phil  Gully;  though  whatever 
else  may  be  said  of  him,  it  was  not  then  believed  Gully 
would  willingly  imbue  his  hands  in  blood.  But  at  that 
time,  as  to-day,  it  was  asserted  by  Judge  Chisolm's 
friends  that  he  planned  Ball's  murder  and  was  fully  cog- 
nizant of  every  other  murder  committed  by  the  Klan; 
that  he  furnished  the  brains  for  maturing  their  plans  and 
carrying  them  into  successful  execution,  under  the  per- 
sonal supervision  of  John  W.  Gully,  his  brother.  At 
the  instance  of  Phil  Gully  two  negroes  were  arrested, 
charged  with  the  killing  of  Ball.  There  being  no  jail  or 
other  suitable  place  for  the  confinement  of  prisoners,  one 
of  them  escaped,  while  the  other  stood  a  trial  and  was 
honorably  acquitted. 

Ball's  depredations,  however,  were  not  always  done 
under  the  cover  of  night  or  the  black  mask;  nor 
were  they  yet  confined  to  the  colored  race.  Some 
time  before  Ball's  death  Judge  Chisolm  had  been  depu- 
tized to  collect  some  taxes  in  the  southwestern  por- 
tion of  the  county,  and  when  returning,  with  a  large 
amount  of  money  on  his  person,  he  encountered  Ball  in 
a  dense  swamp  at  the  crossing  of  a  creek.  This  was 
near  Phil  Gully's  house.  Ball  placed  himself  in  the  road 
with    a    double-barrel    gun,    and    demanded    of   Judge 


'^ Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  55 

Chisolm    if  he   intended    to   arrest    him    or   expose   his 
whereabouts  to  the  mihtary  authorities. 

The  Judge  repHed  that  he  was  not  himself  an  officer, 
and  had  no  authority  to  arrest  any  one.  Peering  into 
the  thicket  near  by,  Chisolm  then  discovered  that  Ball  ■ 
was  not  alone;  for  there,  crouched  in  the  brush,  with 
guns  in  their  hands,  he  saw  a  half  dozen  other  men. 
The  Judge  was  in  a  defenseless  condition,  having  no 
arms  on  his  person  but  a  small  pistol.  While  talking 
with  Ball  and  assuring  him  that  he  would  not  inform  on 
nor  undertake  to  arrest  him,  Judge  Chisolm  rode  away 
and  escaped  without  injury. 

The  night  of  the  26th  of  May,  1871,  a  body  of  dis- 
guised men  visited  the  plantation  of  ex-Governor  R.  C. 
Powers,  for  the  purpose  of  killing  a  colored  man  who 
lived  there  at  the  time.  The  superintendent  on  the 
place — a  white  man  —  refused  them  admission  to  the 
room  where  the  object  of  their  search  was  sleeping. 
Upon  this  they  opened  fire  upon  the  cabin  with  their  guns, 
two  balls  passing  through  the  door  in  which  the  young 
man  stood  when  disputing  their  entrance.  This  was 
followed  by  a  personal  assault  upon  the  door,  which  was 
soon  beaten  down;  but,  during  that  time,  one  of  the  assail- 
ants fell  dead  from  a  shot  delivered  by  the  superintend- 
ent, who,  with  the  negro,  then  fled  for  his  life.  They  were 
followed  by  several  shots  which  did  no  harm,  when  the 
would-be  murderers,  taking  up  the  dead  body  of  their  fallen 
comrade,  hurried  away,  but  in  their  haste  and  consterna- 
tion, left  behind  them  two  Ku-Klux  masks,  which  had 
accidentally  fallen  off.      George  Evans,  the  young  man     # 


• 


56  The  Chisohn  Massacre. 


killed,  had  been  raised  in  the  county,  and  was  well  known 
by  everybody.  Two  of  his  brothers  were  arrested  by  the 
military  previous  to  this,  charged  with  killing  a  freedman. 
Evans"  body  was  buried  secretly,  on  his  father's  place, 
early  the  next  morning,  and  the-  report  was  circulated 
that  he  had  died  suddenly  of  cholera  morbus.  His 
father  said  that  his  death  was  caused  from  eating  too 
many  oysters  and  sardines  the  night  before.  The  kind 
of  which  he  partook  was  unhealthy,  no  doubt. 

The  immediate  occasion  of  this  visit  of  the  Klan  to 
the  plantation  of  ex-Governor  Powers,  was  as  follows : 
Matt  Duncan,  the  colored  man  whom  they  sought  to 
kill  that  night,  some  two  years  before  had  reported  to  the 
military,  at  camp  Lauderdale,  the  murder  of  a  little 
brother  of  his  by  the  same  crowd  of  men.  This  boy  — 
Matt's  brother — was  taken  from  his  cabin,  drawn  and 
quartered  and  his  mangled  body  thrown  into  the  Talla- 
dega swamp.  Matt's  offense  was  that  of  reporting  this 
"  little  act  of  pleasantry "  to  the  authorities.  He  was  a 
hard-working  and  industrious  negro,  and  seldom  quit  the 
place  for  any  purpose. 

This  is  the  sworn  testimony  of  ex-Governor  Powers, 
as  taken  before  the  investigating  committee  of  Congress 
in  1 871.  The  ex-Governor  lives  in  Mississippi  to-day, 
and  his  testimony  will  hardly  be  impeached. 

During  all  these  years  of  outlawry,  unequaled  in  the 
history  of  barbarous  tribes  anywhere  on  the  earth, 
according  to  the  sworn  testiniony  of  Judge  Chisolm,  the 
headquarters  of  the  Klan  for  Kemper  county,  were  at  the 
grocery  store  of  John  W.  Gully,  at   DeKalb.     Here  the 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  57 

whisky  was  doled  out  which  inspired  their  hearts  to 
deeds  of  chivalry  in  masks.  Here  the  GuUys  and  Dr. 
Fox,  (says  the  evidence  quoted,)  when  in  solemn  con- 
clave, designated  the  men  upon  whom  the  visitations  of 
their  savage  lust  should  fall,  and  the  various  detachments 
of  the  Klan  throughout  the  county  were  there  assigned 
their  particular  and  especial  duty.  James  Watts  and 
A.  G.  Ellis,  two  sycophantic  and  hypocritical  lawyers, 
were  their  legal  advisers,  when,  at  the  same  time,  they 
were  under  pay  of  Judge  Chisolm  and  his  friends,  for  the 
transaction  of  legitimate  business. 

Thomas  W.  Adams,  a  white  man,  having  been  a  clerk 
in  the  republican  constitutional  convention,  which  met  in 
Jackson  in  the  winter  of  1868,  had  thus  incurred  the 
wrath  of  Fox  and  the  GuUys,  and  accordingly  \yas 
carried  from  his  house  at  night  and  whipped.  While 
undergoing  the  tortures  of  the  lash,  Adams  was  told  by 
the  Klan  that  their  object  was  to  teach  him  to  take  the 
whip  like  a  "  nigger,"  as  he  had  been  associated  with  the 
"  niggers  "  in  the  "  radical "  convention.  Adams  knew 
and  recognized  many  of  the  men  engaged  in  this  affair, 
gave  their  names  to  the  military,  and  they  fled  the 
country. 

Henry  Greer,  a  negro,  was  dragged  from  his  bed  at 
night  and  severely  beaten. 

Near  Tamola,  in  Kemper  county,  three  negroes  were 
taken  out,  the  first  one  killed  and  his  house  burned 
down ;  the  other  two  were  carried  to  the  woods  near  by 
and  there  murdered.     One  of  the  victims  was  a  woman 

Near   the   same   place   a    colored    school    house    was 


58  The  Ckisolm  Massacre. 

burned  Immediately  after  the  opening  of  free  schools  in 
the  State. 

At  McLendon's  another  school  house  was  burned, 
rebuilt  and  burned  again. 

In  August,  1873,  a  colored  school  house,  on  the  place 
of  the  widow  Chisolm  (Judge  Chisolm's  mother),  was 
burned  at  night. 

The  same  night  Charles  Robinson,  a  young  man  and 
teacher  of  a  free  white  school,  was  staked  to  the  ground 
by  disguised  men  and  threatened  with  death.  His  life 
was  spared  on  condition  that  he  would  leave  the  county. 
It  is  needless  to  add,  perhaps,  that  he  left. 

Also  a  negro  named  Peden  was  known  to  have  been 
killed  by  the  Ku  Klux. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1865,  Thomas  Burton  waylaid 
and  shot  on  the  road,  near  Narkeeta,  a  colored  woman 
and  boy.  Burton's  apology  for  this  crime  was  that  they 
had  been  stealing  watermelons.  Not  having  been  in 
any  way  interfered  with  for  this  dual  murder.  Burton 
soon  after  committed  another,  if  possible  more  heinous 
and  diabolical.  He  went  to  the  cabin  of  an  old  negro 
living  in  the  woods,  fully  two  miles  from  any  other 
inhabitant,  and  there  shot  and  killed  him,  and  then 
undertook  to  burn  the  cabin,  to  cover  up  the  evidences 
of  his  guilt. 

Miles  Hampton,  a  colored  man,  living  on  the  place  of 
Mrs.  Thomas  Hampton,  was  shot  in  the  night  time,  by 
Ku-Klux,  and  killed. 

Below  is  a  letter,  written  by  Mrs.  Chisolm  to  a  friend, 
which  affords  a  very  clear  and   striking  picture  of  the 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  59 

treatment  herself  and  household  received  in  those  days 
at  the  hands  of  these  chivalrous  gentlemen.  From  its 
perusal  alone  the  women  of  the  country  will  learn  some- 
thing of  the  sacrifices  which  southern  ladies  are  called 
upon  to  make  whose  husbands  have  sought  to  uphold 
their  manhood  in  the  free  exercise  of_  their  opinions. 
The  letter  bears  date  DeKalb,  June,  1874. 

''The  disturbing  elements  were  for  a  long  time  busy 
with  their  intermeddling  tongues,  supposing  Chisolm 
*  rode  the  elephant,'  as  the  saying  went ;  and  finally  it 
began  to  be  whispered  that  the  life  of  no  man  was  safe 
who  did.  On  going  to  his  office  one  morning  he  found  in 
his  room,  just  under  the  door,  an  engraved  card,  I  pre- 
sume about  three  inches  long  and  two  wide.  On  this 
was  printed  a  black  coffin,  and  just  below  a  skull  and 
cross-bones;  on  the  back  were  the  letters  '  K.  K.  K.* 
On  his  bringing  it  home  I  treated  the  whole  thing  as  a 
^oke.  About  the  same  time  the  negroes  of  the  county 
were  much  alarmed  by  accounts  of  a  wild  man,  who 
made  steps  '  seven  miles  long,'  who  had  hair  reaching  to 
the  earth,  and  lived  in  the  swamps,  and  ate  all  the 
negroes  that  crossed  the  bridges.  This  man  proved  to 
be  the  Ku-Klux  Klan.  The  name  and  story  of  the  wild 
man,  together  with  the  bit  of  engraved  card,  afforded 
infinite  merriment  in  our  house  for  both  myself  and 
children,  Mr.  Chisolm  having  already  understood  its 
meaning,  but  refraining  from  explaining  because  of  the 
uneasiness  he  knew  it  would  give  me.  This  was  in 
the  year  1869  and  '70.  During  that  year  there  were 
regularly  appointed  club  meetings  held,  with  open  doors, 


6o  TJic  Chisohn  Alassacrc. 

by  the  republicans.  The  democracy  have  held  their 
meetings  with  locked  doors.  While  Mr.  Chisolm  would 
be  at  these  meetings  the  creatures  would  come  around 
our  house  at  night.  We  were  then  living  out  half  a 
mile  from  town,  and  on  the  hillside  was  a  grove  of 
trimmed  oaks..  These  they  would  get  among  anci  use 
the  most  obscene  and  profane  language,  professing  to 
address  Mr.  Chisolm,  knowing,  by  virtue  of  sight,  that 
he  was  in  the  court  house.  One  night  they  shot  into 
the  house,  at  the  dog,  which  was  lying  on  the  steps; 
but  the  gate  was  far  from  the  house,  and  they  were 
afraid  to  come  quite  to  the  fence.  I  had  no  other 
earthly  protection  than  an  old  negro  woman  (Nellie).  I 
made  her  come  with  me  and  carry  a  gun ;  but  before 
I  could  fire  it  they  ran  out  of  sight,  under  the  shadows 
of  the  trees.  Later  Mr.  Chisolm  had  started  to  Macon, 
and  they,  finding  it  out,  came  at  night  and  took  about 
twenty-five  panels  of  fence  down  on  each  side  of  tlTe 
road,  for  the  purpose  of  letting  the  cattle  destroy  his 
crop.  Some  kind  friend  sent  him  word  at  Scooba, 
before  he  left  town.  He  hastily  returned,  and,  going 
among  the  friends  of  the  Gully s.  Hulls,  Waddles,  etc., 
said  very  publicly  he  would  deceive  them  about  being 
absent,  and  the  next  time  they  approached  his  house  he 
would  himself  be  among  the  trees,  with  several  guns, 
and  would  select  his  men  to  suit  his  own  judgment,  and 
he  would  be  sure  to  bring  them  down.  This  stopped 
most  effectually  that  manner  of  attack.  Time  passed 
on,  and  Mr.  C.  had  the  attack  of  asthma  I  have  told 
you   of  in  a  previous  letter,  in  which  even   the  doctor 


"■Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  6i 

thought  he  had  died.  The  news  went  to  a  county 
church.  The  gentlemanly  Gully,  with  horrid  oaths, 
asserted  that  he  ought  to  have  been  dead  long  since. 
But  God,  for  that  time,  disappointed  him,  and  my  hus- 
band began  to  recover,  as  if  by  magic.  Tuesday  night, 
after  the  severe  spasmodic  attack  of  asthma,  (it  occurred 
Sunday),  he  being  still  unable  to  he  down,  heard  the 
voices  of  men  outside  the  gate,  and,  listening  attentively, 
found  they  were  in  quite  a  large  number.  He  told  me 
what  he  thought;  but  not  being  able  to  stand,  I  took 
him  his  pistols.  He  then  found  his  strength  insufficient 
to  hold  and  cap  the  pistols.  I  sat  by  him,  and,  with 
his  directions,  re-capped  both  his  pistols  and  his  gun. 
All  this  was  right  in  front  of  the  door,  Mr.  Chisolm 
being  still  unable,  from  his  terrible  attack  and  from  his 
present  difficulty  in  breathing,  to  go  into  another  room, 
and  not  thinking  best  to  close  the  door.  It  was  also 
known  his  friends  and  kindred  had  been  visiting  him 
from  his  mother's  neighborhood,  and  they  could  not 
know  how  many  were  still  there.  I  called  from  the 
house  for  the  negro  man  who  lived  nearest  us,  and  who 
was  in  our  employ.  The  Ku-Klux  began,  during  the  stir, 
to  go  away,  starting  in  the  direction  of  the  Hulls.  I  had 
it  afterwards  from  one  who  professed  to  be  an  eye-witness, 
that  they  ate  supper  at  John  Gully's  that  night,  having 
their  horses  hid  in  the  woods,  where  they  also  dressed  in 
their  hideous  robes  and  masks.  Soon  after,  another 
negro  told  one  of  our  hirelings  they  took  a  meal  they 
called  breakfast  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  at  old  Phil 
Gully's     By  nine  o'clock  of  the  next  day  Phil  and  Bob 


62  The  CJiisolm  Massacre. 

Gully,  of  Neshoba,  were  at  our  house,  Phil,  in  his  great 
affection,  riding  through  the  gate  and  seeming  inordi- 
nately glad  to  see  my  poor,  persecuted  husband.  He 
inquired  if  he  saw  any  Ku-Klux  the  night  before.  Mr. 
Chisolm  told  him  he  was  not  able  to  see  out  at  any- 
thing; but  heard  men  talking,  and,  being  sick  was  not 
in  a  state  to  be  dragged  about  by  them.  Old  Gully 
then  said  he  thought  they  would  not  hurt  a  sick  man, 
and  announced  himself  opposed  to  any  such  plans. 
But  not  yet  done,  he  insisted,  as  soon  as  Mr.  Chisolm 
would  be  able  to  ride,  I  should  put  him  in  a  buggy  and 
take  him  to  his  house  to  spend  a  week  eating  water- 
melons; to  his  house,  in  the  very  edge  of  the  creek 
swamp  and  the  very  nest  of  the  Ku-Klux,  where  you 
might  blow  a  horn  and  bring  up  a  small  army." 

From  late  in  1869  to  1871 — less  than  two  years, — 
some  thirty-five  negroes  were  known  to  have  been  killed 
by  the  Ku-Klux;  while  whippings  took  place  almost 
nightly. 

By  the  untiring  perseverance  and  courage  of  Judge 
Chisolm  and  a  few  of  his  associates,  the  military  were 
enabled  to  raid  heavily  and  more  successfully  upon  the 
Klan,  and  numbers  of  them  were  arrested,  while  others 
fled  for  safety  and  sought  new  fields  of  glory  in  more 
hospitable  climes.  Many  of  the  men  apprehended,  says 
Judge  Chisolm  in  his  testimony,  told  by  whom  they  had 
been  encouraged  to  perform  these  acts  of  lawlessness. 
Foremost  among  the  names  given  in  this  connection  were 
those  of  John  W.  Gully  and  Dr.  Fox.  Gully  and  Fox 
had  promised  these  young  men   to  defend  them  in  case 


^^Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  63 

of  arrest  by  the  courts  or  military,  but  when  adversity 
came  they  had  failed  to  do  so  in  a  single  instance.  This 
had  the  effect  to  well-nigh  destroy  the  influence  of  the 
Klan  as  an  organization,  but  the  work  of  death  and  out- 
lawry did  not  stop  here. 


CHAPTER    V. 

The  patient  reader  is  asked  to  follow  still  farther  this 
dark  pathway,  strewn  with  the  accumulated  evidences 
of  a  generation  of  crime  defiant  and  unwhipped  of  justice. 

John  McRea,  who,  as  stated  before,  became  Chisolm's 
successor  in  the  office  of  probate  judge,  being  a  republi- 
can and  a  young  man  of  brilliant  promise,  had  also 
incurred  the  displeasure  of  John  W.  Gully;  and,  a  ren- 
countre  between  McRea  and  Hull,  in  which  McRea 
chastised  Hull  severely  with  a  cane,  added  to  the  inten- 
sity of  Gully's  hatred,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  Chisolm, 
Rush  and  others,  pursued  him  unrelentingly. 

A  brief  account  of  McRea's  life,  and  the  manner  of 
his  death  at  the  hands  of  John  W.  Gully,  becomes  neces- 
sary here,  and  will  be  of  interest  to  the  reader.  The 
story  is  furnished  by  McRea's  sister,  now  living  in  Kem- 
per county.     It  is  given  in  her  own  language : 

"  It  has  often  been  denied  that  politics  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  frequent  killing  of  republicans  in  Kemper 
county,  but  I  am  certain  it  had  in  the  case  of  Judge  John 
McRea.  It  is  true,  there  was  a  family  feud  between  the 
McReas  and  Gullys  that  dated  back  to  the  fall  of  1848, 
and  as  the  Gullys  bragged  they  never  forgave,  so  did  the 
McReas.  They  had  been  on  speaking  terms  for  years 
before  the  death  of  Judge  McRea,  but  nothing  more. 
The  hate  was  still  there,  and  was  only  fanned  into  a 
fiercer  flame  in  the  bosom  of  the  Gullys  by  the  sons  of 


"•Home   Rule''  in  Mississippi.  65 

the  McReas  rising  in  life,  and  displaying  talent  which 
the  Gullys  never  possessed.  Judge  McRea  was  a  lawyer 
of  ability.  When  the  war  broke  out  he  went  as  a 
private  soldier  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  adjutant  of  his 
regiment.  He  remained  in  the  army  until  the  summer 
of  1864,  when  he  came  home  and  said  his  conscience 
would  not  permit  of  his  continuing  in  a  cause  he 
abhorred.  He  was  the  first  white  person  in  Kemper  to 
declare  himself  a  republican,  which  was  in  the  year  1867. 
John  W.  Gully  was  then  sheriff,  and  from  that  time 
commenced  to  insult  and  persecute  the  Judge.  McRea 
was  appointed  probate  judge  by  General  Ord,  and  after- 
ward circuit  judge  by  General  Ames.  McRea  and 
Chisolm  began  to  recommend  men  to  office  whom  they 
knew  had  been  loyal.  This  gave  an  additional  offense 
to  the  Gullys,  as  they  knew  they  would  have  to  go  out, 
for  they  had  formerly  controlled  all  the  offices  of  the 
county.  John  Gully  had  a  habit  of  blustering  and 
scaring  people  out  of  his  way.  He  tried  it  several  times 
with  Judge  McRea,  but  found  it  would  not  work,  and 
concluded  he  would  use  buckshot.  In  February,  1869, 
as  Judge  McRea  was  leaving  the  court  house,  in 
company  with  the  district  attorney  and  his  (McRea's) 
father,  an  old  gray-headed  man.  Gully  came  walking 
down  the  street,  singing  a  vulgar  song,  evidently  for  the 
purpose  of  insulting  Judge  McRea.  McRea  stopped 
and  told  his  father  and  the  district  attorney  to  stay  there 
until  he  could  'see  that  man,'  meaning  Gully.  Gully 
had  his  pistol  in  his  hand,  and  Judge  McRea  had  his  in 
his  sheath.  As  McRea  advanced  Gully  backed,  neither 
5 


66  TJie  Chisolm  Massacre, 

speaking  a  word,  until  Gully  reached  his  own  store  door, 
when  he  reached  out  a  double-barrel  gun,  dropping  his 
pistol.  McRea's  father  had  followed,  and  was  just 
behind  the  Judge.  When  Gully  raised  his  gun,  McRea 
said:  'You  are  not  coming  it  right,  sir;'  when  Gully 
fired.  McRea  kept  advancing  and  Gully  discharged  the 
other  barrel.  Then  McRea  said  :  '-now  I'll  get  you,'  and 
rushed  forward.  Both  barrels  of  Gully's  gun  took  effect 
in  McRea's  face  and  breast.  When  Gully  fired  the  last 
barrel  he  ran  into  his  store  and  shut  the  door  after  him, 
and  on  through  the  store  into  the  back  room  and  shut 
that  door.  By  the  time  McRea  got  to  the  door  he  was 
so  blinded  by  blood  that  he  could  see  nothing.  He 
pushed  the  door  open  and  fired  every  round  of  his  pistol 
in  the  store,  playing  sad  havoc  with  dry  goods,  but  fail- 
ing to  hit  Gully.  The  Judge  sank  down  from  loss  of 
blood,  and  was  taken  up  by  his  father  and  some  negroes, 
carried  home  and  a  doctor  sent  for;  but  Gully's  gun 
happened  to  be  loaded  with  squirrel  shot.  Some  boys 
had  had  it  the  day  before  and  had  drawn  the  buckshot 
out,  and  left  it  loaded  with  small  shot.  The  doctor 
examined  all  the  wounds,  and  when  asked  by  McRea's 
brother-in-law,  in  the  presence  of  McRea's  sister,  if  any 
of  the  wounds  would  prove  fatal,  answered :  '  No ! 
unless  some  of  the  shot  penetrated  the  lungs.  In  that 
case  consumption  would  be  likely  to  follow.'  McRea 
was  confined  to  his  room  three  weeks,  and  when  he  left 
it,  he  had  a  cough  which  was  pronounced  consumption 
by  the  best  physicians  in  the  country.  He  died  in  the 
March  following,  i860.     As  he  was  the  first  McRea  who 


''Home   Rule''  in    Mississippi.  6/ 

had  ever  died  of  consumption,  as  far  back  as  the  family 
could  be  traced,  the  world  can  judge  what  brought  it  on. 
The  case  was  not  brought  before  the  grand  jury  of  Kem- 
per until  after  the  death  of  McRea.  Then  there  was  no 
indictment  found." 

It  was  not  far  from  this  time  that  a  man  named 
White  said  some  disagreeable  things  about  Higgins,  a 
school  teacher.  Higgins  was  a  spirited  fellow,  and  com- 
pelled White  to  give  a  written  retraction  or  apology  for 
the  insult  offered.  Floyd,  who  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
White,  felt  himself  aggrieved  that  White  should  have 
been  compelled  to  do  an  act  so  disgraceful  as  to  publicly 
retract  a  statement  he  had  once  made  and  declared  to 
be  true ;  and  accordingly  headed  a  crowd  of  desperadoes, 
who  went  to  Higgins  and  tried  to  force  him  to  give  up 
the  writing  which  White  had  been  induced  to  sign  and 
deliver  to  him.  White  and  his  crowd,  who  resorted  to 
every  species  of  insult  and  threat,  were  unable  to  obtain 
the  coveted  paper.  Higgins,  feeling  very  much  incensed 
at  this  attempt  to  bully  and  humble  him,  grew  desperate, 
and  on  the  following  day  met  Floyd  and  killed  him, 
never  trying  to  escape  nor  in  any  way  avoid  the  conse- 
quences. There  still  being  no  jail  in  DeKalb,  he  was 
sent  to  Macon,  in  an  adjoining  county,  and  there  con- 
fined. When  brought  back  for  trial,  Higgins  was  placed 
in  charge  of  a  man  named  W.  G.  Edwards,  who  was  so 
well  liked  by  the  democracy  as  to  have  been  made  a 
constable  by  them.  Higgin's  father  and  Edwards,  to- 
gether, contrived  the  escape  of  the  prisoner.  They  were 
all  members  of  the  same  great  and  good  party. 


68  The  CJiisohn  Massacre, 

Some  time  after  this  Dennis  Jones,  a  negro  living  on 
some  railroad  land  near  J  udge  Chisolm's  plantation,  pro- 
cured the  Judge's  consent  to  build  a  fish  trap  in  the 
creek  which  ran  through  it.  One  night,  when  on  his 
trap,  Dennis  was  shot  and  killed.  His  wife  charged  the 
crime  upon  a  white  family  living  near,  who  had  accused 
Dennis  of  stealing  their  cotton. 

Bob  Dabbs  then  had  a  difficulty  with  a  freedman 
named  Walter  Riley,  and  one  night  soon  after,  he  was 
shot  by  some  one  from  the  outside  of  Gully's  grocery, 
and  mortally  wounded.  Before  his  death  he  expressed 
the  belief  that  it  was  the  negro  with  whom  he  had  had 
the  difficulty  who  shot  him.  This  is  all  that  is  known 
at  this  time  of  the  killing  of  Dabbs. 

As  late  as  the  year  1875  Mr.  Morton,  while  returning 
to  his  home  in  Kemper  from  a  trip  to  Meridian,  where 
he  had  been,  as  was  thought,  for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
a  large  amount  of  money,  was  waylaid  and  shot  by  some 
one  in  ambush.  Two  negroes  were  suspicioned,  arrested 
by  Judge  Chisolm,  while  sheriff,  convicted  and  sent  to 
the  penitentiary.     Morton  is  still  living. 

In  November,  1869,  James  L.  Alcorn  was  made  gov- 
ernor of  the  State  by  the  popular  vote.  Soon  after 
Alcorn's  election  Judge  Chisolm  was  appointed  sheriff, 
holding  the  office  by  virtue  of  the  appointment  until 
1 871,  at  which  time  he  was  elected  by  the  people,  and 
Charles  Rosenbaum,  a  young  man  of  sterling  character, 
who  was  born  and  raised  in  DeKalb,  was  made  his  chief 
deputy. 

In  the  canvass  of  1871,  John  P.  Gilmer,  a  native  of 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  69 

Heard  county,  Georgia,  where  he  was  born  February  29, 
1846,   an    ex-Confederate    soldier,    and    a    young    man 
engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in  Scooba,  came  out, 
openly   declared    himself    a   republican,   and    supported 
Judge  Chisolm  for  sheriff.     Up  to   this   time   Gilmer's 
character  was  good,  and  no  slighting  or  slanderous  word 
had  ever  been  whispered  against  him.     He  moved  in  the 
first  circles  of  the  society  where  he  lived,  and  the  very 
worst  that  could  be  said  of  him  was  that  he  partook 
too  much  of  the  reckless  habits  of  a  very  large  majority 
of  the  best  young  men  of  the  country.     Being  of  good 
reputation  otherwise,  bold  and  vigorous,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at   that  a  sagacious  man  like  Judge  Chisolm 
should  make  the  most  of  the  acquisition  of  Gilmer  to 
the  ranks  of  his  party.     But  alas  !  in  the  case  of  Gilmer, 
as  in  that  of  every  white  man  who  ever  voted  the  repub- 
lican ticket  in  the  county,  he  was  soon  branded  as  the 
vilest  of  all  vile  men. 

It  was  here  that  "Hal"  Dawson  first  appeared  upon 
the  scene  in  Kemper  county  politics,  and  for  a  time  he  is 
made  a  central  figure  in  the  progress  of  this  story. 
Dawson  was  said  to  have  sprung  from  a  family,  that,  for 
generations  back,  were  noted  chiefly  for  their  deeds  of 
violence;  and  Dawson,  himself,  was  admitted  by  all  to 
have  been  a  very  dangerous  and  desperate  man,  especially 
when  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  He  appeared  from 
day  to  day  in  the  streets  of  Scooba,  clad  in  a  gaily 
colored  flannel  over-shirt,  open  at  the  neck,  without  vest 
or  coat,  and  pants  fastened  at  the  waist  with  a  large 
leather  belt,  from  which  was  generally  suspended  a  six- 


70  The  CJiisolm  Massacre. 

shooter  and  a  knife  of  enormous  size.  The  grotesque- 
ness  of  this  costume  was  increased  by  the  addition  of  a 
pair  of  very  high  topped  boots,  and  Mexican  spurs  the 
size  of  a  small  cart-wheel.  "Hal"  was  in  the  habit  of 
getting  drunk  every  day,  and  his  special  province  seemed 
to  be  to  curse  and  abuse  "  radicals."  He  had  repeatedly 
threatened  Gilmer,  and  said  that  he  would  either  drive 
him  from  the  town  or  kill  him.  On  one  occasion,  while 
Gilmer  was  sitting  in  front  of  his  store,  reading  a  paper, 
Dawson  leveled  a  gun  at  him  from  across  the  street,  and, 
with  both  barrels  cocked,  called  the  attention  of  the 
by-standers  to  the  fact  that  he  was  about  to  shoot  the 
paper  out  of  Gilmer's  hands.  Some  of  his  friends 
insisted  that  he  should  not  do  it,  fearing  that  Gilmer 
himself  might  receive  a  portion  of  the  lead.  Dawson 
insisted  that  he  could  hit  the  paper  without  injury  to 
Gilmer,  and  while  the  friend  stood  in  the  street,  at  a 
distance  of  ten  or  twelve  paces,  with  his  feet  some 
twelve  inches  apart,  arguing  the  case,  in  momentary 
expectation  of  seeing  Gilmer  killed,  Dawson  fired 
between  his  friend's  legs,  and  killed  a  hog  just  in  the  act 
of  passing,  a  short  distance  behind  him. 

It  was  while  in  the  enjoyment  of  one  of  these  festive 
occasions  that  Dawson  was  especially  abusive  of  Gilmer, 
and  Davis,  Gilmer's  clerk,  who  was  a  m.ember  of  the 
board  of  registration.  Taking  his  pistol  in  his  hand, 
Dawson  went  into  Gilmer's  store.  Passing  Gilmer  at  the 
door,  as  he  entered,  he  remarked  that  Davis  was  the  man 
he  wanted  to  see.  Davis  had  taken  a  position  in  the  back 
end  of  the  building,  armed  with  a  double-barrel  gun,  which 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  yi   . 

he  discharged  at  Dawson,  just  at  the  moment  the  latter 
fired  his  pistol.  Dawson  then  wheeled  around,  facing 
Gilmer,  who  also  fired,  when  Dawson  fell  to  the  floor 
mortally  wounded,  still  grasping  the  pistol  in  his  hand. 
On  examination  by  Mr.  Clay  McCall  and  B.  F.  Rush, 
who  went  into  the  store  upon  the  instant,  it  was  found 
that  one  chamber  of  Dawson's  pistol  had  just  been 
discharged,  and  upon  further  inquiry  the  marks  left  by 
the  bullet  were  discovered  in  the  wall. 

The  killing  of  Dawson  was  at  once  heralded  abroad  as  . 
a  most  wicked  and  diabolical  murde^;.  Gilmer  and  Davis 
were  both  arrested  and  carried  to  DeKalb,  the  county 
seat,  and  there  placed  in  charge  of  the  sheriff.  The 
prisoners  were  confined  at  the  court  house,  in  charge  of 
an  officer. 

The  night  following  the  killing  of  Dawson,  Gilmer's 
store  was  broken  open  by  a  mob,  his  goods  taken  out 
into  the  street  and  all  not  carried  off  were  burned. 
The  following  day  a  crowd,  numbering  ten  or  twelve 
men,  went  from  Scooba  to  DeKalb,  and  demanded 
of  the  sheriff  that  the  prisoners  should  be  carried 
back  to  Scooba  for  a  preliminary  hearing.  To  this 
demand  the  sheriff — Judge  Chisolm  —  would  not  con- 
sent, knowing  very  well  that  if  Gilmer  and  Davis  ever 
passed  from  under  his  guardianship  they  would  be  shot 
in  cold  blood;  besides,  under  the  sheriff's  watchful  eye, 
and  at  the  county  seat,  was  the  proper  place  for  prison- 
ers to  be  held  charged  with  a  high  offense.  An  examina- 
tion was  had  in  DeKalb,  at  which  three  magistrates 
presided,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  was  a  democrat,  and  the 


72  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

prisoners  were  placed  under  a  bond  of  ^3,000  each,  for 
their  appearance  at  the  ensuing  term  of  the  circuit  court. 
Dawson's  rare  genius  in  the  indiscriminate  use  of  the 
pistol  and  knife,  had  endeared  him  to  a  large  circle  of 
kindred  spirits  in  Alabama,  who  determined  to  avenge 
his  death.  These  Alabamians,  from  the  inception  of  the 
Ku-Klux  Klan  in  the  South,  seemed  to  take  the  lead  in 
deeds  of  atrocity.  They  were  more  thoroughly  organ- 
ized and  much  better  mounted  and  equipped  than  the 
brotherhood  in  almost  any  other  portion  of  the  South, 
and  they  seemed  tp  take  special  delight,  whenever  an 
occasion  presented,  and  "  occasions  "  could  be  gotten  up 
to  order  at  any  time,  in  setting  an  example  before  their 
weaker  and  less  effective  brethren  along  the  Mississippi 
border.  As  a  proof  of  their  superior  skill  and  entire 
willingness  to  make  their  benefactions  general,  let  us 
turn  aside  for  a  moment  and  call  to  mind  the  riot  and 
massacre  at  Meridian,  which  took  place  on  the  6th  of 
March,  1871,  a  few  months  prior  to  the  occurrences  just 
enumerated.  From  a  recital  of  its  lamentable  details  it 
will  be  seen  how  these  organized  desperadoes  were  in 
the  habit  of  invading  the  soil  of  an  adjoining  State, 
committing  there  any  act  of  violence  and  blood  which 
their  savage  hearts  might  prompt  them  to  do,  and  then 
to  return  with  all  the  pomp  and  assurance  of  a  conquer- 
ing army. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

Meridian,  like  Scooba,  is  situated  only  eighteen  miles 
from  the  Alabama  line,  and  thirty-five  from  DeKalb. 
Previous  to  the  riot  this  place  was  one  of  the  most  thriv- 
ing in  the  State,  and  indeed,  it  might  be  said,  the  whole 
South.  It  was  a  new  town,  having  sprung  up  mainly 
after  the  close  of  the  war.  Its  reputation  for  thrift  and 
enterprise  was  becoming  national,  and  men  and  money 
fromi  every  quarter  of  the  union  were  fast  coming  in  and 
adding  to  its  wealth  and  prosperity.  William  Sturges,  a 
native  of  Connecticut,  and  well  connected  in  the  place, 
a  gentleman  of  culture  and  refinement,  was  first  made 
an  alderman  and  afterward  appointed  Mayor  by  the 
Governor.  Sturges'  private  character  was  good,  and  his 
executive  ability  such  as  to  have  made  for  him  an  excel- 
lent reputation  as  Mayor.  But  unfortunately  for  him 
and  the  prosperity  of  Meridian,  he  was  also  a  "  radical," 
and  had  been  "  foisted  upon  the  people  "  by  the  indirect 
aid  of  the  poor  and  despised  negro.  Under  Sturges' 
supervision  the  colored  men  were  organized  into  clubs, 
had  a  band  of  music,  and,  when  occasion  required,  they 
would  promenade  the  streets,  just  the  same  as  their 
white  brethren  do,  and  ever  have  done  since  the  formation 
of  the  government.  They  were  in  the  habit  of  holding 
public  meetings,  at  which  time  the  speeches  made,  it  is 
true,  were  not  always  such  as  to  please  a  democratic 
auditory.      The    marching  of   large  bodies  of  negroes, 


74  1^^^^  Chisohn  Massacre, 

headed  by  a  band  of  music  playing  patriotic  airs,  in 
itself  was  sufficient  to  arouse  a  spirit  of  hostility  toward 
the  newly  made  citizens;  but  their  "incendiary" 
speeches  threatened  the  "peace  and  dignity"  of  the 
"  good  people "  of  the  place.  To  use  a  phrase  which  has 
long  since  passed  into  a  proverb,  Meridian  must  be 
carried,  "  peaceably  if  we  can,  forcibly  if  we  must." 

Some  time  in  the  winter  preceding  the  riot,  a  man 
named  Daniel  Price,  who  had  been  driven  from  his  home 
in  Alabama,  took  refuge  in  Meridian,  where  he  became 
a  teacher  of  a  free  school.  Price  had  been  a  gallant 
soldier  in  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy,  was  a  man  of 
fair  education,  a  native  of  the  South,  and,  so  far  as  has 
ever  appeared,  of  good  character.  He  was  followed  to 
Meridian  by  an  armed  band  of  his  old  persecutors,  who 
sought  his  life.  Price  had  drawn  around  him  a  number 
of  friends,  who  secreted  him  from  his  pursuers,  who 
returned  after  raiding  the  town  in  wanton  violation  of 
the  law  and  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  people.  But  a 
few  days  after  this  occurrence  there  arrived  a  negro  from 
Alabama,  who  stated  that  he  was  a  deputy  sheriff;  that 
he  came  with  the  proper  papers  to  arrest  certain  parties 
in  Meridian  —  colored  men  —  and  carry  them  back  to 
Alabama.  Never  having  shown  his  authority  to  any 
one,  it  was  believed  that  he  was  an  impostor  and  trying 
to  act  without  the  shadow  of  law ;  and  one  night,  when 
prowling  around  among  the  negro  cabins,  some  one 
assailed  and  gave  him  a  severe  beating,  whereupon  the 
negro  returned  to  the  persons  who  had  sent  him.  This 
treatment  of  their  agent  in  crime  was  made  a  pretext 


^''Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi,  75 

for  a  second  raid  into  Meridian,  by  the  same  men,  and 
this  time  they  came  in  larger  numbers  and  with  an 
apparent  determination  to  do  greater  mischief.  Price, 
meantime,  had  been  arrested,  charged  with  having  com- 
mitted the  assault  upon  the  Alabama  negro,  who  had 
falsely  assumed  to  be  a  deputy  sheriff.  Price  had  given 
bond  for  appearance,  and,  on  the  day  set  for  examination, 
about  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  of  these  Sumpter 
county  desperadoes  came,  as  they  said,  to  "  see  a  fair 
trial."  Price  was  urged  by  his  political  friends  to  leave, 
as  it  was  believed  by  them  that  he  would  be  murdered 
if  he  remained,  and  that  a  general  riot  might  follow. 
He  finally  left,  forfeiting  his  bond,  which  was  paid  by  his 
republican  associates,  and  he  has  never  been  seen  or 
heard  from  in  Meridian  since.  Their  failure  to  reach 
Price  seemed  to  increase  the  fury  of  the  marauders,  who 
took  entire  possession  of  the  town,  and  especially  the 
"groceries."  Republicans,  both  black  and  white,  were 
insulted,  and  the  most  prominent  among  them  finally 
sought  safety  in  flight.  Unable  to  find  a  pretext  for  a 
general  riot  and  killing,  the  mob,  after  kidnapping  three 
negroes,  returned  with  them  to  the  place  of  their  ren- 
dezvous, in  Sumpter  county,  Alabama.  What  then  was 
done  with  the  negroes  is  not  known  to  this  day. 

Saturday  night  of  March  4th,  but  a  few  days,  or  weeks 
at  most,  from  the  date  of  these  occurrences,  a  fire  broke 
out  in  the  storehouse  of  Sturges,  Hurlbut  and  Company, 
in  Meridian,  a  leading  and  influential  mercantile  firm, 
doing  business  in  the  place.  Theodore  Sturges,  of  the 
house  just  named,  was  a  brother  of  William   Sturges, 


76  TJie  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

the  mayor.  The  mayor  was  his  brother's  bookkeeper, 
and  lived  with  him  at  his  home.  Notwithstanding  this 
fact,  absurd  as  the  statement  will  readily  appear,  it  was 
rumored  that  the  fire  had  been  set  by  some  negroes,  at 
the  instance  of  William  Sturges. 

A  whole  block  was  burned  down,  and  the  house  of 
Sturges,  Hurlbut  and  Company  was  destroyed.  During 
the  progress  of  the  conflagration  riotous  conduct  on  the 
part  of  a  few  prominent  negroes  was  charged  by  the 
whites,  and  one  colored  man  was  knocked  down  with  a 
gun  and  left  for  dead.  Still  unable  to  find  sufficient 
cause  for  a  riot,  that  night  several  negroes  were  arrested 
and  carried  before  Judge  Bramlett  for  trial  the  following 
Monday — March  6th  —  on  a  charge  of  "trying  to  incite 
riot,"  by  making  incendiary  speeches,  etc.  A  large  crowd 
of  white  men,  citizens  of  Meridian,  had  assembled,  osten- 
sibly to  listen  to  the  trial ;  but  really,  as  will  soon  appear, 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  general  row  and  killing  off 
the  leading  republicans,  black  and  white.  A  white  man 
was  placed  upon  the  stand  to  testify  against  Warren 
Tyler,  one  of  the  accused.  Tyler,  who  was  an  unusually 
bright  and  intelligent  fellow,  and  brave  as  Julius  Caesar, 
proposed  to  impeach  the  testimony  of  the  witness.  The 
idea  of  a  negro  attempting  to  impeach  a  white  gentle- 
man's evidence  was  too  much,  and  could  not  be  endured. 
The  witness  seized  a  heavy  walking  stick  and  approached 
Tyler,  who  stepped  backward  to  avoid  a  blow  aimed  at 
his  head.  Tyler  had  been  disarmed  when  arrested,  and 
exhibited  no  weapons,  according  to  the  testimony  of  a 
large  number  of  witnesses ;  and  it  is  admitted  that  when 


''Home   Rule"  in  Mississippi.  jj 

he  went  into  the  court  room  he  had  no  arms.  But  as 
the  man  advanced  with  his  stick  a  score  or  more  of  pis- 
tols were  drawn  by  the  whites,  who  began*  an  indiscrim- 
inate firing.  A  pistol  shot,  coming  from  the  side  occu- 
pied by  the  whites,  struck  Judge  Bramlett  in  the  fore- 
head, and  he  sank  dead  upon  the  judicial  bench.  Two 
negroes  were  killed  on  the  spot;  one  of  them  was 
robbed  and  his  throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear.  The  court 
room  was  cleared  in  an  instant,  and  for  three  long  days 
and  nights  riot  and  murder  ran  wild  and  unbridled 
throughout  and  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  town. 
Before  ten  o'clock  at  night  of  the  same  day  one  hundred 
and  fifty  armed  men  arrived  from  Alabama,  who  were 
immediately  joined  by  the  "  good  citizens "  of  Meridian. 
Together  they  took  possession  of  the  town,  and  high- 
ways, and  railroad  trains  leading  into  it.  Colored  men 
were  hunted  down  like  wild  beasts,  and  shot  in  the  fence 
corners  and  in  the  woods,  where  many  of  them  fled  for 
safety.  Their  churches  and  residences  were  burned,  and 
hundreds  fled  the  country,  never  again  to  return. 

That  portion  of  the  mob  made  up  from  Meridian  was 
composed  of  doctors,  lawyers,  ministers  and  merchants 
—  those  who  pray  loudest  in  public  places  —  and  in  short 
the  "  better  class  "  of  people.  The  mayor  took  refuge  in 
the  house  of  his  brother,  prepared  himself  with  a  dozen 
loaded  guns  and  pistols,  and  determined  to  sell  his  life 
as  dearly  as  possible.  Several  times  the  mob,  three  or 
four  hundred  strong,  surrounded  the  house  and  de- 
manded that  Sturges  should  be  given  up  or  the  house 
would  be  burned  down  over  his  head  and  those  of  the 


78  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

brother  and  his  family.  Bar  rooms  were  forced  open, 
and  whether  willing  to  do  so  or  not,  their  keepers  were 
compelled  to  pour  out  whisky  without  stint  or  limit,  and 
of  course  without  price ;  and  the  natural  brutality  of  the 
rioters  was  warmed  into  more  active  life  by  the  aid  of 
that  most  potent  of  all  weapons  in  the  hands  of  a 
Mississippi  democrat^ bad  whisky.  About  twenty 
lives  were   sacrificed. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Sturges  was  a  good  Mayor, 
and  in  the  thorough  and  impartial  discharge  of  every 
duty  pertaining  to  his  office,  the  very  best  the  town  has 
ever  had,  before  or  since.  This  fact,  perhaps,  was  the 
cause  of  greater  hostility  toward  him  than  anything  else; 
|br,  in  the  matter  of  making  arrests  and  in  the  treatment 
of  all  parties  who  came  or  were  brought  before  him  in 
his  official  capacity,  he  made  no  distinction  on  account 
of  color  or  previous  condition.  But  his  integrity  was  so 
great,  and  his  administration  so  thorough,  that  he  had 
many  friends  and  admirers,  even  among  his  worst  politi- 
cal enemies ;  and,  when  it  was  found  that  his  life  was  to 
be  sacrificed,  a  few  came  to  his  assistance  by  the  way  of 
remonstrating  with  the  mob,  and  promising  that  if  his  life 
was  spared,  he  should  leave  the  town  and  the  State  for 
all  coming  time.  These  terms  were  finally  agreed  upon, 
and  under  an  escort  of  one  hundred  men,  headed  by  R. 
L.  Henderson,  a  brave  man  and  a  good  citizen,  he  was 
taken  to  the  train  and  permitted  to  depart. 

At  the  time  of  the  riot.  Meridian  had  a  vigorous  and 
growing  population,  numbering  nearly  or  quite  six 
thousand.     To-day  about  twenty-five  hundred  souls  can 


"Home  Rule"  in  Mississippi.  79 

be  counted  there,  many  of  them  without  thrift  or  pros- 
perity. Along  the  busy  streets  that  were  traversed,  in 
those  dark  days,  by  this  wild  and  ungovernable  mob, 
with  loud  shouts  and  curses,  brandishing  in  mid  air  the 
torch,  fresh  lighted  in  the  burning  ruins  of  the  humble 
negro  cabin,  and  carrj-'ing  in  their  belts  the  knife  or  pistol 
dripping  with  his  innocent  blood,  can  now  be  seen  whole 
blocks  of  solid  brick  whose  only  occupant  is  the  cock- 
roach, the  bat  and  owl.  "  Democracy  "  has  reigned  there 
supreme  from  that  day  to  this,  but  the  hand  of  the 
assassin  and  the  torch  of  the  incendiary  have  neither  of 
them  been  suppressed.  There  are  no  more  bands 
of  music  in  the  hands  of  j'ubilant  and  happy  negroes 
discoursing  patriotic  airs,  it  is  true ;  the  "  good  people " 
are  spared  all  that,  but  arson  and  murder,  bankruptcy 
and  ruin  meet  the  beholder  on  every  hand. 

Only  last  year  the  mayor  of  the  city  was  indicted  for 
and  convicted  of  crime  and  misdemeanor  w^hile  yet  in 
office,  and  was  subsequently  re-elected  and  still  holds 
that  honorable  position,  with  the  decree  of  the  court, 
unanswered,  hanging  over  him. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

The  night  of  the  3d  of  November  following  the  killing 
of  Dawson,  a  body  of  Alabamians,  numbering  about 
fifty  men,  arrived  at  DeKalb,  in  Kemper  county,  and 
stopped  at  the  grocery  store  of  John  W.  Gully.  For  a 
week  or  more  previous  to  this  an  unusual  stir  had  been 
noticed  among  the  leaders  of  the  Klan  in  DeKalb.  At 
Gully's,  frequent  and  prolonged  meetings  or  consultations 
had  been  held,  by  day  and  night,  for  some  purpose, 
nobody  knew  what,  save  the  plotters  of  iniquity  them-  ^ 
selves.  This  had  aroused  a  suspicion  on  the  part  of  the 
republicans  in  the  place,  that  a  "big  job"  of  Ku-Kluxing 
was  soon  to  take  place  somewhere  in  the  county,  and 
they  were  on  the  alert,  and,  upon  hearing  of  the  arrival 
of  the  Alabamians,  Gilmer  and  Davis,  who  were  still  in 
custody,  accompanied  by  one  or  two  others,  by  consent 
of  the  sheriff,  took  to  the  woods  for  safety.  Judge 
Chisolm,  himself,  had  gone  home  that  night,  sick  with 
asthma.  No  clearer  statement  of  what  followed  can  be 
given  than  that  taken  from  his  testimony  before  the 
investigating  committee,  at  Washington,  a  few  months 
later.  This  evidence « will  be  found  on  page  250  of  the 
official  report  of  the  committee.  In  answer  to  a  question 
by  Mr.  Poland,  the  chairman,  Judge  Chisolm  said  : 

"On  the  night  of  the  3d  of  November,  I  was  not  well; 
I  am  frequently  bothered  with  asthma,  and  I  did  not  go 
to  sleep  until  three  o'clock  in  the  morning.     About  that 


''■Home  Rule"  in   Mississippi.  8i 

time  I  got  relief  and  slept  soundly.  About  half  an  hour 
before  sunrise  of  that  morning,  a  colored  boy  came  to  my 
room  and  woke  me  up.  He  had  been  my  driver  since 
the  war.  This  boy  came  into  my  room  and  told  me  that 
old  Aunt  Charlotte,  who  lives  over  on  a  hill  near  by,  had 
told  him  that  there  was  a  body  of  armed  men  between 
my  house  and  town,  secreted  in  the  bushes ;  that  they 
had  been  there  for  two  hours  or  more.  I  told  the  boy 
that  I  supposed  it  was  only  some  men  who  had  been 
drinking  down  there  and  had  alarmed  Aunt  Charlotte. 
After  looking  to  see  what  time  of  day  it  was,  I  turned 
to  go  to  bed  again.  The  colored  boy  started  out,  and 
when  he  got  to  the  door,  said:  'Judge,  the  old  woman 
thinks  she  is  positive  about  these  men,  and  she  is  very 
much  alarmed ;  had  you  better  not  see  something  about 
it?'  Said  I,  '  Hezz,  you  go  and  see  who  they  are;  if 
you  know  nothing  about  them,  and  they  are  armed, 
come  back  and  we  will  go  after  the  rascals.'  I  then  laid 
down  and  went  to  sleep  again,  and  slept  until  after  sun- 
rise, when  my  little  boy  came  in  and  told  me  that  my 
breakfast  was  waiting  for  me:  After  eating,  I  started 
out  in  the  direction  of  DeKalb,  when  I  met  the  boy,  in 
company  with  another  from  Neshoba  county,  whom  I 
had  under  arrest.  I  had  arrested  him,  but  had  released 
him  to  stay  at  my  house  until  the  Neshoba  court  met. 
I  met  them  at  the  gate,  and  saw  that  this  boy  was  very 
much  excited.  He  said,  'Judge,  there  are  twenty-five 
or  thirty  men  over  there  after  you.'  Said  I,  '  What  in 
the  d  —  1  are  they  after  me  for?  Where  are  they  ?'  He 
said,  '  They  have  gone  on  in  the  direction  of  DeKalb.' 


82  The  Chisolin  Massacre. 

Said  I  to  Hezz,  'you  go  by  and  tell  Joe,  Tom  and  April 
to  get  their  guns  and  come  up   town   as   quick  as   they 
can.'     I  went  back  into  the  house,  got  my  gun  and  went 
to  the  court  house.     I  did  not  go,  however,  the  regular 
way.     When  I  got  into  town,  the  people  were  very  much 
excited.     In  fact,  before  I  got  there,  I  had  been  told  that 
several  notes  had  been  sent  to  my  house  warning  me  of 
the  presence  of  these  men.     The  notes  did  not  reach  me, 
as  they  were  sent  by  the  big  road.     I   asked  the  people 
what    it  all   meant,  and   they  told  me  that  they  knew 
nothing    about    it.      They    had    seen   these  men    come 
into  town    and   go    in    the   direction  of  my  house,  but 
they  had  no  idea  where  they  were  going,  and  thought 
it  was  a    body    of    soldiers.       They    were    on    horses, 
and     when    they     came     back    from    my    house    they 
stopped   at  John    Gully's   grocery  and  got  a  gallon  of 
whisky,  and  then  left  town.     The  first  boy  they  seized  — 
the  one  I  had  there  from  Neshoba  county  —  said  they 
arrested   him   about   day-light,  when  going  toward   my 
house.     He  said  they  asked  him  what  his  name  was  and 
where  he  was  going.     He-  told  them  that  he  was  going 
to  the  house  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Judge  Chisolm. 
They   asked    if   I    was    the    sheriff.     He  said   he    knew 
nothing  about  that;  that  he  had  never  been  in  DeKalb 
until  three  days  before ;  that  a  man  had  come  up  to  Col. 
Powers'  place,  brought  him  down  there  and  put  him  in 
jail,  and  that  a  man  called  Judge  Chisolm  came  there 
and  took  him  out  of  the  jail,  and  told  him  to  stay  at  his 
house   until    the  court  was    held   in   Neoshoba  county. 
They  then  asked  the  boy  if  I  did  not  come  that  way  in 


''Home   Rule''  in  Mississippi.  83 

coming   to    DeKalb.     He   told    them    I    did.     He   was 
asked  if  I   could    get   to  DeKalb  by  any  other  route, 
and  he  said  not   that   he  knew  of.     They  asked  what 
time  I  usually  went  to  DeKalb,  and  the  boy  said,  gener- 
ally about  sun-up.     One  of  the  crowd  then  struck  him 
with  a  stick  and  said,  ^G— d  d— n  you,  you  are  playing 
off  on  us ;  you  know  he  goes  to  town  sometimes  by  this 
trail-way.'    They  proposed  to  hang  him  to  make  him  tell ; 
but  a  man  they  called  'Captain'  interfered  and  said  that 
the  boy  might  be  telling  the  truth;  that  he  might  have 
just  come   and   might    know   nothing  about  what  was 
there    at    all.      When    the    other    boy    whom    I    sent 
from  my  house  went  out  they  were  in  the  bushes,  and 
he  said  that  when  he  got  within  twenty  steps  of  them, 
while    not    on    the    look-out,    and    before    he    saw    or 
knew  anything  about  them,  they  had  up  their  guns  and 
pointed  in  his  direction,  and  told  him  to  come  to  them, 
and  of  course  he  went.     They  asked  his  name  and  he 
told  them.     They  then  asked  where  I  was,  and  he  said 
I  was  sick.     They  asked  if  he  did  not  live  with  me,  and 
he  said  he  did.     They  said,  '  How  is  it  that  he  is  sick 
this  morning,  when  he  was  not  sick  last  evening?'     The 
boy  said  he  knew  I  was  not  sick  the  evening  before,  but 
that  he  had  just  left  me  in  bed  sick.     They  wanted  to 
know  if  I  was  not  going  to  DeKalb;  he  said  he  did  not 
know   anything  about   that;  that   he  only  knew  I  told 
him  I  was  sick,  and  that  he  supposed  I  was  not  going 
to  DeKalb  that  day.     They  were  along  the  road  that 
leads  to  my  house.     I  lived  at  that  time  about  a  mile 
out  of  town.     The  men  took  him  down  to  the  other 


84  TJie  Chisolm  Massacre. 

corner,  to  a  crowd  of  men,  and  asked  for  a  man  they 
called  'Captain' — no  other  name  —  who  was  in  the 
bushes,  and  said  to  him :  '  There  is  a  boy  that  lives 
with  this  fellow,  the  sheriff;  he  says  he  is  sick.'  The 
'  Captain '  and  this  Lieutenant  (the  boy  said  they  called 
him  Lieutenant,  he  did  not  know  his  name)  went  off 
and  talked  a  few  minutes  together.  He  heard  one  of 
them  say,  'What  will  we  do  now?'  The  Lieutenant 
said  to  the  Captain,  '  Well,  I  am  not  going  to  the  house.' 
The  Captain  said,  '  Neither  am  I,  by !' 

They  then  called  their  men  up  and  sat  these  boys 
down  on  a  log,  and  ordered  them  not  to  tell  one  word  of 
what  had  been  said  to  them  or  they  would  kill  them. 
One  of  the  men  took  out  a  watch  and  gave  the  time  of 
day,  and  told  him  to  remain  there  one  hour;  said  that 
they  were  going  down  to  Saluda  creek,  below  town,  and 
were  going  to  stay  there  until  Saturday  night,  when 
they  would  come  back.  This  is  what  they  said  to 
the  colored  boys ;  but  they  did  not  remain.  I  got  up 
a  posse  of  fifteen  men,  black  and  white,  and  followed 
them  to  the  Alabama  line,  to  Paineville,  in  Sumpter 
county." 

Effort  was  made  to  indict  Gilmer  and  Davis  for  the 
killing  of  Dawson;  but  so  notorious  was  Dawson's 
character,  and  so  generally  was  it  known  that  he  was 
the  aggressor  on  the  occasion  in  which  he  lost  his  life, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  bitterness  which  existed 
against  Gilmer  and  Davis  on  account  of  their  politics 
the  idea  of  a  prosecution  was  abandoned. 

The  names  of  the  grand  jury  before  whom  the  facts 


'■''Home   Rule""  in   Mississippi,  85 

were  brought  are  here  given.  Eight  of  this  jury  were 
democratic  and  seven  were  repubHcan ;  and  members  of 
this  jury  assert  that  every  possible  effort  was  made  to 
indict,  but  the  evidence  would  not  permit.  Mr.  B.  Y. 
Ramsey,  the  attorney  who  represented  the  State  before 
the  jury,  and  a  fierce  democrat,  instructed  the  foreman 
that  the  cases  could  not  be  separated ;  that  if  one  was 
indicted  the  other  must  be.  This  the  acting  district 
attorney  said  in  answer  to  a  question  as  to  whether  or 
not  a  case  of  malicious  mischief  could  be  found  against 
Gilmer,  who,  it  was  alleged,  shot  Dawson  after  he  was 
dead.  One  of  the  witnesses  called  by  the  State — Mr. 
Scott  Spencer,  also  a  democrat  —  testified  before  the  jury 
that  he  tried  repeatedly  on  that  day  to  prevent  Dawson 
from  going  into  Gilmer's  store.  The  following  are  the 
names  of  the  jury:  J.  A.  Burton,  Thomas  W.  Adams, 
Peter  E.  Spinks,  William  Dear,  T.  H.  Morton,  J.  J. 
Tinsly,  J.  C.  Carpenter,  C.  P.  Chancey,  George  Robin- 
son, Thos.  Orr,  Henry  Greer,  James  Welch,  Kinch  Welch, 
Charles  Nichols,  and  Henderson  Ramsey. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

But  the  persecution  of  Judge  Chisolm  by  the  Ala- 
bamians  whom  he  had  so  far  thwarted  in  their  endeavors 
to  take  his  life,  did  not  stop  here.  In  another  chapter  it 
is  stated  that  the  family  connections  of  Dawson  had  for 
generations  been  conspicuous  for  their  deeds  of  violence 
and  blood.  Among  these  there  was  a  man  named  Dil- 
lard,  who  lived  at  Gainesville,  not  far  from  the  Mississippi 
line.  Dillard  had  been  somewhat  conspicuous  as  a  politi- 
cian, and  at  one  time  claimed  to  be  a  republican ;  but  in 
some  way  forfeited  the  confidence  of  the  party,  and 
failed  to  receive  promotion  correspondingly  great  with 
the  estimate  he  had  placed  upon  his  own  services  and 
ability.  From  this  Dillard  returned  to  his  'first  love, 
and  again  became  a  violent  democrat. 

To  one  unacquainted  with  the  history  of  southern 
politics  it  is  not  readily  understood  how  a  man  can  one 
day  espouse  a  principle,  and  as  quickly  turn  and  become 
its  most  bitter  and  uncompromising  opponent.  The  case 
becomes  very  plain,  however,  when  the  fact  is  known 
that  there  never  was  any  principle  involved  in  the  con- 
version. When  Southern  men  once  affiliate  with  the 
republican  party  and  fail  to  reach  the  object  for  which 
the  evolution  is  performed,  they  are  forced  to  take  the 
opposite  extreme  in  going  back,  in  order  to  be  admitted 
to  anything  like  equal  terms  of  membership  within  the 
ranks    of    the    party    once    deserted.      They    are    like 


'^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  87 

northern  men  living  in  the  South  during  and  since  the 
war,  who  become  the  most  violent  and  senseless  advo- 
cates of  the  old  doctrine  of  secession  and  State  rights — 
a  cause  which,  from  education  and  instinct,  most  northern 
men  abhor  —  becoming  more  bitter,  violent  and  unreason- 
able in  advocating  the  genuine  southern  faith  than  the 
most  radical  natives  of  that  section.  With  all  the 
assumed  hostility  to  the  teachings  so  early  instilled  into 
their  hearts  and  minds,  it  is  often  difficult,  and  indeed 
many  times  impossible,  for  them  to  retain  the  confidence 
of  the  citizens  among  whom,  at  best,  they  can  be  but 
casually  and  incidentally  adopted.  This,  however,  is  only 
applicable  to  those  of  either  section  who  have  reversed 
the  old  orthodox  creed  of  "  conviction  before  conversion." 
An  honest  conviction  will  often  carry  men  far  beyond 
the  reach  of  selfish  motives,  even  into  the  jaws  of  death 
itself,  and  so  it  is  with  the  southern  man  who  sacrifices 
social  position,  incurs  the  bitter  and  relentless  enmity  of 
kindred  and  early  friends,  and  whom  the  tortures  of  the 
rack  itself  are  unable  to  swerve  from  those  principles  of 
right  and  humanity  which  cannot  be  enjoyed  within  the 
ranks  of  the  old  party  of  disunion,  hatred  and  intolerance. 
In  the  early  fall  of  1874,  more  than  two  years  after  the 
killing  of  Dawson,  when  in  Meridian,  on  his  return  from 
a  trip  to  Jackson,  Judge  Chisolm  was  confronted  by  a 
large,  "red-faced"  man  —  to  use  his  own  language  —  in 
company  with  one  or  two  others,  all  appearing  to  be 
intoxicated.  At  every  turn  he  was  met  by  these  men, 
with  an  angry  and  insulting  stare.  The  Judge  purposely 
avoided  them,  dreading  the  consequences  of  a  difficulty, 


88  TJie  Chisohn  Massacre. 

which  he  believed  to  be  the  object  of  the  strangers. 
The  following  day,  as  soon  as  the  business  hour  of  the 
morning  arrived,  Judge  Chisolm  repaired  to  the  law  office 
of  Messrs.  Hamm  &  Fewell,  and  while  there,  very  much 
to  his  surprise  and  somewhat  to  his  annoyance,  who 
should  come  in  but  his  disagreeable  acquaintance  of  the 
day  before.  Preferring  to  transact  business  more 
privately,  and  still  fearing  a  collision,  the  Judge,  and  one 
of  his  attorneys,  stepped  into  an  adjoining  room,  and  not 
until  then  was  he  made  aware  of  the  fact  that  his  "  red- 
faced  "  friend  of  the  day  before,  was  none  other  than 
Judge  Dillard  of  Gainesville,  Alabama,  the  man  who  was 
known  to  have  been  foremost  in  inciting  the  invasion 
from  Alabama  into  Kemper  county,  two  years  before,  for 
the  purpose  of  killing  the  leading  republicans  there. 
Judge  Chisolm,  soon  after,  went  on  the  street  in  further 
pursuance  of  his  business,  and,  when  turning  a  corner, 
met  an  old  acquaintance,  who  was  at  the  time  engaged 
in  conversation  with  Judge  Dillard.  This  friend,  address- 
ing Judge  Chisolm,  and  not  knowing  that  any  enmity 
existed  between  the  two  men,  proposed  the  usual  courte- 
sies of  an  introduction.  Dillard  at  once  very  indignantly 
drew  back,  and  said  that  he  was  not  "  receiving  intro- 
ductions to  d  —  d  radical  scoundrels!  You  are  ad  —  d, 
thieving,  radical  scoundrel,  sir !"  said  he  to  Judge  Chis- 
olm. Still  dreading  the  consequences  of  a  difficulty, 
Chisolm,  very  much  against  his  will,  and  sense  of  honor, 
again  turned  away  and  crossed  the  street. 

Dillard,  in  a  voice  loud   enough   to  have  been   heard 
half  a  square  distant,  continued  to  curse  and  abuse  Judge 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  89 

Chisolm  in  the  grossest  manner,  heaping  upon  him  every 
insulting  epithet  known  to  the  vocabulary  of  a  southern 
politician   of  the  democratic   school.      From    this    man, 
Dillard,  Judge  Chisolm  received  insults  far  greater  than 
he  had  ever  before   taken  from  any  one  when  himself 
plac^u  under  the  most  adverse  and  unfavorable  circum- 
stances, and  much  less  had  he  borne  them  from  any  person 
who  stood  singly  and  alone ;  and  while  Dillard  still  had 
him  at  a  disadvantage,  Chisolm   resolved   to  die  rather 
than    tamely   submit    to   farther   abuse.      Having  on  a 
heavy  talma,  he  threw  it  back  so  as  not  to  be  incumbered 
in  drawing  his  pistol,  and  then  started  across  the  street 
toward  Dillard,  who,  seeing  him  coming,  drew  and  leveled 
his   pistol   and    warned    Chisolm   off,  still   cursing  him. 
Judge  Chisolm  drew    and  steadily  advanced,  the   eyes 
of    each    peering    into    those    of    the    other,    without 
saying  a  word.     When  two  or  three   steps  distant,  both 
fired.     The  shot  from  Judge  Chisolm's  pistol  struck  Dil- 
lard in  the  side,  when  they  clinched,  Chisolm  throwing 
his   antagonist    to   the    ground,    and,   holding    Dillard's 
weapon  with  one  hand,  he  was  just  in  the  act  of  shoot- 
ing him  with  his  own  pistol  which  he  held  in  the  other, 
when   a   gentleman    ran    up    and    wrenched    Chisolm's 
revolver  from    his   grasp.      Believing  it   was   a  life  and 
death    struggle,   and   not   knowing  how   many   men  he 
might  yet  have  to  contend   with,  Judge  Chisolm  deter- 
mined   upon    finishing     this    one,   at    least ;    and    still 
holding  Dillard  prostrate,  he  reached  into  a  hip   pocket 
and   drew  another  small  pistol,  which  was  quickly  taken 
away  from  him,  and  the  two  were  separated. 


