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Full text of "Kemper County vindicated, and a peep at radical rule in Mississippi"

■ill 





um 



AND 



A PEEP AT EADICAL RULE 



IN MISSISSIPPI. 



By'James d. lynch, 

author op tub roems, " k0i5eut k. lee; oe, nerves of the so0ti! ;" 
"tue ku-klux tiubunal," etc. 



■ ^.z;-, 1879. _^^Jl 



NEW YORK: 

E, J. HALE k SON, PUBLISHERS, 

No. 1" Mur.n.vY Stkeet. 

1079. 



Entered, according to Act of Congrces, in the year 1879, by the jicople of Kemper 
County, MissiBsiiH)!, in tlic office of tlio Librarian of Congress, at Wasliiugtou, 1). C. 



PREFACE. 



The object of this work is to present a true history of 
the deplorable events that occurred in Kemper Couutj^, 
Mississippi, during the rule of the radical party, and re- 
sulting from it, and which have been so persistently and 
maliciously exaggerated and misrepresented for the pur- 
poses of calumny ; and to show that, in regard to these 
events, the people of that county have been more " sinned 
against than sinning." 

In treating of these circumstances, the author has neces- 
sarily been led to a view of the whole field of official cor- 
ruption, which spread itself from the Capitol all round to 
the borders of the State, and which was extended, jjlanted 
and cultivated by means of the infamous process called 
"reconstruction," which was originated and enforced by 
the hatred of the then all dominant party that wielded the 
power of the Federal Government ; and from this survey 
it will be manifest that the terrible state of affairs that 
existed in Kemper County, and so assiduously ascribed 
to the depravity of its citizens, was but a prominent out- 
growth of that harvest of crime sown by the hand of 
radicalism all over the State. 

The author has not permitted himself to be actuated by 



C PREFACE. 

any partisan impulse or personal prejiulicc. lie had m 
personal acquaintance whatever with the individuals whose 
characters and careers form the main features of this work ; 
and he has had no ends to subserve in its production save 
those of justice and truth. In the promotion and vindi- 
cation of these he lias availed liimself of every reliable 
BOurce and means he could command. lie has obtained 
the facts enunciated in this Avork from the records of the 
State and of Kemper County, and from the i)ersonal state- 
ments of witnesses, upon whose knowledge and candor he 
could implicitly relyj and wherever there were any doubts 
connected with an act, they have been assigned to the 
benefit of the parties charged. 

lie was conscious of the fact that he was dealing Avith 
the characters and deeds of those whose voice of defence 
was forever hushed, and he has turned a deaf car to every 
breath of report. 

But from the grave comes the voice that brings the 
greatest terror to vice and the most eloquent admonition 
to virtue, and to reflecting minds this legend will have 
significance : 

The ancient l'gyi)(ian.s subjected the bodies of their dead 
to trial and imaginary ])iuiishnu'nt. For this purpose a 
solemn trilmnal was instituted, before wliieh the dead 
were bronght, and the \ irtues and vices of the deceased 
disclosed and weighed, and if the scales were fouml to (lip 
to the. side of vice, the body was sentenced to some dese- 
ciating foniialily; and it is sai<l (hat this custom was 



PREFACE. 7 

more effective in deterring from crime than tlie punishment 
of the living. 

The author has opened the graves of tlie unfortunate 
victims of these events Avith a cautious hand and a con- 
scientious motive ; and if the disclosure of their career and 
terrible fate should rescue truth from the shackles of 
slander, and send a sound of warning to the ear of oppres- 
sion, his labor in the production of this work will not have 
been in vain. 

JAMES D. LYNCH. 

"West Point, Miss., February, 1879. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 



CHAPTER I. 



At the termination of the war between tbc JSTortb and 
South, tbe Soutberu people promptly submitted to tbc 
decision wbicb tbe sword bad rendered against tbem, and 
accepted in good faitb all tbe legitiniate results of tbe 
arbitrament. Tbey immediately and voluntarily abolisbed 
tbe institution of slavery, wbicb, if it was not tbe cbief 
cause of tbe war, was tbe ground upon wliicb were 
gatbered all tbe elements of tbe strife ; and tbey endeav- 
ored fortbwitb to fasbion tbeir laws and customs in con- 
formity to tbe exigencies of tbeir situation. 

But all tbeir efforts at a speedy resumption of allegiance 
and loyal relations to tbe Union were tbwarted by a par- 
tisan and revengeful process of reconstruction, dictated by 
a spirit of bate on tbe part of tbe Nortb ; and its odious 
terms were imposed upon tbem by tbe most bumiliating 
and degrading metbods tbat vengeance could devise. 

Tbeir States were stripped of every vestige of sovereignty 
and remanded to tbe condition of territories, wbile tbe 
people, in many instances, were disfrancbised, and an ignor- 
ant and inferior race, tbeir former slaves, were enfrancbised 
and ])laced over tbem. 

No sooner bad tbe last sulpburous smoke curled up from 
tbe tield of battle— and before tbe Soutbern soldiers, armless 
and belpless, bad reacbed tbeir bomes, wbere, agreeably to 
tbe ternvs upon wliicb tbey had surrendered, tbey expected 
to find peace, and an untrammelled opportunity of rebuild- 
ing tbeir desolated bomes, of reclotbiug tbeir naked families, 



10 KinirEU COUNTY ViiNDlCATED. 

^'■'aud ix'plijirusliini;- tlu'ir empty I.udeis— than a haul of vcii- 

^ j^cauce ioIIlmI up from every hill and hamlet thron.^hout. tliv. 

^ iXorth; not iVom those who had met them on the bloody 

C. Held, l)ut from the dastard i)olitieians, hypocritical i)rt'acli- 

r crs, and canting:: Puritans; which echoed aj;ainst the wails 

^ of the national capital, and called forth hordes of jireedy 

and vicious adventurers, who swarmed toward the youth, 

and, by tiie aid and protection of the Union army, became 

fastened ui)ou the land. 

It was now that the Southern people bejian to feel the 
hand of the carpet bagger in their pockets, and the heel of 
the negro n|)on their necks, while the bayonet of the Fed- 
eral soldier was pointed at their breasts. They saw their 
President, with manacled limbs, lying in a loathsome i)rison, 
whose only crime was that he had yielded to their wishes 
and headed their cause. They saw their ])ro]terty, hon- 
estly acquired l)y their own and the sweat of their fathers' 
luows, and guaranteed to them by the laws and constitution 
of the land, swept away from them. They saw their lands 
become barren, ami their wives and (children reduced to 
l»einuy and want. Jt seemed to them, indeed, as if the dark 
ag(!s were about to hover again over the ruins of civiliza- 
tion ; and from these black clouds of wrath came swarms of 
thieves and robbers, whose advent was as blighting and 
noxious as the locaists ami lice that covered the land of 

Kgypt. 

i^lississii)pi, with a negro population largely in the ma- 
jority, olfered a fertile lield to the carpet bagger, who came 
youth for the purpose of seizing all the public ollices by 
means of the negro vote, Avhich, on account of the negroes' 
ignorance and superstition, and consequcMit jealousy of their 
newly acipiircd rights, was easily to be accomplished when 
once III' Ix'came familiar with their character and instinct. 
Vet, it is doubtfid whether the carpet bagger, with his 
ignorance of the negro's nature and characteristics, could 
lia\c e\('r siuiM'cded in severing all the relations between 
him ami his former master, and in so completely and bil- 
t< riy antagonizing him to the white people of the ISoutli, 



KEMPEli COUNTY VlNDlOATED. 11 

liad it not been lor tlic iiid und co-o[)eration of those excep- 
tional iiidividiials, who were so lost to every sense ot honor, 
l)atriotisiii and sectional pride as to ally themselves with 
such an enemy to their country and such a curse to their 
peoide as the carpet badger. It is true that there were liero 
and there some who, in all other respects, were good 
citizens, who suffered their old prejudices against the 
Democratic party to lead them astray; bnt, granting tlieir 
honesty of pur[)0se, they were nevertheless the worst foes 
to their c(mntry. They i>iloted the carpet bagger to the 
negro heart. Being well versed in every feature and pecu- 
liarity of tiie negro chai'acter, tlu\y formed tlie conhden- 
tial medium through wiiicii the jealousy, ignimmce and 
superstition of tlie one weie blended with the cunning- 
and rai)acity of the other. 

But the causes that, f<»r tlu' most part, i)roduced that class 
called scalawags, had llieir oiigin deep down in the depths 
of human depravity. In some instances it arose from a 
spirit of resentment for some political defeat, and in some 
it sprang fiom a desire to gratify some old grudge agaiust; 
their neighbors, or from the dictates of that envy so often 
fonnd nestling in the bosom of inferiority; but the mosr. 
l)rolitic cause of all was the spirit of cupidity, the desire of 
plunder and self enrichment, ior which the unsettled state 
of society offered an ample opportunity, but which could bo 
perpetuated only by kee[)ing' np a state of ])ublic excite- 
ment by means of race issues, and by continually fanning- 
the prejudices and hatred existing- in the minds of the 
masses of the Northern people against the white people of 
the South. 

Having thus severed themselves from every claim npou 
the respect of their fellow citizens, they found a congenb- 
companion in the i)erson of the carpet bagger, who in tui*- 
found in them ellicient and indispensable tools for 1*. 
operations. To this combination the radical part}^ ow^ed itn 
existence at the South. It was planted, and fostered thery 
by the cupidity of the carpet bagger, the depravity of tn. 
scalawag, aiul the ignorance, jealousy and sui>er8tition ot 



12 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

tlie n(';L?ro, all uikUt tlio protection and supervision of the 
military power of the Federal government, which was kept 
in motion bj' the enforcement acts of Congress. 

Under the rule of the radical party composed of these 
elements, began a system of olticial robbery and corruption 
tlironghout the South unparalleled in the history' of any 
civilized people, in the endurance of which the patience of 
the Southern people could only have been sustained by 
that high sense of honor which characterized their conduct 
throughout the great struggle, aud impelled them to a strict 
observance of faith in abiding the terms of their surrender. 
Ijut the clouds that hung over them like a ])all grew darker 
and thicker, until the last ray of hope seemed to be forever 
liidden from their view, and driven almost to the brink of 
despair, they seized upon every opj)ortunity of concili- 
ation, for the protection of their i)roperty, which they 
saw continually vanishing beneath the tread of the tax 
gatherer, whose frequent rounds were necessary to satisfy 
the multitudinous demands of the State and county ofifi- 
cials, many of which were heretofore urdvuown to their 
laws. 

But the imi>udence of these exactions added indignity to 
their spoliation, encouraged by the ever tiireatening atti- 
tude of the Federal government, and the constant mobility 
of the Federal army, which was kept always in readiness 
to lly to their aid upon the least cry of rebellion or intimi- 
dation they chose to nuike ; the cari)et bagger and the 
scalawag walked the lords of the hind, while the filthiest 
and most degraded negro was taught to believe himself 
superior to any Southern white man who was not a radical. 
JJut the importance and demands of the carpet bagger in- 
<!rease(l with his success, and, fortunately for the Southern 
l)eople, caused the birth of jealousy and distrust between 
him and the scalawag. 

Wliih' the negroes, grnuiiig weary of disappointment 
and (h'eeplive pi'omises, and seeing themselves gradually 
thrust aside by the avarice of their white allies, began tirst 
to grow lukewarm in politics, and linally to manifest a dis- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 13 

position for the first time to listen to the advice of their 
former owners, whose interest they saw was closely con- 
nected with their own. 

Such was the state of atftiirs in Mississippi at the open- 
ing of the campaign of 1875. The white people of this 
State had made every effort to penetrate the alliance 
against them ; in a spirit of conciliation they had voted for 
Horace Greeley, a radical, for President of the United States, 
and they had voted for Dent and James L. Alcorn, both 
radicals, for governors of their State. But all their efforts 
were heretofore in vain, and seeing now for the first time 
even the resemblance of a rift in the cloud that blackened 
their horizon, they gathered all their strength for a su- 
preme effort to roll back the avalanche of destruction and 
to stay the tide of ruin that swept over them. 

At the beginning of the year 1875 there was scarcely a 
Democrat in office in the State of Mississippi. Carpet 
baggers, scalawags and negroes wore every vesture of 
civil, judicial and political authority in the State. The 
situation of affairs at this juncture cannot be better and 
more truthfully described than in the following extract 
from the minority report of Senators Bayard and McDon- 
ald, of the Senatorial Investigating Committee : 

"The reconstruction policy of Congress had fully and 
perfectly forced the institutions of the State of Mississip[)i 
into the most entire subjection and conformity with its 
provisions. What Mississippi was, she was ' the work of 
reconstruction by Congress.' The will of her people, their 
tastes, their prejudices, their virtues, and their faults, had 
been melted and run into a mould fashioned by the will of 
Congress alone. If her institutions were defective, if tliey 
were not conducive to the ends of good government, if they 
Avere arranged with an unwise disregard of the condition 
and wants of the people, that people are no more responsi- 
ble than the population of France, for they had no voice. 
Such as she was, the Congress of the United States had 
made her." 

This is very true as to her outward form, but the inner 



1-1 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. , 

roltciiiu'ss tliat pcnnoatiMl licr whole system will prob- 
:ibly ever leiiiaiii iiicoiieeivablej save to tliose who exi)e- 
rieiiced its polltitiou. r>at a^aiii : '' Uiilbi-tiinately, these 
new and arbitrary political eoiulitioiis, iaii)Oseil upon both 
raees by the will oi' Con<,a'ess, were disturbed by the pres- 
ence of a class of luiscrupuloats, needy and rapacious ad- 
venturers, who came down to (ill the ])olitical oflices to 
which prejudice against the Soutliern wliites on the part of 
those who held i)ower in the Federal government, and tlio 
absolute ignorance and incompetence of the negroes, pre- 
vented those whites from being ai)pointed, .... and 
by means (A' low arts the negroes of the State of Missis- 
sippi have been banded together in an unthinking mass, 
under the lead and blind control of a handful of Isorthern 
strangers, with here and theie a native white man." 

They savr th»' ignoranl Afiican and the refuse of the 
Koi-th perched in tlie seats once occupied only by their 
purest and most talented citizens, while these same citizens 
"Were now in many instances disfr.mchised and not allowed 
to raise their voic(^ ; while their Ibnner slaves, with idiotic 
grins ami clamorous hurrahs, bustled up to the ballot box 
Avith a ticket placed in tlieir han<ls by a foreign or native 
radical, and which tiiey could not read. Great God ! was 
this to be their constant doom? No; that God who 
scourged the thie\es from the temple, tliat caused Felix 
to tremble on the jndgnu'nt seat, and Pilate to wash his 
blood-stained hamls, would not sulVer such a disgrace to 
be long perpetuated in mockery of every sentiment of 
liumanity. 

The great jiolitieal struggle of 1S75 bore upon its crest 
th(^ issue of life or death to the white people of ^Mississippi. 
1'heir labor systeui, which de[)en(led upon the negro, who 
alone was iiuired to the hot suns of her summers, had be- 
come entirely worthless, wliih; theft was resorted to as a 
nu'ans of livelihood to sucii an extent, by the blacks, that 
the very grass grew uncro]>j)ed and untrodden on her pas- 
tures ami (commons, winle any attemi)t \.o convict a crimi- 
nal was suri' to fail belbre a negro jury. 



KEMriiK COU.XTY VINDICATED. 15 

Wliat people is tlicre. on eartlj who would not have- re- 
sorted to every legitimate means in their power to remedy 
such a state of attairs ? And yet, beeause they made a 
successfnl effort and redeemed their State from snch bar- 
barons rule, the cry of fraud and intimidation was niised 
throughout the radical party, the army invoked, a remand 
to military rule threatened, congressional inquisitions in- 
augurated, the private correspondence of individuals seized 
and made public, the privacy of domestic relations invaded 
for the pur])Oseof finding some infringement upon the con- 
stitutional amendments or infraction of the reconstruction 
laws, as an excuse to reinstate the old order of things, 
which was necessary to maintain the radical party in 
power. 

No sooner had the great change in the condition of 
things by the success of the Democratic party been inaugu- 
rated, than the carpet bagger, his occupation being now 
gone, fled the haunts of his former vice, and disappeared 
almost entirely from the Southern States as suddenly 
as lie had made his advent ; while the scalawag, possess- 
ing less mobility, in many instances, clung to a forlorn 
hope, and, in 1S77, in some counties in the State, made 
another effort to baud the negroes together in their old 
state of hostility to the whites; and as there was no longer 
any possibility of obtaining Federal military aid, those who 
had the boldness to undertake the task, must necessarily 
resort to other means by which to etfect their purpose;. 
"What these means were will form a dark feature in the fol- 
lowing pages, among which were instigations to riot, by 
imposing upon the ignorance of the negro, the assassina- 
tion in some instances of leading Democrats, or some other 
act that would bring theni to the notice of the radical ad- 
ministration ; so that if they slumld fail to be elected by 
the negro vote to the office to which they aspired, they 
would be sure to receive some appoint nu-nt from the hands 
of tlse W;!shington authorities suitable to and commen- 
surate with tlieir services to the party in control of tho 
Federal a [(point men ts. 



IG KLCMl'EPt COUNTY VINDIOA.TED. 

The state of ^Mississi])})! had been, since tlic eleetioii of 
]S75, as thorous'lily Democratic as it had before that been 
radical. The negroes had abandoned entirely their hostile 
attitude to the white people, and had reestablished the 
jnost cordial relations with their former owners. The whole 
State had bej^iin to put on the robes of a new prosperity, 
laws were promptly and imi)artially executed without dis- 
erimiuation of race, color or former condition. The feelinjjs 
of i)eace and good will reigned supreme throughout the 
State; and the native citizen who could have the hardi- 
liood to attempt to disturb this state of things, and again 
kindle the fires of discord and of race prejudices, and rein- 
state the reign of barbarism, must have been a man whose 
heart was not only callous to ever^' sentiment of virtue, but 
Avanting in every purpose that aims at the welfare of 
liumanity. 

I\Iississip))i was the peculiar object of Xorthern hatred. 
She had been proscribed as a leading State in the war. The 
])romptness with w liicli she entered the struggle, and the con- 
stancy with wliich sli(». adhered to the Southern cause, had 
iVom the first, drawn upon her the most i)oisoned arrows of 
vengeance; and no (U'i»tlis of ])rostration, no degree of 
degradation, or measuix^, of jienance, could in the eyes of 
the Northern masses atone for the part she acted, or satisfy 
the insatiable spirit of revenge which the heart of the 
North harbored against her. A deliberate policy had de- 
voted her to utter ruin, ami it was this that dictated the 
harsh proceedings inaugurated against her citizens, upon the 
slightest charges, in the Federal courts, under the name of 
ku-klux trials, and it was this proscription that caused her 
to be(;ome so completely under the control of the car[)et 
bagger. They were encouraged by the assurance of receiv- 
ing military aid whenever needed to protect them in any- 
thing they might do. But if there had been no scalawags, 
if the while i)eo|»le of the South had presented a solid front 
tollic tide of opprcssixc measures that was rolled ui)()n 
lliem, tlie career oC the carpet bagger would have been 
confined to, and endetl with, military occupation. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDTDATED. ' 17 

It was the consciousness of (bis fact tliat rendered tlio 
scalawags the peculiar object of contempt, which was only 
modified, sometimes, by old bonds of personal friend.slii[), 
and in some instances by their respectable connections and 
antecedents; but tliey were for the luost part individuals 
who were known to have always lacked most, or all of the 
virtues that constitute an honorable man or good citizen, 
which rendered them fit subjects to play the despicable 
role of spies upon every circle of society into which their 
connections might procure them admission. 

But if the carpet bagger lived easily, he died hard. It 
was to him like the jdunge from the Tarpeian rock, to be so 
suddenly deprived of his crown and emoluments of office; 
and it is no wonder that he should vent his spleen upon 
the heads of those who so ruthless!}' deprived him of 
his occupation, and invoke his powers of falsification by 
which he first deprived the poor negro of his ballot and 
then of his money. He lets us hear from him occasionally 
through the infamous slanders and falsehoods which ho 
from time to time still concocts about the Southern jieople 
for the purpose of gratifying his revenge and appeasing 
his ravenous longings for an opportunity of once moro 
thrusting his pilfering fingers into their pockets. 

Conspicuous among these is one James M. Wells, 
formerly a deputy revenue collector in Mississippi. 

This individual has wiitten a book entitled the " Chisolni 
Massacre ; or. Home Rule in Mississippi," meaning, of 
course, a rule in which the amiable carpet bagger does not 
share, in which he has seen proper to asperse the good 
l)eople of Kemper County with the vilest slanders, and 
through them the people of the State of Mississippi, and 
of the whole South. 

It is the main object of this work to reply to the slanders 
perpetrated by that individual, and to present to the 
world in behalf of the people of Kemper County and JNIissis- 
sippi, a true statement of the transactions which he has so 
whiniugly and flippantly falsified. Were it not for the 
gravity and importance of the occurrences npon which he 



18 KEMPER COITNTY VINDICATED. 

lias built Ills slanderous effusions, and their widespread 
report, neither the ])eople of Kemper County nor the writer 
Avould liavc any desire to attempt a rel'utation of eharjies 
couched in such sliallow terms, (clothed in sucli i)arty colored 
robes, and whose baseness is so lucidly manifest. 

The people of Kemi)er Ci)unty bore a full share of the 
conse(pu'nces and results of the rule and ruin jiolicy 
iiiaui;urated by the radical party throughout the State of 
]Mississii)pi. i 

This county, prior (o the war, liad been, in a great meas- 
ure, exempt from those violent ])oliticaJ excitements and 
personal disturbances which so often shock society in other! 
localities, and esiHH'ially in many of the Xorthern States, 
Avhere labor and railroad riots, often attended by the most,, 
lieinons crimes, are so rife, and where spirituaHstic in- 
tiuences, free loveism and " no hell" doctrines produce their 
diabolical results. 

To say that there were no crimes committed, would be 
to upset all the experience of mankind and deny the 
frailties of human nature; but it may be positively assert- 
ed that the criminal records of this county, i)rior to and 
during the war, will com])are favorably with those of any 
other community, notwithstanding its comparison to the 
"dark and bloody ground" so llippantly made by the 
craven carpet bagger. 

It is a wonder that the descriptive Wells did not invoke 
the smoke of the burning witches of Xew England, or the 
lille of the Ivansas s(puitter, or the burning of the Catholic 
eonxcnts in 15osion, to give expression to his slanderous 
])uri)ose. 

15ut he need not even to have gone beyond the scope of 
ladical rule in the South to lunc found comparisons sufli- 
(•icntl\' apt to give the desired vividness to his description, 
for any eomiiarison to ilhistrate the <leeds of radi<'alisiii in 
the South will l)e made more manifest I)y a i)rocess of 
in\()liition — its features are best relleeted witiiin itself. 
'IMiei-e is no extraneons minor that can do it Justice. Ni 
sooner had i( established itself in all the oltiees of tin 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 19 

county and lodged its elements upon the most degraded, 
ignorant and vicious portion of its inhabitants, than the 
Pandora of crime was opened, and a drama begun which 
for infamj'^ and corruption would puzzle the historian to 
find a comi)arison. " It icas then that the multiplied viUanies 
of nature swarmed iq)on them with nmconted profusionf^ a 
description of Avhich has been more <lispassionately and 
certainly more truthfully given by an author of far more 
reliability than could ever blend Avith the character of a 
carpet bagger. I refer to the minority report of the Bout- 
"well investigating committee, which contains the following 
description, and yet it is only true so far as it extends, 
and only so far as observation can represent experience. 
It is like the breeze of summer personating the blasts of 
winter. 

" A condition of affairs which would be incredible and 
utterly intolerant in any of the Northern States, exists in 
many of the black counties of Mississippi, where the prop- 
erty, intelligence and character of the community is trod- 
den to the earth, insulted and ignored by the most ignorant 
and sometimes vicious members of the community. Things 
are of daily occurrence, and were jn-oven almost daily 
before the committee, which if attempted in the States of 
Massachusetts, \\''isconsin, Minnesota, or indeed, any of 
the Northern States, would be met by a popular uprising 
and a speedy overthrow. In such a condition of affairs, 
tlie forbearance and self subordination exhibited by the 
white population demand and should receive the strong 
sympathy- and high respect of every just and well regu- 
lated mind." 

All this was strictly true of the County of Kemper. It 
was one of the black counties, and in some respects per- 
h:r,)s the blackest of all. fhe negroes constituted the 
majority of the voting i)opulation, and they were banded 
solidly together iind arbitriirily controlled by as vicious a 
set of white men as ever cursed a community. Nor were 
they car) let baggers. Their reign was too intolerant even 
for that vice trained class. There were but two Northern 



20 KEMrER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

radicals in the comity. It was Home TIule and home 
ruin ; yet iiuder the inspiring auspices of the foreign 
horde that ruled the State and extended the arms of judi- 
cial, executive and military protection, and immunity for 
any crime which they might see proper or deem necessary 
to commit, in order either to preserve their power, or to 
gratify their cupidity or revenge. 



KEIMTER COUNTY VINDICATED. 21 



CHAPTER 11. 

Mounted ou the crested tide of ruia that uow rolled its 
bitter waves iu lashing billows, over the heads of the peo- 
l)le of Kemper County, appeared, iu bold relief, a figure 
which at once became the controlling spirit and the most 
active ageut in this embodiment of villanies, whose hand 
not only piloted the strokes of vengeance, but fashioned 
every means of evil that vice could i>rompt, or an utter 
disregard for every sentiment of virtue could suggest. 

William Wallace Chisolm, whose crimes and their ter- 
rible retribution will form the chief import of the following 
l)ages, was, it seems, a native of Georgia, but who, for a 
long time prior to the war and the events about to be de- 
scribed, had been a citizen of Kemi>er County, Missisfsippi, 
and a very obscure citizen. Possessed of neither education 
uor wealth, he labored under the further misfortune of 
possessing a disgustingly coarse and profane nature. This 
lie perhaps inherited from his fatlier, who, in addition, was 
a man of uotoriously dissipated habits. At the death of 
his father, Chisolm came into possessiou of his little farm, 
a very dilaiiidated piece of projierty iu the Southcru por- 
tiou of Kemjier County, where he continued to reside. 

At this time there lived in the same neighborhood au old 
mau by the name of McRea, who was a very popuhir man 
and iDOSsessed great political influence over his neighbors. 
He was au old line whig, and so had been Chisolm's father. 
This circumstance had created a friendshi]) between them 
•which the old man now extended to the son, and, through 
his influence, young Chisolm was chosen, in 1858, as justice 
of the peace. This of&ce, however, was, at that time, of 
but little importance. The jurisdiction of a justice ex- 
tended, in criminal matters, only to the trial and punishment 
of petit misdemeanors and to an investigation and commit- 
ment in other crimes ; in civil cases it extended only to 
those suits which involved the amount of fifty dollars and 



lili KEMl'iCK COUNTY VINDICATED. 

less, a!ul ill no (;;ise couM irs juduinoiitvS and executions 
reach real i)i()])("rt.v ; lieiici'tlie emoluments were small, and 
lew persons who liad any aspirations or other means of 
livelihood could he iiidnreij to hold the office. 

While in this ol)s(Mir(^ jjosition and in a se(;luded corner 
of tlie county, yoaui;- Caisolm had hut little opi>ortunity to 
develop tliosi'dcpiMN'cd instincts uiiich afterward rendered 
him so conspicuous in the annals of infamy. This otlice he 
held until 18;')'), duiln;;' which time his wih; taught school 
and aidi'd in tlie supjx)!'! of the family. Jiut when the 
tocsin of secession sounded, and liie tiile of revolution 
swept ov(>r the land, Ciiisoliu leaped lustily into the mad- 
dened euiicnt ; he even outswam llie tide, hel])ed to clear 
its (diannels, and nndikc its swellinji' Hoods. He made seces- 
sion si)ee(;hes, aiid there arc hundfeds to-day in Kemper 
(■ounty who well remend)er the tierce expressions of his 
thirst for " Yankee blood." This he never denied, yet hisj 
liliaiit I)io,i;ra])l!ei', the car[)et bagi;er, J. M. "Wells, has tho 
mendacity to say : 

" Fn all thi'se years Judu'c ("hisolm was a ])ronounced 
ITnion man, of wlii^' pi-o<'li\ities, and an unconii)romisiii!:j 
enemy of the i)arly which precipitated and hurled head- 
h>nj;' u])on the country ihe terrible consequences of the 
rcbcUion. A\'jicu the t'ule of secessiiui swept over Missis- 
sip])! liuc a dc\i)uiin_u_/^r»(r," [lit; here slijjhtly missed the 
stereoty])ed jihrase and introdu<!ed a new element in his 
(•ond>ination oi' Jhiad and Jhtnir.] "he, with thousands of 
olhei's li!;e himscll', who shuddered at the thou.niit, in an 
nn;;'inutU'd inomeul, lhron;;li /'>•(■<• and intiinuJaihn, cast a 
vote favoring- tli(^ disruption of the LTnion — an act which it 
is known he rei^retted all tin; I'cmainder of his lif(>.'' 

So lancli ^Vclls says of (Miisohn. Xow let us see wliitt 
Chisohn says of inmself in this respect. In his testimony 
Ix'fore Ihc Snix-ominillee <^n Privileges and IClections, as to 
tiic denial of \\'.v. elect i\'e fianchisc in the State of Missis 
sippi, at t he elections of ISTa and 187({, AVashin_i;1on, 1). ('., 
February b!, 1.S77, on pa.i;(^ 71") of the report, he said : 

"Question by Mr. Teller: Were you in tlie Confederate 
.service ? 



K15MPE11 COUxNTY VINDICATED. 2'S 

" Chisolm : I was in tlio service — in the militia some; 
my sympatliics were wit-li the South." 

Again, before the ]Mi8sissii)|)i Investigating Committee, 
at Jacksoii, on June 23, 187(j, lie testified as follows : 

Question by Senator Bayard, page 773 of the report : 
"Did you perform any military service ? 

" A. Yes, sir; I was 0:1 the post there and picked u]) the 
conscripts in De Kalb, and then I was out witli the militia 
one tiuie ; I was wherever they calhul me, but T was ]);>r- 
ticnlar not to be called very far otT if 1 could avoid it. That 
has nothing to do with this. My i)eo]>le had all gone to 
the war. It was not that I didn't believe in the cause of 
the South and was not interested in it. I voted for seces- 
sion, though my brothers none of them voted for it. I 
have several brothers in the county, and they went and 
fought, but I didn't." 

This discrepancy will, at the outset, show the iacility of 
this man. Wells, in the fabrication of falsehood ui»on whiidi 
to build his rickety cditice of slander against tlie people of 
Kemper County : 

'•Like ono who liaviog, unto Truth, 
Made a sinner of his memory 
To credit his owu lie." 

By means of this open and avowed devotion to the 
Southern cause, or rather in consequence of his vehement 
protestations in this respect, at a time, too, when the minds 
of the Southern people were distracted by the contemi)la- 
tion of what would be the consequences of the election of 
Lincoln, and through the intluence of John W. Gully, his 
complicity in wh.ose death formed the culmination of his 
criminal career, Chisolm was, in ISGO, elected judge of tlie 
Probate Court of Kemper County. This was a very iin- 
l^ortant position, as that court had exclusive jurisdiction of 
all matters pertaining to guardians and wards, the settle- 
ment of estates and all kindred matters; but the country 
having been soon involved in a war of national life or 
death, there was but little business transacted before the 
court, and his opi)ortuuities yet dallied in the future, so 



21 KEMPEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 

that during tliis lime, if liis coiulnct was not unobjcctiou- 
ablo, it was, at least, uii noticeable. 

At tbo expiration of liis term of oflice, in 18(31, he was 
again, throngh the instrumentality of his friend John W. 
(JruUy, elected to this same office, which he held until he 
was forced to resign in 18G7 ; but immediately after the 
close of the war, his depraved nature being no longer 
under the restraints of circumstances, he at once con- 
nected himself with the radical party, and became its 
champion and leader in the county. It was now that that 
extended held of operations was opened to him which he 
soon strewed with the skeletons of his crimes and misde- 
meanors. 