90  TJie  CJiisolm  Massacre, 

Before  a  warrant  had  been  issued  for  his  arrest,  Judge 
Chisolm  placed  himself  under  the  protection  of  the 
sheriff,  Capt.  Bob  Mosely,  and  while  at  the  house  of 
that  officer,  to  save  his  little  daughter,  Cornelia,  then 
attending  school  in  the  place,  unnecessary  alarm,  he  sent 
her  a  note,  stating  that  he  had  had  a  difficulty  with 
Judge  Dillard  —  whose  designs  upon  her  father's  hfe  the 
daughter  knew  very  well  —  and  that  he  had  wounded 
Judge  Dillard,  but  himself  was  unharmed.  This  state- 
ment did  not  satisfy  Cornelia,  who  feared  that  if  her 
father  had  escaped  thus  far,  he  would  again  be  attacked 
by  greater  numbers  and  finally  killed,  and  she  at  once 
hurried  to  his  room.  The  writer  remembers  well  the 
appearance  of  this  girl  as  she  came  into  the  presence  of 
her  father  that  day,  when,  choked  with  sobs,  she  under- 
took to  return  thanks  for  the  kindly  offices  of  those  who 
had  come  to  the  aid  of  her  beloved  guardian.  Though 
many  evidences  of  her  fondness  for  him  had  been  wit- 
nessed before,  this  left  a  deeper  impression  than  all  else. 
Little  was  it  thought  then,  however,  that  her  unselfish 
devotion  and  sublime  character — afterward  so  strikingly 
displayed  —  would  soon  place  her  name  upon  that  scroll 
which  holds  sacred  in  'the  hearts  of  all  true  men  and 
women,  the  good  and  virtuous  deeds  of  those  gone  before. 

As  usual,  the  cry  of  "  an  attempt  to  murder  by  an 
infamous  radical"  was  raised.  Judge  Chisolm  was 
arrested  and  placed  under  a  bond,  and  at  the  following 
term  of  the  circuit  court,  which  convened  very  soon 
thereafter,  a  true  bill  was  found,  charging  him  with 
"  assault  with  intent  to  kill."     At  the  May  term  of  the 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  91 

next  succeeding  court  —  in  1875  —  he  was  tried  on  the 
indictment  and  acquitted;  the  jury  returning  a  verdict 
in  fifteen  minutes,  without  consultation  or  disagreement. 
William  M.  Hancock  was  the  presiding  judge,  who, 
although  a  republican  at  the  time,  had  been  considered 
good  enough  by  the  democracy  to  hold  the  same  respon- 
sible position  for  many  long  years,  and  through  succeed- 
ing terms  of  office. 

In  the  year  1872  J.  P.  Gilmer  was  elected  State 
senator  to  fill  a  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of 
Hon.  W.  S.  Gambrel,  a  sketch  of  whose  life  and  career 
as  a  union  man  and  republican  in  Kemper  county  it  now 
becomes  necessary  to  present.  The  account  given  below 
is  furnished  by  a  lady,  who  for  many  years  lived  neighbor 
to  Mr.  Gambrel,  and  who  knew  the  family  and  their  cir- 
cumstances well.  The  statement  of  this  lady  is  also 
corroborated  by  a  member  of  the  family  now  living  in 
the  county.  Neither  the  intelligence  nor  the  integrity  of 
this  witness  will  be  questioned  by  any  one.  Her  own 
language  is  quoted  as  nearly  as  possible. 

"  At  the  opening  of  the  war  Mr.  Gambrel  was  engaged 
in  teaching  school  near  a  small  town  now  known  as  Rio. 
He  had  the  misfortune  to  have  been  born  in  Ohio,  but 
came  South  in  early  youth.  He  married  into  a  southern 
family,  and  was  at  the  opening  of  the  war,  the  father  of 
several  children.  Always  a  strong  unionist,  and  so 
expressing  himself,  he  did  not  vote  on  the  matter  of 
secession,  because  there  was  no  other  ticket  out.  Soon 
after  the  opening  of  hostilities  his  wife,  then  in  delicate 
health,  became  insane.     His  task  was  a  hard  one.     The 


92  TJie  CJiisol7}i  Massacre. 

'  committee,'  as  usual,  while  staying  home  from  the  war 
themselves,  '  waited  on  him '  and  ordered  him  out.  He 
refused  to  comply,  and  soon  after  some  of  his  pupils 
were  taken  sick.  They  accordingly  decided  to  hang  him 
if  he  did  not  go  to  the  war,  pretending  that  he  had 
poisoned  the  spring  because  his  pupils  were  southern 
children.  Mr".  Gambrel  told  them  that  his  wife  and 
children,  his  home  and  interests  were  all  southern. 
Judge  Chisolm,  by  his  firmness  and  courage,  prevented 
the  hanging.  Senator  Gambrel  was  then  compelled  to 
leave  his  afflicted  wife  and  little  ones  to  the  mercy  of 
the  savages  of  Kemper.  He  went  into  the  army  and 
delivered  himself  a  prisoner  in  the  first  engagement, 
without  firing  a  gun.  The  Federal  officer  gave  him  a 
position,  the  writer  is  quite  sure,  in  the  commissary 
department.  He  lived  frugally,  and  at  the  war's  ending 
had  saved  money  enough  to  bring  home  many  much 
needed  comforts.  His  poor  wife  had  recovered  her 
mind,  but  the  family  were  in  squalid  poverty.  He  soon 
placed  them  in  comparative  comfort;  but  the  trials 
Mrs.  Gambrel  had  passed  through  sent  her  speedily  to 
the  grave.  He  was  often  compelled  to  leave  his  children 
under  the  protection  of  the  colored  cook.  One  night 
Mr.  Gambrel  returned  and  retired  without  awakening  his 
family.  Before  morning  a  negro  broke  into  the  room 
occupied  by  some  of  the  older  children.  A  faithful  old 
servant  gave  the  alarm,  and  when  the  father  came  in 
told  him  who  she  believed  the  intruder  to  be,  and  showed 
the  place  and  manner  of  his  escape.  Mr.  Gambrel  after- 
ward  confronted   the    supposed    guilty  negro  —  Flander 


""Home  Ride"  in  Mississippi.  93 

Tones- and  struck  him  a  blow  in  the  face.  Jones  then 
went  to  the  cabin  of  another  colored  man  and  whde 
there  ran  some  bullets,  which,  he  told  were  for  the  pur- 
pose of  killing  Gambrel.  When  the  two  met  agam  a 
collision  took  place  in  which  both  fired  pistols.  Jones 
shot  took  effect,  from  which  Mr.  Gambrel  died  soon 
after.  While  on  his  death-bed  he  was  visited  by  Judge 
Chisolm  and  many  other  friends." 

Mr  Gambrel  often  spoke,  when  in  the  presence  of 
the  lady  who  furnished  the  above  facts,  in  the  highest 
terms  of  Judge  Chisolm  and  his  many  acts  of  friendship, 
at  a  time  when  he,  being  a  republican,  had  no  other 
friend  After  reconstruction  and  the  organization  ot 
the  Ku-Klux,  Gambrel  became  the  object  of  their 
especial  hatred.  His  house  being  visited  on  several 
occasions,  he  was  finally  compelled  to  call  in  his  neighbors 
—  afew  who  were  friendly  and  whom  he  could  trust  — 
to  guard  himself  and  premises  at  night. 

But  it  is  now  told  by  the  great  party  of  reform  that 
Gambrel  was  killed  at  the  instance  of  Judge  Chisolm,  to 
make  room  for  Gilmer  in  the  State  senate. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

In  November,  1873,  Judge  Chisolm  was  again  elected 
sheriff  by  the  popular  vote,  his  term  of  office  expiring  in 
1875,  at  which  time  the  political  destinies  of  the  whole 
State  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  "  good  people."  The 
registration  of  the  vote  of  the  county,  since  1 868,  shows 
the  numerical  strength  of  the  blacks  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  whites,  to  have  been  very  nearly  equal. 
There  never  was  but  a  slight  preponderance  of  one  over 
the  other;  yet  for  the  constitutional  convention  of  that 
year  there  was  a  republican  majority  of  six  hundred  and 
eighty-seven  votes.  For  Governor  Alcorn,  in  1869,  there 
was  a  plurality  of  over  two  hundred;  and  in  1 871,  at 
which  time  Judge  Chisolm  was  first  elected  sheriff, 
the  excess  of  votes  for  his  ticket  reached  about  one 
hundred  and  eighty.  In  1872  it  was  over  four  hundred, 
and  at  the  State  election  for  governor,  in  1873,  the 
republican  majorities  for  the  various  offices  reached  as 
high  as  two  hundred.  From  these  figures  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  strength  of  the  party  against  which  this  terrible 
hostility  existed  did  not  depend  upon  the  newly  enfran- 
chised citizens.  From  the  very  outset  it  must  have 
received  a  large  native  white  vote;  for  upon  no  other 
hypothesis  can  these  large  majorities  be  accounted  for. 

During  the  terms  of  Judge  Chisolm's  office  he  accu- 
mulated property,  as  every  other  sheriff  in  the  State  did, 
without  a  solitary  exception.     But  the  duties  pertaining 


''Home   Ride''  in    Mississippi.  95 

to  that  position  meantime  were  performed  by  him  to  the 
letter,  and  he  was  never  accused  of  misappropriating  a 
single  dollar  of  public  funds,  notwithstanding  the  con- 
tinued hostility  of  those  who  sought  his  destruction  in 
every  possible  way. 

That  Judge  Chisolm  sometimes  resorted  to  extraordi- 
nary measures  to  carry  out  the  object  in  view  will  not 
be  denied,  and  that  the  circumstances  justified  such 
means  will  hardly  be  doubted.  A  verification  of  the  old 
adage  or  proverb  of  "  fighting  the  devil  with  fire  "  would 
have  been  warranted,  no  doubt. 

Owing  to  the  unsettled  condition  of  the  whole  State 
and  the  inauguration  of  free  schools  in  the  county,  the 
building  of  bridges  and  other  changes  and  improvements 
made  necessary  by  the  results  of  the  war,  taxation 
became  heavy,  though  credit  had  steadily  improved; 
and,  as  already  stated,  county  warrants  had  advanced 
since  the  accession  of  the  men  then  in  power,  from 
twenty-five  to  seventy-five  cents  on  the  dollar.  The 
greatest  tax  imposed  upon  the  county,  and  the  one  of 
which  the  people  complained  most,  was  that  made  neces- 
sary by  the  establishment  of  the  free  schools,  and  it  is 
a  fact  worthy  of  notice  in  passing,  that  the  board  of 
school  directors  for  the  county  were,  during  the  whole 
time,  pronounced  and  uncompromising  democrats,  as 
they  were  also  "  racy  of  the  soil." 

It  is  a  fact,  well  known  in  the  South,  that  for  several 
years  immediately  following  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
even  before  that  period,  "  speculations "  in  cotton  became 
very  common.     In   these  operations  vast  fortunes  were 


96  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

sometimes  made,  and  almost  every  one,  who,  by  dint  of 
good  luck,  or  what  often  proved  better,  a  determination 
to  "  win,"  could  in  any  way  become  a  party  to  a  "  cotton 
transaction,"  entered  upon  it  with  a  will  equaled  only  by 
their  cupidity.  To  this  good  day  it  is  the  pride  and 
delight  of  these  men  to  relate  their  experience  in  running 
off  "  the  great  staple  "  and  swindling  the  government  out 
of  its  dues;  and,  what  is  more  to  their  shame,  "Uncle 
Sam "  was  not  always  the  sufferer.  In  these  transac- 
tions John  W.  Gully  was  a  fortunate  adventurer.  His 
operations  began  early,  and  while  he  was  sheriff  a  large 
amount  of  money  placed  in  his  hands  by  the  Confederate 
authorities,  with  which  to  buy  cotton,  was  thus  expended, 
but  when  the.  war  closed  he  sold  the  cotton  then  on  hand 
and  put  the  money  received  for  it  in  his  own  pocket. 
This  cotton,  by  the  terms  of  the  surrender,  belonged  to 
the  United  States  government,  and  should  have  been  so 
accounted  for.  Several  hundred  bales  were  thus  appro- 
priated by  Gully.  This  fact  is  well  known  to  the  people 
of  Kemper  to-day,  and  Gully  himself  often  boasted  of 
his  shrewdness  in  thus  swindling  the  "d  —  d  Yankee 
government." 

Having  learned  from  experience  the  best  manner  of 
conducting  little  schemes  like  this,  who  so  well  as  Gully 
could  plan  an  illicit  operation  of  the  kind,  place  an  enemy 
in  the  foreground,  and  make  him  appear  to  one  unac- 
quainted with  the  "  ways  that  are  dark,"  as  the  principal 
operator  and  beneficiary?  It  was  not,  however,  until  the 
year  1871,  when  Judge  Chisolm  became  a  candidate  before 
the  people  for  the  office  of  sheriff,  that   an  accusation, 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  97 

in  the  form  of  a  "  cotton  speculation,"  was  brought 
against  him.  It  was  then  charged  by  John  W.  Gully, 
that  Chisolm,  in  the  capacity  of  probate  judge  —  some 
four  or  five  years  before  —  had  forged  an  affidavit  by 
which  a  number  of  bales  of  cotton,  supposed  to  belong 
to  the  United  States  authorities,  were  placed  in  the 
hands  of  gentlemen  who  clandestinely  disposed  of  them, 
as  Gully  had  disposed  of  that  which  fell  into  his  hands. 
This  charge  Judge  Chisolm  refuted  at  the  time  it  was 
brought,  and  despite  the  efforts  of  his  unscrupulous 
enemies,  was  elected  sheriff  by  a  large  popular  vote.  In 
the  fall  of  1876,  when  he  became  a  candidate  for  Con- 
gress, the  same  old  story  was  renewed.  It  was  done 
after  the  Judge  had  left  his  home  and  gone  into  the 
canvass,  beyond  the  reach  of  friends  who  were  conversant 
with  the  facts,  and  through  whom  he  might  be  able 
to  establish  his  innocence,  and  first  appeared  in  the 
Jackson  Clarion^  a  leading  newspaper  of  the  State.  To 
this  publication  Judge  Chisolm  replied  on  the  first  oppor- 
tunity, through  the  columns  of  the  same  paper.  As  will 
be  seen,  his  letter  was  written  while  at  Greenwood,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant  from  home. 

CARD  FROM  W.  W.  CHISOLM. 

Greenwood,  Miss.,  Oct.  16,  1876. 

Editors  Clarion  :  I  respectfully  request  that  you  pub- 
lish this,  my  reply  to  certain  charges  which  appeared 
against  me  in  the  columns  of  your  issue  of  the  3d  inst., 
and  ask  that  other  papers  which  have  copied  the  article 
will  likewise  do  me  the  justice  to  copy  this.  If  there  are 
those  who  think  I  have  been  slow  in  giving  attention  to 


98  The  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

this  matter,  I  will  state  that,  as  a  candidate  for  Congress, 
I  have  been  busy  in  the  canvass,  away  from  home,  and 
have  been  compelled  to  rely  upon  a  correspondent  to 
procure  such  documentary  evidence  as  I  deemed  import- 
ant for  my  vindication. 

Your  readers  will  remember  that  the  main  charge,  and 
the  one  upon  which  all  the  others  are  based,  was  con- 
tained in  the  affidavit  of  one  George  L.  Welsh,  and 
which  I  here  reproduce : 

THE   FORGED  AFFIDAVIT. 

[Perry  Moore  was  dead  when  this  affidavit  was  made,) 
The  State  of  Mississippi,  ) 
Kemper  County.  f 

Before  me,  W.  W.  Chisolm,  judge  of  probate  in  and 
for  said  county,  personally  came  Perry  Moore,  to  me 
well  known  as  a  just  and  reliable  citizen  in  said 
county,  who,  after  being  by  me  duly  sworn  accord- 
ing to  law,  deposeth  and  says,  that  he  was  with  the 
United  States  forces  under  the  command  of  General 
Sherman,  in  the  county  of  Lauderdale,  in  the  year  (1864) 
eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-four,  in  said  State  of  Missis- 
sippi, on  or  about  the  20th  day  of  February,  of  said 
yea.r,  on  the  road  leading  from  Marion  Station  to  Hills- 
boro,  in  Scott  county,  Mississippi,  and  he,  the  aforesaid, 
saw  at  one  White's  gin,  on  said  road,  about  eight  or  ten 
miles  from  Marion  Station,  the  said  United  States  forces 
put  fire  to  and  burn  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  bales 
of  lint  cotton  (184),  belonging  to  Robert  J.  Mosely. 
They,  the  United  States  forces,  stated  and  told  me  it 
was  by  order  of  General  Sherman. 

Perry  Moore. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me,  this,  the  2d  day  of 
[L.  S.]     February,  A.  D.  1867. 

W.  W.  Chisolm,  Probate  Judge. 


^^ Home   Rule''  in  Mississippi.  99 

THE   FRAUD   ACKNOWLEDGED. 

I  certify  that  the  foregoing  is  a  true  copy  of  the 
original  papers,  and  that  the  name  subscribed  thereto, 
purporting  to  be  the  genuine  signature  of  Perry  Moore, 
is  a  base  forgery,  and  so  admitted  to  me  by  W.  W. 
Chisolm,  at  the  time  I  arrested  said  papers  in  his  hands. 
Said  Chisolm  was  at  that  time  Judge  of  the  Probate 
Court  of  Kemper  county,  and  I  was  Clerk  of  said  court. 

Geo.  L.  Welsh. 

DeKalb,  Miss.,  September  30,  1876. 

To  convict  this  poor  wretch,  Welsh,  of  being  at  once 
a  simpleton  as  well  as  a  liar,  I  call  the  attention  of  the 
public  to  the  following  extract  from  the  records  of  the 
Probate  Court  of  Kemper  county: 

State  of  Mississippi, 

Kemper  County. 
To  the  Honorable  JoJm  McRea,  Judge  of  the  Probate 

Court  of  said  county  : 

The  undersigned,  Jordan  Moore,  petitions  your  Honor 
to  grant  him  letters  of  administration  on  the  estate  of 
Perry  Moore,  deceased,  of  said  county,  and  in  making 
this  petition  would  state  that  said  decedent  departed 
this  life  on  or  about  the  eighth  day  of  February,  1867; 
that  he  died  without  a  will,  seized  of  effects  in  said 
county,  upon  which  it  is  necessary  that  administration 
should  be  had,  and  in  duty  bound  your  petitioners  will 
ever  pray.  JORDAN  MoORE. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  August  12,  1867. 

Geo.  L.  Welsh. 

The  State  of  Mississippi, 

Kemper  County. 

I,  H.  Rush,  Clerk  of  the  Chancery  Court,  in  and  for 

said  county,  do  hereby  certify  that   the  foregoing  is  a 

correct  copy  of  the  letters  of  administration   upon  the 


lOO  The  CJiisolni  Massacre, 

estate  of  Perry  Moore,  deceased,  as  appears  upon  file 
and  on  record  in  my  office  at  DeKalb,  this  October  23d, 
1876.  H.  Rush,  Clerk. 

Welsh  says  that  Perry  Moore  was  dead  before  the  affi- 
davit in  regard  to  the  cotton  was  made,  and  that  was 
on  the  2d  day  of  February,  1867;  and  yet  Jordan 
Moore  made  affidavit,  before  this  same  George  L.  Welsh, 
that  Perry  Moore  died  on  or  about  the  8th  day  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1867.  See  how  plain  a  tale  will  put  a  lying 
scoundrel  down.  By  the  records  of  his  own  court  he 
stands  a  convicted  liar.  Need  I  say  more?  I  would 
not  trouble  myself  to  say  this  much  to  people  who 
know  this  Welsh;  but  many  read  the  Clarion  who  have 
no  means  of  knowing  what  reliance  is  to  be  placed  in 
this  fellow  George  L.  Welsh.  So  I  present  them  these 
two  papers,  that  they  may  have  no  difficulty  in  deter- 
mining. 

Now,  upon  this  slandrous  charge  of  Welsh,  all  the 
superstructure  of  persecution  against  me  has  been  raised. 
Proving  the  foundation  to 'be  false,  what  becomes  of  the 
edifice  ? 

This  same  George  L.  Welsh  says  that  "  he  arrested 
Perry  Moore's  affidavit  in  my  hands;  that  I  admitted 
that  it  was  a  forgery;  that  he  demanded  my  resignation, 
and  I  did  resign."  I  congratulate  Welsh  in  doing  what 
he  seldom  does  —  stumbling  upon  one  scrap  of  truth; 
for  "  I  did  resign."  But  that  I  did  it  upon  the  demand 
of  George  L.  Welsh,  or  any  one  else,  is  a  falsehood  too 
infamous  to  be  coined  by  any  other  than  his  brain, 
notoriously  fruitful  in  such  productions.  When  I  re- 
signed my  successor  was  appointed  upon  my  recom- 
mendation. Where  we  are  both  known,  the  idea  of 
George  L.  Welsh  demanding  anything  at  my  hands  will 
sound  preposterous  indeed.  Alone  and  together  he 
would  not  risk  his  carcass  within  reach  of  the  toe  of  my 
boot,  except  he  was  acting  the  part  of  a  cringing  cur. 


''Home  Rule'"  in  Mississippi.  lOl 

Affidavits  from  Thos.  H.  Woods,  District  Attorney, 
and  Jas.  Haughley  and  Wm.  B.  Lockett,  members  of 
the  grand  jury  in  1868,  declare  that  I  was  indicted  for 
forgery  in  uttering  the  Perry  Moore  affidavit.  That  may 
be  true;  but  I  was  present  at  the  close  of  that  inqui- 
sition, and  never  heard  of  it.  If  so,  it  was  ex  parte,  and 
founded,  doubtless,  upon  the  testimony  of  Geo.  L. 
Welsh,  who  we  see  has  written,  and  doubtless  then 
swore,  that  Perry  Moore  was  dead  before  the  affidavit 
was  made.  Whatever  the  grand  jury  thought,  if  they 
ever  found  such  a  bill  upon  Welsh's  testimony,  it  is  now 
beyond  dispute  that  he  lied,  and  lied  in  the  face  of  his 
own  records.  It  is  true  that  the  records  of  the  court 
were  stolen  in  1868,  and  that  a  Ku-Klux  cap  was  found 
in  the  office  after  the  thieves  had  departed. 

But,  whether  I  was  indicted  or  not,  the  fact  remains 
that  fourteen  terms  of  the  circuit  court  had  been  held  m 
Kemper  county  since  that  time,  and  I  have  never  been 
called  to  answer. 

In  addition  to  this,  I  may  say  that  this  is  not  the  hrst 
time  this  matter  has  been  before  the  public.  In  1871, 
an  anonymous  letter,  addressed  to  Governor  Alcorn, 
appeared  in  the  Clarion,  containing  substantially  the 
same  charge.  It  was  a  subject  of  investigation  by  the 
Governor,  but  he  became  satisfied  that  it  was  a  malicious 
slander,  and  subsequently  appointed  me  to  the  office  of 
sheriff  of  the  county,  to  which  position  I  have  been  twice 
elected,  since  that  time,  by  the  people  who  knew  of 
Welsh's  slanderous  falsehoods,  and  knew  what  value  to 
give  them.  It  is  true  that  I  was  expelled  from  the 
Masonic  lodge.  Welsh  is  a  Mason,  so  were  his  coadju- 
tors. Pending  the  movement  against  me  in  the  lodge,  I 
was  assured  by  T.  C.  Murphy,  S.  Gully  and  Charles  Bell, 
that  if  I  would  be  quiet  politically,  it  would  be  all  right 
in  the  lodge.  Having  been  taught,  even  before  I  be- 
came   an    entered   apprentice,   that    the    obligations  of 


102  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

Freemasonry  would  not  interfere  with  my  religious  or 
political  opinions,  or  duty  to  my  God,  my  neighbor  and 
myself,  I  declined  to  yield  to  the  demands  of  the  "  breth- 
ren," and  was  expelled  because  I  was  a  republican,  and 
forced  to  avow  my  sentiments. 

Besides  showing  how  basely  slanderous  and  false  this 
creature  Welsh  is,  I  might  introduce  him  in  a  new  act, 
and  cast  another  shadow  upon  his  character,  by  showing 
his  connection  with  county  warrants  in  Kemper  county, 
and  other  deeds,  darker  still.  But  at  present  I  am  only 
engaged  in  proving  him  a  liar,  too  distinct  and  unequivo- 
cal for  the  public  to  regard.  I  may  give  a  chapter  on 
other  elements  of  his  character  hereafter,  if  any  one 
should  question  his  business. 

Very  respectfully  yours,  etc. 

W.  W.  Chisolm. 

As  appears,  fourteen  terms  of  the  circuit  court  passed, 
and  although  there  is  no  bar  to  the  statute  in  certain 
criminal  cases,  in  which  "  forgery "  is  named  as  one,  the 
indictment  was  never  renewed,  and  for  a  very  good 
reason,  no  doubt :  The  one  originally  found  had  failed 
in  accomphshing  the  villainous  work  for  which  it  was 
procured,  and  a  further  waste  of  time  was  deemed 
inadvisable.  Thus  vanished  the  second  and  only  specific 
charge  of  dishonesty  ever  brought  against  Judge  Chisolm 
while  living. 

But  we  pass  now  to  an  account  of  treachery  scarcely 
equalled  in  the  annals  of  crime,  and  certainly  an  atrocity 
evincing  a  degree  of  recklessness  and  disregard  of  law 
never  before  attained  in  a  community  claiming  to  be 
governed  by  the  dictates  of  common  humanity. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1874.  some  one,  in  the  night- 


^^ Home   Rule''  in  Mississippi.  103 

time,  entered  the  room  of  a  daughter  of  George  Calvert, 
who  Hves  in  the  southwest  Beat  of  Kemper  county. 
The  young  lady  awoke,  in  great  alarm,  and  just  in  time 
as  she  believed,  to  see  some  one,  whom  she  did  not 
recognize,  run  through  the  door  and  escape  before  the 
family  were  aroused.  Suspicion  of  this  grave  offense 
centered  upon  one  of  two  negroes  living  on  the  place, 
but  no  evidence  whatever,  and  no  circumstance  tending 
to  strengthen  this  suspicion,  was  ever  obtained,  farther 
than  the  boy  was  not  found  at  home  that  night ;  his  own 
explanation  of  his  absence  was  that  he  had  been  out,  as 
he  had  often  done  before,  to  witness  a  fox  hunt  in  which 
some  gentlemen  were  engaged  not  far  away.  Notwith- 
standing this  he  was  taken  into  custody,  without  process 
of  warrant,  or  any  legal  arrest,  and  carried  to  DeKalb, 
when  the  deputy  sheriff,  Charlie  Rosenbaum,  very  prop- 
erly refused  to  take  the  prisoner,  save  only  in  the  manner 
and  form  prescribed  by  law. 

It  was  believed  by  the  leaders  of  this  affray  that  an 
opportunity  was  now  presented  for  carrying  out  a  long 
cherished  desire:  that  of  murdering  Judge  Chisolm,  and 
making  it  appear  as  the  voluntary  act  of  the  whole  com- 
munity. The  arrest  of  the  negro  was  on  Saturday,  and 
all  that  night  and  the  next  day  —  Sunday  —  couriers 
were  riding  to  every  part  of  the  county,  and  even  to- 
adjoining  counties,  in  hot  haste,  with  a  lying  report  on 
their  tongues  to  the  effect  that  the  negroes,  headed  by 
Judge  Chisolm,  had  risen  in  great  numbers  and  were  then 
marching  on  the  poor  and  defenseless  whites,  killing, 
burning  and  ravishing  as  they  went ;    though  it   never 


I04  The  Chisolni  Massacre. 

appeared  where  this  march  began,  nor  in  which  direction 
its  desolating  pathway  led.  Yet  the  "  good  people " 
were  quick  to  credit  any  story  of  the  kind,  and,  by  the 
following  Monday,  at  least  five  hundred  armed  and 
mounted  men,  ready  for  any  act  of  villainy  which,  in 
their  barbarity,  might  seem  to  be  necessary  for  the  "  public 
safety,"  had  assembled  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  J.  L. 
Spinks,  a  justice  of  the  peace.  To  further  whet  their 
appetites  for  blood,  and  encourage  the  doubting  and  timid 
ones,  the  negro  boy  was  taken  out  amid  the  shouts  and 
yells  of  the  savage  throng,  and  hanged  to  the  limb  of  a 
tree.  But,  as  Judge  Chisolm  was  all  the  time  at  his 
home  in  DeKalb,  following  his  legitimate  business,  as  the 
negroes  were  also  at  work  in  the  cotton  fields  throughout 
the  county,  this  Quixotic  war  upon  an  invisible  foe  must 
be  turned  to  account  in  the  manner  and  form  originally 
designed.  The  killing  of  one  poor  negro,  on  a  campaign 
of  such  gigantic  proportions,  was  a  very  unsatisfactory 
result,  and  the  real  object  of  the  "  race  war,"  as  this  affair 
was  styled  in  Kemper  county,  soon  began  to  develop 
itself,  and  in  the  following  manner : 

After  consultation  among  the  leaders  it  was  deter- 
mined to  send  a  note  to  Judge  Chisolm,  asking  him  to 
come  out  and  aid  the  "  good  people  "  in  suppressing  the 
riot  and  bloodshed  likely  to  take  place,  as  he  was  well 
known  to  all  parties,  was  the  executive  officer  of  the 
county,  and  had  more  influence  than  anybody  else. 
Accordingly  the  note  which  is  copied  below,  was  sent  to 
him  by  the  hands  of  the  following  named  gentlemen,  as 
appears  by  the  envelope    in    which    it  was  addressed : 


''^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  105 

"A.  McMahan,  J.  E.  Driver  and  others."  From  this  it 
would  seem  they  were  calculating  on  "driving"  a  good 
business.  The  writing  is  all  in  Adam  Calvert's  well 
known  hand.  The  paper  itself  emanates  from  a  lodge  of 
peaceful  an.d  unoffending  grangers.     Here  it  is  : 

MOUNT  PLEASANT  GRANGE, 

No.  230. 
J.  R.  Davis,  Master.  J.  L.  Spinks,  Secy. 

"Moscow,  Miss.,  Oct.  ist,  1874. 
''Judge  W,  W.  Chisolm,  DeKalb,  Miss.: 

"  Dear  Sir :  We  have  been  requested  by  at  least  some 
two  hundred  persons  now  assembled  at  J.  L.  Spinks', 
Esq.,  to  inform  you  that  we  are  proud  of  the  conversa- 
tion you  had  with  Archey  McMahan  and  A.  P.  Davis  in 
regard  to  the  excitement  now  in  our  Beat  about  the 
negroes  rising  in  arms  against  the  whites.  We  have 
additional  evidence  to  substantiate  our  fears  upon.  We 
have  arrested  several  negroes,  and  the  proof  is  positive 
against  them.  We  do  not  intend  to  do  anything  in 
violation  of  the  law  or  anything  without  reflection.  We 
intend  to  defend  ourselves  in  case  the  negroes  come 
upon  us,  as  they  say  they  intend  to  do.  We  insist  on 
your  immediate  presence  at  J.  L.  Spinks',  Esq.,  to-day, 
just  as  soon  as  you  can  possibly  come.  We  assure  you 
that  you  will  be  treated  as  a  gentleman,  and  hope 
you  will  not  fail  to  come. 

"  Respectfully,  your  friends, 

"Adam  Calvert, 
"J.  L.  Spinks, 
"John  R.  Davis." 


io6  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

The  names  affixed  to  the  above  are  those  of  old  and 
responsible  citizens.  Two  of  them  at  the  time  were 
peace  officers.  With  this  message  McMahan  and  Driver 
were  at  once  dispatched  to  Judge  Chisolm,  at  DeKalb. 
The  fact  of  the  communication  being  sent  to  him  at  all 
is  in  itself  a  proof  of  the  hollowness  of  the  pretense 
under  which  this  mass  of  rioters  had  come  together. 
They  knew  very  well,  before  a  single  step  had  been 
taken,  that  Judge  Chisolm  was  at  his  home;  that  him- 
self and  the  colored  men  of  the  county  were  as  free  from 
the  thought  of  instigating  riot  and  bloodshed  as  a  sleep- 
ing infant.  But  believing  their  appeal  to  have  been 
made  in  good  faith,  Judge  Chisolm  was  about  to  ride 
out  to  the  place  designated,  in  answer  to  it.  His 
friends,  more  cautious  than  himself,  thinking  a  scheme 
was  on  foot  to  take  his  life,  besought  him  not  to  go,  and 
he  was  finally  prevailed  upon  to  heed  the  timely  advice. 
Thus  the  object  of  the  conspiracy  was  thwarted,  and 
this  "  race  war,"  began  for  the  purpose  of  shedding  inno- 
cent blood,  failed  ignominiously,  save  only  in  the  hanging 
of  one  poor  negro. 

The  admonition  of  friends  saved  Judge  Chisolm's 
life  on  this  occasion,  as  that  which  follows  will  clearly 
prove.  David  Calvert  —  a  brother  of  Adam  Calvert  — 
who  married  a  sister  of  Judge  Chisolm,  afterward  told 
his  wife's  family  that  he  was  cognizant  of  the  note  being 
carried  to  his  brother-in-law  on  the  occasion  of  the 
"negro  hanging,"  near  the  house  of  Justice  Spinks;  that 
he  knew  the  object  for  which  it  was  delivered,  and,  to 
thwart  the  purpose  of  the  men  who  sent  it,  and  prevent 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  107 

the  shedding  of  innocent  blood,  he  himself  dispatched  a 
man  with  a  message  to  warn  Judge  Chisolm  of  the 
danger  which  awaited  his  arrival  at  the  scene  of  the  riot. 
With  no  further  evidence  than  the  statement  of  an  indi- 
vidual to  prove  a  conspiracy  like  this,  there  might  be 
found  room  for  questioning  its  existence;  but,  fortu- 
nately, whatever  evidence  may  be  needed  to  dispel  every 
doubt  in  the  matter,  is  at  hand,  and  will  be  found  in  the 

letter  which  follows  : 

Rio,  Miss.,  September . 

Judge  W.  W.  Chisolm  : 

Sir :  I  believe  there  is  a  plan  on  foot  to  assassinate 
you.  This  belief  is  founded  upon  an  assertion  that  I 
heard  one  William  Pearse  make,  in  the  presence  of  four 
respectable  ladies.  He  said  that  you  would  be  taken 
out  of  DeKalb  before  next  Saturday  night  and  meet 
vvath  the  same  fate  that  the  negro  did  who  was  hung  on 
last  Saturday  near  here.  Other  remarks,  similar  to  this, 
have  been  repeated  to  me  by  your  friends,  which  I  will 
not  take  time  to  mention  now. 

There  was  an  armed  force  of  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
men  met  at  the  grave  of  the  hanged  negro  on  Monday, 
to  prevent  the  holding  of  an  inquest. 

Your  friends  in  this  neighborhood  think  you  would  do 
well  to  be  on  your  guard. 

My  light  is  dim,  and  I  don't  see  well  at  night. 

I  will  close  by  saying  that  I  hope  you  will  be  on  your 
guard. 

The  hanging  of  the  negro  was  an  outrage  of  the 
blackest  character.  Your  friend,  as  ever, 

S.  S.  Windham. 

P.  S.     The  excitement  in  the  neighborhood  is  great. 

The  above  was  written  and  sent  to  Judge  Chisolm  by 
a  special  messenger.     Mr.  Windham,  its  author,  was  an 


i<^^  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

honest  and  kind-hearted  man,  although  a  democrat  and 
a  brother-in-law  of  Adam  Calvert.  His  opportunities 
for  knowing  the  facts  were  the  very  best,  and  his  state- 
ment in  writing,  over  his  own  signature,  will  hardly  be 
doubted. 

The  fact  that  he  is  now  dead  and  out  of  the  way  of 
all  harm,  accounts  for  his  name  being  given  here. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Amid  all  the  disparaging  influences  by  which  he  had 
been  surrounded ;  violently  assailed  in  person  and  in  char- 
acter; hunted  at  night  by  armed  bands  of  ruffians;  when 
leaving  his  home  on  business,  compelled  to  go  under 
cover  of  darkness  by  one  route,  and  return  secretly  by 
another;  branded  and  pointed  at  as  one  in  every  way 
mean  and  despicable.  Judge  Chisolm  had  around  him  an 
intelligent  and  refined  family,  consisting  of  wife  and  four 
children.  Cornelia,  the  oldest,  whose  name  is  now  a 
household  word,  at  this  date  had  been  some  two  years 
at  school  in  Meridian,  a  bright  and  joyous  girl,  beloved 
and  admired  by  all  who  knew  her.  After  Cornelia  came 
Clay,  and  then  Johnny,  whose  memory  is  closely 
linked  with  that  of  his  beloved  sister;  and  Willie,  the 
youngest.  Their  home  at  DeKalb  was  a  model  of  taste 
without,  and  bore  the  unmistakable  evidences  of  culture 
within ;  and  what  is  better  still,  it  was  an  asylum  for  the 
poor,  without  regard  to  color  or  political  affiliation. 
Born  and  reared  as  they  were  under  the  ban  of  social 
ostracism,  their  society  had  been  formed  largely  within 
the  home  circle.  The  want  of  social  and  friendly  inter- 
course with  the  outside  world  seemed  to  have  molded 
and  endeared  the  family  to  each  other.  That  unfailing 
perception  usually  accorded  to  woman  had  early  enabled 
Cornelia  to  mark  the  expression  of  care  and  deep  con- 
cern which,  from  year  to  year,  settled  upon  her  father's 


no  The  CJiisolm  Massacre, 

face  as  the  result  of  the  daily  life  of  hazard  which  he 
led,  and  she  had  thus  been  drawn  to  him  by  sympathy 
as  well  as  love ;  and  this  two-fold  force,  acting  upon  her 
naturally  warm  and  impulsive  heart,  made  her  fondness 
for  him  fall  but  little  short  of  devotion.  Nowhere  on  the 
broad  earth  could  there  be  found  a  domestic  picture  more 
pleasing  than  that  presented  around  the  hearthstone  of 
the  Chisolm's  at  DeKalb.  As  the  Judge  grew  in  power 
and  influence,  his  charities  were  dispensed  with  a  lavish 
hand,  and  these  were  not  confined  to  his  party  friends. 
His  generosity  developed  with  his  means,  and,  shocking 
as  it  is  to  humanity,  scores  of  the  hands  which  for  years 
had  taken  food  from  his  board,  on  that  fatal  and  dark 
Sabbath  were  raised  against  himself  and  lovely  children, 
and  were  among  the  first  to  strike  them  foully  to  the 
earth. 

But  for  the  present  a  casual  glimpse  of  this  picture 
must  suffice.     We  have  yet  a  long  way  to  follow  the 
unbroken   chain   of    circumstances    woven    around    the 
doomed  man  and  his  party  adherents,  gathering  strength 
with  the  growth  of  years,  and  culminating  at  last  in  a 
crime  not  equalled  even  in  the  dark  days  of  the  reign  of 
the  bloody  Robespierre,  and  ending  with  as  complete  an 
overthrow  of  every  principle  of  law  and  right  as  ever 
marked  the  passage  of  that  bloody  era  in  the  history  of 
unhappy   France.     The   story   of  the   political   contest 
of  1875  in  Mississippi  has  never  been  told.     The  acts  of 
tyranny  and  savage  cruelty,  the  false  swearing  and  utter 
disregard  and  desecration  of  the  most  sacred  mandates 
of  God  and  man,  as  yet  are  only  recorded  in  the  hearts 


^^Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  in 

and  memories  of  those  who  were  made  to  suffer  most; 
and  its  horrors  will  not  be  recalled  here,  excepting  so  far 
as  they  may  have  direct  bearing  upon  the  persons  and 
objects  discussed  in  these  pages. 

Guided  by  the  firm  hand  and  unconquerable  will  of 
one  man,  the  county  of  Kemper,  for  a  succession  of  years, 
had  stood  the  tide  of  hatred  engendered  by  secession 
and  nursed  by  the  overthrow  of  the  "  Divine  Institution" 
and  the  final  elevation  of  the  late  slave  to  citizenship 
and  equal  rights  under  the  law,  and  that  stronghold  of 
"  radicalism "  became  an  object  of  special  attention  by 
the  white-line  democracy  all  over  the  State.  If  the  pro- 
gramme of  intimidation,  fraud  and  violence  which  had 
been  decided  upon  in  their  State  councils  could  be  made 
to  win  in  Kemper,  then  the  first  rays  of  the  morning  sun 
of  the  day  following  the  election  in  November  of  1875 
would  fall  upon  a  State  "  redeemed."  To  this  end  the 
barbed  shafts  of  the  best  orators  of  the  State  were 
turned  upon  this  republican  Thermopylae,  while  the 
native  bulldozers  were  untiring  and  persistent  in  their 
watchfulness  and  zeal. 

A  few  weeks  preceding  the  election  the  "great  and 
gifted  "  Lamar  delivered  an  address  at  Aberdeen,  which 
the  Vicksburg  Herald^  a  leading  democratic  paper,  com- 
mented upon  as  follows  :  "  At  Aberdeen,  last  Saturday, 
Colonel  Lamar  made  an  eloquent  speech.  A  better 
democratic  speech  we  do  not  care  to  listen  to;  and  in 
manly  and  ringing  tones  he  declared  that  the  contest 
involved  '  the  supremacy  of  the  unconquered  and  uncon- 
querable Saxon  race.'     We  were  glad  to  hear  this  bold 


1 1 2  TJie  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

and  manly  avowal,  and  it  was  greeted  with  deafening" 
plaudits.  We  have  never  seen  men  more  terribly  in 
earnest,  and  the  democratic  white-line  speech  made  to 
them  by  Colonel  Lamar  aroused  them  to  white  heat." 
■5r  -5^  *  *  -5^  jj^  another  place  the  same  paper  makes 
use  of  the  following  language,  which  is  calculated  to 
serve  well  in  connection  with  "  Lamar's  great  speech : "" 
"  The  wanton  killing  of  a  few  poor  negroes  is  something 
unworthy  of  our  people.  If  the  killing  of  anybody  is 
necessary,  we  repeat  what  we  have  heretofore  said : 
'  Let  the  poor  negro  pass,  and  let  the  white  scoundrels 
who  have  fired  his  heart  with  evil  passions  be  the  only 
sufferers.' "  The  utterances  above  quoted  were  repeated, 
verbatim,  by  Lamar  at  Scooba,  in  Kemper  county,  a  few 
days  after;  the  only  difference  being  that  stronger 
language  was  used  in  that  immediate  connection,  and 
the  name  of  Judge  Chisolm  given  as  being  the  only  man 
within  the  county  whose  power  and  influence  stood  in  the 
way  of  the  realization  of  their  cherished  hopes ;  and  the 
people  of  Kemper  were  enjoined  by  this  great  statesman 
to  carry  the  county,  "  peacefully  if  they  could,  forcibly  if 
they  must !" 

The  Saturday  before  the  election  took  place.  Prof. 
Thomas  S.  Gathright,  for  many  years  one  of  the  most 
influential  and  popular  educators  of  the  youth  of  the 
State,  made  a  speech  at  DeKalb,  within  sight  of  Judge 
Chisnlm's  Louse,  in  which  he  used  words  very  nearly  as 
follows.  After  repeating  Judge  Chisolm's  name,  he  said: 
'*  Gentlemen,  if  you  ever  expect  to  have  peace  and  har- 
mony in  your  county,  you  must  get  rid  of  this  man.     I 


''Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  113 

will  not  undertake  to  tell  you  hoiv  to  get  rid  of  him ; 
that  you  know  as  well  as  I,  but  you  must  get  rid  of  him  /" 
Then,  encircling  his  neck  with  a  gesture,  he  raised  his 
hand  up  and  down  several  times  in  imitation  of  dangling 
some  object  from  the  end  of  a  rope.  This  speech  and 
pantomime  were  responded  to  with  loud  and  continued 
cheers. 

On  the  following  Monday  the  same  language  was 
repeated  at  Moscow,  a  cross-roads  store,  ten  miles 
distant  from  DeKalb. 

The  fact  that  hundreds  of  such  harangues  were  made 
all  over  the  State,  pointing  out  individuals,  and  republi- 
cans indiscriminately,  by  local  politicians  and  lawyers, 
lank,  lean  and  hungry  as  most  of  them  were,  without 
character  or  responsibility,  signified  but  little.  But  when 
such  poisonous  words  fell  upon  the  ears  of  an  ignorant 
populace,  direct  from  the  lips  of  men  like  Gathright 
and  Lamar,  terrible  consequences  might  be  expected  to 
follow.  The  natural  result  of  this  teaching  upon  a 
systematically  organized  body  of  men,  sufficient  in 
numbers  when  backed  by  the  moral  support  of  a  whole 
people,  to  carry  out  and  enforce  whatever  edict  or  dogma 
might  take  possession  of  their  wicked  hearts,  was  seen 
all  over  the  State  during  that  memorable  canvass,  but  in 
no  part  was  its  influence  felt  more  keenly  than  in  Kemper 
county.  To  clearly  illustrate  its  effects  the  testimony  of 
John  P.  Gilmer,  before  the  investigating  committee,  is 
given.  On  page  497  of  the  official  report  will  be  found 
the  following : 

"John  P.  Gilmer,  sworn  and  examined  by  Mr.  Teller." 
8 


114  ^^^^  CJdsolm  Massacre. 

'■'Question, — Where  do  you  reside?" 

'' Answer. —  I  reside  in  Scooba,  Kemper  county,  Missis- 
sippi." 

''Question. —  How  long  have  you  resided  in  Missis- 
sippi?" 

Anszuer. —  I  went  in  December,  1868,  to  Scooba,  and  I 
have  since  lived  there  and  at  DeKalb.  I  was  born  in 
Georgia,  raised  in  Alabama  and  have  been  in  Mississippi 
since  1868.  Have  only  lived  in  these  three  States.  I 
was  a  Confederate  soldier,  and  was  in  the  political  cam- 
paign of  1875  in  Mississippi;  was  in  several  counties 
during  the  time.  I  then  represented  the  district  that  my 
county  is  in,  in  the  State  Senate.  I  was  a  candidate  for 
re-election.  There  are  three  counties  in  the  district  — 
Noxubee,  Neshoba  and  Kemper.  I  canvassed  Kemper 
county  only ;  did  not  engage  in  the  campaign  when  it 
was  opened.  At  the  time  the  republicans  held  their 
convention  I  was  in  St.  Louis.  They  nominated  their 
candidates  for  representative  and  county  officers,  but,  for 
some  reason,  did  not  make  any  nomination  for  State 
Senator,  and  held  a  convention  for  that  purpose  after  I 
returned.  I  had  decided  not  to  be  a  candidate  for 
re-election.  However,  after  being  nominated,  I  concluded 
to  go  into  the  campaign.  It  was  then  about  half  com- 
pleted. I  made  several  speeches  at  Scooba,  Wahalak, 
DeKalb  and  two  or  three  other  places.  So  far  as  the 
campaign  was  conducted,  on  both  sides,  there  was  con- 
siderable feeling.  Large  numbers  of  democrats  attended 
the  republican  meetings,  which  was  something  unusual 
for  them,  and  the  speakers  were  generally  interrupted 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  115 

with  questions  in  various  ways.  So  far  as  my  individual 
recollection  is  concerned  I  do  not  think  I  was  ever  inter- 
rupted at  all,  on  the  stand,  while  attempting  to  make  a 
speech.  At  some  places  reports  would  come  to  us  that 
we  could  not  have  meetings ;  that  we  were  going  to  be 
interfered  with  during  the  time  of  speaking ;  but  the  real 
excitement  that  amounted  to  anything  seemed  to  be 
about  the  latter  days  of  the  campaign ;  that  is,  when  I 
was  present,  at  Scooba,  Wahalak  and  DeKalb.  We 
closed  the  campaign  with  public  speaking,  at  Scooba,  the 
Saturday  before  the  election,  which  was  held  on  Tuesday. 

By  Mr.  Money. 

Question. — "  On  Saturday  ?  " 

Answer.  —  "On  Friday  or  Saturday;  I  will  not  be 
positive  about  the  date.  There  was  a  gentleman  up 
there,  and  I  do  not  remember  his  name,  from  Enterprise. 
He  had  succeeded  in  getting  a  large  portion  of  the 
colored  element,  and  a  great  many  white  people,  who 
were  in  there,  and  he  was  making  a  very  bitter,  and  as  I 
thought,  a  very  incendiary  speech.  There  had  been 
threats  made  to  me  prior  to  that,  in  Scooba,  by  leading 
men,  in  this  way:  '  Next  Tuesday,  or  the  first  Tuesday 
in  November,  your  sort  will  go  up,  and  you  will  have  no 
longer  any  influence  in  Kemper  county;'  and  even  in 
terms  worse  than  that,  but  I  did  not  pay  much  attention 
to  it.  As  there  seemed  to  be  some  excitement  that  day, 
I  went  into  the  office  of  the  mayor,  Mr.  Wood.  There 
were  present  myself.  Judge  Chisolm,  Mr.  Miller  and  Mr. 
Duke.  These  threats  had  been  made  to  me  prior  to 
that.     They  said :    '  You   shall  not,  as  you   have  done 


Ii6  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

heretofore,  put  the  tickets  into  the  hands  of  the  negro 
and  make  him  vote  your  way.'  We  were  there  con- 
sulting about  the  manner  in  which  the  election  should 
be  held.  Judge  Chisolm  and  I  made  the  proposition  to 
Messrs.  Duke,  Miller,  Jones,  and  Wood,  the  mayor  of 
the  town,  that  we  never  had  been  guilty  of  these 
charges,  and  we  had  never  forced  anybody  to  vote  any 
way  except  according  to  his  own  conscience,  and  we 
were  perfectly  willing  to  let  it  be  understood  by  both 
sides  that  the  democrats  could  electioneer  as  much  as 
they  pleased;  but  we  would  put  tickets  in  some  place 
where  it  could  be  understood  that  republican  tickets 
could  be  had ;  and  all  parties  who  wanted  to  go  and  get 
a  ticket,  whether  republican  or  democrat,  could  get  them, 
and  nobody  should  interfere  with  or  talk  to  them  at  all, 
but  just  let  them  go  about  and  vote  as  they  pleased ; 
and  that  on  the  day  of  the  election  we  would  have  no 
canvassing  whatever,  and  not  try  to  influence  a  single 
vote.  Mr.  Wood  was  disposed  to  agree  to  that,  but  Mr. 
Duke  would  not.  They  were  democrats.  Mr.  Duke  said 
he  proposed  to  canvass  as  much  as  he  pleased.  Mr.  Jones 
said  he  did  not  intend  that  there  should  be  tickets  taken 
away  from  the  negroes,  and  they  cursed  for  having  voted 
the  democratic  ticket,  as  had  been  done  before — or  as  I 
had  done,  rather.  I  said,  '  Mr.  Jones,  if  you  say  I  ever 
cursed  any  one  or  forced  any  body  to  vote  any  way  but 
according  to  their  own  conscience,  it  is  not  so!'  He 
said,  'That  is  the  report  all  over  the  county.'  I  said 
'That  the  report  all  over  the  county  then,  is  a  d  —  d  lie, 
and   the   author  of  it   is   a   liar!'     At   that    time    Mr. 


''Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  wj 

Dunlap,  the  marshal,  came  in  and  said  there  was  great 
excitement  out  on  the  street,  and  he  wanted  the  poHce 
force  of  the  town  increased.  Then  I  left  and  came 
around  to  the  rear  end  of  the  store  that  myself  and 
brother  were  occupying,  and  we  got  some  goods  boxes 
and  assembled  a  big  crowd  and  had  some  three  or  four 
speeches.  While  the  speakers  were  interrupted  occa- 
sionally, I  did  not  see  any  excitement  at  the  time;  but 
during  that  evening  and  the  Sunday  following  there 
were  colored  men  who  came  to  me,  and  some  white  men, 
too,  democrats,  and  told  me,  in  a  confidential  way,  that 
they  did  not  want  their  names  exposed,  lest  it  should 
result  in  their  injury;  but  that  efforts  would  be  made  to 
assassinate  myself  and  Judge  Chisolm,  the  leading 
republicans,  on  the  day  of  the  election ;  that  Alabamians 
would  be  over  there,  and  that  on  Monday  night  they 
would  have  torchlight  processions,  and  that  they  in- 
tended to  assassinate  us.  Mr.  Orr,  one  of  the  managers 
of  the  election,  told  me :  *  There  is  no  use  in  talking  !  I 
am  afraid  to  hold  the  election.'" 

"■Question. — Was  he  a  democrat  or  a  republican?" 
''Answer. —  He  was  a  republican.  Mr.  Orr  was  a 
white  man.  He  sent  word  to  my  room,  late  on 
Sunday  night,  that  he  had  just  been  up  to  see  his  sister — 
whose  husband  was  a  democrat  —  near  Wahalak  station, 
that  day ;  that  she  had  sent  for  him  to  be  sure  to  come 
there;  that  it  was  very  important  that  he  should  go 
there.  His  sister  had  informed  him  that  she  had  heard, 
from  her  democratic  friends,  what  would  be  done  with 
himself  and  other  leading  republicans  there,  and  advised 


Ii8  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

him  not  to  remain  in  Scooba,  but  to  leave  until  after  the 
election,  and  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  He  seemed 
very  much  alarmed.  I  knew  there  were  good  grounds 
for  being  alarmed,  but  I  did  not  know  it  was  so  bad.  I 
informed  him  that  I  did  not  think  there  would  be  much 
trouble;  that  nobody  would  bother  him;  that  these 
reports  might  be  put  out  for  the  purpose  of  scaring 
him.  That  night  there  were  couriers  coming  in  from  the 
country  and  telling  me  of  threats  they  had  heard,  and 
asking  if  we  could  not  get  assistance  in  the  way  of 
United  States  troops.  They  said  that  night-riders  had 
shot  into  the  houses  of  the  colored  people,  and  there 
were  rrien  traveling  over  the  country  at  all  hours  of  the 
night.  On  Saturday  and  even  Friday  night  previous  to 
this,  I  saw  men  coming  in  with  guns.  On  Monday 
morning  these  men  were  in  the  streets.  There  was  a 
crowd,  and  appeared  to  be  great  excitement.  As  I 
walked  down  the  street  to  my  store,  I  heard  curses  of 

' the   radical    party,'  and    ' the 

United  States  government,'  and  threats  that,  'We  ought 

to  hang   them, them,'  to  a  great  extent  all 

along  the  streets.  They  were  all  white  men  and  demo- 
crats, whom  I  heard  make  these  threats.  I  had  been 
sent  for  by  a  personal  friend,  who  was  a  democrat,  and  he 
informed  me  that  my  life  would  be  in  danger,  and  that 
in  a  very  short  time  there  would  be  a  lot  of  Alabamians 
over  there,  armed,  coming  for  the  purpose  of  assassina- 
ting me ;  that,  perhaps,  they  would  go  on  to  DeKalb  and 
assassinate  Judge  Chisolm  and  other  leading  republi- 
cans.    I  left  for  DeKalb ;"  was  advised  by  this  friend  to 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  119 

go  there,  and  take  a  by-way,  and  not  the  main  road.  I 
started,  knowing  the  country  pretty  well,  and  took  trails 
winding  about  a  way  I  did  not  think  was  traveled 
very  often,  except  by  deer  and  other  wild  animals  of  the 
forest.  I  saw  at  the  roads,  as  I  would  approach  them 
at  the  forks,  that  there  were  guards  stationed,  and  men  on 
horse-back  with  guns.  I  got  to  the  house  of  a  man 
living  some  six  or  seven  miles  from  DeKalb,  who  I  did 
not  think  had  much  interest  in  politics.  I  had  befriended 
him  on  occasions,  and  I  thought  he  would  be  a  friend  of 
mine.  I  called  for  some  water,  intending  to  talk  with 
him.  Said  he,  'Gilmer, what  is  all  this  excitement  for?' 
I  said,  '  I  do  not  know,  I  am  nearly  famished  for  water, 
I  do  not  see  any  men  about.'  I  wanted  him  to  tell  me 
if  there  was  any  trouble,  first.  He  said,  'yes,  there  is  a 
young  man  who  just  left  here,  and  several  parties  have 
passed  my  house  with  guns.  Young  Mr.  Overstreet 
just  left  here;  he  came  for  my  gun,  and  I  refused  to  let 
him  have  it.  He  said  the  negroes  were  fighting  in 
DeKalb,  and  that  Judge  Chisolm  was  at  the  head  of  it, 
and  the  people  were  hurrying  on  to  Sucarnochee  bridge,' 
a  crossing  about  two  miles  from  DeKalb,  and  he  said  to 
me,  *  Gilmer,  if  you  go  there,  you  will  be  killed.'  I 
replied  that  I  guessed  not.  He  said,  'I  will  just  swear 
that  you  will  be  killed ;  but  don't  say  a  word  that  I  told 
you.'  I  said,  'I  want  to  get  to  DeKalb;  can  I  get  there 
without  going  the  road?'  He  says,  'yes,  but  there  are 
guards  along  the  road  every  mile,  and  you  cannot  go  in 
that  way  to  DeKalb  without  being  assassinated.'  I 
said,  'You  do  not  think  they  would  shoot  me  down 


120  The  Chisolin  Massacre. 

• 
without  giving  me  some  showing,  do  you?'     He  said, 
'yes,  I  do  not  think  they  would  say  a   single  word  to 
you.     That  is  the  programme ;  not  to  open  their  mouths 
at  all,  but  just  shoot  you  and  Chisolm  on  sight.'  I  said, 
'  Well,  then  I  should  like  to  get  you  to  pilot  me  through 
the  woods.'     He  said,  '  I  will  go  and  show  you  about  a 
quarter  or  half  a  mile,  and  after  that   will  show  you  a 
road  in  which  you  will  be  safe.'     We  started,  knd  when 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  he  got   scared,  seemed  to  be 
very  much  excited,  and  wanted  to  go  back  and  get  his 
gun.     I  waited  for  him.     He  told  me  that  I   had  better 
leave  my  horse  and  take  through  the  woods  by  myself. 
He  went  back,  got  his  gun,  and  then  said,   '  I  will  go 
with  you   a  quarter  of  a  mile  further,  and  perhaps  you 
can  make  your  way  all  right.'     I  insisted  upon  his  going 
with  me,  and  finally  gave  him  fifty  dollars  to  go.     This 
gentleman  conducted  me  some  four  or  five  miles  through 
the  woods  to  within  about  two  or  three  miles  of  DeKalb. 
After  crossing  the  creek  I  came  upon  a  colored  man  and 
his  wife  picking  cotton;   I  did  not  know  them,  but   they 
knew  me.     The  gentleman  who  piloted  me  absolutely 
refused  to  go  any  farther.     I   asked  the  colored  man  to 
go   with   me;    he  consented,    and    piloted    me   through 
the  woods  to  the  town.     Not  very  long  afterwards  his 
wife  told  me  that  I  had  scarcely  got  out  of  sight  when  ■ 
two  parties  rode  up,  with  double-barrel  guns,  inquiring 
if  I  had  passed  that  way ;  they  said  I   was   somewhere 
in  the  woods  trying  to  make  my  way  to   DeKalb.     I 
took  the  precaution,  before  leaving,  to  tell  her  if  any  one 
came  and  inquired  for  me  to   say   that   I   had   not  been 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  121 

there,  and   she  says  that  she  so  answered.     I  got  into 
DeKalb  and  found   considerable  excitement   there;  did 
not  go  down  the  streets,  but  was  nearly  there  when  I 
met  some  of  my  friends,  and  found  that  a  lying  report 
had   been   put  out  about   me.     I  had  recently  been  to 
Jackson,  and  found  that  the  story  had  been  started  that 
I   had   shipped  arms  to  Shuqualak  and  to   Scooba  by 
rail,    and,    in    addition,    that    I    had    brought    a   trunk 
from  Jackson,  heavily  laden,  supposed  to  contain  amu- 
nition;    also,    that    a    wagon-load    of    arms   had   gone 
through  the  country  to  DeKalb  from  Jackson,  for  the 
purpose  of   arming   the   negroes,   and,   beside,   we   had 
shipped    about    forty    barrels   of    whisky,    which    they 
claimed  to  be  an  unusual  amount  for  that   little  town, 
and  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  negroes  drunk 
before  attacking  the  whites.     I  was  informed  of  this  by 
republican  friends.     I  asked  for  the  informant,  and  they 
referred  me  to  Capt.  James  Watts  and  E.  G.   Ellis,  both 
lawyers  and  democrats.  My  friends  said  they  had  obtained 
their   information  from  Watts  and  Ellis,  and   that   the 
latter    were    talking  about    moving    their  families    out 
of  town  to  get  them  away  from  any  trouble  which  might 
arise  on  account  of  a   riot    gotten    up   by   the   radical 
party.     I  asked  Watts  and   Ellis  if  they  believed  any 
such   thing.     They  answered  that    they   did   not  think 
such  a  thing  of  me  before,  but   that  this  report    came 
from  a  very   reliable  source.      My    understanding   was, 
they   told   me   that   Mr.   Duke  wrote  the  letter  giving 
them  the  information.     There  was  no  truth  in  the  report 
about  the  arms.     If  I  had  shipped  those  guns  at  either 


122  The  Chisolni  Massacre, 

place,  by  freight  or  express,  or  sent  a  package,  the  agents 
at  each  of  those  depots  were  democrats  and  white  men, 
and  they  would  have  known  it.  There  was  no  excuse 
for  the  story  and  no  truth  in  it.  I  would  not  have  gone 
to  the  woods  if  it  had  not  been  for  safety.  Before  going 
there  was  some  excitement  about  holding  the  election. 
Mr.  Brittain,  Mr.  Welsh,  Dr.  Fox,  Mr.  Ellis  and  myself, 
and  some  republicans,  were  in  the  conversation.  These 
first  were  democrats.  They  told  me  that  if  the  election 
was  held  at  Scooba,  the  managers  would  not  be  interfered 
with.  I  told  them  that  if  they  would  write  to  their 
leading  men  to  give  these  parties  protection,  I  would 
write  such  a  letter  to  Mr.  Orr,  one  of  the  republican 
managers.  I  wrote  the  letter  and  then  went  into  the 
woods.  We  staid  there  —  Judge  Chisolm,  Mr.  Rosen- 
baum,  Mr.  Hopper,  myself  and  two  or  three  others — for 
several  days.  We  returned,  either  the  first  or  second 
morning  after  the  election,  to  our  private  residences,  and 
did  not  go  down  town.  I  do  not  think  there  were  more 
than  three  or  four  republican  votes  cast  at  DeKalb,  a 
precinct  which  constituted  a  whole  board  of  supervisors ; 
and  the  colored  majority  there  was  at  least  a  hundred, 
and  perhaps  more.  Many  whites  vote  the  republican 
ticket  when  they  can,  and  the  democrats  voted  about  the 
usual  number." 

This  testimony  is  fully  corroborated  by  that  of  Judge 
Chisolm,  taken  before  the  Boutwell  Committee,  in  Jack- 
son, but  a  few  months  before. 

The  campaign  of  1875  resulted  in  the  complete  over- 
throw of  every  principle  of  republicanism  in  the  State, 


"•Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi,  123 

and  republican  officials  whose  term  of  office  had  not 
expired,  were  unrelentingly  pursued ;  for  it  seemed  to  be 
a  part  of  the  plan  to  drive  them  from  citizenship  as  well 
as  place.  Governor  Ames  himself  was  finally  compelled 
to  yield  to  the  edicts  of  a  white-line  legislature  as  radical, 
proscriptive  and  tyranical  in  the  exercise  of  its  power  as 
the  most  unvv^arranted  dictations  of  the  Paris  Commune. 
By  his  forced  resignation,  the  democratic  president  of 
the  senate /r^  tempore — J.  M.  Stone  —  became  governor. 

But  the  excitement  and  high  blood  which  had  been 
aroused  in  this  revolution  was  not  allowed  to  cool  before 
the  canvass  of  1876  was  begun.  This,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  preceding  year,  is  not  made  use  of  only  so  far  as 
its  history  has  direct  influence  upon  the  subject  under 
consideration. 

In  the  fall  of  1876  members  of  congress  from  the 
various  districts  were  to  be  elected,  and  while  republi- 
cans had  no  hope  of  success,  candidates  for  that  office 
were  put  in  the  field,  so  that  it  could  not  be  said 
they  had  meanly  submitted  without  a  second  trial,  and 
Judge  Chisolm  received  the  nomination  of  the  party  for 
the  district  in  which  he  lived. 

In  June  of  this  year  Cornelia  Chisolm,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  graduated  with  the  highest  honors  of  her  class 
in  the  East  Mississippi  Female  College,  situated  at 
Meridian.  In  music  and  art  she  was  especially  profi- 
cient, receiving  tne  highest  mark  for  excellence  in  these 
branches  which  the  institution  and  an  admiring  public 
could  bestow.  But  the  training  received  at  school  did 
not  go  far  in  making  up  the  real  worth  of  her  accom- 


^^4  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

plishments.       Possessed   of    intelligence   and  judgment 
beyond  her  years,  no  opportunity  for  the  acquirement  of 
useful  knowledge  was  allowed  to  go  unimproved,  and  her 
mmd  was  thus  stored  with  a  fund  of  practical  informa- 
tion  seldom  attained  by  one  of  her  years,  no  matter  what 
advantages  of  wealth  and  position  they  may  have  had. 
Upon  all  the  topics  of  the  day,  especially  that  of  politics, 
in  which  her  father  took  such  a  deep  interest,  and  in  the 
advocacy  of  which  she  knew  his  life  had  been  so  many 
times  involved,  she  always  manifested  a  concern  equal  to 
the  importance  of  the  subject,  and  few  men  or  women, 
either  in  private  or  public  life,  are  better  informed  upon 
those  national  questions  which  for  the  past   ten  years 
have  agitated  the  public  mind,  than  was  this  young  girl. 
Thus  fitted  for  a  useful  and  happy  life,  and  full  of 
hope  for  the  future,  she  returned  to  DeKalb,  where,  in 
the   Chisolm    household    and    the    hearts    of   the   few 
associates  found  in  the  neighborhood,  she  was  at  once 
coronated  queen  of  love  and  beauty. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Owing  to  violence  and  repeated  threats  of  violence, 
there  was  no  organized  effort  on  the  part  of  republicans 
to  carry  the  county  of  Kemper  in  1876;  and  this  is  true 
of  a  large  majority  of  counties  in  the  State. 