The first act of this panorama of guilt was performed in 
the spring of 1807. lie was, at that lime, as we have seen, 
judge of the I'robate Court of Kemper County — a court 
which, from the very nature of its functions, was invested 
by the law with ])cculiar sanctity; and it presumed their 
exercise to be robed in the i)urest vesture of virtue and 
morality. I 

Tliis benclj had heretofore been occupied by Uiosc wlu)se 
ermine was Avorn and transmitted without soil, or llie least 
slain of the breath of scandal. lUit what elVect these pure 
and nndeliled precedents and virtuous examples, inter- 
woven with the dignity and s;K;red obligations of this oftice, 
juoduced ui)on the ollicial character of this man, nniy be 
deduced from the following disgusting details, lor lull ex- 
position of which the sworn testimony of witnesses, in- 
cluding that of Chisolm himself, is invoked and introduced ; 
jiiid in this connection it may be stated, once for all, that 
llie writer would scorn the idea of charging otlences u[)on 
any one living or dead that are not warranted by facts of 
record, or based upon information on which he can im- 
pli(;itly rely; and where their foundation is only circum- 
stantial, ho will simply spread the circumstances belbre 
the reader, with such observations, on his part, as their 
nature and import m:iy inspire. 

On the termination of the war there were some indi\id- 



KEarPER COUInTY VINDICATED. 25 

uals ill Mississippi, as well as in the other States of the 
South, who, by oaths of uniform and unshaken loyalty to 
the Uiiiou, sought to obtain compensation from the govern- 
ment for property destroj'ed, or alleged to have been de- 
stroyed, by the Federal army. 

At this time there lived in Kemper County an aged man, 
whose name was Perry Moore, and who died on the 8th of 
February, lSu7. The name of this old man, on account of 
the character he bore of strict integrity and his unpre- 
tending deportment, was now selected by Chisolm as a 
suitable cat's paw with which to accomplish his nefarious 
purp-ose of defrauding the United States Government of a 
large amount of money for the destruction of cotton, con- 
cerning which, he forged an affidavit purporting to be 
that of Perry Moore, who was then dead ; and he was only 
thwarted in the consummation of this fraud through the 
stanch integrity and alertness of Mr. Geo. L. Welsh, who 
was at that time ]irobate clerk, a highly respected gentle- 
man, and now the popular sheriff of the county. 

It will be observed that Chisolm had gathered well the 
mantle of probability around his design. He had selected 
the name of an innocent old man who had lived in an ob- 
scure corner of the county, and Avho had recently died ; but 
subsidiary to this, it was necessary to exercise the caution 
of keeping these papers from the hands and the eyes of his 
clerk, who was the legal and usual repository and cus- 
todian of all papers connected with this court, and who in 
this case was required to certify to the signature of the 
jndge in order to give the proper legal effect to the in- 
strument. This could oidy be obviated by another for- 
gery, which, no doubt, would have been perpetrated had 
not the clerk, by some means, become cognizant of the 
spurious affidavit, upon which he denmndcd it of Chisolm, 
who immediately gave it up to the clerk, and on being 
charged by him with the fact, he promptly admitted the 
Jbrgery ; thereupon Mr. Welsh also demanded his resigna- 
tion, to which he also consented. The following documen- 
tary evidence of this infamous transaction si)eaks for itself : 

(Perry Moore was dead when this affidavit was made.) 



20 kemper county vindicated. 

" The State of ^Mississippi, ) 
Kemper County. ] 

"Before mo, W. AV. Oliisolm, jud,ii:e of pi'obate, in and 
for said county, i)ersonalIy came Perry ]\[oore, to me well 
laiowu as a just and reliable citizen in said countN'. m'Iio 
after being by me duly sworn according to law, deposes 
and says that he was with the United States forces under 
the command of General Sherman, in the County of Lau- 
derdale, in eighteen hundred and sixty-four (18G4), in said 
State of ]Mississipi)i, on or about the 20th day of February 
of said year, on the road leading from Marion Station to 
nillsboro, in Scott County, Mississip[)i ; and he, the afore- 
said, saw at one White's Gin, on said road, the said United 
States forces put fire to and burn one hundred and eighty- 
four (ISl) bales of lint cotton, belonging to Piobcrt J. 
3Ioseby. 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 ) 
2d day of Pebruary, A. D. 18G7. ] 

"W. W. Chisolm, 

Probate Jud(/cJ^ 



the fraud acknowledged. 

" I certify that the foregoing is a true coi)y of the original 
palmers, and that the name subscribed thereto puri)orliiig 
to be the gcnuiiu; signature of Perry Moore is a base for- 
gery, and so admit t<>d to me by \V. W. Chisolm. At the time 
1 arrested tin.', said papers in his hands, said Chisolm was 
at that time Judge of the Probate Court of Kem[)er 
County, and I was clerk of said court. 

"GEO. L. WELSH. 

"D<?Kall), Miss., September 20, 18G7." 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 27 

CLINCHING THE NAIL. 

Affidavit of the Frohato Cleric who Detected the Fraud. lie 
Femanded Chisolui's Iiesignation. 

" I, Geo. L. Welsh, a citizen of Kemper County, in the 
tStatc of Mississippi, state ni)on Iionor that the paper pur- 
porting to be the afHdavit of Perr^- Moore, as to the burn- 
ing of one hundred and eighty-four bales of lint cotton by 
General Sherman's arnij^, in February, 18G4, is a forgery so 
far as the name of Perry Moore is concerned; that I saw 
and arrested this paper in the hands of W. W. Chisolm, of 
said county and State, in xVpril, ISGT; said Chisolm was 
then judge, and 1 Avas clerk of the probate court of said 
county; that upon arresting said paper I demanded Chis- 
olm's resignation, and lie did resign. The paper accom- 
panying this statement is his original resignation, wholly 
written and subscribed by himself. I attended liis trial be- 
fore Centre Kidge Lodge, and know that he was expelled 
as the accompanying publication states. His masonic sta- 
tus is that of an expelled and published mason. 

" June, 1870. GEO. L. Yv^ELSH." 

CHISOLM'S RESIGNATION. 

" De Kalb, Miss., May G, 18G7. 
" His Excellency B. J. Hibiphries, Jackson, Miss. 

" Sir : I have the honor to this day tender to your excel- 
lency my resignation as judge of the probate and county 
courts in this (Kemper) County, and trust that it will be 
accei)ted, to take effect from this date. I have the honor to 
be, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

W. W. CHISOLM." 

expelled from the lodge. 

"At a regular communication of Centre Ridge Lodge, No. 
150, of Free and Accepted Masons, held July 4, 18GS, in 
Kemper County, Mississippi, W. W. Chisolm, a member of 



28 ICEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

saiil lodge, having been charged Avitli gross, unmasonic 
conduct, was tried and unanimously expelled from all the 
rights and privileges of masonry by said lodge. 

"It is ordered by the lodge that the above be published 
in the Mississippi Flag. 

"P. S. — All papers friendly to masonry please copy. 

"August 17, 1808." 

The following is an extract of a letter written by W. W. 
Chisolm to the Jackson Clarion, and dated October IG, 
187G: 

" Welsh says that Perry Moore was dead before the affi- 
davit in regard to the cotton was made, and that was on 
the 2d of February, 1SG7, and yet Jordan ?tloore made affi- 
davit before this same George L. Welsh that Perry Moore 
died on or about the 8th day of February, 18G7. See how 
plain a tale will \mt a lying scoundrel down ! By the re- 
cords of his own court he stands a convicted liar. Need I 
say more ? Now, upon this slanderous 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; tliat he demanded my resignation, and I did re- 
sign.' I congratulate AVelsh 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 Welsh, or any one 
else, is a falsehood too infamous to be coined by any other 
than his l)rain — notoriously fruitful in such productions. 
Wlien I resigned my successor was appointed by my recom- 
mendation." 

A short time after this a letter, dated October 28, 187G, 
and written by George L. Welsh, appeared in the same 
l)aper, Irom which the following is extracted : 

"At the lime 1 arrested these papers in the hands of W. 
W. Ciiisolm, in the early part of April, 18G7, 1 charged upon 
him that it was a forgery, and he promptly and frankly 



KEHIPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 29 

admitted the truth of the charge. I charged upon him 
that old Perry Moore was dead and buried long before the 
papers were tixed up, and he as promptly and frankly ad- 
mitted the truth of the charge. I charged upon him that 
the paper, though bearing date February 2, 18G7, was only 
a few days old at the time I arrested it, and that he had 
dated it inside the ohl man's life time to '■ kiver accounts,' as 
the saying goes, and this charge he as i)romptly and can- 
didly admitted. 

" I made this charge as to the age of the paper, from the 
general appearance of the paper and wi'iting, all looking 
fresh and new.'" 

It has been often said that " It takes a thief to catch a 
thief," and it ma^^ be as truly said that it takes a carpet 
bagger biographer to endeavor to hide his own and the 
tracks of his criminal coadjutors ; and no doubt the reader 
will be inspired with the mingUHl feelings of amusement 
and disgust at the following elibrt of Wells in behalf of his 
martyr and hero. He says : " It is a fact well known in tiie 
South, that for several years immediately following the 
close of the war, and even before tliat period, speculation 
in cotton became very common. In these operations vast 
fortunes were sometimes made, and almost everyone who, 
by dint of good luck, or what often proved better, a deter- 
mination to win, could in any way become a party to a 
' cotton transaction,' entered upon it with a will equalled 
only by their cupidity." 

The fact will be recognized that the Southern people 
were even at a loss how to express these infamous opera- 
tions so eagerly entered into by the hordes of knaves and 
thieves that teemed upon them at the close of the war, bj- 
any other term than that of theft ; but this crafty carpet 
bagger manifests the same aptitude for the name as he did 
for the substance of the act. He calls it " speculation" and 
" winning," and attempts to defend his martyr only on the 
grounds of the universality of the crime. He should have 
added " among his class." 

Before leaving this subject, let us turn again to Cliisolm 



30 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

jiiul see what disposition lie liiinscltrmally makes of it. In 
aiiotlier publislicd letter he says: " Welsh lies to deceive 
the public when he says I resig'iied to prevent exposure, 
and at his demand. The cowardly assassin never opened 
his dirty month to me about resignin<^ from oilice. I was 
l>aid in money every doMar to tiie I'nll amount of warrants 
1 was entitled to receive from the county for any services 
as i)robate judge to the time the office would expire by 
law. J will always make that kind of a trade, especially 
when the warrants Avere only worth twenty-live cents on 
the dollar. Welsh's friends paid me the money, thinking 
at the time Welsh would get one of the crowd in office, so 
as to steal out of estates then in progress of being passed 
on by the court." 

Thus, by his own confession, the crime of bribery was 
added to that of forgery. But no sooner did he discover 
Ins self crimination than the prolific baseness of his nature 
invoked falsehood to parry the effect of his own written 
words. AVhen this letter was produced b^' Mr. ]\[oney, 
ui)on Chisolm's examination before the Congressional Inves- 
tigating Committee, in Washington, the latter resorted to 
the Ibllowing prevarication and linal confession. 

i^. By Mr. Money: Did yon write that letter? (Handing 
him the one above.) 

Chisolm : No, sir. 1 did not write it. 

Q. Is that your comi)osition ? 

A. I do not know that it is. 

Q. Is this your signature to it 1 

A. Well, sir. Some time during the canvass over in Le 
Flore County, 1 believe. 

Q. Let me have a categorical answer. I wish to know if 
you wrote this letter, and if this is your signature 'f 

A. 1 do not think I wrote it. I know i did not write it. 

(^>. Is it a copy of one you wrote? 

A. I never wiote either. I never wrote any at all. 

(^ r.y .Mr. Teller: What did you mean to ask him — 
whether that is his signature or not ? 

i\Ir. Money : That is one thing. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 31 

(Jbisolm (looking at it) : Tliat looks very much like it, 
with pencil. 

Q. I desire you to read it first, and then say if you wrote 
it'/ 

A. I know I did not write it. 

Q. Nor have it written ? 

A. I know I did not write tliat letter or have it written. 

Q. Did you write anything of this kind ? 

A. No, sir ; nor did I dictate it. 

Q. Did you not procure it to be written ? 

A. I did not. 

Mr. j\Ioney : I will ask to have some witnesses sub. 
poenaed who will prove the signature. 

Chisolm : I acknowledge the signature. I state that I 
thiuk that is my signature. 

By Mr. Teller : Is there any explanation you want to 
make of this ? 

A. Yes, sir. In my speech at Greenwood, I stated about 
this way : In speaking of this fellow, Welsh, and his crowd 
that was hounding after me after I had left home. I Avas 
nominated about a month before I left home, and not a 
word was breathed about me until I had gone away ; and 
Col. Money went and got some ante helium papers thinking 
they would keep me out of the canvass. I had to come 
back home and get papers to reply to that. The charges 
had all been once answered to Governor Alcorn. Welsh's 
friends said to me that I ought to resign my ofhce ; that I 
was elected by the white people and took sides with the 
negroes ; and that I ought to resign my ofiice, and insisted 
on my resigning my ofiice. I stated to them that I did not 
l)ropose to resign my ofiice. I had been elected for a cer- 
tain period, and that I was ready to perform the services; 
and, as any other man who had been hired to do labor, I 
was entitled to my wages. They came back to me and told 
me that if I would recommend Mr. Gully for the probato 
judge's place, XhQ.y would make my wages good if I would 
resign. 1 would not state to them what I would do on that 
subject at all. I wrote to General Ord, who was then 



33 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

coinmaiuling; tlie district, and asl^ed liijii if he would ap- 
l)oiiit Judge Jolin Mcltea, of my town, upon my leconr 
luondatiou. He answered me that he would. They returned 
back to me, and I told them : ' You are luakin^i a great 
Aiss about my impo.sing- uj)on the i)Cople, about my being 
a Kadical, ami about the Democrats electing me. Now, if 
you will make good the salary due me up to the time I was 
elected by the people — I have m)t failed to do any of the- 
duties of the ofhce — 1 am perfectly willing to get out of 
your Avay.' I said that in a speech. They agreed to it. 
I then asked General Ord to ai)i)<)int John ]\IcKea, and he 
did. 

And thus were treachery and perlidy added to forgery, 
bribery aud i)erjury. 

IJut it is uecessary to return to the foigery. 

At the March term, 18G8, of the Circuit Court of Kemper 
Couut}', Jordan Moore, a son, and Addisou "Ward, a son-in- 
law, of Perry Moore, and both of whom were perfectly 
iamiliar with his handwriting, together with ]Mr. Welsh, on 
an examination aud thorough inspection of the paper, stated 
on their oaths to the grand jury that the signature to the 
alUdavit, purporting to have been signed by Perry JMooi-e, 
Avas not his signature, and that it was a forgery. Yet this 
Jury failed tolhid a bill of indictment against the forger. J5ut 
at the subsequent term of the court, 8ep!.ember, l.StiS, upon 
the sworn statiMuents of thes(!sanu^ witnesses, before a Jury 
characterized by the district attorney as ha\ing been 
more than ordinarily intelligent, a bill of indictnu'iit was 
found and framed against W. W. Chisolm lor lorgery. 

At this time the oflicc of sherilf of Jvem[)er County was 
held by 11. A. Hopper, a radical, and known friend of 
Chisolm, and who had been appointed to that position by 
the military governor oi" the State. All the county offices 
were in the haiuls of the same i>arty, and it is evident that 
the selection of the grand Jury for the March term was 
made with a view of shielding Chisolm irom an indicttnent 
for his forgery. This fact is sufficiently disclosed by the 
character of that jury. And how this jury, under their 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 33 

solemn oaths, could refuse to find a bill of indictment 
against Cbisolm npou the testimony of young Moore, Ad- 
dison Ward and Geo. L. Welsli, as given herewith, is in- 
scrutable to any view outside of the pale of perjury. They 
had been gathered for the occasion, and well did they sus- 
tain the estimate of baseness which their very selection 
had placed upon them. 

In the appointment of grand jurors for the next term 
of the court, and in fact, in the election of the board of 
police, which had the selection of the grand jurors, this 
same influence was brought to bear, and for the same pur- 
pose, yet not with the same success, for the suspicions of 
the people were now thoroughly aroused, and the district 
attorney, a gentleman of integrity and sagacity, exerted 
himself strenuously in the cause of justice. Consequently, 
at the ensuing term of the court, a grand jmy of even un- 
usual intelbgence and probity was impanelled, and which, 
ni)on the same evidence, found a bill of indictment against 
Chisolm for forgery. Efforts had also been made to pre- 
vent the session of the court. The clerk, doubtless for 
this ])urpose, resigned his office at the opening. The 
records were iucomi)lete, and the papers scattered in con- 
fusion. Nevertheless the court appointed a temporary clerk, 
and the session was effectuated, and as there was no clerk 
except by temporary apiiointment, the court ordered the 
presentments of the grand jury to be placed in the custody 
of the sheriff for safe keeinng. This sheriff, as has been 
said, was H. A. no]>per, a crony of Chisolm, and what 
became of the indictment against the latter will be seen 
hereafter. The following presents the action of the grand 
jury in reference to the matter under discussion : 

sworn statement of the district attorney. 

The State of Mississippi, ) 
Kemper County. ( 

Before me, F. M. Poole, clerk of the circuit court, 
personally appeared Thomas H. Woods, citizen of said 

3 



3't KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

comity, wlu) liiiving been sworn in due form of law, de- 
jioses and says : 

First — That at the September term, 1SG8, of the circuit 
Court of said county and State, affiant was district attor- 
ney for the sixtli Judicial district (in which said county was 
embraced), and was present at said term, and attended 
upon the deliberation of the grand Jury, and gave to that 
body such assistance as by law lio was required to do, and 
with his (afliant's) hand drew the indictments found and 
preferred by said grand jury at said term of said court. 

Second — That among other indictments found by said 
grand jury, prepared and framed by this affiant, presented 
in open court at said term of said court, was ouo sub- 
stantially charging W. W. Chisolm with falsely and fraud- 
ulently and knowingly uttering and publishing a certain 
l)aper, puri)orting to have been signed by one Perry 
Moore, touching the loss of a largo lot of cotton, alleged, 
in said paper, to have been the property of one llobert J. 
Moseby, which said cotton Avas, in said paper, charged to 
have l)een destroyed by the army commanded by Gen- 
eral Sherman, in the winter of 18G3-4. 

Third — Tiiat U])on the adjournment of the court, there be- 
ing a vacancy in the office of clerk of the circuit court, the 
furniture, records and papers belonging to that office were, 
by order of the court, placed in the care and custody of 
the then sheriff, jMr. II. A. Hopper; that between said 
September term, 1868, and the next March term, 1801), 
affiant was informed by said shcrift" that his office had been 
violently opened and entered, and all indictments found at 
the Sc])tembcr term, 18158, stolen and carried olf. Since 
allinnt lias had no further information touching said in- 
dictment or its whereabouts. 

Fourth — That the grand juiy of the State, at the Sep- 
tember term, 1808, was composed of the best men of the 
County of Kem])er, and of men of more than ordinary intel- 
ligence and unim])eachable integrity. 

Fifth — That, (»wiiig to various causes, there has beeu no 



KEMPEU COUNTY "VINDICATED. 35 

terni of tlie circuit court bekl in .said couuty since said 
September term, 1808 

THOMAS H. WOODS. 

Sworu to and subscribed before me, ) 
June, 1870. j 

F. M. Toole, 
[seal. J Cleric. 

STATEMENT BY JUDGE FOOTE. 

The indictment aj^ainst W. W. Chisobn, referred to above, 
was presented by tha .i^raud Jury of Kemper County when 
I was the presiding' jiHlL;e. Tlie facts as to the indictment 
are substantially correct. 

H. W. FOOTE. 

Al^^FIDAVlTS OF TWO MEMBERS OF THE GRAND JURY. 

State of IMississirri, [ 
Kemper County. j 

Before me, William Ezelle, an acting justice of the peace 
in and for said county and State, personally appeared, 
James TTaughey and W. I>. Locket, who, having been first 
sworn in due form of law, dei)ose and say, and each and 
every one of them deposes and says: 

First — Tiiat they were members of the grand jury for 
the Couuty of Kemper, in said State, at the September 
term, 18G8, of the circuit court, in the then sixth judicial 
district, Hon. H. W. Foote being the presiding judge. 

hecond — That at the September term, 1808, the said 
grand jury, after patient and thorough examination, found 
and presented in open court an indictment against W. W. 
Chisolm, charging said Chisolm, in substance, with the 
crime of having falsely and knowingly uttered and put in 
circulation a paper purporting to have been signed by one 
Perry Moore, touching the alleged burning of a large lot 
of cotton, said to be the property of one It. J. Moscby, by 
the army ot General Sherman, in the winter of 1863-4. 

T/M/YZ~That, in the finding and presentation of said 
indictment against said Chisolm, affiants say for them- 



30 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

selves aud uudertakc to say for tlicir fellow grand jurors, 
tluit the proceeding- was had, under the functions of their 
oaths, as the deliberate conviction of their best judgment; 
and that no other conclusion upon view of the said papers 
so charged to have been falsely uttered and i)ublished, 
v>ith the accompanying testimony, laid before said grand 
jury, could have been arrived at with clear conscience. 

JAMES nAUGHEY, 
W. B. LOCKET. 

Sworn to and subscribed before ) 
me, this June 7, 1870. j 

William Ezelle, 
[l. s.] Justice of Peace, hi and for, etc. 

This indictment, thus found by the grand jury and for- 
mally presented to the court, and committed by the court to 
the hands of the sheriff for safe Ivceping until another clerk 
of the court could be chosen, suddenly disappeared aud 
ceased to be among the things inease — by whom, when and 
in what manner will periiaps never be known, except to 
those Avho peri)etrated the theft, and to Ilim whose eye 
alone can i)cnetrate tlie depths of radical infamy. 

Ilop[»er, the mdical sherilfiu whose custody it was placed, 
said that his- office was forcibly entered, his safe forced 
open, and the i);iper stolen, but the writer has this day 
carefully examined that safe. It is Herring's well known 
and reliable patent, in perfect condition, aud not one mark 
or trace of a burglarious attempt can be seen on any por- 
tion of it; but it seems that this transparent explanation 
■was accepted by the court which, in Kemper County, was 
perfectly under the control of Chisolm and his clan. 

It should be observed, that the term of the court at which 
this indictment was reported by the sheritV to have been 
stolen, was tlie last term ])ri()r to tiie usurpation of the State 
goxrrnment by the militaiy autIioriti(>s, which continued 
two or three years, <luring whi<'h tiiiu' the civil couits were 
suspended, and on the resumpliou of their functions they 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 37 

"vrere entirely under the coutrol of the radicals ; andjConss- 
quently, no explanation of that circumstance has been made 
or required up to this day. There never was any radical 
district attorney in this district, for the reason that tlicre was 
no one of that faith to be fonnd in the district capable of 
filling the position. 

Not even a sworn statement or the least trace of this 
transaction can be found upon the records of the conrt. So 
nuich for the sheriffs explanation. Let us now sec what 
Chisolm says about it. 

In his examination before the subcommittee at Wash- 
ington, February 14, 1877, in answer to the questions of 
Mr. Money in regard to this matter, he said : 

Question by Mr. Money : You are Mr. W. W. Chisolm, 
who was the Eepublicau candidate for Congress from the 
third Mississippi district ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. You are the W. W. Chisolm who was exi)elled from 
a masonic lodge at Centre Eidge, Kemi)er County, Missis- 
sippi ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. There was submitted in evidence the certificate of U. 
W. Foote, judge of the circuit court of that county ; 
Thomas 11. Woods, the district attorney, and W. B, Locket, 
the foreman of the grand jury, that one W. W. Chisolm was 
indicted for perjury and forger3'^ in the circuit court, in 
18G8. I believe you are that man, are you ? 

A. I do not know whether I am or not. Nobody ever 
presented any indictment against me. 

Q. Is there any other W. W. Chisolm there ? 

A. None other. 

By Mr. Teller : What about this indictment 1 Mr. Money 
asked you whether you were the man or not. 

A. Of course we all know a grand jury is a secret body, 
and I know nothing about what the grand jury did ; but I 
learned from several gentlemen that Mr. Welsh had been 
before the grand jury to indict me. There was then getting 
up in that county considerable feeling against me, because 



o8 KEMPEll COUJsTY VINDICATED. 

I had taken part in tryin,n" to cairy the, county, and did 
carry the county, ibr tlic constitution. 

Q. For Kcpnblican iiicasuios '.' 

A. For llei)ul)lit;aii measures. I ])aid no attention to it 
])articularly. in the fall of 1808 I learned from the i)apers 
.submitted here (not tliat any gentleman told me) and from 
rumor in De Kalb, that there was an indictment found 
against me. That was directly after the heated canvass, in 
that county, between myself and the opposition party lor 
the governor and State ollicers running on the Republican 
ticket. 

Q. Have you ever been arrested about that matter";? 

A. No man has ev(u- s])okeii to me about arresting me 
u])ou tliat charges or any other chai-ge. 

Q. Have you ever been called before the court? 

A. iS'ever. There has never been a charge preferred 
against me in that county n])on which I was ever arrested, 
except one here a little, while ago — a minor offence — and 
the district attorney had it nolle proscquicd. 

Q. It had nothing to do with this matter? 

A. None in the world. 1 was in the county when the 
court was in session, and was in the county at the adjourn- 
ment when it adjounied, and have been in the county all 
the time. 

Q. Is tlune anything further you wish to say about it ? 

A. Nothing flirt lu'r. 

And here we must leave this man \vrap])ed in the folds ol 
forgery, bribery, robbery and ix'rjury which he drew aroiind 
him and invok(Ml in the commission of crimes still more 
lieinous. it will be remarked that, according to the afli- 
davit of the district attorney, from various causes, there 
was no circuit court held in Kem])er ('ounty, from the 
linding of this indictment, in Septend)er, 18lj8, until ^larch, 
1870, and at that time Chisolm had been appointed the 
sheriff of the <!ounty, and controlled its olUcial alfairs with 
an arbitrary, intimidating and desi)otic hand; consequently, 
it is not to l)e expected that this charge (;ould be again 
agitated until barred by limitatiou of law, while he occu- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. ^ 39 

pied that position, and wliicli he held until just prior to 
his death. 

It Avas in couseqaeuce of this forgery that the first rup- 
ture occurred between Chisolin and John W. Gully. Prior 
to this event, Gully, as has been seen, was a i^olitical aud 
personal friend of Chisolin. They were both whigs in 
politics, and Gully had taken an active part in the oflicial 
promotions of Ohisolm. In fact, it was through his in- 
llueuce that the latter had been twice elected to the office 
of probate judge ; but so soon as Gully became aware, by 
means of these transactions, of the true character of the 
man, than he immediately withdrew his patronage from 
him, and used his utmost endeavors to have these crimes 
brought to light, and strenuously advocated the vindication 
of law and justice upon the heads of the guilty parties. 

And it was from this moment that Chisolm placed the 
name of John W. Gully at the head of his ^' black list,'' 
and marked him for the assassin's blow. 

It may be proper before leaving these matters to notice 
the reference made to them by the slanderous carpet bag- 
ger Wells. It will be observed that these affidavits of the 
district attorney and others, in regard to this matter, were 
all made in September, 18GT, and June, 1870, and will be 
so found on the congressional rcicords in the reports of the 
investigating committees. That of Welsh, the chancery 
clerk, was made in September, 18G7, and that of the dis- 
trict attorney aud jurors, June, 1870. The affidavit of 
Welsh was made at the time he discovered the for- 
gery, and that of the district attorney and jurors when 
it was ascertained that the indictment had been 
stolen from the safe in the sherilf's office. Yet this 
delectable author, fully partaking of the character of his 
hero in this respect, has invoked forgery to the aid of 
slander! He copies these affidavits in his contemptible 
book, signs the names of the parties, and then, instead of 
their true date, September, 18(37, ho affixes that of Sep- 
tember, 1870, for the purpose of connecting them with the 
political cami»aign of that year; but this is but a compara 



40 KEMrER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

lively slight feature in his tissue of falsehood, iu which ho 
luis sought to iuvade the course of time, and crook the 
current of events in order to avoid that exposure and re- 
futation of his slanders -which the true order and relation 
of the circumstances would unfold in vivid colors. 

During the continuance of radical rule in Mississippi, as 
long as the appointing i)ower was lodged in the hands of 
that party, there was no surer method or means by which 
an ap])ointment could be jn-ocured than to possess the ill 
"will of, or to fall into discredit witli, the Avhite peoi)le ; and 
every effort they would make to detect a criminal or to 
bring him to punishment was sure to result in the i)romo- 
tion of the party against whom the charges were made. So 
apparent and invariable was this policy, that no doubt 
oftentimes crimes were committed by aspirants for the pur- 
l)ose of attracting the attention of those in possession of 
the appointing power. It was the sibyFs bough, an unfail- 
ing " sesame" to open the door to ohice. 

So the reader will not be surprised to hear that at the 
expiration of Hopper's term of oflice, in 18G1), W. W. 
Chisolm being then under disabilities for having served as 
probate judge during the war, John E. Chisolm, his brother, 
Avas appointed by the notorious Gov. Ames to the shriev- 
alty of Kemi)er County, under Avhom W. W. Chisolm be- 
came deputy, and, as he himself says, " ran the ofhce." 

It was now that a still wider held was presented for the 
scope of his villanies, the oi)i)ortunities of which he began 
at once to improve. 

Dut there was one man still in his way, whose patriotic 
vigilance and wide intluence might again cause him some 
trouble in the lawless career which he had now chalked 
out. This was John W. Cully; and his lirst act was to 
wreak his grudge upon that gentleman, and, if possible, to 
check or impair his scrutiny in i)ublic affairs. Here again 
Wells is permitted to state the case. 

He says : "When John 10. Chisolm, a brother of Judg;e 
Chisolm, became sherilf by ajipointment of the governor, a 
warrant, fraudidently obtained (while Cully was sherili"), 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 41 

araounting to two liuudred aiul forty dollars, more or less 
was taken by Judge Ghisolm, then performing tbe duties 
of the office of sheriff for Lis brother, for taxes due the 
couuty. But now that a man of a political faith wlii<;h 
they did not indorse had the handling of the public funds, 
claims of every description presented against the county 
underwent the most rigid examination by a Democratic 
board of supervisors ; and this warrant offered by Judge 
Chisolni was rejected by reason of exorbitancy of the ac- 
count 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 from whom he took the 
paper, Mr. John A. Manese, w^ho 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 attoi'uey. At least, the 
prosecuting officer, Mr. Thomas H. Woods, 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 vras to sue Gully for the 
amount, which he did, obtaining a judgment against him 
accordingly. Gully appealed, and for some error in the 
declaration, tlie supreme court remanded the case, where it 
remained unsettled until Gully's death." 

The above rigmarole has been inserted for the purpose of 
again presenting to the reader the address of Wells in the 
art of mendacity. And first, Capt. Woods informs the 
writer that this is wholly false ; that he had nothing to do 
with the warrant ; that it Avas all right, and that his signa- 
ture to the order of the court, allowing the amount, was 
genuine and correct; that the reason why the v\arrant was 
first r('je(;ted was this: that the order for the issuing of tiie 
warrant was for an amount due jointly to Gully and Brit- 
tain for jail service; and that the clerk, upon this joint 
order, at the urgent request of the beneficiaries, issued a 



42 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

separate warrant to eacli for the part of tlie amount to 
Avliicli he was; entitled. Consequently, the minutes showed 
no order for separate amounts. It was allowed as soou as 
explained. As to the Dcmoeratic board of supervisors re- 
ferred to, John E. Ciiisolm was appointed sheritf on the 
14tli day of Septeinber, ISO*), as Wells himself says in his 
book, pai>"o od. And on page 219 he presents the names of 
the su'pervisors for this and the succeeding year, and their 
politics, as follows : 

T. N. Bethany TJepubliean. 

T). McNeil liepublican. 