The  very  atmosphere  was  filled  with  a  spirit  of  hos- 
tility toward  the  national  administration  and  the  friends 
of  republicanism  everywhere,  so  perceptible  and  even 
appalling  in  its  nature  as  to  terrify  the  oldest  and 
stanchest  members  of  the  party,  and  the  men  who  had 
always  been  found  in  the  front  rank,  themselves  and 
their  families  ostracised  and  struck  from  the  pale  of  good 
society — so  called;  branded  and  pointed  at  as  felons 
and  penitentiary  convicts;  assaulted,  wounded  and 
maimed ;  men  of  character,  resolute  and  brave ;  in  most 
cases  in  the  canvass  of  that  year  failed  to  come  forward 
and  attempt  an  organization  of  the  party,  however  slight 
and  imperfect,  and  but  little  effort  outside  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  at  Jackson  was  ever  made  to  carry  the 
State;  while  the  colored  voters  slunk  back  into  their 
cabins,  voiceless  and  breathless,  only  too  glad  to  evade, 
by  such  a  course,  the  visits  of  midnight  raiders,  in  black 
masks,  armed  with  guns  and  whips.  So  effectual  had 
been  the  reign  of  terror  established  over  them  that  it 
was  a  common  remark,  whenever  an  opportunity  pre- 
sented for  expressing  themselves  to  a  white  friend  and 
sympathizer,  that,  in  the  days  of  slavery  their  moneyed 


^^6  The  Chisohn  Massacre, 

value  was  an  assurance  of  protection  to  life,  at  least; 
but  under  the  existing  state  of  affairs  that  safeguard 
had    been   withdrawn,   and    there   remained   absolutely 
no   guarantee    whatever   of    life   or   liberty.     Hence   in 
Kemper,   as    in    other   counties,    there    were    no    clubs 
formed,  and  no  meetings,  of  any  kind,  in  the  interest  of 
republicanism   were   held.     There   was   but  one   speech 
made  m  the  county  by  members  of  that  party  during 
the  whole  canvass.     Sometime  in  July,  before  the  cam- 
paign had  fairly  opened  in  Mississippi,  and  before  Judge 
Chisolm  had  become  a  candidate  for  Congress,  while  on 
a  casual  visit  to  Scooba,  he  ^^'as  invited  by  the  democracy 
there  to  make  a  speech,  indulging  the  fond  hope,  as  is 
believed  their  leaders  did,  that  he  would  now  abandon 
the  cause  of  republicanism,  then  on  the  eve  of  entire  dis- 
solution, and  become  a  bulwark  of  strength  in  building 
up  the  party  of  "home  rule."     But  in  the  dark  days  of 
its   adversity,  as  in  the   years  of  its   prosperity,  Judge 
Chisolm  stood  like  a  great  rock,    true    to    his    party 
and  colors.     His  speech  in  Scooba  that  day  was  ortho- 
dox to   the  core;    but   he   was   listened   to  respectfully 
throughout.     This  act  of  courtesy  seems  to  have  been 
performed    for   a    purpose,   as    subsequent    events    will 
show.     Some   two   weeks   following    this    without    his 
knowledge  or  consent.  Judge  Chisolm  was   advertised, 
by  means  of  posters  put  up  in  public  places,  to  hold  a 
"joint  discussion,"  at  Scooba,  on  a  day  set,  with  some 
orator   named.     Believing,   from    the    treatment    before 
received,  that  a  spirit  of  fair  play  had  seized  upon  the 
democratic  heart  and  conscience,  the  Judge  reluctantly 


''Ho7ne  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  127 

consented.     Immediately   upon    his    arrival    in    Scooba 
he   was   quietly   informed    by   friends   that    the   feeling 
against  him  was   bitter,  and  if  he   undertook  to  speak 
his  life  wonld  be  endangered.     It  is  well  understood  by 
all  who  knew  Judge  Chisolm  that  he  was  not  a  man  to 
be  frightened  with  a  shadow.     If  there  was  danger  he 
must  test  and  know  the  fact.     Accordingly,  the  condi- 
tion of  an  equal  division  of  time  was  faithfully  agreed 
upon.     At   the  Judge's    solicitation  a  large   number  of 
colored  men  were  kept  together  for  hours  while  three  or 
four   democratic    orators    harangued    them.     After   the 
fiery  eloqence  of  the  democracy   had    ceased    to   bum, 
Judge  Chisolm  got  up  and  quietly  intimated  that  inas- 
much as  he  had  been  invited  there  to  "  take  part  in  a 
joint  discussion,"  he  should  now  be  permitted  to  speak. 
Just  at  this  time  the  gentleman  in  front  of  whose  store 
the  crowd  had  been  standing,  was  impressed  with  the 
melancholy  fact  that  the  passage-way  to  his  door  w^as 
obstructed,  and  in  consequence  no  more  speaking  could 
be  allowed  at  that  stand.     But  removing  to  a  place  near 
by,  the  Judge  undertook  the  hazardous  part  which  he 
was  to  bear   in   the   "joint  discussion."     As  predicted, 
he    had    spoken    but    a    few    minutes    when    he    was 
interrupted,  in  a  most  violent  and  threatening  manner, 
and  curses,  loud  and  deep,  were  heaped  upon  his  head 
from  every  quarter.     His  life  was  threatened,  and  pistols 
were  drawn  to  carry  the  threat  into  execution.     After 
repeated  efforts  to  quiet  the  mob,  he  was  compelled  to 
quit  the  stand  in  order  to  save  his  life. 

Thus  the  campaign  opened.     But  we  will  not  attempt 


128  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

to  follow  Judge  Chisolm  through  all  the  devious  windings 
of  that  eventful  canvass.  Its  history,  like  that  of  the 
preceding  year,  is  yet  to  be  written. 

As  the  election  drew  near,  Judge  Chisolm's  appoint- 
ments brought  him  closer  to  DeKalb.  The  last  before 
reaching  home  was  on  the  3d  of  November,  at  Scooba, 
to  which  place  it  was  understood  he  would  go  from 
Macon  by  rail,  and  a  large  crowd  had  assembled  to 
receive  him.  Before  leaving  Macon,  however,  he  had 
been  urged  not  to  gp ;  if  he  did,  it  was  said,  he  would 
certainly  be  mobbed  and  probably  killed;  that  the 
"  reformers,"  in  force,  maddened  with  bad  whisky,  headed 
by  a  band  of  desperadoes  from  Alabama,  were  in  waiting 
for  him,  and  nothing  short  of  his  blood  would  appease 
their  appetites.  Heeding  the  timely  warning,  the  con- 
templated visit  to  Scooba  was  abandoned,  and  Judge 
Chisolm  went  across  the  country,  that  day,  to  DeKalb. 
Whether  he  acted  wisely  in  so  doing  or  not,  is  best 
shown  by  the  conduct  of  the  mob  in  Scooba  when  the 
train  arrived  on  which  it  was  hoped  and  believed  he 
would  come.  Filled  to  excess  with  the  democratic  "elixir 
of  life,"  armed  with  guns  and  pistols,  bloated  and  red- 
eyed,  with  yells  and  imprecations  which  might  shame  the 
most  hardened  denizens  of  the  regions  of  the  damned, 
they  rushed  in  a  body  to  the  station  to  "  welcome "  the 
expected  speaker.  The  disappointment  at  not  seeing 
him  only  increased  their  fury  and  hate.  As  soon  as  it 
was  known  that  Judge  Chisolm  had  gone  overland  to 
DeKalb,  where  he  was  advertised  to  speak  on  the  follow- 
ing day,  the  mob,  with  increased  numbers,  at  once  set 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  129 

out  for  that  place,  taking  with  them  a  cannon,  shot-guns, 
pistols  and  plenty  of  liquor,  and  all  other  equipments 
necessary  to  the  safe  and  sure  conduct  of  a  campaign  on 
the  "  Mississippi  plan." 

Arriving  in  DeKalb,  that  night,  they  moved  stealthily 
to  within  fifteen  paces  of  Judge  Chisolm's  door,  just  as 
his  children  were  in  the  act  of  going  to  bed.     The  first 
warning  the  family  had  of  the  approach  or  intent  of  this 
band  of  outlaws,  was  the  discharge  of  the  cannon,  which 
shook  the  glass  from  the  windows  of  the  house,  and  this 
was   followed   by   the  discharge  of  small  arms,  accom- 
panied  by  continued   beating  of    drums   and   yells   of 
besotted  men,  who  repeatedly  called  upon  Judge  Chis-^ 
olm  and   the  ladies  of  his  household,  to   "get  up  and 
listen    to    the    music,"    demanding    that    they    should 
acknowledge   the   compliment  of  the  serenade.     These 
acts  of  barbarism  were  kept  up  around  Judge  Chisolm's 
home  until  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,   and  before  noon 
of  the  same  day   the  assault   was   renewed   in   a  much 
more   violent    and    threatening    manner.       Quite   early, 
loaded    shot-guns    were   carried    into   the    jail   building 
immediately  in  front   of  the  Judge's  premises,  ready  for 
use  by  the  m.ob  at  any  time,  while  the  crowd,  which  had 
already  assembled  in  large  force,  carried  small  arms  which 
were   frequently  brandished   and  discharged  in  the  air. 
About  nine  o'clock  a  note  was   handed  Judge  Chisolm 
by  A.  G.  Vincent,  over  the  signature  of  John  W.  Gully, 
"  chairman  of  the  democratic  executive  committee  of  the 
county,"   inviting   the   Judge   to   take   part    in   another 
"joint  discussion."     He  replied  that   the  meeting,  if  one 

9 


130  The  Chisolni  Massacre, 

was  held,  was  his  own ;  that  it  was  so  advertised,  and 
democrats  had  no  right  whatever  to  a  division  of  time. 
He  stated,  further,  that  he  believed  it  to  be  exceedingly 
dangerous  for  him  to  leave  his  house,  and  much  more  so 
to  undertake  a  republican  speech  in  DeKalb  that  day,  as 
information  had  already  reached  him  from  the  streets, 
that  his  life  had  been  openly  threatened.  Mr.  Vincent, 
although  a  fierce  democrat,  had  the  fairness  to 
acknowledge  to  Judge  Chisolm,  afterward,  that  he  acted 
wisely  in  refusing  to  accept  this  challenge.  By  this  time 
the  "  citizens "  had  assembled  to  the  number  of  three 
hundred  or  more ;  many  of  them  uniformed  with  red 
shirts.  Beating  of  drums,  shooting  and  yelling  was  now 
the   order   of    the   day.      The   name   of    Chisolm   was 

mingled  with  their  curses  and  cries  of  "  hang  the  

radical  scoundrel ! "  were  heard  by  his  wife  and  children 
at  home.  All  day  long,  on  that  memorable  fourth  of 
November,  was  kept  up  a  scene  of  drunkenness,  debauch 
and  riot  which  baffles  description.  A  prisoner  from  the 
county  jail  named  Spencer — being  a  good  democrat  — 
charged  with  waylaying  and  shooting  in  cold  blood  a 
young  man  just  married,  and  at  the  time  riding  by  the 
side  of  his  young  wife,  was  released  from  confinement 
and  gave  eclat  to  the  festivities  by  joining  the  mob  and 
shouting  lustily  for  "  Tilden  and  reform  ! "  Repeatedly 
throughout  the  day,  did  this  crowd  of  ruffians  and  jail- 
birds march  by  Judge  Chisolm's  door,  to  the  tune  of 
"  Dixie "  and  the  "  Bonnie  Blue  Flag,"  firing  cannon  at 
intervals  and  pistols  by  volleys.  The  latter  were  at  first 
discharged  upward,  but  as  the  crowd  became  emboldened 


'^ Home   Rule''  in   Mississippi.  131 

from  the  excessive  use  of  liquor,  and  meeting  with  no 
resistance,  the  shooting  was  directed  over  the  house  and 
finally  against  it,  when  two  or  three  shots  were  embedded 
in  the  pillars  and  weather-boarding.  These  chivalrous 
gentlemen,  who  could  thus  surround,  menace  and  assault 
a  house  occupied  by  women  and  children,  breathing  in 
their  faces  the  fumes  of  the  pot-house,  and  hurling 
upon  their  heads  obscene  and  blasphemous  oaths,  were 
headed  by  no  greater  man  than  Colonel  S.  M.  Meek, 
of  Columbus,  one  of,  "  Mississippi's  favorite  sons. '  A 
Chevalier  Bayard;  a  man  who  must  hide  beneath  the  black 
cloth  and  clean  linen  that  he  wears,  a  cowardly  and 
craven  heart.  Close  by  the  side  of  this  beau  ideal  of 
southern  chivalry,  walked  John  W.  Gully,  the  presiding 
genius  of  the  demoniac  festival. 

For  the  purpose  of  throwing  additional  light  upon 
this  subject,  a  letter  written  by  Cornelia  Chisolm  but  a 
few  days  after  these  occurrences,  is  here  appended. 
Little  did  this  brave  girl,  whose  sensitive  heart  then 
bleeding  afresh  from  the  wounds  just  inflicted  upon  her- 
self and  other  members  of  the  family,  by  the  insults  of 
a  brutal  and  mendacious  mob,  think  that  this  communi- 
cation would  ever  find  its  way  into  a  work  of  this  kind, 
thereby  adding  a  strong  link  to  the  chain  of  evidence 
showing  the  outrages  practiced  upon  her  beloved  father 
during  the  progress  of  the  canvass  of  that  year.  Its 
candor,  frankness  and  depth  of  feeling — written  to  a 
private  individual,  and  as  it  must  have  been  for  no  other 
purpose  than  that  of  giving  temporary  relief  to  an  over- 
burdened heart — give  it  the  weight  of  a  whole  volume 


132  The  Chisolni  Massacre. 

of  testimony  derived  from  any  other  source.     Here  is 
the  letter: 

DeKalb,  November  13th,  1876. 
My  very  dear  friend : 

In  your  kind  letter,  which  came  this  evening,  the  con- 
tents of  which  I  know  are  from  the  depths  of  your  dear, 
loving  heart,  you  ask  me  to  tell  you  "  all "  concerning  the 
late  terrible  assault  upon  our  house  by  a  band  of 
drunken  and  riotous  men.  Now  my  dear ,  I  am  go- 
ing to  relate,  as  nearly  as  I  can,  the  details  of  at  least  a 
part  of  the  wrongs  and  indignities  which  our  family  have 
endured,  and  which  wounded  me  much  deeper,  being 
aimed,  as  they  were,  at  the  one  who  is  dearer  to  me  than 
almost  all  else  on  earth  beside — my  darling  father. 
These  repeated  insults  to  papa  and  his  household  came 
from  the  fact  that  he  chose  to  be  guided  in  his  political 
acts  by  that  which,  in  his  heart  of  hearts  and  own  good 
judgment,  he  deemed  to  be  right  —  loyalty  to  his 
country  and  its  flag. 

Pardon  me  if  I  speak  too  strongly,  and  remember 
what  has  driven  me  to  this.  When  papa  received  the 
nomination  for  Congress  in  his  district  we  entreated  him 
not  to  accept  it,  as  defeat  was  certain,  under  the  present 
administration  of  the  laws  of  the  State,  which  allows 
mobs  of  armed  men  to  force  the  voters  from  the  ballot- 
box  and  drive  them  from .  their  homes ;  and,  what  is 
much  worse,  we  knew  his  life  would  be  in  jeopardy  every 
hour.  Notwithstanding  our  appeals  he  accepted  the 
nomination,  and  said  he  was  determined  to  canvass 
the  district,  as  he  deemed  it  his  duty  to  do.  He  had 
large  audiences  everywhere  he  went,  and  not  only  invited 
but  insisted  on  his  opponent  meeting  him  at  all  his 
appointments  and  arrange  for  a  joint  discussion.  Mr. 
Money  —  the  opposing  candidate  —  met  him  at  only  one 
place,  and    he  forgot   that  decency  required  of  him   at 


^'Hoine  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  133 

least  civil  treatment  toward  a  stranger,  but  instead 
procured  the  sei  vices  of  a  band  of  music,  and  a  large 
crowd  of  men,  in  battle  array,  uniformed  with  red  shirts, 
armed  with  guns,  swords  and  pistols,  to  heap  insult 
after  insult  upon  papa.  When  papa  got  up  to  speak 
two  men  were  stationed  on  the  stand  behind  him,  dis- 
playing dirk  knives  and  pistols.  Papa  then  gave  his 
opinion  of  such  proceedings,  and  told  them  that  he 
would  not  speak  unless  the  stand  was  moved  against 
the  house,  and  all  bullies  put  in  front,  where  he  could 
watch  them,  giving  as  a  reason  that  he  did  not  want  to 
be  stabbed  in  the  back.  They  did  as  he  requested ;  but 
when  he  began  they  commenced  screaming  and  hallooing 
so  loud  that  no  one  could  hear  him,  and  he  was  finally 
compelled  to  quit  the  stand. 

A  committee  then  came  to  insist  that  he  continue  his 
speech.  He  reluctantly  consented;  but  had  no  sooner 
started  again  than  they  repeated  their  interruptions. 

It  was  just  the  same  everywhere  he  went.  In  Macon 
he  was  obliged  to  divide  time  with  a  democratic  negro  — 
Younger  —  in  order  to  be  allowed  to  speak  at  all.  He 
had  a  good  many  friends  there;  but  at  most  of  the 
places  he  had  no  acquaintances  even.  He  was  to  speak 
an  hour  and  a  half  at  Macon  and  the  negro  the  same 
length  of  time ;  then  papa  to  have  half  an  hour  in  which 
to  rejoin.  Two  of  papa's  friends  overheard  the  demo- 
crats talking  among  themselves,  and  found  that  their 
plan  was  to  kill  him  when  he  undertook  to  reply.  These 
friends  sent  papa  a  note  to  that  effect  while  he  was  on  the 
stand,  and  he  left  just  before  the  negro  finished  speaking. 
Another  one  of  their  committees  went  to  his  room  to 
urge  him  to  reply,  but  he  sent  them  word  that  he  would 
have  no  more  to  say. 

In  Shuqualak  he  did  not  speak  at  all,  because  he 
received  intelligence  convincing  him,  beyond  any  ques- 


134  '^^^^  Cliisolni  Massacre, 

tion,  that  if  he  undertook  to  do  so  he  would  be  shot 
down  from  the  stand. 

He  had  an  appointment  at  Scooba,  but  didn't  even  go 
there;  for  his  friends,  and  enemies  also,  said  that  he 
would  no  sooner  get  off  the  train  at  that  place  than  he 
would  be  shot  by  a  crowd  of  Alabamians,  who  had 
come  there  for  the  purpose,  at  the  instance  of  the  editor 
of  that  vulgar  and  indecent  paper,  published  in  your 
place,  the  Meridian  Mercury. 

But  now  comes  the  "  tug."  The  wretches  hired  the 
Gainesville  band  to  come  here,  only  to  insult  our  family. 
On  Friday  night,  just  as  we  were  all  undressed  for  bed, 
and  some  of  the  family  had  already  lain  down,  they 
marched  up  to  our  gate  with  a  great  crowd,  "  serenading," 
as  they  said,  and  nearly  frightened  me  to  death.  You 
see  I  was  then  only  just  being  initiated;  others  of  our 
family  had  often  seen  the  like  when  I  was  away  at 
school.  They  brought  the  old  cannon  right  in  front  of 
the  door,  and  I  devoutly  prayed  that  it  might  burst  and 
blow  them  all  into  the  "  fiery  furnace,"  where  I  am  certain 
they  will  eventually  land. 

Well,  they  left  after  finding  how  little  they  had 
accomplished;  got  some  more  men  and  whisky  and 
came  back  about  twelve  o'clock  at  night  and  tried  it 
over  again.  But  all  the  family  had  to  console  and 
comfort  me.  I  tell  you  I  thought  I  should  die.  I  hardly 
slept  one  bit  all  night.  By  the  next  morning  at  day- 
light papa's  friends  came  in  trom  all  parts  of  the  county, 
including  four  gentlemen  from  Macon.  They  were  all  at 
our  house  —  about  fifteen  good,  true  white  republicans, 
who  swore  they  would  die  by  their  leader  and  best 
friend. 

There  were  hundreds  of  negroes  in  town,  and  nothing 
but  papa's  constant  and  vigilant  efforts  kept  them  from 
firing  upon  the  bloodthirsty  demons  as  they  passed  by 


^'- Home  Rule'''  in  Mississippi.  135 

on  their  march.  They  had  the  democratic  flag,  the  band 
—  playing  "Dixie"  and  the  "Bonnie  Blue  Flag" — a  few 
ragged,  old  negroes  and  hundreds  of  villainous  white 
scoundrels,  half  of  whom  were  owing  papa  for  the  clothes 
that  covered  their  backs.  He  stood  on  the  steps  and 
cursed  them  in  language  more  forcible  that  elegant.  The 
first  time  they  yelled  and  screamed  like  the  savages  they 
were,  and  one  man  shot  off  a  pistol  in  the  air.  The 
next  time  two  or  three  fired,  and  a  few  more  each  time  they 
passed,  until  the  shooting  became  incessant,  and  several 
shots  struck  the  wall,  just  by  the  door.  At  this  time 
nearly  all  the  gentlemen  who  had  been  with  us  were 
over  at  Mr.  Gilmer's  and  Captain  Rush's,  to  get  Mrs. 
Gilmer  and  her  baby,  and  Mrs.  Rush  and  her  daughter, 
to  come  to  our  house,  as  all  of  them  had  been  insulted 
and  frightened  nearly  to  death,  while  their  men  folks 
were  with  us. 

Several  of  the  gentlemen  were  worn  out,  or  crippled, 
in  the  canvass,  and  so  you  see  papa  and  brother  were 
about  the  only  ones  who  could  shoot  to  do  any  good, 
and  but  for  mamma's  entreaties,  they  would  have  made 
some  of  the  beggarly  dogs  bite  the  dust. 

I  kept  close  to  papa's  side  all  day,  and  when  he  told 
me  that,  if  another  shot  was  fired,  he  intended  to  kill 
some  of  them,  he  begged  me  to  leave  him,  because  those 
who  did  not  run  would  fire  at  him,  and  he  feared  some 
of  the  shots  might  hit  me.  I  told  him  that  I  prayed 
the  same  shot  which  killed  him  might  also  lay  my  life- 
less  body  by  his  side.     My  dear  ,  I  once  thought 

that  I  never  would  tire  of  life ;  but,  if  such  is  to  be  mine, 
death,  if  I  could  share  it  Avith  my  dear  ones,  would  indeed 
be  a  sweet  relief. 

Colonel  Meek  and  John  Gully  headed  the  procession. 
At  one  time  Meek  passed  by  with  his  arms  around  the 
neck  of  a  ragged,  filth}^  and  degraded  negro.  I  call  him 
"  degraded  "  not  because  of  his  black  skin,  but  rather  for 


136  The  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

being  found  in  such  company,  exchanging  embraces  with 
so  low  and  disgusting  a  being  as  Meek  that  day  proved 
himself  to  be.  Next  to  Meek  and  the  negro  came  "Bill" 
Preston.  I  shudder  at  the  thought  of  desecrating  these 
pages  with  the  name  —  a  young  gentleman  (?)  of  your 
town. 

I  have  now  given  you  some  of  the  details  of  the 
insults  we  have  received.  When  I  see  you  I  will  say  more, 
and,  like  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  who  came  to  visit  Solo- 
mon, you  will  exclaim  :  "The  half  has  not  been  told  me  !" 
Again  begging  your  pardon  for  having  spoken,  as  I  fear, 
too  bitterly,  but  asking  you  to  consider  what  we  have 
all  endured,  with  much  love,  I  remain  your  friend, 

Nelie. 

The  following  is  the  sworn  testimony  of  Judge  Chis- 
olm  touching  this  same  matter.  It  will  be  found  on 
page  755  of  the  congressional  report  of  last  winter: 
''Question. —  Did  you  have  any  further  meeting?" 
''Anszver. —  Yes,  sir;  I  had  a  meeting  advertised  at 
Scooba.  Rosenbaum  went  home  the  night  before  and 
wrote  me  that  I  had  better  not  come  there,  and  advised 
me  to  go  through  the  country  to  my  home ;  believing,  as 
he  said,  there  would  be  a  crowd  of  Alabamians  there, 
and  that  it  would  be  dangerous  for  me  to  go  to  Scooba. 
I  took  a  carriage  and  went  through  the  country  to 
DeKalb.  I  arrived  Friday  evening,  about  half  an  hour 
before  sun-down.  That  night,  about  ten  o'clock,  there 
came  a  crowd  of  men  right  in  front  of  my  gate.  I  sup- 
pose they  were  within  twenty  paces  of  the  house;  they 
had  with  them  a  band  of  music  from  Gainesville,  Ala- 
bama, and  they  played  and  shot  off  their  cannon  and 
small  arms,  cursed,  and  asked  me  to 'come  out.'     My 


^' Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  i^'j 

appointment  to  speak  in  DeKalb  was  on  the  following 
day.  That  is  where  I  live.  They  returned  about  one 
o'clock  that  night,  and  went  through  the  same  demon- 
strations. The  next  morning  there  came  in  a  good  many 
of  my  white  friends  of  the  county  —  there  is  a  right 
smart  white  republican  vote  there — a  good  many  want- 
ing to  see  me,  and  I  not  being  down  town,  they  came 
up  to  my  house.  It  was  tolerably  early  —  I  suppose  ten 
o'clock — when  I  got  a  communication  from  Swanzy,  and 
from  J.  W.  Gully  and  some  others  whose  names  I  forget. 
They  signed  themselves,  *  by  authority  of  the  democratic 
executive  committee.'  I  received  this  from  the  hands  of 
a  man  named  A.  G.  Vincent.  I  read  it  and  said,  '  Mr. 
Vincent  do  you  think  that  I  would  be  allowed  to  make 
a  speech  here  to-day?'  He  said  he  did  not  think  I 
would;  or,  perhaps,  I  could;  I  don't  remember  just  what 
his  answer  was.  I  continued,  '  I  understand  from  a 
hundred  sources  that  they  will  not  let  me  speak,  and  I 
won't  answer  this  note.'  He  asked  me,  'why?'  Said  I, 
*  this  carries  a  lie  on  its  face.  It  sets  out  by  stating  it  is 
a  democratic  meeting,  when  you  know  that  such  is  not 
the  fact;  it  is  a  republican  meeting;  the  democratic 
meeting  was  held  yesterday  —  that  is,  by  appointment.' 
He  said  he  had  forgotten  about  that,  and  says  I,  '  I  will 
not  attempt  to  speak  unless  I  am  satisfied  there  will  be 
no  interruption.  I  am  not  afraid,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, of  anybody  interfering  with  me,  but  when  you 
have  got  a  crowd  of  two  or  three  hundred  men,  I  am 
afraid  of  what  they  may  do.' 

He  went  off  and   I  did   not  see  him  again.     A  few 


138  The  Chisohn  Massacre,  ' 

minutes  after  the  crowd  came  around  my  house  with 
their  cannon  and  band.  They  did  not  shoot  when 
they  came  the  first  time  until  they  had  passed  the  gate; 
but  they  cursed  me  very  extravagantly.  When  they 
had  passed  they  fired  a  volley  of  small  arms,  it  seemed 
to  me,  in  the  air  over  the  house.  They  went  around  by 
the  grocery  and  took  on  some  more  whisky,  I  suppose, 
and  then  came  back  and  fired  all  along  by  the  side  of 
my  house,  cursing  me  terribly,  and  saying, '  Come  out ! 
What  are  you  in  your  hole  for?'  About  the  fourth  or 
fifth  time  they  fired  into  my  house,  and  the  bullets  were 
imbedded  in  the  walls.  Since  that  time  I  have  had  a 
conversation  with  the  same  man  who  brought  me  the 
message — Mr.  Vincent.  He  says  that  my  proposition 
was  right;  he  did  not  think  I  would  have  been  per- 
mitted to  speak,  and  said  there  was  a  strong  probability 
I  would  have  been  murdered.  I  made  no  effort  to  speak. 
This  was  Saturday  before  the  election.  It  was  held  on 
Tuesday.  I  did  not  go  out  of  my  house  at  all  on  that 
day,  nor  the  day  of  the  election." 


CHAPTER    XII. 


By  these  "little  acts  of  pleasantry,"  as  this  long  list  of 
ouSges  was  styled  by  the  virtuous  citizens  of  Kempe 
Ld  the  press  of  the  State,  the  complete  overthrow  o^ 
republicanism  was  secured,  the  -g-"-f  °";  ^^^P'^'J 
broken  up,  their  newspapers  -PP-^^f^!  ^"f  "  ^^road 
as  elsewhere,  it  was  proclaimed  and  circulated  abroad 
tha   a  peaceful,  quiet  and  impartial  canvass  and  election 
had  been  held.     But  the  perpetrators  of  these  villainies 
in  Kemper  were  not  to  escape  thus  easily.     Some   hirty 
or  more  of  the  gang  which  had  wantonly  assailed  Judge 
Chisolm   and   his  family  were  reported   to  the  United 
States  grand  jury,  comprised  of  men  of  both  political 
parties,  and  indicted  under  that  clause  of  the  Enforce- 
ment Act  which  guarantees  to  every  citizen  who  may  be 
a  candidate  for  office  a  full,  free  and  uninterrupted  can- 
vass    Judge  Chisolm,  Gilmer  and  Hopper,  in  answer  to 
a  summons  from  the  court,  gave  testimony  before  this 

^"two  or  three  unsuccessful  attempts  to  make  arrests 
under  the  finding  of  the  court,  by  as  many  different 
deputy  marshals,  were  made  before  process  could  be 
served  on  any  of  the  persons  indicted.  Walter  Davis, 
one  of  these  deputies,  was  shot  at  by  parties  in  ambush, 
while  passing  from  DeKalb  to  Scooba,  but  escaped  with- 
out injury.  Papers  were  finally  served  but  1^^-  -ver 
was  anything  like  a  formal  arrest  made.     The  rioters 


140  'i  fi^  CJiisolin  Massacre, 

took  their  own  time  for  going  before  a  United  States 
Commissioner  and  entering  into  a  bond  for  appearance 
at  the  following  term  of  the  United  States  Court.  All 
this  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  was  characterized  by 
the  press  of  the  State  as  the  "most  inhuman  and 
uncalled-for  act  of  tyranny  and  oppression  ever  perpe- 
trated upon  a  free  people.** 

It  was  sought  by  the  Gullys,  who  had  been  foremost 
in  every  broil  and  iniquity  perpetrated  during  the  can- 
vass, and  some  of  whom  were  among  the  first  appre- 
hended, to  clothe  the  arrests  with  all  the  horrors  of  an 
inquisition  by  the  general  government.  Through  their 
especial  mouthpiece  —  the  Y^^m^^^x  Herald — the  democ- 
racy of  the  county  was  invoked  to  "  rally  to  the  defense 
of  its  outraged  citizens."  The  Hon.  Mr.  Money,  who 
had  been  the  opposing  candidate  to  Judge  Chisolm  in 
the  canvass  for  congressional  honors,  having  a  high  appre- 
ciation of  the  services  rendered  him  by  his  constituency 
of  Kemper  county,  responded  promptly  to  their  call, 
and  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Herald^  which  elicited  the 
following  editorial  remarks : 

"We  received  a  letter  a  few  days  since  from  Hon.  H. 
D.  Money,  in  which  he  made  arrangements  to  pay  us 
twenty  dollars  for  the  purpose  of  defraying  the  expenses 
of  our  Kemper  'bulldozers,'  and  stated  that  he  would 
pay  more  if  it  was  needed.  He  expressed  the  kindest 
feeling  of  sympathy  for  those  of  his  fellow-citizens  of 
Kemper  who  were  indicted,  and  declared  his  willingness 
and  determination  to  bear  his  full  share  of  all  the  result." 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  conspiracy  to  intimidate  and 


^^ Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  141 

murder  was  not  confined  within  the  narrow  limits  of  a 
single  county,  nor  were  the  poor  "white  trash"  to  do  the 
bloody  business  and  at  the  same  time  furnish  the  means 
with  which  to  defray  current  expenses.  The  "fortunes" 
as  well  as  the  "sacred  honor"  of  the  leading  men  of  the 
whole  State  were  pledged  to  this  work,  and  it  was  the 
moral  and  material  aid  lent  by  them  that  carried  it  into 
successful  execution. 

On  the  first  day  of  January,  1877,  following  the 
arrests,  a  "  citizens'  meeting "  was  called  at  DeKalb,  to 
give  expression,  in  some  substantial  way,  to  the  public 
indignation.  It  is  not  believed,  as  one  might  suppose, 
that  this  call  was  for  the  purpose  of  organized  resistance 
to  the  Federal  authorities.  There  was  an  object  ahead, 
far  more  significant,  and  one  which  might  be  realized  with 
less  trouble  and  expense  to  themselves.  It  was  the 
determination  of  the  leaders  then  to  assemble  a  large 
crowd  of  ruf^ans  at  DeKalb  and  take  the  life  of  Judge 
Chisolm  and  all  his  associates;  for  by  so  doing  they 
hoped  to  destroy  the  last  chance  for  a  successful  prose- 
cution of  their  clan  in  the  United  States  court. 

The  first  of  January  came;  but  owing  to  a  heavy  fall 
of  snow  the  night  before  —  an  unusual  occurrence  for 
that  climate — and  the  bad  condition  of  the  roads,  the 
"meeting"  was  not  well  attended.  Besides,  Judge 
Chisolm,  knowing  their  intent,  had  quietly  called  around 
him  on  that  day  a  sufficient  number  of  his  friends  to 
guard  against  the  possibility  of  an  attempt  being  made 
upon  his  life.  Ten  men  like  Chisolm,  when  prepared, 
were  able  at  all  times  to  hold  the  "  citizens  "  to  a  careful 
consideration  of  their  acts. 


142  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

On  the  20th  of  December  the  community  was  startled 
with  the  announcement  of  the  fact  that  John  W.  Gully 
had  been  waylaid  by  some  disguised  person  secreted  by 
the  roadside,  not  more  than  half  a  mile  from  DeKalb, 
and  shot  from  his  horse.  The  animal  it  appears  was 
uninjured  and  went  on  into  town  under  an  empty  saddle, 
while  Gully,  recovering  from  the  shock  of  his  wounds  — 
which  were  about  the  chest,  and  inflicted  by  two  charges 
of  buck-shot  —  followed  not  far  behind,  on  foot.  The 
news  of  this  cowardly  attempt  at  murder  spread  rapidly 
over  the  county,  and  reports  were  conflicting  as  to  who 
had  probably  done  the  deed.  After  the  first  impression 
upon  the  people  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  incident 
to  an  occurrence  of  the  kind,  there  seemed  to  be  little 
feeling  of  surprise  manifested,  and  expressions  like  this 
were  frequently  heard : 

"  Well,  the  only  wonder  is  that  Gully  was  not  killed 
long  ago.  There  are  scores  of  men  living  in  the  county 
who  would  feel  warranted  in  taking  his  life  in  any 
possible  way." 

On  reaching  DeKalb,  where  he  arrived  shortly  after 
his  narrow  escape  from  death  on  the  road.  Gully,  being 
asked  who  had  thus  intercepted  him,  replied  that  it  was 
a  negro,  who  was  known  in  the  neighborhood,  giving  his 
name.  On  this  statement  the  accused  was  immediately 
arrested  by  some  of  the  Gullys.  It  appeared  at  once, 
and  conclusiv^ely,  that  this  man  could  not  have  been 
guilty  as  charged.  Then  Gully  said  it  was  William 
Hopper,  a  white  man  who  lived  near  by.  Accordingly, 
Hopper  was  set  upon  by  the  young  Gullys,  who  found 


^'Home  Riile"  in  Mississippi.  143 

him  at  work  in  a  field  adjoining  the  place  where  their 
father  had  been  attacked.  But  they  soon  became  satis- 
fied that  Hopper  could  not  have  done  the  cowardly 
deed.  The  question  of  course  naturally  arose,  "Who 
did  do  it?"  This,  perhaps,  might  have  been  answered 
with  some  degree  of  satisfaction  by  propounding  an- 
other: "Who,  if  anybody,  had  a  right  to  do  it  ?"  Gully, 
with  death  and  the  ghosts  of  the  victims  of  his  own 
murderous  hand  staring  him  in  the  face,  might  thus  have 
soliloquized. 

After  a  lapse  of  several  days,  when  it  was  ascertained 
that  B.  F.  Rush  had  not  been  seen  since  one  o'clock  of 
the  day  on  which  Gully  was  wounded,  it  was  rumored, 
in  a  sort  of  mysterious  way,  that  Gully  knew  the  man 
who  shot  him;  but,  for  reasons  which  have  never  yet 
been  given  to  the  public,  he  refused  to  tell  who  it  was,  at 
least  until  the  March  term  of  the  court  convened,  at 
which  time  an  indictment  was  found  against  Rush, 
charging  him  with  the  attempt  to  murder.  As  a  matter 
of  course,  Gully  must  then  have  sworn  that  Rush  was 
the  guilty  man,  as  there  could  have  been  no  other 
important  witness  in  the  case. 

Gully's  wounds  proved  to  be  slight.  In  a  few  days  he 
was  upon  the  streets  again,  and  the  attention  of  the 
"citizens"  once  more  called  to  the  great  "outrage"  of 
their  arrest  by  the  United  States  authorities ;  and  on  the 
fifteenth  of  January  another  meeting  was  called  at 
DeKalb.  Meantime  it  was  secretly  whispered  about  that 
Ben  Rush  was  positively  known  to  have  been  Gully's 
attempted  assassin,  and  that  he  was  aided  and  abetted 


144  ^^^^  Chisolm  Massacre, 

by  Judge  Chisolm,  Gilmer  and  other  republicans.  Hav- 
ing obtained  information  of  this  report,  the  Judge 
feared,  at  the  time,  the  terrible  consequences  which 
followed  in  April  of  the  same  year,  viz  :  that  a  warrant 
for  the  arrest  of  himself,  Gilmer  and  others  would  be 
forged,  charging  them  with  complicity  in  the  assault 
upon  Gully;  that  they  would  all  be  arrested,  confined  in 
jail,  and  while  there,  during  the  session  of  the  great 
"  citizens  "  meeting,  they  would  be  turned  over  into  the 
hands  of  a  mob  and  murdered.  To  prevent  this.  Judge 
Chisolm  again  called  around  him  a  number  of  men  upon 
whom  he  could  rely  in  any  emergency.  On  the  fifteenth,. 
a  "large  and  enthusiastic"  crowd  of  "citizens"  assembled^ 
armed  with  guns,  to  deliberate  upon  their  grievances. 
The  weapons  were  stacked  in  Gully's  store,  ready  for  use, 
and  the  rioters  were  only  prevented  from  the  accomplish- 
ment of  their  purpose,  that  day,  by  the  unflinching  bravery 
and  bold  front  of  Chisolm  and  his  few  devoted  followers. 
Rush,  meantime,  had  not  been  heard  of  since  the 
attempt  was  made  upon  Gully's  life. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  here,  that  the  day  on  which 
John  W.  Gully  and  his  followers  assailed  Judge  Chisolm 
and  his  wife  and  children  —  the  4th  of  November — a 
few  chosen  friends  rallied  to  their  defense  and  remained 
in  the  house  a  greater  portion  of  the  day,  closely  watch- 
ing the  conduct  of  the  mob,  thirty-five  of  whom  were 
afterward  indicted.  All  persons  present  on  that  occa- 
sion would  have  been  important  witnesses  in  the  prose- 
cution under  these  indictments.  Their  names  are  here 
given :     W.  W.  Chisolm,   Emily  S.  M.  Chisolm,  Cornelia 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  145 

J.  Chisolm,  Clay  Chisolm,  Johnny  Chisolm,  John  P.  Gilmer, 
Angus  McLellan,  Charlie  Rosenbaum,  B.  F.  Rush,  Alex, 
and  Newton  Hopper.  The  reader  has  already  divined 
the  fate  of  these  witnesses. 


10 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

The  reader  should  not  lose  sight  oi  the  fact  that,  long 
before  the  enactment  of  the  barbarous  scenes  described 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  "  home  rule  and  local  self- 
government" —  twin  messengers  of  mercy  and  peace  — 
had  been  thoroughly  estabhshed  all  over  the  State, 
and  that  the  dreaded  camp  fires  of  republicanism  had 
everywhere  ceased  to  burn.  The  judiciary,  from  the 
supreme  court  down  to  the  humblest  magistrate  in  a 
country  village,  clad  in  the  dignity  and  majesty  of  their 
official  robes,  looked  benignly  down  in  righteous  judg- 
ment upon  the  minor  transgressions  of  poor,  weak  and 
sinful  humanity,  and  in  solemn  state  passed  upon  the 
real  intent  and  true  application  of  constitutional  law; 
while  the  executive,  from  the  governor  down  to  the  beat 
constable,  was  left  untrammeled  to  enforce  every  mandate 
and  decree  of  the  courts.  But  over  and  above  all,  the 
people,  in  their  simple  and  unoffending  dignity,  leaned 
contentedly  upon  the  strong  arm  of  a  legislature  which 
assumed  unto  itself  almost  unlimited  power  to  make  and 
unmake  at  will.  No  "  venal  wretch  "  presumed  to  lift  a 
voice  to  ask  "why  is  this  so?" 

The  "good  people,"  those  representing  all  the  virtue 
and  intelligence  of  the  State,  had  solemnly  pledged  their 
faith  to  the  restoration  of  good  government,  justice  and 
equal  rights  before  the  law,  and  who  shall  dare  to  say 
that  "our  promises"  are  not  fulfilled?       * 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  I47 

On  the  29th  of  January,  Judge  Chisolm,  in  answer  to 
a  summons  from  the  investigating  committee,  in  company 
with  his  daughter,  set  out  for  Washington.  On  the 
28th,  the  day  before  starting,  CorneHa  wrote  to  friend  as 

follows : 

«  We  are  ready  to  start  for  Washington,  and  expected 
to  have  gone  to  Scooba  this  afternoon,  until  yesterday 
evening,  when  papa  decided  that  he  could  not  possibly 
go  before  to-morrow.  I  was  real  sorry  I  had  to  wait,  for 
I  am  growing  impatient.  ('Hope  deferred,'  etc.)  You 
don't  know  the  joy  I  anticipate  in  taking  this  trip.  The 
pleasure  which  new  scenes  and  associations  will  be  to 
me,  however,  will  not  equal  the  sense  of  real  security  and 
delight  I  shall  feel  to  know  that  papa  will  be  free  from 
danger  of  the  assassin's  bullet,  at  least  for  that  little 
leftgth  of  time." 

While  in  Washington  Judge  Chisolm  gave  the  testi- 
mony which  is  quoted  in  the  preceding'  pages.  Himself 
and  daughter  spent  the  winter  at  Washington  and  in 
travel,  amid  the  most  agreeable  surroundings. 

Here  is  a  letter  written  by  Cornelia,  at  home,  shortly 
after  her  return  —  and  the  last  she  ever  wrote — describing 
the  scenes  which  absorbed  her  attention,  and  in  the  study 
of  which  her  time  was  largely  employed  while  on  this 
trip. 

To  say  nothing  of  the  interest  found  in  the  communi- 
cation itself,  it  affords  more  satisfactory  evidence  of  this 
girl's  fine  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  than  could  be  given 
in  any  other  way. 


148  The  CJiisolm  Massacre. 

DeKalb,  Miss.,  April  27,  1877. 

My  dear  friend :  I  have  allowed  one  bright  spring 
day  after  another  to  pass,  still  leaving  unanswered  your 
very  kind  and  very  much  appreciated  letter,  until  (I'm 
ashamed  to  acknowledge  it),  the  fact  that  it  has  been  on 
hand  a  week,  forces  me  to  realize  how  dilatory  I  am,  and 
animates  me  to  the  pleasant  task  of  replying. 

Were  it  possible  for  me  to  tell  you  how  delightful  a 
tour  I  had,  or  even  to  convey  the  faintest  idea  of  how 
much  I  enjoyed  it,  you  would  think  the  picture  was 
over-drawn ;  and  if  I  could  write  a  letter  long  enough  to 
give  you  the  minutiae — the  most  interesting  portion  to 
myself — I'm  sure  you  would  have  many  chest-breaking 
sighs  during  a  perusal  of  such  a  missive,  were  you  to 
have  the  courage  to  go  over  it  all.  Washington  is  by 
far  the  most  beautiful  city  I  saw  in  all  my  long  journey. 
Its  broad  avenues,  great  thoroughfares,  magnificent 
buildings,  lovely  parks,  and,  best  of  all,  handsome  gen- 
tlemen, combine  to  make  it  seem  to  me  a  perfect  paradise. 

Speaking  of  the  buildings,  the  first  and  grandest 
object  of  interest  to  the  sight-seer  is  the  Capitol,  a  mag- 
nificent structure,  conspicuous  on  entering  the  city,  and 
prominent  for  many  miles  from  every  section  of  the 
neighboring  country.  It  is  situated  a  little  east  of 
the  center  of  the  city,  which  has  grown  more  rapidly  to 
the  west  than  was  anticipated,  and  stands  on  the  brow 
of  a  plateau  ninety  feet  above  the  level  of  the  low-tide 
water  of  the  Potomac.  This  commanding  position  was 
chosen  by  George  Washington.  The  Capitol  grounds 
are  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram,  and  contain  fifty- 
two  acres.  There  is  a  magnificent  conservatory  of 
flowers  within  the  enclosure,  and  beautiful  fountains, 
which  throw  the  clear,  limpid  waters  from  the  earth, 
sprinkling  the  bright  green  surface  beneath  with  myriads 
of  dew-drops,  sparkling  in  the  sunshine,  as  though  the 
spot  was   covered   with  glittering  diamonds.     But  the 


''^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  149 

principal  feature  of  the  grounds  is  a  spacious  court  on 
the  east  front,  which  approaches  from  all  the  avenues 
and  streets  leading  toward  the  Capitol.  Except  where 
these  approaches  enter  it,  the  court  is  bordered  by  an 
esplanade,  at  the  rear  of  which  is  a  continuous  seat,  from 
which  a  view  is  had  of  the  Capitol.  A  parapet  of  pierced 
stone-work  forms  the  back  of  the  seat,  separating  it  from 
the  green  park-like  glade.  The  parapet  is  broken  at 
intervals  by  piers,  which  support  beautiful  bronze  stan- 
dards, sustaining  each  two  lanterns.  The  colossal  statue 
of  Washington  stands  in  the  court  facing  the  east  front. 
It  bears  the  inscription,  "  First  in  war,  first  in  peace,  and 
first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen."  It  was  made  in 
Florence,  Italy,  and  you  may  judge  of  its  exquisite  finish 
when  it  was  under  the  hand  of  the  artist  eight  years. 
Its  weight  is  twelve  tons.  The  dome  of  the  Capitol  is, 
save  three,  the  highest  in  the  world,  and  from  its  top 
may  be  had  the  finest  view  on  the  continent  of  the  sur- 
rounding country. 

One  of  the  most  pleasant  days  we  spent  was  the  one 
on  which  we  visited  Mount  Vernon.  We  left  Wash- 
ington at  ten  A.  M  on  the  steamer  "  Arrow  "  The  day 
was  slightly  cloudy,  with  a  mystical  haze  (Hayes)  over 
all  things,  which  gave  an  air  of  enchantment  to  the 
scenery  and  made  one  dream  of  Paradise.  All  the  bays 
and  inlets  which  indented  the  shore  seemed  like  havens 
of  peace  and  rest,  and  the  white  houses  peeping  through 
the  misty  atmosphere.  They  were  far  more  lovely  than 
they  possibly  could  have  looked  in  the  strong  glare  of  the 
noon-day  sun.  The  Arsenal,  with,  its  willow  -bordered 
sea-wall;  the  St.  Elizabeth's  Insane  Asylum  with  its 
turreted  red  walls,  looking  like  some  abbey  of  the  olden 
land;  Fort  Foote,  perched  upon  the  highest  land  along 
the  route;  the  ancient  city  of  Alexandria,  or  Zelharen, 
as  it  was  called  in  the  early  time,  where  the  old  style 
spire  of  "  Christ  Church,"  of  which  Washington  was  so 


150  TJie  CJiisolni  Massacre, 

long  a  vestryman,  is  readily  identified;  Fort  Washington, 
with  its  strong  embrasures  and  parapets,  mounted  with 
guns,  and  planned  by  Washington  himself;  and,  at  last, 
Mount  Vernon,  most  sacred  shrine  of  all  lovers  of  lib- 
erty. All  were  bathed  in  a  gauze-like  veil,  which  hung 
like  enchantment  around  us.  We  passed  many  steam- 
ers, flying  rapidly  to  and  from  the  capital,  while  hund- 
reds of  sail-boats,  of  all  sizes,  floated  along  in  the  still 
waters  like  huge  birds,  sailing  with  the  current.  Land- 
ing at  Mount  Vernon,  we  were  introduced  to  Col.  Hol- 
lingsworth,  the  superintendent  of  the  house  and  grounds 
once  belonging  to  Washington,  and  now  owned  by  the 
ladies  of  America.  The  "Mansion  House"  looks  quite 
stately  from  the  river,  situated  about  two  hundred 
feet  above  the  water.  It  is,  indeed,  the  most  lovely 
place  I  ever  beheld.  To  the  left  of  the  road,  as  we  go 
to  the  mansion,  is  a  high,  well-wooded  hillside,  abound- 
ing in  trailing  arbutus  and  other  flowers.  About  half 
the  way  up,  in  a  small  ravine,  are  several  weeping  wil- 
lows, brought  from  the  grave  of  Napoleon,  at  St.  Helena. 
We  were  conducted  to  the  tomb,  where,  in  the  two 
sarcophaghi,  inside  a  vault  of  red  brick,  lie  the  remains 
of  George  and  Martha  Washington.  From  there,  we 
passed  to  the  old  vault  from  whence  the  bones  of  Wash- 
ington were  taken,  after  the  new  tomb  was  built.  We 
walked  through  every  room,  from  the  observatory  to  the 
cellar.  In  the  latter,  is  a  corner  stone,  with  the  initials 
of  Lawrence  Washington,  who  built  the  central  portion 
of  the  mansion,  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  years  ago. 
The  large  painting  of  Washington,  by  Peale;  the  model 
of  the  Bastile,  in  France,  cut  from  a  block  of  granite, 
from  the  famous  old  prison;  the  key  of  the  same,  pre- 
sented by  Lafayette;  the  clothes,  camp  equipage,  water- 
buckets,  spy-glass,  tripod,  and  many  other  things  were 
examined  with  great  interest  by  our  party.  The  room 
in  which  the  great  man  died,  is  between  the  two  south 


''Home  Rule''  m   Mississippi.  151 

windows,  where  they  were  at  that  time.  The  same 
table,  upon  which  his  medicine  stood,  and,  also,  that 
upon  which  his  candle  was  placed,  are  in  the  room; 
and  the  old  andiron  and  wire  screen  at  the  fire-place. 

Our  guide  told  us  that  when  one  died  in  the  good  old 
days,  in  Virginia,  the  room  was  closed  for  two  years  after 
the  death.  Mrs.  Washington  selected  the  room  imnie- 
diately  above  this  one — an  attic  —  because,  from  its 
windows,  she  could  watch  the  tomb  of  her  husband. 
Here  she  lived  for  eighteen  months,  admitting  no  one 
but  a  favorite  servant  and  cat.  The  corner  of  the  door 
may  still  be  seen  where  it  was  cut  out  for  the  ingress 
and  egress  of  the  cat.  And  here  Martha  Washington 
died.  We  were  told  she  passed  the  winter  without  a 
fire,  as  there  was  no  way  to  build  one  in  that  room.  Is 
it  not  probable  that  this  hastened  her  death  ? 

I  cannot  begin  to  tell  you  the  half.  I  know  you  are 
worn  out  now,  so  I'll  say  no  more  about  Mount  Vernon; 
though,  did  I  not  know  that  I'd  weary  you,  I  could  write 
about  it  all  day.  The  whole  scene  and  events  of  that 
visit  are  stamped  on  my  mind  more  vividly  than  any  I 
ever  passed  through.  I  have  spent  so  much  time 
describing  the  two  places  which  were  most  interesting  to 
me,  that  I  must  cut  the  others  short. 

We  witnessed  the  inauguration ;  and,  oh !  it  was  a 
a  grand  scene  !  I  also  attended  Mrs.  Hayes'  first  recep- 
tion, and  called  on  President  Grant.  I  attended  the 
theater  and  opera  quite  frequently,  and  "all  my  cares 
flew  away  "  while  there.  I  did  not  see  Grace  Greenwood 
to  know  her,  but  did  see  Dr.  Mary  Walker !  Beat  that, 
if  you  can  !  Neither  did  I  see  Gail  Hamilton,  but  I 
heard  John  B.  Gough  in  one  of  his  best  lectures,  and 
was  at  the  very  door  of  Mrs.  Southworth's  rustic,  vine 
clad  cottage,  where  the  waters  of  the  Potomac  might 
lull  her  to  sleep  every  night,  and  the  crowing  of  the 
chanticleer  at  General  Lee's  old  home  arouse  her  every 


152  TJie  Chisohn  Massacre, 

morning,  from  Arlington  Heights,  just  across  the  river. 
I  was  also  in  the  House  and  Senate,  almost  daily,  where 
congregated  the  finest  talent  of  the  land,  and  where  is 
diffused  more  eloquence  than  beneath  any  other  roof  in 
America.  I  heard  Morton,  Blaine,  Garfield  and  all  my 
favorites  speak. 

We  went  north  after  leaving  Washington,  and  spent  a 
week  in  New  York  city.  We  also  visited  the  Falls  of 
Niagara.  Such  a  scene  beggars  description,  and  makes 
me  feel  too  plainly  how  feeble  are  my  powers  of  speech 
in  attempting  to  describe  a  sight  so  grand.  When  papa 
and  I  first  saw  the  cataract,  we  could  only  stand  as 
though  riveted  to  the  spot,  and  gaze,  gaze;  until  it 
seemed  as  though  we  would  go  over  into  the  mighty 
waters,  so  terrible  was  the  flow.  We  were  completely 
awe-struck;  words  seemed  as  though  they  would  be  out 
of  place  at  such  a  time,  and  a  feeling  of  reverence,  for  the 
Giver  of  all  Good,  that  He  should  bestow  such  gifts 
upon  His  unworthy  children  seemed  to  creep  involun- 
tarily over  us.  We  were  loth  to  leave  the  spot  where 
we  had  seen  more  of  grandeur  concentrated  than  was 
elsewhere  to  be  found.  I  leave  it  to  your  imagination. 
Oh !  that  I  might  ever  retain  the  memory  of  the  scene 
which  met  my  eyes  when  I  visited  Niagara  Falls ! 

I  did  come  home  "heart  whole,"  but  not  exactly 
"  fancy  free." 

We  have  been  very  anxious  to  send  for  Lillian,  but  all  the 
horses  are  on  the  farm,  and  papa  can't  stop  them  just  yet. 
I'll  be  very  glad  when  she  can  come,  for  we  are  expecting 
the  boys — Johnny  and  Clay  —  to  leave  the  first  of  May 
for  St.  Louis,  where  they  will  take  a  commercial  course, 
and  I'll  be  very  lonesome  while  they  are  gone,  and  Lillian 
would  be  so  much  company  for  mamma  and  L 

I'm  very  impatient  to  see  the  twins,  too;  especially 
little  Rosalie,  as  you  say  she  resembles  her  cousin  Nelie. 
I  fear  I'll  be  partial  to  her,  though  I'll  love  them   both 

4 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  153 

just  as  much  as  I  can.  Has  Alexander  grown  to  be  as 
large  as  his  father  ?  or,  has  he  passed  into  oblivion  and 
given  place  to  his  sisters  in  his  father's  heart  ?  You  said 
not  a  word  of  him. 

If  I  were  to  apologize  for  this   long  letter,  it   would 
only  make  it  longer,  so  I  refrain. 

Papa  has  gone  to  Mobile.     All  are  well  and  join  me  in 
love  to  the  family. 

With  many  good  wishes,  I  am  your  niece, 

Nelie  J.  Chisolm. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

In  the  month  of  March,  on  turning  their  faces  home- 
ward, when  the  foreboding  shadows  of  the  old  life  in 
Kemper  once  more  fell  across  the  bright  pathway  of  the 
joyous  girl,  it  will  not  be  surprising  that  the  precursor 
of  danger  again  appeared  —  a  faithful  and  sleepless 
guardian  of  unselfish  love — and,  settling  upon  her  fond 
heart,  called  forth  the  following  expression,  uttered  in 
tears : 

"O  I  do  so  much  dislike  to  go  back  to  DeKalb  to 
live;  for  I  feel  as  though  something  terrible  is  going  to 
happen  to  papa." 

From  a  glimpse  of  Kemper  county  society  at  this  time, 
an  entire  stranger  and  one  Httle  thinking  of  evil  might 
well  have  turned  heart-sick  and  weary  away.  At  that 
very  moment  the  circuit  court  for  the  month  of  March, 
1877,  was  in  session,  when  Judge  J.  M.  Arnold,  by 
courtesy  exchanging  with  Judge  Hamm,  a  democrat 
of  the  strictest  school,  an  officer  of  high  ability  and 
a  gentleman  of  uncompromising  integrity,  was  com- 
pelled to  doff  the  judicial  robes,  and  for  the  time  assume 
the  functions  more  commonly  made  incumbent  upon  a 
chaplain  of  a  penitentiary  or  an  overseer  of  a  house  of 
correction.  Ascending  the  bench,  he  delivered  a  lecture 
upon  the  depraved  and  lawless  condition  of  society 
found  among  the  *'good  people."  John  W.  Gully  had 
now  recovered  from  the  wounds  received  in  December, 


''Home  Ride''  in  Mississippi.  i55 

I 
and,  as  usual,  was  at  the  head  of  a  strong  and  aggressive 
faction  of  his  own  party;  and  there  being  no  common 
enemy  to  fight,  as  a  matter  to  be  looked  for,  he  had 
declared  war  upon  the  more  timid  members  of  his  par- 
ticular faith,  and   between  his  own  and   the  opposing^ 
factions  there  grew  up  an  enmity  and  jealousy  as  bitter 
and  malignant  as  that   known  to  have  existed  against 
the  republican  party  in  its  palmiest  days.     The  sheriff, 
himself  an  imbecile  in  the  performance  of  any  legitimate 
duty  connected  with  his  office,  but  a  ready  and  willing 
tool  in  the  hands  of  the  villainous  men  who  foisted  him 
into  it  — as  will  soon  appear— had  permitted  the  doors 
of  the  jail  to  be  flung  open,  and  men  under  indictment 
for  crimes  so  heinous  that  bail  had  been  refused  even  by 
a  democratic  judge,  were  turned  loose  and  allowed  to 
roam  the  streets  at  will.     The  circuit  clerk  of  the  coun>  y 
living  thirteen  miles  distant  from  his  office  —  which  he 
entrusted  entirely  to  a  young  and  irresponsible  deputy 

was   then    under   a   bond   of    two    thousand    dollars 

for  his  appearance  to  answer  to  a  charge  of  embezzle- 
ment and  obtaining  money  under  false  pretenses.  The 
sheriff's  deputy  — George  Welch  — who  really  furnished 
the  brains  for  running  the  court  house  "  machine,"  a  sly, 
unscrupulous  and  intriguing  wire-worker,  aspired  to 
become  the  sheriff's  successor  in  office  as  against  the 
Gully  clan,  with  John  W.  Gully  at  the  head,  still 
repining  for  new  fields  of  conquest.  Between  Welch 
and  his  friends  and  the  Gullys  and  their  friends,  there 
was  a  jealousy  and  hatred  such  as  could  exist  nowhere 
else  under  similar  circumstances,  and  it  is  impossible  to 


156  The  CJdsolm  Massacre, 

divine  what  would  have  been  the  result  of  this  contest 
had  John  Gully  lived,  as  indeed  it  is  now  impossible  to 
tell  what  were  the  immediate  causes  leading  to  his  death. 
With  this  refreshing  picture  of  "  home  rule "  before  the 
somewhat  dazed  and  mystified  vision  of  Judge  Arnold, 
he  opened  the  March  term  of  the  court,  and  on  requesting 
the  clerk — or  his  deputy — to  produce  the  records,  lo  ! 
and  behold,  the  office  had  been  robbed !  Every  judg- 
ment and  civil  process  usually  entrusted  to  the  keeping 
of  the  clerk,  and  every  indictment  for  crime,  had  been 
spirited  away.  The  executive  and  judicial  functions  of 
the  county  had  thus  been  paralyzed ;  and  here  was  pre- 
sented the  striking  spectacle  of  the  people  of  a  whole 
county,  under  the  reign  of  "  peace  and  good  will  toward 
men,"  living  without  law  and  without  order.  Judge 
Arnold,  unable  to  proceed  further,  adjourned  his  court 
until  the  following  morning,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining 
time  to  deliberate  upon  the  situation.  He  then,  through 
the  sheriff,  called  to  order,  and,  in  the  presence  of  the 
various  officers  of  the  county  and  citizens  generally, 
administered  the  most  scathing  denunciation  of  the 
shameful  and  lawless  condition  in  which  he  had  found 
them  —  a  state,  to  use  very  nearly  his  own  words,  "of 
anarchy,  misrule  and  corruption,  which,  if  permitted  to  go 
unbridled,  would  lead  to  murder  and  arson,  and  all  the 
crimes  known  to  the  catalogue  of  infamy." 

He  admonished  the  "good  people"  to  waken  to  a 
sense  of  their  surroundings,  and,  for  the  love  of  every- 
thing dear  to  humanity,  to  rally  in  defense  of  law  and 
justice    trampled    under  foot.     He  especially  appealed 


^'- Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  15/ 

to  the  board  of  supervisors  and  directed  them  to  use 
every  means  in  their  power  to  bring  the  perpetrators  of 
this  and  all  other  crimes  to  justice;  told  them  that  they 
should  offer  a  reward  of  $500  or  $1,000  for  the  apprehen- 
sion of  those  who  had  robbed  the  clerk's  office,  and 
said  that  he  himself  would  recommend  the  governor 
to  offer  a  similar  amount.  He  stated  in  the  course  of 
his  remarks,  or  lecture,  that  now,  under  the  benign 
influence  of  "  home  rule  and  local  self-government,"  the 
people  looked  for,  and  from  the  fair  promises 
made,  had  a  right  to  expect  better  things.  That  Judge 
Arnold  is  a  man  of  far-seeing  judgment  and  close  obser- 
vation, will  be  shown  by  the  events  which  followed  upon 
the  scene  just  described. 

By  this  masterly  stroke  of  villainy,  murderers,  thieves, 
robbers,  house-breakers,  swindlers  of  every  grade,  and 
malefactors  in  office,  were  turned  loose  upon  the  commu- 
nity, and  to-day  are  plying  their  various  avocations 
without  let  or  hindrance.  Some  eighty-five  criminal  and 
forty  civil  processes  were  then  lost.  M.  L.  Naylor,  a 
magistrate,  indicted  for  misdemeanor  in  office,  was  thus 
set  at  liberty,  and  the  grand  jury,  of  which  Phil  Gully 
was  foreman,  failed  to  re-indict  in  this,  as  indeed  they  did 
in  nearly  or  quite  all  the  cases  where  a  member  of  the 
great  party  of  reform  was  in  any  way  involved. 

Some  months  before,  the  merchandise  of  M.  B.  Wood  & 
Co.,  a  firm  doing  business  in  Scooba,  was  attached  by  their 
northern  creditors,  who  suspicioned  them  of  fraudulently 
disposing  of  their  goods.  In  certain  cases  of  attach- 
ment  the  sheriff  has  authority  to  demand   a  bond  of 


158  The  Chisolvi  Massacre. 

indemnity  from  the  plaintiff.  It  was  believed  that  good 
and  sufficient  bonds  in  the  case  were  given,  but  on  com- 
ing up  in  the  circuit  court  —  September  term  of  that 
year  —  the  sheriff  objected  to  the  bonds,  alleging  that 
the  sureties,  for  various  reasons,  were  insufficient.  Upon 
this  a  warm  and  prolonged  controversy  arose  between 
the  lawyers  employed  on  either  side.  Finally  the  court 
adjourned  until  the  next  day,  when  it  was  found  the 
sheriff  had  dissolved  the  attachment,  as  the  statute 
gives  him  power  to  do,  when,  in  his  judgment,  sufficient 
indemnity  is  not  offered.  Thus  the  plaintiff  was 
defrauded  of  his  just  dues.  The  plaintiff's  attorneys, 
believing  this  act  on  the  part  of  the  sheriff  to  have  been 
fraudulent  and  illegal,  made  a  motion  before  the  court 
charging  the  same,  and  claiming  damages  of  the  sheriff, 
on  his  sureties,  for  the  amount  of  plaintiff's  whole  claim, 
amounting  altogether  to  eighteen  or  twenty  thousand 
dollars.  It  is  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  best  attorneys 
of  East  Mississippi  —  those  employed  at  the  Kemper 
county  bar — who  are  familiar  with  the  facts,  that  the 
sheriff,  Sinclair,  could  and  would  have  been  held  responsi- 
ble for  this  large  sum  of  money  had  not  the  robbery  of 
the  clerk's  office  been  procured,  and  every  paper  in  the 
case  stolen  and  destroyed.  By  the  theft  of  these  papers 
alone,  then,  one  of  the  most  villainous  swindling  schemes 
of  the  age  was  perpetrated. 

Under  the  conciliatory  policy,  as  indicated  by  the 
message  of  the  newly  inaugurated  president,  the  whole 
power  of  the  State  government  being  under  con- 
trol of  the  "best  citizens,"  Judge  Chisolm  indulged  the 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  159 

fond  hope  that  a  spirit  of  greater  tolerance  would  pre- 
vail, and  that  possibly  he  might  be  permitted  to  return 
home,  and  there  remain  unmolested  until  such  a  time  as 
he  could  dispose  of  his  property  and  leave  the  country 
forever,  which  it  was  his  settled  determination  to  do. 

On  the  29th  of  March,  the  father  and  daughter  arrived 
at  DeKalb;  he  to  resume  the  accustomed  routine  of 
business  on  his  plantations,  and  she  once  more  to  become 
the  central  star,  around  which  the  hopes  and  aspirations 
of  the  household  clung  in  the  fondest  admiration  and 

love. 

The  delight  experienced  by  the  fond  wife  and  mother, 
on  the  return  of  her  loved  ones,  knew  but  one  cloud,  and 
that  was  the  ever  present  fear  that  assassination  would 
overtake  her  husband,  before  he  could  settle  his  business 
and  get  away. 

Possessed  of  an  amiable  and  contented  disposition, 
it  was  the  good  fortune  of  Cornelia  to  be  able  to  make 
the  most  of  her  surroundings,  and  she  was  not  among 
those  to  sit  down  and  repine  at  any  condition,  however 
displeasing  it  might  be  in  fact;  and  a  few  days  later  she 
sent  a  friend  in  Washington  by  letter,  the  following 
cheerful  and  animated  picture  of  her  daily  life.  The 
message  bears  date  DeKalb,  April  22,  and  is  addressed 
to  her  " Dear  Flora."     Only  a  brief  extract  is  given: 

"  This  afternoon,  brother  and  I  mounted  our  horses  and 
galloped  away  for  a  ride.  We  left  the  road  about  five 
miles  from  town  and  took  to  the  woods,  and  I  would 
tell  you  how  beautiful  they  looked,  if  I  could.  The 
trees  are  all  clothed  in  a  soft,  tender  foliage— the  leaves 


l6o  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

being  about  half  grown.  There  are  lovely  flowers  of 
every  color  and  variety  now  in  bloom  along  the  creek. 
Brother  and  I  dismounted,  and  galloped  on  foot  through 
the  woods  for  an  hour  or  more.  I  will  send  you  a  little 
bouquet  of  wild  flowers  that  I  picked  by  the  creek, 
down  at  the  fish-trap,  on  papa's  plantation.  The  banks 
there  are  very  steep  and  high,  and  the  stream  being  now 
much  swollen  by  rains,  the  water  dashes  over  the  trap  in 
a  perfect  cataract.  The  beautiful  yellow  jessamines  meet 
across  the  stream,  and  clasp  their  soft,  sweet  blooms  and 
tendrils  together;  while  the  banks  are  gemmed  with 
forget-me-nots,  buttercups,  wild  violets,  dogwood  and 
honeysuckle.  Oh,  I  wish  you  could  have  been  with  us, 
on  our  ride;  then  you  would  know  how  delightful  it 
was.  It  is  getting  quite  late,  and  I'm  sleepy.  *  -J^-  * 
Sweet  papa  just  returned  from  St.  Louis,  yesterday,  and 
is  going  to  Mobile  this  week.  He  sends  his  kindest 
regards.  *  *  *  Remember  me  to  your  mama,  with 
love.  Your  affectionate  friend 

Nelie." 
But  to  the  household  generally,  the  time  passed  with 
the  usual  monotony  of  country  life,  save  only  the 
excitement  incident  to  the  preparations  being  made  to 
send  the  two  older  boys,  Clay  and  Johnny,  to  school  at 
St.  Louis.  The  Judge  had  been  to  Mobile  for  the  pur- 
pose of  negotiating  with  his  merchants  there,  for  funds  to 
defray  the  necessary  current  expenses.  In  the  afternoon 
of  the  26th  of  April,  he  returned  with  the  money  and 
suitable  equipments  for  the  boys,  and  the  tickets  for 
their  transportation  to  St.  Louis  in  his  pocket.     Coming 


'^Honie   Rule''  in  Mississippi.  i6i 

up  the  open  common,  in  front  of  the  house,  the  Judge 
was  first  greeted  by  Cornelia,  who,  running  down  the 
pathway,  threw  her  arms  around  his  waist  and  kissed 
him,  and  the  two  walked  to  the  front  gate,  where  they 
were  met  by  Mrs.  Chisolm,  and  together  all  passed  on 
to  the  house,  taking  seats  on  the  front  porch,  where  they 
were  soon  joined  by  the  three  boys.  While  there 
engaged  in  conversation  concerning  the  future,  and  dis- 
cussing the  probability  of  their  soon  being  able  to  leave 
DeKalb,  and  go  to  some  place  where  greater  security  to 
life,  and  the  pleasures  of  friendly  intercourse  with  their 
fellows  might  be  found,  John  W.  Gully  rode  by  on  the 
accustomed  route  to  his  home,  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
out  of  town.  He  had  been  from  sight  but  a  few  min- 
utes, when  a  negro  came  riding  hurriedly  up  from  the 
direction  in  which  Gully  had  gone,  and  reported  that 
Gully  had  been  waylaid  and  shot,  and  was  then  lying 
dead  in  the  road,  but  a  short  distance  from  his  own  door. 
The  shock  which  this  sudden  and  terrible  intelligence 
brought  to  the  happy  little  group  just  described,  can 
better  be  imagined  than  told;  but  certain  it  is,  not  one 
of  the  family  from  the  father  down,  bitter  and  malignant 
as  Gully's  enmity  toward  them  had  been,  who  did  not 
shed  tears  of  sorrow  and  regret.  Sorrow  for  the  mur- 
dered man  and  his  afflicted  family,  and  regret  that  they 
were  compelled  to  live  in  a  community  where  such  ter- 
rible crimes  were  permitted  to  go  without  the  shadow 
of  investigation  by  the  courts  of  the  country. 


II 


CHAPTER    XV. 

This  was  on  Thursday,  and  event  followed  event  in 
rapid  succession.  For  some  reason  never  yet  explained 
to  the  satisfaction  of  any  one  except  the  enemies  of 
Judge  Chisolm,  and  very  much  contrary  to  the  custom 
usual  in  a  climate  like  that  of  Mississippi,  Gully  was  not 
buried  until  Saturday,  the  28th.  And  here  it  becomes 
necessary  to  introduce  a  new  character  in  the  progress 
of  this  story,  and  one  whose  significant  name  will  be 
closely  allied  with  the  darkest  phase  of  the  infamy  now 
to  be  disclosed.  At  the  burial,  a  large  crowd  of  citizens 
had  assembled  from  all  parts  of  the  county.  George 
S.  Covert,  who  had  married  a  niece  of  Gully,  and  lived 
in  Meridian,  a  distance  of  thirty-five  miles  from  DeKalb, 
appeared  upon  the  scene,  and  became  the  central  figure 
in  the  conspiracy  which  was  there  consummated.  Covert 
was  from  the  "  city,"  wore  a  clean  linen  shirt,  and  words 
from  his  mouth  fell  upon  the  ears  of  the  savage  horde 
like  an  inspired  revelation.  These  men,  quick  enough  at 
best  to  inaugurate  a  scene  of  debauch  and  riot,  and 
ready  at  all  times  to  credit  any  story,  no  matter  how 
false  and  groundless  against  a  political  opponent,  were 
told  by  Covert  and  his  wife's  kindred,  that  Ben  Rush 
was  Gully's  assassin ;  that  he  had  been  hired  to  do  the 
deed  by  Judge  Chisolm,  who  was  then  at  his  home  in 
DeKalb,  and  now  an  opportunity  had  presented  itself 
in  which  they  could  rise   in  the  majesty  of  their  might, 


''Home   Rule''  in   Mississippi.  163 

and  rid  the  county  and  the  world  of  this  man.  Nor 
must  they  undertake  so  hazardous  a  task  alone.  Chis- 
olm,  they  well  knew,  would  fight  with  that  desperation 
and  strength  which  a  consciousness  of  right  and  a 
determination  to  defend  his  home  and  his  children  to  the 
last,  would  lend  him,  and  numbers  sufficiently  large  to 
insure  success  without  danger  to  themselves  must  be 
gathered.  Accordingly  a  courier  was  dispatched  to 
Ramsey  Station,  in  Alabama,  and  the  aid  of  their  old 
confederates  in  blood  invoked.  The  Alabamians,  it 
appears,  were  somewhat  loth  to  respond  to  this  call, 
unless  some  more  plausible  excuse  for  riot  and  murder 
in  open  day  could  be  shown,  and  we  are  thus  spared  the 
pain  of  adding  another  horror  to  the  long  list  of  their 
terrible  deeds. 

To  give  character  and  tone  to  the  statement  already 
circulated,  implicating  Judge  Chisolm  in  the  murder  of 
Gully,  it  was  told  at  the  funeral  that  Rush  had  been 
seen  but  a  short  time  before  by  two  negroes  —  George 
Fox  and  Dee  Hampton  —  at  night,  in  a  saloon  in  com- 
pany with  Chisolm  and  Gilmer,  when  in  the  very  act  of 
concocting  the  scheme  for  the  assassination,  and  all  the 
time  Rush  held  in  his  hand  the  fatal  shot-gun  with 
which  his  work  was  to  be  accomplished.  To  this  was 
added  the  story  that  he  had  secretly  met  Judge  Chisolm, 
while  the  latter  was  at  Mobile,  when  the  barter  and  sale 
of  death  was  finally  agreed  upon,  and  the  money  actually 
paid  to  Rush.  The  ghost  of  this  man  Rush,  whose 
destruction  Gully  himself  had  so  many  times  sought, 
would  never  "  down."     Rush,  who  singly  and  alone,  in 


164  The  Chisolni  Massacre. 

open  battle,  had  faced  the  whole  murderous  Gully  clan, 
was  the  only  one  upon  whom  they  could,  with  any 
degree  of  plausibility,  fasten  the  guilt  of  John  W.  Gully's 
untimely  taking  off.  Upon  this  point  alone  their  case 
rested ;  for,  through  no  other  device  or  subterfuge  could 
they  reach  the  object  of  their  especial  hate  and  fear. 
Chisolm  was  the  real  murderer,  and  Rush  the  guilty 
agent.  This  theory  must  be  established  or  their  case 
fall  to  the  ground.  Upon  this  theory  Covert  claimed 
to  be  acting  under  advice  of  eminent  counsel  from 
Meridian.  A  case  against  them  could  be  sustained  far 
enough,  it  was  believed,  to  accomplish  the  original  design, 
and  quench  their  thirst  for  blood.  But  this  work,  it  was 
agreed,  must  be  effected  without  danger  to  themselves. 
What  was  done  must  be  done  quickly,  and  time  should 
not  be  taken  for  reflection.  If,  by  any  means,  Chisolm 
should  become  apprised  of  their  purposes  before  his 
arrest  and  confinement  had  been  accomplished,  they  well 
knew  he  would  call  around  him  again,  as  in  times  past, 
a  few  devoted  and  heroic  men,  upon  whom  an  assault 
could  only  be  carried  at  a  most  alarming  sacrifice  to  the 
assailants.  The  better  to  secure  the  object  of  the  con- 
spiracy, Gilmer  and  Rosenbaum,  who  lived  at  Scooba,  and 
the  two  Hoppers  living  at  DeKalb,  were  to  be  taken  sim- 
ultaneously with  Judge  Chisolm,  disarmed,  and  together 
all  to  be  locked  up  in  jail.  The  arrests  must  be  made 
under  the  forms  of  law  and  the  promise  of  protection, 
else  they  would  not  be  tamely  submitted  to,  and  these 
men,  when  thus  warned  of  danger,  would  be  left  to 
band    together    at   will,   in   defense   of   their   lives    and 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  165 

homes.     All  the  work  that  remained,  after  the  cell  doors 
were  fastened  upon  the  victims,  could  be  done  easily  and 
with  no  risk.     The  accomplishment  of  this,  then,  became 
the  great  strategic  point ;  and  to  George  S.  Covert  was 
mainly   assigned    that    delicate    and    refined    piece    of 
villainy.     If  the  Meridian  Mercury,  a  newspaper  published 
in  his  own  town,  is  in  any  way  to  be  credited.  Covert  had 
recently  met   with    unparalleled    success   in   keeping   a 
bosom  crony  out  of  the  penitentiary  by  means  of  bribery, 
false  swearing  and  the  like,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  GuUys  should  have  made  choice  of  this  one  of  their 
numerous  relatives,  whose  rare  genius  in  the  art  of  deceit 
and  perjury  had  been  so  well  established,  to  assist  them 
through  a  similar  means,  in  getting  Judge  Chisolm  and 
his   associates   locked  up  in   jail,  where  they  might   be 
burned  or  shot   to  death   as    circumstances   presented. 
Before  these  men  could  thus  be  arrested  and  confined, 
a  warrant,  or  something  having  the  appearance  of  a  war- 
rant, authorizing  it,  and  based  upon  a  solemn  oath,  must 
be  presented.     Covert,  though  not  valiant  in  the  use  of 
the  shot-gun,  was  ready  in  the  performance  of  this  work, 
and  J.  L.  Spinks,  a  justice  of  the  peace  —  the  same  of 
whom  mention  is  made  elsewhere  —  himself  undoubtedly 
knowing  its  full  purport  and  meaning,  issued  the  warrant 
which  is  copied  below,  verbatim  et  literatim  : 

State  of  Mississippi,  \ 
Kemper  County.         j 
To  the  sheriff  or  any  constable  in  said  county  greeting : 
Whereas,  Geo.  S.  Covert  has  this  day  made  complaint, 
on  oath,  to  the  undersigned,  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  and 


1 66  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

for  the  county,  that  he  fully  believes  and  has  good 
reason  to  believe  that  B.  F.  Rush  did,  on  the  night  of 
the  26th  inst.,  kill  and  murder  John  W.  Gully,  and  that 
W.  W.  Chisolm,  Alex  Hopper,  Newt  Hopper,  J.  P.  Gil- 
mer and  Charlie  Rosenbaum  were  accessories  to  the 
deed.  Wherefore  we  command  you  to  forthwith  appre- 
hend the  said  B.  F.  Rush,  W.  VV.  Chisolm,  Alex  Hopper, 
Newt  Hopper,  J.  P.  Gilmer  and  Charlie  Rosenbaum,  the 
accused,  and  bring  them  before  T.  W.  Brame,  Esq.,  or 
some  other  justice  of  the  peace  of  said  county,  at 
DeKalb,  on  Monday,  the  30th  day  of  April,  1877,  to 
answer  the  above  charge,  and  do  or  receive  what,  accord- 
ing to  law,  may  be  considered  touching  the  same,  and 
have  you  then  and  there  this  writ. 

Witness  my  hand  and  seal,  April  28,  1877. 

(Signed)  J.  L.  Spinks,  J.  P.,    [Seal.] 
•  Kemper  County. 

State  of  Mississippi,  ) 
Kemper  County.  f 
Before  me,  J.  L.  Spinks,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  in  and 
for  said  county,  personally  came  Geo.  S.  Covert,  who 
stated,  upon  oath,  that  he  fully  believes  and  has  good 
reason  to  believe  that  B.  F.  Rush  did,  on  the  night  of 
the  26th  inst.,  in  said  county,  feloniously  kill  and  murder 
John  W.  Gully,  and  that  W.  W.  Chisolm,  Alex  Hopper, 
Newt  Hopper,  J.  P.  Gilmer  and  Charlie  Rosenbaum  were 
accessories  to  the  deed ;  whereupon  he  prays  that  war- 
rants be  issued  for  their  arrest,  and  they  be  made  to 
answer  the  charges  brought  against  them. 

(Signed)  Geo.  S.  Covert. 

Sworn  and  subscribed  to  before,  me  April  28th,  1877. 

(Signed)  J.  L.  Spinks,  J.  P. 

Witnesses: — J.  J.  Griffin,  S.    Evans,    Esq.,  Jno.   W. 
Smith,  J.  R.  Smith,  Dr.  Edwards,  M.  Rosenbaum. 


''Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  167 

The  following  indorsements  were  found  written  across 
the  back  of  this  warrant: 

"The  State  of  Mississippi 
vs, 
B.  F.  Rush, 

W.   W.   CHISOLM,  ,     WARRANT 

Alex  Hopper,  | 

Newt  Hopper,  I 

J.  P.  Gilmer,  and  | 

Charlie  Rosenbaum.  J 

Rec'd  in  office  April  29,  1877. 

(Signed)   F.  C.  SINCLAIR,  Sheriff. 

"  I  hereby  appoint  W.  W.  Holsel  my  legal  and  special 
deputy,  to  execute  and  return  this  writ  according  to  law. 

April  29,  1877.  ^^     .„„ 

(Signed)  F.  C.  SINCLAIR,  Sheriff. 

M.  Rosenbaum,  whose  name  appears  above  as  one  of 
the  "witnesses"  to  the  murder  of  John  W.  Gully,  has 
been  for  twenty-five  years  one  of  DeKalb's  most  hon- 
ored and  respected  citizens.     He  is  the  father  of  Charlie 
Rosenbaum,  one  of  the  accused,  and  upon  his  honor  as 
a  gentleman,  declares  that  he  never  was  approached  by 
Covert,  or  any  one  else,  in  regard  to  the  killing  of  Gully; 
that  he  knows  nothing  whatever  of  the  facts,  and  that  his 
name  was  there  used  without  his  knowledge  or  consent. 
"  Dr."  Edwards,  whose  name,  even,  they  did  not  know, 
and  J.  R.  Smith  are  residents  of  Meridian.     They  have 
both  been  life-long  friends  of  Judge  Chisolm,  and  make 
the  same  declaration  in    regard   to    their  connection  with 
the  pretended  warrant,  and  their  knowledge  of  the  guilt 


1 68  TJic  CJiisolin  Massacre. 

of  the  accused  parties,  that  Rosenbaum  does.  The 
names  of  the  two  negroes,  it  will  be  borne  in  mind, 
do  not  appear  on  the  warrant  as  witnesses  at  all.  John 
W.  Smith  and  S.  Evans  are  the  attorneys  under  whose 
advice  Covert  acted,  if  his  own  statements  are  to  be 
relied  upon.  Smith  lives  in  Meridian  and  Evans  at 
Enterprise,  distant  thirty-five  and  fifty-five  miles,  respect- 
ively, from  DeKalb  and  the  scene  of  the  assassination 
concerning  which  their  names  are  written  down  as  wit- 
nesses. What  they  proposed  to  testify  to  has  never 
been  divulged,  as  the  warrant  does  not  appear  ever  to 
have  been  "  executed  and  returned  according  to  law." 
But  what  signified  an  act  of  false  swearing  to  a  man  like 
Covert,  with  a  soul  not  only  void  of  honor,  but  human 
sympathy  as  well. 

The  warrant,  as  will  be  seen,  was  issued,  or  claimed  to 
have  been  issued  Saturday,  and  made  returnable  before 
Esquire  Brame,  in  DeKalb,  on  Monday.  This  early 
return  was  arranged  to  meet  any  doubt  which  might 
arise  in  Judge  Chisolm's  mind  as  to  the  danger  of  delay 
after  his  arrest,  whereby  a  crowd  of  ruffians  might  be 
assembled  for  the  object  of  taking  the  law  into  their  own 
hands.  He  would  then  expect  to  pass  over  the  Sabbath 
in  custody*  Meantime,  by  the  quick  despatch  of  couriers 
to  every  portion  of  the  county,  at  the  dead  hour  of 
night,  through  dark  and  unfrequented  bridle-paths,  across 
streams,  lagoons  and  swamps  —  the  old  familiar  routes 
so  often  traveled  b}'  these  men  in  days  gone  by,  when 
their  mission  had  no  worse  significance  than  the 
whipping  or  killing  of  some  poor  negro  or  teacher  of  a 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  169 

public  school  —  willing  hearts  and  hands  could  be 
gathered  at  DeKalb  early  on  Sunday  morning,  sufficient 
in  numbers  to  guarantee  their  ability  to  murder  two  or 
three  men  already  disarmed  and  securely  locked  up  in 
jail,  awaiting  the  process  of  a  judicial  investigation,  and 
that  without  incurring  much  danger  to  themselves. 

This  was  the  plot  by  means  of  which  the  great  work, 
so  many  times  defeated,  was  finally  to  be  accomplished, 
and  in  which  George  S.  Covert,  an  "  honored  and 
respected  citizen"  of  Meridian,  appeared  as  the  great 
overshadowing  genius. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

All  night  long  the  sound  of  iron  hoofs  rang  out  upon 
the  motionless  air,  soon  to  be  rent  by  the  murderous 
discharge  of  guns,  mingled  with  the  shouts  of  savage 
men,  the  shrieks  of  despairing  women  and  affrighted  chil- 
dren, whose  prayers  and  tears  and  warm  life-blood  were 
to  add  fresh  fuel  to  the  unbridled  flame  of  hate  and 
fury.  All  night  long,  girt  about  with  pistol  and  leathern 
belt,  and  guns  across  the  saddle's  pommel,  the  grim- 
visaged  and  grinning  barbarians  rode  into  DeKalb  by 
twos,  threes  and  fours.  Before  the  soft  and  genial  rays 
of  the  sun  of  early  spring  had  kissed  away  the  dew  of 
that  beautiful  Sabbath  morning,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  reared  in  the  most  degrading  ignorance  and  trained 
in  a  school  of  blood  and  crime,  were  hovering  about  the 
environs  of  DeKalb,  ready  to  do  the  will  of  any  one 
who  might  assume  leadership. 

They  had  not  long  to  wait.  Sinclair,  the  imbecile 
sheriff  and  ready  tool  of  the  conspirators,  with  two 
deputies,  had  already  gone,  fortified  with  his  forged  and 
fraudulent  warrant  to  the  house  of  Alex  Hopper,  and 
placed  him  and  his  younger  brother  Newton  under 
arrest.  Hopper  expressed  unwillingness  to  go  with  the 
sheriff  until  he  had  breakfasted,  and  the  sheriff  reluctantly 
consented  to  wait.  During  this  delay,  Hopper  clandes- 
tinely sent  a  note  by  a  negro  to  inform  Judge  Chisolm 
that    he   himself   had    already  been    arrested    under  a 


'^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  171 

cliarge  of  complicity  in  the  murder  of  John  W.  Gully, 
that  the  sheriff  and  his  deputies  would  next  visit  him 
for  the  same  purpose,  and  that  warrants  were  also  out 
for  the  arrest  of  Gilmer  and  Rosenbaum.  This,  as  will 
be  seen,  afforded  Judge  Chisolm  ample  time  to  have 
escaped,  if  he  had  desired  it,  and  which  he  certainly 
would  have  done  had  he  felt  the  gnawings  of  a  guilty 
conscience.  His  wife  and  children,  with  quick  intuition, 
accustomed  as  they  had  been  to  scenes  of  danger  and 
outlawry,  knowing  well  the  spirit  that  possessed  the 
hearts  of  the  men  who  were  thus  seeking  to  place  their 
beloved  guardian  within  a  mesh  from  which  escape 
would  be  impossible,  implored  him  to  mount  a  horse  and 
leave  at  once.  To  this  Judge  Chisolm  replied  that  he 
had  nothing  to  fear;  was  innocent  of  any  crime  or 
offense  against  the  law,  and  that  for  no  consideration 
would  he  incur  the  suspicion  of  guilt  by  leaving  his 
home,  or  in  any  way  trying  to  avoid  any  just  and  legal  pro- 
cess. While  his  breakfast  was  being  prepared,  his  wife 
sent  a  servant  to  the  stable  for  a  horse,  thinking  that 
possibly  the  Judge  might  yet  be  prevailed  upon  to  go. 
She  also  ordered  a  cup  of  coffee  to  be  placed  upon  the 
table  in  advance  of  the  regular  meal,  and  with  all  the 
earnestness  of  her  nature,  begged  her  husband  to  drink 
his  coffee,  and  then  mount  the  horse  and  fly  from  the 
certain  and  inevitable  death  which  awaited  him. 

While  the  mother  and  daughter  were  thus  beseeching, 
the  sheriff  and  deputies,  with  the  two  Hoppers,  came 
up,  and  the  warrant  produced  in  the  preceding  chapter 
was    handed   him    to   read.      Judge   Chisolm   willingly 


1/2  TJie  Chisolni  Massacre, 

submitted  to  its  decree,  but  objected  to  being  carried  to 
jail,  where  he  had  reason  to  believe  he  would  be  mur- 
dered, and  asked  that  a  guard  might  be  placed  over  him 
at  his  own  house.  To  this  the  sheriff  at  first  objected, 
stating  that  "they  say  you  must  go  to  jail."  By  this 
time  a  number  of  men  had  gathered  about  the  house, 
and  the  sheriff  consented  to  leave  his  prisoners  there,  in 
charge  of  men  appointed,  until  they  could  have  a  hear- 
ing the  following  morning.  Judge  Chisolm  named  some 
of  the  persons  whom  the  sheriff  designated  as  guards, 
and  he  then  despatched  a  courier  to  inform  Gilmer  and 
Rosenbaum  of  their  contemplated  arrest,  advising  them 
to  come  to  DeKalb,  and  give  themselves  up  peaceably 
as  he  had  done.  Men  in  greater  numbers,  with  guns  in 
their  hands,  continued  to  assemble  around  the  house 
from  every  direction.  Finally,  without  a  reason  being 
^iven  for  so  doing.  Judge  Chisolm  was  removed  to  a 
small  building  apart,  and  in  which  there  was  no  fire- 
place, and  composed  of  thin  weather-boarding,  having 
no  lock  or  other  means  of  fastening  the  door.  On  pass- 
ing into  the  room,  the  Judge  for  the  first  time  saw  that 
his  premises  from  every  quarter  were  occupied  by  armed 
men,  while  others  stood  in  the  streets  leading  by. 

He  asked  the  sheriff  the  meaning  of  all  this,  and  his 
reply  was  that,  "  TJiey  say  your  guard  must  be  in- 
creased." Mrs.  Chisolm  then  came  in  and  protested 
against  her  husband  being  confined  in  a  damp  room, 
without  fire,  as  he  was  otherwise  in  poor  health  and 
subject  to  asthma.  The  sheriff  then  consented  to  the 
prisoner  being  conveyed  back  to  the  house,  and,  as  they 


''Home  Rule''  m  Mississippu  173 

were  passing  the  open  space  in  the  yard,  between  the 
building  in  which  he  had  been  temporarily  confined  and 
the  dwelling,  a  large  crowd  of  .villainous  looking  men 
rushed  in  a  body,  with  guns  in  their  hands,  and  sur- 
rounded him.  The  Judge  again  asked  the  sheriff  if  this 
was  the  usual  mode  of  treating  a  prisoner  when  in 
charge  of  the  proper  officers  of  the  law.  His  only  reply 
was,  "  They  say  that  you  must  be  securely  guarded." 
Judge  Chisolm  then  asked  who  he  meant  by  ''theyT 
Was  he  the  sheriff  of  the  county,  acting  under  the 
proper  requirements  of  the  law,  or  was  he  simply 
the  instrument  of  a  mob,  which  only  sought  the  life  of  a 
defenseless  victim  ?  To  this  no  reply  was  made,  and  in 
a  few  minutes,  after  first  going  out  upon  the  streets  and 
holding  a  conversation  with  a  man  named  Jere  Watkins, 
who  had  just  ridden  up  from  the  rear  of  Judge  Chisolm's 
house,  at  the  head  of  a  large  body  of  armed  men,  and 
who  is  known  to  be  a  most  notorious  Ku-Klux  des- 
perado and  villain,  the  sheriff  returned  and  told  Judge 
Chisolm  that  he  must  now  go  to  jail.  "  They  say  you 
must  go  to  jail,"  were  the  exact  words  he  used.  Mrs. 
Chisolm  then  asked  the  privilege  of  being  alone  with  her 
husband  a  few  minutes  before  he  left,  and,  without  wait- 
ing for  the  sheriffs  consent,  she  went  with  him  into  an 
adjoining  room,  where  she  opened  a  closet  from  which 
there  was  a  trap-door  leading  into  a  garret  above.  She 
then  besought  her  husband  to  take  refuge  there;  that 
she  would  hand  him  his  guns,  and  he  could  defend  him- 
self against  the  whole  cowardly  horde,  and  if  finally 
killed,  which  she  believed  was  more  than  probable,  he 


1/4  ^^^^  CJdsolni  Massacre. 

would  not  die  like  a  felon,  but  his  last  breath  would  be 
drawn  in  his  own  house,  where  he  would  be  surrounded 
by  his  wife  and  children,  who  worshipped  him.  This  he 
also  refused  to  do,  stating  that  he  had  submitted  to  the 
mandates  of  the  law,  and  that  he  must  wait  and  obey 
its  processes.  Besides,  if  he  were  to  secrete  himself  in 
the  house,  as  the  mob  knew  he  was  there,  when  the 
shooting  began,  his  wife  and  children  would  probably  be 
sacrificed  and  the  building  burned  down  over  their  heads. 
Without  further  hesitation  he  placed  himself  in  the 
hands  of  the  sheriff  and  his  guards — none  of  whom 
were  those  originally  selected  by  Judge  "Chisolm  —  and 
the  procession  moved  toward  the  jail.  The  Judge's  wife, 
and  the  children,  Cornelia,  Clay,  Johnny  and  Willie,  all 
followed  close  by  his  side. 

Before  leaving  the  house,  Angus  McLellan,  a  brave 
and  sturdy  old  Scotchman,  and  a  subject  of  Great 
Britain,  who  had  stood  by  Judge  Chisolm  through  many 
a  trying  scene  before ;  kind  and  gentle  as  a  woman  when 
not  aroused,  but  determined  as  fearless  when  in  defense 
of  that  which  he  conceived  to  be  the  right,  came  in  and 
volunteered  whatever  assistance  he  might  be  able  to  ren- 
der the  distressed  family ;  and,  arming  himself  with  Clay 
Chisolm's  gun,  followed  them  to  the  jail.  When  near  the 
door  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  leading  up  to  the  cells, 
the  sheriff  stopped  Mrs.  Chisolm  and  refused  her  admis- 
sion. She  insisted,  and,  despite  his  efforts  to  prevent, 
went  up,  as  did  all  the  children  and  McLellan. 

Meantime  Gilmer  and  Rosenbaum,  who  had  received 
Judge  Chisolm's  note,  set  out  for  DeKalb,  in  compliance 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  i;-5 

with  his  request  to  come  in  and  give  themselves  up  to 
the  sheriff.  Gilmer,  when  preparing  to  leave  home,  took 
off  his  watch  and  all  valuable  papers  about  his  person 
and  gave  them  to  his  wife,  and  while  at  the  glass, 
arranging  his  toilet  —  with  which  he  took  more  than 
usual  pains  —  he  said  to  her,  "  Effie,  if  I  were  to  die  sud- 
denly, you  would  not  have  me  buried  until  certain  that  I 
was  dead,  would  you  ? "  To  this  she  replied  "  no,"  and 
then,  holding  her  little  child  in  her  arms,  she  went  up  to 
her  husband,  and  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  begged  him  not 
to  go  to  DeKalb;  or,  if  he  would  go,  to  take  her  with 
him.  Having  no  conveyance  ready  at  the  time,  Mr. 
Gilmer  could  not  grant  her  request;  but  told  his  wife 
that  if  he  was  sent  to  jail  she  could  come  up  late  in  the 
evening  and  remain  with  him  until  his  release,  which  he 
felt  sure  would  take  place  the  following  day.  They  pro- 
ceeded on  their  journey,  and  when  about  half  way  to 
DeKalb,  Gilmer  and  Rosenbaum  met  a  deputy  sheriff 
who  had  started  to  Scooba  for  the  purpose  of  arresting 
them. 

This  man  said  nothing  about  making  an  arrest,  but 
when  aside  with  Gilmer,  showed  him  the  warrant  and 
told  him  as  he  valued  his  life  not  to  go  to  DeKalb  at 
all  that  day.  But  they  rode  on,  and  when  arriving  at 
the  residence  of  Mr.  M.  Rosenbaum,  father  of  the  young 
man  alluded  to,  they  stopped  and  sent  a  note  in  to  the 
sheriff,  stating  that  they  were  there  and  would  remain 
subject  to  his  order.  This  was  about  twelve  o'clock. 
James  Brittain,  a  citizen  living  near,  who  had  been 
deputized  by  the  sheriff,  came,  took  them  into  custody 


176  The  CJiisohn  Massacre, 

and  started  to  the  jail.  As  they  passed  along  the 
streets  squads  of  armed  men  fell  in  at  intervals  from 
every  accessible  point.  The  two  prisoners  began  to 
show  signs  of  uneasiness,  when  Brittain  took  Gilmer  by 
the  wrist,  and  while  thus  holding  him,  one  of  the  Gullys 
emptied  a  charge  of  buck-shot  into  his  back  between  the 
shoulders.     Gilmer  exclaimed  : 

"  O  !  Lord ;  don't  shoot  any  more !  I  gave  myself  up 
and  you  promised  to  protect  me!" 

He  then  broke  loose  and  attempted  to  run  into  a 
narrow  alley,  between  two  buildings,  but  was  confronted 
at  the  other  end  of  the  passage  by  a  crowd  of  men  and 
there  shot  down  and  his  prostrate  body  riddled  with 
bullets.  That  evening,  before  leaving  home,  while  pre- 
paring to  follow  her  husband  to  DeKalb,  his  mangled 
and  bloody  corpse  was  laid  down  at  Mrs.  Gilmer's  feet. 

Rosenbaum  appealed  to  a  friend  whom  he  recognized  in 
the  mob  —  none  of  them  were  disguised  —  and  through 
his  assistance  kept  out  of  range  of  the  guns  which  were 
frequently  leveled  at  him,  and  was  in  that  way  carried 
on  to  the  jail,  where  we  left  Judge  Chisolm  and  his  , 
family  but  an  hour  or  two  before. 


CHAPTER     XVII. 

Gilmer  was  already  dead,  and  the  young  widow  with 
her  orphan  child,  and  Gilmer's  aged  mother,  paralyzed 
with  grief,  were  bending  over  his  cold  and  inanimate 
form.  Chisolm,  Rosenbaum  and  the  two  Hoppers  were 
now  securely  locked  up,  and  no  friend  of  either  bore  arms 
save  the  dreaded  Scotchman,  McLellan.  All  the  work 
which  had  been  assigned  to  Covert  and  his  aids,  was 
thus  successfully  accompHshed,  and  that  worthy  had 
already  withdrawn  to  some  safe  retreat.  He  was  him- 
self the  father  of  a  blooming  family,  with  young  daughters 
just  budding  into  womanhood.  Doubtless  he  did  not 
care  to  linger  where  the  screams  of  women  and  children, 
mangled,  torn  and  bleeding,  would  soon  rend  the  air,  and, 
like  a  poisoned  and  barbed  arrow,  strike  deep  into  his 
cowardly  and  guilty  heart.  Now  this  much  was  done, 
before  the  final  slaughter  began  it  was  desirable  that 
the  alleged  proof  of  the  complicity  of  these  men  in 
Gully's  murder  should  actually  be  produced.  Where  no 
proof  is  known  to  exist  in  fact,  in  some  countries  the 
process  of  manufacturing  it  is  slow  and  often  impossible; 
but  not  so  in  others.  At  least,  a  process  which  had 
before  served  well  in  many  a  case  on  record  in  Missis- 
sippi, and  which  had  seldom  failed,  was  left  the  people 
of  Kemper. 

The  two  negroes,  who  were  reported  to  have  seen 
Chisolm  and  Rush  in  their  mysterious  nightly  vigils  when 

12 


178  TJic  CJtisolm  Massacre, 

concocting  the  scheme  of  murder,  were  to  be  compelled 
so  to  testify;  and  now  that  the  confinement  of  Judge 
Chisolm  and  his  friends  prevented  the  possibility  of 
interference  on  their  part,  Fox  and  Hampton,  the  pre- 
tended colored  witnesses,  were  taken  into  a  wood,  near 
by,  and  hung  by  the  neck  for  the  purpose  of  enforc- 
ing them  to  testify  to  something  which  they  never  saw 
or  heard.  Knowing  nothing,  as  a  matter  of  course,  they 
told  nothing,  and,  after  having  been  strangled  and  beaten 
nearly  to  death,  were  permitted  to  go,  and  the  alleged 
proof  has  never  yet  been  found. 

Within  the  dark  and  frowning  walls  of  the  county  jail, 
shut  up  with  common  thieves  and  prisoners  of  the 
lowest  grade,  from  an  early  hour  on  that  Sabbath  morn- 
ing until  the  sun  had  sunk  well-nigh  down  the  western 
horizon,  the  doomed  family  waited,  and  watched  and 
prayed;  while  without,  three  hundred  yelling  sayages, 
like  hungry  wolves,  were  clamoring  for  their  blood. 

The  quick,  sharp  report  of  a  dozen  murderous  shot- 
guns from  up  the  street,  and  the  subsequent  appearance 
of  Charlie  Rosenbaum,  who  was  thrust  into  jail  like 
a  felon  upon  the  scaffold ;  the  loud  curses  and  yells  of 
the  infuriated  mob,  all  together,  told  too  well  the  fate 
which  had  befallen  Gilmer. 

Inside  the  jail,  the  pretended  guards  would  put  down 
their  guns,  and  pass  out  and  in  at  will.  Many  of  these 
were  men  who  had  known  Judge  Chisolm  and  his  fam- 
ily well  for  years ;  and  not  a  few  of  them  had,  for  as  long 
a  time,  been  pensioners  upon  his  bounty.  Among  others, 
Phil    Gully  came  in  and    spoke   of  the   many  acts  of 


^^ Home  Rule''  hi   Mississippi.  179 

courtesy  which  had  passed  between  himself  and  Judge 
Chisolm  in  days  gone  by.  At  one  time,  the  guns  were 
stacked  in  a  corner,  and  nearly  all  the  guards  went  out, 
when  Cornelia  discovered  that  some  of  the  pieces,  at 
least,  were  loaded  only  with  blank  cartridges.  She  told 
her  father  that  in  case  the  guards  did  not  come  back,  he 
might  have  to  withstand  a  siege,  and  in  that  event 
would  need  amunition,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  go 
to  the  house  for  the  purpose  of  getting  it.  To  this  the 
father  objected,  at  first,  fearing  that  she  would  meet 
with  insult,  and  probably  personal  harm  in  passing 
through  the  mob  without.  She  insisted,  and  after  get- 
ting consent  of  the  jailor  to  pass,  under  the  pretense  of 
going  for  food,  took  her  little  brother  Willie,  and 
together  they  went  to  the  house.  While  there,  she 
gathered  up-  all  the  jewelry,  silver-ware  and  other  val- 
uables, packed  them  securely  in  trunks,  locked  the  trunks 
and  carried  them  into  closets,  which  she  also  securely 
fastened;  then  secreting  powder,  bullets  and  wadding 
under  her  skirts,  took  some  provisions  in  her  arms, 
and  with  WiUie  returned  to  the  jail,  and  there  informed 
her  father  that  the  servants  had  all  taken  flight,  and  that 
the  premises  were  deserted.  Judge  Chisolm  then  ex- 
pressed a  desire  that  the  stock,  especially  the  horses, 
should  be  watered  and  otherwise  cared  for.  In  the 
excitement  of  the  morning  they  had  been  entirely  neg- 
lected. Not  one  of  the  family  cared  to  go,  fearing  that 
an  assault  upon  the  jail  would  be  made  during  their 
absence,  and  the  bloody  work  of  the  mob  accomplished. 
The   Judge   was   particularly   anxious    concerning    the 


i8o  The  CJiisolin  Massacre, 

horses,  apparently  having  a  faint  hope  that  they  might 
yet  in  some  way  be  of  service  to  him.  Mrs.  Chisolm 
concluded  that  she  could  best  be  spared  from  the  jail, 
and  asked  Johnny  to  go  with  her. 

This  little  fellow,  thirteen  years  of  age,  as  tender  and 
delicate  as  a  girl,  had  often  been  made  the  subject  of 
pleasant  jest  by  other  members  of  the  family,  on 
account  of  retired  manners,  taste  for  books  of  an 
elevated  moral  tone,  and  strong  passion  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  flowers.  But  on  that  day  his  true  character 
was  developed,  and  rose  to  a  height  in  courage  and 
devotion  worthy  the  emulation  of  the  most  exalted  hero. 

In  reply  to  the  request  made  by  his  mother,  he  said, 
his  eyes  filling  with  tears : 

"  O,  mother,  I  don't  want  to  go,  for  as  soon  as  I  leave 
they  will  kill  father.     But  if  you  say  I  must,  I  will  go  !" 

Then  taking  little  Willie  the  mother  went  to  the 
stable,  and,  while  attending  to  the  stock,  the  report  of 
the  dreaded  shot-gun  again  rang  out  upon  the  air.  Run- 
ning through  the  yard  to  the  gate  in  front  of  the  house, 
in  plain  sight  of  the  jail,  she  saw  two  or  three  guns  dis- 
charged at  a  man  then  on  the  side  facing  her.  When 
the  smoke  cleared  away  he  had  sunk  upon  the  ground. 
Calling  out  to  Willie  to  hurry  on,  that  another  man 
had  been  killed,  Mrs.  Chisolm  ran  across  the  common 
toward  the  spot.  When  half  way  there,  fearing  that 
an  accidental  shot  might  kill  her  boy,  she  told  him 
to  hide  in  a  deep  ditch  which  they  were  then  compelled 
to  cross.  Taking  a  second  thought,  and  believing  they 
would  kill  him  any  way  if  found,  she  told  him   to  go 


^^Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  i8i 

to  a  negro  cabin,  situated  on  the  left  about  a  hundred 
yards  distant.  The  boy  did  as  he  was  told,  and  Mrs. 
Chisolm  hurried  on  to  the  jail.  In  passing,  she  recog- 
nized the  dead  body  of  McLellan,  the  one  whom  she 
had  seen  two  of  the  Gullys  in  the  act  of  shooting  but  a 
moment  earlier,  while  she  was  at  the  gate.  Before  Mrs. 
Chisolm  left  the  jail  for  the  stable  the  sheriff  came  up 
and  demanded  of  the  old  Scotchman  that  he  should  go 
down  stairs ;  that  in  refusing  he  was  resisting  the  legal 
authorities  of  the  county.  McLellan  replied  that  he 
had  never  disobeyed  a  law  in  his  life ;  that  if  the  law 
required  of  him  that  he  should  leave  the  jail  he  would 
go,  and  the  old  man  reluctantly  and  sorrowfully  put 
down  his  gun,  went  below  and  for  some  time  stood  in 
the  hall,  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  leaning  against  the 
wall  with  his  head  down,  in  a  thoughtful  and  abstracted 
mood.  While  passing  out,  on  her  way  to  the  stable, 
Mrs.  Chisolm  saw  him  standing  as  above  described. 
After  she  had  gone  the  sheriff,  according  to  his  own 
testimony,  went  to  McLellan  and  repeated  his  demand 
that  he  should  leave.  In  compliance  with  this  the  old 
man  went  through  the  door — the  only  outside  opening 
in  the  building — which  is  on  the  south  side,  and  passing 
around  the  east  end  of  the  jail,  went  to  the  north  side ; 
and  while  walking  in  the  direction  of  his  own  house, 
his  head  still  down,  he  was  fired  upon  by  the  Gullys 
and  his  body  riddled  with  bullets. 

At  this  time,  Cornelia,  who  stood  looking  through  the 
grates  of  a  window  at  the  ghastly  scene  below,  fully 
conscious  of  the  impending  fate  of  her  father,  in  the  very 


1 82  The  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

agony  of  despair,  fell  upon  her  knees  and  begged  that  a 
single  spark  of  mercy  might  be  shown  them.  "  O  !  why 
do  you  do  my  papa  so  bad  ?"  she  cried.  *'  He  never  has 
harmed  any  one  in  his  life,  much  less  any  of  you,  so 
many  of  whom  have  taken  food  from  his  hands ! " 

" him ! "  exclaimed    Bill   Gully,   who   stood 

below  with  a  gun  on  his  back,  "  we'll  do  him  worse  than 
that!"  and  this,  with  a  half  dozen  shots  fired  at  the 
window  at  the  same  moment,  was  the  reply  she  received. 
The  blood  of  the  old  Scotchman  had  given  fresh 
impetus  and  courage  to  the  mob ;  for,  by  his  death  the 
last  dangerous  obstacle  that  interposed  between  them 
and  the  victim  whose  life  they  most  craved,  had  been 
removed,  and  they  rushed  furiously  into  the  jail,  headed 
by  Rosser  and  the  Gullys.  With  superhuman  strength 
Mrs.  Chisolm  worked  her  way  through  this  crowd  to  the 
door  at  the  head  of  the  stairs.  This  door  opens  into  a 
hall  which  leads  entirely  around  the  jail,  outside  of  the 
cages  or  cells,  which  are  built  in  the  centre.  In  this 
corridor,  directly  back  of  the  stairway.  Judge  Chisolm 
had  taken  refuge.  Within  the  door  stood  Cornelia  and 
Johnny,  with  Overstreet  and  Wall,  the  only  remaining 
guards.  Finding  the  door  fastened,  Rosser,  with  loud 
and  angry  oaths,  called  for  an  ax,  and  cursed  his  confed- 
erates who  feared  to  come  up  the  stairs.  One  ax  was 
brought  and  then  another.  Mrs.  Chisolm,  seizing  Rosser 
by  the  arm,  implored  him  to  desist,  and  asked  if  he 
did  not  have  a  wife  and  children  at  home.  To  this  he 
made  no  reply,  but  rudely  thrust  her  aside  and  vigor- 
ously plied  the  ax.      Cornelia  entreated   Overstreet  to 


'■^ Home   Rule''  m  Mississippi.  183 

shoot  through  the  grates  in  the  door  at  Rosser  and  the 
mob  coming  up  the  stairs.  Overstreet  replied  that  he  dare 
not ;  stating  as  a  reason  that  he  knew  his  own  life  would 
pay  the  penalty  of  such  an  act.  He  begged  them,  how- 
ever, to  go  back,  but  to  no  purpose. 

The  numbers  around  the  door  increased,  and  guns  were 
thrust  through  the  grates  and  fired  into  the  hall  at 
random.  Judge  Chisolm,  seeing  that  his  time  drew  near, 
then  cried  out,  "  Daughter,  bring  me  some  guns  from  the 
corner;  I  know  I  must  die,  but  I  will  go  down  with  my 
colors  flying!"  Seeing  that  the  door  must  soon  give 
way,  Cornelia  then  took  up  an  armful  of  guns  left  by  the 
guards,  who  had  deserted  their  posts,  and  carried  them 
to  her  father.  Coming  back  to  the  door,  she  was  just  in 
time  to  receive  the  contents,  of  a  load  which,  first  strik- 
ing the  flat,  iron  grating,  filled  her  face  with  chips  of  lead 
and  burnt  powder,  causing  the  blood  to  flow  from  more 
than  a  score  of  ugly  wounds. 

Despite  the  frantic  efforts  of  Mrs.  Chisolm,  who  never 
ceased  to  labor  and  pray,  the  lock  was  chopped  out  and 
there  stood  Rosser  and  Bill  and  Henry  Gully,  with  guns 
ready  for  use.  Cornelia  and  Johnny,  with  a  courage 
scarcely  ever  before  recorded  in  the  annals  of  great  and 
chivalric  deeds,  endeavored  to  hold  the  door  back 
against  the  fearful  odds.  But  steadily  it  gave  way,  and 
Rosser's  gun  was  put  through  the  opening  and  dis- 
charged, shooting  off  Johnny's  right  arm  at  the  wrist. 
So  close  was  the  muzzle  that  his  clothing  was  set  on 
fire.  At  this  the  little  fellow  screamed  out,  in  the  agony 
of  fear  and  pain,  and  Clay  came  and  carried  him  behind 


184  TJie  Chisolm  Massacre, 

one  of  the  iron  cages ;  but  was  no  sooner  back  to  the 
door,  where  he  went  immediately,  than  Johnny  had 
returned  and  placed  his  shoulder  against  it,  and  with  all 
his  little  strength  sought  to  hold  it  back.  Finally,  with 
a  sudden  crash,  the  door  flew  open  and  Johnny  ran  into 
his  father's  arms,  crying  out  as  he  did  so,  "  O  !  don't 
shoot  my  father  ! " 

Cornelia  then  seized  Rosser's  gun  and  interposed  her 
fast-failing  strength  against  the  monster. 

"  Go  away,"  cried  he  to  the  girl,  "or  I'll  blow  your 

brains  out." 

"For  shame!"  said  a  fellow  at  his  heels,  "would  you 
shoot  a  woman?" 

"  Yes, her  ! "  was  the  reply;  "  I  will  shoot  any  one 

that  gets  in  my  way  ! " 

Then,  with  terrible  force,  he  hurled  the  frail  girl  against 
the  wall,  and  no  further  power  remained  between  Ros- 
ser's  second  barrel  and  the  special  object  of  his  rage  save 
the  slender  form  of  the  innocent  boy.  His  weapon  was 
leveled,  and  the  bullets  went  crashing  through  Johnny's 
heart.  Judge  Chisolm,  seeing  his  boy  thus  murdered  in 
his  arms,  seized  the  gun  left  by  McLellan  and  sent  its 
contents  into  Rosser's  head,  scattering  his  brains  against 
the  wall.  At  sight  of  all  this,  and  from  loss  of  her  own 
blood,  Cornelia,  feeling  faint,  ran  back  to  her  mother, 
who  had  not  yet  been  able  to  get  through  the  door,  as 
the  opening  was  filled  with  men  who  were  firing  down 
the  passage-way  at  random,  in  the  direction  whence  the 
shot  came  that  had  killed  Rosser.  In  the  meantime 
their  own  bodies  were  out  of  range,  and  consequently 


^^Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  185 

out  of  danger.  Charge  after  charge  of  shot,  fired  in  this 
manner,  was  emptied  into  the  solid  wooden  casing 
around  the  cells,  and  there  the  deep,  ragged  gashes 
remain,  sickening  mementoes  of  the  darkest  infamy  and 
most  disgraceful  cowardice  ever  recorded  of  beings 
wearing  the  human  form. 

Seeing  their  leader  fall,  these  miserable  creatures 
quailed  under  the  steady  gaze  of  that  one  man  at  bay, 
and  fled  like  frightened  sheep,  dragging  the  dead  body 
of  Rosser  down  the  stairs  by  the  heels,  and  the  stair- 
way and  hall  below  were  cleared  in  an  instant.  The 
mingled  blood  and  brains  of  this  poor  wretch  were  left 
on  every  stair,  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  jail. 

Up  to  this  time  Mrs.  Chisolm  did  not  know  that 
Johnny  had  been  killed,  and  before  the  mob  fled,  she 
reached  through  the  grates,  and  placing  her  hand  on 
Cornelia's  head,  tried  to  give  her  words  of  encourage- 
ment ;  told  her  to  think  of  her  "  poor  papa,"  whose  life, 
if  she  continued  to  be  brave,  might  yet  be  saved.  Again 
the  fainting  girl  rallied  and  ran  to  her  father,  whom  she 
found  bowed  down  over  the  body  of  his  murdered  son. 
Just  at  this  moment  the  mother  and  Clay  came  up,  and 
together  all  sank  upon  the  floor,  and  there  over  the  body 
of  that  young  and  martyred  hero,  there  went  up  a  wail 
of  agony  and  despair,  such  as  is  seldom  heard  on  earth. 

No  time  could  be  lost  in  weeping.  As  long  as  life 
lasted  there  was  hope,  and  Mrs.  Chisolm,  as  quick  in 
expedient  as  she  was  brave  in  the  defense  of  those 
she  loved,  tried  to  get  her  husband  into  a  cell  where  she 
could  exchange  clothing  with,  him,  thinking  he  might 


1 86  TJie  CJdsoljn  Massacre, 

thus  escape  in  disguise;  but  this  was  found  to  be 
impracticable,  as  no   unoccupied  cell   could  be  opened. 

While  her  mother  and  father  were  thus  engaged,  Cor- 
nelia lifted  up  the  dead  body  of  little  Johnny,  put  out 
the  fire  which  was  still  burning  the  clothing  on  his  shat- 
tered arm,  and  then  laid  the  arm  carefully  across  his 
bleeding  breast;  kissed  again  and  again  the  pale  cheeks 
and  lips;  prayed  God  to  give  him  breath  to  "speak  to 
sissy  once  more,"  and  then,  with  her  handkerchief,  wip- 
ing up  the  last  drop  of  his  precious  blood  from  the  floor, 
she  carried  the  lifeless  body  down  the  hall  and  placed 
it  behind  a  cage,  where  it  would  be,  for  the  time  being, 
secure  from  further  violence. 

Baffled,  defeated  and  driven  from  the  jail,  the  cowardly 
mob  knowing  that  there  was  but  one  man  to  resist 
them,  dare  not  renew  the  assault,  and  a  stratagem 
worthy  of  savages  was  resorted  to.  At  once  the  cry  of 
"Burn  them  out!"  "the  jail  is  on  fire!"  fell  upon  the  ears 
of  the  doomed  family.  The  hall  already  filled  with 
smoke  from  the  burning  wads  and  gunpowder,  the  pris- 
oners confined  in  cells,  believing  that  the  jail  was  already 
in  flames,  began  to  howl  like  wild  animals  in  a  burning 
amphitheatre,  making  the  whole  a  scene  to  have  equaled 
in  horror  Milton  or  Dante's  most  extravagant  concep- 
tion of  hell  itself;  and  it  was  believed  by  all  that  the 
building  Avould  soon  be  enveloped  in  flames.  Sooner 
than  remain,  Cornelia  said  to  her  father,  "  Oh !  papa,  see 
how  easy  poor  Mr.  McLellan  died;  it  is  much  better  for 
us  all  to  go  down  and  be  shot  to  death,  than  to  stay 
here  and  be  burned   alive!"     It  was    then  decided  to 


""Home   Rule''  in   Mississippi,  187 

descend  the  stairs,  and  take  whatever  chance  of  escape 
might  be  offered.  Mrs.  Chisolm  and  Clay,  with  the  dead 
body  of  Johnny,  led  the  forlorn  hope,  while  the  Judge, 
with  a  gun  in  his  hands  and  Cornelia's  arms  around  his 
waist,  followed  close  behind.  Mrs.  Chisolm  and  Clay 
made  the  landing  below  without  interference,  and  laid 
their  sorrowful  burden  upon  the  floor,  but  the  Judge  and 
Cornelia  were  met  before  reaching  the  foot  of  the  stairs 
by  Henry  Gully,  with  a  gun  already  presented.  Here 
was  another  door  with  iron  grates,  and  after  seeing 
the  immediate  danger  that  threatened  her  husband,  Mrs. 
Chisolm  shut  this  door,  while  Cornelia  shielded  her  fath- 
er's body  with  her  own,  at  the  same  time  pulling  him 
down  out  of  range,  and  there,  with  one  arm  around  his 
neck,  the  hot,  scalding  tears  mingling  with  the  blood 
that  ran  down  her  girlish  cheeks,  she  cried  out,  "  Oh ! 
Mr.  Gully,  if  you  must  have  blood,  I  pray  you  to  take 
my  life  and  spare  my  darling  papa,  who  has  never  done 
you  a  wrong." 

This  appeal  was  answered  with  a  charge  of  shot  from 
the  monster's  gun,  which  struck  a  heavy  gold  bracelet  on 
the  girl's  arm,  cutting  it  in  two,  and  driving  a  piece  of  the 
ragged  metal  deep  into  her  wrist.  A  bullet  passed 
entirely  through,  shattering  the  bone  from  the  wrist 
nearly  to  the  elbow.  The  same  charge  grazed  Judge 
Chisolm's  neck  in  several  places,  and  cut  off  a  small 
portion  of  his  nose.  Gully  then  stepped  back  for 
another  gun,  when  Cornelia,  still  clinging  to  her  father, 
opened  the  door  and  came  on  down.  They  had  no 
sooner  reached  the  foot  of  the  stairs  than  the  assault 


1 88  TJie  CJiisolm  Massacre. 

was  renewed  with  increased  fury.  Still  this  frail  girl, 
shot  and  bleeding  from  a  score  of  wounds,  clung  with 
one  arm  around  her  beloved  father,  while  with  the  other 
hand  she  pushed  aside  the  guns  which  were  leveled  at 
his  breast.  Where,  in  any  account  of  remarkable  filial 
love,  unselfish  devotion  or  great  physical  daring  in 
woman,  do  we  find  a  picture  like  this  ?  Nothing  short 
of  the  Divinity,  which  is  said  to  have  raised  up  a  Joan 
of  Arc,  could  inspire  a  courage  and  heroism  like  that 
displayed  by  Cornelia  Chisolm  throughout  that  fatal  day. 
At  this  time  the  two  Hoppers  and  Charlie  Rosenbaum 
were  permitted  to  come  down  without  arms,  and  turned 
loose  in  the  street  with  the  threat  of  instant  death  if 
either  of  them  sought  in  any  way  to  release  or  defend 
Judge  Chisolm.     The  three  escaped  without  injury. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

While  Mrs.  Chisolm  was  struggling  with  the  mob  at 
the  outside  entrance,  Bill  Gully  came  up  and  deliberately 
shot  at  her  twice,  but  a  merciful  Providence  seemed  to 
protect  her,  as  neither  load  took  effect.  Mrs.  Chisolm 
then  seized  the  gun  which  had  been  brought  down  the 
stairs  by  her  husband,  and  discharged  both  barrels  at 
Gully.  The  wadding  struck  him  full  in  the  breast  and 
fell  harmless  to  the  ground.  This  was  one  of  the  guns 
furnished  the  guards  by  the  sheriff  and  left  by  them 
up  stairs.     It  was  loaded  only  with  blank  cartridges. 

At  the  suggestion  of  his  wife,  Judge  Chisolm  now 
turned  to  walk  down  the  hall  in  rear  of  the  stairs  to  take 
shelter  behind  a  pile  of  goods  belonging  to  Mr.  Gilmer, 
which  had  been  taken  from  him  by  the  sheriff  and  there 
stowed  away.  Before  this  cover  was  reached,  Phil  Gully 
stepped  out  from  a  door  opening  into  the  hall,  and,  with 
a  heavy  hickory  stick  uplifted  —  the  same  that  he  carries 
to-day  —  advanced  toward  Judge  Chisolm,  as  if  to  strike 
him  down ;  but,  by  this  time,  shots  had  been  fired  into 
his  body  from  front  and  rear,  and  Phil  was  deprived  of 
the  satisfaction  of  giving  the  finishing  touch  to  this 
scene  in  the  drama;  for  the  Judge,  at  that  moment,  sank 
upon  the  floor,  begging  that  he  might  be  carried  to  his 
house  and  not  permitted  to  die  like  a  felon  in  jail. 
Believing  that  their  work  had  been  fully  accomplished, 
the  mob  left,  and  coolly  awaited  further  developments 
from  the  outside. 


190  TJie  Chisolin  Massacre, 

While  Mrs.  Chisolm  was  bending  over  her  husband's 
prostrate  body  in  momentary  expectation  of  catching 
the  last  words  that  fell  from  his  lips  before  the  spirit 
took  its  flight,  the  Judge,  in  a  low  whisper,  said:  '■''My 
precious  wife^  I  am  about  to  die  ;  but,  when  I  am  go^ie, 
I  want  you  to  tell  my  children  that  their  father  never  did 
an  act  in  his  life  for  which  they  need  to  blush  or  feel 
ashamed.  I  am  innocent  of  the  charge  these  'jnen  have 
preferred  against  me,  and  have  been  murdered  because 
I  am  a  republican  and  would  live  a  free  man  /" 

Cornelia,  who,  in  the  melee  before  descending  the 
stairs,  had  been  struck  in  the  face  by  some  brutal  hand, 
which,  in  addition  to  the  gun-shot  wounds  already 
received,  had  blackened  and  disfigured  her  countenance 
in  a  horrible  manner,  now  went  to  the  door  to  beg  for 
assistance  to  carry  her  father's  and  little  brother's  dead 
bodies  home.  This  appeal  was  answered  by  a  shot 
which  struck  her  below  the  knee.  Fifteen  large  duck- 
shot  and  one  buck-shot  were  thus  lodged  in  her  leg, 
while  another  passed  through  the  counter  of  her  shoe 
into  the  foot.  This  was  overlooked  in  the  multiplicity 
of  her  other  injuries  and  never  was  discovered  until  after 
her  death,  though  before  that  time  her  heel  had  become 
very  much  swollen  and  inflamed,  when  upon  examination 
of  the  shoe  the  place  where  the  shot  entered  was  found. 
A  missile  of  some  kind  also  struck  her  hip,  causing  a 
severe  and  painful  sore.  Her  bonnet  strings,  which  were 
tied  in  a  bow  knot  under  her  chin,  were  nearly  severed 
by  a  shot  which  thus  narrowly  missed  her  throat.  These 
ribbons  only  hung   together  by  the  hem   on   one  side, 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  191 

three  separate  balls  having  passed  through  them. 
Thirty  bullet  holes  were  counted  in  the  skirts  of  her 
clothing,  which  was  a  mass  of  blood,  from  the  little 
silk  hood  she  wore  on  her  head,  down  to  her  shoes. 
On  receiving  the  last  charge  she  ran  back  to  her  mother 
exclaiming,  "  O  !  mamma,  they  have  shot  me  again ! " 
This  was  the  first  and  only  exclamation  she  made 
throughout,  concerning  her  own  wounds.  Mrs.  Chisolm 
then  went  to  the  door  and  in  turn  begged  for  assistance, 
while  Cornelia  stood  bleeding  over  the  inanimate  forms 
of  her  father  and  brother.  Presently  a  young  man 
stepped  forward  from  the  mob  and  volunteered  his 
services.  Mrs.  Chisolm,  still  in  full  possession  of  her 
quick  faculties,  said  to  him,  pointing  to  the  body  of  her 
husband,  ".Sir!  did  you  do  that?" 

"  No,  madam,"  was  the  reply.  Then  pointing  to  her 
dead  boy  and  bleeding  girl  she  asked,  "Did  you  do 
that?" 

"No!"  was  the  second  answer;  "I  have  not  dis- 
charged a  gun  to-day." 

"  Then,"  said  the  heroic  woman,  "  your  touch  will  not 
pollute  the  dead  bodies  of  my  darlings,  and,  if  you  will, 
you  may  help  me    carry    them  from  this  terrible  place  ! " 

Stooping  down,  Mrs.  Chisolm  raised  her  husband's 
head  and  placed  his  arms  around  her  neck.  Clay  lifted 
his  feet,  while  the  young  m.an  took  hold  in  the  middle, 
and  together  they  started  for  the  house,  not  more  than  a 
hundred  yards  distant.  When  out  ot  the  jail  they  were 
joined  by  Bob  Moseley  — better  known  as  "Black  Bob" 
—  a  man  whom  Mrs.  Chisolm  and  Clay  both  knew  very 


192  TJie  Chisolni  Massacre, 

well,  and  whom  they  had  seen  foremost  among  the  riot- 
ers throughout  the  day.  Loathsome  as  his  presence 
was,  they  permitted  him  to  become  a  bearer  in  the 
mournful  procession,  as  they  could  not  well  proceed 
without  him.  When  about  half  the  distance  to  the 
house  there  arose  a  fresh  cry  from  the  mob,  whose 
vengeful  thirst,  it  appears,  had  not  yet  been  fully  satis- 
fied. "  He  is  not  dead  yet,"  they  said ;  "  let's  go  and 
finish  him!"  Seeing  them  come,  headed  by  a  brute 
named  Dan  McWhorter,  Cornelia  lingered  behind,  and, 
as  they  came  up,  with  her  shattered  arm  raised  to 
heaven,  she  declared  that  her  father  had  died  before 
leaving  the  jail,  and  besought  them  not  to  mangle  his 
dead  body.  By  this  declaration  and  appeal  they  were 
deceived  and  turned  back. 

Reaching  the  house,  it  was  found  locked  and  the  ser- 
vants all  gone.  A  small  window  from  a  back  porch  was 
broken  open  and  the  Judge's  helpless  body  dragged 
through  it  into  the  house.  With  no  domestics,  and 
everything  securely  locked,  great  difficulty  and  delay 
were  experienced  in  finding  anything  for  the  relief  of  the 
wounded.  Dr.  McClanahan,  a  near  neighbor  and  life- 
long friend  of  the  family,  although  a  feeble  old  man, 
came  in  and  rendered  all  the  assistance  in  his  power. 
With  the  aid  of  two  negroes  he  carried  home  the  corpse 
of  the  murdered  boy,  Henry  Gully  remarking  to  him  as 
he  gathered  the  body  up,  "  Doctor,  I  have  killed  your 
best  friend"  meaning  Judge  Chisolm.  Cornelia  was 
placed  upon  a  low  bed,  in  the  same  room  with  her 
father,   and   while   Mrs.    Chisolm    was   busy   preparing 


'■^Honie  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  193 

something  for  their  comfort  in  another  part  of  the  house, 
Bob  Moseley  returned,  and  uninvited  walked  into  the 
room  where  the  victims  lay.  Cornelia,  believing  that  he 
had  been  sent  back  by  the  mob  to  ascertain  if  her  father 
was  really  dead,  or  likely  to  die,  rose  from  the  bed  and 
drove  him  out  of  the  room.  It  was  subsequently  ascer- 
tained that  he  did,  in  fact,  return  for  the  purpose  divined 
by  the  girl,  as  his  confederates,  it  has  since  been  learned, 
condemned  him  for  having  aided  in  carrying  the  dying 
man  away,  knowing  that  life  was  not  yet  extinct,  Moseley 
was  therefore  desirous  of  reinstating  himself  in  their  con- 
fidence and  esteem.  Besides,  he  had  been  once  admitted 
into  the  house,  and  was,  they  believed,  a  suitable  person 
to  return  for  information  concerning  the  extent  of  Judge 
Chisolm's  wounds,  which,  if  not  fatal,  were  to  have  been 
made  the  signal  for  another  attack. 

On  examination,  the  Judge's  worst  wound  was  found 
in  his  left  hip,  where  a  full  charge  of  buck-shot  entered 
from  the  rear. 

Several  different  men  living  in  DeKalb,  all  of  whom 
were  known  to  have  been  active  participants  in  the  con- 
spiracy, came  to  the  house  that  evening,  and,  professing 
friendship  and  sympathy,  offered  their  assistance.  As 
might  be  supposed,  their  offers  were  rejected.  Dr.  Fox, 
the  only  competent  surgeon  in  the  place,  or  anywhere 
within  immediate  reach,  was  known  to  have  been  one  of 
the  instigators  of  the  riot,  as  he  had  been  a  counselor,  if 
not  a  member  of  the  Ku-Klux  in  days  past;  and  as  a 
matter  of  course  none  of  the  family  would  voluntarily 
place  themselves  within  his  power. 
13 


194  ^/^^  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

Thus  they  were  shut  out  from  sympathy  or  aid,  save 
that  which  came  from  a  few  friends,  the  greater  number 
of  whom  were  beyond  reach,  on  account  of  the  distance 
they  lived  from  DeKalb,  or  because  of  the  barriers  which 
the  threats  of  the  mob  interposed. 