G. E. Priddy Independent. 

"\V3L EzKLLE Eepubliean. 

lloziE Elore liepublican. 

Aiul tluis it will be seen that the board to which he here 
alludes, and characterizes as intensely Democratic, was 
composed of one independent and fonr Eepublicans. But 
this fa(;ile carpet ba.q;i^er, as will constantly be seen, finds 
no dilliculty in .Qi"»i>'fi" 'ii'.v feature or any complexion to a 
fact that may be necessary to accomplish or conceal his 
j)urpose of slander ; and, as it suited him best that this 
board should be intensely J)emocratic when examining and 
rejecting the warrant, so it was necessary that it should be 
strongly liepublican when given its true feature as above. 
Yet, i)erhaps Wells forgot that he was uncovering one lie 
to hide another, or he may have thought the distance of 
two hundred i):iges of jungled and disconnected assertions 
would confusi^ the mind of his readers and hide the truths 
of his falsehoods, us he had so often succeeded in hiding 
those of his deeds while ])articipating in these viilanies 
which he now invokes the ingenuity of slander to shift to 
lh(^ shoulders of others. 

Again, in reguid to tliis wurrant, he says : " One reason 
assigned for its rejection by the board was, that it was 
taken by Judge Chisolm at a discount, and that he now 
sought to turn it over in settlement for taxes at its face" 
This was certainly an unusual manifestation of regard for 



! KEJIPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 43 

honesty by a radical board of supervisors ; so much so, as 
within itself to create grave suspicious of its truth with all 
who have any knowledge of the general character of their 
proceedings. 

Mr. John A.Mauese, tbc gentleman Wells here refers to, 
a man of stanch and well known integrity, informs the 
writer that the statement in regard to him has not the 
least foundation in fact ; and as to the alleged declara- 
tion of tlie district attorney, Capt. Woods, tlie record 
shows that he was counsel for Gully in tbe action insti- 
tuted by Chisolm on this warraat, having been en- 
gaged as such prior to his election as attorney for the 
district; that in this case, a judgment was obtained in 
the circuit court against Gully by default, and that the 
Supreme Court of Mississippi set the judgment aside, when 
Gully filed his plea in justification of the warrant, and that 
then Chisolm agreed for it to be settled ; for he himself had 
caused it to be rejected by the radical board in order to 
harass Gully. 

The whole matter was brought before the board of super- 
visors. The statement of the amount the clerk made at the 
time the account was allowed, and the statement of Capt. 
Woods, were all spread before the board, and the account 
allowed to Chisolm. 

FROM THE RECORD. 

Proceedings of the board of supervisors, March 13, 
187C, E. Edwards, president ; E. Griggs, J. C. Carpenter, 
John 11. Davis, T. II. Hampton. 

It appears that at the September term, 18G7, of the cir- 
cuit court of Kemper, the ofticers of said court, the district 
attorney and the judge, made and allowed to John W. 
Gully, then sheriff of Kemper County, $188, for payment 
of guards of the jail of said county, heretofore employed 
and paid by him; and it further appears that said John W. 
Gully subsequently indorsed said order to J. A. Manese, 
and that J, A. Manese paid said order to AV. W. Chisolm, 
then sheriff and tax collector of Kemper County ; and it 



44 KE3irEU C;OUNTY VINDICATED. 

fiirtlier appears that said jiuards were eini)loyed by said 
John W. (jully, tlieii sheriti'of Kemper County, aud paid I 
by bill), aud tbat said allowauce was properly made to said i 
Jobu W. Gully ; but that, owiu.i;- to some mi.sapi)reheusiou 
ou the part of the treasurer of the Couuty of Kem[)er, auy 
allowauce for said order of $188 has hitherto beeu deuied 
aud refused to said W. W. Chisolm, sheritf and tax collec- 
tor, in his settlements with said treasurer. It is by the ' 
board of supervisors now ordered that, on the surrender of 
said order for $188, by the said W. W. Chisolm, to the cleric 
of the board of supervisors, said clerk do issue to said \V. 
AV. Chisolm a warrant to the treasurer of the County of 
Kemper for 8188, to be paid in any funds that may be in i 
said treasury, in due time. 

Yet Wells says this matter remained unsettled up to the i 
time of Gully's death, and he was killed on the liUth of 
April, 1877. 

Here looms up another peak in this carpet bijgycr's 
mountain of iiu'udacity. 

And again he says : " That for three years followiiiu' that 
of 18.'}i>, this man (Gully) collected a sum of mom-y dih' 
IVom the county to the Mobile tS: Ohio Eailroad CompanS; 
amouutiui;- to §.'},000, and which up to the year 1870, at 
least, had not been given to that corporation, while tho 
receipts for the money paid to Gully can be seen to-day" 
(1877). 

Uow about the matter that day (1877) 1 Why did he 
not say, and why did not the Mobile & Ohio Jxailroad 
Company bring suit ou Gully's bond ? 

tSimply because there was no occasion for it, and the 
whole thing is the product of a slanderer's brain. 

THE ACRE TAX. 

One of the most iiiranu)us acts of the radical legislaturo 
of Kemper County was the order commanding a special 
tax to be levied upon land ; in regard to which Wells is 
again i)ermitted to make his statement, lie says : " IJefore 
the administration of John E. Chisolm, under the super- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 45 

\ isioii 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 special objection; but when Judge Chisolm under- 
toolc to collect the tax there went up a terrible cry against 
the law, which was characterized as a great ' radical 
Steal; " 

And the writer will add that if he docs not sliovv- it to 
to have been a "radical steal" indeed, he will readily 
admit the forfeiture of all claim to the confidence of the 
reader. 

It will have been observed that John E.. Chisolm was ap- 
pointed and entered upon the duties of the shrievalty on the 
14th day of October, 1869. And we have seen from Wells' 
own showing (page 249), that the police board of Kemper 
County during the year 1809 was entirely Republican — four 
radicals and one so called independent — it being the identi- 
eal board mentioned heretofore, and which rejected the 
warrant. 

The following order establishing this tax is copied from 
the minutes of the board of police of Kemper County, 
[November term, 18G9 : 

" Ordered by the board, that a special tax be levied of 
one cent per acre on lands worth one dollar and under; 
over one and under three, two cents per acre ; and all over 
three dollars three cents per acre, for repairing bridges, 
building bridges, repairing court house and jail. 

T. N. BETHANY, 

President. 

So it will be seen that this infamous tax was ordered by 
a board, called Democratic by Wells, of which every mem- 
ber save one was an avowed and active radical, and mere 
puppets and pimps of W. W. Chisolm, who was at that 
time the radical high i:>riest of the county, deputy sheriff, 
and, as he says, " running the office and collecting the 
taxes." 

But we will here let him speak for himself. Before the 



4() ke:mper county vindicated. 

Coii.uvossioiml lMVC8ti,£i'atii).2: Coniinitteo, at Washington, 
February 14, 1877, page 757, Chisolin says : "There was ^ 
a tax levied in 1801), by a Democratic board of siii)ervisors of 
tlic county, for county purposes, levied upon land — upon 
the acres of laud — one cent gi\'en in u]ion laud at such a 
price, tV'O cents upon land given at auotlier price, and, 
three cents upon land given in at the highest price." 

Q. Per acre ? 

A. Yes. Tlie tax books were turned over to nie, or rather 
to my brother. I was doing tlie collecting and was run-i 
uing the oftic^e. It was before my disabilities were removed,! 
and a luimber 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 for 
them to enjoin the sheriif about, or else to pay the tax;; 
that the board of sui)ervisors left no discretion with ine. i; 
had to collect the tax, or else I had to be enjoined. A' 
majority of the land holders of the county enjoine<l the 
sherilf from collecting the tax. Some paid the one, two or 
three cent tax rather than enjoin. That tax was ]iaid over 
to the (tounty treasurer, and I got his receipt for it. I 
never heard any man make any (■OMi])laint about it, except 
Squire ^lills, who was a kiiul of crazy man down there. lie 
paid the tax, and then commenced a lawsuit against me 
for iu)t ])aying it back to him. It was my duty, under the 
law, to ])ay it to the county treasurer, ami I did pay it to 
the county treasunM-. Mi-. Mills commenced suit against 
the treasurer, and the circuit and supreme courts both 
decided that 1 had done right in the premises." 

The leader will readily observe that, notwithstanding 
this lalse and llimsy explanation of this matter, it was a 
l>reineditatcd and \\cll conceived swindle. 

In regard to this matter the following cir umstance has 
been related to the writer by ^Mr, J. W. ]\Iaury, of Wa- 
lialalc, who was afterward the Democratic candidate for 
slu'iillin opiiosition to Chisolm. Mr. !Maury says: 

"My special tax, levied under that order of the county 
board of snpei\isors, was $150, and when 1 i)aid my other 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 47 

(axes I told tbe slieriff, W. W. Cliisolm, that I was unwill- 
iii.L;' to pay that part known as tlie <acre tax,' until the iu- 
jiiiiction which had been sued out by yome of the citizens 
had been decided. He told me I had better pay it, that 
the injunction amounted to nothing, and that damages and 
costs would be the result. He, however, promised me that 
if the injunction was not dissolved, that he would refund 
my mone^". After it was decided that the tax was illegal, 
I called on him for it. He told me he had i^aid it over to 
the county treasurer. I then applied to Capt. B. F. Eush, 
Chisolm's deputy, who kept the books of the treasurer, 
Powel Chancy, and he said Chisolm had not paid a dollar 
to the treasurer. liush proclaimed this publicly. At that 
time he was somewhat at variance with Chisolm, but they 
Avere soon united again by the cohesive power of public 
plunder, and Eush again became silent in the matter." 

This tax was levied by a radical board of supervisors or 
police, as it was then calleil. Chisolm proceeded at once to 
(collect it, notwithstanding the strenuous and steady o])po- 
sition of the people to the measure from its very incipienc3\ 
Some of the people enjoined him. This simply aftbrded 
him the desired excuse ibr not collecting a large part that 
he did collect. He tinned over a portion of it, however, to 
the treasurer, a radical and pimp of Chisolm's, and a very 
ignorant man, and took his receipt. He afterward, in 
consummation of his prearranged swindle, returned to the 
treasurer and denuinded the nu)ney back, upou the ground 
that he had wrongfully turned it 0%'er to him. The obse- 
quious treasurer gave him back the mone}', without de- 
manding in return the receipt he had given for it, and that 
was the last that was ever seen of the " acre tax " money 
— a tax that fell hard upon the \)ooy planters of Kemper 
County, in order to meet which, in addition to other bur- 
dens, they were compelled in many instances to deprive 
themselves and their wives and chiUlrcn of the actual ne- 
cessaries of life, and in many instances their lands became 
forfeited to the State or fell into the hands of tax brokers, 
mostly radicals and scalawags, tue only persons who had 



48 KEMrER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

the moiiej' or tlio lieart to purchase thcui. Aiul the reader 
■w^ill discoTer in these transactions and their results, some 
of the causes of that poiiuhir exasperation which culmin- 
ated in an ui^rising', limited it is true, but no less indicative 
in its nature, and terrible in its conclusion. 

Yet the people of Kemper County, in common with the 
■whole State, for a long timepatiently bore these burdens, and 
strove, as it were, against the clinched fist of fate. Tliey saw 
their j)ropcrty i)assing from them, in many instances their 
wives and little ones turned out doors — all the consequence 
of oflicial cupidity and theft ; and what was worse, this state 
of affairs seemed to be perpetual, with a negro radical major- 
ity banded together in a solid phalanx against the property 
interest, and individually subservient in every respect and 
capacity to their thieving and lawless leaders, for whose 
acts there appeared no remedy. If relief was sought in 
the courts, there were the corrupt radical judges and negro 
juries to repel the effort. If they appealed to the legisla- 
ture of the State by respectful and humble petition, it was 
spurned by this same clement, and the color line drawn in 
the halls of legislation, where stood on one side a motley 
horde of negroes and New England rowdies, and on the 
other a handful of white men representing the property 
interest and intelligence of the State. 

l^.ut let us return to the chain of events in Kemper 
County. In Noveml)er, 18(50, James L. Alcorn, radical, 
was elected by the negroes and New Englanders, governor 
of Mississipi)i ; and soon after his accession to that office, 
he a])pointed W. W. Chisolm sheri if of Kemper County — 
a man, as we have seen, whoso character was already 
gangrened with infamy, and whose tongue and hands Avere 
festered with perjury, bribery and theft, and to which 
were now soon to be added the bloody stains of nuirder 
and assassination. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 49 



CHAPTEE III. 

Ko sooner had Chisolm got well in liand tlio reins of 
tbe shrievalty, and through it the control of the political 
machinery of tlie county, than he commenced the forma- 
tion of his " black list," and for the execution of which he 
began at once to gatlier around him such individuals as, 
from their character and disposition, seemed best suited 
to Ins purposes. With this view he made Ben Eush his 
deputy. 

This man had made a gallant soldier in the Confederate 
army, and, consequently, had heretofore stood fair in the 
community, though always known as a man easily urged 
to desperation, and ready for any enterprise attended by 
the chances of emolument or excitement, and was, thcre- 
ibre, a proper person for Chisolm to present his bait to. 
Impelled, also, by the further reason that Eush was a per- 
sonal enemy to John W. Gully, he immediately appointed 
him as liis deputy. 

Gully and Eush had formerly been associated in busi- 
ness, and had fallen out about some business transaction. 
But it was sufiicicnt for Chisolm's purposes that a feud 
existed, and, as might be expected from the developments 
already made of his character, it was not long before he 
contrived a difficulty between them, in hopes, no doubt, 
that Eush would kill Gully, and rid him of that surveil- 
lance and restraint which, through his influence, the latter 
exercised over his official acts. 

The llrst, however, of these persistent attempts to get 
rid of Gull}' occurred in 1SG9. One John McEea, a very 
dissipated man, had been appointed by the military author- 
ilics of the Federal government to succeed Chisolm in the 
office of probate judge, and afterward to that of circuit 
judge, without any qualification for either office, save that 
of being a radical and having the support of Chisolm, who 
iiad already inaugurated his career by reporting to the mill- 



50 KE3IPEII COITNTT VINDICATED. 

tary aiitlioritics the prominent Democrats of tlie county 
and all who ware obnoxious to his i)ur[)ose.s or objective to 
his fears. 

As Wells has attempted to army this occurrence, also, in 
nrtiticial colors, I shall let him describe it, in language pur- 
porting to be tlint of a sister of JMcKea, whom he represents 
as MOW living in Kemper (.'ounty, and from whom he (piotes 
as follows : 

" It has often been denied that politics had. anything to 
<1o with the frequent killing of llepubli(;ans in Kemper 
County, but I am certain it had in the case of Judge John 
McEea. It is true there was a famil3^ fend between the 
McEcas and Gullys that dated back to the fall of 18-18 ; 
and as the Gullys bragged they never forgave, so did the 
McEcas. They had been on s[)eaking terms for years 
before the death of Judge IMcEea, but nothing more; the 
Late "was still there, and was only faiuied into a fierce tlamo 
in the bosom of the Gullys by the sons of the McKeas ris- 
ing in life and displaying talent which the Gullys never 
possessed. 

" Judge McEea 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. lie remained in tlic 
army until the summer of 1804, when he came home, and 
said his conscience would not permit of his continuing in a 
cause which he abhorred. 

" Ue Avas the first white person in Kemper to declain^ 
liimself a Eei)ublican, which was in the year 1807. John 
AV. Gull}' was then sherilf, and from that time commenced 
to insult and persecute the judge. 

" IMcEea was appointed lu'obate judge by Gen, Old, and 
afterward circuit judge by Gen. Ames. IMcEea and Chis- 
olm began to recommend men to ollice whom they l;new 
had been loyal. This gave an additional oll'ence to the 
Gullys, as they knew they would have to go out, for they 
liad formerly ciontrollcd all the ollices of the county. 

"John Gully had had a habit of blustering and scaring 
people out of his way. lie tried it several times witli 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED, 51 

Jadgo Mcllca, but found it would uot work, and concluded 
to use bnckslior. 

^' In February, 18G9, as Judge ]MeKca was leaving' the 
court liouse in coin[)any witli the district attorney and liis 
(Mcliea's) father, an old, gray headed man, Gully came 
walking down the street, singing a vulgar song, evidently 
for the purpose of insulting Judge McEea. McRea stopped, 
and told liis father and the district attorney to stay tliere 
until be could ' see that man,' meaning Gully. Gully b;id 
bis i>istol in bis baud, and Judge Mcllea bad bis in bis 
sheath. As McEea advanced Gully backed, neither speak- 
ing a word until be reached bis own store door, v/heu 
bo readied out a double barrelled gun, dropping bis pistol. 
McEea's fatber bad followed, and was just behind the 
judge. When Gully raised bis gun McEea said, ' You are 
not coming it right, sir,' wben Gully fired. j\IcEea kept 
advancing, and Gully fired the other barrel. Then McEea 
said, ' Now I'll get you !' and rushed forward. 

"Both barrels of Gully's gun took effect in McEea's face 
and breast. When Gully fired the last barrel he ran into 
bis store and sbut the door after him, and in through the 
store into the back room and sbut tbat door. Ey the time 
]\lcEea got to the door be was so blhided witb blood tbat 
be could sec notbiug. Ue pushed the door open and fired 
every round of bis pistol iu the store, playing sad havoc 
witb dry goods, but failing" to bit Gully. But Gully's gun 
happened to be loaded witb squirrel shot." 

Kow, if this statement of Wells be true, taken witb 
all its attempted garnishments and its contradictions, the 
writer, as a lawyer, will undertake to say, tbat there could 
not be a plainer case of an assault with intent to kill found 
in all tbe ^'olunies of the law, than was this aftair on the 
part of McEea. 

He sees a man, with whom be is not friendly, walking 
innocently down the street, singing a clieerful song indi- 
cative of good will toward all the world. lie tells bis 
companions to wait until be can " see that man." He draws 
bis pistol and advances upon bis intended Yictim, wbo, 



63 KE:vrPER countv vindicated. 

unarmed, find at tlie mercy of his foe, or, as Wells lids it, 
armed and drawn, walks backwaixl to bis store, seeks 
refuge in liis castle, vigorously i)ursued by his armed as- 
sailant, iinds a shot gun there loaded with small shot, 
turns on his pursuer while in the door of his house, and 
fires once, tv.ice. Yet his bloodthirsty foe still advances. 
Still he retreats into an inner room, when his determined 
pursuer and deadly assailant bombards his house to drive 
him from the sanctity of his sacred retreat. The shot were 
small; were in truth what are called bird shot, and in three 
days McIIea is again on the street. The reader is now, 
perhaps, jirepared for his arrest and trial for an assault 
with intent to kill ; but he will be disappointed. The whole 
machinery of the county was now in the hands of the 
radicals, and if jNIcRea liad killed John "\V. Gully, the law 
could not have reached him through the dense mass of cor- 
ruption that lay between him and its vindicatory arm. " The 
case," says Wells, " \vas never presented to the grand jury 
until after McEea's death, and then no indictment icas 
found.'''' 

The following statement of Capt. Woods, who witnessed 
the affair, may be relied upon : 

"Early one morning I was sitting with John W. Gully 
on the door steps of his store. Mcllea came uj) nuittering 
to himself, with his eyes fixed on Gully. I then observed 
that i\rcliea was intoxicated. I got up and took hold of 
jMcKea ami endeavored to carry him awaj', and succeeded 
in getting him to walk with me a short distance. On look- 
ing back I saw Gully with a gun which he had procured 
from some place beyond his store, and was returning with 
it in the direction of his store. I motioned him back with 
my hand. At this time McEea also saw Gully, and, with 
Ins pistol in his hand, which lie had drawn when ho first 
came up to where Gully and I were sitting, attempted to 
advance upon Gully. I tried to restrain him from going, 
l)ut he would not permit mc to do so. I then said : ' Well, 
go then.' I Avalked aside, as I knew, or rather expected, 
wliut was about to transpire, and I did not wish to sec it. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 53 

I then saw McRea's father for the first time ai:)proacli and 
endeavor to perisuade his son oft'. Immediately after this I 
heard the liriiig-, and I saw McRea, with bloodj' face, ad- 
vancing toward Gnlly's store, and firing his pistol into the 
store," 

McKea was but sliglitly wounded on this occasion. lie 
died not man}' months after with consumption, — a disease of 
which, as the writer is informed, nearly every member of 
his familj^ has died. Yet, Wells says, the bird shot pepper- 
ing brought it on. 

So much for this attempt to assassinate Gully, and its 
failure, and the ludicrous effort of ^yells to render it sub- 
servient to his puri)ose, like " a slave, whose gall coins 
slander like a mint." 

Let us now return to the operations of Chisolra, and his 
man Eush. Wo have already seen the very apparent pur- 
pose for which he was inducted into the office of deputy 
sheriff under Chisohn, and the personal feud existing be- 
tween him and Gullj^, Avithout any further prosecution on 
the part of the latter, save such as the carrier tongue of 
mischief communicated to and Iro between them, in pur- 
suance of the purpose to be wrought. Some time during 
the month of August, 1870, Ensh sent Gully word that he 
would attack him on sight. Gully knew very well what 
this meant, and he was not a man to hide himself under 
such circumstances. Yet, it will be observed, that in all 
the difficulties which his Democratic prominence iiuuirred, 
and which radical vengeance devised, in not a single in- 
stance has he been shown to be the aggressor. 

His jdace of business was in De Kalb, but his residence 
was about two miles distant, to which he repaired every 
evening: and, on the evening he received the foregoing mes- 
sage, he started home at his usual hour in company with 
his brother Sam Gully and a Dr. Smith, but took the pre- 
caution to take his gun along. The otlier two Avere uu- ■ 
armed ; and as the three rode along the street leading in 
the direction of Gully's residence, and just as they were 
passing the last storehouse of the village, Eush, who had 



54 KEMPER COUNTY VLNDICATED. 

been waiting for Gully, suddenly approached them with 
his gun raised in his hand, and cocked, calling upon Gully 
to .stop, that he wished to settle Nvith him then and there; 
and while he was in the act of discharging- its contents at 
John Gully, Sam Gully rushed between them and seized 
Kush's gun by the muzzle, wliich exploded at the same 
time, shooting Sam Gully in the thigh. John Gully, who, 
in the meantime, had rode beyond the corner a few steps 
off, now turned as soon as he saw his brother shot, and 
fired two shots at Hush, one of which took effect, and Hush 
fell to the ground. Gully then immediately turned his at- 
tention to his wounded brother, who was mortally wounded, 
the arteries of his leg having been torn away, lie lin- 
gered but a few hours and died. 

This was the second open attempt to assassinate the 
devoted Gully. A man deliberately sends him a message 
to prepare for death, waylays him, rushes upon him with 
cocked gun from a covert alley, while he is quietly seeking 
the bosom of his family, and in an avowed assault with in- 
tent to kill, slays an unarmed and innocent man who is 
attempting to parry the deadly muzzle aimed at the lieart 
of his brother ! 

T ask the lawyer reader if this was not murder, by every 
l>rinciplo, precept and piecedent of law? Yet Ifusli was 
iMought to trial and acipiitted by a court, sheriif, clerk and 
jury, all ])repared ami packed ibr the occasion. 

The crime of murder is deiined as follows under the 
laws of ^Mississippi. Eevised code, sec. 2,G28. Code of 
1857, art. 1(55, page GOO: "The killing of a human being 
without the authority of law, by any means, or in any 
manner, sliall be nuirder in the following cases: When 
done with the deliberate design to effect the death of the 
l)er.son killed, or any human being. 

" AVhen done in the commission of an act eminently dan- 
gerous toothei's, and evincing a depraved heart, regardless 
of Inwnan life, altliougli without any ])remeditated design 
to elfect the death of any particular iiulividual. 

"^^'hen done without any design to elleet death, by any 



KEISIFJIU COUNTY VINDICATED. 55 

I)erson engaged in tlic commission of tlie crime of rape, 
bnrglury, arson, or robbery, or in an attempt to commit 
sncli felonies." 

Tiie crime of manslaugliter is described as follows: 
lievised code of Mississippi, 1857 and 1S71, art. 170, page 
GOi : '' The killing of a human being, without malice, by the 
act, procurement, or culpable negligence of another, Avhilc 
such other is engaged in the perpetration of any felony, 
except rape, burglary, arson, or robbery, or while such 
other is attempting to commit any felony besides such as 
are above enumerated and excepted, shall be deemed man- 
slaughter ; or the killing of a human being, without malice, 
by the act, procurement or culpable negligence of another 
■while such other is engaged in the perpetration of any 
crime or misdemeanor not amounting to felony, or in the 
attempt to perpetrate any crime or misdemeanor, in cases 
Avhere such killing would be murder at common law, shall 
be deemed manslaughter." 

The reader will readily perceive under which description 
the ofl'ence just described falls. 

The act was done with a deliberate and avowed design 
of effecting the death of a human being, although other 
than the victim. And there was no attempt to deny these 
circumstances on the trial ; and notwithstanding the difii- 
culty at that time of obtaining an indictment of any char- 
acter against a radical, the district attorney succeeded in 
procuring the following bill for manslaughter to be found 
: against liush : 

CIRCUIT COURT. 

State of Mississipri, ) tvt 7 m -.or... 

Kemper County. \ November Term, 1870. 

The grand jurors of the State of Mississippi, elected, em- 
panelled, sworn and cliarged to "inquire in and for the 
body of the County of Kemper," upon their oath present 
that B, F. Eush, lately, to wit : On the tliird day of Septem- 
ber, 1870, in the County of Kemper aforesaid, in and upon 
one S. K. Gully, unlawfully and feloniously an assault 



56 KEMPER COUNTY VINDKJATEU. 

(lid make, and liiin, the said S. K. Gully, then and there, 
did unlawfully and feloniously kill and slay. 

The cause, after numerous continuances, at the instance of 
the defendant, came on for trial at the March term of the 
court, 1873. As we liave seen, the whole judicial machinery 
at this time was in the hands of the radical party; conse- 
quently, the whole trial was looked u]»on as a mere mockery 
of law, aiul no disa])i>ointment or surprise was occasioned 
by the result. And it is merely for the ])uri)ose of showing- 
the IxMit of the proceedin,^>;, the impossibility at this time 
of bringiiii;- any radical to punishment in the County of 
Kemper, that these records are introduced. 

The following charges were asked for on the i)art of the 
State and refused by the court: "If the Jury sliall believe 
from the evidence that Eush, the defendant, entertained no 
malice toward S. K. Oully, and even had no rpiarrel or 
contest with him at the time Gull.v is alleged to have been 
killed, and that he accidentally killed Gully in doing or 
attem])ting to do any felony or misdemeanor, yet he is 
guilty as charged, and the jury ought so to find.*' Whar. 
Crimiiuil Law, vol. 2, page 934. 

"If the jury shall believe from the evidence that liush, 
the defendant, entered into the conllict in which (Jully lost 
his life, armed with a deadly wca])on, not intending to use 
it, but only resorted to it in the heat of conllict, whereby 
Gidly's death ensued, then he is guilty of manslaughter, 
and the Jury ought so to lind." (Jreen v. State, Morris' 
State cases, 7S5. The following charges were given by 
tlie court lor the defendant: 

" That, before the jury in this case can find a verdict of 
guilty against the defendant, B. F. Hush, they must be 
satislied from the evidence before them, beyon<l any reason- 
able doubt, that the defendant, li. F. Rush, did intention- 
ally, unlawfully and feloniously kill and slay S. K. Gully, 
as charged in tlx^ in<lictm('nt. 

" That, though the Jnry may believe from the evidence 
before them, that the defendant, B.F. Eush, shot S. K. Gully, 
yet they cannot (ind him guilty, unless they further believe. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 57 

from tbe evidence, beyond any reasonable doubt, that said 
B. F. Eush voluntarily killed S. K. Gully intentionally, 
unlawfully and feloniously.' 

The next charge is the same, with this addition : " That 
is to say, without any sufficient cause or reason, or provo- 
cation for such act." 

"That, if the jury believe from the evidence, that while 
the defendant, 13. F. liush, was crossing the street and going 
toward his house, he was spoken to, and hailed or halted 
by said S. K. Gully, or by either of the parties with said !S. 
K. Gully, namely, John W. Gully or S. K. Smith, and that 
stopping or turning about, in obedience to such summons, 
he, the said B. F. Hush, was a])proached by S. K. Gully in 
a manner not friendly or amicable ; and a colloquy between 
them ensued, during which a pistol was shown, or exhibited, 
or fired at B. F. Eush, the said defendant, by the said de- 
ceased or by either of the other parties ; then and in that 
event, said B. F. Eush had a right to defend himself, and if 
in so defending himself he killed S. K. Gully, then such 
killing was justifiable or excusable. 

"That, if the jury believe from the evidence that S. K. 
Gully rode up to said Eush and seized the barrel of his 
gun, or took hold of his gun, or tried to take it away from 
him, and that the defendeut tried to retain and keep the 
gun, and that, therefore, a struggle ensued for the posses- 
sion of the gun between S. K. Gully and B. F. Eush, and 
that in this struggle the gun went off and shot and killed 
S. K. Gully, then the defendant is not guilty." 

"That, if the jury believe from the evidence that there 
were hostile relations between the defendant, B. F. Eush, 
and John W. Gully, a brother of S. K. Gully, the deceased, 
then the defendant had a right to prepare to defend, and to 
defend himself, from any attack, or apprehended attack on 
him, by said John W. Gully, and to arm himself accord- 
ingly; and if the said John W. Gully, and S. K. Gully and 
S. K. Smith ai)proached the defendant, Eush, and if the 
said S. K. Gully went up to said defendant, Eush, while the 
said John W. Gully took his position on the opposite side 



58 



KEMPEli COUNTY VINDICATED. 



of tlie street, with liis gun in his hands and within. shooting- 
distance of said ItU.sh, then said defendant had a right to 
prepare to del'end himself and to stand on Iris rights of self 
defence, and to rei)cl force by force, even to the extent of 
disabling or killing his adversaries." 

These were the charges given by the conrt to the jury 
as hiw in this case, and the verdict of the jury was as 
follows : 



The State of 3Iississirri 



Benjamin F. Rush. 



Charged with Ulanslau/jhtcr 
in the Killing of Baniuel 
K. Gully. 



This day came the State of Mississippi, by Thomas 11. 
Woods, Esq., who prosecutes lor and in beiuUf of the State 
of Mississippi ; and came also the defendant, lieujamiu F. 
liush, who pleaded not guilty to the charge made and pre- 
ferred against him in and by said indictment. And there- 
upon came a jnrj' of good and lawful men, to wit, J. C. 
Carpenter and eleven others, who, ui)on tiieir oaths do say : 
" We, the jury, lind the defendant not guilty. And it is 
therelbr(i (ionsidered by the court, that said defendant, 
Lienjamin F. liush, be discharged, and go hence without 
day, and that lie do have and receive of and from said 
State of Mississippi his cost in this canse expended, and 
that his suieties or his recognizance be and they are hereliy 
discharged and exonerated therefrom." Marked, " Order 
entered on the minutes of the court." 

It will be observed that Ifush and his counsel never once 
denied his killing of Sam Gully during' the trial. IJush 
confessed, both in and out of court, that he killed him, but 
dcclar<'d that he was not after Sam, but after John. 

iJut this ret;kless and criminal killing- an innocent man, 
Avho was endeavoring to prevent bloodshed, was rather too 
mui-lj lor our caJi>et bagger V\ ells, lie says, in his book, 



page 42 : " The evidence elicited before the grand jury vras 
to the etiect tliat a shot from IJnsh'.s gnu, at the time, could 
not have inflicted the wound that caused Gully's death. 
Notwithstanding this fact, an indictment was found; but it 
is believed to this day, by all who have gone into an im[)ar- 
tial iuvestigatiou of the subject, that John Gully, in shoot- 
ing at Eush, accidentally shot and killed his owu brother." 