Those  who  came  were  faithful  and  true,  but  unfor- 
tunately but  few  were  skilled  or  experienced  as  nurses, 
and  what  made  the  situation  still  more  alarming,  the 
necessary  means  for  relief  or  comfort  were  not  always  to 
be  obtained. 

About  ten  o'clock  that  night.  Judge  Chisolm's  two 
brothers,  John  and  Marbury,  and  two  or  three  of  his 
young  nephews  arrived  from  the  southwest  beat,  a  dis- 
tance of  twenty-two  miles,  to  which  place  a  courier  had 
been  despatched  for  them  by  the  Judge  early  in  the 
morning,  when  his  arrest  was  first  made. 

Some  hours  before  their  arrival,  Henry  Rosenbaum,  a 
brother  of  Charlie  Rosenbaum,  in  answer  to  a  des- 
patch sent  him  in  the  morning  at  Meridian,  had  gone  to 
Scooba  and  thence  to  DeKalb.  On  arriving  at  the 
scene  of  the  massacre,  he  proceeded  at  once  to  Judge 
Chisolm's  house,  where  he  rendered  every  assistance 
possible.  He  had  come  to  DeKalb  in  anticipation  of 
aiding  his  brother. 

All  of  these  friends  had  been  compelled  to  travel  by 
an  unfrequented  and  circuitous  route;  were  all  day  on 
the  road,  and  knew  nothing  of  the  terrible  fate  of  the 
family,  until  their  arrival  at  Judge  Chisolm's  house,  too 
late  to  render  such  material  aid  as  they  would  gladly 
have  done.     All  that  could  be,  with  the  means  at  hand, 


'■'Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  195 

was  done  for  the  sufferers  through  the  night,  and  early 
on  the  following  morning  the  despatch  which  is  copied 
below  was  sent  to  Meridian : 

"ScooBA,  Miss.,  April  30,  1877. 

Received  at  Meridian,  April  30,  8:15  A.  M. 
To  Capt.  J.  M.  Wells  : 

Come  to  us  immediately,  by  the  way  of  Scooba,  and 
bring  the  best  surgeon  you  can  get.  Brother  Johnny  is 
murdered,  and  father  will  die.     Sister  is  badly  wounded. 

H.  Clay  Chisolm." 

Up  to  the  time  of  the  receipt  of  this  despatch  in 
Meridian,  the  reports  concerning  the  massacre  were 
wild  and  conflicting;  the  anxiety  with  the  few  who  sym- 
pathized was  great,  while  the  excitement  incident  to  the 
terrible  affair  in  a  neighboring  town,  where  most  of  the 
parties  concerned  were  well  known,  was  general.  The 
despatch  was  answered  at  once,  as  follows: 
*'To  H.  C.  Chisolm,  DeKalb,  Miss.: 

No  train  this  morning;  will  bring  surgeon  across  the 
country  immediately. 

J.  M.  Wells." 

Two  different  surgeons  whom  the  writer  requested  to  go, 
made  excuses  of  one  kind  or  another.  Finally  Dr.  John 
D.  Kline  was  asked,  and  at  once  consented,  but  after- 
ward sought  an  opportunity  of  getting  from  some  prom- 
inent democratic  citizen  a  letter  of  introduction,  a  pass- 
port or  safe-guard  of  some  kind,  against  molestation  by 
the  citizens  of  Kemper,  while  on  his  way  to  DeKalb, 
and  a  guarantee  of  protection  after  his  arrival.  This  he 
obtained  from  a  gentleman  well  known  and  highly 
esteemed   by  the  Gullys  and    their  co-workers.     Even 


196  The  Chisolni  Massacre. 

after  this  precaution,  the  doctor  objected  to  going  with 
the  writer,  as  the  latter  was  well  known  in  DeKalb  as  a 
political  and  personal  friend  of  Judge  Chisolm.  An 
effort  was  then  made  to  find  some  one  whose  known 
friendship  with  the  Kemper  County  murderers  would 
afford  protection.  There  were  many  of  this  kind  in 
Meridian,  but  out  of  the  dozen  or  more  who  were 
approached,  not  one  would  go.  There  was  in  Meridian 
at  the  time,  however,  an  under-current  of  strong  and 
earnest  sympathy  for  the  distressed  family.  At  last  a 
colored  barber  who  had  once  lived  in  DeKalb,  and  who 
knew  the  road  well,  volunteered  to  go  as  a  driver,  and 
with  him  Dr.  Kline  started  across  the  country,  while  the 
writer  took  the  first  train  for  Scooba,  arriving  in  DeKalb 
the  next  day,  after  having  ridden  from  Scooba  thirteen 
miles  through  the  woods  alone.  The  doctor  reached 
Judge  Chisolm's  house  at  ten  o'clock  that  night,  and 
found  the  condition  of  the  father  and  daughter  not  so 
iminently  dangerous  as  had  been  at  first  reported. 
More  than  twenty-four  hours  had  passed  since  the 
wounds  were  inflicted,  however,  and  it  was  impossible  to 
probe  Judge  Chisolm's  wounds,  to  ascertain  their  full  ex- 
tent, yet  the  physician  and  all  friends  of  the  family  were 
encouraged  to  believe  that  he  might  recover.  A  thorough 
examination  was  made  of  Cornelia's  injuries,  which  she 
bore  without  a  murmur.  They  were  severe  and  exceed- 
ingly painful,  but  no  one  at  the  time  believed  them 
fatal. 

The  next  morning  Mrs.  Chisolm,  herself,  prepared  little 
Johnny's  body,  which  had  lain  in   the  parlor  alone  over 


'^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  197 

night,  for  the  grave.  The  coffin  came  from  Scooba,  and 
after  carrying  the  body  to  Corneha's  bed-side,  she 
kissed  the  pale  cheeks  again  and  again,  when  it  was 
placed  in  the  coffin,  and  Willie,  accompanied  by  two  or 
three  friends  —  all  who  could  be  spared  from  the  house  — 
took  it  off  and  buried  it.  A  prayer  offered  at  the  house 
by  the  agonized  mother,  was  the  only  service  held. 

The  same  day  Judge  Robert  Leachman,  with  two 
ladies  —  Mrs.  Christian  and  Miss  Caskin  —  friends  of 
Cornelia,  arrived  from  Meridian.  They,  however,  could 
not  remain  but  a  short  time,  and  that  same  day  the 
doctor  himself  was  obliged  to  return. 

In  the  shadows  of  death,  like  birds  of  prey,  they 
hovered  nigh,  impatient  of  the  final  dissolution,  and 
hearing  repeated  threats  of  a  renewal  of  the  attack  by 
the  mob  as  soon  as  they  should  find  that  Judge  Chisolm 
was  not  likely  to  die  from  the  wounds  already  received, 
a  close  watch  was  kept  at  night  from  without,  while  a 
dozen  loaded  guns  were  always  ready  for  use  within. 
For  better  security,  planks  were  nailed  up  at  the  bed- 
room windows.  The  mental  strain  and  anxiety  incident 
to  all  this,  together  with  the  inability  to  secure  prompt 
and  constant  medical  attendance,  materially  lessened  the 
chances  for  recovery,  and  it  was  determined  to  remove 
the  patients  to  some  place  of  safety  as  soon  as  a  force 
could  be  raised  sufficiently  large  to  insure  the  success  of 
such  an  undertaking. 

But  this  it  was  found  difficult  to  do,  as  Judge  Chis- 
olm's  friends  living  in  the  county,  who  had  attempted  to 
come  to  the  assistance  of  the  sufferers,  had,  in  many 


198  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

instances,  been  stopped  on  the  highway  and  made  to 
turn  back,  so  that  now  very  few  ventured  to  come.  Mrs. 
Griffin  and  her  sister,  Miss  McDevitt,  were  the  only 
ladies  in  DeKalb,  outside  of  the  poHtical  friends  of  the 
family,  that  ever  pretended  to  approach  the  house. 
They  came  constantly  and  rendered  invaluable  assistance. 
A  young  man  living  some  distance  in  the  country, 
although  a  democrat,  visited  the  house  once  and  volun- 
teered to  assist  in  guarding  it,  or  in  taking  the  patients 
to  some  place  of  safety.  Another  gentleman,  a  resident 
of  DeKalb,  and  also  a  democrat,  came  several  times  in 
the  night,  and  under  cover  of  the  darkness  stole  away, 
fearing  to  have  it  4<:nown  that  he  sympathized  with  them 
in  their  affliction. 

About  the  third  day  Governor  Powers  arrived  from 
Macon.  The  Governor  remained  but  a  day  or  two, 
when  he  returned,  determined,  if  possible,  to  raise  a 
posse  and  send  them  to  our  assistance.  Before  Gov- 
ernor Powers  left,  however,  J.  M.  Stone,  the  governor  of 
the  State,  came.  He  told  the  writer,  while  sitting  on 
the  steps  of  Judge  Chisolm's  house,  that,  after  thorough 
inquiry  among  all  parties,  he  had  been  convinced  that 
there  was  a  conspiracy  existing  in  the  county  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  Judge  Chisolm's  life;  that  he  did  not 
believe  there  had  ever  been  found  a  particle  of  proof 
showing  the  complicity  of  the  murdered  man  with  the 
killing  of  John  W.  Gully,  and  that  in  his  belief  the  very 
warrants  for  their  arrest  were  false  and  fraudulent.  He 
further  stated  he  did  not  believe  that  Judge  Chisolm  was 
free  from  the  danger  of  another  attack  by  the  mob,  if 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  199 

once  it  was  thought  he  was  likely  to  recover  or  get 
away.  On  being  asked  if  he  could  do  anything  in  the 
way  of  assuring  the  family  protection  while  they  might 
remain,  or  a  safeguard  in  moving,  he  replied  that  he 
could  only  direct  the  sheriff  to  appoint  a  special  deputy, 
who  might  be  selected  by  Judge  Chisolm  or  any  of  his 
friends.  Under  this  deputy  a  number  of  guards,  suffi- 
ciently large  to  insure  protection,  and  chosen  in  the 
same  manner,  might  be  placed  at  his  disposal.  To  this 
the  reply  was  made  that  there  was  nothing  to  select  a 
guard  from,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  all  the  friends 
Judge  Chisolm  had  within  reach  were  already  enlisted, 
and  they  needed  no  appointment  from  an  imbecile  and 
villainous  sheriff.  Beside  that,  the  experience  with 
guards,  taken  from  among  the  citizens  of  Kemper  county 
generally,  within  the  past  few  days  at  least,  had  been 
such  as  to  warrant  us  in  not  again  voluntarily  placing 
him  or  his  family  under  their  protection  —  which  would 
most  likely  be  such  as  vultures  give  to  lambs. 


CHAPTER     XIX. 

The  patients  both  grew  weaker  from  day  to  day,  and 
Cornelia  was  removed  into  an  adjoining  room.  Her 
solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  her  father  knew  no  rest  up 
to  the  hour  of  his  death,  and  often  was  she  quieted  with 
the  promise  that  on  the  following  day  she  would  be 
carried  to  his  bed-side ;  but  as  often  were  we  obliged  to 
disappoint  her,  as  she  was  never  in  a  condition  to  be 
removed. 

The  physician  did  not  return  from  Meridian  until  a 
peremptory  order  was  sent  for  him.  What  were  the 
influences  that  kept  him  away  no  one  ever  knew.  The 
wounded  had  then  suffered  three  days  without  any 
skilled  attention. 

Within  five  days  from  the  date  of  the  tragedy  every 
mail  that  came  brought  letters  of  condolence  and 
sympathy,  most  of  them  coming  from  entire  strangers, 
but  many  written  by  the  friends  and  admirers  of  the 
bright  and  joyous  girl,  whom  she  had  met  while  on 
her  visit  to  the  North.  From  the  Northern  States, 
especially,  the  warmest  letters  came,  while  the  news- 
papers of  that  section  thundered  the  indignation  felt  by 
the  people  in  tones  which  could  not  be  misunderstood. 

It  was  the  privilege  of  the  writer  of  this  to  open  and 
read  many  of  these  letters,  and  in  the  lonely  hours  of 
Cornelia's  prostration,  they  were  a  source  of  great  satis- 
faction  and    delight    to   her.     Many    of    them,   at    her 


''^ Hovie  Rule"  in   Mississippi.  201 

request,  were  replied  to  at  once  and  the  answers  read  to 
her.  Then  her  face  would  light  up  with  a  sweet  smile 
as  she  would  say,  "  Now  lay  them  carefully  away,  and 
some  day,  if  I  ever  get  well,  I  will  answer  them  all 
myself." 

A  few  of  these  letters,  given  here,  cannot  fail  to  inter- 
est the  reader,  as  they  are  a  further  proof  of  the  feeling 
and  sentiment  of  the  people  in  that  section  of  the 
country  from  which  they  came;  and  it  is  a  great  grati- 
fication to  me  and  to  all  the  friends  of  the  martyred 
dead,  to  be  able  to  place  upon  record  here  the  fact  that 
human  nature  is  not  everywhere  dead  to  that  boasted 
sympathy  which  has  so  often  been  falsely  claimed  for  it. 

Washington,  D.  C,  May  2,  1877. 
My  Dear  Miss  Chisolin  : 

I  have  read  the  newspaper  reports  of  your  sorrows 
with  a  sad  heart,  and  hasten  to  express  my  sincere  sym- 
pathy. My  husband  regarded  your  father  as  one  of  the 
kindest  hearted  men  living,  incapable  of  injuring  his 
worst  enemy.  In  conversing  with  Judge  T.  this  morning, 
he  made  the  same  remark,  and  said  it  was  impossible 
that  your  father  could  in  any  way  be  connected  with 
the  assassination. 

I  have  been  thinking  of  the  last  time  I  saw  you;  you 
remarked  "  I  was  never  so  happy  in  my  life,"  and  now  to 
think  of  the  contrast.  What  can  I  say  to  comfort  you  ? 
Words  cannot  express  the  deep  sorrow  and  sympathy  I 
feel  for  you  at  this  moment.  If  I  could  only  be  with 
you  —  take  you  in  my  arms  and  try  to  soothe  your  sor- 
rows, how  gladly  would  I  do  it  — but  words  are  cold. 
I  can  only  commend  you  to  lean  on  Him  who  loves  you 
better  than  earthly  friends,  and  whose  tender  love  and 
compassion  will  never  fail  you.     In  all  my  own  troubles 


202  The  CJiisolm  Massacre, 

this  has  been  my  comfort,  that  "  Like  as  a  father  pitieth 
his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him." 

How  is  your  dear  mother?  No  doubt  well  nigh 
crushed  by  her  many  troubles.  As  younger  and  stronger, 
a  double  duty  falls  to  you ;  that  of  tenderly  caring  for 
both  father  and  mother.  I  pray  that  you  may  have 
strength  for  the  burden  thus  suddenly  laid  upon  you. 

After  you  are  calm  enough  to  write  I  would  like  to 
hear  all  about  the  matter;  in  the  meantime  please  inform 
me,  by  postal  card,  what  are  the  probabilities  in  your 
father's  case?  Will  he  recover?  I  most  earnestly  pray 
that  he  will.     Assure  him  of  my  confidence  in  his  perfect 

integrity  and    innocence.     Judge  T wishes   me  to 

convey  to  you   and  your  family  his  sympathy  in  your 
terrible  affliction. 

I  was  disappointed  in  not  again  seeing  your  father  and 
self  before  you  left  Washington ;  but  felt  sure  that  you 
failed  to  find  my  residence. 

My  kindest  regards  to  your  father  and  mother,  and 
much  love  for  your  own  dear  self. 

Lovingly  yours, 

Mrs.  J.  L.  R. 

This  excellent  letter  was  followed  within  a  day  or  two 
by  another  from  the  same  kind  author.  The  two  were 
read  to  Cornelia,  and  at  her  request  the  subjoined,  writ- 
ten at  the  bed-side  of  the  patient  sufferer,  was  sent  in 
reply.  This  communication  soon  after  found  its  way 
into  the  newspapers  of  the  country,  and  will  be  recog- 
nized, no  doubt,  by  many  readers : 

DeKalb,  Miss.,  May  12. 

Madame:     At    the   request   of  Miss    Nelie    Chisolm, 

whose  wounds  render  it  impossible  for  her  to  write,  I 

serve  as  her  amanuensis.     She  takes  great   pleasure  in 

acknowledging  the  receipt  of  your  kind   letters,  which 


''Home   Rule''  in  Mississippi,  203 

have  come  to  hand  since  the  DeKalb  horror  took  place, 
and  let  me  assure  you  your  kindness  is  appreciated.  I 
have  had  the  pleasure  of  opening  your  letters  and  reading 
them  to  her,  and  from  your  writing  judge  that  you  do 
not  know  the  brave  and  devoted  little  daughter  was 
shot,  beaten  and  mangled  equally  with  the  father.  Her 
right  arm  was  shot  through  and  through  while  endeavor- 
ing to  shield  her  father.  A  whole  charge  of  buck-shot, 
which  first  hit  the  flat  iron  bars  of  the  cell,  struck  her 
full  in  the  face,  filling  it  with  chips  of  lead  and  burnt 
powder.  A  blow  in  the  face  from  some  brutal  hand  has 
blackened  and  disfigured  it  in  a  fearful  manner.  She 
was  also  shot  in  the  leg  below  the  knee,  and  is  now 
lying  prostrate  and  helpless  as  an  infant,  and  nothing 
but  the  tenderest  care  and  best  surgical  aid  can  save  her 
arm  and  precious  life.  Her  father  is  still  alive,  but 
suffering  intensely;  yet  we  have  some  hopes  of  his  final 
recovery.  The  house  is  being  guarded  by  a  few  faithful 
friends  and  relatives ;  but  we  do  not  know  at  what  hour 
the  savage  barbarians  may  renew  the  attack.  You  can 
do  us  all  no  more  good  at  present  than  to  lay  the  enor- 
mities of  this  massacre  before  the  people  at  Washington, 
especially  the  President. 

All  of  these  kind  letters  touched  a  responsive  chord  in 
the  hearts  of  that  household,  and  will  never  be  forgotten. 
The  effect  produced  by  them  will  remain  with  those  who 
listened  to  their  hopeful  greetings  so  long  as  the  name  of 
Chisolm  shall  be  perpetuated. 

Philadelphia,  Penn.,  May  2,  1877. 
Judge  Chisolm  : 

In  behalf  of  myself  and  fellow  members,  of  one  of  the 
most  influential  republican  clubs  in  this  city,  permit  us, 
one  and  all,  to  offer  to  yourself  and  noble  family  our 
heartfelt,    sincere    sympathies    in    this    your    hour    of 


204  The  CJiisolni  Massacre, 

distress.  Would  to  God  we  could  offer  you  material  pro- 
tection and  effective  aid.  Be  of  good  cheer;  keep  up 
a  stout  heart ;  and  may  Heaven  hear  our  prayers  for 
your  safety.  The  indignation  with  which  we  received 
the  news  of  the  murderous  attack  upon  your  gallant 
little  band,  has  not  yet  subsided,  and  were  the  distance 
not  so  great  you  should  sit  beneath  the  shadow  of 
fifteen  hundred  breech-loading  rifles,  (the  number  of  our 
club).  Oh  !  for  just  a  few  minutes'  interview  with  those 
cowardly  miscreants  who  think  it  so  chivalrous  and 
brave  to  murder  defenceless  Union  men.  Let  them 
remember  that  although  "  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly, 
yet  they  grind  exceeding  small,"  and  that  the  avenging 
goddess  will,  at  no  distant  day,  blot  them  out.  The 
people  here  at  the  North  are  beginning  to  talk  as  they 
'did  in  '6i,  and  it  is  among  the  possible  things  to  have 
"  Sherman's  march  "  repeated. 

If  you,  or  any  of  your  family,  will  communicate  to  me 
a  full  and  fearless  account  of  the  events  in  which  you 
have  all  been  such  prominent  actors,  my  thanks  will  be 
of  a  substantial  nature.  A  friend  at  my  elbow  has 
suggested  that  if  you  are  in  need  of  fire-arms,  be  good 
enough  to  give  us  the  name  and  address  of  a  trusted 
friend.  In  the  meantime,  we  all  hope  for  your  speedy 
recovery,  and  if  there  is  any  way  in  which  we  can  serve 
you  or  yours,  do  us  the  favor  to  make  it  known  at  once. 
Pardon  this  disjointed  epistle,  for  I  am  laboring  under 
some  excitement  from  having  just  finished  the  details  of 
your  martyrdom,  which  will  account  for  my  rambling 
thoughts  and  tremulous  chirography. 

Accept,  again,  our  sympathies  and  well-wishes,  while 
our  prayers,  we  trust,  are  registered  above  for  you  all. 

Yours  sincerely,  V.  P. 

The  above  was  responded  to  at  the  time  by  the 
request  of  Judge  Chisolm  himself  and  other  members  of 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  20$ 

the  family.  Here  is  the  reply  to  it,  which  was  afterward 
printed  in  a  Philadelphia  paper,  with  editorial  comments 
as  follows : 

"THE   MARTYRED   CHISOLM   FAMILY. 

"  Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land  the 
hearts  of  patriotic  men  and  women  now  turn  with  deep 
and  heartfelt  sympathy  to  the  lonely  and  broken-hearted 
widow,  who  in  her  desolate  home  in  Mississippi,  grieves 
with  a  sorrow  none  can  know,  and  feels  most  keenly 
that  life  is  indeed  a  burden,  with  naught  of  happiness 
for  her.  Mrs.  W.  W.  Chisolm  now  mourns  the  death  of 
a  favorite  son,  a  beloved  and  accomplished  daughter  and 
a  noble  and  affectionate  husband.  In  the  agony  of  her 
grief  she  surely  is  almost  tempted  to  cry  unto  God  and 
say,  '  my  trials  are  indeed  greater  than  I  can  bear.' 

"  We  cannot  give  full  expression  to  our  thoughts  as 
we  reflect  that  the  dead  are  the  victims  of  political 
hatred ;  have  been  hurried  to  untimely  graves  because 
of  the  political  opinions  of  the  head  of  the  family. 
Surely  their  martyrdom  will  give  inspiration  to  loyal 
men  to  move  in  solid  column  for  all  time  to  come,  and 
never  cease  in  their  efforts  on  behalf  of  liberty  and  the 
republic  until  every  traitor  is  driven  from  the  land,  or 
made  to  bite  the  dust  at  the  hand  of  avenging  justice. 

"The  story  of  the  attack  upon  Judge  Chisolm,  the 
heroic  defense  on  his  behalf  by  his  daughter,  is  too  well 
known  to  our  readers  to  call  for  repetition  here. 
Wounded,  she  died  for  want  of  proper  surgical  and 
medical  treatment,  which  was  denied  her  by  the  inhuman 


2o6  TJie  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

mob  which  surrounded  her.      He,  too,  now  sleeps  the 
sleep  of  death. 

"  The  following  letter,  written  to  a  prominent  citizen 
of  this  city,  is  given  to  our  readers,  but,  for  obvious 
reasons,  the  names  of  both  the  writer  and  the  recipient 
are  withheld.  As  will  be  noticed,  it  was  penned  before 
the  death  of  the  Judge  and  his  daughter:" 

DeKalb,  Miss.,  May  9,  1877. 
*     *     *     Philadelphia,  Pa.  : 

Dear  Sir:  On  behalf  of  Judge  Chisolm  and  his 
bereaved  and  afflicted  family  I  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  favor  of  the  2d  inst.,  tendering  them  sympathy 
and  encouragement. 

Be  assured,  my  dear  sir,  that  the  good  wishes  and 
thoughtful  solicitation  of  the  Republican  Club,  as 
expressed  in  your  letter,  are  well  understood  and 
thoroughly  appreciated,  and  every  word  therein  con- 
tained finds  lodgement  in  warm  and  responsive  hearts. 

As  I  write,  the  widow  and  orphan  child  of  one  of  the 
victims  of  the  massacre  is  sitting  near  by — Mrs.  Gilmer 
—  almost  forsaken  by  her  kindred,  whose  sympathies  are 
with  the  murderers  of  her  husband.  It  is  needless  for 
me  to  say  she  is  utterly  broken-hearted. 

The  members  of  the  Judge's  family  who  still  survive 
(himself  and  heroic  little  daughter)  are  both  lying  before 
me,  writhing  under  the  affliction  of  a  score  of  ghastly 
wounds.  Both  are  doing  even  better  than  we  could 
have  hoped,  though  the  Judge's  life  is  despaired  of.  The 
daughter  will  probably  recover,  carrying  through  life  a 
maimed  and  crippled  hand. 

Little  Johnny,  with  one  arm  shattered  to  pieces  and 
his  heart  shot  out,  is  sleeping  quietly  under  the  ground. 
The  house  is  being  guarded  by  a  few  faithful  friends  and 


^^Hoine  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  207 

relatives,  who  are  well  supplied  with  shot-guns  and 
revolvers,  and  will  struggle  to  hold  out  against  the  fearful 
odds  of  "  home  rule  and  local  self-government." 

The  family  stand  in  no  immediate  need  of  assistance 
of  any  kind ;  yet  God  only  knows  how  soon  they  may 
be  stripped  of  all  earthly  goods,  and  themselves,  with 
others,  driven  like  beasts  to  the  woods  and  there 
murdered. 

We  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  from  you  at  any  and  all 
times,  and  would  gladly  detail  the  full  particulars  of  this , 
bloody  affair,  which,  in  all  its  plottings  and  final  consum- 
mation, is  more  diabolical,  cowardly  and  inhuman  than 
the  Mountain  Meadows  massacre  itself. 

You  can  probably  do  us  no  greater  good  just  now 
than  to  aid  in  every  possible  way  to  spread  the  horrors 
of  this  affair  before  the  northern  people,  and  at  the  same 
time  let  us  all  pray  to  God  that  the  "  hope "  of  a  renewal 
of  Sherman's  march  may  yet  be  a  reality.  Again  thank- 
ing you,  I  will  close.  4^     4,     ^     ^ 

Bristol,  Penn.,  May  8,  1877. 
Dear  Miss  Chisolm: 

In  your  great  sorrow,  affliction  and  bereavement,  which 
must  be  almost  insupportable,  silent  sympathy  with  you, 
on  our  part,  would  probably  be  better;  but  for  the  reason 
that  we  know  that  no  earthly  comfort  can  avail,  would 
we  write  commending  you  and  yours  to  the  merciful  care 
and  support  of  our  Heavenly  Father.  He  will  not 
utterly  desert  us,  though  allowing  us  to  be  sorely 
afflicted  and  bereaved. 

We  have  prayed  for  you  constantly  since  learning  all, 
tha,t  God,  in  his  infinite  mercy,  may  restore  your  father 
to  life,  and  succor  and  enable  you  to  get  away  from  that 
dreadful  country. 

I  wrote  to  the  New  York  Times,  and  hope  that  a 
thorough   investigation   will   take   place,   and   a    severe 


2o8  The  Chisohn  Massacre, 

punishment  be  meted  out  to  the  murderers  and  assassins. 
Some  time  they  will  get  their  deserts,  you  may  rest 
assured.    God's  hand  is  not  shortened  ! 

Bear  up  in  this  great  trial  of  your  life,  our  dear  friend. 
Do  not  give  way  to  despair,  but  commit  all  to  God,  and 
light  and  comfort  will  come  at  last. 

Be  assured  of  our  deepest  sympathy ;  and  the  Lord 
take  care  of  you  and  yours,  is  the  fervent  prayer  of  your 
sorrowing  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  H. 

New  Orleans,  May  6,  1877. 
Cornelia  Chisolm: 

Respected  Miss :  Please  excuse  the  liberty  taken  to 
address  you.  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  of  the  death  of 
your  father  and  brother.  I  hope  you  are  not  badly 
wounded.  Should  you  need  any  assistance  let  me  know, 
and  I  v/ill  do  all  in  my  power  for  you.  I  am  a  republi- 
can and  a  gentleman,  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  Should 
you  be  in  need  of  a  home,  my  house  is  at  your  service. 

Wishing  you  may  soon  be  well,  allow  me  to  remain 
very  respectfully,  G.  M.  L. 

Sullivan,  III.,  May  21,  1877. 
Miss  Chisolm*. 

Please  pardon  my  boldness  in  thus  addressing  you, 
but  I  could  not  resist  after  reading  an  account  of  the 
troubles  lately  in  your  place.  My  desire  is  to  find  out 
whether  or  not  the  enclosed  account  is  true.  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  visiting  your  town  in  1874,  looking  out  a 
location,  but  was  not  entirely  satisfied  with  the  climate. 
You  will  confer  a  great  favor  on  me  if  you  will  give  me 
the  facts  regarding  the  matter  enclosed ;  and  I  further 
assure  you  not  one  word  will  be  made  public  without 
your  consent. 

Please  honor  me  with  a  reply.     Very  respectfully, 

T.  B.  S. 


'■^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  209 

Newport,  R.  L,  May  13,  1877. 
Miss  Chisolm: 

Pray  do  not  consider  it  an  unpardonable  liberty  when 
I,  unknown,  write  to  you  to  express  my  deep  admiration 
of  your  brave  conduct.  I  trust,  with  all  my  heart,  it  is 
not  necessary  for  me  to  add  words  of  condolence.  Please 
pardon  me,  for  I  believe  I  shall  feel  better  all  my  life  for 
having  even  so  much  to  do  with  such  a  brave,  devoted 
daughter.  But  if  my  writing  is  to  be  excused,  I  suppose 
it  must  be  because  it  needs  no  notice,  so  I  shall  write 
no  more.     Believe  me,  I  am  yours,  very  humbly, 

H.  T.  a 

Lincoln,  Nebraska,  May  15,  1877. 
Miss  Cornelia  Chisolm  : 

Dear  Friend :  Although  an  entire  stranger  to  you  I 
trust  that  I  may  yet  address  you  as  friend. 

I  have  just  been  reading,  in  a  Chicago  paper,  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  dastardly  assault  made  by  the  mob  upon 
your  father,  and  of  the  heroic  resistance  made  by  him 
and  yourself.  Although  my  own  work  in  this  w^orld  is 
to  repeat  the  proclamation  made  by  the  angels  to  the 
shepherds  on  the  plains  — "  Peace  on  earth,  good  will  to 
man"  —  yet  I  felt  a  good  degree  of  satisfaction  when  I 
learned  that  at  least  one  of  the  mob  had  been  made  to 
bite  the  dust.  Surely  those  men  must  have  been  dead 
to  all  sense  of  honor  and  to  all  the  finer  feelings  of 
human  nature.  I  have  read  many  accounts  of  mob 
violence  practiced  upon  the  poor  negroes  in  the  South; 
but  I  do  not  remember  to  have  read  one  that  equalled  in 
inhumanity  this  assault  upon  your  father. 

It  is  my  sincere  hope  that  your  wounded  father  is  still 
alive  and  that  he  may  entirely  recover.  It  is  sad  to  lose 
a  parent,  but  doubly  sad  to  lose  one  by  the  hand  of 
savage  men. 

You  will  pardon  me  for  saying  it,  but  your  heroism  on 

14 


210  The  Chisolni  Massacre, 

that  occasion  has  challenged  my  admiration.  Few 
young  ladies  would  have  had  the  nerve  to  face  a  crowd 
of  such  desperate  men.  But  you  did  it  in  devotion  to  a 
father  whose  life  was  dear  to  you  as  your  own,  and  for 
this  I  honor  you.  I  sincerely  hope  that  your  wounds 
may  speedily  heal,  and  that  your  brave  right  hand  may 
not  be  seriously  or  permanently  injured. 

As  I  read  the  account  of  the  brutal  deeds  of  those 
men,  and  of  their  threats  of  further  violence,  my  heart 
was  touched,  and  I  wished  earnestly  that  I  might  be  of 
service  to  you  in  your  hour  of  sore  trial. 

If  these  lines,  hastily  written,  will  in  any  degree 
encourage  you  I  shall  only  be  too  glad.  If  I  could  help 
you  in  any  other  way  I  would  do  so.  Be  assured  that, 
though  a  stranger,  and  hundreds  of  miles  away,  my 
sympathies  and  my  prayers  are  with  you. 

Your  friend,  S.  M.  C, 

Pastor  Bapt,  Church, 


Fort  Dodge,  Iowa,  May  17,  1877. 
Miss  Cornelia  Chisolm: 

I  have  just  read  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  of  May 
nth,  an  account  of  the  most  atrocious  barbarism  it  has 
been  my  lot  to  read  in  connection  with  southern  politics. 
Will  you  kindly  allow  me  to  tender  you  my  profound 
sympathy,  and  to  express  the  .hope  that  happiness  may 
still  be  in  store  for  your  wounded  parent.  Your  conduct 
I  cannot  sufficiently  admire.  I  have  seen  few  women 
whom  I  think  would  have  had  the  courage  you  dis- 
played. I  trust  your  wounds  may  be  speedily  cured  and 
no  permanent  injury  to  yourself  be  sustained.  Again 
allow  me  to  express  my  appreciation  of  your  noble  and 
heroic  conduct.     I  am  yours  tespectfully, 

Chas.  E.  T. 


^'Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  211 

Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  May  10,  1877. 
Miss  Chisolm: 

I  have  read  with  the  deepest  interest  Mr.  Smalle>A's 
account,  in  the  New  York  Tribune,  of  your  heroism  and 
sufferings,  and  I  cannot  refrain  from  offering  you  a 
stranger  s  appreciation  and  sympathy.  Such  rare  courage 
as  you  have  shown  must  awaken  the  deepest  interest 
everywhere  in  the  North.  I  know  from  personal  expe- 
rience the  depraved  condition  of  society  in  parts  of  your 
State,  and  I  can  comprehend  somewhat  the  trials  through 
which  you  have  passed.  Pardon  me  if  I  intrude  bpon 
your  grief;  I  only  want  to  say  a  kindly  word  which  will 
tell  you  that  you  have  many  friends  whose  faces  you 
have  never  seen.  If  you  could  spare  the  time,  at  a  later 
day,  to  send  me  a  line,  telling  me  of  the  result  of  your 
own  and  your  father's  injuries,  you  will  receive  the  grati- 
tude of  one  who,  though  a  stranger,  will  always  be  your 
friend.  O.  J.  S. 

The  answer  to  the  above  afterward  appeared  in  the 
Terre  Haute  Express.     It  is  copied  below : 

DeKalb,  Miss.,  May  14,  1877. 

Dear  Sir:  I  am  requested  by  Miss  Nelie  Chisolm  and 
others  of  the  family,  to  return  thanks  for  your  kind  favor 
to  them  of  a  recent  date.  Your  expressions  of  sympathy 
and  regard  are  highly  appreciated,  and  at  some  future 
time,  should  the  life  of  the  poor  girl  be  spared,  she  will 
take  pleasure  in  acknowledging  her  gratitude  in  some 
more  substantial  manner.  Her  father  died  Sunday  eve- 
ning last,  at  eight  o'clock.  She  is  yet  unconscious  of  the 
fact,  and  her  physician  says  that  the  only  hope  for  her  is 
in  keeping  the  terrible  truth  to  ourselves.  It  is  beyond 
the  power  of  language  to  describe  the  affliction  and  dis- 
tress which  has  been  experienced  in  this  family  since 
that   dark  and   bloody  Sabbath.     The  savage  coolness 


212  The  Chisolni  Massacre, 

with  which  the  plot  was  matured  for  the  destruction  of 
the  victims,  is  not  surpassed  in  the  annals  of  crime  since 
the  beginning  of  the  world.  While  Mr.  Smalley's  letter 
contains  some  truths,  when  taken  as  a  whole  it  is  a  farce, 
and  I  am  surprised  that  a  Northern  man,  coming  here 
upon  the  ground,  should  not  have  taken  some  pains  to 
obtain  the  whole  truth,  and,  obtaining  it,  have  the  man- 
hood to  publish  it. 

Judge  Chisolm  had  as  noble  and  true  a  heart  as  ever 
beat  in  the  breast  of  man.  He  was  judge  of  probate 
of  his  own  county  before  the  war,  and  was  re-elected  to 
that  responsible  position  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the 
people  immediately  after  its  close.  He  has  raised  an 
elegant  and  refined  family,  and  what  better  proof  do 
you  need  of  their  appreciation  of  his  virtues  and  good- 
ness, than  to  know  that  every  one  of  them,  from  his 
innocent  little  boy  thirteen  years  of  age,  up  to  the  tender 
and  delicate  wife,  followed  him  to  the  jail,  where  he  had 
been  induced  to  go  by  connivance  of  the.  sheriff,  under 
promise  of  a  safeguard ;  and  then,  under  the  shadow  of 
its  blackened  walls,  when  they  were  assailed  by  three  hun- 
dred yelling  savages,  fought  for  the  husband  and  father 
with  a  desperation  and  heroism  which  ought  to  have 
palsied  the  most  brutal  arm.  The  sight  of  the  little 
daughter,  shot,  beaten  and  mangled  in  a  most  shocking 
manner,  is  proof  enough,  it  seems  to  me,  to  convince  the 
world  that  there  must  have  been  something  in  the  heart 
of  the  father,  now  dead,  better  than  ordinarily  falls  to 
the  lot  of  man. 

The  work  of  that  Sabbath  day  is  the  culmination  of  a 
scheme  which  has  been  on  foot  here  for  seven  years,  and 
for  no  other  purpose  than  that  "democracy"  should  have 
ascendancy  in  the  county.  The  scenes  enacted  here  on 
the  twenty-ninth  of  April  are  liable  to  be  repeated  any- 
where in  the  State  when  any  considerable  number  of 
republicans  may  see  fit  to  organize.     If  you  could  have 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  213 

any  sort  of  conception  of  the  indignities  and  dangers 
through  which  Judge  Chisolm  and  his  family  had  to 
pass  last  fall  during  the  canvass,  to  say  nothing  of  every 
preceding  canvass  for  the  past  seven  years,  you  would 
be  compelled  to  relinquish  at  once  all  hope  or  faith  in  a 
government  tolerating  such  enormities.  ^     ^     ^ 

East  Mississippi  Female  College, 
Meridian,  May  13,  1877. 
My  Darling  Friend: 

Don't  censure  me,  please,  for  not  writing  to  you  before. 
I  expect  you  have  thought  it  strange  that  the  one  who 
professed  herself  to  be  your  greatest  and  truest  friend 
has  forsaken  you  in  the  hour  of  darkness,  when  the 
clouds  of  trouble  hung  thickly  o'er  you  and  your  devoted 
family.  Believe  me,  Nelie,  the  reason  I  have  not  written 
before  is,  that  my  heart  was  too  full  of  sorrow,  and  I 
felt  bowed  down  with  such  excruciating  pain  to  think 
of  my  loved  friend  suffering  so  much.  Indeed  I  sym- 
pathize with  you  deeply.  It  is  with  anxiety  that  I 
hear  your  hand  is  worse ;  you  must  be  suffering  agony. 
If  I  could  be  with  you  and  help  care  for  you.  I  under- 
stand that  the  Christians  have  been  very  kind.  It 
requires  misfortune  to  show  us  our  true  friends.  I  heard 
of  your  bravery  with  great  pride,  for  I  understood  so 
well  your  affectionate  love  for  your  father,  and  knew  so 
well  how  outraged  you  felt.  These  are  mere  words,  yet 
they  come  directly  from  my  own  heart,  but  they  seem 
void  when  compared  with  what  I  would  express.  If  it 
was  in  my  power  I  would  come  to  you  at  once.  This 
you  know  is  impossible,  as  our  school  soon  closes,  and  so 
much  is  expected  of  me.  Nevertheless,  I  hope  I  will  be 
able  to  see  you  anyway  as  soon  as  it  does  close,  which 
will  not  be  long.  All  the  girls  sympathize  with  you 
deeply,  and  desire  me  to  assure  you  of  their  sincerity.  I 
will  write  soon  again,  my  darling.     May  the  Lord,  "who 


214  ^/^^^  CJiisolm  Massacre. 

keepeth  His  people  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand,"  watch 
over  you  and  your  afflicted  family  during  this  time  of 
trouble,  and  provide  for  your  comfort ;  for  "  He  doeth  all 
things  well."     Believe  me  your  ever  devoted  friend. 

Annie. 

Meridian,  Miss.,  May  i6,  1877. 
My  dear  suffering  friend : 

The  telegraphic  wires  brought  us  the  doleful  and 
heart-rending  news,  yesterday,  of  our  sweet  Cornelia's 
death.  We  had  previously  heard  that  her  father  had  left 
us.     Oh  !  what  a  woe  is  thine,  my  darling  friend  ! 

This  is  to  let  you  know  that  in  all  of  your  sorrow  I 
have  been  grieved,  and  have  been  to  the  altar  with  the 
petition  that  the  Healer  will  be  with  you  and  enable  you 
to  "  pass  under  the  rod  "  with  safety,  with  your  armour 
brightened  and  your  sandals  buckled  on,  ready  for  the 
future  contest  with  the  evil  one.  Dear  madam,  I  pray 
that  this  mountain  of  your  troubles  may  flow  down  like 
a  plain  at  His  bidding,  who  holds  in  his  hand  the  destiny 
of  nations ;  and  cordially  join  in  St.  Paul's  prayer  that 
this  present  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  will 
work  out  for  you  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight 
of  glory. 

Ah,  me !  what  shall  I  say  about  my  dear,  sweet  child, 
Cornelia  ?  I  can't  write  about  her.  1  will  only  say,  come 
expressive  silence  and  tell  my  woe ;  for,  if  I  had  the  pen 
of  an  Archangel,  I  could  not  make  known  what  I  feel. 

Mrs.  L and  all  the  children  join  me  in  tendering 

to  you  and  your  two  children  their  heart -felt  sympathy. 
Mrs.  L requested  me  to  say  to  you  if  she  could  pos- 
sibly leave  home,  at  this  time,  she  would  gladly  come  to 
your  house  and  try  and  console  you  by  her  presence. 
Poor  F !  she  was  so  hurt  about  our  dear  Cornelia. 

We  heard,  yesterday,  that  Captain  Wells  was  sick.  I 
do  trust  that  it  is  nothing  serious.  Give  him  my  kindest 
regards.     I  hope  he  will  soon  be  well  again. 


^'- Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  ^15 

With  my  prayers  for  your  future  happiness,  I  will  have 
to  sink  silently  into  a  signature,  M.  S.  B. 

Washington,  D.  C,  May  23,  1877. 
Mrs.  W.  W.  Chisolm: 

Dear  Madam :  I  do  not  write  expecting  to  be  able  to 
speak  to  your  sorrowing  heart  any  words  of  consolation, 
or  to  say  anything  which  will  lighten  your  heavy  burden 
of  grief,  but  I  want  you  to  know  that  the  people  of  the 
whole  country  grieve  with  and  for  you.  I  have  just 
received  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  Ohio,  who  called 
with  me  upon  your  late  husband  and  daughter  while 
they  were  in  the  city.  The  gentleman  begs  me  to  write 
you  and  ask  for  your  dear  lost  daughter's  picture,  and  I 
assure  you  it  could  not  be  given  into  more  worthy  or 
patriotic  hands.  If  you  can  do  so,  will  you  not  send  me 
one  also  ?  I  want  to  show  it  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
with  whom  I  am  somewhat  acquainted.  I  called  upon 
the  President,  Attorney-General  and  Secretary  of  War, 
while  you  were  surrounded  by  that  terrible  mob  which 
prevented  you  from  taking  your  loved  ones  to  a  place  of 
safety.  Before  any  decisive  steps  could  be  taken,  a  hand 
more  powerful  than  a  mob  released  them.  We  mourn 
with  you  for  them,  and  for  you  in  your  great  sorrow.  If 
it  is  not  too  sad  a  task,  will  you  write  me?  If  you 
have  a  picture  of  the  Judge,  will  you  send  it  to  me?  I 
will  take  it  to  Brady  and  have  his  portrait  hung  among 
the  nation's  honored  dead.  My  friend  from  Ohio,  Mr. 
S.  M.  L.,  who  wants  Miss  Cornelia's  picture,  is  a  personal 
friend  of  the  President  and  General  Garfield.  I  hope  I 
may  sometime  see  you,  and  be  able  to  speak  of  the  many 
pleasant  hours  I  spent  with  your  dear  ones  here  in 
Washington. 

Hoping  to  hear  from  you  soon,  and  that  you  will  have 
strength  to  bear  your  terrible  affliction,  I  am  your  friend 
in  a  mutual  sorrow,  Mrs.  H.  H.  S, 


CHAPTER     XX. 

Up  to  the  hour  of  her  death  Cornelia  would  spurn 
with  contempt  any  good  wishes  tendered  her  that  did 
not  carry  with  them  the  same  feeling  for  her  father,  and 
the  very  last  act  of  her  life  was  to  tear  out  the  leaves  of 
her  autograph  album  on  which  were  written  the  names 
of  young  gentlemen  whom  she  had  reason  to  believe 
were  in  sympathy  with  her  father's  enemies. 

Six  or  eight  days  had  passed  when  Capt.  Shaughnessy 
and  Major  McMichael,  friends  of  Judge  Chisolm,  came 
from  Jackson.  A  plan  was  then  entered  into  for  carry- 
ing the  wounded  to  some  place  where  they  might  at 
least  be  free  from  the  fear  of  a  night  attack  by  the  mob, 
and  accordingly  Mrs.  Chisolm  addressed  the  following 
appeal  to  Governor  Stone : 

To  Hon.  J.  M.  Stone,  Governor  of  Mississippi: 

Sir :  Believing  you  to  be  humane  and  desirous  of 
preventing  the  needless  effusion  of  blood,  I  most  humbly 
and  respectfully  appeal  to  you  for  aid  in  protecting  my 
husband  and  children,  until  such  time  as  I  am  able,  with 
those  of  them  whom  God  in  his  mercy  may  spare  to  me, 
to  leave  the  county  and  their  home.  If  you  can  aid  me 
in  behalf  of  my  wounded  and  dying  husband  and 
daughter,  I  would  ask  that  Capt.  M.  Shaughnessy,  of 
Jackson,  be  authorized  to  raise  a  body  of  men  suffi- 
ciently large  to  protect  and  remove  us  to  some  place  of 
safety.  Respectfully, 

Mrs.  W.  W.  Chisolm. 

This  letter  Capt.  Shaughnessy  carried  with  him  to 
Jackson,  where  he  hoped  to  meet  the  governor.     On  his 


^'' Home   Rule''  in   Mississippi,  217 

arrival  there  he  found  that  Mr.  Stone  had  gone  to 
Natchez,  and  to  that  place  Capt.  Shaughnessy  then  des- 
patched the  contents  of  the  letter,  to  which  the  governor 
replied  by  telegraph  as  follows : 

To  M.  Shaughnessy,  Jacksc^,  Miss.: 

I  cannot  consent  to  your  proposition  to  go  to  Kemper 
county  with  a  body  of  armed  men.  I  will  return  as 
soon  as  possible.  J.  M.  Stone. 

Ready  to  take  advantage  of  any  circumstance,  no 
matter  how  trifling,  to  detract  from  the  real  facts  con- 
cerning the  outrage,  and,  as  it  would  appear,  add  to  its 
horrors  by  persecuting  any  one  who  might  openly 
express  a  feeling  of  sympathy  for  the  sufferers,  a  scurri- 
lous article  charging  Capt.  Shaughnessy  with  duplicity 
in  manifesting  so  much  interest  in  their  behalf,  came 
out  in  the  Vicksburg  Herald.  To  this  editorial  Capt. 
Shaughnessy  replied  through  the  columns  of  the  Com- 
mercial, another  paper  published  in  the  place,  branding 
the  charge  as  false  and  infamous.  His  reply  resulted  in 
a  challenge  from  Mr.  Charles  Wright,  editor  of  the 
Herald,  to  fight  a  duel.  The  proposition  was  promptly 
accepted.  The  challenged  party  having  the  selection  of 
weapons  and  ground,  Capt.  Shaughnessy  chose  navy 
pistols  at  ten  paces,  and  named  the  Louisiana  shore 
near  by  as  the  place  of  combat,  and  thither,  in  company 
with  two  or  three  friends  and  a  surgeon,  he  at  once 
repaired.  After  having  waited  for  many  hours  in  vain 
for  the  appearance  of  the  belligerent  newspaper  disciple, 
it  was  ascertained  that  Wright,  for  some  reason,  had 
lingered   in  Vicksburg   until  arrested   and   placed   under 


21 8  The  Chisolm  Alas s acre* 

bond  to  keep  the  peace.  Hearing  of  this  little  act  of 
diplomacy,  Shaughnessy's  friends  returned  to  the  city, 
and,  without  delay,  put  a  check  for  the  amount  of 
Wright's  recognizance  at  the  disposal  of  his  bondsmen, 
thus  setting  him  at  liberty  to  fight  or  "back  down" 
entirely,  as  the  case  might  be.  Some  thirty-six  hours 
beyond  the  time  for  the  hostile  meeting  had  passed 
when  the  Herald  chieftain,  in  suitable  war-paint,  accom- 
panied by  his  friends,  appeared  upon  the  scene.  On 
their  arrival  the  thick  gloom  of  a  foggy  night  on  the 
Mississippi  set  in,  and  it  was  thought  by  the  party  last 
on  the  grounds  that  the  darkness  would  preclude  the 
possibility  of  a  passage  at  "arms  until  daylight.  Capt. 
Shaughnessy's  friends  objected  to  another  postponement 
on  any  pretext  whatever,  contending  that  fires  could  be 
built,  from  the  light  of  which  a  collision,  as  fair  at  least 
for  one  as  the  other,  could  be  had.  While  the  commu- 
nications incident  to  all  this  were  passing  and  repassing, 
a  proposition  for  the  settlement  of  the  difficulty  came 
from  Wright's  seconds.  This  was  finally  agreed  upon, 
Wright  first  withdrawing  the  charges  made  by  him 
through  his  paper,  reflecting  upon  Shaughnessy,  when 
the  latter,  in  turn,  recalled  the  offensive  language  applied 
to  Wright. 

Thus  the  family  were  left  alone,  and  without  the  hope 
of  aid;  menaced  and  threatened  on  every  hand  by  the 
barbarians  who  surrounded  them,  thirsting  for  the  little 
blood  that  remained.  The  few  friends  who  had  come  to 
their  aid  were  ready  to  do  and  die,  if  necessary,  but 
utterly  powerless  should  the  threatened  attack  be  made. 


^^ Home  Rule''  m  Mississippi.  219 

Is  it  to  be  wondered   at,  then,  that  we  are  now  called 
upon  to  record  the  worst? 

The  following  private  letter,  addressed  by  Mrs.  Chis- 
olm  to  Capt.  Shaughnessy,  but  a  few  days  after  his  leav- 
ing for  Jackson,  explains  itself  and  shows  something  of 
her  feelings  on  the  receipt  of  the  intelligence  that  the 
Governor  had  expressed  his  inability  or  unwillingness  to 
assist  her: 

DeKalb,  Miss.,  May  9th,  '77. 
Capt.  M.  Shaughnessy: 

Kind  Friend  of  my  Htisba7id: — I  was  both  grieved 
and  surprised  to  learn  through  this  afternoon's  mail,  from 
Gov.  Stone's  Private  Secretary,  that  the  Governor  refused 
us  any  protection  other  than  that  of  F.  C.  Sinclair,  who, 
with  the  pretense  of  an  arrest,  played  into  the  hands  of 
the  mob.  Having  great  reliance  in  your  judgment,  will, 
and  fearless  bravery,  I  hasten  to  communicate  the  fact 
to  you.  I  hear  nothing  tending  to  give  me  quiet,  and 
everything  to  the  reverse.  Both  husband  and  daughter 
are  suffering  severely,  more  so  than  when  you  were  here. 

Hoping  to  hear  from  you,  or  better,  see  you, 
I  am  very  respectfully  and  gratefully, 

Emily  S.  M.  Chisolm. 

One  day,  not  far  from  this  time,  the  writer  was  sitting 
by  the  bed-side  holding  Judge  Chisolm's  hand,  when  he 
gave  the  grip  of  a  Master  Mason.  Thinking  that  he 
desired  to  communicate  something,  I  said: 

"Judge,  I  did  not  remember  that  you  were  a  Mason !" 
"Yes,"  replied  he,  "I  was  a  Mason,  but  the  men  who 
tried  to  murder  me  and  my  children  the  other  day,  for  a 
long  time  undertook  to  force  me  to  renounce  my  repub- 
licanism and  join  them  in  their  nefarious  political  schemes. 


220  TJie  C J  lis  0  tin  Massacre. 

To  accomplish  this  they  threatened  to  expel  me  from 
the  lodge.  Failing  in  that,  they  sought  to  blacken  my 
character  in  every  possible  way,  and  finally  expelled  me; 
but  even  after  that  I  was  told  by  Gully,  T.  S.  Murphy, 
and  Charles  Bell,  all  prominent  members  of  the  lodge,  if 
I  would  only  keep  quiet,  politically,  that  I  would  again 
be  restored  to  honorable  membership." 

This  is  only  one  of  the  many  affecting  incidents  which 
occurred  during  the  dark  hours  preceding  the  final  scene 
of  desolation  and  woe,  in  witnessing  which  the  stoutest 
heart  must  have  sunk. 

Two  weeks  of  anxious  watching  and  labor  by  day  and 
night,  with  varying  shadows  of  hope  and  fear  on  the 
part  of  family  and  friends,  passed  by,  while  the  pain  and 
suffering  of  the  victims  steadily  increased,  until  Sunday 
evening,  just  before  eight  o'clock  of  May  13th,  Judge 
Chisolm  died,  with  his  head  resting  in  the  arms  of  his 
devoted  wife.  By  advice  of  the  surgeon,  a  knowledge  of 
his  death  was  carefully  kept  from  Cornelia.  To  do  this, 
we  were  compelled,  almost  by  force,  to  carry  the  widowed 
mother  into  another  portion  of  the  house,  where  her 
screams  could  not  be  heard  by  the  suffering  girl.  During 
the  terrible  night  which  followed — terrible  indeed  to  the 
inmates  of  that  household — Cornelia,  many  times  called 
for  her  "  mamma,"  who  was  then  wholly  unable  to  come 
to  her.  The  poor  girl  was  deceived  with  the  story  that 
her  mother  had  a  very  severe  head-ache  and  had  lain 
down  for  a  little  rest,  and  the  doctor's  orders  were  that 
she  must  not  be  disturbed.  In  this  way,  Cornelia  was 
pacified  until   the  morning  came,  when  she  again  called 


^^ffome   Rule"  in  Mississippi,  221 

for  her,  and  would  hardly  consent  to  be  put  off  longer. 
"  Only  think,"  she  said,  "  I  have  not  seen  mamma  since 
last  night,  before  dark;  now  you  must  let  her  come  to 
me!" 

After  having  been  informed  of  Cornelia's  request  to 
see  her,  I  asked  Mrs.  Chisolm  if  she  could  go  into  her 
presence  without  betraying  any  unusual  emotion,  calcu- 
lated to  arouse  a  suspicion  in  Cornelia's  mind  of  the 
death  of  her  father.  "  Yes,"  said  she,  "  I  am  equal  to  any- 
thing;" and,  after  bathing  her  face  in  cold  water,  she 
walked  deliberately  into  the  room  and  caressed  the  fath- 
erless girl,  who  lay  there  unconscious  of  her  orphanage. 
That  morning  the  coffin  came  and  Judge  Chisolm's  body 
was  carried  off  and  buried  as  Johnny's  had  been,  two 
weeks  before. 

Tuesday,  the  15  th,  the  physician  came  in  and  informed 
the  writer  (who  at  the  time  was  her  only  attendant)  of 
his  determination  to  perform  an  operation  on  Cornelia's 
arm,  which  had  become  very  much  swollen  and  inflamed 
from  erysipelas  and  other  causes,  some  of  the  wounds 
having  but  imperfect  drainage.  A  similar  operation, 
though  not  so  severe,  had  been  tried  before  with  very 
satisfactory  results,  and  the  doctor's  opinion  was  that 
this  done  she  would  begin  to  recover  at  once.  The^ 
necessary  preparations  for  this  operation  were  entered 
upon  with  the  greatest  reluctance,  as  the  girl  was  very 
much  reduced,  and  more  especially  as  chloroform  had  to 
be  administered.  This,  however,  was  given  only  in  small 
quantities,  enough  to  deaden  the  sensibilities,  though  not 
sufficient  to  put  her  entirely  under  its  influence. 


222  The  Chisolni  Massacre, 

The  surgeon  lanced  the  arm  in  several  places,  the 
blood  flowing  profusely  but  before  the  operation  had 
been  completed  she  returned  to  consciousness,  com- 
plained of  great  pain  and  immediately  fainted.  All 
needful  restoratives  were  at  hand,  and  from  this  she  was 
soon  rallied,  but  fainted  again,  exclaiming  as  the  swoon 
came  upon  her,  "  O  !  how  dark,  dark,  dark !  Will  the 
light  never  come  again  ?"  Only  that  light  which  illumines 
the  pathway  of  the  glorified  in  heaven,  appeared  to  her 
again. 

Every  remedy  was  applied  that  could  possibly  be 
devised,  but  she  continued  to  sink.  The  day  was 
bright  and  balmy,  and  as  the  breath  of  the  dying  girl 
grew  short  and  labored,  the  doors  and  windows  were 
opened  and  the  fragrance  of  sweet  flowers,  from  a 
hundred  different  varieties  growing  in  the  yard,  wafted 
by  a  gentle  and  refreshing  breeze,  filled  the  room.  A 
pure  white  lily,  almost  the  last  object  upon  which  she 
bestowed  a  look  or  caress,  rested  on  her  bosom  as  she 
lay  in  a  reclining  posture  in  a  large  arm  chair.  But  the 
scent  of  her  *  favorite  roses,  or  the  touch  of  soft  winds 
from  the  cool  forest  shade  failed  to  arrest  that  eye 
already  dimmed  by  the  leaden  shades  of  death.  The 
heart-broken  mother  and  little  brothers,  wild  with  grief, 
gathered  round,  and  their  cries  and  sobs  went  out  over 
the  frowning  walls  of  the  county  jail,  and  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  that  blood-cursed  town. 

"  O  !  God  of  mercy,"  cried  Clay,  "  must  sister  die,  too  ? 
My  sweet,  sweet  sister !  Murdered  !  murdered  !  mur- 
dered ! "      The   stricken   family,   together   with  the  few 


^'' Home  Ride''  in  Mississippi,  223 

friends  that  stood  by,  sank  upon  the  floor  by  the  martyr's 
side,  while  in  the  mute  eloquence  of  woe,  all  prayed  God 
to  spare  her  precious  life.  As  long  as  respiration  lasted 
her  clear  and  powerful  intellect  seemed  to  be  at  work, 
for,  in  answer  to  the  appeals  of  her  mother  to  "  try  to 
breathe  again  for  papa's  sake,"  she  would  struggle  for 
another  breath ;  but  already  her  spirit  was  reaching  out 
to  be  welcomed  by  that  of  her  beloved  father  in  another 
world ;  and  "  Homeward  she  walked  with  God's  benedic- 
tion upon  her." 

Among  the  stricken  mourners  gathered  there,  none 
were  more  deeply  moved  than  the  negroes  about  the 
place,  many  of  whom  had  watched  the  growth  of  this 
bright  being  from  a  child,  and  who  loved  her  with  an 
honest  and  unselfish  devotion.  These  gathered  in  large 
numbers  as  they  had  done  at  the  death-bed  of  Judge 
Chisolm,  and  their  tears  were  mingled  with  those  of  the 
family  and  friends. 

At  two  o'clock  her  spirit  took  its  flight;  and  there, 
almost  under  the  shadow  of  the  slaughter-pen,  where  the 
victims  were  offered  up,  its  grim  walls  looking  down  as 
fixed  and  immovable  as  the  hearts  of  those  whose  savaee 
thirst  for  blood  had  thus  been  satiated,  lay  the  mangled 
corpse  of  this  pure  and  innocent  girl,  with  the  dark  blue 
marks  left  by  blows  from  the  assassin's  hand  still  visible 
upon  her  fair  face  and  brow,  now  calmly  composed  in 
death. 

The  loving  hands  of  Mrs.  Griflin,  Mrs.  Hopper,  Mrs. 
Rush  and  Miss  McDevitt,  dressed  and  prepared  her  for 
the  grave,  and  if  an  angel  from  heaven  had  lain  there 


224      *  ^^^^  Chisolni  Massacre, 

asleep,  its  loveliness  would  have  been  eclipsed  by  the 
surpassing  beauty  of  that  dead  girl. 

By  the  direction  of  the  physician,  the  mother,  who  now 
sat  cold  and  dumb  and  tearless,  was  placed  under  the 
closest  surveillance,  as  it  was  feared  by  all  that  she  would 
become  hopelessly  insane. 

Wednesday  the  coffin  came,  and  the  martyred  remains 
followed  those  of  the  father  and  brother  a  distance  of 
twenty-two  miles  through  a  desolate  and  unreclaimed 
region,  right  past  the  haunts  of  the  men  whose  hands 
were  yet  dripping  with  her  blood,  and  who  stood  by  the 
roadside  and  gazed  upon  the  mournful  scene  with  an 
expression  of  stolid  indifference.  From  early  morning 
until  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  solemn  march  pro- 
ceeded, when  a  bright  and  cheerful  little  spot  broke  upon 
the  view  —  an  oasis  in  the  great  desert  of  Kemper 
County  —  the  place  where  our  heroine  was  born  nineteen 
years  before,  and  where  now  the  father,  daughter  and 
son  sleep  side  by  side. 

Thus,  within  sight  of  three  christian  churches,  oi:e 
after  another  the  victims  sank  and  died,  and  not  a  min- 
ister of  the  gospel  nor  a  member  of  the  congregation  with 
which  the  mother  and  murdered  daughter  worshiped,  ever 
offered  to  cross  the  threshold  of  the  house  of  mourning. 
One  after  another  the  mangled  forms  were  carried  out 
and  buried,  with  just  enough  hands  to  perform  the  man- 
ual labor  incident  thereto,  and  not  a  requiem  was  sung 
nor  a  benediction  offered,  save  only  the  prayers  which 
came  silently  and  spontaneously  from  the  hearts  of  the 
faithful  few  who  stood  around. 


^'- Home  RiiW  in  Mississippi.  225 

After  diligent  inquiry,  it  is  yet  to  be  learned  that  any 
clergyman  preaching  in  DeKalb,  Scooba  or  Meridian  — 
all  immediately  adjoining  towns  —  has  publicly  alluded 
to  this  in  any  way.  What  may  be  said  of  a  condition 
of  society,  which  so  bridles  the  mouths  of  the  chosen 
messengers  of  the  Great  Prince  of  Peace,  that  they  dare 
not  lift  their  voices  against  such  a  crime  as  this;  and 
that  because  of  the  peculiar  political  faith  of  those  who 
are  made  victims  of  the  sacrifice? 

Thus  the  curtain  falls  upon  this  act  in  the  tragedy, 
and  with  it  ends  the  career  of  a  family  whose  only  rule 
of  law  in  the  domestic  circle  was  that  of  love,  and 
whose  worst  offense  against  their  fellows,  was  the  free 
exercise  of  an  honest  conviction  which  the  constitution 
of  the  country  guarantees  to  its  humblest  citizen.  From 
the  father  down,  a  kiss  or  a  fond  caress  was  the  only 
sure  password  to  their  hearts,  and  the  only  punishment 
ever  offered  for  any  disobedience  of  parental  authority  or 
other  supposed  wrong-doing. 