It is indeed strange that this ^'- impartial investigation'^ 
was not made on the trial of the case, by Eush or his coun- 
sel, and the resulting fact brought out in the pleadings ; for, 
in any other age, in any other country, and before any other 
court of justice, it surely would have saved him from the 
gallows. 

yoon after Eusli recovered Irom his wounds he charged a. 
young man, iramed Williams, li\ing in ]3e Kaib, with dis- 
turbing liis domestic relations, n[»(>n which the young man 
tied to Ins father's residence, a few ndles distant; but Eush 
gathered up his clan and iollov^'ed him. Tiiey attacked the 
house, but young Williams fought witJi such des])eration, 
wounding several of the party, one of whom was a negro 
and another H. A. IIoi)per, the ex-sberiff of the county, 
and the one from whose office was stolen the indictment 
against Chisolm, that the Williams residence has since 
that time been known by the martial name of Fort 
AVilliams. 

On the night of the attack upon the Yv'illiams residence, 
liush was accompanied by II. A. Uopper, ex-sheriff; John 
Hill, Chisolm's deputy ; George Jack, a negro ; and the old 
Scotchman, McClelland, whose name will again ai)pear in 
a prominent role in this work. The manner of attack was 
as follows, as related in substance by the father of Wil- 
liams, who now resides a few miles from De Kalb : 

"About midnight, a negro, named George Jack, presented 
liimself at the door of the AViiliams residence with an 
anonymous note, addressed to young Williams, and pur- 
])ortir.g to be a summons requiring him to be at De Kalb, 
without failure, early on the following morning. A brother 
of W illiams, on reading this note, asked the negro what it 



60 KEMrEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 

meant, and what he came there for, at the same time ad- 
vancinnf to tlic door. At this moment Kusli, Avho was 
slandinq; Just outside of the door witli a irun in his hand, 
cried out, 'Close up!' when immediately the report of a 
g:m\ was heard on the other side and in rear of the house. 
Young- Williams then seized a gun and took his position at 
a window, whence he fired at some one just beyond the 
fence of the back yard. At this the firinj^ became i;eneral 
around the house. Several shots directed at the Hash of 
Williams's gun entered the window at which he was stand- 
ing. In the meantime his sister rushed to the door, and 
made a narrow escape, thirteen buckshot having entered 
the facing of the door within a few inches of her person. 
At the second or third shot fired by young Williams, some 
one cried out with an expression of i)ain, upon which the 
assailants retired." 

The result was that two of the attacking party were 
■wounded ; and fearing the consequences of the assault, on 
the next morning, Eush, together Avith Ohisolm and his 
deputy, Hill, appeared before J. C. Carpenter, a justice of 
the ])eace, and by atiidavit applied for a warrant to arrest 
Williams, and desired that it should be antedated, so that 
it might appear to have been issued on the day preceding 
and ])rior to the attack. The pui]>ose of this was to obtain 
some pretence for the assault. This being refused by Car- 
penter, they applied to another justice of the peace in 
another beat, who granted the warrant, and antedated it 
as desired. Chisolm then summoned a posse and pro- 
ceeded to arrest Williams and another young man, who 
was alleged to have been ])resent aiding and abetting 
AVilliajns, during the night of the attack, in offering resist- 
ence to ])rocess of law in the hands of the deputy sheriff. 
Young AVilliams (tonld only escai>c the vengeance of his 
persecutors by flying to Texas. The following is Chisolm's 
sworn testimony in regard to this affair before the con- 
gressional comnlitte(^ : 

"Twill say that 1 never have summoned anylxid^- but 
Democrats to help me arrest anybody. 1 summoned some 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 01 

Democrats to help me arrest a man out there who had shot 
a deputy sheriff of mine, and they went very cheerfully 
"with me ; but there was a clamor raised against them by 
this same crowd of men, and the next day Ave came very 
near having a general riot in our town on account of it. 
The deputy sheriff was shot while trying to arrest a man 
in my county, who had insulted a lady of our town, and 
when he came back slightly wounded, I raised a posse, all 
Democrats but one, and went after him, but we never found 
him. When we came back it was very late at night, and 
news was brought to the men with me before they got to 
town, that Mr. Ctu11j% Dr. Fox, and other men in the town 
had said that they hoped they would get their damned 
heads shot off" for going with such a man as me, a damned 
radical, to arrest a gentleman. The next day a boy came 
running to mj'^ house, and said that I had better go down 
in town, that there was going to be a general fight. When 
I got there I found four or five young men who w-ent with 
me there, with their double barrelled guns, and other men 
who were in sympathy with them. I asked them v.hat Avas 
the matter. They said they did not intend to let any man 
say they were a G — d damned set of low down scoundrels, 
for going to do w^hat they conceived to be their dutj^, to 
execute the law. 

" Q. Who was it that was making a fuss with them ? 

" A. Gully and Dr. Fox were the leaders of the crowd. I 
told them that we must have quiet and peace there, but 
that if anybody had insulted them, and had done any 
wrong to them, ' I will fight, notwithstanding I am sheriff. 
I am not sheriff" enough to have you run over us all.' 
When Dr. Fox saw that I was in town, and a big crowd 
coming around me, a man brought me a double barrelled shot 
gun. Fox put his head out of the den they stayed in, and 
said: 'It is a damned infernal lie! ISTone of us said any- 
thing about you, or any of those men who went with you 
yesterday ; and these boys are getting a stir up in this town 
for nothing.' Said I : 'Fox, while I have my own opinion 
as to what you said, come out here and declare that pub- 



62 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

licly and all will be right.' lie came out aud said : 'The 
Jiiaii wlio said 1 said aiiylLiiig about you, or tlie ineu who 
went wiili you yesterday, tells a damned internal lie.' Said 
I : '13oys, that is satislactory. It does not make any ditier- 
ence now as to what anybody may tell you, they may i^o 
to him now.' And then Gully wrote a note stating that 
he had not said unytliing about it." 

Here we have, according to his own sworn statement, a 
shcrif}', the i)eace otiicer ol' the county, encouraging a pend- 
ing afiray, ami heading a threatened riot. The individuals 
who composed this so called i)osse, to whom he alludes, and 
characterizes as beini<" all Democrats save one, and belong- 
ing to the iirst families in the town, w'crc as follows : 

John Hill, a radical, mentioned before as the desperado 
Avhom Cliisolm im])orted and made deputy sheriff to in- 
timidate, if not to assassinate, John W. Clully ; Charles 
liosenbaum, a fornnu' deputy of his, and a radical ; J. J\r. 
lloberts, a radical, and crony of Chisolni ; Henry Uohannan, 
a radical ; J. F. Grace and A. ]\r. McClelland, i-adicals : 
Ben liush, a radical, and former deputy sherilf under 
Chisolm, the man who kiilcd Sam Gully, and who had jnib- 
licly charged his own wile with discreditable intinuicy with 
young "Williams; and Tom J. liam))ton, who was the only 
Democrat among them, and who was inveigled into the 
nu)b under the im[)ression that it was a lawlul posse, aud 
that his summons was a duty which he could not avoid. 

As to the scene which Cliisolm so glowingly depicts under 
oath, as occurring in the streets of De Kalb, in which he, 
as sherilf, with double barrelled gun in hand, headed thest' 
men, all likewise armed, and promenaded the streets to the 
intimidation and terror of Gully and Fox, the writer has 
been able to hnd no conlirmation of it whatever. Yet, be 
this as it may, the allegation itsell", so audaciously and 
boastfully made, shows the character of the man, and 
forms am)ther link in the chain of lawlessness that marked 
liis cours(>, on all occasions, and stamped every feature el 
his career. 

It is certain that m-ither John W. Gidly or Dr. Fox, to 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. Go 

wliom lie alludes, ever manifested any disposition to cringe 
to Cliisolm under any circumstances, or to shirk any per- 
sonal responsibility which he might see proper to saddle 
upon them, save so far as to avoid, if possible, the difii- 
culties into which he constantl}^ sought to involve them. 

Not long after this occurrence, an attempt was made at 
night to shoot Hush while entering his gate. The shot 
proceeded from a gun in the hands of some person con- 
cealed behind the corner of an old church, about fortj^ 
yards distant. Chisolm seized upon this circumstance as 
the means of producing another collision between Eush 
and John W. Gully. Before the Joint Select Committee of 
Congress, in 1871, appointed for the purpose of gatherijig 
up outrages throughout the South with which to feed the 
enforcement acts, and to perpetuate military rule for the 
benefit of the radical party in the South, Chisolm testiiied 
in reference to this affair as follows. In answer to a ques- 
tion as to what he knew about the matter, he said : 

" I was the first man who got to Eush after he was shot ; 
was at the court house vvhen I heard the shots. We were 
trying to secure a person at the time Captain Eush left the 
court house. I liad seen a great deal of maneuvering go- 
ing on among men who I regarded as ver}' bad men in the 
community. Just at dark I told Captain Jvush that I 
thought he had better look out, that I thought there was 
going to be another raid in the county 5 that I saw some 
maneuvering going on that I did not like. 

" Q. You said you discovered some suspicious movements 
then, that day? 

" A. Yes, sir; and I had informed Eush and three others 
there, that evening, that there was something wrong going 
on; that the men who 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 consisted 
mainly of seeing a number of men collected in the back of 
Cully's store — a gentleman there whom I think every man 
in llie coiiuty regards as one who does not care an^ thing 



01 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

about liaving the law executed. There were several men 
there from out iu the country, two of them brothers of tliis 
man Gully, and several other suspicious characters. There 
Avas one other man iu town whom I did not know at all. 

"Q. Why did you suspect these men of hostility toward 
Eush? 

"A. I suspected them of hostility' toward any man who 
was opposed to lawlessness, and rioting, and doing* things 
illegal and wrong in the county; more especially to Ivush, 
because he and they were not friendly, as these parties are 
not friendly to any man who does not agree with them in 
politics." 

Whatever nmy be the truth or falsitj' of these statements, 
it is plain that Chisolm seems never to be barren of the 
disposition to cast obloquy and imputation upon John W. 
Gully, and never forgetful of an opportunity of, in some 
Avay, connecting hiju with every discreditable occurrence. 

The preceding testimony of Chisolm will, 1 am sure, 
readily suggest the spirit that actuated the testifier. Tlit^ 
character of his suspicions, and the reasons he assigns for 
their existence, bear the stami) of absurdity and the color 
of purpose upon their face. 

There is not now, iior has there ever been, the least scin- 
tilla of evidence to connect any of thcGullys with this ad. 
It is certain that John W. Gully had nothing to do with i 
his character forbids such a supposition ; he was not a man 
to attack his enemy in the dark. This feature of his char- 
acter is vouched for by all who knew him ; and if any sus- 
picion rested upon the younger Gully s, it had no other 
foundation than the i)lausibilit3' ari.sing from a suflicient 
cause. The innocent blood of a brother, uncle and father 
will, like that of Abel of old, continue to cry Irom the 
ground in a voice that cannot fail to reach the dullest ear 
and the most callous heart of humanity, and if sentiment 
])r()ves sui)('rior to vengeance, it is because reason is more 
])()\\'('rful than lagc. Unt we must leave this «letestable 
act wiaj»i)((l ill the clouds of mystery, which none but the 
perpetrator and the eye of lieaven can penetrate. 



KEMPETl COUNTY VINDICATED. G5 

During- the period we arc now traversiug, tliat is 1870 
and 1871, the star of Mississippi that had blazed so bright- 
ly upon the escutcheons of both the Uuion and the Confed- 
eracy was obscured by tlie glitter of the military epaulet, 
her mantle of sovereignty was trailed in the dust, and her 
political vesture was parted between the soldier, the negro 
and the carpet bagger. 

It was during this time that a military force was stationed 
at Lauderdale, on the Mobile & Ohio Eailroad, close to 
Kemper County, and the reader will now, perhaps, be pre- 
pared for an era of quietude in that county, but it is only 
necessary to refer again to the book of J. M. Wells to 
have our hopes and expectations again dashed to the 
ground. He says : " From late in 1809 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." 

If this be true, and there bo no limitn tion upon the trial 
of military offenders, I would respectfully call the attention 
of the President of the United States and that of the general 
of the army to the fact, and would respectfully suggest that 
the officers in command of this Lauderdale garrison be at 
once placed upon trial and cashiered or shot for such grave, 
aggravated and high handedderelictiouof duty, as to allow 
thirty-five negroes to be killed by the ku-klux under their 
very noses, while their records and reports show but one, a 
single instance of a citizen of Kemper County having been 
tried for negro killing. 

John E. Chisolm, brother of W. W., was at this time the 
sheriff and jieace officer ofthe county, while W. W. Chisolm 
was his deputy, and was, as he testified before the investi- 
gating committee, "running the office." There shonld 
certainly be some severe penalty in waiting for officers wlio, 
upon the word of a crony, are thus shown to have been 
guilty of such culpable misfeasance and nonfeasance. 

But here Wells again comes to the rescue. He stiys : 
" By the untiring i)erseverance of Judge Chisolm and a low 
associates, the military were enabled to raid heavily and 

5 



66 KEMPEll COUNTY VINDICATED. 

more sncccssfiilly upon the l;l;in, uiuliminLcrsof tlieni were 
arrestetl, while others lied lor sai'et^' and sought new fields 
of glory in more hospitable eliines. IMany of thc^ men ap- 
prehended, siiys Judge Chisoliu in his testimony, told hy 
whom they had been encouraged to perform these acts of 
lawlessness, l-'oremost among tlie names given in this 
connection were those of Joim \V. Gull^' and Dr. Fox." 

jS'otwithstanding all this bugaboo of thirty-five liumnu 
beings having been liuinche<l into eternity in a shorter space 
than two years, by the hand of the masked assassin, the 
writer, after the most diligent inquiry and assiduous inves- 
tigation lias been unable to discover the least trace of these 
events. He is writing this work at Do ]valb, the county 
seat of Ivemper County, where he has all the records of the 
courts at his command, and constant access to the people 
in all parts of the county, lie has inquired of men 
of all classes and ])oliti(;s, and the universal and invariable 
characterization of Wells' ku-klux stor}- is, that it is utterly 
false and without the least foundation either in fact or 
rumor. The writer has been able to discover but two in- 
stances of negro killing in Kemper County during the 
period assigned by \YelIs to such a holocaust of blood ; 
and one of these was the killing of IMiles Hampton, a few 
miles from He Kalb, who was accidentally killed, ha\ iiig 
been mistaken in the night for another negro who had com- 
mitted a heinous olfence, and his killing was attended l)y 
circumstances somewhat similar to the attack made by the. 
Chisolm clan uiion young AVilliams, which has been referre<l 
to. 

Captain Thomas Woods, who, during this time was distrirl 
attorney, informs the writer that all this is most maliciously 
i'alse ; that there were but few Icillings in the county duiiiig 
this period, and they \\er(>, in nearly evei-y case, the lesuli 
of the niisrul(>. inaugiiialed by the radicals. 

1 will (race A\'ells once mon*. through the dre:ir wilds ot" 
his imagiiKiry murders of this period, Mid then discard his 
bloody Jictions and concocted rei)orts as no less wearisome 
and disgusting to the WTilcr than he feels assured they will 
be to the reader. 



KEMPEIi COUNTY VINDICATED. G7 

It is said that oa one occasion wlieu Ilercules Avas atteiul- 
ing- bis herds among the jnountains of Thrace, they began 
to disappear one by one in a mysterious manner. Ilercules 
endeavored to track them, and by that means to ascertain 
the direction in which they had wandered or had been 
driven oH'; and yet he could lind no trace of an off going 
track, ne discovered, it is true, a suspicious looking 
cave, but then the tracks were all leading away from it. 
But he finally discovered that this cave was the abode 
of the thief, and that the latter had carried off the 
stolen cattle b^" the tail, in order to prevcut their being 
tracked. In this same manner Wells has endeavored to 
parry attention from any opening in his mountain of men- 
dacit}'. lie has drawn all his falsehoods after him by the 
tail. His chapter of crimes in Kemper County finds no 
support in the records of the courts, nor in the knowledge 
of the oldest inhabitants of the county. 

" Yet, whether true or basest lie, 
Ilis party must have food or die." 

The following proceedings before the military commis- 
sion, held at Lauderdale, in the winter and spriug of 1870, 
will give a pretty good idea of the quality of the food used, 
and the manner of its preparation : In this connection 
Wells quotes from the testimony of E. C. Powers, once 
Kew England governor of Mississippi, and which he in- 
vokes as utterly unimpeachable, when it is well known in 
Mississippi, vvhere he now resides, that during the whole 
radical career in this State, in which he was a prominent 
actor. Powers fully and unreservedly participated in every 
scheme, of whatever nature, calculated to advance the in- 
terest of his party or himself; and that he, in unison and 
complicity with all others of his party in Mississii)pi, 
looked to the process of the "outrage mill" as an unfail- 
ing source of support, and his conduct has never v/ari'anted 
his veracity being deemed any more indubitable than that 
of his political associates. 

And here, it may not be improper to relate a circum- 



6S KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

stance that occurred at Do Kalb durijig a political canvass 
in M'liicli this same Powers was i^layin^- a conspicuous part. 
It was while W. W. Chisolin was sheriff of Kemper County. 
Powers was uiakin.i? a speech, represented to liave been ex- 
tremely violent and incendiary in its character, in whieli he 
was takinij: occasion to tell the negroes that the jJ)eiiK)ci-ats 
had and wouhl continue to steal from them everything- they 
jnade ; that that was a common complaint and a universal 
fact 5 whereui)on John W. Gully, Avho was present, said to 
Powers that if that assertion was based upon negro testi- 
mony, then negro testimony should be as available on 
one side as on the other, and that he had it from good au- 
thority that the negroes on his (Powers') place had refused 
to pay their taxes on the ground that he (Powers) had 
robbed them of everything they made, and that he ought 
to pay tlicir taxes. 

This interruption was made in a mild and res]>ectful 
manner; wlien W. W. Cliisolm, who was then slierilf, and a 
candidate for re-election, ran out of the court house and up 
to the speaker's stand, with liis ]>istol in his hand, exclaim- 
ing, "By (r — d, John (jirully shan't talk to Governor Powers 
in that way," and seeing a negro with a gun slariding by, 
lie placed his hand on liis shoulder, saying, "That is 
right, old iV'llow, stand up to us; and should they kill me, 
by G — d, don't you let any one of them escape ! I have 
got ten thousand dollars saved for my wile, and, by G — d, 
I would just as soon die as not!" This circumstance has 
been related to the writer, and vouched for by many of the 
]nost respectable men in the county, who were present at 
the time. 

P)Ut I will leave this question of veracity with W<?lls 
Powers, and the oflicers of the Ibllowing commission, the 
proceedings of wliich are introduced here for the further 
reason tliat the writer deems them Avorthy of per])etuation 
as a memento of radical infamy. The cases tiied b''lbre 
this commission are the same, of which Wells manufactures 
some of his most " terrible killings." 



I KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. C9 

J Headquartees Fourth Military District, ) 

Department of Mississippi, I 

Jackson, Mississippi, ^eptcmher 14, 1869. ) 

Special Orders > Extract 

I. A military commission is hereby appointed to meet at 
the post of Lauderdale, Mississippi, a-t 10 o'clock a. m., ou 
the 17th instant, or as soon thereafter as practicable, for 
the trial of such prisoners as may be pro^^erly brought 
before it. 

detail for the commission. 

1. Captain J. F. Eandlett, TJ. S. army. 

2. First Lieutenant W. H. Vinal, Sixteenth Infantry. 

3. Brevet Major G. Yan Blucher, U. S. army. 

4. First Lieutenant E. C. Gaskill, U. S. army. 

5. First Lieutenant William Qninton, U. S. army. 
C. Brevet Major Placidus Ord, U. S. arm^^. 

7. First Lieutenant J. S. Appletou, U. S. army. 
First Lieutenant William J. Daws, Judge Advocate. 
The commission will sit without regard to hours. 
By command of 

Brevet Major General Abies. 
(Signed.) Williajvi Atwood, 

Aide-de-camp, Acting Assistant Adjutant General. 

By subsequent special orders, the following members 
have been relieved : Captain J. F. Bandlett, Brevet Major 
Placidus Ord, First Lieutenant William H. Vinal. 



Headquarters Fourth Military District, ) 

Department of Mississippi, [• 

Jackson, Mississippi, October 7, 1869. ) 

Special Orders) fx-tt^att 

No. 217. ( jKJviitAoi. 

II. Captain Eeuben Eobbins is hereby relieved from duty 
at the post of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and detailed as a 



70 KE:\irER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

mcnibor of tlio military oomniission instituted at Lauder- 
dale, 3Ii.s8issii)i)i, by S])ecial orders Ino. 108, i)aragrapli II., 
current series, Iroiu these lieadcjiiarters. 
IJy conunand of 

13KEVET ]\L\..jon General Ames. 
(Signed.) ^VILLI^3I Atwood, 

Aide-de-camp, Actintj Assistant Adjutant General. 
A true copy, 

"Willi A:\r Daws, 

First Lieutenant U. 8. Army. 



Charges and specifications preferred against Dick Evans, 
Kiley llickerbothani, James Fulton, ITarvey JJrown, John 
Lovine, Amos Humphries, Thouuvs Kuntz and ]\Iichael 
Kuntz, citizens. 

charge first— murder. 

Specification. — Tn this, that Dick Evans, Kiley ITicker- 
bothani, James Fulton, Harvey Brown, John Lovine, Amos 
numphries, Thomas Kuntz and 31ichael Kuntz, citizens of 
Winston County, in the State of Mississij^ju, eonsi)iring 
Avith other evil disi)osed ])ersons heietofore, to wit: On or 
about the sixteeiitli day of Juiu', in the year of our Lord 
one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in said County 
of Winston, State of ]Mississii)pi, diil make an assault 
u])on one Alexander Triplett, otherwise called Alexander 
Duncan. They, the said Dick Evans, Kiley llickerbotham, 
James l^'ulton, Ilarvey Krown, John Lovine, Amos Ilum- 
])hries, Thomas JCuntz and 3licliael Kuntz, did then ami 
there, feloniously, wilfully, and of their malice aforethought, 
kill and murder. 

ciiai;ge si:cond— assault avitii intent to kill. 

Specification. — In this, that they, Dick l*'vans, Kil(>y llick- 
erbotham, James Fulton, IIar\'ey Krown, John Lovine, 
Amos Humphries, Thomas Kuntz ami Michael Kuntz, citi- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 71 

zons of Winston Couuty, in tlio State of Mississippi, con- 
spiring witli other evil disposed persons lieretoforo, to wit : 
On or iibout tlie sixteenth day of Jane, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in said 
County of AV^inston, State of iMississippi, did feloniously 
and with malice aforethoug-ht, make an assault with intent 
to kill upon three persons, to wit: Alexander Triplett, 
otherwise called Alexander Duncan, Alexander Trii)lett 
and Lizzie Triplett, of said county and State. 

CHA.RGE THIRD— ASSAULT AND BATTERY. 

Specification. — In this, that they, Diclc Evans, Riley Ilick- 
crbotliam, James Fulton, llarve^^ lirown, John Lovine, 
Amos Humphries, Thomas Kuutz aud Michael Kuntz, citi- 
zens of Winston County, in the State of Mississippi, con- 
spiring- with other evil disposed persons heretofore, to wit : 
On or about the sixteenth day of June, in the j'ear of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred aud sixty-uine, in said 
County of Winston, State of Mississi[)pi, did then aud there 
feloniously assault and beat Alexander Triplett, otherwise 
called Alexander Duncan, Alexander Triplett and Lizzie 
Triplett, of said county aud State. 

CHARGE FOURTH— RIOT. 

specification. — In this, that they, Dick Evans, Riley Ilick- 
crbotham, James Fulton, Harvey Brown, John Lovine, 
Amos Humx^hries, Thomas Kuutz and Michael Kuntz, citi- 
zens of Winston County, State of jMississippi, conspiring- 
with other evil disposed persons, did on or about the six- 
teenth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and sixty- 
nine, in said County of Winston, and State of Mississippi, 
feloniously, maliciously and with evil intent, disturb the 
])eace of the inhabitants, by destroying i)rivate property, to 
wit: portions of the dwellings of Alexander Triplett and 
others, injuring and abusing three persons, to wit: the 
bodies of xVlexander Triplett, otherwise called Alexander 
Duncan, Alexander Triplett and Lizzie Triplett, and by 



72 IvEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

such violout and turbulent conduct, rendering- it unsafe for 
well disposed persons to remain in said County and State. 
(Signed.) JAMES F. RANDLETT, 

Captain TJ. 8. A. 

Then comes a lon^ line of witnesses, and from the num- 
ber of Duncans and Trijilctts among tliem, it would seem 
tbat tliey were mostly for the ])rosecution, and yet these 
men were all acquitted and released after all the stern for- 
malities of the military code had been thoroughly exercised 
upon them. 

But what will Wells do about the fact, that there was no 
Gully in this case ? He thought, perhaps, that he had got- 
ten beyond the reacli of the truth when he misnamed some 
of the parties in this case, and transferred it from 18G9 to 
1871. But in the book written by that individual, neither 
years, nor months, nor days, nor facts, nor falsehoods, are 
assigned any particular signilicanco, only when they suit 
the occasion. He evidently deemed anachronism and in- 
coherency the most potent allies of falsehood, as being the 
best calculated to conceal his impossibilities and absurd- 
ities. 

The writer is assured by the then ofQccrs of the county 
that Wells never once examined the records of their offices, 
and that no one can be ibund in the county of whom he 
made any inquiry, other than the members of the Chisolm 
clan. 

And his geography, too, is as mendacious as his chrono- 
logy and nomenclature, and adds additional falsehood to 
his facts, as the following extract from his book will show. 
He says : 

" The immediate occasion of this visit of the klan to the 
])lantation of ex-Governor Powers, was as follows : Matt 
])nnc,an, the colored man whom they sought to kill that 
night, some two years before had rei)orted to the military, 
at Camp Lauderdale, the murder of a little brother of his 
by the same crowd of men. This boy — Piatt's brother — 
was taken from his cabin, tlrau-n and quartered, and his 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. '■ 73 

mangled body tlirown into the Talladega swauip. Matt's 
offence was that lie had reported this 'little act of j)leas- 
antry' to tlie authorities." Tt is evident from this, that 
Wells liad heard of the English crime of high treason, and 
from it invoked to his aid an expression that for genera- 
tions has had no i)ractical significance under the English 
law, yet it has the sound of horror, and that was sufiicient 
for his puri)osc. Again, it is believed, that there is uot iu 
the State of Mississii)pi, a river, creek, bottom, or swamp 
that bears the name " Talladega " There is a town and 
small stream by that name iu the northern part of the 
State of Alabama, hundreds of miles from the alleged 
scene, but none in Mississippi. The very name was un- 
known to the Indians who inhabited its forests, and the 
writer, after thorough inquiry, has found this story to have 
been fashioned by the same mould that has given forma- 
tion to most of the " terrible killings " of Wells. It would 
be inconceivable how any one could read the following 
narrative, so obnoxious to paternal experience and to 
cveiy sentiment of humanity, without the mingled feelings 
of scorn and indignation for the author of the concoction. 
lie says : 

" George Evans, the young man killed," on this visit of 
the klan to the plantation of ex-Governor Powers, "had 
been raised in the county, and was well known by every- 
body. Two of liis 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 
ileatli was caused from eating too many oysters and sar- 
;lines the night before. The kind of which he partook was 
m healthy, no <lonbt." 

Such a ruthless invasion of the most sacred precincts of 
inman relations for the purpose of giving color to slander 
^vill certainly excite the feelings of disdain iu every up- 
iglit heart and well regulated mind. As might well bo 
presupposed, this man, George Evans, as the writer has 



74 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

beon reliably informed, and wliose family still resides in 
the county of Winston, was not killed, but is at this day 
livin<; in the State of Texas, whither he lied to escape the 
])erse(;ution of his radical enemies; and his death, lilve the 
Icilliiiii-, drawinji', <]uarteriri_i:-, and exi)Osure of the scattered 
limbs of the boy in the Talhideiia swamp, has no foundation 
save in the mind of "Wells and his historical 'jhapcrons. 

Tint he proceeds from this to point the unfailing; moral 
of his tales, whether their scene lies iu Kemper, Winston, 
or any other county, or in the swamps of Alabanm. ITe 
siiys : 

" Duriug: all these years of outlawry, unequalled in tlie 
liistory of barbarous tribes anywhere on the earth, accord- 
ing to the sworn testimony of Judge Ciiisolm, the head- 
quarters of the klan for Kemper County were at the 
grocery store of John W. Gully." 

The shades of this man, like the ghost of ITamlet, will 
never down in his pathway, but, by some mj-sterious in- 
lluence, seems to constantly penetrate the line of his slan- 
derous narratives, until his pricked conscience seems to 
seek strength tor new fabrications iu a fresh atta(;k ui)on 
the devoted Gully, which but adds confirmation to the 
adage that " A guilty conscience needs no accuser." 

And yet, d'uring all these years of outlawry, unequalleil 
in the history of barbarous tribes anywhere upon the earth, 
according to the testimony of Judge Chisolm, this same 
Judge Chisolm was the shcrilf and i)eacc oflicer of tho • 
(bounty of Ketn])er, had a military force to back him sta- 
tioned on the very borders ol' the county. Why were they 
not arrested and brought to trial? And, if guilty, why 
Avere they not ])uiiishe(l ? 

Wells is iu)t lacking for a solution. He says: "James 
^Vatts and A. G. lOllis, two sycophantic and hypori'itical 
lawyers, wei'c theii' legal ;idvisers, when, at t\\o same time, 
they were under pay of Jndge Ciiisolm and his friends lor 
the transaction of legitimalc business." 

The writer is well ac(|uainled with Captain James Watls, 
and he has known A. (J. Ellis from his boyhood up to his 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 75 

death. Tliey were both g'cntlemen, and good hiwyers, and 
their sympathies were warm for their oppressed and perse- 
cuted countrynion, and in what respect and to whom they 
Avere playing tlie i)art of the characters assigned tliejn, was 
not capable of detinition even by this slcilled defamer. If 
he means that they were playing the part of sycophancy 
to Chisolm, or ever engaged their services to aid him in 
any of his alleged "legitimate" schemes of villainy, the 
writer will undertake to say in their behalf that such inti- 
mation is but another stalk in his broad lield of prevarica- 
tion. 

Again, he says : " Thomas W. Adams, a white man, hav- 
ing been a clerk in the llepublican constitutional conven- 
tion, which met in Jackson, in the winter of ISGS, had thus 
incurred the wrath of Eox and the Gullys, and, accord- 
ingly, was 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 aifair, gave 
their names to the military, and they fled the country." 

Now, Adams, who is now living not far from De Kalb, in 
Kemper County, denies this whole statement, and says that 
it has not the least foundation in fact, nor did ho even hear 
of these circumstances until he was told of the representa- 
tions made by Wells. 

The history of this man Adams, which the writer has as- 
certained to be beyond all question, is this, and it shows 
[the kind of material selected: An old man, living in Lau- 
derdale County, had a negro daughter, whom he openly 
recognized as such. She was his slave, and he hired or 
bribed this man Adams to marry her. Adams, about the 
Commencement of the war, applied to George L. Welsh, 
then Probate clerk of Kemper County, for license to marry 
the iiegro girl. Welsh, notwithstanding that there is no 
law in Mississippi forbidding miscegeny, but it has been 
pnly declared to be void between a white person and negro, 



76 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

took upon himself tbe responsibility of rcCnsing to issue the 
li(;eiise. Whereupon Adams went away from the county, 
carryin<; the nonio with liim. He was heard from no more 
until after the war, when he returned with his negro wife 
to Kemper County, where he is still residing with lier. 

These are the facts in this case, and it may not be iiu- 
lU'oper to observe, that had Adams met with the punisli- 
ment he is alleged to have received, it is qnestionable 
whetlier it wonld have been unmerited ; at least it may bo 
asserted that tliere are many communities other than 
Southern where such a penalty would have been iniiicted ; 
yet Adams, to-day, in this terrible countj", revels, unmo- 
lested, with his dusky consort in the shocking bonds of 
miscegen^'. 

Another circumstance seized upon by Wells to i)oint his 
usual moral of aspersion upon the Gullys, occurred prior 
to these occurrences, but order of time seems to have no 
l)lace with him. It is as follows : A young man, named 
Jones, who had killed his stepfather in Alabama, and who 
had tied from justice, arrived at the house of Sloke Gully 
entirely destitute and seeking for employment. He re- 
mained tiiere during the night, and on the next morning, 
while he was negotiating with Mr. Gully in regard to his 
services, a posse of men from Alabama, who were pursuing 
liim, and had secured the services of Ual Dawson, a resi- 
dent ol" Kemper County, in the capacity of a guide, sud- 
denly nmdo their appearance at the gate. So soon as 
Jones saw them he recognized them, as they were his rela- 
tives, and injmediately comprehending their object, he ran 
oul through a back way, and made good his escape to a 
neighboring forest. The men ]nirsucd him, but after a 
fruitless search, continuing several hours, they returned to 
the liouse and informed Mr. Gully of the circumstances, of 
which he had learned nothing from Jones. These men 
giirve up the pursuit and left the neighborhood. There was 
not a shot fired, and Jones was no more seen or heard ol' 
until sometime after the war it became known that he was 
living with some other relatives in Alabama, where he now 
resides. I 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 77 

And yet of tliis simple circumstance, the indefatigable 
Wells lias concocted the following- nnreasonable story : 
" That Jones who was sitting at Gnlly's table lied and was 
pursued by Dawson and Gully to the forest, where several 
shots were heard In a lew 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 outwalking, discovered the body of the mur- 
dered boy in the creek which runs near the place from 
whence the thing was heard," and that, in the meantime 
Mr. IMardis, an uncle of the boy, living in Kemper County, 
" supposing his nephew had gone back to Alabama, said 
nothing of the matter until one day, some months after- 
wards, when in De Kalb he was accosted by John W. Gully, 
then sheriff, who told Mardis that ho had better ' go slow,' 
adding- at the same time, ' that is catching- before hanging-, 
and you can't prove avIio killed young Jones.'" 

The reader will not be slow to observe how plainly the 
above representation bears the marks of falsehood on its 
face, and the writer has ascertained beyond (juestion that 
all these circumstances are purely fabrications, in which 
it has been plainly seen Wells is never deficient, especially 
when there is any possibility of connecting a Gully with 
his tragical inventions. 

Again, says Wells : " It w^as before this time that Etna, 
a colored woman, was taken out by some unknown parties, 
tied to a tree and whii^ped to death. Her bod}' was found 
there on the following day, in a perfectly nude state." 

The truth of this matter is that a negro woman by that 
name, who was in a delicate situation, was whipped bj' some 
one, and that she in all probability died from its effects, but 
it is at the same time well known by those living- in the 
vicinity, that this woman had caused a scandal to be circu- 
lated in respect to the families of some radicals who lived 
in the neighborhood, and, there being no other assignable 
cause for the act, it is believed to this day by the citizens 
that it was the work of some of these parties. As to her 
being found bound to a tree is, as the writer is informed, 
entirtilv false. 



78 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Again: "About tlic same time, a colored man named 
Moses McDade was found dead in tlieroad. He liad been 
shot by some parties unknown/' 

It is known tliat he was sliot by another ue<;ro who ran 
off, and has never been lieard of since; the jury of inquest 
imi)annelled by the negro coroner, who now lives in De 
Kalb, so stated in their return to the court. 

Again : '• A Baptist minister by the name of Henry 
AVliite was present at the lynching and hanging of a negro 
for some alleged offence during the war, and lent material 
aid iu the ])erformance of the nuirderous act. He after- 
wards asserted that he was ready, and more than willing to 
engage at any time iu au undertaking of the kind when his 
imstoral duties would not interfere " 

If AVells obtained the least scintilla of truth upon which 
to build this story, it is more than the writer has been able 
to do, notwithstanding that he has had access to every 
source of information, has conversed with and made in- 
quiries about these matters of all classes of persons of all 
colors and all politics ; yet he finds that even the voice of 
report itself is silent concerning them. 

Thus it Avill be seen that AYells has no regard as to the 
subjects of his slander. He tears open the graves of the 
living and the dead, enters the saercd i)reciucts of do- 
mestic relations, invadt^s the very sanctity of religion, and 
leaves his stains upon the altars of the Most High. 

" Yes, 'tis slander, 
"Whose edge is sharper than tlio sword, whoso tongue 
Outvcnoms all the worms of Nile, wliose breath 
Rides on the posting winds and doth belie 
All corners of the world, kings, queens and States, 
Maids, matrons, yea the secrets of the grave, 
This viperous slander enters. " 

Again : " In the spring of 18G5, James Johnson, a white 
man, was waylaid, when going from his home in the south- 
western beat to De Kalb, shot and instantly killed. John- 
son had been a merchant and highly respected." 



KEMPEU COUNTY VINDICATED. 79 

lie liad also beou a conscript officer in the Confederate 
service, and was at the time of the surrender, and it \vas 
and is fully believed by his friends and by all who were ac- 
quainted with hiiu and the circumstances of his death, that 
he Avas killed by some one of the so called Union men or 
deserters, who afterwards became a conspicuous aud fund- 
amental element of the radical party, and the active ad- 
lierents of the clan that produced all the subsequent troubles 
in Kemper County. 

In the following instance, related by Wells, he has lit 
upon some ground of truth. John Edwards had killed a 
man by the name of Eakins. The father of young Edwards 
and his uncle. Jack Edwards, applied to and engaged the- 
services of a young lawyer named Simms, in the defence. 
These three started out together in apparently i)erfect 
friendship, to some distant point, whether on business con- 
nected with the defence of young Edwards or not, the 
writer has not been able to ascertain. However, while 
riding along, a dispute arose between Jack Edwards and 
Simms, which resulted in a light and the death of Simms. 
It was supposed that all three of them were drunk. The 
parties made their escape and were never brought to trial. 
They were both dissipated men and desperate when drunk. 

" Soon after this," says Wells, " a man named l^yson 
assaulted Mr. Spear with a hoe, while in a field at work. 
Si)ear was thus slain and his head beaten to a jelly." A 
gentleman who was a witness to this affair, has just stated 
to the writer the following facts regarding this matter: 
That Tyson was the keeper of a livery stable in De Kalb 
prior to the war, and that Spear went to the stable in an 
intoxicated condition- and began to abuse Tyson, who made 
every effort to rid himself of Spear, but on the latter jier- 
sisting in his efforts to get into a difficulty with Tyson, his 
jiatience finally became exhausted, and picking up a hoe 
lying near at hand, he struck Spear on the head with it, 
without any further intention than that of chastising him 
and rei)elliug the assault. Spear having been struck on a 
tender i^ortion of his head, died from the effects of the 
blow. 



After tliis, one of the Spears liiul a dillienlty with a man 
by the name of Goins. It was .siMii)Iy a (hunken brawl, 
and in the warmth of tlie fi<,'ht 8[)ear.s slabbed (Joins w ith 
a small knife, from the efi'eets ol which he died. A nei»how 
of this (Joins then attacked and killed Spear at his wagon 
camp, and then fled from the conn try. 

These circumstances all occurred lon.i;' i)reviously to the 
Avar, and at loni;* intervals, and are of no more importance 
and no more indicative of a depraved state of society than 
simihir ones to be found in the history of almost every 
community. 

But if in the relating- of these events, AVells has here and 
there left a track in the path of trntli, he has left no trace 
along her highway in his description of the following case: 
He says: "At Llackwater, in Kempiu' County, (leorge 
Alexander, a brother-in-law of one Phil Gully — whose char- 
acter and name will be more fully discussed hereafter, had 
sonui Avords with T5en Caraway. They sui)se(iuently made 
friends, shook hands and separated ; and from all ci\ili/A\l 
or savage usages of which we have any account, one might 
suppose that further danger of assault by either ])arty was 
at an end. But uot so in Kemper County. Caraway was 
a blacksmith, and went to work in liis shop, little thinking 
of danger, when Alexander walked stealthily in, stepjied 
u[) behind liim, and at a single blow with a ]iea\y i)iece of 
wood, struck him dead. For this murder, an unusual oc- 
currence in cases of this kind, Alexander was arrested, 
placed under guard, and that night it is said IMiil C«ully 
j)rocured his es(;ape. Gully, on being asked if it would not 
have been better liad Alexander been tried belbre leaving, 
replied that he thought not ; he had taken counsel of Judy 
ITamon — then a ju-acticing lawyer, and Jlamon had told 
liim that if tried, ^Mexander would certaiidy be hanged." 

The truth is, that Caraway was no blaclcsmith ; nor was 
ithis sho]) at which Ihey met. Alexander and Caraway had 
previously to this had a dillicully, ami on tlie occasion ol' the 
killing they met by accident at a smith's shop, in the 
neighborhood, belonging to a man 1)y (he name of Buchee. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. Si 

The quarrel was renewed, aucl Caraway seized a sled go 
liammer and made an attack on Alexander, and would no 
doubt liave killed him but tkat the latter anticipated the 
blow by knocking Caraway down with a billet of wood, 
from the effects of which he died. Alexander was arrest- 
ed, placed under bond, gave bail, made his apx)earance at 
the bar of the court at the time to which the recognizance 
was returnable, when, as the record shows, there was a 
continuajice obtained by the State. And at the next term 
of the court he was fairly tried and acquitted upon the plea 
and in'ooi of self defence. 

ALEXANDER KILLED CARAWAY ON AUGUST 1, 1858. 



State 

V. y Trial, 18G0. 

Alexander. 



The following is an extract from the final record in this 
case : " This day came the district attorney, who prosecutes 
for the State, and also came the defendant, into court, who, 
having been arraigned in open court on a former day of 
this term of the court, and pleaded ' not guilty' in manner 
and form as charged in the indictment, and for his trial 
puts himself upon the country ; and the district attorney, 
on behalf of the State, doth the like. And therefore, came 
a jury of good and lawful men, summoned for the purpose 
of trying this case, and chosen as well by defendant's 
counsel as by the State, from the number summoned ac- 
cording to law as aforesaid, to wit : A. L. McKaskill, D. 
J). Briggs, E. C. Mobley, E. Fost, E. McDonald, J. C. Dale, 
A. M. White, W. D. King, William Fulton, Levi Johnson, 
P. H. Hampton and M. llunuicutt, who Avere duly sworn 
and impanelled according to law and the evidence, well and 
truly to try the issue in this cause, joined by the State of 
Mississii)pi and the defendant, and true verdict to render ac- 
cording to the law and the evidence. And after hearina the 



82 KEMPER COUNTY A'INDICA.TED. 

ari;ninent, ;is well for as against the said defeiuluiit, rctnni- 
ed to their room in cliarge of James L. lludnalland Alfred 
AVbite, officers and bailiffs of the court, specially sworn in 
open court to take cliarge of said jurors, and after consid- 
ering, rendered their verdict in court in the following words : 
' Wc, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.' It is there- 
fore considered by the court that the defendant go hence 
without day, aiul that the State of Mississippi pay the 
costs herein expended, for which execution may issue." To 
which is appended the usual certificate of the clerk of the 
court. This case is one of Wells's escapes alleged by him 
to have been i)rocured by the Gullys. 

Charles liobinson, whom Wells represents as having been 
staked to the ground, was a school teacher in Neshoba 
county, and on one occasion severely whip[)ed a little girl, 
one of his pui)ils. The chastisement was inflicted with so; 
much cruelty that it naturally and rightfully aroused the 
indignation of the parents and brothers of the girl, and 
they went to Kobinson's school house and took him out}j 
with the intention of whipping him in turn: but upon his' 
making suitable apologies and satislactory explanations of 
the matter, he was released without injury. IJut the reports ', 
in regard to this circumstance injured his school to such a!i 
extent, that llobinson left the neighborhood. 

After the war, and during radical rule in ]Mississipi)i, it 
was almost impossible in many neighborhoods to raise any 
stock whatever, and utterly out of the question for fruit or 
melons to ripen in the garden or orchard. This was peculi- 
arly the case in the greater i)art of J\emper County. And 
it was during this time, and under these circumstances, 
that Thomas Ibirton, living near Karkcta, while watching- 
his melon patch by night, shot at some one in the act of 
carrying away his melons; but no one was hurt, and no 
one ever knew* who the thief was. 

Yet, out of this simple circumstance, AVells has concocted 
a wonderful story of Burton shooting a negro woman and . 
child, and even son)c other person, none of which lias any 
ibundatioii iu fact. Burton was a man of exemplary char- 



KEMPER COUNTY VIKDICA.TED. S3 

acter; was au elder in tlie cliurcli, aiul of iinquestiouable 
piety 5 and lie lias not a single neighbor wlio would not 
raise his hand in horror at the idea of his being guilty of 
murder and assassination. 

There were during all this time but two negroes, one 
named Peden and one Miles Hampton, ayIio were killed in 
Kemper County by unknown persons, and only one 
Avhipped, whose name was Henry Greer. And the autlior 
lias been this moment informed by Hon. George Woods, a 
Northern man, who was the State's attorney for this district 
from the year 184(3 to 1854, and who is now chancellor of 
the seventh Mississippi district, that during all this time 
tliere were but few cases of killing in the county of Kem- 
})er. Thai- it was com]>niatively iree from occurrences of 
this nature, and its ciintinal docket remarkably light. And 
aiiotlier district attorney, who scr\ed from ISOG to 1870, 
.s;-iys that there are but few of the Icillings referred to by 
^VeIls, of which he has any knowledge, or ever heard of 
))efore. 

How Wells obtained his information can only be solved 
by the supposition that he obtained none at all. He cer- 
tainly never looked at the records of the county ; and 
although he was here in De Ivalb, ])retendiMg to be waiting 
on the Chisolm family, he talked with no one but the clan. 
He v/alked along the street, and no one paid any atten- 
tion to him ; and the writer has not found a single person 
who formed his acquaintance, or of whom he asked a single 
question. And it is apparent that he obtained only sucli 
insight into affairs as was sufhcient to afford suggestions 
for his concoctions. I would like to dismiss him entirely, 
and will do so, at least, for awhile, and return to the career 
of W. W. Chisolm. 

In the fall of 1860, as has been before mentioned, W. W. 
Chisolm was appointed sheriff of Kemper County by J. F. 
Alcorn, who had just been elected, by the negroes and New 
Englanders, governor of Mississippi. In this position he 
saw his Held of operatior.s still expanded, and his oppor- 
tunities for wreaking his vengeance more frequent and deci- 



84 ICEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

8ivc, And one of his first overt acts was, as might be 
expected, directed against tlie GuUys, as they seemed to be 
at this time tlie only obstacles to his niibridled career. 

A man by the name of Kig.nins had a light with and 
killed another by the name of Floyd. Iliggins was 
])romptly arrested by the friends of the deceased, ami as 
there was no snflicient jail at that time at DeKalb, he was 
sent to ]\racon, the county seat of the adjoining County of 
Noxubee, where he remained in jail until his trial. AVhen 
brought back for trial, there still being no safe jail, he was, 
as a matter of course, iidrusted to the hands of the sheriff 
and his ofticers. 

The friends of Floyd moved the court to have a guard 
placed over the prisoner, alleging that Chisolm would cer- 
tainly ])ermit an escape, for the reason that Floyd was a 
relative of the Gullys. The judge refused to order the 
guard, upon tlie ground that it was the duty of the sheriff 
to summon sid'licient strength to guard his i)risoner. In- 
stead of that, however, he was sent down to the residence 
of Ben Kush, Avho was Chisolm's deputy, and there a horse 
was furnished him belonging to the old Scotchman, McCIel- 
lan (who will hereafter iorm a conspicuous ligure in tliis 
work), upon which the prisoner Iliggins made his escape, 
aided, abetted and ])romot('d by Chisolm, the sherill" of the 
county, and his de])nty liush, and for no other reason than 
that the person whom he had killed was a friend and rela- 
tive of the (iullys. 

It may not be improper, in this jdace, to revert to the 
personal character of this man, Chisolm, and his family, 
whose names have been llaniited in the liuic of the world 
as synonyms of virtue and jinrity. In regard to the an- 
cestors of Chisolm, who weie Georgians, the writer has 
been able to learn but little. lie has, however, been in- 
formed by a gentleman who was raised in the same iieigli- 
l)orhood, who was a sehool mate of Chisolm, and who is 
now one of tin; most distinguished physieians in Mississip])i, 
tliat the Chisolm lamily were low and obscure: and as to 
the noble family of Mann's, whos(^ i)edigree Wells has 



KEMPER COUjNTY VINDICATED. 85 

traced upon the early oaks of the forests of Florida thror..;;li 
the wars of the Spanish settlements, and upon the walls of 
jMoro Castle, all their mighty deeds and heroic patriotism 
culminates in the character of John W. Mann, the father 
of Mrs. Chisolm, who, as the writer has been informed by 
51 gentleman who knew him well, and who now holds a 
distinguished position in the judiciary department of Miss- 
issippi, was a man of low, mean instincts, and a perfect 
and worthless sot, ignorant and degraded in mind and 
morals. 

It is with regret that the writer feels the necessity of 
condescending to notice the character of obscnre indivi- 
duals, especially of those who took no part directly in the 
transactions which form the main features of this Avorlv, but 
as the Chisolm biographer, Wells, endeavors to set up a 
false character of the members of this familj' for the ])ur- 
pose of drawing false and invidious comparisons, and of 
giving plausibility to his false statements, it is deemed 
l^roper to introduce, at least one circumstance — one fact 
beyond all question — as an exposition of the true character 
of a family from which Wells draws the following inspira- 
tion : 

" Whether the theoiy is correct or not, it is one of the in- 
herent 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. Perhaps the bold and venturesome spirit 
which characterized the lives of their family in generations 
past, has had its influence in shaping the remarkable life 
and character of Emily Mann Chisolm." Of the hold and 
adventurous spirit alluded to, we have only the vague 
statement of Wells ; but there is one adventure of a mem- 
ber of this family that bears the most solemn stamp that 
Lumanity has ever invented for the perpetuation of truth. 
Before the time of her marriage Mrs. Emily Cliisolm was 
residing with her uncle, lliram Mann, in the town of Louis- 
ville, the county. seat of Winston County, Mississippi, and 



86 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

concerning: the character of this Mann, 1 have been fur 
iiished with the ibllowing certified transcript from the re 
cords of that connty : 

The State of Mississiri'i, \ Circuit Court, March Term, 
Winston County. I -^1. J). 1801. 

The jiiand jnrors of tlie Slate of Mississippi, elected, 
impanelled, sworn and charged to inqnire for the body of 
the county of AVinston, upon their oaths i)resent, that 
Iliram Mann and Michael Burns, late of said county, on 
the 2od day of Mar(;li, A. D. 1801, in the county aforesaid, 
one chicken (coniinonly called a hen) of the value of one 
dollar, of tlie goods and chattels of one W. L. llaker, then 
and there in the i)Os.session of said W. L. Baker being 
found, did then and there feloniously take, steal and carry 
away, against the peace and dignity of the State of Mis- 
sissippi. 

S. M. MEEK, 

District Attorneij. 
The State of TdississiFrr, ) 
^yinston County. ) 

1, E. M. llight, clerk of the circuit court of said county 
and State, do hereby certify that the above and foregoing 
is a true and correct copy of the indictment of the State of 
Mississippi v. Iliram Mann and Michael Burns, as appears 
on lile in my ollice. 

Given under my hand and seal of oHice, at Louisville, 
Mississippi, this the 20th day of July, 1878. 

It. M. UIGIIT, 

Circuit Clerl-. 

From this true bill it will be seen that what comfort this 
biographer can derive from the connubial honors oi his 
hero becomes itself an inherent element of conjec- 
ture. Perha[)S the jdiability of this adventurous spirit 
renders it capable of varie«l manil'estations.* 

* Before Iliram Mann could bo arrested upon this indLclment lio sud- 
denly sold out Ills business, which was the kcepiuy of a small grocery, 
and loft the county. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 87 

Thus it will be seen that if there were any peculiarly vir- 
tuous proclivities attached to the disj)ositiou of any mem- 
ber of this family, it was certainl3^ not the gift of iuheri- 
tance. W. W. Cliisolm was, both by birthright and by na- 
ture, a man of exceedingly coarse and i>rofaue manners, of 
a brutal aspect and overbearing disposition toward the ob- 
ject of his enmity. He possessed in a high degree that 
savage ambition to rule which delights in strewiug its 
pathway with monumental marks of the ruin of all opposi- 
tion. He was a man of implacable hatred and perfectly 
unscrupulous as to the methods of gratifying his love of 
revenge, or the means of accomplishing his purposes. 

The writer is reliably informed that, while probate judge, 
Chisolm frequently and habitually indulged, on the bench, 
in the most profane, vulgar and obscene language. A 
gentleman who was probate clerk states to the author that 
almost every decision or judicial observation of any length 
was sure to be welded with " By G — d ! " and " Damn it! " 
while such expressions formed so large a part of his ordi- 
nary couA^ersation as to render him disgusting to every 
l)erson of refinement. But the writer need not adduce any 
other evidence as to this trait of his character than his own 
language of record. 

These and similar expressions were frequently used by 
him in his testimonj" before the Senatorial Investigating 
Committee, at Jackson, Mississippi, June, 1870, greatly, no 
doubt, to the disgust of the grave senators who composed 
that committee. 

To this testimony, with its manifestations, admissions 
and evasions, the writer will have more than one occasion 
to refer in the ]>rogress of the following i)ages. 

No sooner had this man become the sheritf of the county, 
than he determined upon its control in every respect, and 
tliose who were the least obnoxious to his plans were first 
reported to the military authorities as being members of 
the ku-klux-klan. 

There is no denying the fact that there was a secret or- 
ganii'.ation pretty generally entered into by the young men 



88 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED= 

of most of the- Soutliorn States imiiiodiatcly after the war, 
and thv. necessity for sueli an organization was as apparent 
as the fact of its existence. 

In many commnnities, and in some counties in Missis- 
sippi, there were ten bhicks to one white person, ten negroes 
with savaj;e instincts and brutal ])assions to one white 
man ; and tlie former, just emerged from tlie quarters of 
shivery, Avere incited to acts of revenge upon the families 
of their former masters by the teachings of adventurers 
and vagabonds, wliom they were taught to regard as the 
authors of tlieir emancipation. Consequently, a state of 
affairs was soon established in which neither life, virtue 
nor property could find safety but from the fear of a sud- 
den and mysterious retribution. 

It was this necessity that tirst gave rise to what has been 
known as the ku-hlux-klan. That its operations were after- 
■\vard perverted, and that it in many instances was trans- 
formed into a political machine, does not by any means 
criminate its origin or mar the incalculable good which it 
was producing as the champion of virtue. 

The ku-khix mask vrill take its i)lace in history by the 
side of the lance of cliivalry, and it was the very mystery 
of its ])rocee(lings tliat rendered it so effective in the sup- 
pression of crime. Jiut its tendency to become political in 
its nature, and a means of taking private revenge, was 
reprehensible ; and that it assumed this character in some 
instances in Kemper County, as well as in other places, is 
not to be denied. In consequence of thih several negroes 
were killed, or supposed to have been killed, by mcnibers 
of the klan in the State of Mississipi)i. 

]>ut no sooner did the necessities which provoked the 
formation of the associations known as ku-klux-klans dis- 
ai)pear, than the organizations themselves ceased to exist. 
They were the i>roduct of the fears engendered hy the 
dangers which, after the war, enveloped Southern society, 
and ])(Mi('trnl(Ml to the Acry homes and nnrscries of virtue 
and injuxtence. Tiiese dangei's were much aggravated by 
the pjesence of a few white men of degraded character, 



Kli^MPEll COUNTY VINDICATED. SO 

Avlio being- as it weie, to tlie manner born, could do more to 
excite and intlanie the Jiaturally unbridled passions of the 
ignorant and bestial negro than all the iutiuences of the 
carpet baggers and soldiers combined, at the mere sugges- 
tion of whose wishes he would not hesitate to violate every 
hiw of God and man. 

This association was a great obstruction iu the w^ay of 
the carpet bagger and scalawag. They abhorred it, and 
pursued it with the utmost vigor and vengeance. This inir- 
suit, however, was confined to the path of slanderous and 
exaggerated leports to the authorities of the Federal gov- 
ernment. And the radical party, which was now in pos- 
session of this, was sadly in need of reported outrages to 
enable it to adopt, and ]n\t iu execution, the enforcement 
acts by which it hoped to acquire an indefinite lease of 
power. Consequently, the ears of the Northern people 
were ever open, and the army ever obedient, to the call for 
active aid against the hated klan. 

It was in this way that Chisolm first endeavored to get 
rid of his exeraies in Kemper County, and to stille the voice 
of all opposition to his diabolical career. It was well known 
that it was through his instrumentality that a military- gar- 
rison was stationed on the borders of Keni})er County, at 
Lauderdale, and through his instrumentality that many in- 
nocent citizens were dragged from their homes and sub- 
jected to the rigors of a military trial, but one of whom 
was convicted or found guilty of any offence. This con- 
duct on the part of Chisolm was doubtless the origin of 
that hostility against him afterward, so unanimously mani- 
fested in the county. 

The proceedings of some of these trials have already 
been given in full. There was one poor fellow, however, 
Avho was sent by the military authorities to Little Kock, 
Arkansas, where he was kept closely confined for two years, 
Avhen a requisition was obtained from the governor for 
him, and it was then found that there was not the slightest 
legal ciiarge against him. xVnd when this plan had lailed 
— when it was found impossible to procure the imprison- 



90 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

ineiit of his ciiemiCvS in some distant military prison, or to 
drive tlieni iroiu tiie coniity by military raids — Cliisohn 
began to assemble around liim what he usually stj'led "his 
crowd." These were chielly Jlopper, Gilmer, Kush, llill- 
Ivosenbauin, and the old 8cotchman, MeClellan ; and to 
"Which number may be added the name of Walter liiley. 
The parts enacted by Hopper, Hill, Hush and Itosenbaum, 
liave already been partially given in connection Avith the 
killing' of Sam Gully, the safe robbery and the assault on 
Williams. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 91 



CHAPTER lY. 

At the fall electiou in 1870, Alabama was redeemed from 
radical rule, and no sooner bad the Democracy become tri- 
umphant in that State, and the consequent dispersion of the 
carpet baggers had taken place, than the border counties of 
Mississippi were the recipients of a large accession of negro 
I)opulation. The towns especially became places of refuge 
for hundreds of vagabonds and fugitives from justice. 
Among these Meridian seemed to be a favorite resort for 
this class of persons. At that period the authorities of 
the town were radicals, and generally of the very worst 
character. William Sturgis, the mayor, was a !N^orthern 
man, who consorted with negroes to such an extent as to 
cause him to lose the respect of even many of his own 
class. lie collected around him the most malignant char- 
acters of the two races, and fanned the flames of race pre- 
judice and partisan animosity, until he had succeeded in 
producing a bitter feeling between the two races, at least 
on the part of the negroes. And he never lost an oppor- 
tunitj^ of manifesting in his official capacity his own bitter- 
ness against the native white people. 

Among his clan was a man named Price, also a ISTortheru 
man, and a teacher of a negro school. He came from Ala- 
bama, where he had officiated as a leader of the loyrJ 
leagues, and having acquired great influence over the ne- 
groes, he persuaded many of them to leave the farms on 
which they had contracted to labor, in Alabama, and go 
to Meridian. This was for the purpose of promoting his 
political schemes, and in this he had the full sym[)atljy of 
the mayor, who desired an increase of the negro population 
for like purposes. This man was the high priest of the re- 
ligious features of radicalism. 

During this state of attairs, and in the spring of 1S71, 
a negro from Alabama, named Adam Kenuard, went 
to Meridian and endeavored to carry back some negroes 



92 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

"wlio Iiad abanduiieil tlic contracts made witli their ein- 
plojers. To eflcct tliis, it is said tliat lie represented 
liiniself to be a deputy slieritl". AYliile operating' among- 
tlie negroes in ])nrsuance of his mission, he was taken 
one niglit from the house in which he was hxiging, and 
severely whij)ped by Trice and others, lie had known 
Piice well in Alabama, and i)romi)tly recognized him as the 
chief party to this transaction, although he was disguised. 
The other parties were all negroes, with wliom he was un- 
acquainted. The ne>:t liiorning Kennard made complaint 
to the justice of the peace, and lodged an atlidavit against 
Price for a violation of the statute of Mississippi, enacted 
for the i)uinshment of persons M'earing disguises or perpe- 
trating any crime in disguise. His back bore the marks of 
a severe castigation. 

Upon this atlidavit Price was arrested and placed under 
a bond of $200, to )nakc his appearance for examination, be- 
fore the same magistrate, on the ensuing Friday. On that 
day Kennard returned from Alabama, bringing with 
liim some fifteen or twenty white men, and two colored 
witnesses to attend this trial of Price. These men 
announced that they had come with Kennard and the two 
negro witnesses, for the purpose of protecting them an<l 
of enabling them to testily ; that they were afraid the. 
negroes of Meridian would mob them in consc<iuencc of 
their appearing as witnesses against Price. So exasper- 
ated were the feelings of the negroes on account of the 
arrest of Price, that the counsel lor both the prosecution 
aiul defence, in couimou with the whites generally, became 
alarmed lest serious difficulties between the two races 
might arise from his trial, and they jnutually agreed that 
the case should be postponed until the excitement sub- 
sided ; consequently, the case was continued one week, and 
the original bond of $200 for the appearance of Price was 
increased to the sum of $S()0, for his a]iiicaraiu'e on the day 
to which his case had been continued. At the next trial, 
an important witness being absent, the cause, at the re- 
quest of the prosecution, was continued the second time, 
until the follow ing week. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED, 93 

III the meantime Price, who associated entirely with 
the negroes and had great inlUienco over them, continued 
to fan the tiamcs of prejudice, and to stir up feelings of ani- 
mosity on their part against the whites. His chief friend 
and coadjutor in this matter was a negro named Warren 
Tyler, a most malignant character, and who now became 
the constant attendant and companion of Price. These two 
]>romeuaded the streets together, and openly declared that 
if Price was sent to jail on his approaching trial, there 
would be shooting at once in the court room ; and Price 
requested his attorneys to be on their guard and keep out 
of the way, as he did not wish to hurt them. The counsel 
to whom this warning was given conveyed it to the oppo- 
site counsel. 

So general was the feeling of alarm in consequence of 
the threats and conduct of these parties and the grum ap- 
pearance of the negroes generally, that some of the leading 
liepublicans advised Price to leave the town and forfeit his 
bond, and this he did ; but it was also understood between 
the counsel that if he did so, no further proceedings should 
be had in the matter. In pursuance of this understanding, 
which, however, did not embrace the court, on the trial 
day of .the cause Price failed to ai)pear, but not so with his 
friend, Warren Tyler. lie came insolently into court, armed 
with pistols and with a club axe in his hand. He had also 
attended all the other occasions on which the case had 
been continued, and seemed to take extraordinary interest 
in the conduct and issue of the proceedings. The negroes 
were very nuich incensed at the idea of Price leaving under 
these circumstances, and low mutters of dissatisfaction and 
vague threats were heard from suspicious and grum looking 
groups collected in various portions of the town. 

The mayor of the town too, William Sturgis, did not at- 
tempt to conceal his displeasure at the loss of his friend, 
Price. He continued assiduously and by evTry means in 
his power to fan the fires of discontent, until he had suc- 
ceeded in arousing the most bitter feelings on the part of 
the blacks. He then applied to the governor for Federal 



94 KEMPEIl COUNTY VINDICATED. 

troops to be qnnrtered in the town. The troops -wore sent, 
wliich had the elfect of increasing the (Uinf;ei"ous state of 
feelinj? between tlie races. 