Cornelia,  at  once  a  martyr  to  a  God-like  filial  affection, 
and  a  victim  of  savage  outlawry,  the  oldest  of  the 
children  and  the  brightest  jewel  of  the  household,  was 
the  star  of  her  mother's  hope,  and  her  father's  especial  pet 
and  idol.  Happy  and  vivacious,  tender,  true  and  faithful 
to  every  kindly  impulse,  her  heart  was  capable  of  loving 
the  whole  world.  Possessed  of  superior  intelligence,  her 
character  was  graced  with  a  purity  which  gave  her  an 
elevated  and  commanding  place  in  the  scale  of  young 
and  useful  womanhood,  into  which  she  had  just  entered, 
and  her  untimely  and  terrible  death  has  left  a  wound  in 
15 


226  The  CJiisolm  Massacre, 

the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  her  well  which  time  can 
never  heal,  while  a  million  accursed  lives  like  that  of 
Rosser  and  his  followers  can  never  atone  for  a  single 
drop  of  her  pure  and  innocent  blood. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

The  traces  of  the  bloody  sacrifice  extended  around 
the  iron  cages  from  the  top  of  the  jail  all  along  the  stair- 
case and  hall  way  to  the  outside  entrance ;  over  the 
smooth,  grassy  common  to  the  house ;  through  the  little 
window  from  the  back  porch  and  across  the  floor  to  the 
room  where  the  wounded  were  placed;  and  from  there  to 
every  closet  and  corner  where  busy  fingers,  leaving  red 
stains,  turned  in  search  of  lint,  bandages  or  whatever 
could  be  found  for  the  relief  or  comfort  of  the  wounded. 
These  crimson  marks  had  scarcely  had  time  to  dry  when 
every  species  of  falsification  and  evasion  of  or  detraction 
from  the  real  facts  concerning  the  massacre  were  put 
forth,  through  the  agency  of  the  local  press  and  volun- 
tary newspaper  writers  of  the  State.  A  number  of 
journals,  it  is  true,  condemned  the  crime  as  the  murderers 
themselves  should  have  been  condemned  and  executed 
long  ago;  and  among  the  people  there  was  a  goodly 
number  who  really  sympathized  with  the  family  and 
their  friends;  but  these  were  slow  and  exceedingly 
cautious  in  the  manifestations  of  their  feelings.  A  com- 
munication of  the  kind  alluded  to,  which  appeared  in 
one  of  the  leading  newspapers,  is  here  given.  It  tacitly 
admits  the  horrors  of  the  slaughter  in  an  endeavor  to 
find  justification  for  the  act.  The  assertions  made  by 
"A  Subscriber"  have  been  fully  discussed  and  answered 
in  the  preceding  pages,  and  this  sweeping  and  unquali- 


228  TJie  Chisolin  Massacre. 

fied  statement  of  an  individual  who  was  himself  one  of 
the  prime  movers  in  the  conspiracy,  is  not  nor  can  it  be 
sustained  by  a  single  corroborating  circumstance,  or  wit- 
ness, living  or  dead.  It  is  reproduced  to  show  the  spirit 
which  moves  the  hearts  of  these  men,  after  the  voices  of 
their  victims  have  been  silenced  forever,  and  they  seek  to 
violate  the  graves  filled  by  their  own  red  hands,  when  no 
power  on  earth  remains  to  vindicate  the  honor  of  the 
dead.     Here  is  the  letter: 

DeKalb,  Miss.,  June  15,  1877. 
Editor  Meridian  Mercury  : 

Knowing  that  you  are  using  all  your  powers  to  put 
the  Kemper  riot  in  its  true  light  before  the  world,  I  have 
concluded  to  give  you  a  few  of  the  leading  facts  in 
respect  to  it.  During  the  last  eight  or  nine  years,  Kem- 
per county  has  been  infested  with  a  set  of  well  organized 
forgers,  thieves,  robbers  and  murderers.  The  very  best 
man  among  them  was  without  a  peer  in  villainy  among 
the  Murrell  or  Copelan  clans.  They  would  rob,  forge 
and  steal  by  day,  and  kill  and  murder  by  night.  For 
illustration :  Numbers  of  men,  and  women  too,  widows, 
have  paid  their  taxes  every  year  on  their  lands  and  have 
their  receipts  to  prove  it ;  but  their  lands  have  gone  to 
the  State  for  from  five  to  eight  years,  and  are  delinquent 
and  not  one  cent  of  taxes  paid  in.  Men  who  now, 
under  honest  tax  gatherers,  pay  eight  to  ten  dollars, 
under  the  Chisolm-Gilmer  clan  paid  from  twenty-eight 
to  thirty-five  dollars ;  the  twenty  to  twenty-five  dollars 
was  clear  robbery  of  the  people  every  year.  They  per- 
petrated frauds  and  swindles  innumerable,  mostly  in 
county  warrants,  some  of  which  I  could  specify  if  time 
and  space  would  allow.  The  first  of  the  bloody  crimes 
was  the  murder  of  J.  H.  Ball  in  1869.     It  was  peculiarly 


^^ Home  Rule''  i7i  Mississippi.  229 

atrocious  and  heart-rending.  His  house  was  surrounded 
at  night  with  himself  and  family  in  it.  Guns  were  fired 
into  it,  and  the  vigorous  assault  demonstrated  the 
murderous  intent.  It  was  death  to  remain,  and  almost 
certain  death  to  fly.  The  latter  presented  a  gleam  of 
hope  and  he  tried  it.  He  cleared  the  house  and  passed 
his  assailants,  but  was  seen,  pursued  and  barbarously 
butchered  away  out  in  his  cotton  field.  He  did  not  die 
immediately,  but  lived  to  tell  who  his  immediate 
murderers  were.  They  were  negroes  known  to  be  tools 
of  Chisolm.  That,  with  a  thrilling  scene  between  him 
and  Chisolm  about  three  weeks  before,  with  no  eye  to 
see  and  no  ear  to  hear,  when  and  where  it  was  in  truth 
Ball  sacrificed  his  own  life  to  his  weak  humanity,  demon- 
strates, to  a  moral  certainty,  that  his  killing  was  of 
Chisolm's  procuring.  He  was  shot  and  killed  in  the  night 
time,  if  not,  to  quote  the  special  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Tribune  "  by  some  one  in  hiding  by  the  road 
side."  The  proofs  were  produced  in  this  case,  but  the 
parties  were  acquitted.  It  was  only  a  white  man  and  a 
democrat  was  killed.  In  1870,  Sam  Gully  was  killed  by 
Ben  Rush,  on  the  streets  of  DeKalb.  He  was  tried  and 
acquitted,  though  he  had  deliberately  gone  out  with  his 
gun  to  intercept  his  victim  with  intention  to  commit 
murder.  Hal  Dawson  was  killed,  in  1 871,  by  Bill  Davis, 
at  Scooba,  in  conspiracy  with  J.  P.  Gilmer,  two  notorious 
members  of  the  Chisolm  clan.  Gilmer  inveigled  him  to 
where  Davis  could  shoot  him  down  with  impunity,  and 
shot  two  bullets  into  his  head  after  he  was  down. 
Chisolm  was  all-powerful  then,  and  as  sheriff  protected 
the  murderers,  and  so  powerful  was  he  in  his  wickedness 
that  they  were  not  only  never  punished,  but  never  in  any 
danger  of  being  punished  by  any  legal  method.  On  the 
contrary,  he  was  rewarded  by  being  elected  to  a  seat  in 
the  State  Senate ;  and  ever  after  that  was  near  to  Chis- 
olm and  a  co-worker  in  all  his  schemes.     The  virtuous 


230  TJie  C Jus 0 till  Massacre, 

friendship  of  Damon  and  Pythias,  long  ago,  was  not 
surpassed  by  the  love  and  affection  these  twin  workers 
of  iniquity  bore  each  other.  W.  S.  Gambrel,  a  mild 
republican,  and  generally  beliked  by  the  good  white 
people,  was  State  Senator  when  Hal  Dawson  was  killed 
and  Gilmer  set  his  covetous  eyes  upon  the  office  as  a 
reward  for  bloody  service.  It  was  easy  for  them  to  do, 
and  poor  Gambrel  "  was  shot  by  some  person  in  hiding 
by  the  road  side,"  and  thus  was  made  the  vacancy  in  the 
State  Senate  for  Gilmer  to  fill  as  his  reward  for  killing 
Hal  Dawson.  In  killing  Gambrel  they  accomplished 
two  desirable  ends — they  got  rid  of  a  man  who  refused 
to  become  an  accomplice  in  their  villainies,  and  made  the 
way  clear  to  reward  a  favorite. 

A  young  man  by  the  name  of  Floyd  was  killed  in  his 
store,  in  1873,  by  a  hired  assassin.  The  murderer  was 
arrested,  but  Chisolm  was  sheriff  and  permitted  him  to 
escape.  The  murderer  rode  away  a  gray  pony  furnished 
by  McClellan,  the  "  British  subject."  He  took  up  and 
staid  awhile  in  Jasper  County,  and  in  a  drunken  spree 
told  the  tale,  and  then  left  for  parts  unknown.  About 
this  time.  Bob  Dabbs  was  waylaid  in  DeKalb,  and  shot 
and  killed  by  a  negro  clansman.  There  was  then  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  to  assassinate  Mr.  Thomas  Morton 
"by  some  person  in  hiding  by  the  road  side,"  occurred  in 
1875.  ^  charge  of  buckshot  was  sent  through  his 
shoulder,  severely  wounding  him.  Dennis  Jones,  colored, 
was  shot  and  killed  "  by  some  person  in  hiding  by  the 
road  side,"  in  1876.  The  shooting  of  John  W.  Gully  in 
December  last,  had  the  design  of  it  been  fully  successful, 
would  have  been  the  best  laid  plan  of  them  all.  He 
was  to  have  been  killed  on  the  road  between  two  negro 
houses,  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  yards 
apart,  and  it  was  to  have  been  laid  on  them.  And  on 
his  final  taking  off  in  April,  it  was  attempted  to  make 
the  same  impression  that  it  was  the  deed  of  negroes,  by 


'^ Home   Rule''  in   Mississippi.  231 

robbing  him  of  his  boots,  hat,  pistols  and  money.  Chis- 
olm  had  made  a  threat  that  he  intended  to  make  the 
people  of  the  county  feel  him.  From  his  past  record 
and  present  success  in  procuring  a  good  citizen  to  be 
killed,  the  people  might  well  dread  he  would  make  good 
the  threat,  and  enquire,  who  next  ?  That  question  pre- 
sented a  horrible  and  maddening  thought.  For  ten 
years  Chisolm  and  his  gang  had  pursued  their  course  of 
public  robbery  and  private  murder,  unchecked  and  un- 
baffled  by  human  laws,  and  they  had  begun,  now,  to 
execute  his  latest  threat,  to  make  the  people  of  the 
county  feel  him  in  a  bloody  murder,  and  the  dread  ques- 
tion each  man  who  helped  to  bury  John  W.  Gully  put 
to  himself — who  next*^  What  wonder  the  next  day 
brought  the  DeKalb  riot?  The  29th  of  April  tells  the 
tale  of  people  in  madness  thwarting  the  bloody  threat 
in  blood.  Put  forward,  as  it  has  been  done,  in  its  worst 
aspect,  we  must  confess  that  the  killing  of  the  son  and 
daughter  looks  savage-like;  but  stated  in  its  true  light 
and  without  any  coloring,  and  it  is  not  so  bad.  The 
guards  stationed  in  the  jail  all  agree,  that  after  the  first 
gun  fired  by  Chisolm,  which  killed  Dr.  Rosser,  several 
shots  were  fired  at  him  filling  the  room  with  smoke. 
The  little  boy,  frightened,  ran  in  front  of  his  father,  and 
he,  seeing  him  indistinctly,  supposed  him  to  be  one  of 
his  assailants,  and  shot  him.  His  daughter  was  wounded, 
frantically  clinging  to  her  father  by  some  one  over  ex- 
cited and  rendered  incautious  thereby.  It  was  deplor- 
able, and  none  deplore  it  as  the  actors  in  the  tragedy. 
These  men,  whom  no  written  law  could  ever  reach,  the 
unwritten  higher  law  took  hold  on  that  29th  of  April; 
its  adjudications  were  soon  made,  and  the  execution  of 
them  a  terrible  example,  for  the  crime  which  has  had  a 
long  and  successful  career,  defying  law  or  evading  it  by 
ways  scarcely  less  criminal  than  the  infraction  of  the 
law  whose  penalties  they  avoid. 

A  Subscriber. 


232  TJie  CJiisolvi  Massacre, 


The  men  against  whom  the  grave  charges  in  the 
above  are  aimed  cannot  answer  them.  They  are  dead. 
They  cannot  compel  the  murderer  to  produce  the  testi- 
mony against  them,  or  by  his  failure  to  do  so  prove  him- 
self a  liar  as  well.  The  falsifier  and  traducer  believes  he 
has  now  as  little  to  fear  from  resistance  to  the  assaults 
of  his  envenomed  tongue,  as  the  assassin  did  from 
defense  against  his  bullets  after  the  chosen  victims  had 
been  disarmed  and  securely  fastened  in  jail.  But  in  this 
at  least  let  us  hope  they  have  committed  an  error. 
There  is  but  one  statement  in  this  voluntary  libel  having 
the  semblance  of  truth,  and  that  is  found  in  the  para- 
graph relating  to  the  existence,  in  Kemper  county,  of  a 
"  well  organized  band  of  forgers,  thieves,  robbers  and 
murderers ;  the  very  best  man  among  them  being  with- 
out a  peer  in  villainy  among  the  Murrell  or  Copeland 
clans."  If  the  writer  had  gone  back  forty  years  instead 
of  "eight,"  in  dating  the  beginning  of  organized  robbery 
and  murder  in  Kemper  county,  his  communication  would 
have  been  spared  the  condemnation  of  unblushing  and 
unqualified  falsehood:  for  Copeland  himself,  in  his  "Con- 
fession on  the  Gallows,"  as  published  by  Dr.  F.  R.  S. 
Pitts,  the  sheriff  who  executed  him,  draws  heavily  from 
Kemper  county  for  the  material  of  which  that  thrilling 
and  blood-curdling  story  of  crime  and  outlawry  is  com- 
posed. The  names  of  some  of  these  men  are  there 
given.  Their  descendants  are  living  in  Kemper  and 
adjoining  counties  to-day,  and  the  most  diabolical  mur- 
ders and  robberies  of  which  the  annals  of  crime  furnish 
proof  have  been  committed  within  its  borders  during  the 


^^Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  233 

past  six  months,  and  there  never  has  been  but  one  white 
man  executed  in  the  county  for  any  offense  since  the 
admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union. 

The  question  is  now  asked,  if  the  charges  of  the 
writer  quoted  be  true,  why  were  these  "  great  criminals  " 
—  Chisolm,  Gilmer  and  others  —  never  punished,  or 
sought  to  be  punished,  in  some  legal  way,  after  the  over- 
throw of  their  power  and  the  corrupt  rule  of  '  radicalism ' 
in  the  county?"  Rush  had  gone  from  their  reach  into 
another  State,  it  is  true;  though  nothing  but  the  fear 
of  death  from  a  concealed  foe  caused  his  flight.  The 
two  Hoppers  and  Rosenbaum,  all  of  them  "accessory 
to  the  killing  of  Gully,"  and  thieves  and  robbers  on  the 
most  gigantic  scale — "the  good  people"  of  Kemper 
would  have  us  believe  —  are  alive  and  well  to-day,  and 
two  of  them  are  still  within  the  county,  and  they  fear 
nothing  but  the  murderous  bullet  from  ambush.  No 
process  of  the  law  has  any  terror  for  them.  Rosen- 
baum and  one  of  the  Hoppers,  under  the  threat  of 
assassination,  have  been  forced  to  seek  employment 
elsewhere,  and  the  other  Hopper  has  been  whipped  into 
temporary  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  Klan;  other 
than  this  they  are  in  no  danger.  If  Judge  Chisolm,  as 
sheriff,  ever  "  robbed  the  widow  and  the  orphan,"  as 
claimed,  why  were  not  the  "  tax  receipt^  "  in  the  posses- 
sion of  those  robbed  produced  in  court,  the  sheriff  sued 
upon  his  bond  for  misdemeanor  in  office,  the  money 
recovered  and  himself  sent  to  the  penitentiary? 

But  as  an  ultimatum  and  a  proof  positive  of  his 
many  crimes,  the  argument  is  made  that  Judge  Chisolm 


234  ^^^^'  CJiisolni  Massacre, 

grew  rich  while  sheriff.  It  is  true,  as  stated  before,  that 
he  accumulated  property  while  in  that  office,  as  did 
every  other  sheriff  in  the  State  during  a  corresponding 
period,  without  regard  to  party  affiliations.  The  posi- 
tion is  admitted  to  be  the  most  lucrative,  as  it  is  certainly 
the  most  influential  in  the  disposition  and  control  of 
public  patronage  within  the  State.  This,  no  doubt,  is 
the  secret  of  the  great  crime,  growing  out  of  its  posses- 
sion for  so  many  years  by  some  one  adverse  to  the 
Gullys  and  their  especial  favorites. 

But  the  groans  of  the  wounded,  pent  up  by  barred 
windows  and  closed  blinds,  were  yet  wringing  the  hearts 
of  the  few  friends  and  relatives  on  watch,  while  editorials 
like  the  following  were  being  printed  and  circulated 
throughout  the  country. 

The  Meridian  Mercury,  always  first  in  a  good  work, 
regaled  its  peaceful  and  law-loving  readers  with  senti- 
ments of  this  kind : 

Perhaps  the  time  is  now  ripe  for  us  to  speak  what  we 
had  intended  to. 

What  Governor  Stone  has  requested  Judge  Hamm  to 
do  about  holding  a  special  term  for  an  early  investigation 
we  don't  know.  Judge  Hamm  has  ordered  no  special 
term,  and  we  think  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  he  will  not. 
If  we  ever  had  a  strong  conviction  about  anything,  we 
never  had  a  strofiger  one  than  that  it  is  best  not. 

April  29th,  in  DeKalb,  never  ought  to  be  investigated, 
and  if  wisdom  and  statemanship  prevail,  never  will  be. 
On  that  day,  the  higher  law,  which  antedates  common 
law  and  all  other  law,  ousted  them  all  and  their  ministers 
of  jurisdiction,  and  for  a  brief  period  of  time,  sufficient 
to   its  purposes,  held  sway.     Its  judgments  were  final. 


''^ Home  RjcW  in  Mississippi.  235 

As  they  affect  the  Hving  and  the  dead,  they  are  res 
adjiidicata,  and  will  ever  remain  so.  No  court  is  com- 
petent to  disturb  them.  Every  attempt  to  review  them 
will  be  both  futile  and  mischievous.  Special  instructions 
to  grand  jurors  are  likely  to  go  unheeded,  and  to  save  an 
exhibition  of  their  impotency  had  best  not  be  given. 
The  best  thing  the  law  and  the  ministers  can  do  about 
the  tragedy  is  to  save  their  strength  for  the  future  as 
wiser  than  wasting  it  foolishly  and  vainly  on  the  past. 
•X-  *  -sj-  -jf  w  -x-  -;;- 

From  all  accounts,  we  estimate  there  were  three  to 
four  hundred  men.  Every  man  of  these  was  equally  a 
principal  in  the  murder,  if  murder  was  committed,  with 
any  other  man.  Besides  this,  nearly  every  adult  white 
vian  in  the  county,  zvJio  zvas  not  present,  is  resolved  to 
stand  by  those  who  zvere  there,  and  approve  tJiem  as  good 
and  true  citizens  and  not  criminals.  Can  three  or  four 
hundred  men  who  were  present,  and  all  principals  alike 
in  any  crime  committed,  with  an  entire  county  besides 
resolved  to  protect  them  against  any  consequences  the 
law  denounces  against  their  acts,  be  indicted,  tried,  con- 
victed and  hung  or  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  Hfe  ? 

This  was  followed  by  Mr.  P.  K.  Mayers,  of  the 
Handsboro  Democrat,  who  murdered  Mr.  Orr  at  Pass 
Christian,  in  open  day,  and  now  writes  editorials  compli- 
menting the  courage  and  chivalry  of  his  Kemper 
brethren,  who,  if  possible,  are  more  cowardly  and  brutal 
than  himself. 

Here  is  the  language  of  the  Democrat  : 

We  have  refrained  from  editorial  comment  upon  the 
unfortunate  but  necessary  killing  of  scallawag  Gilmer, 
and  the  wounding  of  scallawag  ex-Judge  Chisolm,  in 
Kemper  County,  because  we  were  loth  to  blame  before 
we  were  in  possession  of  all  the  facts,  and  because  we 


236  TJie  CJdsolm  Massacre. 

were  determined  not  to  justify  a  lawless  act,  no  matter 
by  whom  committed.  We  are  for  compelling  individuals 
to  seek  remedies  for  wrongs,  real  or  supposed,  in  such 
a  way  as  not  to  endanger  the  peace  of  society.  But 
when  the  conduct  of  individuals  offending  is  so  violent, 
that  society  must  be  outraged  and  ruined  before  legal 
remedies  can  be  applied,  the  summary  punishment  of 
such  individuals  becomes  pardonable. 

The  facts  in  the  case  under  discussion,  disclose  a  fear- 
ful state  of  affairs  in  Kemper  County.  It  appears  that 
Gilmer,  Chisolm  and  their  confederates,  for  several  years 
pursued  a  system  of  robbing,  murder  and  assassination, 
and  have  defied  and  eluded  the  law.  Three  times  they 
attempted  to  murder  the  unfortunate  man,  whose  un- 
timely death  led  speedily  to  retributive  justice  on  their 
own  heads.  The  last  time  they  succeeded.  It  appears 
that  the  barbarous  brutes  and  cowards,  in  addition  to 
the  waylaying  and  butchering  of  two  GuUys,  have  stolen 
the  records  of  the  Courts,  and  thus  cut  off  the  only 
chance  society  had  to  protect  itself.  What  wonder  is 
it,  then,  that  the  people  outraged  have  at  last  seized  the 
law  in  their  own  hands,  and  administered  a  fierce  and 
swift  justice  on  the  heads  of  the  butchers  of  the  res- 
pected but  unfortunate  GuUys.  However  we  may 
deplore  the  manner  of  their  "  taking  off^"  we  cannot  but 
be  glad  society  is  rid  of  the  monsters  Gilmer  &  Co. 

We  regret  to  observe,  on  the  part  of  all  the  Radical 
press  of  the  State,  a  disposition  to  make  political  cap- 
ital out  of  the  unhappy  affair,  and  we  are  ashamed  of 
that  portion  of  the  Democratic  press,  which  has  been 
swift  to  condemn  the  avengers  of  the  Gullys,  simply 
because  surviving  scallawags  and  carpet-baggers  of  no 
better  repute  than  their  defunct  co-partners  in  crime 
may  howl  over  their  timely  demise.  Doubtless  these 
wretches,  hke  their  Mormon  prototypes,  Brigham  Young 
and  "Mountain  Meadow"   Lee,  would  even  be  glad  at 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  23/ 

society  patiently  bearing  their  atrocities.  It  will  not  do 
so.  They  must  meet  the  consequences  of  their  crimes. 
For  years  they  have  plundered,  robbed,  murdered,  burned 
and  assassinated  with  impunity.  They  must  now  pay 
with  their  lives  and  necks  for  a  continuance  of  these  acts. 
The  slow  but  leaden  hand  of  Justice  crushed  the  Mollie 
Maguires  of  Pennsylvania,  it  will  crush  the  banded  clan 
of  murdering  scallawags  and  carpet-baggers  in  Miss- 
issippi. We  are  for  law  where  it  can  be  had,  but  above 
all  for  justice. 

The  Jackson  Clarion,  which  is  really  an  able  and 
influential  journal,  and  truthfully  represents  the  brain 
and  heart  of  Mississippi's  best  citizenship,  comments 
upon  this  grave  affair  as  follows : 

Major  Ethel  Barksdale  is  responsible  for  this : 

The  long  era  of  corrupt  and  inefficient  government, 
through  which  both  Mississippi  and  Louisiana  have 
passed,  has  brought  about  a  want  of  confidence  in  and  res- 
pect for  the  law,  and  given  to  violent  and  lawless  men  a 
dangerous  latitude  of  action.  This  evil  must  be  vigor- 
ously eradicated  from  both  States.  We  have  heard  of 
no  more  atrocious  crime,  than  that  which  was  perpetrated 
in  Kemper  County,  and  Gov.  Stone  has  now  an  oppor- 
tunity, by  fearless  and  determined  action,  to  strike  such 
terror  to  the  hearts  of  lawless  men  in  Mississippi,  that 
he  will,  if  he  avails  himself  of  it,  have  little  trouble  of 
a  similar  nature  in  the  future."  —  New  Orleans  Denioerat. 

This  is  a  specimen  of  the  tub,  which  some  Southern 
newspapers  that  ought  to  know  better,  is  throwing  out 
to  the  Northern  whale,  which  they  imagine  is  craving 
♦  for  a  sensational  feast.  The  conductors  of  those  papers 
cannot  but  know,  that  sometimes  there  are  evils  to  be 
uprooted,  for  which  no  peaceable  methods  provide  suf- 
ficient remedies,  and   that   others  besides  "violent  and 


238  TJie  CJiisohn  Massacre. 

lawless  men"  resort  to  them.  Chief  among  them  is  sys- 
tematic and  premeditated  assassination,  the  evidence  of 
which  is  necessarily  circumstantial,  but  of  which  there  is, 
nevertheless,  confirmation  as  strong  as  proof  of  holy 
writ  to  the  public  niind.  That  the  Kemper  County 
affair  is  the  product  of  the  bad  passions  which  were 
propagated  under  Radical  misrule,  and  that  they  were 
indulged  by  depraved  and  vicious  men,  who  flourished 
under  it,  cannot  be  questioned.  But  that  the  men  who, 
to  rid  the  community  of  the  evils  which  it  "inflicted  were 
compelled  to  resort  to  summary  measures  were  "lawless 
and  violent"  in  the  sense  employed,  we  utterly  deny. 

If  our  New  Orleans  cotemporary  will  tax  his  memory 
just  a  little  he  will  readily  recall  "crimes"  equally  as 
"atrocious"  as  the  Kemper  affair,  when  outraged  com- 
munities were  forced,  by  abuses  for  which  they  were  not 
responsible,  to  inflict  summary  vengeance  upon  evil 
doers.  It  happened  at  Mechanics'  Institute,  in  New 
Orleans,  in  1868;  in  Grant  parish  in  1874;  in  New 
Orleans  again  on  the  memorable  14th  of  September; 
at  Clinton,  Miss.,  in  1875,  and  at  Hamburg,  South  Caro- 
lina, in  1876.  If  our  New  Orleans  neighbor  will  tax  his 
memory  he  will  recall  the  scenes  at  San  Francisco  just  a 
few  years  preceding  the  war;  and  the  summar}^  ven- 
geance the  Indiana  people  inflicted  upon  the  Reno  clan, 
after  finding  that  the  slow  processes  of  the  law  were 
wholly  inadequate  to  the  punishment  of  assassins  who 
lurked  in  thickets  on  the  way-side,  and  made  their  tracks 
under  the  cover  of  darkness. 

*  *  *  -jf  *  *  * 

We  don't  understand  what  is  meant  by  the  call  upon 
Governor  Stone  to  strike  "  terror  into  the  hearts  of  law- 
less men  in  Mississippi."  The  governor  is  as  much 
bound  by  the  law  as  other  people  are,  and  it  distinctly 
prescribes  his  duties.     It  gives  him  no  authority  to  try 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  239 

anj'body,  to  hang  anybody,  or  to  put  anybody  in  the 
penitentiary.  The  men  engaged  in  the  Kemper  affair 
did  their  work  in  open  day.  They  will  not  run  away 
nor  hide  themselves.  They  are  amenable  to  the  laws, 
and  judicial  tribunals  are  established  to  try  them.  It 
will  be  time  enough  for  the  governor  to  exercise  his 
power  as  commander-in-chief  when  the  laws  for  the 
punishment  of  the  accused  are  defied  and  the  courts  are 
shown  to  be  powerless  to  execute  their  decrees. 

The  Okalona  Southern  States  thus  addresses  the 
people  of  the  North,  whose  eyes  are  turned  upon  Mis- 
sissippi in  just  and  withering  condemnation  of  its  whole 
people  for  suffering  such  acts  as  are  here  recorded  to  sfo 
unheeded  and  unwhipped : 

Talk  of  the  Kemper  county  outrage !  Was  that  any- 
thing when  compared  to  the  murders,  and  burning,  and 
devilish  outrages  of  every  character  and  description  that 
you  visited  upon  us  while  the  civil  war  was  in  progress  ? 
Down,  down  on  your  knees  you  wretches,  and  pray  God 
to  forgive  your  atrocities  before  you  dare  to  rebuke  us 
for  anything.  We  have  had  just  about  enough  of  this 
tigerish  interference  on  your  part. 

Elsewhere,  mention  is  made  of  the  responsibility  of 
Thomas  S.  Gathright  in  bringing  about  the  horrors 
of  the  29th  of  April,  in  DeKalb,  and  here  again  an 
opportunity  is  found  for  quoting  his  language  bearing 
upon  that  matter.  What  is  reproduced  will  be  found  in 
a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Gathright  to  the  Jackson  Clarion, 
and  bears  date,  ^'Central  Texas,  June  i,  1877."  It  is 
over  the  well  known  nom  de  plume  of  "  William."  Here 
is  his  language : 

It  is  high  time  that  some  people  in  Mississippi  were 


240  The  Chisoim  Massacre, 

learning  the  lesson  written  in  Kemper  in  lines  of  blood, 
that  the  tyrant,  the  traitor  and  the  assassin  will  sooner 
or  later  be  overtaken  by  a  frightful  retribution,  and  that 
all  who  are  partisans  and  mourners  of  such  are  but 
biding  their  time. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

Time  advances,  and  while  these  scenes  are  fresh  in  the 
memory  of  all  who  witnessed  them,  five  victims  offered 
as  a  bloody  sacrifice,  and  three  others  are  driven  from 
their  families  and  homes,  it  transpires  that  the  pretended 
evidence  of  their  guilt  is  no  where  to  be  found.  Not 
even  a  resort  to  the  halter  or  lash  could  wring  from  the 
two  negroes  a  statement  calculated  to  imperil  the  life  of 
an  innocent  man.  The  witnesses  whose  names  appeared 
on  the  forged  warrant  of  arrest,  have  been  questioned 
and  declare  their  entire  ignorance  of  the  facts,  if  such 
facts  ever  had  an  existence  save  in  the  fertile  brain  of  the 
perjurer  and  assassin.  The  next  startling  intelligence 
comes  from  the  same  reliable  source  quoted  in  the 
preceding  chapter — the  Meridian  Mercury — with  an 
admission  like  the  following : 

We  have  information  of  a  fact  which,  if  true,  as  we 
believe  it  to  be,  leads  almost  irresistibly  to  the  conclusion 
that  Chisolm  was  an  accomplice  of  the  assassin  of  Gully. 

Ah !  we  are  now  consoled  with  a  declaration  from  the 
executioner  that  he  is  in  hopes,  ere  long,  to  be  able  to 
fasten  the  evidence  of  guilt  upon  those  whose  heads 
have  already  fallen  into  the  basket.  The  Vicksburg 
Herald  comes  to  the  defense  of  the  Mercury  and,  in  a 
similar  strain,  says : 
i6 


242  TJie  CJiisolm  Massacre, 

It  is  now  coming  to  light  that  there  is  some  very  con- 
vincing proof  that  Gilmer,  Chisolm  and  Company  were 
accessory  to  the  cowardly  murder  of  John  W.  Gully. 

Following  this,  the  paper  first  named  again  steps  to 
the  front  and  places  the  question  beyond  the  reach  of  a 
doubt : 

We  have  stated  the  "  fact "  for  "  information  of  the 
Times;'  which  "  leads  almost  irresistibly  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  Chisolm  was  an  accomplice  in  the  assassination 
of  Gully."  Though  Rush  was  unseen  to  the  general 
public  after  the  attempt  of  the  20th  of  December,  he 
was  seen  in  Chisolm's  house  —  business  house  —  in 
DeKalb,  with  some  of  the  Chisolm  gang,  in  the  night 
time.  Even  in  that  secret  place,  he  kept  his  double- 
barrel  gun  in  hand.  He  went  behind  the  counter  to  mix 
him  a  drink  of  whisky,  and  yet  held  on  to  his  gun  the 
while.  This  is  a  bit  of  circumstantial  evidence,  it  is  true, 
but  we  ask  the  Times  if  it  does  not  "lead  almost 
irresistibly  to  the  conclusion  that  Chisolm  was  an  accom- 
pHce." 

All  that  the  author  of  the  above  seems  to  require  is  a 
little  time.  If  the  people  will  remain  silent  and  allow 
the  ghosts  of  the  murdered  father  and  children  to  rest 
quietly  in  their  graves,  sufficient  proof  zvill  be  found  to 
convince  the  world  that  Cornelia  and  Johnny,  McLellan 
and  Gilmer  and  Judge  Chisolm  ought  to  have  been 
entrapped  in  jail  by  the  sheriff  and  there  butchered. 

Whether  in  compliance  with  this  prophetic  advice  or 
not,  those  entrusted  with  the  execution  of  the  law  have 
rested  quietly  enough,  God  knows. 

A  few  short  and  eventful  weeks  have  followed,  while 
the  hearts  of  the  widow  and  orphan,  still  writhing  under 


''^ Home   Rule''  in   Mississippi.  243 

their  bereavement,  and  pouring  forth  a  ceaseless  fountain 
of  tears,  have  anxiously  waited  the  fulfillment  of  the 
above  revelation,  terrible  though  its  realization  might  be 
to  them,  having  nothing  better  offered  upon  which  to 
settle  down  and  rest  a  future  of  absolute  hopelessness 
and  despair.  While  thus  living  in  daily  anticipation  of 
this  promised  disclosure,  another  and  a  very  different 
scene  suddenly  bursts  upon  the  view,  and  which  estab- 
hshes  conclusively  and  at  once  the  entire  innocence  of 
the  accused,  and  as  quickly  and  effectually  exposes  the 
enormities  of  the  conspiracy,  through  means  of  which 
the  "Slaughter  of  the  Innocents"  was  procured.  Refer- 
ence is  had  to  the  affidavit  sent  by  B.  F.  Rush,  from 
Russellville,  Arkansas,  which  clearly  shows  the  fact  that 
he  could  not  possibly  have  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
assassination  of  Gully  on  the  26th  of  April,  as  he  was 
at  Russellville  on  that  very  day.  The  affidavit  is  here 
presented,  bearing  the  signatures  of  twenty-five  good 
citizens  of  that  place : 

The  State  of  Arkansas,  | 
Pope  County.  j 

To  all  whom  it  ^^nay  concern  : 

We,  the  undersigned,  citizens  of  said  county  and 
State,  hereby  certify  that  we  are  acquainted  with  B.  F. 
Rush,  and  have  been  since  some  time  in  March  last.  He 
has  been  in  regular  attendance  at  our  Sabbath  school; 
he  is  now  living  and  has  been  since  the  time  above 
specified,  with  one  J.  W.  Harkey,  which  fact  many  of  us 
know  of  our  own  personal  knowledge,  having  been  at 
said  Harkey's,  and  meeting  with  said  Rush  there,  and 
well  know  that  he  was  not  nor  could  have  been  in  Mis- 
sissippi at   the  time  he  was  alleged   to  have  been.     In 


244  ^/^^^  Chisoim  Massacre. 

testimony  whereof,  we  hereunto  affix  our  names  this  the 
lOth  day  of  June,  A.  D.  1877: 

C.  B.  Falkington,  M.  W.  Parker, 

L.  G.  Turner,  Wm.  Duncan, 

J.  M.  Moore,  W.  H.  Rushing, 

J.  J.  Stout,  G.  W.  Rushing, 

John  L.  Stevenson,  W.  M.  Mullins, 

B.  A.  TuLLY,  O.  D.  Wilson, 

£.  B.  Wooten,  S.  J.  Mullins, 

W.  J.  Briman,  David  McCormick, 

H.  C.  Hamilton,  A.  B.  Willifson, 

L.  D.  Bryant,  J.  S.  Wheeler, 

J.  M.  Berryhill,  Z.  T.  Turner, 

A.  P.  Bryant,  A.  H.  Humphreys. 

The  State  of  Arkansas,  ) 
County  of  Pope.  ) 

I,  J.  W.  Sharkey,  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  am  well 
acquainted  with  B.  F.  Rush,  and  have  been  since  the 
22d  day  of  March,  1877,  since  which  time  he  has  con- 
tinuously lived  with  me,  and  I  know  that  he  was  at  work 
with  me  at  my  farm,  in  said  county,  on  the  26th  day  of 
April,  1877.  J.  W.  Sharkey. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  13th  day  of 
June  1877,  and  I  certify  that  said  affiant  is  a  creditable 
and  respectable  citizen  of  said  county. 

A.  J.  Bayliss, 

[Seal.]  Clerk  Circuit  Court  Pope  Co.,  Ark. 

But  not  yet  satisfied,  an  effort  is  made  to  bring  Rush 
from  Arkansas  on  a  requisition,  charging  him  with  the 
intent  to  kill  Gully  on  the  20th  of  December,  at  the 
time  the  latter  was  wounded.  That  everybody  believed 
if  Rush  was  brought  back  he  would  be  murdered  there 


^' Home  Ride'*  in  Mississippi.  245 

is  no  doubt,  and  that  Governor  Stone  himself  enter- 
tained this  view  is  shown  by  the  fact  that,  after  reflec- 
tion, he  telegraphed  the  governor  of  Arkansas  —  Mr. 
Miller — not  to  recognize  the  requisition.  Upon  this 
despatch  of  Governor  Stone  the  prisoner,  after  having 
been  arrested  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  agent  for 
Mississippi — a  member  of  the  Gully  family — was  released 
on  an  imperative  order  from  Governor  Miller,  of  Arkansas. 
The  following  letter,  written  by  Rush  a  few  days 
later,  will  explain  the  matter  more  fully,  and  shows  the 
extent  of  this  conspiracy  to  take  his  life : 

RUSSELLVILLE,  Ark.,  July  I,  1877. 
Dear  Friend:  Enclosed  I  send  you  a  copy  of  a  let- 
ter which  I  have  written  Gov.  Stone,  of  Mississippi,  in 
reference  to  my  recent  arrest,  in  which  you  will  see  that 
I  have  been  kidnapped  and  put  to  a  great  deal  of 
trouble;  though,  thank  God,  I  had  the  sympathy  of  all 
Russellville  and  vicinity,  and  I  state  to  you  in  confidence, 
Gully  would  never  have  gotten  away  from  Russellville 
with  me,  from  what  I  have  since  learned.  My  friends 
were  on  the  alert.  I  am  fully  pursuaded  that  it  was  a 
grand  conspiracy  for  my  assassination.  I  don't  believe 
I  would  have  been  permitted  to  have  seen  Little  Rock. 
I  am  confident,  and  so  are  my  friends,  that  the  plan  was 
to  kill  me  before  reaching  Mississippi,  for  it  appears  that 
Gully  would  not  release  me  under  any  consideration,  but 
said  I  would  be  released  in  Little  Rock.  After  the 
Governor  had  ordered  my  release,  he  then  refused  to 
allow  me  the  privilege  of  a  private  conference  with  my 
attorneys,  saying  that  he  was  governed  by  what  his 
brother-in-law,  Col.  Jacaway,  advised.  The  sheriff,  after 
seeing  Gov.  Stone's  despatch,  which  virtually  released 
me,  when  I  asked  him,  as  my  protector,  not  to  deliver 
me  into  the  hands  of  my  enemies,  did  so,  and  then  pro- 


246  The  Chisolm  Massacre. 

ceeded  to  take  from  my  pocket  my  key,  and  dive  into 
my  private  letters  and  matters  generally.  Hand-cuffed 
they  took  me  to  the  hotel,  where,  thank  God,  I  had  good 
friends,  Gully  not  being  acquainted.  I  was  lodged  in  a 
room  up  stairs,  and  there,  by  Gully,  cJiaincd  dozvn.  You 
can  well  imagine  my  feelings.  The  landlord,  Mr.  Tucker, 
gave  up  his  room  below,  and  occupied  one  adjoining 
mine.  He  slept  none,  I  am  confident,  because  I  could 
hear  him  at  all  hours.  I  will  ever  bear  him  in  kind 
remembrance.  Judge  Davis,  Col.  Wood  and  W.  C. 
Ford  were  my  attorneys.  My  financial  matters  were 
limited,  but  with  the  aid  and  assistance  of  kind  friends 
—  Mr.  J.  W,  Haskey  especially  —  I  was  furnished  with 
a  plenty  to  put  me  through.  I  looked  upon  my  sit- 
uation as  a  life  and  death  matter,  and  so  did  my  friends. 
You  can  have  my  letter  to  Gov.  Stone  published,  if  you 
think  best.  I  would  like  my  friends  abroad  to  know  of 
my  troubles.  I  have  now  made  up  my  mind  to  go  to 
some  Northern  city.  It  appears  that  I  am  to  be  per- 
secuted and  hounded  down  all  my  life.  I  am  in  a  crit- 
ical condition.  My  friends  think  it  best  for  me  to  keep 
private,  not  knowing  who  may  be  lurking  for  me.  I  am 
now  out  on  the  mountain  writing.  Am  out  of  money, 
and  in  my  condition,  can  make  none.  My  friends  think 
I  had  best  not  be  stirring  about.  Would  like  for  you 
to  go  up  to  DeKalb,  at  your  earliest  convenience,  and 
read  this  letter  to  my  wife  and  children. 

Your  friend,  B.  F.  RuSH. 

P.  S. —  If  my  friends  in  Mississippi  see  proper  to  help 
me — I  do  not  ask  it  as  a  gift  —  I  am  yet  able,  notwith- 
standing I  am  shot  up  and  crippled  for  life,  to  make  a 
living,  and  more,  too,  and  will  repay  all  they  may  con- 
tribute to  my  relief  in  this  time  of  trouble. 

B.  F.  R. 

With  the  affidavit  presented  by  Rush,  the  bottom 
upon   which   the  superstructure  of  the  conspiracy  was 


''''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  247 

reared,  falls  out.  To  find  palliation  or  justification  now, 
the  conspirator  must  go  outside  of  the  assassination  of 
Gully,  and  beyond  the  reach  of  any  record  left  by 
the  men  upon  whose  heads  have  already  fallen  the  visita- 
tions of  his  deep  villainy.  Rush,  having  been  in  Arkan- 
sas continuously  from  the  first  of  March  preceding,  could 
not  have  killed  Gully  on  the  26th  of  April,  at  DeKalb, 
Mississippi.  This,  to  the  friends  of  the  martyred  dead, 
signifies  much,  as  it  places  beyond  the  possibility  of 
belief  the  last  charge  which  their  persecutors  have  been 
able  to  bring  against  them.  Yet,  to  the  red-handed 
plotters  of  iniquity,  it  all  goes  for  naught,  as  their  work 
is  accomplished,  and  they  are  left  free  to  commit  any 
similar  act  whenever  occasion  presents. 

But  a  sense  of  shame  seems  to  have  found  lodgement 
in  the  hearts  of  some  of  the  apologists  for  the  killing  of 
defenseless  women  and  children,  and  sooner  than  main- 
tain absolute  silence,  the  following  grave  and  alarming 
aspersion  is  cast  upon  the  physician  under  whose  treat- 
ment the  wounded  sank  and  died.  If  Mississippians  are 
content  with  the  assertion  and  belief  that  a  surgeon, 
because  of  his  blind  adherence  to  the  peculiar  political 
faith  which  they  have  made  essential  to  citizenship, 
would  suffer  the  victims  of  prejudice  and  hate  to  die 
when  it  was  within  the  power  of  human  skill  to  have 
saved  them,  after  having  been  entrusted  to  his  sacred 
care  as  a  physician,  then  indeed  the  case  becomes  ''  ten- 
fold "  more  horrifying.  In  connection  with  this  subject, 
the  Vicksburg  Herald  comes  to  the  relief  of  the  broken- 
hearted survivors,  even  at  the  risk  of  the  terrible  conse- 


248  TJie  Chisohn  Massacre, 

quences    foreshadowed   above,  in   language  as   follows: 

The  accident  of  Miss  Chisolm's  death  caused  by  mal- 
practice, and  not  by  her  slight  wound,  adds  tenfold  to  the 
deplorable  consequences. 

Now  that  the  "  good  people "  of  Kemper  have  had 
ample  opportunity  to  assert  their  inherent  manhood  in 
the  selection  of  leaders  whose  "  virtue  and  intelligence " 
is  found  to  be  in  keeping  with  that  of  the  sovereigns 
themselves,  and  when  again  it  is  asked  why  these  men 
never  were  convicted  of  the  multifarious  crimes  with 
which  they  were  and  are  still  so  freely  charged,  it  is  said 
that  the  courts  and  the  juries  were  so  completety  under 
their  control  as  to  make  the  indictment  of  one  of  their 
political  faith  an  impossibility.  Let  us  examine  into  the 
facts,  and  see  if  this  be  true  or  false. 

Since  1866,  the  boards  of  supervisors  elected  in  the 
county,  with  the  bare  exception  of  the  year  1869,  have 
been  under  the  management  of  the  democratic  party. 
That  is  to  say :  a  majority  of  each  board  has  been  con- 
servative and  democratic,  which  signifies  its  entire  control 
by  that  party.  To  make  this  statement  good,  and  place 
the  fact  beyond  contradiction,  the  names  of  the  men 
comprising  the  various  boards  in  the  order  of  their  elec- 
tion, since  the  year  1866  is  given,  designating  each  by 
showing  opposite  the  name  their  political  affiliation  : 

BOARD   OF    1866. 
John  R.  Brittain,  ....         Democrat, 

R.  Jarvis, 
D.  H.  Garner, 
C.  F.  Johnson, 
James  W.  Hardin, 


Democrat. 


^'Honie  Rule''  in  Mississippi. 


249 


BOARD   OF    1867. 


John  H.  Oden, 
J.  W.  Hardin, 
M.  D.  Crawford, 
R.  Jarvis, 
C.  F.  Johnson, 


T.  N.  Bethany, 
D.  McNeil, 
G.  E.  Priddy, 
Wm.  Ezell, 
Hozie  Flore, 


E.  Edwards, 
D.  McNeil, 
Wm.  Hudson, 
G.  E.  Priddy, 
T.  N.  Bethany, 


Moses  Halford, 
John  R.  Davis, 
R.  Nave, 
G.  E.  Priddy, 
W.  K.  Stennis, 


John  R.  Davis, 
E.  Edwards, 
J.  A.  Jenkins, 
R.  Nave, 
T.  W.  Adams, 


BOARD   OF    1869. 


BOARD   OF    1 87 1, 


BOARD  OF    1872. 


BOARD  OF   1874. 


Democrat. 


Republican. 

a 

Independent. 
Republican. 


Democrat. 
Republican.  ^ 
Democrat. 
Independent. 
Republican. 


Republican. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Independent. 

Democrat. 


Democrat. 


Republican. 


250 


The  Chisolm  Massacre. 


BOARD   OF    1876. 


T.  H.  Hampton, 
John  R.  Davis, 
E.  Edwards, 
J.  C.  Carpender, 
Robert  Griggs, 


Democrat. 


Republican. 


Following  this  the  Revised  Code  of  Mississippi  is 
quoted,  showing  the  power  that  a  board  of  supervisors 
has  in  the  selection  of  grand  juries : 

Article  IX.,  Section  726. — Grand  jurors  in  each  county- 
shall  be  selected  as  follows  : 

The  board  of  supervisors  in  each  county,  at  least  thirty 
days  before  each  term  of  a  circuit  court,  shall  select 
twenty  persons,  to  be  taken  as  equally  in  numbers  as 
may  be  from  each  supervisor's  district,  possessed  of  the 
requisite  qualifications  to  serve  as  grand  jurors  at  the 
ensuing  term.     *     -^     * 

Section  727. — The  names  of  the  person  so  selected 
shall  be  entered  on  the  minutes  of  the  board.  The 
clerk  of  the  board  shall,  without  delay,  hand  the  sheriff 
of  the  county  a  certified  copy  of  such  appointment  of 
grand  jurors,  and  the  sheriff  shall  summon  such  jurors 
by  personal  service,  if  to  be  found,  or,  if  not,  by  written 
notice  left  at  their  respective  places  of  abode,  at  least 
five  days  before  the  commencement  of  the  term,  to 
appear  and  serve  on  the  grand  jury. 

It  so  happens,  then,  that  the  grand  juries  of  Kemper 
county  have  been,  for  the  past  ten  years,  chosen  by 
democrats.  This  body  of  men,  after  a  foreman  has  been 
selected  by  the  circuit  judge,  is  placed  under  the  personal 
supervision  of  the  district  attorney,  who,  in  Kemper, 
has  always  been  a  pronounced  bourbon  and  white-liner. 


"Home  Rule"  in   Mississippi,  251 

Hence  the  grand  juries  have  been  largely  composed  of 
white  men,  but  few  negroes  being  impanneled   at   any 
one  time.     The  scarcity  of  white  republicans  has  some- 
times made  this  a  necessity,  and  afforded  a  pretext  for 
making  a  majority  of  each  jury  Anglo-Saxon,  and  favor- 
able  to    the    great    tenets   of   "local    self-government." 
These  facts,  if  nothing  else,  have  often   compelled  the 
presiding  judge,  although  a  republican,  to  appoint  a  fore- 
man from  among  those  entertaining  political  opinions 
opposed  to  his  own.     Now,  with  this  exhibit  before  us, 
it  is  told  that  these  men  have  not  been  indicted,  con- 
demned and   imprisoned,  because,  forsooth,  "  the  courts 
and  the  juries  have  been  so  completely  under  their  con- 
trol, as  to  make  a  conviction  for  an  offense  committed  by 
them  impossible."     Fearing  that  an  enlightened  people 
may  not  be  quite  satisfied  with  a  subterfuge  Hke  this  — 
and  since  the  courts,  juries  and  everything  else  have  gone 
into  the  hands  of  the  "home  people,"  and  those  who  do 
not  agree  with  them  politically,  are  whipped  and  mur- 
dered without  mercy  or  the  hope  of  justice  —  a  proposi- 
tion more  astounding,  and  if  possible,  more  hollow  and 
groundless  is  offered.     It  is  now  told  that  red-handed 
crime  goes  unwhipped  in  Mississippi,  because  the  pres- 
ent "constitution  and   code  of    laws  were  framed  and 
adopted  by  the  republican  party,  and  forced  on  the  peo- 
ple of  the  State  contrary  to  their  will."     To  give  f^rce 
and  credit  to  this,  the  genius  of  the  great  law  dictator 
of  the  State,  Gen'l  J.  Z.  George  is  called  in,  and  with  a 
pen  ready  in  all  the  wiles  and  deceits  of  a  pettifogging 
attorney,  he  puts  forth  a  State  paper  having  especial 


252  TJie  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

reference  to  the  outlawed  condition  of  society  in  Kem- 
per county,  in  which  the  following  language  touching 
the  Governor's  want  of  power  to  enforce  the  law  is  used. 
He  says: 

That  Gov.  Stone  has  not  greater  powers,  is  not  the 
fault  of  the  white  people  of  Mississippi.  His  powers 
are  derived  from,  and  limited  by  a  constitution  and  a  code 
of  laws  which  were  framed  and  adopted  by  the  Repub- 
lican party,  and  forced  on  the  people  of  the  State  con- 
trary to  their  will. 

The  code  of  laws  under  which  the  courts  of  the  State 
are  now  operating,  was  revised  by  a  commission 
appointed  by  Governor  Alcorn,  composed  of  the  follow- 
ing gentlemen:  Judge  J.  A.  P.  Campbell,  Amos  R. 
Johnson  and  Amos  Lovering.  The  two  first  named  are 
democrats,  and  now  stand  at  the  head  of  the  bar  of  the 
State.  It  is  a  fact  well  known  to  every  school  boy,  that 
the  criminal  code  of  to-day  is  the  same  as  that  of  1857, 
save  only  so  far  as  was  made  necessary  to  alter  and 
amend  by  the  requirements  of  the  late  amendments  to 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States  relating  to  slavery. 
It  is  almost  a  verbatim  copy  of  that  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  the  code  which  was  originally  adopted  by  the  early 
colonies,  and  taken  from  that  of  the  old  English  laws 
which  have  also  been  received  by  each  succeeding  State 
of  the  Union  since  the  formation  of  the  government, 
and  stand  on  all  the  statute  books  of  the  country  as 
they  have  stood  for  two  hundred  years. 

It  is  told,  then,  that  the  laws  were  not  enforced 
against  republicans    accused    of  crime,   because   of   the 


''Home   Rule''  in  Mississippi.  253 

inability  of  the  courts  to  reach  them  through  the  grand 
juries,  the  great  committing  tribunal;  and  now,  that 
crime  under  democratic  rule  stalks  abroad  in  defiance  of 
all  law,  we  are  consoled  with  the  announcement,  from  so 
high  an  authority  as  that  of  General  George,  that  the 
statutes  are  not  enforced  because  they  were  thrust  upon 
the  people  against  their  will  by  a  republican  administra- 
tiouy  and  in  consequence  it  is  not  desired  that  the  lazvs 
should  be  enforced.  But  this  argument  is  in  keeping 
with  the  spirit  manifested  throughout,  in  a  vain  endeavor 
to  palliate  and  cover  up  a  crime  too  disgraceful  and 
humiliating  to  be  quietly  passed  over  by  any  people  or 
government  claiming  rank  among  the  civilized  nations, 
and  which  the  authorities  have  neither  the  manhood  or 
the  disposition  to  try  to  punish.  The  author  quoted, 
who  lives  a  hundred  miles  from  Kemper  county,  and  who 
knows  nothing  whatever  of  its  people,  in  the  same  paper 
alluded  to,  has  another  assertion  equally  erroneous  and 
groundless.     Here  it  is  : 

To  say  that  these  men  (meaning  the  victims  of  the 
Kemper  tragedy)  were  killed  because  they  were  republi- 
cans, and  that  it  is  unsafe  for  a  man  to  proclaim  himself 
a  republican  in  Mississippi,  is  a  gross  error. 

Strangely  in  contrast  is  this  with  the  reasoning  of  one 
Robert  J.  Love,  who  has  been  a  resident  of  Kemper 
county  since  1836,  and  now  an  old  man  just  tottering  to 
the  grave.  Mr.  Love,  from  his  long  and  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  the  people,  ought  to  be  able  to  speak  with 
some   degree   of  correctness — setting   aside,  of  course, 


254  TJie  CJiisoim  Massacre. 

the  old  man's  manifest  sympathy  for  and  loyalty  to  his 
"county."     He  says : 

I  think  I  know  the  territory  of  the  county  and  the 
people  of  the  county  as  well  as  any  man  living,  and  I 
say  to-day,  take  the  radical  population  out  of  the  county 
and  in  proportion  to  numbers,  the  people  of  this  county 
have  as  many  good  citizens  as  any  county  in  this  State 
or  any  other  State. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

The  fact  has  never  been  denied  that  Judge  Ch'isolm 
and  his  associates  were  originally  from  among  the  best 
class  living  in  Kemper  at  the  time.     As  such  they  were 
received  and  accepted  prior  to  the  organization  of  the 
party  to  which  in  after  years    they  allied   themselves 
And  now  the  authority  of  Mr.  Love,  a  venerable  citizen 
a  resident  of  the  county  for  forty  years,  is  given,  who' 
declares  that  as  soon  as  these  men  espoused  the  cause 
of  "radicalism"  they  became  mean  and  despicable,  as  no 
other  reason  for  this  sudden  transition  of  character  is 
given      Besides,  he  says,  "take  the  radical  population 
out  of  the  county"  and  everybody  left  in  it  is  found  to 
be  good  and  virtuous. 

The  two  letters  quoted  from  in  the  preceding  chapter 
one  written  by  General  George,  who  knows  nothing  of 
the  people  of  Kemper,  and  the  other  by  Judge  Love, 
who  knows  all  about  them,  were  both  printed  in  the 
same   issue  of  the   Meridian  Homestead.     One  of  the 
writers  claims  that  politics  had  nothing  whatever  to  do 
with  the  massacre  at  DeKalb,  while  the  other  as  firmly 
asserts-with   far   better  grounds   of  authority-that 
poht.es   was    the   primary   and   only   cause   of   all   the 
trouble  had  there.     The  conflicting  elements  which  seem 
to  have  dethroned  the  reasoning  faculties  of  these  great 
writers  have  seized  upon  the  governor  himself;   for,  on 
the  4th  day  of  October,  1876,  in  a  letter  to  Attorney- 


256  llie  CJiisolm  Massacre, 

General  Taft,  assuring  that  functionary  of  the  political 
and  domestic  tranquility  of  the  State,  Governor  Stone 
wrote  as  follows : 

I  am  more  than  willing,  and  have  been  able  to  exe- 
cute the  laws  of  Mississippi  and  conserve  the  public 
peace.  *  *  The  perpetrators  of  wrongs  are  respon- 
sible to  the  State  authorities,  and  I  am  able  to  bring  all 
such  to  justice,  and  am  determined  to  do  so. 

On  the  24th  day  of  May,  1877,  but  a  little  more  than 
a  year  later,  just  a  few  days  after  having  visited  the 
scene  of  the  most  wanton  and  appalling  outlawry  ever 
committed  by  beings  wearing  the  human  form,  His 
Excellency  said : 

I  have  no  power  to  do  anything  at  all.  I  think  it 
doubtful  whether  a  jury  of  that  county  (meaning  Kem- 
per) will  ever  convict  one  of  the  mob. 

In  the  face  of  all  these  facts  the  governor,  in  his 
annual  message  of  the  2d  of  January,  1877,  addressed 
to  the  assembled  wisdom  of  the  State — the  democratic 
legislature  —  is  heard  in  the  following  language: 

It  is  with  feelings  of  profound  pleasure  that  I  congrat- 
ulate you  on  the  domestic  and  social  prosperity  and 
tranquility  of  our  beloved  State.  Dttrhig  the  recent 
exciting  political  canvass^  co^nparative  peace  and  good 
order  prevailed.  No  disturbance  was  reported  that  was 
not  promptly  met  and  suppressed  by  the  local  author- 
ities, nor  has  it  been  charged  that  any  citizen  of  the 
State  refused  to  submit  to,  or  in  any  way  resisted  the 
authority  of  any  civil  officer.  So  far  as  I  am  advised, 
not  a  single  disturbance  occurred  on  the  day  of  election; 
and  at  no  time  since  the  organization  of  the  State  Gov- 
ernment, have  the  people  been  more  peaceful,  quiet  and 
law-abiding. 


"■Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  25/ 

In  times  of  "comparative  peace"  in  Mississippi,  there 
is  shown  a  want  of  respect  for  the  laws,  and  a  lack  of 
energy  on  the  part  of  the  "local  authorities"  in  their 
execution,  which  in  many  of  the  states  of  the  union 
where  a  wholesome  fear  of  the  courts  is  maintained, 
would  at  once  produce  a  sense  of  insecurity  to  life  and 
property  so  great,  as  to  call  out  at  once  the  united  voice 
of  the  people,  for  a  revision  of  the  code  or  an  immediate 
change  of  officers  entrusted  with  its  enforcement.  Indeed 
there  is  a  spirit  of  lawlessness  pervading  the  State, 
shocking  to  the  better  sense  of  many  of  its  older  and 
better  citizens.  Scores  of  men  die  from  violence  of  one 
kind  or  another,  year  after  year,  amounting  in  the  aggre- 
gate to  thousands  since  the  war,  and  not  a  solitary 
white  man  has  been  executed  during  the  time.  Feuds 
spring  up  between  individuals  and  families,  collisions 
occur  and  deaths  follow,  and  in  many  cases  there  is  no 
interference  by  the  "local  authorities."  At  the  most,  if 
the  offender  sees  proper  to  give  himself  into  custody  — 
and  there  is  generally  a  division  of  sentiment  as  to  which 
may  be  the  offender,  the  murderer  or  the  murdered — he 
will  be  placed  under  a  nominal  bond,  at  once  released 
and  there  the  matter  to  him  is  virtually  at  an  end,  unless 
a  relative  or  a  friend  of  the  deceased,  taking  the  law  in 
his  own  hands,  in  turn  kills  the  assassin.  It  is  by  no 
means  a  rare  occurrence  for  "difficulties"  like  these 
spoken  of,  to  be  followed  up  through  succeeding  gen- 
erations. One  after  another  the  victims  fall;  children 
are  trained  up  to  avenge  the  loss  of  those  gone  before, 
and  during  all  the  years  of  bloody  sacrifice,  not  a  man 


258  The  Chisolin  Massacre, 

involved  sees  the  inside  of  a  prison  wall,  nor  feels  the 
gentle  pressure  of  the  elastic  hemp.  This  vengeful 
thirst  —  it  is  said  with  sorrow  —  is  not  always  confined 
to  the  stronger  sex.  The  writer  has  seen  a  pretty  girl 
with  white  hands,  large,  dreamy  eyes  and  drooping 
lashes,  one  who  would  cry  out  horror  stricken  to  see 
a  worm  wantonly  crushed  under  foot,  on  being  ques- 
tioned as  to  her  feelings  toward  General  Ames,  the 
republican  governor  of  the  State,  (who,  with  his  accomp- 
lished wife  and  interesting  family  of  children  lived  in 
the  same  town  with  herself,)  at  once  bristle  up  with  an 
expression  as  savage  as  an  enraged  tigress  and  exclaim: 
"I  could  tear  out  his  tongue  and  heart  and  burn  him 
alive!" 

The  people  of  the  South  are  governed  by  passion  and 
prejudice  more  than  by  reason  or  law.  This,  to  many, 
may  sound  strangely  and  even  harsh,  and  when  such 
things  are  said  of  woman,  it  should  be  done  with  due 
regard  for  the  facts,  and  at  the  same  time  with  reverence 
for  all  those  higher  and  more  refining  influences  which 
she  is  admitted  to  exert  over  the  conduct  of  men. 
But  when  the  women  of  a  country,  lost  to  all  those 
tender  emotions  peculiar  to  the  sex  —  which  are  some- 
times wanting  in  men  —  can  contemplate,  with  cool 
deliberation,  scenes  of  cruelty  which  might  appall  the 
heart  of  a  Catherine  de  Medici,  then  indeed  there  is  little 
hope  for  its  people. 

Neighborhood  broils  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  in 
which  the  friends  of  either  party  rally  upon  the  streets 
under  arms  —  generally,  though  not    always,   concealed 


''Home  Rule''  m  Mississippi.  259 

weapons  — menacing   and  threatening  each   other  with 
instant  death,  while  the  "better  citizens"  and  the  "local 
authorities"  stand  back  aghast  in  momentary  expecta- 
tion of  seeing  the  pavements  drenched  with  blood.     To 
promenade  the  walks  armed,  with  a  double-barrel  gun, 
avowedly  for  the  purpose  of  "  killing   on    sight "    some 
unfortunate   individual,    supposed    to   have   been  guilty 
of   a  breach  of  etiquette,  is  a  scene   which   often   and 
again    enlivens    the   monotony   of    our    best    regulated 
towns ;  and  the  natural  solemnity  and  grandeur  which 
an  act  of  this  kind  is   sure  to   inspire,   is    often   made 
doubly  imposing  by  contrast,  when  the  holy  quiet  of  the 
Sabbath  is  called  to  witness  its  enactment. 

Not  many  years  ago,  nor  far  removed  from  the  city  of 
Jackson,  while  traveling  on  one  of  the  railroads  leading 
into  that  place,  a  lady,  still  wearing  the  widow's  weeds, 
might  have  been  seen  to  enter  one  of  the'  coaches,  lead- 
ing by  the  hand  a  little  boy,  six  or  eight  years  of  age. 
After  taking  a  seat,  her  eyes  soon  became  fixed  upon  a 
gentleman,  well  dressed  and  apparently  in  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  life  and  all  its  attendant   blessings,  who  was 
sitting   in    another  part   of   the   car.      Remaining,  with 
her  gaze  for  a  moment  upon  him,  she  arose  from  her  seat, 
still  leading  the  boy,  and  advancing  directly  in  front  of 
the  object  of  her  attention,  pointing  her  finger  full  in  the 
man's  face,  in  a  clear  and  distinct  voice  thus  addressed  her 
child :  "  My  son,  there  sits  the  man  who  murdered  your 
father ! " 

What  a  volume  of  condemnation  and  reproach  is  con- 
tained in  this  brief  sentence  of  that  widowed  mother; 


26o  TJie  CJiisolm  Massacre. 

and  what  a  commentary  it  is  upon  a  state  of  society 
that  winks  at  and  tolerates  such  outrages,  and  suffers 
them  to  go  unpunished.  How  many  widows  and 
orphans,  made  so  by  the  unrestrained  hand  of  violence, 
there  are  in  Mississippi  to-day,  God  only  knows,  but 
they  may  be  counted  by  tens  of  thousands. 

The  State  teems  with  little  newspapers ;  for  when  the 
fact  is  well  established  that  a  man  is  utterly  incapaci- 
tated for  carrying  on  any  legitimate  trade  or  business  he 
is  most  likely  to  ascend  the  tripod,  and  through  the 
agency  of  a  "  patent  inside,"  and  the  logic  of  the  shot- 
gun, become  a  dictator  of  public  sentiment  and  morals. 
If  an  editor's  credit  survives  a  dozen  issues  of  his  sheet, 
he  is  entitled,  by  the  law  of  a  long  established  custom, 
to  Jwnors  of  some  kind,  and  there  being  nothing  else  so 
cheap,  a  "  handle"  is  at  once  affixed  to  his  name,  and  one 
supposed  to  be  commensurate  in  "tone"  with  the  number 
of  his  subscription  list,  exclusive  of  "dead  heads."  This 
is  the  means  through  which  Mississippi  gained  a  large 
share  of  its  notoriety  in  the  production  of  "titled" 
gentry.  For  the  bestowal  of  these  doubtful  compli- 
ments upon  public  benefactors,  age  and  length  of  service 
very  properly  take  precedence,  and  we  have,  first:  the 
"Nestor,"  "  Blucher,"  or  "Sage  and  Philosopher  of  the 
Mississippi  press."  Then,  coming  down  to  more  sublu- 
nary things,  there  is  presented  an  array  of  titles  —  more 
commonly  applied  to  military  chieftains  —  in  regular 
gradation,  from  the  rank  of  "  general "  down  to  the  hum- 
ble grade  of  "captain."  The  development  and  flight  of 
genius  in  the  sphere  of  journalism  in  Mississippi,  in  this 


''''Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi,  261 

respect,  has  been  remarkable.  It  is  with  pride,  however, 
thal»  a  few  are  excepted  from  this  general  rule.  There  is 
scarcely  an  issue  of  one  of  these  journals  that  does  not 
contain  an  account  of  some  act  of  outlawry,  horrifying 
enough  in  its  details  to  freeze  the  blood  of  a  savage. 
Before  me,  as  I  write,  lay  four  different  papers  of  the  kind 
alluded  to,  all  published  within  one  week,  in  remote  and 
separate  parts  of  the  State,  and  each  one  reciting  the 
details  of  a  local  tragedy,  the  most  heinous  and  diaboli- 
cal. And  by  whom  are  these  murders  committed  ?  By 
men  who  are  at  once  branded  as  outlaws  and  enemies  to 
their  race  and  kind  ?  Not  at  all !  Are  they  at  once 
hunted  down  by  the  officers  of  the  law,  backed  by  an 
indignant  and  outraged  populace,  arrested  and  confined 
in  jail,  there  to  await  speedy  trial  and  execution  at  the 
end  of  the  law?  No;  by  no  means.  Neither  are  they 
to  be  compared  with  the  leaders  of  the  recent  terrible 
riots  in  the  Northern  States ;  their  cases  are  wide  apart. 
The  men  spoken  of  here  are  the  aristocrats  and  leaders 
of  society.  They  represent  the  wealth,  intelligence  and 
virtue  of  the  communities  in  which  they  live.  Mechanics, 
operatives,  and  ignorant  day  laborers  are  not  counted 
among  these.  They  are  "  gentlemen "  of  education  and 
too  often  of  leisure,  taken  from  the  ranks  of  the  learned 
professions  and  the  higher  walks  in  life.  Teachers, 
lawyers,  doctors,  and  those  who  pray  loudest  in  public, 
if  not  ministers  themselves,  are  the  leaders  of  riots  in 
Mississippi,  and  their  operations  are  against  the  ignorant 
and  defenseless  masses;  in  short,  they  are  "gentlemen," 
and  as  such  their  "dignity"  must  be  respected.     Hence 


262  TJie  Chisolin  Massacre, 

it  is  that  in  every  town  and  neighborhood  may  be  found 
more  or  less  men  who  walk  the  streets  like  a  very  jprd, 
and  boast  of  having  "  killed  their  man ! "  The  writer 
can  call  to  mind  nine  of  the  class  last  named,  whom  he 
meets  on  the  street  every  day.  Indeed  a  newspaper 
that  fails  to  keep  up  with  the  complete  details  of  the 
numerous  tragedies  which  are  being  enacted  from  day  to 
day  is  deemed  wanting  in  the  proper  spirit  of  enterprise, 
and  its  patronage  falls  off. 