Upon this, a petition was signed by a large nninber of 
citizens, inehiding many h-ading JJepnblicans, and dictated 
in the interest of i)eace ainl the welfare ol" tlie couiniunity, 
recpiesting Stnrgis to resign the mayoralty. This he i)Os- 
itively and i)etnlaidly refused to do. The petitioners then 
asked the governor to remove him i'rom otlice in order to 
preserve peace. 

At this Sturgis became very much enraged, and sent 
several leading negro politicians and personal friends to 
Jackson to see the governor and counteract the movement 
for his removal. In this they succeeded. 

The governor spurned the petition, and the negroes who 
had, in the interest of Sturgis, thwarted the elforts of the 
citizens, returned to Meridian on Friday preceding the riot, 
bringing with them from Jackson, J. Aaron Moore, the noto- 
rious negro representative from that county and town in 
the legislature, wlio lelt his seat in order to i)articipate in 
the triumi)h on the part of the mayor and his negro allies. 

On the next day, Saturday the 4th of IMarch, they called 
a negro meeting, which was largely attended, and from the 
early morniug until the sun was low down the sky, the 
angry tones of their speakers resounded from the court 
liouse, while the whooi)s and howls of the excited audience 
fell with ominous forebodings upon the ears of the alarmed 
citizens. These s])eeches were said to be highly inllamma- 
tory and inceiuliary in their character, i)articularly those of 
J, Aaron Moore, Warren Tyler and ^Villiam Dennis, alias 
(.'lopton, the imjjort of whoso sjjeeches was that the negroes 
.should imnu'diately arm and i)rotect themselves against the 
outrages ])erp('tiated u[)on tiiem, and which they chaiac- 
t('r;/('d in terms most inllaniinatory to the negro mind. 

Aaron ^loore, in his speech, ileclared that Sodom aiid 
(Jomorrah h:id been destroyed by hre, and if they did not 
mind, jMcridian would be burned up likewise. It was 
testiliid before. Vac committci' of investigati n, ni)p;)inted 



KE3IPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 95 

by tlie citizens, that Warren Tyler declared in bis speech, 
among other intlammatory expressions, that the negroes 
must stand by each other, aiul adopt the policy ot the 
Indians— when one was killed, they ninst kill in retaliation. 
Many remarks of a similar character were made during- 
the meeting. 

Among other circumstances w'hicli they invoked to in- 
stil a spirit of violence in the bosom of their audience 
was the recent conduct of some white men from Alabania. 
These men, who came over with the negro Keunard, to 
attend the trial of Price, had immediately, on their ar- 
rival at Meridian, arrested two or three negroes whom 
they recognized as criminals, who had committed lar- 
cenies and other crimes in Alabama, and who were fugi- 
tives from justice. These they bound and sent back to 
Alabama. AVhether they did so upon the ground of con- 
tinued i)nrsuit is not known. It not, their arrest, without 
authority or requisition, was in violation of law, and 
highly reprehensible. Ue that as it may, it gave these 
vicious negro leaders and their white allies additional 
grounds upon which to found their incendiary appeals. 
This un^eting contniued until near sunset, and when it 
then adjourned, the negroes marched out upoii the streets 
in military order, and with drums and liies sounding, par- 
aded through the town armed with ])istols and swords 
buckled around their bodies. This hostile display con- 
tinued until dark, when, suddenly, amid the din of their 
angry tramp, and breaking squads, was heard the cry of 
"Fire!" 

The alarm, which seems not to have been altogether 
unexpected, soon s})read throughout the little city, and 
soon the Hames were seen issuing from a little wooden 
building adjoining the store house of Sturgis, the mayor, 
which soon involved the building. 

The white ])eoi)le hurried up from all parts of the town 
and made eNei-y effort to stay the conflagration, but it was 
noticeable that but few of the blacks could be induced to 
lend a helping hand, which was very much at variance 



9G KE^rPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Mitli tlicir kuowu conduct on former occasions of this char- 
acter, wiien they had cheerfully rendered the mostellicieut 
aid. And what was even more susi)icious, as to the 
origin and purijose of this lire, some of the white people, 
while on their way to the scene, and some, while enga.iied 
in endeavoring to extinguish the llames, were tired ninm 
by unknown persons concealed beyond the lurid glare of 
the fUimes. And no sooner had the alarm of tire been 
given, than some of the leading negro politicians took 
every possible step to prevent the negroes from render- 
ing any assistance. Among them Billy Dennis, alias Clop- 
ton, played a conspicuous role. lie placed himself in 
front of those blacks Avho seemed disposed to help, ex- 
claiming, with bitter oaths, that it was a white man's fire, 
and it was their property ; let it burn. They have ruled 
here long enougli. That if they wanted war, let them have 
it; that now was as good a time as any. 

And then, after the block had been consumed, and 
the tire had been arrested, he was heard to address a 
crowd of negroes who were standing on the street : " Why 
in the hell don't you go and get your arms; something to 
shoot with ? What in the hell are you staiuling here 
for '^ I have no secrets to keep. AYliat I have to say I say 
openly and above board." lie then turned away, several of 
tlie crowd following him, and began to fire his ])istol, 
Avhich he did four or five times, exclaiming at the same 

time that, " If the G-d d d white people wanted Avar, 

let them come out! We are as ready now as we will ever 
be." 

It is stated that there was a meeting of the Loyal League 
Club that night, and that the bell tapped at the same 
time that the crj' of "Fire !" was raised. So abusive and 
riotous was Clopton's conduct in endeavoring to incite the 
negroes to violence, and to prevent their assistance in the 
effort to extinguisli the llames, that the sherilf finally or- 
dered him In be arrested. 

During all this time lai-ge bodies of armed negroes were 
gutting dilierent parts of the town, and when asked tiic 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 97 

meaning of this demonstration, they promptly answered 
that they were going to fight the white people if they 
"wanted io hgiit, and, in the meantime, frequent and 
numerous reports of fire arms were heard in all parts of 
the town. The contiagration was not arrested until one 
whole block or square of the town was destroyed. 

Ou Mondiiy inorning the white people held a meeting to 
consult as to what measures were best to be taken to in- 
sure the safety of the town, to prevent any further hostile 
demonstrations on the part of the blacks, and if possible, 
to allay the bitter feeling engendered by the teachings of 
Sturgis and Price. 

They appointed a committee of safety, the duty of which 
was to consult and co-operate with the officers of the 
county in the preservation of peace, to act nnder the orders 
of the sheriff, or to furnish him with reliable and discreet 
men to aid him in re-establishing a state of security. They 
also appointed a committee to wait on Governor Alcorn, 
and ask the removal of Sturgis and other officers of the 
town and county, whom they recognized as instigators of 
these difficulties, and they also appointed another com- 
mittee to investigate the causes and origin of the fire. 

This committee proceeded to STimmon witnesses and take 
the testimony of persons of all i)olitics and every color. 
As the result of a thorough investigation, they reported iu 
substance: That the testimony all tended to cast the grav- 
est suspicions upon the mayor, William Sturgis; that 
they were of the belief, and the testimony justified and 
i'orced the opinion, that he had procured the destruction of 
his own property in order to reap tlni insurance, and with 
a desire to destroy the town, so as, for political effect, to 
cast odium upon the Democrats. 

Be this as it may, ou the night after tlie appointing of 
this committee of investigation, Sturgis fled from the city, 
and to which he has never returned. But prior to his 
lca\ ing the town, and on this same day, Monday, March 
(>, 1871, Aaron Moore, Billy Dennis alias Clopton, and 
AVarren Tyler, who had been arrested on the night of the 



98 KEMPEIl COUNTY VINDICATED. 

llro, were brought to trial before Judge Bramlette, of tho 
magistrate's court, cliarged with riotous coudiict aud iuceu- 
diary language. 

During' this trial, Sturgis occupied a seat adjaceut to 
Warren Tyler, aud, to all appearauces, seemed to be 
advising- and counselling with him. He seemed to take 
])eculiar interest in tho, trial; lie wrote (juestions in a 
blank book, and handed the book to Tyler, who, in 
examining the witness ^^I'or he managed his own case), 
■woidd refer to this book when asking questions. From 
all this, aud from the fact of his retiring with Tyler 
at the time tho latter returned into court armed, it may 
very pro])erly be inferred that he furnished Tyler with the 
pistol with which he killed Judge Brandette. These pris- 
oners had all been promptly disarmed by the sheriff, and 
entered the court room in that state, but while the trial! 
was going: on, Sturgis (the mayor), together with Aarou 
INIoore and Warren Tyler, suddenly left the court room, 
which was uiuisual for prisoners to do unless accompanied 
by the sheriff or other officer, and on their return it was 
observed, by many who testilied to the fact, that Tyler 
wore a pistol on his person. This man was placed upon 
trial first, and during its progress James A. Brantley 
was placed ui)on the stand as witness on the part of the 
State, and in his testimony he stated the language of a con- 
versation that had tal<en place between him and Tyler. 

On finishing his testimony, and while in the act of retir- 
ing from the stand, immediately in front of Tyler, the lat- 
ter arose iiom his seat, and, addressing Brantley in a d(v 
fiant and insulting manner, ordered him to remain on the 
staiul, as he intended to introduce a witness to imi)each his 
testimony. Ui)on this Brantley picked up a stick belong- 
ing to the sheriff or marshal, ami which was lying on the 
table before him, but the marshal took hold of him aud 
wrenched the stick from his hands, still holding him. hi 
the nunintime Tyler iiioxrd toward the door, with his hand 
on his pistol, on reaching which, he turned, drew, and tak- 
ing deliberate aim, shot .Judge Brandette through the head 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 99 

PLAN OF COURT ROOM FLOOR, MERIDIAN, MISS. 



Chancery Clerk'a 
Office. 



Jury Room. 



Circuit Clerk's 
Office. 




Sheriff's Office. 





/ 


s 


/• 



~I 



Tyler's scat liofore he left the court room. 

Tyler's scat after his return to the court room. 

Scat of Justice Eramlette. 

Seat of the city marshal. 

Position of witness Brantl -y. 

Seat of J. Aaron .Moore. 
I Scat of Billy Dennis, alkut Clopton. 
K Position of Tyler when he shot .Judge Braralctte. 
L Colored people stamling. 
M W'MW entrance to the court room. 

V Vi-r;ir.(l;i frnm wliii'Ii Tvlr'V Ic^ini.i! !tiw1 T)r-nni< \vn« tliri-nrn. 



100 IvElVrPER COUNTY VmDICATED. 

•while on the bench, and then rnnning throuj^h the sherifl''s 
ollice, jumped from a veranda into the street, and as he ran 
across the street some one on the veranda from which he 
liad k\aped fired at and M'ounded him in the back. lie was 
pursued and killed in a house across the street, in mIiIcIi lie 
had taken refuge. This fatal shot fired by Tyler was fol- 
lowed by a volley in the court room by Avhich several otlu-r 
persons were shot down, among- them Bill ])ennis, aliaf; 
Clopton, who was soon afterward dragged out n])on the 
veranda by some unknown persons and tossed over on the 
sidewalk, lie was taken up by order of the sheriff and 
carried back to his office, where, during the night, the 
wretch's throat was inhunumly cut by persons who over- 
powered the deputy sheriif in charge of the office. During 
the night three other negroes were arrested and placed in 
the sherift"'s office. One of them had been wounded in the ■■ 
afternoon. These three men were taken out during the- 
night by unknown i)arties, and were found dead on the 
next morning in a pine thicket on the edge of the town. 
There was a great mysterj^ connected with these acts : not- 
withstanding that the citizens, who were indignant and 
horrified at these circumstances, made every effort to as- 
certain the actors, they have never, to this day, succeeded 
in arriving at any satisfactory solution. 

The general supposition and belief is that the perpetia- 
tors of these horrible deeds were strangers, and that there 
was no i)ers()n residing in Meridian who took any ])art in 
the transaction, or had any knowledge either of the i)er- 
sons who committed the acts or of the causes that prompted 
them. 

During the night there were other acts performed at 
which the citizens were indignant. Among these was the 
burning of the negro Baptist church, and also the burning 
of Aaron ^Moore's house. It is contended that if this burn- 
ing had been done by citizens of ^Meridian, that it wonhl 
liave been the Methodist church, as that was generally 
known to be the church of Aaron Moore and Price, and 
the scene of their inceiuliary teachings, while the negro 



' ■ KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 101 

Baptist cliurcli was known to be conducted in a muck 
more ordei'ly manner. Tliis Methodist church had long 
been tlie seat of the loyal league, and the place where the 
negToes held all of their political meetings, while the 
Ba[)tist church had no associations connected with it at all 
calculated to render it oifensive to the citizens. The burn- 
ing- of Moore's house, no doubt, was done by j^ersons 
goaded by disapi^ointment in tlieir search for Aaron Moore, 
against whom the citiz<ins were now greatly enraged, and 
who had adroitly' made his escape from the court house 
during the confusion occasioned by the killing of Judge 
Bramlette. 

This officer, though a radical, was held in esteem by the 
white people, because of his inoffensive disi)Osition, and 
his apparent desire to do justice to all parties before his 
court, and because he kejit himself aloof from tiie company 
of Sturgis and Price and their negro associates. It may 
be remarked also that Sturgis was at personal enmity with 
Bramlette, and he had succeeded in stirring up the negroes 
^jgainst him to such an extent that there was great com- 
plaint among them that Bramlette was siding too much 
with the white peoi)le. Sturgis had attempted, or at least 
threatened, to have Bramlette removed. And Judge 
Bramlette remarked, on the morning of the trial of these 
men, that he felt a reluctancy in sitting on the case, as he 
was aware that they had ill feeling toward him, and that 
e kneW' them, particularly Warren Tyler, to be bad men. 

He stated before the trial, that he had attempted to ad- 
vise Tyler to go on peacefully and quietly, and to try to 
|get along well with everybody, and noL stir up any strife 
jbetween the races; that Tyler became angry with him for 
|it, and said that the next white man who advised him to 
do any such thing, he would slap in the mouth. Judge 
Brandette remarked, belbre he went up there to hold 
Jcourt, that ho did not like to do it, because Tyler was to be 
thei-e, and that he (Tyler) was mad with him. The result 
justified the premonitions of the unfortunate man. 

In regard to the character of this man Sturgis, the 



102 KEMPEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 

ITon. Robert Leacbmaii, circuit judge of the sixth judi- 
cial district, a Eeiniblicau and a resident of Meridian, 
and before whom a full investi.uation was had of the whole 
matter, testiiies himself as follows: "Mr. Sturgis was the 
cause of the trouble to a great extent. 1 have advised liim 
frequently to run the machine more moderately, and not to 
foment the feeling between the whites and blacks. Had he 
been a moderate man and a good adviser, this atlair never 
would hav^e occurred. He had not lost the confidence of the 
colored people. I do not think there v^ere any politics in 
this thing. I think that it arose out of the mere course of 
thijigs. The white people believed that Sturgis was 
fomenting the disturbance.*' 

The truth is, that this terrible affair was but another in- 
stance of the result of radical rule in Mississippi, the fruit 
of official power lodged in corrupt and venal hands to be 
prostituted to personal and political puri)oses. 

We will dismiss the painful subject after reverting to the 
version of this matter given by the carpet bagger Wells. 
In the face of all testimony elicited before a radical judge, 
and a radical committee appointed by a radical and carpet 
bag legislature, that individual, in referring to this matter, 
has the temerity to indulge in the following eulogy on the 
character of this partisan, degraded and infamous mayor, 
and that, too, without the least premise or foundation. 
He says : 

" It will be remembered that Sturgis was a good mayor, 
and in the thorough and important discharge of every 
duty pertaining to his office, the best the town has ever 
had before or since. This fact, i)erhaps, was the cause of 
greater hostility toward him than anything else ; for, in 
the matter of making arrests, and in the treatment of all 
parties who came or were brought before him in his official 
ca])acity, he made no distinction on account of color or 
previous condition. ]bit his integrity was so great, and his 
administration so thorough, that he had many friends and 
admirers, even among his greatest political enemies; and 
when it was found that his life was to be sacrificed, a few 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 103 

came to his assistance by the way of roraoustratiug' with 
the mob, and promising that if his life was spared, he 
shouhl leave the town and the State for all coining ti!ne. 
These terms were finally agreed npon, and under the escort 
of one hundred men, headed by 11. L. llenderson, a brave 
and good citizen, he was taken to the train and permitted 
to depart." 

I will likewise dismiss this ludicrous encomium as a fitting 
rear guard to the troop of villanies that form the character 
of William Sturgis, once mayor of Meridian. It may be 
remarked that the petition for the removal of this man, 
tendered to the governor by the committee of safety, or- 
ganized on the day of the riot, was favorably received, and 
Governor Alcorn promptly removed Sturgis and the other 
town officers. 

These events transpired more than seven years since, 
and from, that time to the ])resent, not a breath of dis- 
turbance has ruffled the political calm. Upon the depar- 
ture of Sturgis, the terrible elements he had gathered 
around him were dispersed, and kindly feelings began to 
assume their natural sway between the races, which have 
been mutually fostered until now. It is almost inconceiv- 
able that such horrible scenes could ever have occurred 
in this quiet and prosperons little city. Yet, it has taken 
long years to redress the grievances inflicted so long, and 
with such a high hand, by the corrupt radical officials ot 
the town and county, in addition to the common cloud cast 
over all by the maladministration of the State government. 



104 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 



CHAPTER V. 

Jolm r. Gilinor, wliose career will form a strikiiif; feature 
iu the almost uni)aralleled panorama of crime, which will 
be hereafter iiulolded iu the.se i)a,;j;es, was, it seems, a native 
of Heard County, Georgia. He jiossessed a mind ntterly 
<lestitute of every sentiment of virtue, and even of human- 
ity itself, when its exercise was at all calculated to thwart 
his i)lans or restrain the iiratitication of his cupidity or re- 
ven.^e; and, bein.i;' conscious that his character desei'ved 
the hatred and contempt of every white man and woman, 
his ferocious spirit was constantly irritated by the stin<;\s of 
depravity and f^uilt. Yet his bioj>raplier, Wells, says " that 
he moved iu the first circles of the society where he lived." 
if there ever was or is a iirst circle of white society in any 
youtheru community iu which this individual did or could 
liave moved, it surely must have been the lowest as well as 
the fir.-^t circle. And to alle2;e that he ever had any stand- 
ing iu respectable society either at Scooba or He Ivalb, 
where he Uccd, would, iu the nu^uth of truth, be indeed 
]iumiliatin_ii: to umuy residents of those haudets. Ibit if 
Wells considers nudattoes and mongrels the identifyin.g- 
elements of his Jirst circles of society, then, periiaps, he 
could claim both for himself and Gilmer the social status 
whi<di he has assii^iied to the latter. 

Humau life was of no consequence iu the eyes of this man 
■svheu in confiict with the gratification of his brutal pas- 
sions. So manifest and so well known was his disi)ositiou 
in this respect, that the writer has often lieard the exi)res- 
sion used by men of the most moderate views and calnu^st 
judiiinent, that "Gilmer woidd no more nund lvillin,u' a man 
than he would a dog, in order to elfect his pur])ose." 

Jjcing imbn(Ml with e\'ery sentiment and qualilication re- 
quisite for the performance of the part he was destined to 
])lay iu the dark dranui, he never shirked any role that was 
assigned him. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 105 

These cliaracteristics were soon discovered by Chisolnij 
who ajDpeared to possess, in an eminent degree, a capacity 
for making snch a selection of his allies as best suited 
his designs. And, consequently, no sooner was he ap- 
])ointc'd sheriff, in 18G9, than he made Gilmer his deputy, 
who now took up his abode at Chisolm's residence, which, 
from this time, became the headquarters of the clan that 
wrote the names of its victims in letters of blood along the 
highways and unfrequented paths of the assassin. 

About this time occurred the first act of this drama of 
assassination on which the curtain will be raised in the 
proper order of the scenes. 

Joshua H. Ball was the name of a young man who had 
been born and raised in the western part of Kemper County. 
His parents were poor but highly respected, and young 
Ball early manifested a warmth of heart and vigor of 
character that gained him many friends in his youth. 
This boy at an early age became an orphan, and was 
thrown entirely upon his own resources for a livelihood. 
But his manly bearing, frankness and industry', had attract- 
ed the notice of Mr. Phil Gully, then sheriff of the county, 
and he at once offered young Ball a home, and gave him 
employment about his farm. Here he followed the plough- 
share until the war came on, when young Ball, impelled by 
his ardent nature, was one of the first young men of this 
county who exchanged the plough handle for the sword. 
He enlisted for the war, and was known and esteemed by 
his comrades as a high toned, bravo and honorable boy. 

That he was a model of a soldier is fully attested by many 
living comrades in the County of Kemper. At the close of 
the war, young Ball, with the memory of the lost cause 
engraved deep in his heart, returned to his old home, where 
he soon married a young lady of more than ordinarj^ at- 
traction and traits of character, but like himself, poor. 
Am] it was now that young Ball again found himself 
buffeting the billows of poverty, and his ''noble rage" was 
chilled by the penury that spread universally over the 
South, and drove many a promising young man from the 



106 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

quiet attics of lii-s patoriuil roof to tlic <leiis of dissipa- 
tion. 

Yonn^- r>;ill soon became a victinj to stioui;' drink, wliicli, 
Icindlin.i;' all the natuial iiies of liis nature, rendered him, 
Avhile under its inlluenee, peculiarly i)rone to scenes of ex- 
citement, and liable to rush into difliculties. Yet he was 
beloved by his friends as a man of great natural amiability 
of character. 

lie was a most uncomi)romisino- Democrat, and, ou that 
account, early incurred the hostility of the Chisolm clan. 
Uc was one of the first men whom Chisolm reported to the 
military authorities as a ku-klux, and upon which Lall was 
arrested and carried before a military commission at Laud- 
erdale Springs, where, although there was no sullicient evi- 
dence against him, or any, other than his 0])en and out- 
spoken opinions, through the unrelenting persecution and 
l)Owei'ful inlluenee of Chisolm and his "crowd" with the 
military authorities, J>all was subjected to imprisonment 
and to treatment of great rigor, lie finally, however, 
escaped from the hands of his enemies and returned to his 
liome. He was well known to be a man of true courage, 
aiul to possess but little of the spirit of the braggadocio. 

Soon after his escape from the military authorities, hf 
aecidently met Chisolm in the road, amidst a swamj). 
They were alone, and Ball being fully ai)prised of the, 
heartless author of his troubles, attacked Chisolm, 
charging him with having reported him to -the military, 
and expressing his intention of having satisfaction then 
and there. Chisolm, Avith all his braggart bullyism, (juailed 
before the solitary eye of the man whom he had so grossly 
injured, lie denied that he ever reported Ball, and was 
sufiered to pass, in a crouching manner, without the in- 
tended chastisement which he, no doubt, fully merited. 

From this time Chisolm was afraid of Ball. Ball him- 
self fiv(iuently narrated the above incident. And that it 
w;is true to the letter would be leadily vouched by all wlio 
were familiar with the chMiacteis oi' the two men. ^Viid 
that Chisolm hatl a hand either directly or indirectly in the 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 107 

death of Ball, is certainly not ineoiiipatiblo Avith the cir- 
ciimstances of that event, bat, on the other liaiul, forms 
with tliem a suspicious con^ruity. These were as follows : 
Not lon.i;' after the ineetinjx in the swani]), and at the still 
liour of niidniiiht, while Ball was in liis bed asleep wi(h liis 
wife, a crowd of armed men surrounded liis house, and with 
shots and savaf^'c yells, closed in on all sides upon their 
startled and helpless victim. So soon as Ball became fully 
aroused IVom liis slumbers, and aware of his situation, leap- 
ing from his window, he attempted to make good his escape 
to a neighboiiiig thicket; but his alert assassins discovered 
his retreat, and he was shot and mortally wounded, from 
the etfects of which he died in a lew days, but not until he 
had made his family and attendants fully understand who 
were the murderers — the vague shadows of whom left 
their dim outlines upon his glazed eyes. Ilis dying declar- 
ations made to his Viifc and others now living in Kemper 
County, left no doubt as to tlie identification of the mur- 
derers, for 

"The tongues of dyitip: men enforce attention. 
"When words arc scarce, lliey arc rartly spent in vain. 
They breathe tho truth who breathe their words in pain." 

He said, in snbstance: "That, at first, he thouglit his 
assailants were Federal soldiers Avho had come to arrest 
him again, and he determined to make his es(;apeif ]iossi- 
ble, and ran down a short hill into a dense thicket of small 
])ines, but when the murderers discovered ids retreat they 
])ursued him, at the same time crying out, 'Here he goes, 
liead him,' npon which lie recognized the voice of VA\l 
Clark and other negroes 5 and not fearing that he wouhl bo 
hurt by them, he turned and walked back up the hill facing 
them, and when he had approached within a short distance, 
Clark cried out: 'Turn loose! Turn loose!' and immedi- 
ately he and George Cole, both negroes, fired, Clark's 
shot taking effect iu his shoidder, breast and bowels " 

Upon the f:nth of these dying declarations, and the at- 
tending ciicuiiistances, two negroes, named respectively 
Bill Clark and Julius Griffin — Geo. Cole having made his 



108 KEMPEll COUNTY VINDICATED. 

escape— were arrested and placed in the Iiands of W. W. 
Chisolin, who was then sherilf of Kemper County. 

lUit it was not unnoticed by many that the deatli and 
burial of [)0or liall, whieh, otherwise, seemed to awaken 
universal sorrow, alarm and indignation throughout the 
county, seemed to cast a feature of peculiar placidness over 
the eountenances of the Chisolm clan. 

And yet the slanderer Wells had stuck his tarnishin<;- 
moral even at the point of this blunt circumstance, llo 
allc.nes that this killing occurred near Phil Gully's house, 
aiul that Chisolm's friends, at that time, as to-day, assert 
that Phil Gully planned Uall's nuirder, and every other 
inurder committed by the clan. 

The impudence that could have suggested such an imputa- 
tion is almost inconceivable; that Phil Gully, whose charity 
had for years afforded this poor orphan a home, who had 
raised him with all the teiulerness of paternal afiection, and 
Avhich was recii)rocatcd by tliis boy to the extent of lilial 
devotion, should have "planned his nnirder" by a crowd of 
armed negroes, at the dead hour of midnight, while aslee[) 
in the arms of a fond wife, and for no assignable reason, is 
so i)reposterous that it cannot fail to excite the feelings of 
indignation and scorn in the mind of every reasonable man, 
and surely will have the further elfect of bringing the sus- 
l)iciou of guilt n[)on the heads of those whom its concoction 
was intended to shield. 

But let us see to whom the facts also gnide the finger of 
suspicion. These two negroes were arrested upon the afli- 
davit of Phil Gully, grounded upon the dying declarations 
of Ball. One of them, Hill (^laric, who, as IJall declared, 
lired the fatal shot, was soon permitted by Chisolm to 
jnake good his escape, and was heard of no inore. The 
other, Julius (Iriflin, against whom there was no positive 
testimony, arising from the <leclarations of Ball, was 
retained in enstody, aiul linally brouglit to tiial and aciiuit- 
ted. Thereni)on A\'. ^V. Cliisolin established this negro in 
a confection business in the village of IJe Jvall). Ihe negro, 
it is said, had not a dollar, and it is also said that Chisolm 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 109 

helped to pay bis fees to his attorneys. He furtheriiioro 
gave liim a residence ou the back i)ortion of his lot, oii 
which stood his oflice, iu De Kalb. 

Surely, the i)erraitting of the escape of the negro upon 
whom the murder was fixed by the dying- declarations of 
the murdered man, and the sadden unmeasured patronage 
bestowed upon tbe other, Avbose defence be had aided, 
while sheriff and peace officer of the county, viewed in 
connection with the aft'air in the swaaip, would justify Cbis- 
olm's biographer in making some eflbrt to parry tbe arrows 
of suspicion from tbe bead of his martyr! but tbe mislbr- 
tune in tbe matter lies in tbe eftbrt to shift it to tbe sboul- 
ders of a Gully. 

The weight of i^rejudice wbich he has sought to beap 
i\\)on tbe shoulders of this family leaves little room, appar- 
ently, for tbe lodgement of anything else. And (^ven at this 
time it began to be evident that no crime committed ui)0iV' 
a Gully, or tbe friend of a Gully, could obtain any retribu- 
tive response from the law in Kemper County. 

Eush, who bad murdered Sam Gully, had been acquitted 
even of manslaughter by a jury of negroes, Avhom Chisolm 
had evidently procured to be packed for tlie purpose. 
Higgius, who bad killed Floyd, tbe cousin of Phil Gully, 
had been permitted to make his escape upon the horse of 
the old Scotchman, prepared for him. 

McEea had gone to his hnal account without having 
experienced a possibility of a bill being found against him 
for his deadly assault upon John W. Gully, and now a negro 
who had killed young Ball, tbe foster child of Philip Gully, 
was x)ermitted to escape, and another, charged with tbe 
same crime, taken under tbe protecting eyes of the peace 
officer of the county. 

The negro, Julius Griffin, declared while in jail, that if be 
was hurt for this matter, Chisolm was not tbe man be 
promised to be. 

It seems to have been tbe constant aim of Chisolm to 
impress tbe infinity of bis influence, and the vastness of 
his power in all the government of tbe Stale, upon the 



110 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

miiuls of tlio iiejiioes. Tlii.s lio succeeded in accomplish- 
iiii;- to such an extent that the nej^ioes of Keuiper County 
believed him to be imbued with power suflicient to accom- 
])lisli auythin;;' he wished. They looked upon him as bein^i;- 
but little less than a .yod. 

It was this (hi/zlin.i;- appearance of potency which he 
luii'w so well how to exhibit on all occasions, and to the 
best advauta.ue, that enabled him to wiehl, without a. 
foreij^n or native rival, the most despotic control in his 
county of all the radical leaders and oflicials in the iState. 

The following;- circumstance is an instance of the mani- 
iest.ition of his inlluence: On the KJlh day of JNTay, ]871, 
while Chisolm was sherill", one, W. J{. Uethany, a constable 
of the county, a!id a radical, proceeded to the residence of 
his sister, ouo Sarah Sellers, in his official (;a[)acity, to 
levy upon sonui ])roperty, in i)ursuancc of a writ of execu- 
tion ai;'ainst t his woman or her i)roperty, and there lived 
Avith her at this time, and in her em])loyment a negro, by 
the name of (leorjie Sansum, with whom it was thought 
she lived in illicit relations. 

This negro shot and killed Dethany from a window of 
the house of this vroman, as he was entering the gate 
with his writ. The negro v.as tried before a jury, com- 
posed of seven negroes and live white men, and Avas 
fairly and jiroperly convicted of murder. There "was no 
palliating eircumstan(!e whatever, and the court passed 
sentence of death ni)on the i)riso;ier. Whereupon Chisolm, 
with no other purpose than to give to the negroes a ficsh 
exhibition of his ])ower, sent up to Adelbert Ames, then 
governor of ^Iississii)pi, lirst a ])etition for the comnuita- 
tion of the sentence of death to that of imprisonment for 
life in the State penitentiary. ITpon obtaining (he object 
of this ])etition, he s(!nt up another asking for a full ])ar- 
don of Sausum, which he likewise procured. Ami through 
his further ellbrts ami inlluence Saiisum was taken into 
the i)iiva(e employment of the governor, either as body 
servant or Ixxly guard, which i)osition he held up to the 
time Anu's lied the Stale. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. Ill 

There had been no feelings of uu friendliness between 
Chisolm and the Bethanys, and no relations other than 
political between him and the negro. His purpose in the 
nia';ter was very apparent, and it is not to be wondered at 
that the negroes of Kemper followed him with a blind 
devotion akin almost to adoration. 

In this instance they saw him first snatch one of tlioir 
number from the gallows, to which he had been sentenced 
with all the sanctity and formalities of law, and i)lace him 
safe and sound in the i)enitentiary. They next saw him, 
in quick succession, take him out of tlie penitentiary, 
whose doors had api>arently closed on him for life, and 
place him in uniform and in waiting at the doors of the 
governor's palace, where his striped trousers were cjc- 
changed lor the gaudy livery of a governor's waitman. 