And  all  of  this  in  times  of  "  comparative  peace,"  when 
the  issues  to  be  adjusted  —  if  an  issue  is  at  stake — are 
free  from  political  considerations,  and  exclusively  between 
white  men  and  "gentlemen."  At  the  same  time,  let  a 
negro  be  accused  of  a  crime  against  one  of  his  own  race, 
even,  and  his  punishment,  after  the  most  extreme  inter- 
pretation of  the  law,  will  be  swift  enough ;  but  let  the 
offense  be  committed  by  the  negro  against  a  white  man, 
and  the  slow  and  cumbersome  processes  of  a  judicial 
tribunal  are  deemed  inadequate  to  meet  the  demands  of 
palpitating  justice,  and  many  times  the  victim  is  made 
to  pay  the  penalty  at  once,  under  the  lash  or  the  hempen 
cord,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  offense,  or  rather, 
according  to  the  height  of  the  "indignation"  to  be 
appeased.  The  will  of  a  single  white  man  is  sufficient 
to  procure  the  arrest  and  summary  punishment  of  a 
negro  at  any  time.  These  things  are  matters  of  com- 
mon observation,  when  the  body  politic  is  in  a  quiescent 
state  and  no  direct  question  of  section  or  race  enters 
into  or  forms  any  material  part  of  the  subject  matter 
in    controversy.       But  once   let   an    "  exciting   political 


"Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  263 

canvass "  begin,  such  as  the  governor  faintly  alludes  to  in 
that  portion  of  his  late  message  above  quoted,  and  such 
as  is  here  feebly  described ;  then  it  is  that  a  realization 
of  the  facts  just  enumerated  may  be  felt.  When  all  the 
bitterness,  passion  and  prejudice  engendered  by  the  late 
war  and  its  results,  so  disastrous  to  the  material  interests 
of  the  southern  people,  and  so  humiliating  to  their  sec- 
tional pride,  is  aroused  to  the  pitch  of  frenzy,  then  it  is 
that  "  comparisons "  become  odious  when  speaking  of 
"  domestic  tranquility."  When  the  antagonisms  existing 
between  the  old  master  and  the  late  slave  assume  the 
attitude  and  alarming  proportions  of  an  "irrepressible 
conflict";  when  all  these  influences  are  brought  to  bear, 
then  it  is  that  a  light  as  unmistakable  as  that  afforded 
by  the  noon- day  sun  bursts  upon  the  view,  and  all  the 
terrifying  features  of  the  hydra-headed  monster,  which 
the  lovers  of  republican  government  have  to  confront, 
are  revealed.  However  much  the  more  sagacious  leaders 
in  the  South  may  strive  to  conceal  the  fact,  it  is  never- 
theless true,  that  in  each  succeeding  political  contest 
since  the  war,  the  issues  have  been  very  closely  allied 
with  those  which  were  made  the  subject  of  debate  and 
bitter  contest  at  the  beginning  of  that  eventful  period. 

The  friends  of  republicanism  meei  with  the  same 
uncompromising  opposition,  that  union  men  did  in  the 
South  in  i860  and  1861,  and  the  stronger  the  hold  which 
is  fastened  upon  the  government,  and  the  greater  the 
number  of  "Confederate  brigadier  "  who  secure  seats 
in  the  national  congress,  the  more  bitter,  persistent  and 
determined   seems   to  be   the  oppositioi:   to  everything 


264  The  Chisolni  Massacre. 

sought  to  be  introduced  and  maintained  here,  that  is  not 
democratic  in  name  and  southern  in  principle. 

For  generations  the  youth  of  the  country  have  been 
educated  and  trained  to  spurn  the  very  form  of  the  gov- 
ernment under  which  they  Hved  and  prospered  for  so 
many  years.  The  same  sentiment  is  fostered  and  encour- 
aged in  their  institutions  of  learning  to-day. 

The  cardinal  principles  of  popular  government  are  too 
plebeian  ever  to  be  appreciated  by  the  high-born  sons  of 
the  South;  and  a  constitution  which  places  the  sturdy 
men  of  toil  upon  an  equal  footing  with  themselves  in 
the  management  and  control  of  national  affairs,  never 
has  been  nor  never  will  be  by  them  cherished  and 
adopted. 

Thus,  in  an  "exciting  political  canvass,"  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  peace,  save  that  peace  which  is  secured  by 
armed  and  organized  opposition  to  the  will  of  a  large 
and  defenseless  class,  in  open  defiance  of  law,  justice  and 
humanity — a  peace  purchased  at  the  alarming  sacrifice 
of  the  dearest  rights  known  to  an  American  citizen. 


CHAPTER     XXIV. 

The  first  of  August  following  the  massacre  at  DeKalb, 
Governor  Stone  received  the  nomination  of  his  party,  in 
general  convention  assembled,  for  continuance  in  the 
responsible  position  at  the  time  filled  by  him.  On  the 
eleventh  of  the  same  month  Phil  Gully,  at  a  primary 
canvass  in  Kemper  county,  was  similarly  endorsed  for 
the  office  of  sheriff;  and  on  the  sixth  of  the  present 
month  —  November — the  Governor  was  re-electd,  with- 
out opposition,  to  fill  that  place  of  honor  and  trust; 
while  Gully  was  defeated  by  George  Welch,  the  present 
deputy  sheriff,  who  ran  independently. 

Already  the  reward  of  merit  in  the  realization  of  a 
hope  long  deferred  is  received,  and  upon  the  regal  brow 
of  Welch  rests  the  coronet  of  leadership  in  his  county, 
while  upon  Governor  Stone  are  lavished  the  highest 
honors  within  the  gift  of  the  whole  people. 

Thus  the  first  opportunity  is  improved  for  returning 
thanks,  in  a  substantial  manner,  for  the  services  rendered 
by  these  two  patriots ;  one  chief  among  the  conspirators 
and  murderers,  and  the  other  the  chief  executive  officer 
of  the  State,  who,  in  answer  to  the  pathetic  appeal  of 
Mrs.  Chisolm  for  aid,  "had  no  power  to  do  anything 
at  all." 

Weeks  and  months  dragged  their  slow  length  along 
and  no  effort  was  made  by  any  one  to  apprehend  or 
bring  these  men  to  an  account.     They  walked  the  streets 


2^  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

from  day  to  day,  and  rode  past  the  homes  desolated  by 
their  bloody  hands,  while  the  widow  and  orphan  at  the 
door,  in  the  sable  garments  of  mourning,  were  made  the 
subjects  of  rude  and  insolent  jest.  Confident  in  the 
belief  that  no  legal  process  would  ever  reach  them,  or 
bring  their  names  in  any  public  way  to  notice,  they 
became  boastful  of  the  individual  gallantry  displayed  on 
the  memoral  29th  of  April,  and  among  themselves  and 
their  admirers  there  existed  a  strong  rivalry  of  opinion 
as  to  whom  should  be  awarded  the  honor  of  having 
been  the  first,  second  or  third  to  mount  the  breach  at 
the  head  of  the  stairs  and  face  that  girl,  whose  white 
hands  offered  the  only  resistance  to  their  free  passage 
into  the  jail.  It  has  already  been  told  that  the  first  one 
to  enter — Rosser — met  the  fate  he  so  richly  deserved. 
Upon  another  "young  man,"  if  we  are  to  believe  the 
organ  whose  province  is  truthfully  to  represent  the  sen- 
timents of  the  people  and  record  passing  events,  the 
Meridian  Mercury ^\i2u?>  been  assigned  the  "third"  place 
of  distinction.  The  venerable  editor  of  the  paper 
alluded  to,  in  his  notice  of  this  chivalrous  scion  of  a 
noble  ancestry,  through  some  unaccountable  fatality, 
neglected  to  give  to  the  world  the  name  of  his  hero,  but 
leaves  us  with  the  inference  that,  from  a  safe  retreat  at 
the  head  of  the  stairs,  the  "young  man"  calmly  viewed 
the  field,  and  was  thus  enabled  to  tell  all  the  girl  did 
"up  thar,"  who,  to  use  his  own  language,  only  "run  and 
screamed  and  hollered ! " 

During  four  long  months  of   masterly  inactivity  on 
the  part  of  the  "local  authorities,"  the  eyes  of  the  country 


''^ Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi,  267 

were  turned  upon  Mississippi,  and  the  voice  of  condem- 
nation fell  heavily  upon  the  people  of  the  State,  stand- 
ing supinely  by,  voluntary  witnesses  of  open  and  undis- 
guised murder  in  their  midst,  without  the  expression  of 
of  a  desire  for  the  execution  of  the  law.  Through  the 
continued  cries  for  justice,  there  settled  upon  the  hearts 
of  a  class  not  altogether  lost  to  shame  or  remorse,  the 
feeling  that  at  least  the  forms  of  a  legal  investigation 
should  be  observed.  This  was  strengthened  and  encour- 
aged by  their  leaders  aspiring  to  political  honors,  for  now 
the  era  of  reconciliation  and  good  will  had  come  and 
spread  its  soft  wings  over  the  whole  country.  The  olive 
branch  had  been  extended  to  the  "erring  brethren,"  who 
had  solemnly  plighted  their  faith  to  lie  down  and  sleep 
quietly  by  the  confiding  lamb.  "  Home  rule  and  local 
-self-government"  had  been  guaranteed  to  them  for  all 
coming  time,  and  they  were  not  without  the  hope  of  a 
complete  restoration  to  the  old  place  of  power  and 
influence  in  the  political  control  and  management  of  the 
government.  Already  the  well-preserved  and  shapely 
outlines  of  the  "Lost  Cause"  which  had  passed  but  tem- 
porarily from  view,  could  be  seen  in  the  no  distant  future 
like  a  bright  star  cheering  them  on  their  lonely  pilgrim- 
age. No  rash  act  should  be  committed  now.  The  cost 
of  a  hasty  and  unguarded  step,  showing  want  of  sincerity 
in  their  professions  of  good  faith  could  not  be  estimated, 
for  it  might  dash  to  earth  the  cup  so  near  the  famished 
lips. 

Accordingly,  the  September  term  of  the  circuit  court 
for  Kemper  county  was  held,  when,  with  a  great  sound 


268  TJie  Chisolm  Massacre, 

of  trumpets,  true  bills  for  murder  in  the  first  degree  were 
found  against  six  or  seven  of  the  leaders  in  the  Chisolm 
massacre.  It  was  known  and  well  understood  in  the 
community  for  weeks  and  months  before,  that  the  blood- 
iest of  the  gang  would  then  be  indicted.  They  them- 
selves knew  this  to  be  a  part  of  the  programme,  and 
were  by  no  means  adverse  to  such  a  course,  believing 
that  the  finding  against  them  would  have  the  effect  to 
satisfy  the  demand  for  justice  from  abroad,  and  knowing 
very  well  that  no  inconvenience  would  ever  be  expe- 
rienced on  account  of  any  further  interference  by  the 
courts,  these  villains  looked  on  and  viewed  this  farce 
with  an  air  of  quiet  composure,  if  not  absolute  delight. 
The  circuit  judge  had  occupied  all  these  months  in 
which  to  prepare  a  charge  to  the  grand  jury,  well  calcu- 
lated in  its  diction  and  subject  matter  to  meet  the 
emergency  and  fall  like  a  soft  lullaby  song  upon  the 
Northern  ear.  Upon  this  "masterly  paper"  the  Jackson 
Clarion  of  October  24th — after  copying  the  "charge"  in 
full — comments  as  follows: 

Judge  Hamm's  charge  to  the  Kemper  county  grand 
jury  will  be  found  on  our  first  page.  It  is  an  invaluable 
contribution  to  the  jurisprudence  of  the  State,  and, 
indeed,  will  form  a  separate  and  distinct  chapter  in  its 
history.  No  member  of  society,  no  matter  what  his 
avocation,  can  fail  to  be  benefited  by  reading  it.  It  is 
"profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof,  for  correction,  for 
instruction."  TJie  NortJiern  partisan  press  ivJiicJi^  for- 
getting the  beam  in  its  own  eyes^  have  discovered  no 
respect  for  law  and  order  in  Mississippi^  will  do  our 
State  justice  and  their  readers  a  benefit  by  copying  this 
masterly  paper. 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  269 

How  it  is  that  the  action  of  these  men,  sworn  to 
secrecy,  has  been  heralded  to  the  world,  after  having 
found  six  or  seven  indictments  for  murder  in  the  first 
degree,  before  an  arrest  or  an  attempt  at  arrest  has  been 
made,  does  not  appear.  The  statutes  of  the  State  pro- 
vide that  the  accused  shall  be  apprehended  and  confined 
in  jail,  without  bail,  there  to  await  trial,  and  until  such 
time  no  juryman,  without  violating  a  solemn  oath,  can 
reveal  the  secret  of  their  finding.  Are  not  the  above 
facts,  taken  in  connection  with  the  Clariotis  editorial  on 
Judge  Hamm'si  charge,  a  sufficient  proof  to  convince  the 
most  skeptical  of  the  hollow  mockery  with  which  the 
name  of  "justice"  is  clothed  in  Mississippi?  But  we  are 
not  prepared  to  stop  here  with  this  "  Picture  of  Home 
Rule."  One  more  brief  chapter,  however,  on  Kemper 
county,  and  the  dark  record  closes. 

In  another  place  it  is  told  that  a  colored  man  named 
Walter  Riley  was  suspected  of  having  killed  one  Dabbs 
some  years  ago.  Since  then  little  has  been  known  of 
the  facts  or  of  Riley  himself,  until  just  before  the  assas- 
sination of  John  W.  Gully,  at  which  time,  it  is  now  said, 
Riley  was  seen  in  the  neighborhood  of  DeKalb;  and  being 
unable  through  all  the  devilish  enginery  at  their  command 
to  fasten  the  guilt  of  John  W.  Gully's  untimely  taking 
off  upon  Rush,  thereby  making  Chisolm  accessory  to  the 
crime,  a  new  departure  is  resorted  to  and  a  plan,  if  pos- 
sible, more  diabolical  than  that  of  murdering  innocent 
men  and  women  in  open  day.  In  the  communication  of 
"A  Subscriber,"  elsewhere  printed  and  commented  upon 
—  a  writer  evidently  with  a  prophetic  and  omnipresent 


2/0  TJie  Ckisohn  Massacre, 

eye,  who  reads  the  thoughts  of  men  with  greater  ease 
and  exactness  than  he  could  read  a  book  —  we  are 
informed  that  no  negro  could  have  been  the  assassin  of 
the  great  chieftain  of  their  clan ;  that  the  crime  was  com- 
mitted by  a  white  man  who  took  off  his  victim's  boots 
in  order  to  make  it  appear  like  the  work  of  some  one 
who  had  the  object  of  plunder  in  view.  But  here,  as  in 
former  chapters,  the  language  of  the  conspirators  them- 
selves is  used  to  fasten  the  evidence  of  their  guilt  upon 
them.  Riley's  relations  with  Gully  are  said  to  have  been 
of  such  a  nature  as  to  warrant  him,  at  any  time — under 
the  Kemper  county  code — in  taking  the  life  of  the  latter 
whenever  an  opportunity  might  offer,  and  presently  it 
was  whispered  about  that  Riley  was  the  guilty  man. 
Accordingly,  just  before  the  sitting  of  the  court  in  Sep- 
tember last,  Riley  was  kidnapped  from  Tennessee,  where 
he  had  taken  refuge,  and  brought  back  to  Kemper 
county,  without  process  of  a  lawful  requisition,  or  any 
other  legal  authority.  But  a  few  days  had  elapsed 
after  his  arrival  before  he  was  convicted  of  the  murder 
of  Dabbs  and  sentenced  to  death ;  and  here  follows  the 
denouement.  Riley  was  to  have  been  hanged  on  the  9th 
of  November  following  his  condemnation.  Meantime, 
Phil  Gully  and  his  associates  had  free  access  to  the 
prisoner's  cell,  and  from  time  to  time,  it  is  well  known, 
the  condemned  man  was  approached  with  the  promise 
of  a  commutation  of  sentence,  or  a  reprieve,  if  he  would 
only  say  that  he  was  the  one  who  killed  John  W.  Gully, 
and  that  it  was  done  at  the  instigation  of  Chisolm  and 
others.     It    is    now    said    that   Riley  has   confessed   to 


*^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  271 

having  killed  Gully,  believing  himself  justifiable  in  so 
doing,  but,  in  the  face  of  death,  has  steadily  refused  to 
say  that  any  other  man,  living  or  dead,  was  cognizant  of 
the  fact. 

Meantime,  it  is  told,  that  three  different  attempts  have 
been  made  to  burn  the  jail  and  every  one  in  it.  The  9th 
of  November  came,  and  the  victim,  Riley,  was  about 
to  be  led  to  the  gallows  through  an  immense  throng  of 
"  good  citizens,"  who  had  turned  out  to  "  hear  his  confes- 
sion "  or  to  see  him  "  dangle,"  when,  lo  !  and  behold,  a 
respite  of  thirty  days  comes  from  his  Excellency,  the 
Governor  !  Thus  thirty  days'  more  time  is  given  the 
Gullys,  through  their  attorney,  Mr.  Woods,  and  the  kind 
offices  of  the  Governor,  in  which  to  devise  means  to 
wring  from  Riley  a  confession  of  the  guilt  of  Judge 
Chisolm,  whose  martyred  remains  have  long  since 
become  food  for  worms.  As  these  pages  go  to  press 
—  November  24th  —  it  is  difficult  to  tell  what  may  be 
the  final  result  of  this  last  and  most  damnable  of  all  the 
murderous  conspiracies  which  the  history  of  Kemper 
county  civilization  furnishes  proof. 

Seven  months  have  passed  since  the  slaughter  of 
April  was  committed,  and  three  since  the  murderers  were 
indicted,  and  they  walk  the  streets  as  freely  and  uncon- 
cerned as  they  did  before  the  sitting  of  the  great  tribunal 
of  justice,  the  circuit  court.  The  newspapers  of  the 
South,  like  the  Clario7i^  are  loud  in  their  praises  of  Judge 
Hamm  and  the  "good  people"  of  Kemper  for  uphold- 
ing "  the  majesty  of  the  law,"  and  it  is  now  claimed  thai 
northern  vandalism  against  the  good  name  and  intent  of 


2^2  The  Chisolni  Massacre, 

our  "  erring  brethren,"  must  forever  cease.  Possibly  this 
is  said  with  a  degree  of  plausibility  and  even  in  good  faith. 
If  so,  it  is  certainly  wrong  to  "stir  up,"  by  unjust 
criticism,  the  old  wounds  of  distrust,  which  the  gangrene 
of  sectional  pride  and  jealousy  have  kept  open  for  so 
many  years.  A  charitable  view  leads  one  to  the  adop- 
tion of  this  theory ;  and  we  are  about  to  bend  irl  humble 
reverence  and  submission  to  its  teachings,  when  the  eye^ 
already  wet  with  penitential  tears,  falls  accidentally  upon 
a  paragraph  in  the  Meridian  Mercury,  like  this,  and  the 
dream  of  restored  confidence  vanishes  like  the  "  baseless 
fabric  of  this  vision."     Hear  the  Mercury  once  more : 

Imagination  fails  to  conceive  of  anything  better  calcu- 
lated  to  turn  the  county  over  to  riot  and  bloodshed  than 
the  indictment  of  one,  or  two,  or  many,  for  a  crime  com- 
mitted by  a  great  number  of  people  acting  together,  and 
who  have  boldly  stood  up  to  their  acts,  neither  hiding 
nor  shirking  the  responsibility.  They  put  out  of  the 
way  men  who,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  had  made  a 
mockery  of  that  justice  we  have  seen  so  efficiently 
administered  for  the  last  two  weeks,  and  who  had  made 
murder  and  assassination  safe  in  the  county  from  the 
law's  retribution,  under  the  maddening  provocation  of  an 
assassination  they  held  themselves  responsible  for,  and 
yet  hold  them.  If  it  appear  that  these  indictments  have 
been  procured  to  appease  a  northern  public  sentiment, 
and  to  gratify  any  home  prejudices,  we  may  expect  the 
demon  to  be  awakened  again  in  these  people  now  so 
calm  and  acquiescent  in  the  law,  and  we  may  dread  the 
result. 

The  ministers  of  the  law  always  make  a  mistake 
when  they  assume  that  the  law  is  to  be  pushed  straight 
through  to  the  letter,  under  all  circumstances,  regarding 


^^Hoine  Rule''  in  Mississippi  273 

nothing.     That  sort  of  a  mistake  we  fear  the  Kemper 
grand  jury  is  making. 

The  writer  of  the  above  is  well  known  to  the  author 
of  this  book,  and  it  is  no  more  than  justice  to  him  here 
to  state,  in  this  editorial  he  utters  the  honest  convictions 
of  his  heart.  That  he  speaks  the  sentiments  of  the 
people  generally  there  is  no  better  proof  needed  than  to 
know  that  for  many  long  years  he  has  been  supported  in 
this  style  of  journalism ;  that,  meantime,  his  paper  has 
grown  in  power  and  influence,  and  while  pursuing  this 
undeviating  course  touching  these  grave  questions  — 
consistent  at  least  in  being  straightforward  —  the  Mer- 
cury has  lived  to  see  a  half  dozen  more  liberal  organs 
spring  up  in  the  same  town  and  die  for  want  of  patron- 
age. We  have  not  only  this  proof  of  its  endorsement 
by  the  people,  but  its  editor  was  last  summer  at  the 
State  convention,  which  met  in  Jackson  the  first  of 
August,  a  prominent  candidate  for  lieutenant-governor. 

But  to  this  day  it  will  be  denied  that  there  exists,  or 
ever  existed  in  Mississippi,  an  ungovernable  element 
now  familiarly  styled  "Bulldozers;"  a  class  of  men  as 
formidable  in  numbers  as  they  are  brutal  in  instinct,  dis- 
regarding alike  the  laws  of  God  and  man.  Many  of  our 
incredulous  friends  at  the  North  are  impressed  with  the 
truthfulness  of  this  denial.  Here  is  an  extract  from  the 
Liberty  Herald,  published  some  time  in  August  or 
September  last,  headed  "  Bulldozing."  It  may  throw  a 
ray  of  light  upon  this  subject : 

We  have  been  asked  more  than  once  why,  as  a  public 
journalist,  we  have  not,  through  our  columns,  opposed 
18 


274  '^^^^  Chisolm  Massacre, 

and  denounced  in  befitting  terms  the  lawlessness  which, 
under  the  above  significant  term,  is  rapidly  destroying 
the  material  interest  of  our  county  and  surrounding 
sections,  and  bringing  us,  as  a  community,  into  public 
scandal  and  disgrace.  Our  answer  has  heretofore  been, 
we  were  ashamed  to  give  any  more  notoriety  to  the 
matter  than  it  already  had,  and  we  trusted  that  a 
healthy  public  sentiment  would  silently  but  successfully 
and  speedily  suppress  it.  But  it  seems  we  were  mis- 
taken. It  is  not  only  as  rampant  as  ever,  but  is  steadily 
increasing  in  the  diabolism  of  its  acts  and  the  audacity 
of  its  demands.  Public  sentiment,  although  opposed  to 
it,  is  silent,  while  its  advocates  are  noisy,  blatant  and 
organized. 

This  is  followed  by  an  article  from  the  Vicksburg 
Herald ;  for  now  that  this  great  evil  is  falling  heaviest 
upon  those  who  have  been  most  persistent  heretofore  in 
denying  its  existence,  the  "laugh" — so  to  speak — is  "on 
the  other  side  : " 

All  our  citizens  feel  that  there  is  something  wrong  in 
regard  to  the  protection  of  life  and  property  in  our 
midst,  but  many  do  not  know  where  the  cause  lies. 
There  is  a  well  defined  feeling  that  too  many  crimes  are 
committed;  that  too  many  people  are  shot  or  cut,  or 
assaulted  with  deadly  weapons,  and  that  there  is  too 
much  bummerism  and  bulldozing  of  one  sort  and 
another.  We  feel  that  we  are  drifting  along,  and  that 
the  lawless  are  not  restrained  or  promptly  punished. 

Again  His  Excellency,  the  Governor,  has  been  forced 
to  acknowledge  the  virtue  found  in  the  old  adage,  "  It 
makes  a  difference  whose  ox  is  gored." 

Contrast  his  language  of  May,  in  answer  to  Mrs. 
Chisolm's  appeal,  when  he  had  "no  power  to  do  any- 


''Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  275 

thing  at  all,"  with  that  of  September  last,  in  answer  to 
the  call  of  his  own  distressed  brethren.  Here  is  his 
language  of  the  latter  date: 

Executive  Department,    ) 
,    ^  Jackson,  Miss.,  Sept.  8,  1877.  \ 

Hon.  A.  C.  McNair,  Brookhaven,  Miss.: 

Dear  Sir:     I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  receipt 

of  your  favor  of instant,  detailing  the  condition  of 

attairs  in  three  of  the  counties  of  southwest  Mississippi 
1  am  now  m  correspondence  with   leading   citizens    in 
those  localities,  with  a  view   of  ascertaining   what  the 
emergency  demands,  and  then  to  determine  what  lawful 
means  to  adopt  to  meet  that  emergency. 

Such  a  state  of  tilings  cannot  be  tolerated,  and  cost 
what  It  may,  it  must  and  shall  be  stopped. 
Yours  very  truly, 

J.  M.  Stone. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 


Of  the  "Chisolm  Massacre,"  the  names  of  its  active 
participants  are  still  unknown  to  the  outside  world. 
Unwilling  that  they  should  be  lost  to  posterity,  a  list  of 
those  most  deserving  of  notice  is  furnished  below : 


Henry  Gully, 

Phil  H.  Gully, 

Bill  Gully, 

Jess  Gully, 

Houston  Gully, 

Virgil  Gully, 

Slocum  Gully, 

John  Gully,  (Phil's  son,) 

Gully,  (Phil's  son,) 

J  ere  Watkins, 
Dan  McWhorter, 
Jim  Overstreet, 
Robt  J.  Moseley, 
James  H.  Brittain, 
Willie  Brittain, 
Tom  Lang, 
John  H.  Overstreet, 
John  Hunter, 
Jim  Warren, 
Sloke  Warren, 
Sam  Warren, 
Baxter  Cambel, 
John  Cambel, 

Hodge, 

Sanford  Jordan, 


Jim  McRory. 
Charles  L.  McRory, 
John  T.  Gewen, 
Tom  P.  Bell, 
Arch  Adams, 
Bill  Adams, 
John  Adams, 
Dr.  Stennis, 
Dr.  Cambel, 
Jim  Whittle, 
Robt  Waddle, 
Pat  J.  Scott, 
J.  W.  Lang, 
Doland  Coleman, 
Wallace  Morrison, 
Peck  Vandevender, 
George  Hull, 
Philander  Hull, 
Jess  Hull, 

Shot, 

George  Eldridge, 
Bill  Clark, 
Foote  McLellan, 
Dee  McLellan, 
John  Bounds, 


^'Home  Rule"  in  Mississippi,  277 

Ed  Davis,  Ivory, 

Bill  Williams,  J.  J.  Hall, 

Joe  Ellerby,  Jenkins, 

Joe  Hodge,  Theodore  Clark, 

Rufus  Bounds,  McWilliams, 

Ruff  Turner,  Ebb  Felton, 

Albert  Lilly,  W.  J.  Overstreet, 

Frank  Harvin,  Bob  Goodwin, 

Sam  Harvin,  Ed  Weston. 
Jim  Scott, 

Of  these,  Phil  Gully,  John  J.  Overstreet,  Sam  and 
Frank  Hawin  are  each  indebted  to  the  estate  of  Judge 
Chisolm  in  sums  ranging  from  five  dollars  up  to  one 
hundred  and  thirty.  Tom  Bell  represents  the  county  in 
the  State  Legislature.  Ed  Weston  is  coroner  and 
ranger.  J.  L.  Spinks,  the  justice  of  the  peace  whose 
name  illumes  so  many  of  the  preceding  pages,  was  pro- 
moted at  the  November  election  to  succeed  Bell  in  the 
house  of  representatives. 

Let  these  names,  in  golden  letters,  be  hung  up  along 
all  the  public  avenues  leading  into  the  State.  To  the 
weary  immigrant  who  may  chance  to  turn,  in  the  future, 
for  a  home  in  the  soft,  genial  clime  of  Mississippi,  they 
will  appear  like  the  terrifying  warning  inscribed  against 
an  entrance  into  Dante's  ideal  hell,  "All  hope  abandon 
ye  who    enter  here." 

Let  them  be  placed  in  the  capitol  at  Washington; 
they  will  inspire  the  "gifted  Lamar"  to  honeyed  words 
of  reconciliation.  The  Hon.  Mr.  Money,  when  he  rises 
in  the  seat  allotted  to  the  member  from  the  third 
congressional   district    of    Mississippi,   will    point    with 


2/8  TJie  Chisolni  Massacre. 

pride  to  the  names  of  his  constituency  who  carried  him 
through  the  blood  of  the  murdered  Chisolm  and  his 
sweet  girl  and  boy,  against  an  honest  majority  of  more 
than  four  thousand  votes  in  the  district,  thus  opposed 
to  him,  to  a  place  among  the  nation's  great  men. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

In  the  face  of  all  the  disparaging  truths  which  these 
pages  have  recorded,  and  while  the  cold  rains  of  Decem- 
ber are  drenching  the  graves  of  the  martyred  dead,  it  is 
a  source  of  gratification  to  know  that  the  heart  of  the 
people  has  never  ceased  to  beat  in  the  fond  hope  of 
justice  and  the  Nemesis  yet  to  come. 

American  womanhood  is  everywhere  aroused  to  a 
sense  of  that  deep  shame  which  overshadows  and  mocks 
at  our  boasted  chivalry,  so  long  as  the  blood  of  Cornelia 
Chisolm  is  unavenged.  The  talent  of  the  best  writers 
has  been  employed  in  condemnation  of  this  crime,  and 
in  utter  execration  of  the  depraved  condition  of  society 
which  suffers  it  to  go  unpunished.  To  the  pen  of 
Grace  Greenwood,  the  Washington  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Times,  a  double  debt  of  gratitude  is  due. 
This  writer,  from  the  first,  has  been  unremitting  in  her 
endeavors  to  place  the  matter,  in  all  its  enormities,  fairly 
before  the  people.  Others  have  moulded  into  verse,  a 
more  graceful  and  touching  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the 
dead. 

A  letter  printed  in  the  New  York  Trihine  the  latter 
part  of  May  following  the  massacre,  touching  the  sub- 
ject of  the  erection  of  a  monument  in  honor  of  the 
heroism  of  Miss  Cornelia  Chisolm,  full  of  thought  and 
well  worthy  the  consideration  of  the  "  young  men  of  the 
country"  is  here  appended.     It  is  in  response  to  a  sug- 


28o  TJie  CJiisolni  Massacre. 

gestion  which  first  appeared  in  the  Indianapolis  Joiirnaly 
and  is  worth  a  place  in  these  pages : 

A   MONUMENT  TO    MISS   CHISOLM. 

YOUNG    MEN    SHOULD    ERECT   IT  —  WHAT   ITS    SIGNIFI- 
CANCE WOULD   BE. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Tribune : 

Sir  :  The  suggestion  which  has  been  made  by  a 
Western  paper  that  the  ladies  of  the  country  should 
erect  a  monument  over  the  grave  of  Cornelia  Chisolm  is 
one  that  should  not  be  overlooked.  If  surprising  courage 
in  a  sex  which  Nature  has  not  formed  for  scenes  calling 
for  physical  courage ;  if  self-devotion,  if  filial  affection,  if 
all  that  is  most  beautiful  in  woman  deserves  to  be 
honored,  then  this  generation  should  see  to  it  that  it 
commemorates  the  sublime  manifestation  of  these  quali- 
ties in  that  young  girl.  I  have  read  no  incident  in  the 
history  of  my  country,  from  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims 
down  to  the  close  of  the  last  war — which  was  illustrious 
in  deeds  of  individual  heroism  —  that  has  so  thrilled  me 
with  admiration  for  the  individual,  or  has  so  elevated  my 
ideas  of  womanhood,  and,  I  may  say,  of  my  kind,  as 
that  struggle  of  Cornelia  Chisolm  against  the  murderers 
of  her  father.  Nay,  I  defy  any  one  to  point  out,  in  the 
annals  of  the  past,  any  exhibition  of  high  qualities  which 
is  more  worthy  of  the  world's  reverence  than  this.  The 
scene  has  already  passed  into  history;  it  should  be,  and 
I  doubt  not  it  will  be,  commemorated  by  art,  and  it 
should  receive  the  homage  of  a  generation  which  she 
honored  and  for  which  she  died. 

But  why  should  women  raise  this  memorial?  l.et  it 
rather  be  a  tribute  of  the  young  men  of  this  country  to 
womanhood,  whose  highest  qualities   Cornelia  Chisolm 


^^  Home  Rtile"  in  Mississippi.  281 

so  strikingly  illustrated.  Let  them  show  that  the  man- 
hood of  this  country  honors  woman's  affection,  which 
shrinks  at  no  sacrifice  or  danger  to  protect  the  object 
around  which  it  clings,  and  does  not  band  together  to 
shoot  down  an  innocent  girl  who  throws  herself  between 
her  father  and  a  murderous  mob.  And  more,  let  such  a 
memorial  tell  a  debased  civilization  around  it  of  a  man- 
hood which  spares  weakness  and  does  not  crush  it; 
which  respects  sex  and  does  not  make  woman's  helpless- 
ness the  measure  of  its  own  courage ;  which  honors  filial 
affection  and  does  not  make  it  a  pretext  for  murder; 
which  honors' heroism  and  does  not  assassinate  it;  which 
reverences  sublime  self-devotion  and  does  not  put  bloody 
hands  upon  it;  which  has  regard  for  innocence  and  law, 
and  does  not  band  together  to  trample  upon  both.  Let 
it  be  thus  at  once  a  vindication  of  the  manhood  of  this 
country,  which  has  been  shamed  by  an  outbreak  of  local 
brutality,  and  the  proclaimer  of  a  true  chivalry  in  a 
region  where  bloodthirsty  ferocity,  undignified  by  any 
noble  sentiment,  usurps  its  name. 

There  is  yet  another  reason  why  this  monument 
should  be  reared  by  the  young  men  of  this  country.  It 
will  be  a  menace  as  well  as  a  memorial.  Telling  of  what 
in  human  nature  they  reverenced  most,  and  forming  a 
silent  protest  against  the  dishonor  with  which  it  has 
met,  it  will  suggest,  inevitably,  that  there  are  arms  which 
will  be  raised  to  avenge  such  outrages  against  what  they 
regard  as  a  sacred  thing.  A  civilization  which  tolerates, 
defends  and  practices  the  murder  of  innocent  women  as 
a  means  of  political  intimidation,  has  no  right  to  exist 
upon  God's  fair  earth.  Neither  constitutional  nor  pre- 
scriptive right  will  stand  before  the  outraged  moral  sense 
of  mankind.  The  Turk  is  being  driven  out  of  Europe, 
and  the  turk  must  be  crushed  down  in  America.  Let 
such  a  memorial  as  I  have  advocated  speak  in  Missis- 
sippi this  voice  of  the  people,  which,  in  this  case,  is  the 


282  The  CJdsolin  Massacre. 

voice  of  God.  Let  it  proclaim,  that  if  that  murderous 
civilization  shows  no  signs  of  improvement,  there  is  a 
power  in  this  country  which,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  will 
grind  it  to  powder.  Redington. 

Below  is  reproduced  a  beautiful  poem  by  Mary  Clem- 
ner,  read  last  summer  on  the  occasion  of  the  celebration 
of  our  Natal  Day,  in  one  of  the  northern  cities.  This  is 
followed  by  others,  which  have  come  to  the  notice  of  the 
author,  during  the  progress  of  this  work.  The  poems 
cannot  fail  to  add  interest  to  its  pages,  as  they  must 
certainly  touch  the  hearts  of  all  who  read  them : 

W  hat  do  we  celebrate  ? 

Freedom's  new  birth       Elate 

While  on  the  sad  East's  verge, 

The  sullen  war  waves  surge, 

And  lines  of  battle  break 

In  blood,  "for  Christ's  dear  sake?" 

Our  bells  of  Freedom  ring, 

Our  songs  of  Peace  we  sing ; 

And  do  we  dream  we  hear 

The  far,  low  cry  of  fear. 

Where  in  the  Southern  land, 

The  masked,  barbaric  band, 

Under  the  covert  night, 

Still  fight  the  coward's  fight. 

Still  strike  the  assassin's  blow, 

Smite  childhood,  girlhood  low  ? 

Great  Justice!  canst  thou  see 

Unmoved  that  such  things  be? 

See  murderers  go  free. 

Unsought?     Bruised  in  her  grave 

The  girl,  who  fought  to  save 

Brother  and  sire.     She  died  for  man. 

She  leads  the  lofty  van 

Of  hero  women.     Lift  her  name 

With  ever-kindling  fame. 

Her  youth's  consummate  flower 

Took  on  the  exalted  dower 

Of  martyrdom.     And  Death, 

And  Love  put  on  her  crown 

Of  high  renown.     *     *     * 


''Home  Rule"'  in  Mississippi,  283 

Cease,  bells  of  Freedom,  cease! 

Hush,  happy  songs  of  Peace! 

If  such  things  yet  may  be, 

"Sweet  land  of  Liberty," 

In  thee,  in  thee ! 

On  hill  top  and  in  vale 

Lie  low  our  brethren  pale,  , 

June  roses  on  each  breast, 

Beloved  !  ye  are  blest ! 

Ye  yielded  up  your  breath, 

Ye  gave  yourselves  to  death. 

For  Freedom's  sake.     We  live 

To  see  her  wounds.     We  live 

To  bind  her  wounds.     To  give 

Life  up  for  her  high  sake. 

If  life  she  need.     We  take 

The  Cross  that  ye  laid  down. 

The  world  may  smile  or  frown, 

We  kiss  the  sacred  host, 

We  count  the  priceless  cost, 

We  swear  in  holy  pain, 

O  !  sacrificial  slain, 

Ye  did  not  die  in  vain  ! 


"  LITTLE  JOHNNY." 

BY   W.    S.    PETERSON. 


Softly  breathed  the  coming  May 
On  that  Southern  Sabbath  day. 

In  that  genial,  sunny  clime 
May  days  come  before  their  time. 

Earth  and  sky  were  bright  and  blest 
On  the  holy  day  of  rest. 

But  no  sound  of  prayer  and  psalm 
Rose  upon  the  Sabbath's  calm. 

And  the  morning  sun  looked  down 
On  a  mob-beleaguered  town. 

Horsemen  galloped  here  and  there, 
And  their  curses  filled  the  air. 

Soon  a  hundred  ruffians  yell 
Round  the  home  where  heroes  dwell 


284  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 


Brave  Judge  Chisolm  scorning  fear 
Though  the  wolves  of  hell  were  near ; 

And  Cornelia,  heroine  rare, 

Fair  and  young  and  brave  as  fair ; 

Little  Johnny,  aged  thirteen. 
Bravest  boy  the  world  has  seen ! 

When  the  Judge  to  jail  was  led, 
"  I'll  go  too !  "  brave  Johnny  said. 

Sire  and  son  walked  hand  in  hand 
Through  the  threat'ning  ruffian  band. 

And  within  the  prison  gate 
Johnny  shared  his  father's  fate. 

When  the  mob,  with  savage  yell 
On  their  helpless  victims  fell, 

Johnny  stood  and  faltered  not 
In  the  furious  storm  of  shot — 

Stood  beside  his  sister  there 

On  the  splintered,  bloody  stair  — 

Held  the  door,  and  kept  at  bay 
Fiends  who  would  his  father  slay. 

Till  the  leader  of  the  band 
Shot  away  his  little  hand  ! 

Then,  to  save  his  sire  from  harm. 
He  stretched  out  his  shattered  arm, 

Sprang  before  the  powder  flame 
That  toward  his  father  came, 

And  received  in  his  own  form 
The  full  fury  of  the  storm, 

Till  his  body,  torn  with  lead. 
At  his  father's  feet  fell  dead ! 

When  he  to  his  grave  was  borne. 
Few  there  were  for  him  to  mourn. 

Mississippi,  murder-wild, 
Mourned  not  for  her  noblest  child. 


^^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi,  285 

Not  a  hymn  or  prayer  was  heard, 
Priest  nor  preacher  spoke  a  word. 

Only  she  who  gave  him  birth 

Sigh'd  the  sad  words,  "  Earth  to  Earth." 

Only  his  own  mother  wept 
Where  her  darling  hero  slept. 

But  his  little  grave  shall  yet 
With  a  Nation's  tears  be  wet. 

And  through  all  the  coming  years, 
With  their  eyes  bedimmed  by  tears, 

Mothers  to  their  sons  shall  tell 
How  heroic  Johnny  fell. 

Storied  page  and  poet's  song 
Shall  his  praises  still  prolong; 

And  while  Love  and  Valor  live, 
Men  to  Johnny's  name  shall  give 

The  first  place  on  history's  page 
With  the  heroes  of  the  age. 

Johnny  Chisolm,  aged  thirteen, 
Bravest  boy  the  world  has  seen  I 


OUR  HEROINE. 

dedicated   to    MRS.   JUDGE   CHISOLM, 

In  all  the  tears  that  woman  can  shed, 

With  all  the  sympathy  that  woman  can  give; 

Into  the  precinct  of  thy  heart, 

Where  pierceth  deep  the  poignant  dart, 

We  would  not  penetrate, 
E'en  to  uproot  the  pang.     'T  were  vain. 
Since  husband,  daughters,  sons  are  slain. 
God  only  can  remove  the  sting. 
Unto  Him  all  thine  offerings  brincr. 

With  feelings  all  akin  to  those 
Felt  when  we  read  of  Him  who  rose 

Triumphant  from  the  grave. 
Would  we,  as  if  in  solid  rock. 
Write  the  one  universal  thought, 

Our  heroine  died  to  save. 


286  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

Inspired  forever  be  thy  kind, 
To  nobler  deeds  and  loftier  mind, 

Our  murdered  heroine. 
Proud  freedom's  cause  was  on  the  wane ; 
It  springeth  to  new  hfe  again. 

Be  all  the  glory  thine. 

Untrammeled  by  earth's  lesser  aims, 
Unfettered,  free  from  all  its  pains, 

Thy  spirit  lingereth  nigh. 
It  woos  us  e'en  to  bravery, 
To  die  for  right,  if  need  there  be. 

Avenged !  thy  death  we  cry. 

"  Vengeance  is  mine ;    I  will  repay ;" 
As  in  the  past  is  ours  to-day ; 

The  edict  is  his  own. 
Beside  Joan  of  Arc  in  fame, 
We  place  in  mem'ry  thy  dear  name. 

Martyred  Cornelia  Chisolm. 

Mrs.  W.  F.  Lutz. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

In  the  characters  which  make  up  the  prominent  fea- 
tures of  this  work,  are  presented  a  considerable  number  of 
men  whose  rights  and  immunities  as  citizens  of  a  com- 
mon country  entitled  them,  at  the  outset,  to  equal  consid- 
eration and  respect  with  any  other  class. 

Alienation  of  birth  or  distinction  of  caste  was  not 
made  a  pretext  for  marking  them  in  any  way  as  objects 
of  distrust,  derision  or  contempt.  Their  daily  conduct 
did  not  differ  materially  from  that  of  the  better  people 
with  whom  they  were  associated.  No  conventionalities, 
no  prejudices  incident  to  religious  belief,  race  or  condition 
singled  them  from  their  fellows.  Natives  of  the  soil  from 
which  their  sustenance  was  drawn,  the  interests  of  these 
men  were  identical  with  those  of  others  among  whom 
their  life  fortunes  were  fixed.  That  unfortunate  genius 
to  whose  villainy  is  ascribed  all  the  mischief  and  crime 
committed  in  the  Southern  states  since  the  surrender,  was 
not  found  among  them.  No  one  had  a  better  right  to 
judge  of  the  wants  of  the  community  or  to  devise  means 
for  supplying  its  demands  than  they.  No  ^'vile  carpeU 
bagger"  ever  polluted  the  sacred  soil  where  the  scenes  of 
this  story  are  laid.  But  as  time  advances  the  onward 
tide  of  thought  keeps  pace.  In  passing,  truths  are  gath- 
ered up  and  errors  cast  off  by  the  wayside,  old  land 
marks  are  swept  away  and  new  theories  in  science,  art 
and  statesmanship  are  adopted.     In  the  course  of  years, 


288  The   Chisolni  Massacre, 

emerging  from  a  great  national  convulsion,  which  in  its 
results  is  said  to  have  solved  the  problem  of  human 
bondage  on  the  American  continent  and  settled  forever 
all  the  vexed  questions  growing  out  of  its  existence,  we 
find  in  Kemper  county,  the  class  of  men  above  alluded 
to,  have  honestly  accepted  the  situation  and  in  common 
with  all  good  citizens  undertaken  to  live  and  act  in  com- 
pliance with  the  requirements  of  the  constitution  and 
its  late  amendments.  Against  them  are  arrayed  those 
who  have  made  the  overthrow  of  the  Republic  and  the 
principles  upon  which  it  was  reared,  the  one  great  crown- 
ing object  of  their  lives.  The  first,  actuated  by  a  sense 
of  duty,  struggle  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  law 
and  the  principles  of  republicanism;  the  other,  blinded 
by  sectional  jealously  and  trained  in  a  school  of  hatred 
to  every  form  of  popular  government,  moved  by  the 
spirit  which  inspired  them  in  1861,  are  still  worshiping 
the  god  of  rebellion  and  disunion. 

Following  the  picture  to  its  close,  we  find  the  former 
overpowered  by  organized  and  armed  opposition,  hum- 
bled, beaten  and  subjected;  their  leaders  slain  and  their 
ranks  broken  and  thinned  by  the  assassin's  bullet;  while 
the  latter,  jubilant  and  defiant,  conscious  of  their  ability 
to  defeat  the  ends  of  justice,  and  dead  to  human  sympa- 
thy, laugh  at  every  effort  to  bring  them  to  an  accounta- 
bility of  their  great  crimes. 


On  a  little  plateau  overlooking  the  village  of  DeKalb, 
not  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  distant  from 
its  business  centre,  stands  the  Chisolm  cottage.     At  its 


'^ Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  289 

front  door  and  windows  the  widowed  mother  watches 
for  the  return  of  her  two  little  boys,  who,  with  the  rising 
sun  leave  the  house  for  the  plantation  three  miles  dis- 
tant, where  their  time  is  employed  in  the  endeavor  to 
secure  a  crop  with  which  to  discharge  the  pressing  obli- 
gations of  the  estate.  At  evening,  when  listening  for 
their  returning  steps,  the  coarse  laugh  and  loud  curses  of 
drunken  revelers  at  the  Gully  grocery  and  other  kindred 
places,  are  wafted  to  her  ears.  In  these  voices  she  recog- 
nizes the  men  whose  blood-stained  hands  have  desolated 
her  hearth-stone,  and  robbed  her  of  husband  and  children. 
At  every  sound  of  pistol  or  gun,  trembling  with  fear,  the 
anxious  mother  looks  out,  ever  conscious  of  the  danger 
which  threatens  the  older  boy.  Clay,  whose  advancing 
years  have  already  made  him  an  object  for  the  attention 
of  his  father's  murderers. 

Every  officer  of  the  county,  with  perhaps  one  or  two 
exceptions,  and  through  whose  hands  the  business  of  the 
Chisolm  estate  must  pass  in  settlement,  either  partici- 
pated in  the  slaughter  of  April  last,  or  are  in  active  sym- 
pathy with  those  who  did.  Charhe  Rosenbaum,  the 
only  willing  and  competent  man  in  the  county  who 
knows  anything  about  the  late  Judge's  business  affairs, 
under  repeated  threats  of  assassination,  compelled  to 
abandon  his  own  business  at  Scooba,  where,  at  the  time 
of  the  DeKalb  massacre  he  was  a  prosperous  merchant, 
is  powerless  to  render  the  assistance  so  much  needed. 
While  Southern  statesmen  of  the  Kemper  school  are 
gaining  admission  to  the  highest  places  in  the  national 
councils,  the  "bloody  shirt"  by  common  consent  of 
19 


290  The  CJdsolni  Massacre. 

their  -Northern  co-laborers,  is  sneeringly  held  up  as  a 
vulgar  and  unclean  thing.  Meantime  Mrs.  Chisolm, 
through  the  dark  hours  of  her  desolation,  turns  from  her 
lonely  watch  ^  at  the  windows  to  the  pictures  of  her 
murdered  darlings,  and  weeps  as  only  a  wife  and  mother 
crushed  and  bruised,  can  do.  Leaving  the  portraits,  with 
a  dead  heart  she  turns  to  the  room  once  her  daughter's, 
still  ornamented  with  the  touch  of  her  deftly  fingers. 
There  stands  her  piano,  its  mute  keys  unmoved  since 
that  brave  right  hand  was  struck  by  the  assassin's  bullet. 
There  on  the  walls  are  Cornelia's  first  girlish  efforts  at 
art,  placed  in  humorous  contrast  with  those  of  a  more 
mature  date.  In  a  corner  are  laid  away  the  keepsakes 
and  playthings  of  her  happy  childhood,  only  just  passed. 
Turning  from  these,  the  mother  goes  softly  and  silently 
to  the  wardrobe  where  is  carefully  placed  the  clothing 
worn  by  her  loved  ones  on  that  dark  Sabbath  of  April  29. 
The  first  article  that  greets  her  tear-dimmed  eyes  is 
Cornelia's  little  hood,  with  the  strings  shot  off  and  stained 
with  blood.  Then  her  clothing,  from  the  neck  to  the  feet 
clotted  with  gore  and  perforated  with  bullets,  not  even 
the  shoes  escaping  the  leaden  charge.  The  shattered 
bracelet  and  the  ball  which  passed  through  her  arm,  with 
the  yellow  metal  clinging  to  its  battered  surface,  next 
appear.  Then  Johnny's  shirt,  with  the  sleeve  shot  off, 
charred  with  burning  gunpowder,  and  the  hole  in  the  left 
breast,  four  inches  broad,  where  his  heart's  blood  oozed 
out.  Turning,  the  tattered  garments  of  Judge  Chisolm, 
containing  blood  enough  to  "incarnadine  the  multitudin- 
ous seas,"  are  found   on   the  other  hand.     There,  apart 


''Home  Rule''  in  Mississippi.  291 

from  civilization,  shut  out  from  all  friendly  intercourse 
menaced,  and  her  little  boy.  at  the  very  hour  of  this' 
writing,  driven  to  the  woods  for  safety;  alone  and  with- 
out hope  of  relief,  the  patriot  widow  lives  on. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

[APPENDIX.] 

From  a  careful  perusal  of  the  preceding  pages,  the 
reader  will  see  the  necessity  of  adding  another  chapter 
before  that  picture  of  "  Home  Rule,"  which  it  was  the 
original  purpose  of  this  work  to  furnish,  and  for  which 
the  daily  record  of  events  in  Kemper  County  has  supplied 
abundant  material,  may  be  considered  complete.  For 
now,  as  in  the  past,  under  the  beatified  reign  of  "  local  self- 
government,"  using  the  language  of  the  only  newspaper 
published  in  the  county,*  "From  the  Alabama  line  to 
the  Mississippi  river,  and  from  the  seacoast  to  the  Ten- 
nessee line,  all  kinds  of  crimes  are  being  daily  committed 
— husbands  are  being  torn  from  the  bosom  of  their 
families,  dragged  away,  and  murdered  in  cold  blood ; 
wives  are  frightened,  their  lives  endangered  and  tortured 
to  death ;  daughters  are  being  caught  in  the  firm  grip 
of  the  fiend,  and  a  nameless  deed  committed  upon  their 
person!  "Where,"  continues  the  same  authority,  "  are 
the  magistrates  of  peace  and  order,  the  executors  of  the 
law  ? — men  whom  the  people  have  honored  with  their 
respective  high  positions  in  life,  and  lavishly  support 
them  to  watch  over  and  protect  them  as  the  shepherd 
would  his  flock  ?  They  are  reared  back,  we  are  ready  to 
assert,  in  their  great  chairs,  saying,  '  These  things  can't 
be  helped.' " 

*I\.emper  Herald,  Jan.  2,  1878. 


'■^Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  293 

Still  later  *  the  Herald  is  heard  in  a  wail  of  lamenta- 
tion scarcely  less  remarkable  than  that  which  caused  the 
first  murderer  to  cry  out  "  My  punishment  is  greater  than 
I  can  bear  !  "  Its  language  must  carry  conviction  to  every 
mind  that  reads,  as  every  heart  will  be  moved  by  its 
earnestness  and  pathos.  Here  it  is:  "In  conversation  a 
few  days  since  with  one  of  the  most  intelligent  gentlemen 
and  perhaps  the  best  lawyer  in  East  Mississippi,  he  said, 
that  he  was  confident  that  the  many  crimes  now  being 
committed  were  attributable  to  the  fact,  that  the  laws 
were  disregarded,  and  looked  upon  as  a  kind  of  scare- 
crow for  the  ignorant.  Men  disregard  their  oaths,  juries 
are  packed,  and  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  convict  a  man 
who  has  money  or  friends.  What  force  has  the  law  over 
money?  None  whatever.  We  have  heard  men  say, 'I 
can  commit  the  darkest  crimes  and  with  one  thousand 
dollars  can  be  acquitted  before  any  court  in  our  State ! ' 
Who  will  dare  deny  it  ?  Its  truthfulness  is  plain  and 
must  be  admitted.  -'^  ^  *  *  The  laws  as  executed 
are  a  farce,  the  executors  g-enerally  are  frauds  and  the 
law  violators  know  it.  Our  PROSPERITY  IS  BLIGHTED, 
THE  COUNTRY'S  DESTINY  IS  SEALED,  AND  PEACE  TO 
US  IS  A   THING  OF   THE  PAST ! ! " 

The  writer  is  in  constant  receipt  of  letters  from  all 
parts  of  the  State,  which  corroborate  fully  the  above; 
and,  coming  as  these  candid  admissions  do  from  a 
source  authorized  by  themselves,  their  truthfulness  will 
scarcely  be  denied  in  the  same  breath  in  which  they  are 
uttered.  That  a  newspaper  press,  chiefly  noticeable  for 
,  *  March  13,  1878. 


294  ^^^  Chisolm  Massacre, 

persistent  endeavor  to  conceal  the  truth,  should  be 
quoted  as  the  best  possible  authority  in  proving  a  condi- 
tion of  society  and  morals  so  damaging  to  its  own  pa- 
trons, may,  at  a  casual  glance,  appear  strangely;  but  this 
seeming  inconsistency  is  explained  away  in  part,  when 
the  old  adage  is  called  to  mind  that  there  are  two 
classes  of  people  in  the  world  proverbial  for  telling  the 
truth.  The  first  of  these  it  is  well  known,  is  children. 
The  editor  quoted  belonging  to  the  other  class,  of  necess- 
ity falls  upon  a  truthful  statement  occasionally. 

"  There  prevails  throughout  Mississippi  to-day,"  say 
these  letter  writers,  "  a  regularly  organized  system  of 
murder,  the  victims  of  which  are  almost  universally  col- 
ored men."  But  here,  as  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  ninth 
of  France,  there  is  no  bastile,  no  lettres  de  cachet.  The 
one  against  whom  an  individual  may  fancy  he  holds  a 
personal  grievance  of  any  kind,  or  the  tendency  of 
whose  presence  in  the  community  is  to  unite  the  col- 
ored people  for  any  political  or  other  purpose,  is  charged 
with  a  crime  which  shall  be  nameless  here — the  one  most 
likely  to  call  down  upon  the  head  of  the  accused  a 
swift  and  terrible  retribution — and  the  victim  is  at  once 
set  upon  by  a  mob  of  armed  men  and  without  action 
of  judge  or  jury,  suspended  by  the  neck  from  a  limb 
of  the  nearest  tree.  "There  are  upwards  of  seventy 
counties  in  the  State,  and  at  a  low  estimate  one  murder 
of  the  kind  described,"  says  an  old  gentleman,  a  life-long 
resident  of  Mississippi,  "  is  committed  in  each  county, 
weekly,  and  as  there  are  no  Republican  newspapers  in 
the  State,  not  one  in  ten  of  these  outrages  are  noticed 


""Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  295 

in  the  public  prints."  It  is  by  this  system  of  assassina- 
tion, terrible  as  the  decree  of  Pharaoh  for  the  strangula- 
tion of  innocent  babes,  the  negroes  are  to  be  held  in 
political  subjugation  for  all  coming  time.  Through 
their  blood  the  leaders  of  the  Rebellion  of  1861  are  to 
regain  what  was  lost  in  the  eventful  struggle  which  fol- 
lowed their  treason,  and  by  this  and  similar  means  the 
yoke  of  this  "  vulgar  Yankee  despotism  "  is  eventually 
to  be  thrown  off.  "  But,"  says  one,  still  hugging  the  delu- 
sive phantom  of  hope,  "  to  the  rising  generation  we  may 
look  for  better  things !  the  young  men  of  the  South  are 
growing  up  in  a  better  atmosphere  than  that  which  nur- 
tured and  sustained  the  institution  of  slavery !  Its  con- 
taminating and  poisonous  influence  are  no  longer  felt." 
Was  there  ever  a  more  fatal  error  committed  ?  The 
young  men  of  the  South  to-day  are  those  who  have  ar- 
rived at  youth  and  maturity  within  the  past  eighteen 
years,  which  time  with  them  has  been  a  continuous  era 
of  blood  and  outlawry.  They  are  thoroughly  imbued 
with  all  the  cruelty  and  blood-thirstiness  of  their  negro- 
whipping  ancestry.  Their  hatred  for  the  Union  and  the 
men  whose  gallantry  and  patriotism  forced  obedience  to 
the  laws  and  homage  to  a  common  flag,  is  fully  equal  with 
that  of  their  fathers,  and  has  the  hot  blood  of  youth  to 
feed  its  undying  flame.  It  is  to  these  young  men  that  the 
country  is  indebted  for  the  Ku-Klux  and  Rifle  Club  organ- 
izations of  the  present.  The  natural  bent  of  their  genius 
is  to  ride,  whip  and  shoot,  and  as  there  is  no  other  class 
upon  whom  this  disposition  can  be  exercised  and  carried 
into  practice  without  incurring  some  risk  to  themselves, 


296  The  CJiisolm  Massacre. 

the  poor  negro  is  made  the  target  for  the  gratification  of 
their  heUish  desires.  To  do  these  things  well  is  considered 
a  mark  of  the  true  spirit  of  the  old  time  chivalry  of  the 
South,  and  the  cultivation  of  these  refining  and  manly- 
sports  is  looked  upon  with  encouraging  smiles  by  their 
sweethearts  and  venerable  sires.  "The  enthusiasm  of  the 
young  men  must  not  be  checked,"  is  a  saying  which  has 
passed  into  a  proverb  in  the  history  of  Mississippi  politics. 
There  has  never  been  a  time  since  the  outburst  of  the 
great  rebellion,  in  1861,  when  secession  and  the  doctrine 
of  State  rights  breathed  such  an  open  air  of  defiance 
throughout  the  South  as  it  does  at  the  present  time. 
To  be  fully  convinced  of  the  truthfulness  of  this,  one 
has  only  to  read  the  newspapers  of  that  section  as  they 
come  daily  to  hand,  freighted  with  the  breath  of  treason. 
Below  is  given  an  extract  from  an  ode  delivered  before 
the  Baldwin  Memorial  Association  of  Mississippi,  May 
lOth,  1878,  by  William  Walter  Haskins,  a  youth,  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  a  very  prince  among  the  young  Ku- 
Klux  desperadoes  of  the  South.  It  is  upon  this  class 
that  the  hopes  of  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  southern 
question  and  a  permanent  union  is  based. 

"  Tell  the  North  that  the  South  is  ready  as  ever 

To  lay  down  her  life  for  the  faith  that  she  owns  ; 
That  each  link  of  her  tyrants  shall  valiantly  sever, 

Though  her  weapons  of  war  be  but  fence-rails  and  stones. 

Tell  the  North  that  our  sons  are  all  trained  to  remember 
The  dreams  and  the  hopes  of  their  fathers  of  old ; 

Tell  the  North  that  our  spirits  are  watchful  as  ever, 
Our  will  and  our  purpose  as  eager  and  bold. 


^^Hoine  Rule''  in   Mississippi,  297 

Tell  the  North  that  the  South  is  a  unit  and  mighty. 

Already  the  gleam  of  the  hand  's  on  the  wall, 
Already  the  first  golden  words  have  been  written 

That  herald  proud  tyranny's  o'erthrow  and  fall. 


Oh,  martyrs,  from  Heaven  look  down  on  her  sorrow, 
And  pray  that  her  dream  may  at  last  become  true  ; 

That  to-day  's  but  the  eve  of  a  gladder  to-morrow, 

When  the  Lee  of  the  Grey '11  beat  the  Grant  of  the  Blue. 

Oh,  Savior  in  Heaven,  look  down  on  her  kneeling ; 

Oh,  hear  her  sad  heart  in  humility  pray, 
And  scatter  the  storm  cloud  so  darkly  concealing 

The  stars  and  the  bars  of  her  grand  C.  S.  A." 

Indeed  what  else  than  this  may  be  looked  for  from  the 
young  men  of  the  South,  under  the  teachings  of  the  old 
leaders,  whose  very  atmosphere  is  scented  with  the 
blood  of  innocent  victims  and  filled  with  seditious 
utterances. 

Mr.  Davis,  in  his  secession  speech  at  Miss.  City, 
delivered  July  lO,  1878,  said:  "Representing  no  one, 
it  would  be  quite  unreasonable  to  hold  any  other 
responsible  for  the  opmions  which  I  entertain."  But 
young  Haskins,  it  appears,  entertains  precisely  the  same 
views  expressed  by  his  illustrious  prototype  and  chief- 
tain. And  so  it  is:  every  newspaper  of  the  South 
re-echoes  the  sentiments  so  recently  uttered  by  the 
ex-president  of  the  late  Confederacy,  and  these  are  tJie 
sentiments  of  the  southern  people. 

Representing  no  one,  and  no  longer  ambitious  of  polit- 
ical honors,  Jeff.  Davis  feels  free  to  speak,  and  from  his 


298  The  Chisoltn  Massacre. 

own  we  may  judge  well  of  the  sentiments  of  southern 
statesmen  of  the  present  day,  who  can  only  hope  to 
reach  the  goal  of  their  ambition  through  hypocritical 
professions  of  love  for  the  Union  and  the  old  flag,  while 
their  hearts  remain  a  sealed  book. 

When  it  was  first  publicly  announced  that  a  work  of 
this  kind  was  contemplated — pending  the  execution  of 
Walter  Riley  —  southern  newspapers  were  loud  in  their 
calls  for  the  author  to  write  and  append  a  "Sequel  to 
the  Chisolm  Massacre,"  which,  as  before  intimated,  it  was 
then  confidently  believed  by  the  inquisitors,  would  be 
furnished  by  the  colored  man,  Riley,  in  the  form  of  a 
confession  on  the  gallows,  clearly  implicating  Judge 
Chisolm,  Gilmer  and  others,  in  the  murder  of  John  W. 
Gully. 

On  the  7th  of  December,  1877,  simultaneously  with 
the  issue  of  the  first  edition  of  this  book,  Walter  Riley 
expiated,  at  De  Kalb,  Mississippi,  according  to  the  forms 
of  law,  whatever  crime  he  may  have  been  guilty  of;  and 
now,  in  the  second  edition  of  the  "Chisolm  Massacre,"  it 
affords  the  writer  infinite  satisfaction  to  be  able  to  pre- 
sent to  the  world  the  much  coveted  "sequel,"  then  and 
there  furnished  by  the  condemned  man,  in  the  presence 
of  death  and  a  thousand  living  witnesses.  Just  what 
was  there  said  and  done  was  taken  down  at  the  time 
and  on  the  spot  by  "Hanson,"  a  well-known  correspond- 
ent of  the  Cincinnati  Gazette^  and  is  reproduced  here. 
It  affords  a  fitting  chapter  with  which  to  close  a  record 
of  this  kind,  and  with  it  we  would  gladly  let  the  dark 
mantle  of  shame  fall   upon  and  ever  after  hide  from  the 


''Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi,     ,  299 

sight  of  their  fellows  a  people  thus  self-condemned  and 
steeped 

"  In  cowardice  so  mean,  in  infamy  so  vast, 
That  hell  gives  in  and  devils  stand  aghast." 


KEMPER    BAFFLED. 


Extraordinary  Scene  at  a  Mississippi  Gallows, 


THE     LOAD    OF    GUILT     SETTLED     FIRMLY    UPON     THE 
KEMPER    COUNTY    CHIVALRY. 


[Special  Correspondence  Cincinnati  Gazette.  ] 

ScooBA,  Kemper  Co.,  Miss.,  Dec  7,  1877. 
Another  act  in  the  series  of  Kenaper  tragedies  has  just 
closed,  and  the  body  of  Walter  Riley  lies  in  the  soil  of 
the  sand  hill  and  under  the  pine  boughs,  where  at  11.20 
A.  M.  to-day  he  met  his  fate.  This  was  my  first  view  of 
a  hanging,  and  though  I  have  seen  death  in  many  shapes, 
I  never  saw  a  man  approach  eternity  with  such  perfect 
bearing  of  a  hero.  In  full  health,  in  the  prime  of  life,  in 
his  sober  senses,  and  after  nearly  two  hours'  literal 
torture  from  questioners,  this  criminal  died  with  a 
resignation  equally  removed  from  sullen  despair,  brazen 
hardihood  and  maudlin  sensibility.  But  connected  with 
this  execution  were  events  which  can  never  be  fully 
understood  by  the  people  of  the  North.  In  this  man's 
consciousness  lay  the  key  to  the  Gilmer  and  Chisolm 
tragedy.  With  one  word  this  mulatto  might  have 
brought  joy  to  hundreds  in  Kemper  county;  but  that 
word  he  declared  he  could  not  honestly  speak.  If  he 
had  only  said  that  Chisolm  and  Gilmer  instigated  him  to 
assassinate  John  W.  Gully  he  would  then  have  justified 
the  murderous  mob  of  April  29th,  and  brought  relief  to 


300  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

many  a  sore  conscience.  Hence  the  extraordinary  scenes 
at  the  gallows  to-day.  For  a  month  past,  since  Riley's 
last  reprieve,  every  effort  has  been  made  by  those  inter- 
ested to  lead  him  to  admit  the  complicity  of  Judge 
Chisolm  in  the  murder.  Friends  of  the  Gully  clan 
have  been  freely  admitted  to  his  presence,  and  all  others 
denied;  and  when  he  escaped  and  was  found  in  the 
Chisolm  gin-house,  there  was  positively  a  shriel^  of  joy 
at  this  Hnk  in  the  chain  of  evidence.  But  even  this 
proved  to  be  of  no  consequence,  and  hence  the  fearful 
anxiety  of  the  crowd  to-day  to  extort  a  confession  more 
to  their  liking. 

The  prisoner  was  brought  from  the  jail  at  an  early 
hour,  there  being  a  heavy  body  oi  guards  all  around  with 
double-barreled  shot-guns,  formed  in  hollow  square 
around  the  cart.  By  courtesy  of  the  sheriff  your  cor- 
respondent and  Dr.  E.  Fox,  attending  physician,  were 
placed  inside  the  guard  line;  and  in  this  order  we  moved 
slowly  to  the  grove  east  of  town,  there  being  about  four 
hundred  persons  present,  nearly  all  white  men  and  boys. 
No  white  ladies  and  very  i^\N  colored  people  were  pres- 
ent. Riley,  who  was  a  good  looking  quadroon,  or  light 
mulatto,  conversed  with  perfect  ease,  and  looked  around 
with  evident  interest  on  the  scenes  he  was  viewing  for 
the  last  time.  The  day  was  one  of  extraordinary  beauty, 
even  for  this  fine  climate.  There  was  not  a  cloud  in  the 
sky;  the  air  was  dead  calm,  save  when  a  faint  south 
wind  wafted  over  us  the  odor  of  the  pines.  The  cart 
stopped  with  the  animals  that  drew  it  on  the  very  verge 
of  his  grave,  and  the  prisoner,  rising  briskly,  sprang  up- 
on the  scaffold  in  an  easy,  graceful  manner,  as  if  he  were 
in  a  hurry.  The  gallows  was  of  the  rudest  description. 
Two  upright  beams,  a  cross  piece  at  the  top,  from  which 
hung  a  slip  noose;  below  a  narrow  platform,  supported 
at  one  end  by  a  rope  which  was  tied  around  the  upright. 
The  guards  stood  about  the  scaffold,  surrounding   the 


''Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  lO\ 

Sheriff  and  assistants,    Dr.  Fox   and  myself;    and    the 
carpenter,  pointing  to   the   coffin  in  the  rear  end  of  the 
cart,  kindly  suggested  that  I  might  rest  my  paper  on  it 
to  take  down   his   last   words.      Glancmg   around    the 
throng,    I    saw    that    my   presence    there   had    excited 
immense  curiosity,  not  altogether  unmixed  with  delight, 
and  as   the  guard   in   a  minute   or   two   had   scattered 
among  the  throng,  two  or  three  of  the  ruder  sort  crowded 
up  and  whispered  :     "  Take  down  every  word  he  says— 
he'll  confess,  I  tell  you,  he'll  confess,  confess  who  put  him 
up  to  it."  And  in  the  moment  or  two  of  preliminaries  such 
murmurs  ran  around  the  throng  as  "  Now  you'll  hear  the 
truth  about  Chisolm  and  John  Gully,"  "  He'll  tell  it  all, 
he  said  he  would;"  "  He'll  tell  who  paid  him  for  it  and 
gave   him    the  gun,"  etc.      The   life   of   the    man    was 
nothing,  all  interest  centered  in  ^he  statement  he  was  to 

make 

Being  asked  by  the  sheriff  if  he  had  anything  to  say, 
the  condemned  replied:  "A  great  deal;  I  want  to  talk 
about  an  hour;"  and  again  there  was  a  stretching  for- 
ward of  necks,  and  a  general  murmur,  "It's  coming." 
Then  said  the  sheriff:  "  Men,  Walter  Riley  will  speak  to 
you.  Let  all  be  attentive."  And  the  prisoner  stepped 
to  the  front,  and  bowing  gracefully,  spoke  as  follows: 

"  Well,  I  stand  here  on  the  brink  of  eternity  to  address 
my  old  neighbors  and  friends  for  the  last  time.  But  I 
feel  that,  wicked  as  I  have  been,  I  am  freely  forgiven,  and 
am  going  to  a  merciful  God.  I  have  been  a  wicked  man, 
but  now  I  feel  no  fear— no  fear  of  the  great  God,  and 
only  sorrow  for  those  I  leave.  For  my  poor  old  mother, 
whose  heart  is  almost  broken  this  day,  and  for  my  wife 
and  three  poor  little  children,  away  up  in  Tennessee." 
(At  this  point  the  prisoner  faltered  a  moment,  but  m  a 
moment  resumed  in  a  calm  and  dignified  tone.)  "  I  have 
been  a  bad  man,  and  you  see  it  has  brought  me  to  a  bad 
end.     My  grave  is  dug  in  the  woods  as  though  I  was  a 


302  TJie  Chisolm  Massacre. 

wild  man,  and  my  portion  is  among  the  despised.  I  am 
not  to  be  laid  to  rest  with  my  race,  nor  numbered  as  one 
among  the  dead  of  my  people.  But  that  gives  me  no 
concern  for  God  will  raise  me  up  even  from  this  sand  hill 
in  the  pine  forest,  and  I  will  stand  with  you  all  on  that 
awful  day.  I  fear  not  the  face  of  this  congregation,  for 
I  am  soon  to  stand  before  a  mightier  congregation  than 
this  earth  ever  saw.  I  forgive  all  who  have  injured  me, 
and  beg  forgiveness  of  all.  I  bless  my  friends  and  I  bless 
my  enemies.  I  am  guilty  of  these  two  murders,  and  I 
alone  am  guilty,  but  I  have  truly  repented,  and  hope  for 
pardon." 

The  prisoner  here  exhorted  at  great  length,  and 
several  times  repeated  his  confession  of  having  killed 
Bob  Dabbs  in  1871,  (the  crime  for  which  he  was  con- 
victed) and  John  W.  Gully  last  April;  then  kneeled  and 
offered  a  fervent  prayer.  He  then  confessed  again  and 
was  silent. 

Sheriff. — "  Would  any  of  the  people  like  to  ask  Walter 
a  question?" 

Then  ensued  a  performance  the  like  of  which  probably 
was  never  witnessed  at  any  legal  execution.  A  murmur 
of  questions  rose  on  all  sides,  a  dozen  speaking  at  once, 
till  the  sheriff  said : 

"Let  Dr.  Fox  talk?" 

Dr.  F. — "Walter  you  told  me  when  we  last  talked  that 
you  killed  John  Gully,  and  that  you  were  alone.  Was 
that  correct  ?" 

"  It  was." 

"  Were  you  hired  to  do  it  ?" 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Remember,  Walter,  you  are  going  into  eternity  soon, 
and  if  you  can  speak  a  word  to  relieve  the  minds  of  the 
people,  do  it,  please  do  it,  for  your  own  sake  and  the 
sake  of  this  distracted  country." 

From    all    sides    the    cry  wa     repeated:      "Tell   us, 


''Home  Rule''  in    Mississippi.  303 

Walter,  tell  us  why  you  killed  John  Gully.  Tell  us  who 
got  you  to  do  it,  and  relieve  the  minds  of  the  people." 

"Well,  (hesitatingly)  I  might  say  I  was  persuaded  to 
do  it^but  only  by  bad  company." 

"Walter,  Walter!"  almost  shrieked  an  old  man  in  the 
crowd,  "  Don't  you  know  there  is  no  hope  of  a  heaven 
for  you  if  you  go  into  eternity  with  a  lie  in  your  mouth  ?" 

"Yes, I  know  that." 

"And  don't  you  know  that  if  you  keep  back  the  truth 
it's  as  bad  as  to  tell  a  lie  ? " 

Sheriff,  (impatiently).— "Yes,  yes,  Walter  understands 

all  that." 

Old  man. — "Then  let  him  speak  and  relieve  the  minds 
of  the  people.  God  cannot  forgive  anybody  who  keeps 
back  the  truth." 

And  from  all  sides  again  came  the  appeal :  "  Tell  us, 
Walter,  what  led  to  the  murder  of  John  Gully." 

i^Well," — a  long  pause — "I  was  persuaded  to  do  it." 

"Who?     Who?    Who  persuaded  you  ?" 

"  Well,  only  bad  company." 

"What  bad  company?    Who  was  it  ?" 

«  Well,  I  call  all  that  bad  company  that  leads  a  man 
to  drinking,  and  from  that. to  murder." 

"Oh,  dear,  dear,  dear,'  groaned  the  old  man,  "he's 
going  into  the  presence  of  God  with  a  lie  in  his  mouth." 

I  now  saw  that  Dr.  Fox  was  deeply  affected.  And 
here  I  take  occasion  to  say  that  he  appears  to  me  the 
most  intelligent  and  high-minded  man  I  have  met  in  this 
county ;  and  I  confess  myself  under  great  obligations  to 
him  while  here.     He  spoke  again : 

"  Walter,  don't  you  see  that  these  people  are  troubled 
in  their  minds?  In  your  mouth  lies  the  issue  of  life  and 
death  to  the  persons  here.  You  may  save  the  innocent 
by  pointing  out  the  guilty.  You  have  to  die  —  no  one 
here  can  help  or  hurt  you.  Tell  us  if  you  have  any 
other  knowledge,  and  give  relief  to  the  innocent  and  the 
troubled." 


304  The  Chisolvi  Massacre. 

But  the  prisoner,  with  the  same  calm  dignity  and 
measured  tone,  without  a  trace  of  fear,  repHed : 

"  Doctor,  I  knows  I'ze  got  to  die.  Man  can't  save  me. 
I  only  am  guilty." 

A  young  man  spoke:  "Whose  gun  did  you  kill  him 
with.^" 

"Well,  it  was  a  gun  I  had." 

"But  whose?" 

"Well,  one  I  had." 

Driver  of  cart. — "  Did  you  bring  it  from  Tennessee 
when  you  came  to  kill  John  Gully?" 

"  I  didn't  come  purpose  to  kill  him.  I  was  working 
down  this  way  on  the  railroad.  That's  how  I  came  to 
be  here." 

■*  Then  why  did  you  kill  him  ?" 

"  Well,  I  heard  he  was  after  me." 

Again  the  blear-eyed  old  man  sang  out,  in  cC  sort  of 
whining  tone :  "  God  can't  forgive  anybody  who  keeps 
back  part  of  the  truth.  Tell  it  all,  Walter."  Then  from 
all  sides  rose  a  confused  shout:  "Tell  it!"  "Tell  it!" 
"You've  got  to  die  for  it."  "Them  as  brought  ye  here 
ought  to  be  known."  "  There's  no  reprieve  for  ye  this 
time."  (Referring  to  the  fact  that  he  had  previously  been 
respited  when  on  his  way  to  the  gallows.) 

"  They's  too  many  talking,"  said  the  sheriff  angrily. 

"  Let  Dr.  Fox  talk  to  him." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  doctor;  "  I  believe  Walter  will  tell  me. 
Whose  gun  was  it,  Walter?" 

"  I  got  the  gun  from  Hezzy  Jack." 

"  Ah-ah-ah,"  ran  around  the  crowd;  "it's  comin'  now, 
he'll  tell  all  about  it  now." 

But  he  didn't.  At  any  rate,  he  did  not  tell  what  they 
wanted  to  hear.  He  said  he  got  the  gun  of  Hezzy  Jack, 
and  that  he  knew  Jack  worked  for  Judge  Chisolm. 

Then  Dr.  Fox  came  to  the  direct  question : 

"  Did  you  see  Judge  Chisolm  or  Gilmer  about  it  ?" 


^^Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi,  305 

"  No,  sir;  never," 

"  Did  they  send  you  any  word  ?" 

"  No,  sir  ;  if  they  did  I  never  got  it." 

Again  the  blear-eyed  old  man  groaned  out, "  O,  Walter, 
Walter,  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing  but 
the  truth,  or  you  can  never  enter  Heaven." 

For  over  an  hour  did  this  sickening  business  go  on,  the 
poor,  tortured  man  replying  always  with  gentleness  and 
dignity  that  beyond  what  he  had  stated  he  knew  noth- 
ing, and  the  whole  crowd  urging  and  contradicting  him 
in  half-whispers.  It  seemed  to  me  the  most  curious, 
irregular  and  illegal  proceeding  ever  had  in  any  civilized 
country.  Then  Mr.  Brame,  a  magistrate,  and  a  very  fair 
minded  man,  I  think,  from  my  acquaintance  with  him, 
said : 

"Walter,  let  me  tell  you  the  law.  What  you  say 
now  can't  be  used  against  any  one.  You  are  dead  in  law. 
No  one  can  be  touched  unless  there  is  other  evidence 
than  yours.  But  it  is  to  satisfy  the  minds  of  the  people. 
There  is  a  mystery  about  the  death  of  John  Gully  that 
must  be  cleared  up.  Can't  you  tell  who  persuaded  you 
to  kill  him,  and  give  this  community  relief?" 

"  Mr.  Brame,  I  can't  go  before  God  with  a  lie  in  my 
mouth.  If  any  white  man  had  anything  to  do  with  it  I 
don't  know  it.  Nobody  ever  sent  me  any  word  that  I 
ever  got.  Only  I  told  Hezzy  Jack,  and  he  said  'all  right; 
go  ahead.'" 

The  whole  crowd  then  fell  to  questioning  again,  and 
and  elicited  the  fact  that  Riley  took  $40  in  money,  a  hat, 
pair  of  boots,  and  roll  of  cloth  from  Gully.  In  the 
midst  of  the  hubbub  the  sheriff  suddenly  called  out : 
"William  Riley,  will  you  come  up  here?"  and  a  venerable 
old  man  ascended  the  scaffold.  The  prisoner  began  to 
whisper  to  him,  when  the  crowd  shouted :  "  Louder, 
louder;  let  us  all  hear."  The  aged  man,  who  was  a 
preacher,  turned  to  the  crowd  and  said  :  "  Brethren  and 
20 


3o6  The  Chisohn  Massacre. 

friends,  I  have  a  few  words  with  you.  That  man  (point- 
ing to  the  prisoner,)  was  once  my  property.  He  still 
bears  my  name.  He  was  a  bad  boy,  as  he  told  you; 
but  I  am  not  come  here  to  play  the  detective  on  him ; 
I  came  only  to  exhort  him  to  true  repentance.  '  He  that 
confesseth  his  sins  only  shall  be  forgiven.'"  The  old  man 
then  offered  a  fervent  prayer,  and  said :  "Walter,  in  a 
very  few  minutes  you  are  to  stand  before  God.  I  believe 
it  is  the  will  of  God  that  you  should  confess  to  this 
people.  Keeping  back  the  truth  is  as  bad  as  a  lie.  Tell 
it  Walter,  tell  it  all,  and  may  the  great  Searcher  of  hearts 
accept  you  in  his  everlasting  kingdom." 

Walter. — "  No,  no ;  I  cannot  die  with  a  lie  in  my 
mouth,  and  I  cannot  say  what  this  crowd  wants  me  to 
say.  I  am  guilty.  I  cannot  bring  an  innocent  man  into 
this  thing.  O,  my  friends,  you  do  not  believe  me  now, 
I  know  you  do  not ;  but  the  great  day  will  come  when 
in  the  presence  of  a  far  mightier  congregation  than  this, 
you  will  know  I  have  told  the  truth;  and  with  these 
words  I  am  willing  to  meet  my  God." 

For  the  first  time  he  showed  signs  of  impatience,  but 
the  crowd  persisted  in  questioning  him  about  his  attempt 
to  escape  from  jail.  He  replied  that  the  file  was  fur- 
nished by  a  friend,  and  he  did  not  think  a  just  God  would 
require  him  to  betray  that  friend.  He  insisted  that  the 
Chisolms  knew  nothing  of  his  escape,  and  that  Bird, 
Clay  Chisolm's  cousin,  only  knew  it  when  he  went  to  the 
gin-house.  Again  and  again  did  the  crowd  urge  him, 
and  always  with  the  phrases,  "  There  is  trouble  and  sor- 
row among  us,"  "  Do  speak  and  relieve  the  minds  of 
this  people,"  etc.  At  last,  when  this  torturing  process 
had  lasted  an  hour  and  a  half,  the  sheriff  ended  it  by 
summoning  a  colored  preacher,  who  offered  prayer. 
Walter  took  the  hymn  book,  and  he  himself  gave  out  two 
Hnes  at  a  time,  in  the  Wesleyan  method,  the  hymn — 


''Home  Rule''  in    Mississippi.  307 

"  And  must  this  feeble  body  fail, 
And  must  it  sink  and  die? 
And  some  shall  quit  this  mournful  vale, 
And  soar  to  worlds  on  high." 

He  led  the  singing  in  a  dear  voice,  then  sang  a  short 
hymn  alone;  knelt  and  offered  a  moving  prayer.  His 
brothers  and  a  few  colored  people  hurried  up  to  bid  him 
good-bye.  His  old  master  came,  shook  hands  fervently, 
and  hurried  away  into  the  forest,  the  tears  streaming 
down  his  face.  The  black  gown  was  put  on  him,  and 
the  black  cap  was  drawn  over  his  head,  and  the  rope 
adjusted;  then  said  he,  "I  want  to  speak  last  to  Dr. 
Fox."  The  doctor  hurried  forward,  and  such  was  the 
anxiety  of  the  crowd  for  a  confession  that  there  were 
murmurs  all  around,  ''  Ah,  he'll  tell  who  hired  him  now ; 
he  didn't  believe  he  was  to  die  before."  But,  as  the 
doctor  told  me,  Riley  only  murmured  in  his  ear. 

There  was  an  awful  pause.  His  Hps  moved  in  prayer. 
The  sheriff  severed  the  rope  with  a  single  blow,  and, 
though  Riley  fell  but  tvv^o  feet,  his  neck  was  broken  and 
he  died  almost  without  a  struggle.  From  first  to  last 
he  had  not  exhibited  a  tremor  of  fear;  nothing  more 
than  a  slight  impatience  at  the  persistent  questioning. 
Vital  action  continued  for  twenty  minutes.  With  him 
died  all  knowledge  of  causes  for  the  killing  of  John  W. 
Gully  —  that  act  which  was  the  pretext  for  the  awful 
tragedy  of  April  29.  Could  this  man  have  told  what 
this  crowd  so  longed  for  him  to  say,  he  would  have 
lifted  a  heavy  weight  from  some  men's  consciences  this 
day.  *  "^  ^  I  was  leaving  De  Kalb 

with  a  sad  heart,  for  I  could,  in  the  interest  of  truth, 
but  illy  requite  the  courtesies  extended  by  a  few  men ; 
when  Dr.  Fox  first  stopped  me  in  the  pine  grove  and 
urged  me  to  express  as  charitable  a  judgment  as  possi- 
ble. Said  he :  "  At  least  say  this  in  your  report,  that 
whether  or  not  Chisolm  and  Gilmer  conspired  to  have 
Gully  killed,  these  people  fully  and  honestly  believed  it. 


3o8  The  Chisolin  Massacre, 

I  see  in  your  eye  that  the  events  of  to-day  are  proof  to 
you  that  they  did  not,  but  consider  and  say  that  they 
think  they  have  proof  the  other  way.  And  say  that 
everybody  here  regrets  the  death  of  Johnnie  and  Cor- 
nelia Chisolm,  and  that  only  the  long  series  of  troubles 
could  have  brought  about  that  mob.  Good-bye,  and 
God  bless  you,"  and  he  wrung  my  hand  and  galloped 
away. 

His  request  is  herewith  granted,  and  I  will  further  add 
my  own  opinion,  that  the  great  error  in  Judge  Chisolm 
was  in  the  iron  rule  he  exercised  over  this  county  by  the 
the  aid  of  negro  votes.  It  could  not  be  patiently  borne 
by  white  men.  But  neither  that  nor  any  other  wrong 
can  palliate  the  massacre  of  April  29.  Only  let  the 
other  facts  be  also  stated,  if  they  relieve  anybody's 
mind. 

Now,  after  all  this,  imagine  my  astonishment  on  reach- 
ing this  place  at  dark  to  learn  that  it  had  already  been 
telegraphed  to  Gov.  Stone  that  Walter  Reiley,  on  the 
scaffold,  had  virtually  confessed  he  was  urged  to  kill 
John  W.  Gully  by  a  negro  in  the  employ  and  intimate 
companionship  of  Judge  Chisolm;  and  that  he  had 
virtually  connected  the  Judge  with  the  murder.  And 
perhaps  this  statement  is  even  now  flying  over  northern 
wires,  and  a  million  people  will  read  it  to-morrow  morn- 
ing. Well,  may  be  it's  a  sort  of  providence  that  I  staid 
to  the  execution.  I'm  a  swift  witness  that  Walter 
Reiley's  statement  did  not  implicate  either  Chisolm, 
Gilmer,  Hopper  or  Rosenbaum.  HANSON. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

At  the  February  term  of  the  United  States  court  for 
1878,  the  case  against  the  Gullys  and  others,  alluded 
to  elsewhere,  for  conspiring  together  to  prevent  Judge 
Chisolm  from  advocating  his  election  to  Congress  in  the 
year  1876,  was  called.  Of  the  result  of  that  trial  the 
Vicksburg  Herald  at  the  time  spoke  as  follows  :  "  The 
citizens  of  Kemper  county,  recently  tried  in  Jackson  for 
violation  of  the  enforcement  act,  were  triumphantly  ac- 
quitted." 

These  "citizens"  are  the  same  who  committed  the 
wholesale  murders  at  DeKalb  in  April  of  the  preceding 
year,  and  each  of  the  five  victims  of  that  slaughter,  it 
will  be  borne  in  mind,  if  permitted  to  live  would  have 
furnished  overwhelming  evidence  of  the  guilt  of  the 
accused  in  the  case  referred  to,  now  so  happily  and  "  tri- 
umphantly "disposed  of.  Had  the  "citizens  of  Kemper" 
known  or  dreamed  when  apprehended,  that,  upon  trial, 
they  were  to  be  dealt  with  thus  tenderly  by  the  United 
States  authorities,  and  made  the  objects  of  such  deferen- 
tial consideration  by  the  people  at  large,  it  is  possible 
that  Judge  Chisolm  and  his  children,  and  Gilmer  and 
McLellan  might  have  been  living  to-day.  At  all  events 
the  immediate  cause  leading  to  their  death  would  thus 
have  been  temporarily  removed  ;  for,  as  transpires,  the 
accused  could  just  as  well  have  been  "  triumphantly  acquit- 
ted "  without  this  appalling  sacrifice  of  innocent  blood. 


3IO  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  disposition  of  the  officers  of 
the  court  to  punish,  the  very  idea  of  a  prosecution  of 
this  case  from  the  outset,  seemed  to  be  regarded  by  all  in 
the  light  of  a  farce,  and  in  its  results  the  trial  itself  only 
goes  to  confirm  the  truth  sought  to  be  impressed  upon 
the  reader  in  another  chapter  of  this  work,  viz  :  that 
the  Federal  courts  are  as  impotent  and  inoperative  in 
Mississippi  as  those  of  the  State.  The  natural  and 
settled  prejudice  against  Federal  authority  in  the  South  is 
such  as  to  make  this  true  although  the  subject  involved 
may  have  no  political  significance  whatever;  but  let  the 
question  of  civil  or  political  rights  be  raised,  and  there  is 
at  once  a  moral  pressure  brought  to  bear,  which  defies 
all  law  and  scoffs  at  the  very  name  of  justice,  and  there 
is  no  force  either  moral  or  physical — be  it  said  with 
humiliation  and  shame — within  the  general  Government 
as  it  exists  to-day,  capable  of  reaching  this  great  evil. 

Notwithstanding  the  presence  at  this  trial  in  Jackson, 
of  Mrs.  Chisolm,  her  son  Clay,  and  a  score  of  other 
unimpeachable  w^itnesses  for  the  government  not  yet 
murdered,  and  in  face  of  the  fact  that  the  guilt  of  these 
men  is  nowhere  denied,  the  charge  of  Judge  Hill  to 
the  jury  and  the  feeble  objections  interposed  by  District 
Attorney  Lea  to  the  extraordinary  latitude  assumed  by 
the  defense  and  allowed  by  the  court,  the  case  was  at 
once  placed  beyond  the  pale  of  a  possibility  of  a  success- 
ful prosecution,  and  every  effort  to  procure  a  conviction 
was  relaxed.  Four  of  the  prisoners  under  bond  at  the 
outset,  defied  the  authority  of  the  court,  and  sent  the 
following  certificate  in  lieu  of  answering  in  person : 


^''Home  Rule''  in    Mississippi.  311 

State  of  Mississippi, 

Kemper  County. 
I,  George  L.  Welsh,  Sheriff  of  Kemper  county, 
certify  that  WiLLiAM  H.  GuLLY,  Jesse  Gully,  Hous- 
ton Gully,  and  Virgil  Gully,  parties  against  whom 
indictments  are  pending  in  the  United  States  court 
at  Jackson,  are  now  under  arrest  by  me,  and  in  my  cus- 
tody, and  that  the  law  of  our  State  does  not  allow  bail 
in  their  cases.         Signed,  GEO.  L.  WELSH, 

-c»  ,  00  Sheriff  of  Kemper  County. 

February  4,  1878.  ^  ^ 

A  forfeiture  of  bond  was  taken  in  these  cases,  the  Dis- 
trict Attorney  summoned  courage  enough  to  issue  alias 
capiases  returnable  instanter,  and  a  deputy  marshal  was 
dispatched  with  writs  and  an  order  from  the  court  to 
bring  the  defaulting  prisoners  if  not  actually  in  the 
county  jail  or  the  custody  of  the  sheriff.  Proceeding  to 
DeKalb,  the  deputy  found  and  arrested  one  of  the  par- 
ties unattended  on  the  streets,  and  after  much  parleying 
and  persuasion,  all  consented  to  accompany  him,  with  the 
accommodating  sheriff,  to  Jackson,  where  they  appeared 
upon  the  streets  armed  to  the  teeth.  "  In  due  time," 
says  the  Jackson  Times,  "  they  appeared  before  the 
court  and  remained  in  Jackson  during  the  trial  two  days, 
going  and  coming  as  they  pleased  without  the  least 
restraint  being  exercised  over  them.  Accused  and  wit- 
nesses for  both  the  prosecution  and  defense  mingled  freely 
together  during  their  forced  (?)  visit  to  the  capital,  and 
to  use  a  stereotyped  expression,  the  utmost  harmony 
and   good   feeling  prevailed. 

These  proceedings,  coupled  with  the  document  fur- 
nished by  "  Geo.  L.  Welsh,   sheriff,"   are  in   themselves, 


312  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

convincing  proof  of  the  manner  in  which  the  "  citizens 
of  Kemper"  county  are  punished  for  crime,  either  by  the 
State  or  Federal  courts.  WilHam  H.,  Jesse,  Houstin 
and  Virgil  Gully  are  all  -under  indictment  in  the  circuit 
court  of  Kemper  county  for  murder,  "  and,"  in  the 
language  of  the  sheriff,  "  the  law  of  the  State  does  not 
allow  bail  in  their  case,"  yet,  instead  of  languishing  in 
jail  from  month  to  month  until  their  trial  shall  take 
place,  these  self-convicted  murderers  and  outlaws  go 
scott  free  on  their  "  parole  of  honor."  More  than  a 
year  has  passed  since  William  H.  Gully  and  his  confed- 
erates shot  Cornelia  and  Johnny  Chisolm  to  death. 
Virgil,  it  was,  who  emptied  the  contents  of  a  loaded  gun 
into  Gilmer's  back,  while  Jim  Brittain,  the  deputy  sheriff, 
held  his  hands.  Nearly  a  year  has  passed  since  the 
indictments  were  found,  and  tJiey  have  never  been  ar- 
rested! 

Federal  pgwer,  feeble  and  inefficient  at  best,  has  en- 
tirely withdrawn  its  hold,  where  the  constant  presence 
of  its  strong  arm  was  the  only  guarantee  of  domestic 
tranquility,  and  that  form  of  government  prescribed  by 
the  constitution  for  each  and  every  State.  The  presi- 
dent himself,  as  silent  as  the  graves  of  the  martyrs,  has 
never  so  much  as  placed  the  seal  of  his  personal,  much 
less  his  official,  condemnation  upon  this  great  over- 
shadowing national  crime,  and  these  men  are  now  busily 
employed  in  circulating  a  petition  for  their  complete 
pardon  and  absolution  from  all  sin,  through  the  execu- 
tive of  the  State,  who  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  having 
"no  power  to  do  anything  at  all." 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

From  the  date  of  the  Kemper  county  tragedy  and  the 
earliest  commencement  of  this  volume,  up  to  the  present 
time,  the  original  purpose  of  the  author  has  never  been 
abandoned.  Though  disappointed  in  the  reception  of 
the  work  by  the  people  at  the  outset,  embarrassed  by 
lack  of  pecuniary  means  to  carry  it  to  that  degree  of 
success  which  money  alone  so  often  accomplishes  for  pur- 
poses having  less  merit;  deceived,  delayed  and  embar- 
rassed by  placing  the  work  into  the  hands  of  an  impe- 
cunious, avaricious  and  fraudulent — so  called — publishing 
house;  the  labor  of  bringing  our  picture  of  "  Home 
Rule"  fairly  to  the  attention  of  the  patriotic  and  justice- 
loving  men  and  women  of  the  country  has  been  attended 
with  many  disparaging  obstacles  and  rebuffs. 

After  the  first  outburst  of  indignation  and  horror  felt 
in  regard  to  the  Kemper  county  tragedy,  coming  just  at 
the  time  when  the  pronounced  policy  of  the  administra- 
tion had  spread  the  wet  blanket  of  conciliation,  smother- 
ing and  stultifying  party  fealty  and  every  spirit  of  manly 
patriotism,  there  settled  upon  the  country  a  silence  and 
apathy  so  profound  as  to  impress  all  freedom-loving 
hearts  with  a  feeling  not  unlike  that  produced  by  the  still- 
ness which  precedes  the  coming  storm.  The  metropoli- 
tan journals  of  the  country,  heretofore  conspicuous  for 
manly  advocacy  of  the  great  truths  which  form  the 
foundation  stone  upon  which  the  superstructure  of  our 


314  TJie  CJiisolm  Massacre. 

government  rests,  the  acknowledged  organs  of  the  party 
leaders,  for  the  most  part,  observed  the  same  ominous 
silence  upon  this  and  all  other  matters  touching  the  poht- 
ical  situation  in  the  southern  States ;  and  their  notices  of 
the  "  Chisolm  Massacre "  were  meagre  and  generally 
occupied  obscure  corners  among  the  "  book  notices," 
without  the  responsibility  of  editorial  sanction.  Admit- 
ting in  one  issue  that  the  constitution  and  laws  in  many 
of  the  southern  States  were  subverted,  and  that  through 
blood  and  violence  a  large  proportion  of  the  citizens 
of  that  section  were  disfranchised;  while  in  the  next 
breath  they  would  as  loudly  declare  the  southern  ques- 
tion to  be  dead  and  among  the  things  of  the  past. 
The  party  leaders  themselves,  to  whose  attention  the 
work  and  the  objects  which  it  aims  to  accomplish,  were 
repeatedly  called,  seemed  as  loth  to  give  the  subject 
public  endorsement  as  the  newspapers  or  the  president, 
who  was  then  traveling  through  Tennessee  and 
Georgia,  apologizing  to  southern  rebels  for  the  very 
humble  part  borne  by  himself  in  whipping  them  into 
obedience  to  the  laws.  But  believing  he  is  best  armed 
whose  cause  is  just,  the  author  and  pubhsher  has  strug- 
gled on,  aided  here  and  there  by  a  warm  and  earnest 
heart,  never  for  a  moment  losing  hope  in  the  true  nobility 
of  American  character,  its  genuine  patriotism,  just 
appreciation  of  exalted  womanhood,  and  all  the  virtues 
which  adorn  and  beautify  the  highest  type  of  modern 
civilization. 

About   the  first  of  January,  through  the  .efforts  of  a 
few  devoted  friends,  Mrs.  Chisolm  and  Mrs.  Gilmer,  both 


This  beautiful  monument  of  white  bronze  is  to  be  erected  over 
the  graves  of  the  Chisobii  martyrs,  in  Cedar  Hill  Cemetery,  Clinton 
County,  Pennsylvania,  by  J.  C.  Sigmund,  Esq.  Height  of  monument, 
20  feet  4  inches;   base,  6x6  feet. 


''Home  Rule"'  in   Mississippi.  31 5 

widowed  by  political  assassination,  and  in  destitute 
circumstances,  were  given  clerkships,  the  first  in  the 
Treasury,  and  the  other  in  the  War  Department,  at 
Washington,  where  they  still  labor  for  daily  bread. 

Meantime  the  book  found  its  way,  step  by  step,  to 
the  hearts  of  attentive  readers  throughout  the  northern 
States,  and  Mr.  J.  C.  Sigmond,  a  kind  hearted  and 
benevolent  stranger  friend,  living  near  Lock  Haven,  in 
Pennsylvania,  made  a  liberal  proposition  to  furnish  a 
lot  and  erect  a  monument,  a  cut  of  which  is  hereby 
appended,  in  Cedar  Hill  cemetery,  a  somewhat  retired, 
though  beautiful  and  picturesque  place,  near   his    own 

home. 

Further  than  this,  the  first  twelve  months  passed  with 
apparently  slow  progress  in  the  accomplishment  of  the 
work  thus  discouragingly  begun.       But  it  is   said  God 
moves  in  a  mysterious  way.     Murdered  as  the  victims 
were,  by  savages  in   open  day  on  the  Sabbath,  within 
*   sight  and  hearing  of  three  edifices  whose   spires   point 
upward  to  the  Throne  of  Grace;  surrounded  by  sweet 
flowers,  cultivated  fields  and  green  pastures;  within  the 
domains  of  a  government  which  had  its  birth  and  stal- 
wart growth  in  a   gigantic  struggle  for  human   rights; 
buried  as  they  had  been  slain,  like  beasts,  and  without 
christian  obsequies,  a  whole  year  went  by  and  no  funeral 
services    were    held,    no    arrests    were     made,    and    no 
public  recognition  whatever,  either  by   church  or  state 
was  given  this  great  national   crime;    and  but  for  the 
efforts  of  a  few  who  never  ceased  to  labor,  its  terrible 
details  would  now  have  been  forgotten,  and  the  heroic 


3i6  The  CJiisolm  Massacre, 

virtues   of   the  dead   cherished  only  in   the  hearts  and 
memories  of  those  who  knew  and  loved  them  most. 

The  month  of  May  came  and  with  it  the  days  of  the 
first  anniversary  of  the  Chisolm  massacre,  when  at  the 
adopted  home  of  the  widowed  mother — the  nation's 
capitol — where  assemble  from  year  to  year  the  chosen 
representatives  of  the  people  and  judges  of  the  law, 
upon  whose  talents,  integrity  and  patriotism  is  based 
the  hope  of  a  final  and  satisfactory  solution  of  the  great 
problem  of  human  liberty,  it  was  confidently  believed 
by  earnest  friends  that  proper  ceremonies  might  be  held 
in  commemoration  of  a  father  who  died  because  he 
loved  his  country,  and  that  all  who  knew  the  sad  story 
of  their  martyrdom  would  hasten  to  do  homage  to  the 
memory  of  his  children,  who  died  because  they  loved 
their  father.  A  member  in  good  standing  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church,  Mrs.  Chisolm,  at  the  solicitation 
of  friends,  sought  the  assistance  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lana- 
han,  of  the  Foundry  M.  E.  Church,  the  place  where  the 
president  and  Mrs.  Hayes  worship.  On  being  invited  to 
conduct  memorial  services,  on  Sunday,  the  19th  of  May, 
the  Sabbath  nearest  the  anniversary  of  Cornelia's  death, 
which  took  place  on  the  15th,  the  reverend  gentleman 
politely  declined  to  do  so,  giving  various  reasons  therefor, 
and  among  others,  this:  "Washington  was  not  the  home 
of  the  deceased,  their  death  had  occurred  a  long  time  ago, 
and  it  was  now  too  late  to  revive  recollections  of  the  pecu- 
liar circumstances  attending  their  demise,  all  of  which  had 
been  well-nigh  forgotten."  Not  only  did  he  do  this,  but, 
when  asked  to  announce  from  his  pulpit  the  fact  that  the 


''Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  31/ 

desired  services  would  be  held  at  the  Metropolitan  church, 
he  declined  to  respond  affirmatively  to  this  request,  giving 
the  reason  for  so  declining — after  having  been  first  asked 
to  conduct  the  ceremonies  himself— that  he  was  not  in 
the  habit  of  inviting  people  away  from  his  own  church. 
In  these  objections  Doctor  Lanahan  was  well  sustained 
by  the   democratic   press    of    the    country,   from    which 
there    went    up   a  howl  like    that    of    a   jackal    over   a 
newly  made  grave,  protesting  against  these  solemn  rites, 
because     of    the     political     significance    which    might 
attach,  detrimental  to  the  great  party  of  reform.     But 
from  this  the  error  should  not  be   committed   that   it   is 
sought  here  to  impress  a  belief  that  the  Christian  Church 
is  everywhere   dead    to   the  dictates   of    patrotism   and 
common  humanity       The    church   is   presumed    to   be 
human  and  like  human  nature  everywhere,  has  its  bright 
and  glorious,  as  well   as   dark    and    unlovely    side.     The 
atmosphere  surrounding  Dr.   Lanahan   in  his  little  pas- 
torate, fortunately,  does  not  comprehend  the  broad   uni- 
verse   in    its   grasp.       There    are    churches   beyond    the 
power  and  influence  of  Democratic  newspapers  ;  churches 
surrounded    and  controlled   by   a   better  influence  than 
those  of  Kemper  county  or  that  in  which  the  president 
worships. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

Turning,  somewhat  disheartened  from  the  Foundry, 
the  Metropolitan  church  presided  over  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Naylor,  was  next  appealed  to,  and  not  in  vain.  Dr. 
Naylor  at  once  consented  to  perform  the  desired  cer- 
monies  and  the  distinguished  services  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Haven,  Bishop  of  the  M.  E.  church,  resident  at  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  was  called  to  his  assistance.  Following  the 
announcement  of  this  fact,  Sunday  morning  the  19th  of 
May  came,  when  the  capacious  pews  and  aisles  of  the 
Metropolitan  church  were  filled  to  overflowing  with 
sympathizing  friends,  those  in  full  accord  with  the  occa- 
sion and  the  objects  sought  to  be  attained.  Among 
these  were  a  large  number  of  men  and  women  the  most 
honored  in  Washington.  The  church  choir,  one  of 
more  than  ordinary  merit,  had  selected  and  practiced 
suitable  music  which  was  rendered  in  an  impressive  man- 
ner. The  sermon  delivered  by  Dr.  Naylor,  was  care- 
fully prepared  and  breathed  a  spirit  of  christian  grace  and 
resignation.  He  was  followed  by  Bishop  Haven  in  a  dis- 
course which  moved  the  hearts  of  that  vast  assembly 
as,  perhaps,  a  church  auditory  was  never  moved  before. 
The  ominous  silence  which  for  so  long  a  time  had  settled 
like  a  dark  pall  over  the  country,  closing  the  eyes  of  the 
people  against  a  terrible  truth  only  because  its  contem- 
plation gave  them  p'ain,  was  here  broken.  The  eloquent 
appeal  of  Bishop  Haven  went  straight  to  the  hearts  and 
consciences   of  his    hearers,  and   -that    sympathy    and 


"Home  Rule"  in    Mississippi,  319 

patriotism  so  long  slumbering  in  their  breasts,  was  by  it 
fanned  into  a  flame,  and  despite  the  place  and  occasion, 
found  vent  in  continued  bursts  of  applause.  As  hoped 
and  believed,  the  feeling  aroused  on  that  day  has  contin- 
ued to  spread.  The  "  Ladies'  Chisolm  Monument  Asso- 
ciation "  followed  soon,  in  a  movement  to  raise  money 
through  the  sale  of  this  volume,  it  being  deemed  the 
most  practical  means  through  which  the  proposed 
monument  could  be  erected,  while,  by  this  agency  alone 
the  important  truths  contained  in  the  work  would 
become  more  widely  known  and  better  understood. 

Foremost  in  this  movement  are  found  the  honored 
names  of  Mary  Clemmer,  Mrs.  Lippincott,  (Grace  Green- 
wood), Mrs.  H.  C.  Ingersoll,  and  many  others  if  not  so 
widely  known,  equally  earnest  and  true. 

The  demand  for  copies  of  the  "  Chisolm  Massacre," 
from  that  day  began  to  increase,  and  all  that  remained 
of  the  first  edition  was  rapidly  taken  up.  In  response 
to  the  "Address  to  the  Women  of  the  Country,"  letters 
of  encouragement  and  orders  for  books  are  now  coming 
in  from  all  parts.  While  there  is  no  longer  a  doubt  as  to 
the  ultimate  success  of  the  enterprise,  to  those  who  are 
entrusted  with  its  labor,  many  rugged  obstacles  are  yet 
presented,  and  it  is  only  through  the  persistent  individual 
effort  of  those  whose  hearts  are  really  enlisted,  that 
we  may  look  for  a  realization  of  our  cherished  hopes. 

Thankful  for  the  many  kindnesses  already  extended, 
never  losing  sight  of  the  glorious  objects  to  be  attained, 
those  who  have  undertaken  the  accomplishment  of  this 
work,  will  press  steadily  forward  until  the  goal  is  reached. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Aug.,  1878. 


THE   MARTYRS    OF    MISSISSIPPI. 


An  address  delivered  by  Bishop  Haven  at  Metropolitan  church,  Washington,  May  19, 
1878,  in  commemoration  of  the  martyrdom  of  the  Chisolm  family. 


It  is  an  instinct  of  man  that  funeral  rites  should 
accompany  his  body  to  its  long  home.  The  ancient 
heathen  could  not  cross  the  Styx  and  reach  the  Elysian 
fields  if  his  body  lacked  the  proper  ceremonies  of  sepul- 
ture. However  hasty  the  flight  of  the  living,  he  must 
still  pause  long  enough  to  throw  three  handfuls  of  dust 
upon  the  corpse  of  his  comrade,  and  pronounce  a  solemn 
hail  and  farewell.  Otherwise  that  companion  must 
wander  a  hundred  years  on  the  shaded  side  of  the  land 
of  shades  ere  he  finds  repose  and  bliss. 

What  is  instinct  is  also  religion.  Christianity  lays  alike 
necessity  upon  its  devotees  and  the  peoples  to  whom  it 
is  the  only  religion,  even  when  they  are  not  its  devotees. 
One  shrinks  less  from  the  cremation  fires  than  from 
the  faithless,  hopeless  and  riteless  circumstances  that 
attend  that  act.  No  prayer,  no  word  of  sympathy,  no 
hymn  of  consolation,  no  hint  of  reunion  accompany  the 
dread  burning.  The  ancient  employers  of  this  mode  of 
burial  were  less  irreverent.  To  the  height  of  their  relig- 
ious knowledge  they  performed  this  sad  service. 

In  accordance  with  this  race-honored  custom,  we  come 
together  to-day  to  engage  in  the  solemn  duties  demanded 
by  the  dead,  no  less  than  by  the  living.  We  come  to 
bury,  not  to  praise.  We  come  to  satisfy  the  just  long- 
ings of  a  widowed  and  child-reft  heart,  of  a  fatherless 
and  sisterless  family,  that  their  dead  may  be  decently 
buried.  We  come  to  scatter  flowers  from  full  hands  on 
"a  rare  and  radiant  maiden,"  on  a  brave  and  true  man, 
on  a  sweet  and  loving  lad.  We  come  to  bury  the  dead 
out  of  our  sight   by  those  ceremonies  known  and  felt  in 


^^Home  Rule''  in    Mississippi.  321 

all  ages  and  lands  as  befitting  these  sad  necessities  of 
humanity.  If  the  occasion  leads  further  in  its  sugges- 
tions, these  suggestions  do  not  create  the  occasion.  A 
stricken  family  craves  a  funeral  service.  Shall  it  be 
refused?  They  have  waited  a  year  and  a  day  for  such 
services.  Shall  they  continue  to  wait  ?  Shall  the  wife 
and  mother  mourn  with  a  bitterer  mourning  because  no 
voice  of  prayer,  no  song  of  comfort,  no  word  of  christian 
consolation  has  been  uttered  over  her  lost  ones  ?  Who 
of  us  can  begrudge  this  little  gift  ?  Who  of  us  shall  say 
that  such  consecration  is  a  desecration  ?  Who  shall 
complain  that  the  Lord's  day  and  the  Lord's  house  are 
employed  in  this  most  christian  service  ? 

Let  us  with  bowed  hearts  dwell  under  the  shadow  of 
this  still  present  calamity.  Let  us  stand  around  this 
mourning  Rizpah,  who  lies  prostrate  before  her  dead,  not 
sons  alone,  but  husband,  and  daughter  and  son — that 
perfect  trinity  to  woman's  heart — who  has  lain  there,  lo, 
these  many  months;  who  refuses  to  be  comforted,  not 
only  because  they  are  not,  but  also  because,  in  every  fibre 
of  her  soul,  they  are  still  unburied.  Let  us  gather  about 
these  lads,  who  stand  in  manly  silence  before  the  graves 
of  their  household — the  revered  father,  the  oldest  brother, 
heir  thereby  in  their  consciousness  to  the  headship  of 
their  own  family  and  generation,  and  their  adored  sister, 
and  who  solemnly  await  the  due  rites  of  the  church  over 
their  beloved  dead.  May  Rizpah  now  find  comfort, 
and  the  household  accept  these  tributes  as  a  proper 
burial. 

I  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  scene  that  rises  before  your 
eyes  in  all  its  horrors.  I  dare  not.  My  own  feelings 
cannot  bear  the  sight.  A  year  ago  the  29th  of  last 
month  no  happier  family  blossomed  in  all  this  land — in 
any  land.  The  father  and  daughter  had  just  returned 
from  a  journey  to  the  North,  where  the  mighty  Niagara 
had  been  first  seen  by  those  young  eyes,  which  dreamed 
21 


322  TJie  Chisolm  Massacre » 

not  that  they  should  look  ere  many  weeks  on  a  more 
deadly  cataract,  and  be  whelmed  beneath  its  rushing 
torrents  of  madness  and  death.  She  had  written  a 
description  of  that  trip  only  two  days  before  the  open- 
ing of  the  fearful  drama.  They  were  exulting  in  the 
opened  glory  of  the  coming  year — the  soft,  rich  land- 
scape, the  blooming  trees  and  fields,  the  music  of  birds, 
every  gayety  of  nature  in  its  ecstacy  of  joy.  How  beau- 
tiful was  that  opening  landscape,  let  that  daughter's 
words  tell,  written  just  a  week  before  the  fatal  shot : 

"This  afternoon  brother  and  I  mounted  our  horses  and 
galloped  away  for  a  ride.  We  left  the  road  about  five 
miles  from  town  and  took  to  the  woods;  and  I  would 
tell  you  how  beautiful  they  looked  if  I  could.  The  trees 
are  all  clothed  in  a  soft  and  tender  foliage,  the  leaves 
being  about  half  grown.  There  are  lovely  flowers  of 
every  color  and  variety  now  in  bloom  along  the  creek. 
The  beautiful  yellow  jessamines  meet  across  the  stream 
and  clasp  their  soft  sweet  blooms  and  tendrils  together, 
while  the  banks  are  gemmed  with  forget-me-nots,  butter- 
cups, wild  violets,  dogwood  and  honeysuckle.  O,  I  wish 
you  could  have  been  with  us  on  our  ride;  then  you 
would  know  how  delightful  it  was.  Sweet  papa  has 
just  returned  from  St.  Louis." 

What  a  pretty  picture  is  this — the  lad  just  budding 
into  youth;  the  sister  blossoming  into  maidenhood,  knit 
together  in  the  last  ride  on  earth,  amid  the  glories  of  a 
southern  spring.  "  Sweet  papa,"  too,  is  introduced 
thoughtlessly,  but  with  sad  significance,  into  the  picture. 
Into  that  scene  of  loveliness  in  home  and  nature  the 
destroyer  came.  On  the  fifteenth  of  the  next  month,  a 
year  ago  last  Wednesday,  the  grave  had  closed  over  three 
of  that  household,  gone  down  in  bloody  winding  clothes, 
unwept,  unhonored  and  unsung.  No  prayer,  no  sermon, 
no  word  of  christian  strength  and  sympathy  was  uttered 
at  the  darkened  home  or  at  the  grave's  mouth.     The 


''^Home  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  323 

stroke  of  fate  was  never  swifter  or  sharper.     "  So  swift 
treads  sorrow  on  the  heels  of  joy." 

Had  this  violence  happened  at  the  hands  of  the  red 
man,  how  the  whole  land  would  have  rung  with  indig- 
nation ;  how  fast  would  have  flowed  the  tears  of  neigh- 
bors and  of  the  nation;  how  intense  the  throb  of 
sympathy;  how  earnest  the  prayers;  how  hot  the  right- 
eous anger.  But  it  was  thou,  mine  equal,  my  guide,  my 
acquaintance.  We  took  sweet  counsel  together,  and 
walked  into  the  house  of  God  in  company.  It  was 
those  that  had  eat  bread  from  his  hand  that  smote  him 
unto  the  death — nay,  it  was  the  great,  great  wrong 
behind,  above,  below,  through  these,  which  bore  them  on 
too  willingly  to  the  deed.  To-day  the  only  reparation 
meet  is  a  public  funeral  where  they  fell,  a  public  confes- 
sion from  those  by  whom  they  fell,  a  public  monument 
testifying  to  their  sorrow  at  the  event  that  has  made 
their  county  fearfully  famous  in  all  the  world.  Such 
lamentation  and  dedication  will  yet  be  made.  If  they 
or  their  children  fail  to  do  this  holy  duty,  others  will 
certainly  do  the  same.     It  is  the  eternal  law. 

A  week  ago  I  rode  by  a  granite  statue,  exquisitely 
carved,  of  a  brave  and  beautiful  woman.  It  was  erected 
only  a  year  or  two  since,  and  is  in  honor  of  Hannah 
Dustin,who,in  i698,nearly  two  hundred  years  ago,  there 
showed  extraordinary  valor  in  rescuing  herself  from 
savage  captors.  The  land  has  never  let  the  memory  of 
her  courage  die,  and  has  at  last  moulded  it  into  enduring 
shape.  None  the  less  will  the  same  land  remember  the 
not  inferior  courage  and  faithfulness  of  Cornelia  Josephine 
Chisolm.  Nay,  it  will  the  more  remember,  for  this 
woman  died  for  her  love  and  devotion.  She  chose  to 
die.  Her  "  sweet  papa  "  was  in  jeopardy — nay,  was  in 
the  grip  of  death.  Rather  than  fly  from  his  side  she 
hastened  unto  it.  She  prepared  for  the  defense  of  his  life 
with  ammunition  concealed  about  her  person.    She  inter- 


324  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

posed  to  save  him  after  her  own  face  had  been  filled  with 
wounds  from  shot  that  cleft  the  iron  from  the  prison  bars, 
and  her  arm  had  been  shattered  from  wrist  to  shoulder 
as  she  covered  his  heart  with  its  protecting  embrace. 
She  begged  them  to  take  her  life  and  spare  her  "  darling 
papa."  But  all  in  vain.  Theirs  was  the  long  intimacv 
of  the  oldest  child  and  only  daughter  with  the  father,  an 
intimacy  the  deepest  that  family  ties  can  know,  unless  it 
be  the  corresponding  affection  of  the  oldest  child  and 
only  son  with  his  mother,  and  this  intimacy  is  less  deh- 
cate  and  tender  in  its  filial  phases.  They  had  made  this 
depth  of  mutual  devotion  deeper  and  dearer  by  their 
winter  in  Washington,  and  in  northern  travel.  They 
had  clung  together  these  many  months  of  home  separa- 
tion, only  now  to  show  how  they  could  die  together. 

Brave  and  manly  as  were  the  father  and  son  in  that 
awful  hour,  they  were  exceeded  in  coolness  of  daring,  in 
intensity  of  purpose,  in  completeness  of  self-possession, 
in  readiness  of  resource,  in  earnestness  of  petition,  in 
every  element  of  highest  manhood,  by  this  frail  girl  of 
nineteen.  Cornelia  is  a  name  that  ranks  high  in  Roman 
annals.  Her  boast  of  her  sons  as  her  jewels  has  shone 
her  brightest  jewel  for  more  than  twenty  centuries.  But 
this  Cornelia  excelled  the  earliest  of  her  name.  Her 
jewel  was  her  passionate  devotion  to  her  father  in  this 
hour  of  death.  That  shall  shine  forever.  No  waste  of 
time  can  dim  its  brightness.  Immortality  will  but 
increase  its  beauty  and  worth.  Josephine  is  a  historic 
name.  A  proud  and  capable  woman  stands  at  the  front 
of  this  century,  mastering  the  master  of  the  world. 
Divorced  and  degraded,  she  rules  him  from  her  enforced 
seclusion.  Those  of  her  blood  still  sit  on  thrones,  and 
are  heirs  to  imperial  crowns.  But  this  Josephine  would 
be  gladly  welcomed  by  that  illustrious  lady  as  her  peer 
in  every  quality  of  womanhood  and  manhood,  for  the 
highest  traits  of  humanity  met  and  mingled  in  one  brief 
hour. 


''Home  Rule"  in    Mississippi.  325 

On  that  morning  she  was  a  simple  girl,  "  heart-whole," 
as  she  wrote  loving,  girlish  things.  In  that  hour  she 
towered  into  an  angel,  princely  and  potent,  glowing  in 
the  fires  of  death  with  the  strength  and  glory  of  Beatrice 
in  the  upper  circles  of  the  heavens.  Welcome  to  the 
undying  names  of  mankind  be  that  of  this  worthy  suc- 
cessor of  the  great   Cornelia  and  Josephine. 

We  shall  not  enter  upon  the  field  that  lies  before  your 
every  thought :  Why  was  this  deed  done,  and  what  shall 
be  the  end  of  these  things  if  allowed  to  go  unrebuked  of 
the  nation  ?  Ye  need  not  that  I  should  teach  you.  Your 
hearts  are  inditing  no  pleasant,  though  perhaps  it  may 
prove  a  profitable  matter.  The  sodden  lamb,  the  unleav- 
ened cake,  and  the  bitter  herbs  made  a  useful  meal  to  the 
thoughtful  Israelite.  He  reflected  on  the  hour  when 
death  reigned  in  every  Egyptian  household,  and  his  own, 
by  miracle,  escaped.  So  we  may  sup  on  lenten  food  this 
hour  and  find  it  nutritious  to  soul  and  spirit.  The  angel  of 
death,  not  God-sent,  but  devil-driven,  hovers  over  much 
of  our  land,  smiting  with  blood  strokes  the  victims  of  his 
cruel  wrath.  He  has  left  your  homes  free,  yet  only  for 
a  season.  If  we  allow  murder  for  opinion's  sake  to  be 
the  law  in  one  part  of  our  land,  it  will  soon  be  of  all 
parts.  Can  one  member  suffer  and  not  all  suffer  with 
it  ?  Can  a  leading  citizen  and  his  family  be  set  on  and 
slain  in  Massachusetts  for  political  causes,  and  peace  and 
safety  attend  the  ballot  in  Mississippi?  No  more  can 
the  reverse  be  true.  The  present  honeycombing  of 
Pennsylvania  with  murder,  which  stern  and  unrelenting 
justice  cannot  abate;  the  communistic  threatenings  in 
Chicago  and  California;  the  bloody  strikes  along  the 
Ohio;  the  tramp  wandering  murderously  over  one-half 
of  our  union,  is  the  natural,  the  inevitable  outcome  of  the 
unwillingness  of  the  national  government  to  protect  its 
citizens  in  the  other  half.  The  theory  that  State  gov- 
ernments have  such  absolute  control  of  life  and   death 


326  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

within  their  territories  that  the  nation  cannot  cross  their 
boundaries  to  protect  its  citizens  and  punish  their  mur- 
derers, has  brought  us  to  this  weak  and  miserable  pass. 
We  are  affrighted  at  the  shadow  glowering  at  our  own 
hearthstone.  In  secluded  Vermont,  in  crowded  Cincin- 
nati, in  remote  Maine,  in  central  Indiana,  the  same  terror 
besets  us  by  night,  the  same  deadly  danger  by  day. 

One  Indian  massacre  arouses  every  part  of  the  land, 
be  it  the  Modocs  of  Oregon,  or  the  Sioux  of  Minnesota^ 
or  the  Utes  of  Colorado,  or  the  Comanches  of  Arizona, 
indignation  and  wrath  leaps  from  end  to  end  of  the 
continent,  and  that,  too,  when  no  one  dreams  that  the 
dread  foe  is  to  steal  into  Eastern  homes  and  renew  his 
horrors  at  Wyoming  or  Schenectady.  But  this  deed 
has  universal  national  application.  It  proves  universal 
national  weakness;  it  breeds  universal  national  disaster. 
A  people  that  cannot  protect  itself  is  no  people.  It 
falls  to  pieces  when  it  allows  its  members  to  be  cut  to 
to  pieces.     [Applause.] 

Said  a  gentlemen  to  me  but  yesterday,  who  had  just 
returned  from  abroad:  "The  old  world  is  over-governed; 
we,  under-governed."  Nothing  strikes  one  more 
forcibly  on  re-entering  this  land  than  the  lack  of  national 
power  over  its  own  citizens.  Unless  a  stronger  govern- 
ment arises,  we  shall  dissolve  and  disappear  as  a  nation. 
We  sigh  for  the  verification  of  the  seal  of  Massachusetts 
— an  uplifted  arm  holding  a  sword,  which  alone  gives 
placid  quiet  under  liberty.  We  have  taken  the  first  step 
in  verifying  our  right  to  exist  as  a  nation  on  gigantic 
fields  of  strife  by  bloody  and  costly  valor.  We  must 
carry  forward  and  complete  this  work  in  the  national 
protection  of  every  citizen  in  his  every  right.  [Ap- 
plause.] We  must  defend  freedom  of  speech  and 
freedom  of  ballot,  or  we  perish  from  the  earth. 

To  this  coming  perfection  of  national  peace  and 
power  this  sad  event  will  contribute.     This  family  group 


''Ho7ne  Rule''  in   Mississippi.  327 

are  martyrs  to  American  equality  of  right,  to  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence,  and  to  the  preamble  of  the 
Constitution.  It  was  for  the  cause  of  equal  rights  the 
father  fought  and  family  fell.  It  was  for  the  protection 
of  every  citizen  at  the  polls :  for  true  Democracy— the 
government  of  the  majority  of  the  voters,  legally  and 
fearlessly  expressed;  for  the  American  nation;  for  the 
rights  of  mankind,  that  this  citizen  of  America,  his 
brave  son  and  braver  daughter,  laid  down  their  lives. 

Their   cries  of  agony    and  death  shall  never  be  for- 
gotten, never  below,  never  above. 

"  Their  moans 
The  vales  redouble  to  the  hills,  and  they 
To  heaven." 

Their  forms  will  be  wrought  into  marble,  painted  upon 
canvas,  honored  in  prose  and  verse,  held  in  high  and 
higher  remembrance  as  years  and  ages  go  by.  The  chil- 
dren of  the  fathers  who  so  ignorantly  slew  them  will 
build  their  sumptuous  sepulchers.  That  lone  and  dread 
procession  that  thrice  threaded  the  dismal  path  a  score 
of  miles— a  feeble  few,  without  minister,  or  even  sexton, 
to  assist  them,  bearing  the  bloody  dead,  in  jeopardy  of 
life,  as  they  pursued  their  mournful  journey — will  yet  be 
changed  into  a  solemn,  penitential,  but  glad  multitude  of 
the  citizens  of  the  same  county,  with  their  wives  and 
daughters  and  sons,  gathering  about  that  green^  spot, 
where  they  were  thus  buried,  to  make  confession  of 
their  fathers'  transgression  by  such  deeds  of  atonement 
as  marble,  and  eulogy,  and  prayer,  and  sermon  are  able 
to  give. 

To  the  future,  then,  poor  stricken  wife  and  mother, 
poor  fatheriess  and  sisterless  youth,  to  the  future  cast 
your  wet  but  hopeful  eyes,  wet  with  joyful  tears,  tears 
for  the  dead  beloved,  joy  that  they  died  so  gloriously, 
and  won  in  one  short  hour  immortal  fame.  Had  they 
not  thus  died,  the  world  had  never  known  them.     Had 


328  The  Chisolm  Massacre, 

they  not  thus  died,  liberty,  equality,  fraternity  for  all  our 
land,  and  all  its  people,  perhaps,  had  never  been  attained. 
There  may  be  many  another  bloody  step  ere  that  high 
table-land  of  humanity  in  America  is  reached. 

It  may  be  that  others,  who  now  speak  and  hear,  may 
be  required  also,  to  make  for  their  nation  like  holy  sacri- 
fice. In  this  city,  where  our  greatest  citizen  gave  his 
life  for  the  life  of  the  land,  we  can  properly  note  the  slow 
and  bleeding  feet  of  the  martyrs  to  Christ  and  our 
country.  May  we,  if  called,  be  as  willing  and  ready  to 
follow  the  Christ,  and  these  his  disciples,  for  the  perfec- 
tion of  the  work  of  human  regeneration.  It  may  be 
that  the  whole  nation  will  yet  be  compelled  to  wrestle 
in  the  sweat  of  this  great  agony,  for  equal  rights  of 
all  men,  as  it  had  to  wrestle  for  independence  and  for 
existence.  It  may  be  that  Enceladus  will  yet  arise  from 
under  this  mountain  of  permitted  prejudice  and  hate  in 
a  manner  at  which  all  the  world  shall  stand  aghast — a 
Kemper  County  massacre  in  every  hamlet  of  the  land. 
It  may  be  that  we  shall  yet  be  compelled  to  cry  out  in 
bitterness  of  spirit : 

Ah,  me !  for  the  land  that  is  sown 

With  the  harvest  of  despair! 
Where  the  burning  cinders,  blown 
From  the  lips  of  the  overthrown, 

Enceladus,  fill  the  air! 

God  forbid  that  such  a  horror  shall  light  upon  our 
land  !  God  will  not  forbid  it  if  we  let  his  children's  blood 
cry  to  him  from  the  ground.  God  did  not  forbid,  could 
not  forbid,  Cain's  deluge  from  washing  out  Cain's  sin. 

Yet,  if  the  deluge  shall  come,  if  the  waters  of  death 
shall  prevail,  even  above  the  tops  of  the  highest  moun- 
tains, if  the  nation  shall  be  wrapped  in  the  flames  of  civil 
strife  more  dire  than  any  we  have  yet  felt,  and  our  in- 
difference to  the  fate  of  our  brothers  sha'l  doom  us  to  a 
worse  suffering,  out  of  it  all  shall   the  new   earth   come. 


''Hofne  Rule''  in    Mississippi.  329 

The  deluge  shall  pass  away;  the  land  of  righteousness 
of  brotherliness,  of  Christ  without  caste  or  violence,  or 
hatred,  or  disloyalty,  or  murder,  shall  appear  above  the 
flood.  And  then  will  still  gleam  forth,  nay  will  more 
brightly  blaze,  the  fame  of  this  just  father,  this  brave 
lad,  this  Cornelian  jewel  of  filial   maidenhood. 

Hope,  then,  sad  hearts;  hope  and  endure,  and  be 
patient.  Pray  for  those  who  have  despoiled  your  house 
of  its  home,  its  head,  its  heart.  Pray  for  them  by  name, 
pray  for  them  with  all  the  heart.  So  will  you  be  still 
one  household,  for  thus  prays  your  family  in  heaven. 
In  Christ  they  lived,  for  Christ  they  died,  with  Christ 
they  dwell.  Live  ye  in  Christ  in  petition  for  the  forgive- 
ness of  your  enemies,  so  that,  if  spared  the  martyr's  fate, 
you  may  still  rejoice  in  the  martyr's  crown.  For  thus 
you  shall  win  like  honor  from  God,  with  those  of  your 
own  flesh  and  blood  that  have  gone  up — yes  blessed  be 
the  Lord,  gone  up,  up,  up,  up,  in  human  love  and 
reverence,  in  earthly  fame,  into  heavenly  seats,  through 
great  tribulation,  and  have  washed  their  robes  of  blood, 
and  made  them  white  in  the  bloodier  blood  of  the  Lamb, 
who  died  for  them  as  they  died  for  Him,  and  will  make 
them  to  reign  with  Him  in  peace  and  bliss  forever  and 
forever 


330  TJie  Chisohn  Massacre. 

TO   THE   MEMORY    OF   CORNELIA  J.  CHISOLM. 


BY    STEPHEN    S.    HARDING. 


Written  on  the  first  anniversary  of  her  death. 


Brave  murdered,  martyred  maid  ! 

I've  listened  long  in  silence — listened  long 

To  hear  some  matchless  poet's  song, 

Great  soul,  to  thee  and  thine. 

Thou  peerless  heroine, 

To  soothe  thy  wandering  shade, 

But  all  in  vain. 

Why  sleeps  the  silent  lyre, 
With  its  wild,  sobbing  strain? 
Why  hushed  the  poets  words  of  fire, 
That  rouse  brave  hearts  with  manly  ire 
'Gainst  lawless  deeds  of  blood. 
And  wrongs  of  helpless  womanhood. 
In  cowardice  so  mean,  in  infamy  so  vast, 
That  hell  gives  in  and  devils  stand  aghast. 

Oh,  peerless  heroine,  what  tho'  thy  name 

May  lack  in  euphony  and  rythm  ; 

What  boots  the  name 

When  deeds  of  thine  shall  burn  a  deathless  flame 

In  hearts  of  valiant  men  ; 

And  thy  pure  soul,  from  mortal  dross  relined, 

Shall  glow  with  magic  light,  as  when 

A  dew  drop  is  enshrined 

In  bosom  of  trihedral  prism  ? 

Cornelia  Chisolm  ! 

Hadst  thou  but  died  in  classic  Rome, 

When  thy  great  namesake  died. 

Thou  wouldst  have  lived  in  Parian  stone. 

Supreme  in  excellence  alone  ; 


**Home  Rule''  in    Mississippi,  331 

Through  the  long  ages  dim, 

Thy  very  name  the  poet's  synonym 

For  filial  love  and  courage  deified. 

Why  should  Columbia's  daughter's  weep 
For  Jephtha's  virgin  daughter? 
Victim  to  vow^ — dread  vow  to  keep — 
For  Ammonitish  slaughter. 
Why  wander  forth  in  fancy's  dreams, 
Along  the  mountain  paths  and  streams, 
With  misty  eyes,  where  Mezpeh's  maiden  trod, 
Doomed  sacrifice  to  Judea's  God, 
And  have  no  tears,  brave  Kemper  girl  for  thee, 
Thou  more  than  virgin  maid  of  Gallilee  ? 
Milan,  Ind.,  May  15,  1878 


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