But if he was enabled to present to their wondering 
eyes such exhibitions of his influence at the State capitol, 
its manifestations were no less striking in Kemper County, 
where they saw men charged with the highest crimes, and 
of which they knew them to be guilty, go scot free at the 
snuick of Chisolm's fingers; and finally, tliey began to see, 
what to them was still more striking, the mangled bodies 
of those who opposed his course lying in the highways 
riddled with the bullets of the assassin. 

The exercise of this unlimited control over the minds of 
the negroes, to the ruin of the whites, seemed to be the 
culmination of his ambition. 

Under these circumstances it is not surprising to find 
that he held the entire negro ballot in his hands. Nor is it 
a wonder that the ends of i)ublic justice were invariably 
defeated whenever it was the wish of this man that they 
should be. In reference to this feature of his career his 
biographer indulges in the following remarks : 

"Guided by the firm hand and unconquerable will of one 
man, the County of Kemper, for a succession of years, has 
stood the tide of hatred engendered l)y secession and 
nursed by the overthrow of the 'divine institution,' and 
the final elevation of the late slave to citizenship and equal 



llli KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

rights under the hiw, and that stronghold of 'radicalism' 
become an object of special attention by the white line 
Democracy all over the State." 

It may be observed that, as that author can never linish 
one of his killings Avithout the ghost of a Gully, so he can- 
not allege a i)olitical fact without the use of such stereo- 
typed expressions as "tide of hatred," "secession nursed," 
"divine institution," "white line Democracy," "intimida- 
tion," "fraud," "violence;" and it is difllcult to see for 
what puri)Ose he so liippantly Haunts these phrases, other 
than that of concealing under the wings of abuse the 
falsity of his statements. 

IJut if ^yells endeavors to hide the tracks of his menda- 
city, like the thief who stole the oxen of Hercules, so did 
Chisolm and his "crowd" strive to leave no tracks of their 
villanies upon the ollicial tablets of the count}'. 

The author has not been able to discover any final record 
of the courts of Kemper County, covering a period of live 
years, extending from the fall of 1800 to the fall of 1871. 

During this time there were two i)ersons who filled the 
jjosition of clerk of the circuit court. One, who was a car- 
pet bagger, was appointed by the military authorities; the 
other, who was also a radical, w;is ap[)()iiited by Ames. 

In regard to final records, the General Code of Missis- 
sippi contained (he following requirement, article 21, page 
481: AVithin three months after the final determination of 
any suit, or, if an appeal or writ of error shall Ikinc been 
taken, then within three months after receiving a certificate 
of tlie aflirmaiice of the Judgment, the clerk shall enter, 
in well bound books to be kept for the purpose, a full 
and (complete record of all the proceedings in such suit ; 
and, on failure to do so, such clerk, on such failure being 
notified to the court, may be fined twenty dollars for each 
case in which he shall have failed to nutke up such final 
record, and he shall also be liable in danmges to any party 
injured. 

Yet, notwithstanding this st'verely sanctioned provision 
of the statute, the author has not been able to liud a single 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 113 

fiual record of the court over the signature of either of 
these clerks during the whole time of their respective ser- 
vices, which covered a space of five years. 

But, when it is taken into consideration that, during this 
time, the judge, sheritf, and every other officer of the 
I county Vv'cre members of the same party and clan, such 
malfeasance need not occasion any surprise. 

All this was well known to the members of the bar who 
practised in this court, and to others, but they felt and knev/ 
that it would be utterly useless to bring the matter up. 

They saw so many crimes passed by without the possi- 
bility of punishment, that they had no heart to become 
prosecutors or informers in what seemed comparatively in- 
nocent matters ; besides, there was naturally a disposition 
to avoid the useless aggravation of those who possessed 
the power of doing them so much injury. 

In the summer of 1870, John P. Gilmer, whose character 
lias already been partially delineated, began his career 
Avitli bis participation in the killing of Hal Dawson, at 
Scooba. Dawson was quite a youth, just entering the 
threshold of manhood. lie was born and reared in the 
County of Kemper, and only a few miles from Scooba. He 
was of a good family ; on his mother's side he was de- 
scended from the Winstons, of Alabama, of which family 
Governor J. Anthony Winston was a prominent represen- 
tative, and the uncle of Dawson. He was also a relative of 
Governor Pettuce, of Mississippi. On his father's side ho 
was connected with some of the best families of Kemper 
County. 

His father Avas for many years one of the most prominent 
and highly respected physicians in the county. 

Young Dawson was of a warm and vehement disposition, 
and was much beloved by his friends. He had but one fault, 
and one verj* common with young men of his ardent temjier- 
ament. He had a year or two previous to his -death fallen 
into the habit of indulging occasionally too much in strong- 
drink, yet his natural good nature asserted itself even 
while his mind was clouded with the fumes of liquor, and 



114 k:e:mpeii cox:xty vtxdicated. 

"whatever wildiicss or impriuleiice of speech or action ho 
iniyht indiilyc, wliile intoxicated, there was no one Avho 
had any fear.s that lie vrould eonunit any crime. 

It Ava.s on one ol" tliese well known bhistering but inno- 
cent, occasions that he met with a foul death. 

Tliere was in Hcooba, at this time, a man by the name of 
Davis, who was a member of the Board of Registration, 
wliich was then liolding its session in the back room of Gil- 
mer's store. Davis was likewise a native of the county, 
and had known Davrson from boyhood, and on the occasion 
in question, Dawson, being under the influence of liquor, 
and in one of his harmless blusterings against the radicals, 
"went down the street to Gilmer's store, saying to some per- 
sons whom he passed that he wanted to see the registrar, 
Davis. 

On arriving at the door, Gilmer walked out upon the 
steps, and asked him if he wished to see him, and if he had 
anything against him. Dawson replied, " Ko ; I have noth- 
ing against you, Gilmer. I want to see Davis." Upon this 
Gilmer stepped out upon the street, remarking to Dawson: 
" There he is in there ; sec him if you wish." Dawson 
then entered the door, at the same time having his hand on 
. his pistol. !N"o sooner had he entered when Davis, who was 
standing behind the counter a few feet to the right of the 
door Avith a double barrel gun in his hand, fired at Daw- 
son, the contents of the gnu — a load of buckshot — passing 
through his body. Dawson immediately sank upon his 
knees in a dying condition and rested his head upon tho 
steps. Then (Jilmer, who was standing some ten or tiftecn 
feet distant, deliberately advanced, and placing his pistol 
against the liead of the dying man, shot two bails 
through it. 

These facts were obtained from eye witnesses, one of 
Avhom is a very intelligent lady, an old friend of the writer 
and the Avife of a ])opnlar and promising young lawyer of 
De Kalb. This lady happened to be sitting in a buggy in 
full view of the scene, and lier description of it may bo 
relied upon with gospel certainty. 



KEMPEK COUNTY VINDICATED. 115 

Gilmer and Davis vtcvq both arrested immediately by the 
town constable, but by some means procured themselves 
to be carried to De Kalb, instead ot before the town author- 
ities of Scooba or tbe magistrate of that beat. The object 
of this was to reach the hands of their friend Chisolm, then 
sheriff of the county, in which they were certain to fare in 
every respec.t to their advantage. 

This act of carrying criminals to a distant beat to be tried, 
far away from the evidences of their guilt, was such a shock- 
ing violation of law, and so apparent an attempt to bafde 
the pursuit of justice, that on the next day several citizens 
of Scooba proceeded to De Kalb and demanded that the 
prisoners be returned to Scooba and tried before the in- 
vestigating court of the mayor of the town, or the justice 
of the beat. But the criminals and their friends well knew 
that if this was done, that they would be committed to jail 
without bail to await the action of the grand jury, as the 
crime with which they were charged, and the attending 
circumstances, would, under the existing law, render the 
offence unbailable. Besides, the mayor of Scooba and the 
justice of the beat, although the latter was a radical, were 
not men likely to turn a totall}- deaf ear to law and justice. 

To this demand of the citizens, the sheriff, W. W. Chisolm, 
positively refused compliance, alleging that as they were in 
his hands he had the right to retain and protect them. 
Upon this they were brought before a radical justice court 
at De Kalb, distant from and out of the reach of much of 
I the evidence of their guilt. Yet, notwithstanding the in- 
Huence of their friend Chisolm, and its active exercise in 
their behalf, they were put under bonds of $3,000 each to 
appe.ar and answer to any indictment that might be pre- 
sented against them in this matter, at the next term of the 
circuit court of the county. This bond was procured ior 
them by Chisolm, and they were released. But it became 
evident long belbre the meeting of the circuit court, and 
the impanelling of the grand jury for that term, that a jury 
! would bo assembled whose selection had been made for the 
purpose of preventing the liudiug of a bill of indictment 



116 KEMPEK COUNTY VINDICATED. 

against Gilmer aud Davis. This could be easily eilected, 
inasinucli as the members of the board of police for the 
years 18G1) and 1870 were all radicals, and mere ])ui)i>ets of 
the sheriif, Cliisolm. Upon this board devolved the duty 
of selectuig" the grand jurors for the ensuing term of the 
court. 

Tlie following are the names of the jurors thus chosen 
for this occasion, together with the well known politics of 
each : 

Tiios. W. Adams .....Ttadical. 

Jas. a. Burton Democrat. 

Petek E. Spinks Democrat. 

William Dees Democrat. 

T. IJ. Morton Democrat. 

J. J. TiNSLEY .". Democrat. 

J. C. Carpenter Democrat. 

O. r.CiiANEY Radical. 

Geo. 110I3INS0N Kadical. 

Tiios. Orr liadical. 

Henry' Greer Eadical. 

Ja^ies Welsh lladical. 

KiRSCii Welsh lladical. 

CiiAS. Nichols liadical. 

IIenry IvIDISEY^ liadical. 

Thus it will be seen that this grand jury was composed 
of nine radicals, and, as the author is informeil, the very 
TTorst in the county, and six Democrats. 

This jnry refused to indict either of the parties to this 
diabolical murder. 

It is plain that whatever justification or palliation might 
have been adduced on the part of 13avis, there was not the 
slightest excuse for the conduct of Gilmer. He had met 
Dawson at his door, and, in an insulting manner and atti- 
tude, challenged him with tlic iiKiinry: "Do you wish to 
see me! Have you anything against nu' f " No," replied 
Dawson ; " I have nothing against you,"' and in three min- 
utes after he advances upon Dawson, after he had fallen to 



KEMPER. COUNTY VINDICATED. 117 

the ground in a dying: conditioii, and placing the muzzio of 
the pistol against the head of the dying man, shoots two 
bullets through his brain, and the peuj^le of Kemper 
counfy had the mortiflcation and the patier.ce to see this 
horrible crime pass by unpunished and unreproved ! 

iSTor was this all. Their fears were also aroused as to 
wh.o would be the next unavenged victir.i of such lawless 
impunity, and it is no wonder that it occasioned through- 
out the county a feeling of intense indignation as well as 
alarm. 

It will be proper, perhaps, to mention, in this connec- 
tion, the fact that young Dawson was a near relative of 
Judge Dillard, who was a prominent and influential citi- 
zen oif tlie adjoining County of Sumter, in the State of 
Alabama, which fact, if borne in mind, Mill explain othvr 
circumstances mentioned hereafter. 

The hostile feeling produced against the clan, as it now 
plainly manifested itself to be, in the minds of the people 
of Kemper, the patience they exercised, and the im- 
pudent indifference with which these men viewed their 
bloody work, may be gathered i'rom the admissions and 
evasions of Gilmer, iu his testimony before the committee 
of Congress, to inquire about the free exercise of the elec- 
tive franchise in Mississipi)i, at Washington, in January, 
1877. 

Q. By ]Mr. Money — About 1875, what was the condition 
of i^olitical affairs in your county ? In whose hands was 
the county at that time, and who ^yas responsible for the 
condition of things there — I mean up to the election in 
1875 ? 

A. The county officers were Eepublicans. 

Q. And they had succeeded in keeping the county in a 
lawful state all the time ? 

A. There was no outbreak or anything of the sort. 

Q. The laws were strictly complied with and enforced? 

A. As much so as in other counties in the State. 

Q. Did you not kill a man at Scooba that year ? 

A 1^0, sir. 



.1.18 KEMPER COUNTY VrS'DICATED. 

Q. Did you in 187G ? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. Ill 1871^? 

A. Xo, sir. 

Q. Did you ever kill a man at Scooba? 

A. I presume I know what you are driving at. 

Q. That is what I want to get at. 

A. It was in 1871. 

Q. Tlie county was then in the hands of the Eepublicans 
and Judge Oliisohn was the sherift"? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Were you ever indicted for that killing ? 

A. ITo, sir. There have been some twelve or fifteen 
grand Juries since, both of Democrats and Republicans. 

Q. You were never indicted ? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. Did not a great deal of bitter feeling arise out of 
the circumstance of that killing, on the part of the white 
l)pople, towai'd yofi and toward Judge Chisolm, entirely 
independent of politics ? 

A. I do not see why there should be any feeling 
against Judge Cliisolm. There was a feeling as between 
me and some of this partj^'s relations, and I did not speak 
with most of them 

Q. AVas not that extensively used against you in the 
county ? AVas there not a great deal of feeling gotten up 
against you and against Judge Chisolm, who v.'as held re- 
sponsible for the management of the affairs of that county, 
he being the sheriif? 

A. I do not know whctlier that was the cause of it or 
not. A good many Democrats told me this p.arty ought to 
have been killed, and tliat I was Justiliable in doing it, 
and that if I would go with the Democratic party it would 
be all light. 

Q- (iivc me the name, of some Democrat who told you 
that. 

A. J dislike to give you the name of any man who would 
tell me that the party ought to have been killed. 



KEMPER COUT^TY VINDICATED. 119 

Q. I do not want you to give that, but give the name of 
a Democrat who said tiiat if j^ou would go with the Demo- 
crats it would be all right. 

A. I do not know that I can exactly recall any par- 
ticular name just now — I might if you would give me a lit- 
tle time to thinlc over it. But there may have been a hun- 
dred who told me so. 

Q. And you cannot recollect one of the hundred ? 

A. Perhaps I can if it is necessary. 

Q. I should like to have the names if you can give them. 
Take time and think of it. 

A. Well, sir, I do not believe there is a Democrat in 
Scooba but what has talked to me and told me if I would 
go with the Democratic party it would be all right. 

Q. I mean on account of this killing. That is what we 
are talking about. 

A. Perhaps I do not understand your question. 

Q. I ask you if a great deal of this bitterness, which you 
complain of toward yourself and Judge Chisolm, did not 
arise out of the killing of a Mr. Dawson by you at Scooba, 
and your protection by Judge Chisolm, who Avas sheriff 
of the county at that time, and tlic fact that there was no 
indictment found agaiust you at all ? 

A. Ko, sir ; I do not think any such feeling exists, from 
the very fact that the Democrats have had the grand jury 
their own way ever since, and I have not been indicted, 
and from the fact that we are mighty friendly in our busi- 
ness relations. 

Q. Have the Democrats had possession of the grand 
jury since 1871 1 

A. They have it now. 

Q. Is it true that they have had it since that time ? 

A. iSTo, sir 5 but they have had the last two grand 
inrit'S. 

Q. This last year ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Is not that offence barred by the statute of limita- 
tions I 



120 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

A. 1 hardly think so ; I do not think murder is barred. 

Q. It was murder then, was it ? 

A. If it could be made out murder; I do not know what 
kind of an indictment they mi^ht get ; they might make it 
murder, or they might make it manslaughter ; I do not 
think any cai)ital oifence of that kind is barred. 

Q. But the statute itself wiped out the offence. The- 
fact was that that county was in the hands of Kei)ublicans, . 
and under the administration of Judge Chisolin, and youi 
were not indicted for this offence — call it murder, man- 
slaughter, or whatever you i)lease ? 

A. Yes, sir; so far as county officers are concerned; the 
board of supervisors in. Mississippi appoint the grand 

It would be difficult to surpass the indifference and non- 
chalance manifested in this testimony, but not at all diffi- 
cult to draw from it tlie true character of the witness. 
The statute referred to by IMr. Money is as follows: 

An act to amend the rules of practice and procedure 
in criminal cases in this State. 

Section S. Be it further enacted, That all prosecutions 
for criminal offences heretofore committed, shall be com- 
menced within two years after the cojnmission thereof, and 
not after : 

Provided, This section shall not apply to any case in 
which the oi'fendcr shall have lied from the State. 

Section 9. Be it further enacted, That in all cases where 
any i)erson has heretofore given bail or security on recog- 
nizance for the appearance of any other jierson, whether 
said bail bonds are now i)endiug in the several courts to 
which they arc made returnable, or whether such bonds 
have been forfeited, and proceedings thereon have been 
instituted, such bonds are herebi' declared to be void and 
ol' no effect, ami such proceedings are hereby suspended, 
and (he same ordered to be dismissed. 

Ai)pioved April 5, 1872. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 121 

This infamous act, done iu contravention of all the teach- 
ings of the common law, and in repugnance to aU juridical 
experience, was given effect from its passage on the above 
date, and continued in operation until the fall of 1875, 
Avheu it was expressly repealed. It was but one of the 
many legislative devices enacted by the carpet bag and 
negro legislators of Mississippi to shield ofiflcial corruption, 
and to aftbrd that immunity for crime so pleasing to the 
great body of the radical party in the South. Under the 
operations of this act, if any one was detected in the per- 
])etration of any crime whatever, it was only necessary to 
fly to the swamps or step over the State line, remain away 
for the space of two years, and the oflence would become 
non esse in law. 

The killing of Dawson was such a shock to every sense of 
humanity, and created such a general feeling of exaspera- 
tion, which was aggravated by the fact that Gilmer and 
Davis had been taken away for the x)urpose of thwarting 
the course of justice, that on the night following the 
mnrder, and while the mangled body of the butchered man 
lay in sight of his friends, a mob gathered in the streets of 
Scooba, broke into Gilmer's store and destroyed a large 
portion of his goods. 

This conduct was wholly and in the highest degree re- 
l)rehensible, and nothing less than the high state of excite- 
ment, and the ample cause for that, could ]n^event it from 
being criminal as well as disgraceful. And the iiarties 
who did tliis act were evidently of the same sober opinion, 
for no sooner had their feelings cooled down than they 
offered to pay, and did pay to Gilmer more than he had lost. 

It nmy be remarked that this attack upon his store was 
made when it was iirst known that Gilmer had been car- 
lic'd off to De Kalb, and which they well knew was done 
for the ])urpose of placing him under the protection of 
Chisolm, and they, by this time, had learned well what 
that protection meant. 

This circumstance of the killing of Dawson fully devel- 
oped the true character of Gilmer, and at once cemented 



122 KE]MPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

that cord of fellowsliij), and pledge of faith and co-opera- 
tion, ever afterward so cordially maintained between him 
and Chisolm. Clilmer from tliis time became one of the 
chief actors on the stase. But as Chisolm desired no i)art- 
iier, or i)artition of the functions of the high priesthood 
of the county, which he now held and enjoyed hi soUdo, 
it was thought best for Oilmer to go to the legislature. 

At this time a man by the name of Gambril held the 
ottice of State senator from this district. Gambril was a 
native of Ohio, but had emigrated to Mississippi when 
(l-iite a young man, and engaged in teaching school, and 
like all of his class and nativity, at that time, he was 
received with the greatest kindness by the Sonthoru 
l)eople. While, in many instances, the former were busily- 
engaged in sowing the seeds of corrui)tion and insurrection 
among their slaves, Gambril succeeded in obtaining quite 
a flourishing school, and linally married in a Southern 
family, and when the war came on he was the father of 
several children. 

He continued to conduct his scliool until the passage of 
the conscrii)t act, when, not having a sullicient number of 
scholars to ])rocure his exemption from military' duty under 
the law, he was, like all other uuexem))ted able bodied 
men, forced into the Confederate army by the oOicers of 
the conscrijjt bureau. 

At this time W. "W. Chisolm was the chief conscrii)t 
ollicer in Kemper County, and in the exercise of his duties 
as such, was ncxcr known to show any mercy to the vii;- 
tiuis of his authority. And here it nniy be remarked, that 
at no time during the liist years of the war was there any 
obstacle to i)revent any Northern man, or alieu enemy, 
from removiug himself and fauiily out of the ('onfederacy ; 
and if Gambril was a Union man and an alien enemy, he 
had ample opportunity ol" taking liiiuscll' away. l>ut he 
riMuained teaching his litth' school until Lieutenant Chis- 
olm sei/cil upon liiin and hurried him olf inlo the army. 

There were many Norlhern men in the South at the 
beginning of tlu^ wai- who were similarly siliuited, and 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 123 

wlio, be it said to their lionor, adhered steadfastly to 
those who had ministered, with unsparhig hand, to theui 
in their adversity. Kot so, however, with Gambril. Iii 
the iiniforiu of a Soutlieru soklier, he deserted at the first 
opportuuity and went over to tlie enemy, Vv'ith whom lio 
remained until the close of the war, when he skulked back, 
without molestation, to the bosom of his family, of whom 
he was unworthy. 

This was the man whom the radicals of Kemper had 
selected to represent them in the State senate — a man 
who had, years ago, come South, clad in the rags of 
j poverty, homeless and friendless, had feasted upon the 
hospitality of the Southern people ; had been received 
into the bosom of their families ; entrusted with the 
training of their young ; joined in marriage with one 
of their fair daughters, and yet, when they became in- 
volved in a war of political, social and national life or 
death, he deserted the wife who had placed all her trust 
in him ; abandoned tlie cliiklren she had given him; de- 
serted the friends of his yonth ; and on the first opportu- 
nity passed over to their enemies, and accepted an office in 
their ranks. And yet all this is counted as merit by the 
thieves and villains who composed the most of the white 
element of the radical party in the South. 

It is said that the Spartans took great ]>aina to instruct 
their youth in the art of cunning' and deceit; and that 
adroitness, particularly in theft, was by them considered 
meritorious. Yet to steal so unskilfully as to be detected 
was a great disgrace. And it seems that the moral teach- 
ings of the Sonthern radicals were of a somewhat similar 
nature. 

It made no difierence what crime they committed, just so 
tliey could procure, by any means, immunity from punish- 
ment, they were snre to receive the applause of their asso- 
ciates at the South and their allies at the Korth. i^o 
harm to break faith with, deceive and steal from a South- 
ern white man, alias a rebel, was a doctrine early advo- 
cated, and constantly instilled throughout the radical 



124 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

party, and constantly tliundercd into the ears of the 
uegToes. Althougli Gambril was capable of abandoning 
his family, and deserting- to the enemy of the country in 
which they resided, and of which they were natives, yet 
he seems to have been a man of bnt little vigor and force 
of character. Hence it seems that he was never gathered 
affectionately into the fohls of the Chisojm clan. 

His villanous conduct during the war liad caused him 
to be elected State senator; but apart from his lack of 
spirit, Cliisolm, no doubt, from his own experience, 
thought that a man who had before so basely deserted 
his friends and family, was worthy of but little reliance. 
Be this as it may, tlie event of his death, which occurred 
in 1871, opened the way for the advancement of Gihner. 

The circumstances of the killing of Clambril were as fol- 
lows : It seems that he had two or three daughters grown, 
or about grown, and that one night a negro entered their 
apartment. An ohl negro woman, who was sleeping in 
the room saw the negro, gave the alarm, and told Gambril 
■who she toolc it to be. The negro sus[)eoted was named 
Fhinder Jones. Gambril attacked this negro, and an 
altercation occurred between them. The negro then went 
otf and procured a pistol, at the same time telling another 
negro that he intended to kill Gambril with it. They met 
again, and another tight took place, in which the negro 
shot and killed Gambril. 

Chisolm was at this time sheriff and i>eace officer of the 
county, yet none of the i)arties were ever arrested. It was 
a radical personal fjuarrcl, and as the white people had 
but little respect for Gambril, they left the whole matter to 
be settled by the party which had entire control of the 
county, and it was settled in this way: Gambril waa 
buri('(l ; his murderer went unmolested, and Gilmer was 
put in his [dace as State senator. Although there was no 
l)roof to that effect, yet the conduct of Cliisolm in this 
matter caused grave suspicions to rest upon him in regard 
to it. 

The whole matter was soon hushcil up ; and the indif- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 125 

ference manifested in regard to it by the members of the 
Ian, caused many to believe that liis death was procured 
for the purpose of making- way for Gilmer 5 but it is evi- 
dent that this conjecture arose solely from the mysterious 
conduct of the leading radicals in regard to it, for the 
autlior has been able to find no other ground on which the 
!mi)licatiou of Chisolm could be surmised. It is certain, 
lowever, that the opportunity for ])romoting- Gilmer was 
felt least tlie attainment of liis wishes in that respect. This 
was apparent to all who observed his manners on the 
occasion. 

It may be observed that at the time of the killing- of 
jGambril, Gilmer Avas an avowed candidate for the ofdce 
held by the former, and it was positively understood and 
arranged by Chisholm and his chin that Gilmer should 
jsucceed him in the seuatorship. But there was necessarily 
isome difficulty in the way of accomplishing- this object, to 
Isurmount which it was necessary to act with vigor. 
j Gilmer was a new comer in the county, and had but 
recently declared his i)olitical status. In fact, it seems 
that the prospect of this office maiuly determined his 
career; and his accession to the ranks of the clan, after 
the killing of Dawson, i)romised too much imjiortance to 
justify the omission of any endeavor to secure his co-opera- 
tion with the party. 

But Gambril was an old citizen, and possessed, in the 
eyes of the negro, all the qualifications and antecedents 
requisite for the position. He was a Northern man ; had 
deserted to the enemy during the war; and having for- 
feited the respect of his old friends, he had placed himself 
upon a level with, the negro, and was a strong advocate of 
political, if not social, equality. This gave him great 
popularity with a majority of the voters of the county, as 
the negroes were largely in the ascendency ; and it could 
not be overlooked that the chances of Gilmer, under these 
circumstances, in a fair race witli him, were bad. 

This was the state of affairs in the radical camp at the 
death of Gambril ; and these circumstances, connected with 



126 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

the mysteries attemlin.t;- liis dcatb, wore well calculated to 
create tlie ]»rel(y ;;eiieral belief that his life was sacrificed 
to the i>njniotion of Gilmer, and that his death had been 
deliberately procured for that i)iirpose. 

This event removed every obstacle in Gilmer's path to 
the State capital, where his career was hinf;ed upon the 
issue of race, and the worst features of the radical party. 
]lis history in the State senate is inseparable from any- 
thing that was obnoxious to the white people and tax 
payers of the State. Apart from this, no striking feature 
nuirked his course, save that of his repairing to Vicks- 
burg, and becoming, while yet senator, the deputy sheriff 
of the notorions refer Crosby, in 1875. His own tes- 
timony, in regard to this matter, before the committee at 
Washington, page 50G, is here introduced : 

Q. You stated that your place of residence is Kemper 
county. LIow did yen happen to be in Yicksbiirg, as 
deputy sheriff, in 1875 ? 

A. I will tell you how I happened to be there ; I carpet 
bagged o^'er there. That county was a very largo county, 
and it had a larger population than any other county in 
the State. It was a county that might, perhaps, wiehl 
considerable influence in the i>olitics of the State. 

Q. You say you carpet bagged over there. State to the 
committee what they are to understand by your carpet 
bagging there. What do you meau by carpet bagging? 

A. I mean that any man who leaves his own county and 
goes into another county and holds office, if he is alvcpub- 
lican, is called a carpet bagger by the Democrats. I was 
only using the term they apply. 

Q. That they apply to persons who hold office 1 

A. Y^es, sir. 

Q. State how you came to be employed there as deputy 
sherilf? 

A. There had been great trouble the year previous in 
AVarren County. There was great excitement all over the 
Stat<', and rejtorts of some two or three riots, and the kill- 
ing of a great many lie])ublicans and colored men. The 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 127 

sheriff had been forced to resign his office, and every effort 
■was made that couhl possibly be made 

Question by Mr. Money : Is this of your own knowledge, 
or did you hear it? 

A. I know that the trouble occurred ; I did not see it, 
but anybody who lives in Mississipi)i knows it. 

Q. You are stating what you got from newspaiiers and 
such sources of information 1 

A. It was my knowledge that the sheriff did not have a 
bond and could not make one, and he made arrangements 
through some of my friends by which I was to make his 
bond. I thought it was a great outrage that a large and 
influential county, a county that had, at least, four or five 
thousand Eepublican majority, should be handed over to 
the Democrats simply by cheating the Republican officials, 
or either defeating them from making their bonds when 
they were elected to positions. I felt that it was a fight 
being made on account of their being Eepublicans, and not 
against them upon any other ground. On that account I 
volunteered to go over there and make Crosby's bond. 

Q. To make the bond and run the office 1 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You went over there and accepted the position of 
deputy sheriff, did you not ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. You were sworn in as such ? 

A. I think so. 

Q. At that time were you not a member of the State 
senate from the counties of Kemi)er, JS^eshoba and Koxu- 
beel 

A. I resigned my senatorshii). 

Q. At what time did you resign ? 

A. About the time I went over there. 

Q. Can you recollect the date of your resignation ? 

A. I will not be positive ; it is on file at Jackson. 

Q. But it is not on file here. I want to know the date of 
your resignation 1 

A. I will not be positive, but I resigned some time 
while I was over there ; I had the date of the resignation. 



128 KEMPEll COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Q. Do YOU not know positively tlsat you did not? 

A. I tliiuk I resigned when 1 first went there. 

Q. Do you not know t'.iat you were liokling both offnies 
at once i? 

By Mr. Pease: Do you consider the deputy shrievalty 
an olhce I 

i\rr. Money: I will waive that point; hut I want to prt)\e 
the fact that the witness was a senator when he went over 
there and took that oflice. 

Q. You say you went ovav there to j;ive the bond and 
run the offi(;e ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And at that time you were a senator in the lei^isla- 
ture of the State ? 

A. Yes, sir; at tlie time I went OYcr there I was a 
senator. I do not know what time I resigned. 1 resigned 
when I was there, bnt 1 do not know when it was. 

Q. Was not the sheriff of that county, Peter Crosby, 
shot at some time ? 

A. Yc«r., sir. 

Q. Was he shot while you were his deputy ? 

A. ISTo, sir; 1 was not his deputy. 

Q. IIow long had you ceased to be his deputy when he 
was shot ? 

A. Two or three days. 

Q. Did Crosby ever charge you with doing that shoot- 
ing ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. And he dismissed you then fiom the ollice of de- 
puty? 

A. I was dismissed before he was shot. 

Q. AVhy did you leave the place, or why were j'ou dis- 
missed ? I do not know how you got out of it. 

A. The deputy's oflice ? 

Q. Yes, sir. You ceased to be Crosby's deputy, for 
what reason 7 

xV. We did not agree, lie did not give me any reason 
for the disuiissal at all. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 129 

Upon tbis charge Gilmer was arrested and acquitted. 
But the writer is iulbrmed by gentlemen of undoubted 
veracity that on his return to Scooba he frequently con- 
fessed that he did shoot Peter Crosby, and for the reason 
that the latter had dismissed him from the deputy' shriev- 
alty, when he had aided in making Crosby's bond, and 
that if his pistol had been all right, the result of the affair 
would have been dilferent. 

Soon after the shooting of Crosby, Gilmer returned to 
Scooba, and resumed his mercantile oi)erations, and made 
large purchases of goods on credit, which he sold reck- 
lessly, or divided among his friends, in such a manner 
as to arouse the suspicions of his creditors ; and very soon 
four imlictments were lodged against him in the criminal 
court of the City of St. Louis, Missouri, charging him with 
having obtained goods by fraud and under false pretences. 
Upon these indictments the governor of Missouri made 
requisition for Gilmer, and he was arrested and delivered 
to the authorities of that State. He was carried to St. 
Louis, and was required to enter into recognizance for his 
apiiearance at the proper trial term of the city court, or go 
to jail. 

In this dilemma Chisolm went promi^tly to his rescue, 
and succeeded in making the neccssarj- bonds, which aggre- 
gated the sum of twenty-four hundred dollars. This he did, 
it is said, by depositing the amount with Gilmer's sureties. 
Chisolm immediately returned to Kemper after this arrange- 
ment had been effected, but Gilmer did not return until 
several days after, for which he assign(;d as the reason that 
some letters of information in regard to his conduct and 
character had been sent from De Kalb to his prosecutors 
in St. Louis, of which he suspicioned John W, Gully to be 
the author, and that he remained there for the purpose of 
ascertaining that fiict. But it was, and is still believed by 
many, that he was hunting up the negro Walter Eiley, who 
had fled from justice several years before, and was at this 
time living at some place in the State of Tennessee, well 
known to Chisolm and his clan. 

9 



130 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Be tliis as it may, it is true that Eile^^ returned to 
Kemper County soon after, but as this circumstance forms 
an important link in the chain of events to which we will 
have occasiou to revert more fully hereafter, its discussion 
will be reserved till then. 

These indictments were pending, and the recognizance 
was in force at the time of Gilmer's death, which occurred 
not long- after this. Upon Chisolm's return, he declared 
repeatedly, in reference to the letters referred to, that if 
Gilmer should ascertain the author it would be bad for 1 
the latter, aiul that both Gilmer and himself were satis- 
fied that Gully wrote them. A short time prior to these 
events an incident occurred in the streets of De Kalb, 
which will conduce to a fuller development of the charac- 
ter of Gilmer and the disposition he cherished towards 
Gully, and which, when combined, may lead to an insight 
into that chain of mysterious circumstances which culmin- 
ated in the terrible tragedies that followed. 

On the occasion referred to, John Gully was sitting 
quietly on the lower steps of a store in the front street of 
De Jvalb, when Gilmer procured a wheelbarrow, and pn)- 
ceeding down the street with it, rolled it deliberately 
against the legs of Gully, at the same time placing his 
hand on his pistol, which he finally drew and cocked, and 
holding it in one hand, continued to push the wheelbar- 
row against Gully with the other aiul with his stomach, 
which he a])plied to the round connecting the handles of 
the implement. Gully was entirely unaruied, and well 
knowing the desperate character of his assailant, made 
no resistance and said nothing. Finally Gilmer said to 
him, " By God, you know what I mean ! I mean, that you 
are a damned rascal, and that you have to get out of my 
way!'' "I'll do it," said Gully, and, rising, he went im- 
mediately to his store and procured a gun, with which ho 
returned to his i)osition on liie steps. 

In the meantime, Gilmer had been arrested and carried 
into the. court honse yard, jtist across the stivet — not, 
houe\er, until he had primeil and tired olf his pistol — 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 131 

where for hours he strove with the utmost desi)eratioii 
to escape from the officers and return to the assault. For 
this conduct he was tiued by the radical judge oue dolhir 
aud the costs. Aud thus the tist of impunity was again 
shaken in the face of the GuUys and tlie wliole community. 

Of all these glaring manifestations of immunity for every 
degree of crime, the people of Kemper County were not, nor 
could they be,, unobservant or oblivious. Their minds be- 
came deeply impressed with a general feeling of insecurity 
that finally resulted in something akin to desperation. 

They saw themselves in the midst of a semi-barbarous 
race, of brutal instincts and strong race prejudices, in- 
flamed with avowed hostility to them, and whose passions 
were continually fanned by nien wlio seemed to have no 
sympatliy with any class of Southern white society, or 
any respect for the laws of God or man. They saw the 
scales of justice swinging in the hands of the assassin and 
the thief, and their laws adiniuistered by outlaws. 

Such a state of affairs was well calcuhited to excite first 
their fears and indignation, and then a spirit of self de- 
feuce ; and these combined to urge the adoption of every 
measure that promised them relief. 

Such was the state of aftairs in Mississippi at the begin- 
ning of the year 1875, aud which had existed for seven 
long years, with a constaiit tendency to, if i)ossible, a still 
■worse conditiou. 



132 KEMPEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

Ainoiig' llie worst of tlic avenues of corruption tbat 
])enneiite(l every department of the State and county 
.i40veriunents of Mississippi during radical rule, and one 
ATliicli afforded, perhaps, tlie most aini)le opiK)rtunities for 
plunder, was the public school system, every feature of 
Avhich seems to have been fashioned with a view to its 
prostitution to purposes of iniquity, a,nd every position con- 
jiectcd with it seems to have offered a bid to corruption. 

At the period which we are now discussing, the State 
superintendent of education was a negro of the most 
vicious character, and the exami)le set by the chief seems 
to have been followed, as a lixed policy, by every subor- 
dinate in the entire system. Of which a better descrip- 
tion cannot be given, perhaps, than that set forth in the 
testimony of the Hon. J. A. Campbell, at that time one of 
the judges of the supreme court of the State, before the 
IMississippi investigating committee at Jackson, on June 
21, 1870. It will he observed that at this time the State 
government had passed into tlie hands of the Democratic 
party and the native white i)eople. 

Q. By Senator Bayard: Who is the present superin- 
tendent of the schools ? 

A. T. S. Oath Wright. 

Q. Who is he ! 

A. He has been a devoted teacher for many years. 

Q. A man of education ? 

A. Yes, sir. I will add that he is thoroughly imbued 
with the spirit of maintaining the scliools without regard 
to race, color or previous condition of servitude. 

(^. Who preceded him ? 

A. A man by tlie name of Cardozo, a colored imli- 
vidual. 

Q. How did he get out of oftlce, and how long did he 
hold his oflico ? 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 133 

A. He must have held it about two years. 

Q. What office had he hekl prior to that ? 

A. He had been circuit clerk of Warren County, I 
believe. 

Q, Do you know whether, as circuit clerk, he had been 
charged with forgerj^ of warrants ? 

A. Yes, sir. He had been charged and indicted. 

Q, Were those indictments fouud before or after his 
election as suijerintendent? 

A. Prior, I think. I know he was charged with being 
a forger, a thief and a felon — all that sort of thing. I 
know the disposition on the part of the Republicans to 
shake him off, as being unable to carry such a weight. 

Q. Notwithstanding this charge and this reputation, he 
was elected State superintendent of education ? 

A. Yes, sir; he was. 

Q. What was his course in that office ? 

A. Well, I only speak from reputation. It was bad. I 
can speak from some knowledge of one transaction. I am 
president of the board of trustees of the normal school of 
Tougaloo. I am president of the board of trustees of the 
State department of that normal school. This man, Car- 
dozo, as State supernitendent of education, was ex officio 
member of that board. Prior to that, however, 1 would 
not associate Avith him, even officially, or in any way. 
Cardozo was, as stated, a member of that board, and he 
was treasurer of the board, and he drew from the State 
treasury the full appropriation by the State for the main- 
tenance of its department in that university, or normal 
school, and he accounted for about twenty-two hundred 
dollars, and the balance of it he has never accounted for ; 
and the trustees have recently instituted a suit, or ordered 
it to be instituted, against Cardozo, or the sureties on Car- 
dozo's bond, in Warren County, to recover for his deficit 
in that appropriation. He drew the money from the treas- 
ury, and paid over twenty-two hundred dollars, and the 
balance he put in his i)ocket, I suppose. 

Q. How much did he draw in all ? 



134 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

A. rorty-five luiiulred dollars, I tliiiik, and aecouutcd 
for twenty-two liniidicd dollars, I think — I am not cortaiii 
tliat 1 am iifciuate in tlie li^^nics — and suit has lately been 
instituted, or ordered to be, a.^aiust liim. IMartiu Casey is 
one on the boud, but says his name is a forgery. Mrs. Wil- 
liams is the other one, and her signature will probably be 
iuvalidated, as she will undoubtedl}' claim that she signed 
it in view of this name being upon it, relying upon it. 

Q. You have stated that you would not associate, offici- 
ally or otherwise, with Cardozo. State jour reasons for 
that. 

A. His character is most infamous, according to repu- 
tation. 

Q. Do you know uudei' what indictments he rests at 
present ? 

A. No, sir; 1 cannot say 1 know. I have understood 
there were sixteen indictments against him. 

Q. For what crimes "'. 

A. For forging, 1 think, county certificates, county war- 
rants — embezzlement, i)erhai)s. 1 am not sure as to that. 

Q. How was lie gotten out of office ? 

A. He was im[>ea('!)ed by the Ilouse of Kei)resentatives 
of the legislature of JMississipi)i. 

Q. And tried by the senate ? 

A. No; he resigned, 1 believe. I do not think he was 
tried. I think he resigned under impeachment ; that is my 
impression. 

Q. In your school system, wliat part and authority has 
the board of supervisors 'I 

A. The board of supervisors, composed of five men, is the 
county school board of education. 

Q. Does the board levy a school tax I 

A. Yes, sir; it is allowed to levy an additional sum for 
the ])ayment of teachers ; also, a school house fund, as it is 
called. 

Q. Are those levies discretionary with the board ? 

A. They are, within certain limits — whicli is two per 
cent., or two mills on the tlollai', I should have said. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 135 

Q. Who com])osed the board in Madisou County after 
the election of 1873 ? 

A. Five negroes. 

Q. Were any of them educated men ? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. Do you know whether any of these five negroes were 
able to read and write ? 

A. My information is that one of them could sign his 
name, after a fashion. 

Q, And it was to that board the control of education in 
that county was submitted '? 

A. Yes, sir ; they levy the county taxes for education, 
and other purposes. 

Q. Could any one of that board calculate the rate of 
assessment estimates upon sums of money ! 

A. I have no idea they could. I do not know from per- 
sonal knowledge, but, from information, I do not think 
there was any one of them that could make any sort of 
computation. Kot one of them was familiar with the simple 
rules of arithmetic. 

It may be remarked that Madisou County was the 
home of Judge Campbell, and the same state of the school 
system which he has described as existing in his county, 
was common in all the black counties of Mississippi, or 
counties in which tiie negro voters were in the majority, 
with the addition that the intermixture and participation 
of carpet baggers found in some of them, but added a still 
more dangerous and corrupt element than ignorance to 
the control of the moral and educational training of the 
people. 

It had been the early aim of the radical party to force 
social equality upon the Southern people through the in- 
strumentality of the public school system, and the first 
constitution prepared for the people of Mississippi, under 
the reconstruction acts of Congress, embodied a feature 
requiring the whites to mingle with the negroes in the 
public schools of the State, or submit to the unjust alter- 



1;>G KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

iiativo. of contributing Ironi their scanty substance a heavy 
tax to maintain a costly system of public schools, in the 
advantages of which they did not participate. 

i^Tevcr was there a more arbitrary and humiliating con- 
dition imjiosed upon a people, than this of being com- 
pelled either to accept the terms of having their children 
trained and educated upon a social footing with the negro, 
or on the other hand to become vassals to the effort to 
make him tlieir superior. 

It was tills provision that early and naturally excited 
the ojjposition of the white people to any contribution to 
the education of the negro, who paid no taxes himself 
comparatively worthy of consideration. 

AVith the destruction of slavery, they had become woe- 
fully impoverished. Their lands w^ere almost valueless. 
Tlieir personal property, too, had been swept away by the 
tide of war, and they thought that these consetjuences 
were snlliciently onerous without being forced to con- 
tribute their slender means of support to educate their 
former slaves. r>ut when the burden was rendered humil- 
iating and insulting, it, imh'cd, becanu' insupi)ortal)l»\ 

It was this that ])iovoked the strenuous eftbrts on the 
part of the white i)eoi)le ol' AIississi]>])i, which resulted in 
the defeat of the constitution fashioned for thein by Con- 
gress, in 1818. 

Nor did this feature of mixed schools enlist the sym- 
])atliies of the negroes themselves?. Their own sense of 
inferiority led many of them to oppose the scheme; con- 
sequently they voted largely with the whites against this 
constitution. This proscription policy of the radical 
])arty was prompted by a desire to perpetuate its power, 
wen at the cost of producing a state of social anarchy 
and mongrelism, or a war of races, in the South. 

But when these objectionable clauses had been severed, 
and the constitution was resulnnittiMl to the peoi)le, it was 
ado])ted by a large majority, and the system ])rt)viding for 
sej»arate schools for the whites and l^lacks would no longer 
have met with any serioui opposition, had it not been for 



! KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 137 

its gross and outrageous mismanagement. It still proved 
under radical rule to be a prolific field for the gix)wtli of 
every species of corruption, which, if it did not iu a 
measure revive the spirit of opposition to the entire in- 
stitution, produced, at least, a general feeling of apathy 
and indiflerence iu regard to it. 

Four mills on the dollar were levied by the legislature 
of 1874, and two mills additional by the county boards of 
education, whicli, for the most part, were composed of 
illiterate negroes, as iu Madison County, or by a mixture 
of these and the more vicious white radicals; while the 
county superintendents were mostly adventurers from 
the Northern States, who proved iu almost every instance 
to be defaulters, who had no sympathy for the white peo- 
ple, and whose habits for the most part were so dissolute 
and degraded that they were not admitted into the society 
or even to the acquaintance of those, the education of 
whose children they were presumed by law to supervise. 

In the County of Lowndes, there was a small school dis- 
trict containing but two schools, one for the use of each 
color. The negro school was taught in a house on the 
plantation of Mr. James Sykes. This house he had caused 
to be built j)rior to the war for a negro church, and it had 
always been devoted to that purpose, and was being so 
used at the time of the following occui-reuce. An arbitrary 
demand was made of him for this building by the super- 
intendent of education or school board, to which he replied 
that the building was being used by the negroes as a church, 
and that if they, tho negroes, desired to have a school 
there, he had no objection. Upon this the school was es- 
tablished. 

Some time afterwards, Mr. Sykes, on looking over the 
records of the county, was surprised to find that the county 
school authorities had made a charge of about one bun- 
dled and seventy dollars for the rent of this house. They 
had also assessed seventy-five dollars for a stove, fifty 
dollars for repairs, fifteen dollars or twenty dollars for 
benches, and about seventy-five dollars lor fuel, and that 



138 KliMPKR COUNTY VINDICATED. 

for this small school <li.stri(;t with only two schools, the 
ag:ffrogate amount of three thousand eight hundred dol- 
lars hiul been charged. In regard to this, Mr. Sykcs, iu 
his sworn statement before the ku-k!nx committee, says : 

" This was my own house. I made no charge for rent, 
nor did I rei'cive aay, and there was no fuel used but my 
own, for whieli 1 charged norhing. There was an appro- 
priation made for the repairs o!" the house which was never 
recei^■e(l. They api)ointed me to do it; tlie work was 
never i)erfornied, and I never made appliciation for, or re- 
ceived, any ])ay. They had, themselves, pocketed these 
pretended apj)r()[)riatioas, and it was the same way with 
nearly the wliole sum of three thousand eight hundred 
dollars cliarged upon the record." 

This instance is mentioned as a specimen of innumer- 
able transactions of a sinular character atteiuling the con- 
duct and management of the public schools in various 
counties of the State. 

So abounding in opportunities for oflicial theft was this 
field that every dollar that could be was thrown into it. 
As an instance of this: In the County of Kemper there 
was a special fund raised for the purpose of erecting a Jail, 
of which the county was much iu need, amounting to 
about twenty-five hundred «lollars. Tliis fuiul had been 
raised by a s[)ecial tax, authorized and limited in its 
approi)riation by the following clause of the Stat(; consti- 
tution: Art. 1-J, Sec. 1(5, "Xo county shall be denied the 
right to raise, by special tax, money sullicient to i)ay for 
the building and repairing of court houses, jails, bridges, 
and other necessary conveniences for the people of the 
county; and money thus collected shall never be apjn-o- 
priated for any other i)uri)Ose : provided, the tax thus 
levied shall be a certain per cent, on all tax levied by the 
State." 

It will be seen from the above that the money raised by 
such special tax was expressly restricted in its use to the 
purpose for which it was levied, yet Chisolm and Gilmer 
cast their longing eyes on this Kemper County jail fund, 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED, 139 

and the consequence was tbat Gilmer procured the pas- 
sage of the following act of the legislature in regard to it, 
while he was senator from this district: 

An Act to authorize the Board of ^Supcrvisors of Kemper 
Count 1/ to loan certain funds belonging to said county. 

Whereas, The board of supervisors of Kemper County 
did, at the August term of tlieir meeting, A. D. 1873, levy 
a tax of two and a half mills on the dollar on the taxable 
property of said county, for the i)urpose of erecting a jail 
in said county ; and 

Whereas, The said board of supervisors have not made 
any order for the building of said jail, and said funds so 
derived from said tax are lying idle and profitless to the 
county ; therefore. 

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of 
Mississijjpi, That tbe board of supervisors of Kemi)er 
County be, and they are hereby authorized and directed, 
by an order spread upon their minutes at a regular term 
of their court, to loan the money derived, or to be derived 
from the levy for jail purposes, to the school fund of said 
county, to be paid back and returned to the treasurer of said 
county whenever the same may be needed for the purpose 
for which the same was collected; and said board shall, at 
their next meeting, cause said funds to be disbursed as 
follows : 

First. — To the payment of all outstanding warrants, 
issued for the SEdary of the county superintendent of 
education, prior to a passage of an act entitled an act to 
amend the laws of the State, in relation to public educa- 
tion, approved April 17, 1873. 

Second. — To the payment of warrants, issued in said 
county, in favor of the common school fund. 

Third. — To the payment of the outstanding teachers' 
warrants of said county. 

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect and 
be in force from and after its passage. 

Approved February 28, 1874. 



,140 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICA.1ED. 

Chisoliii, who was tliou sLerifF of tlic comity, and Gilmer, 
it is said, prior to the ])assage of this act, in the very face 
of tlie above constitutional provisions, had bought up and 
])rocured a large amount of the class of warrants desig- 
nated, at merely nondnal prices, and so soon as the act 
was i)assed they presented thos-e Avarrauts and absorbed 
the whole amount of the pretended loan. 

They had determined to obtain this money, and no 
oftlcial oaths or constitutional barriers could prevent the 
consnmmation of their plans to effect their i)urpose ; and 
ihus was the County of Kemper robbed of more than two 
lliousand dollars by means of a conspiracy between its 
ollicers. The county superintendent of education who 
issued the warrants, the board of county sujiervisors wh.o 
])assed upon them, and the treasurer who redeemed them, 
were all radicals and tools of Cbisolm; while Gilmer, whose 
seat in the legislature seems to have been prepared for 
him especially Jbr such purposes, was his accomi)lice and 
active abettor in dragging this money within the i)recincts 
of the school system, where it could be thus fraudulently 
appropriated. 

Such were some of the workings of the i)ub'.ic school 
system in the South, the most stupendous humbug and 
most gigantic swindle ever perpetrated and fastened upon 
the shoulders of a ])eople. 

i'rior to the war there was no general public school sys- 
tem in Mississippi. There were but few i)ersons unable to 
])ay the ordinary tuition, and the peoi)le preferred employ- 
ing their own teachers, and where there was any need 
of aid, special provisions afibrded all that was necessary ; 
('onse(p)ently, the proceeds of the sales of the i)ublic lands, 
turned over to the State for school purposes, as its quota, by 
the general government, was loaned out for the ])urpose of 
aiding internal improvements, and if any portion of this 
fund has been lost, or is now in anywise a desperate con- 
dition, it is not the fault of those who had its management 
])rior to the war, but the result of the general destruction of 
l>roperty and the widespread impoverishment of the people 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 141 

occasioiKxI by it. But the fact that those funds, denomi- 
nated respectivelj' tlie seminary fund, the sixteenth section 
fund, and the Clnekasaw school fund, whether secure or 
not at this time, were for the most part beyond tlie reacli 
of the lingers of the carpet bagger, was snflicient to call 
forth fron) them a howl of disappointment, indignation and 
I'ag'e. llence, we llnd one of them, IJ. li. Poase, concluding 
his report as State school snperintendent to the legislature, 
in 1872, with the following wail : 

" I am €f the opinion that when full ami complete 
returns are made of the amount of loss of the sixteenth 
section school funds alone, to say nothing of the seminary 
fund and the Chickasaw fund, will exceed one million of 
dollars absolutely squandered and irretrievably lost." 

AVhether the above allegation has any foundation in 
fact, or not, it is a lesson of experience, that had these 
funds found their way into the hands of Pease and his 
successor, Cardozo, there could be no doubt as to what 
would have been their disposition. 

JSToth withstanding this onerous tax of four mills, levied 
by the legislature of Mississip])i, for the support of the 
public schools, and the additional levy of two mills made 
by the county board of education, the schools were re- 
quired by law to be kept open but four months in the 
year, and for the accomi)lishing of this short scholastic 
period there was maintained perpetually the most costly 
organization of officers. There was the State superintend- 
ent of education, with a large annual salary. There Avas 
a State board of education, whose officers were maintained 
in the capital of the State ; then there were the county 
boards of education, and the county superintendents, who 
kept their costly furnished ofiices at the different county 
seats, and whose salaries for their four months' pretended 
sn]>ervision reached, in some instar«ces, as high as two 
thousand dollars. All these, gathered under the clouds of 
ignorance, or the banner of defalcation, will present a 
horde of parasites never before fiistened upon the body 
politic of any people. 



142 KEMPETl COUNTY "^TNDICATED. 

Such was the state of the public school system of Mis- 
sissippi under ladicnl rule. When, iu 1874, the Demo- 
cratic party became possessed of the State government, one 
of its first eiibrts Avas to reform the school system. The 
onerous tax was abolished, and in its stead was substituted 
tlie proceeds arising from the sale of the sixteenth section 
lands, all i^roceeds of lands forfeited to the State for non- 
payment of taxes, the net ])roceeds of all fines and for- 
feitures, and all money accuuing to tlie State from the sale 
of licenses to retail vinous and spiritous liquors, which 
aggregated much n)ore even than the former burdensouie 
taxation on the valuation of i)roperty. The schools were 
required by law to be maintainfd five months in the 
year, and longer, if tlie money arising' from the above 
mentioned sources should be more than suflicicnt for the 
period designated. All poll taxes were appropriated to 
the ^' teachers' fund," and the supervisors of counties, 
and the mayor iind aldermen of towns of more than 
two thousauil inhabitants, were required to levy a tax 
upon the taxable ])roperty of the county or town 
" suilicient for school house jjurposes, the superintend- 
ent's salary, and any deficit in the teachers' fund that 
may arise.'' 

The salaries of the county superintendents were 
reduced by law, iu every instance, to one fourth of 
their former aiaount. In addition to this, the sum 
of fifty-seven thousand dollars of United States bonds, 
in the State treasury, whicli had arisen from an 
investment of State funds, was ordered to be appropri- 
ated to school pnii)Oses, and devoted to imnuMliate use. 
The renting of oilices for the snperintendents, practised by 
the radical ]iarty, the purchasing of furniture for the same, 
and the furnishiiig of stationery, etc., were all piomptly 
abolished, and the great benefits derived IVoni these 
changes began at once to he manifested in llu' greatly 
improved condition and enlianced eflicieiiey of lh(» ])ul)lic 
schools, which, to-day, rests u])on as solid a roumlation as 
in any State in the I'liion. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 143 

But although the harness of the school system, as 
innii-.irate(l by the radical party in Mississippi, fitted 
easily upon tlie shoulders of the thief, it was not the only 
department of the State or county governments gaugrened 
with infiimy and corrui)tion. 

The boards of supervisors, which constituted the legisla- 
tures of the counties, as well as the county boards of 
education, were, during the years of radical rule, composed, 
in large part, of the most ignorant and vicious men that 
ever participated in the government of any people. Their 
ofiices were political soup houses to which every vagabond 
in the counties looked for support, and their sessions were 
occasions of party largesses, where corrupt contracts were 
dispensed with lavish hand-conclaves of conspiracv, 
where all manner of scliemes were concocted in secrecy to 
wrench money from the white people, and to promote the 
interest of the radicnl party in all its features. 

We have already noticed the composition of the board 
of supervisors of Madison County with the observation 
that the same description would apply to the boards of 
many other counties in the State. 

In Issaquena County the negro board had established 
but one white school, while there were a great many negro 
schools in operation there. Under this state of things the 
white people preferred a petition through an old gentleman 
named Snjith, to the board of supervisors, asking for the 
establishment of another white school, and at the county 
seat. Smith api)oared before the board in a very respectlul 
manner, tendeied Ins petition, when the following scene 
occurred, as related by T. M. Miller, Esq., a lawyer, and at 
the time the attorney for the board. He says: "Iliad 
been attorney for the board for quite a length of time. 
These negroes had appointed me unanimously, and 1 re- 
signed my ]>osition on account of their reckless maimge- 
mciit, and on account of the refusal of the board to hear 
the whites in regard to schools, and so on. IMght there, 
at Mayervill,., there was a great demand ibr a wliite school. 
There were, I s!ip[)f)se, some lliiity or forty pupils, and 



144 KEMPER COUNTY VESfDICATED. 

they had no school house. They had to employ a teacher, 
aud they got a room wherever they could to teach in ; and 
the iKiOple brought the matter to the attention of the board 
several times, aud earnestly requested them to have a 
school house erected there. The board finally went through 
the pretense of posting a notice for bidders. Tlie law 
X)rovides that the contract shall be let out to the lowest 
bidder, aud bids were ottered by good mechanics to build 
a school house at a much less cost than they had been 
paying for negro school houses in various parts of the 
county, and they rejected the bids on the grouiul of 
extravagance. Old Mayor Smith came up there, and 
requested them politely to have the notice renewed. He 
was very anxious about this school house, and it was the 
wish of the whole community. It was oi)posed by a negro 
named Gross. This man. Gross, was very ottensive to Mr. 
Smith, and ordered him to sit down ; he didn't want to hear 
him, aud finally drove him away in disgust and desjiair. 
I was present at the time and I left the board in disgust. 
The white people paid nearly all the taxes of the county, 
and they had but one school, which was kept in the base- 
ment of a church which they rented, and this school was 
ten or twelve miles from the one they sought to have 
established." 

It would bo useless to attempt to bring within the 
province of this work all the glaring instances of crime 
and malfeasance committed by the boards of supervisors 
in the various counties of ]Mississipi)i during radical rule in 
the State. Such a detail Avould itself compose a volume, but 
1 will subjoin one other instance which occurred within the 
knowledge of the writer. 

In 1872, the legislature created a new county, to which 
it gave the name of Colfax, but which was subsequently 
changed to that of Clay. This county was formed of 
portions of Monroe, Lowndes and Ok(iblu'ha, and the board 
of supervisors of the new county was authorized to elect 
some person to transcribe from those counties the records 
which ])cr(aiiied respectively Ui llie i>ortio!is severed from 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 145 

tbeni. For this purpose the county superintendent of edu- 
cation, a carpet bagger, named Eugg, was elected by the 
board, the president of wliich was a negro named Henry 
Hardy, who, that same year, had entered into a written 
contract with the author to ]>erform labor on his farm, and 
iiad moved thither with his family, but, on receiving what 
he conceived to be a better bargain, suddenly moved away, 
in violation and total disregard of his obligations. This 
negro, while president of the board, together with another 
member of the board, named Frank Strong, was indicted 
for forgery and bribery, and upon the trial of Strong, Rugg- 
testified that he had paid to Hardy and Strong each the 
sum of twenty-tive dollars for their votes in selecting him 
to transcribe the records. 

Yet, notwithstanding this direct and positive testimony, 
the jury, composed of negroes, and one or two white 
men, returned a verdict of not guilty. So flagrant was 
this outrage upon justice, that Judge Orr, a Eepublican, 
but the most talented judge in the State, denounced the 
jury from the bench, and ordered their names to be enrolled 
on the records of the court as men incompetent and 
unworthy to sit on the jury, and instructed the sheriff 
never again to introduce one of those men as a juryman 
while he occupied the bench. 

The trial took place at night, but, in the meantime, Rugg, 
becoming apprised of the consequences to himself of his 
confession, tied during the night, and on the trial of Hardy, 
tlie following morning was non inventus, nor has he been 
heard of in those parts since. Hardy was, as a matter of 
course, discharged, there beiug no other evidence against 
him, and he continued to officiate as president of the boar<l 
of supervisors until the spring of 1S7G — two years after- 
vvard. It may be added that the successor of Rugg, as 
superintendent of this county, one J. T. Harrington, was a 
i^!an of the blackest character, and had been indicted for 
hoi'se stealing. This man continued to serve as superin- 
tendent until the Democratic party came into power. 

The board of supervisors, as thus constituted, formed 

10 



110 KEMPER COUjSTTY VINDICATED. 

the legislative and executive power of the comity. They 
levied taxes, selected the jurors, j^rand and petit, super- 
vised the education of the children, and liad control of the 
treasury of tlie county. 

And as to the selection of the Jurors, it may he readily 
conjectured from what class of citizens thej' were generally 
chosen. The following statement, made by Garnett An- 
drews, Esq., a lawyer of Yazoo Comity, in regard to the 
condition of affairs wrought there by this vicious machin- 
ery, was applicable to a wide extent in the State. 

"One of the most serious grievances, which I have my- 
self seen, was the administration of Justice. I was more 
fiimiliar with that tlian anything else. Under the laws of 
the State the grand Jurors are appointed by the board of 
supervisors. These boards of supervisors are comjiosed of 
five individuals, one elected from each district in the 
county. The county is divided into five supervisors' dis- 
tricts. Among other duties, they have the selection of 
tlie grand Jurors. Each member selects so many, and, 
jis a general rule, these grand Jurors amounted to little or 
nothing at all. There were a few white men ])ut upon them 
f()r appearance salce — sometimes very intelligent men — 
but the majority of them were always coini)Osed of negroes, 
iind generally very ignorant negroes, and it was almost 
impossible to get a radical indicted for anything. They 
could do what they pleased. I once tried to get a (X)unty 
treasurer, who had been elec-ted by the radicals, indicted 
for cmbiv.zleinent. He had appropriated $;),()0() of the 
s(;hool fund, which I afterward recovered by suit. 1 tried 
to have him indicted lor this, but could not succeed. They 
would not indict hiiu. And this was a general thing."' 

Another instance of the arrogant conduct of this negi-o 
supervisor, Gross, toward the white i)eo])le, was as follows: 
" A man by the name of Woolfoek had obtained tlie signa- 
tures of seventy citizens and tax ]ia\ ers of the county to 
a resiiectful jietition to the board of supervisors, asking 
leave, for WooUbeU to ])lace. a gate across the )>id)li(^ road 
at his i»lanta!ion, the l:ig!i water preventing him at that 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDIOATED. 147 

time from fcucing bis place. Tliis petition was preferred 
to the board bj' Win. S. Farrisli, as attorney for the pe- 
titioner; and upon Iiis askini^' i)ernjis.sion of the board to 
read tbe petition, this man, (Iross, ordered liim, in the 
]uost i^eremptory manner, to take his seat. Farrisli re])lie(! 
that lie had a ri^ht, he thought, as an attorney, to read his 
l)etition, and to be heard. Gross rejilied, '' ^STo, sir ; you will 
not be heard ; and, furthermore, if you don't take your seat 
you will be fined for contempt of this board." lie refnsed 
to even hear the petition read, the object of which was simply 
to obtain iiermission for a, citizen to place a gate tempora- 
rily across the public road, which would save him several 
miles of fencing through an inundated. swamp, and protect 
his crops until the water subsided, and he could haul his 
rails from the bottom. 

"In regard to petit juries, it was still worse. The law 
provides tluit they shall be selected in the following man- 
ner : The tax assessor each year shall return into the 
circuit clerk's office a list of all qualified taxpayers ol" 
l)ro])er age, or of all persons qnalilied for jury duty. Origi- 
nally, when tliis list was returned, the names were all i)ut 
into a box, marked and numbered, and tlie tax assessor 
was required, annually, to make amended returns, report- 
ing snch ])ersons as had moved out of the county, and 
those who had moved into it, and the jury box would then 
be revised by him and the circuit clerk, and, perhaps, the 
sheriff. 1 observed for years, and we could not remedy it, 
that the juries were composed almost entirely of negroes 
of the most ignorant sort, and they carried the race feeling 
with them into the jury room. If there was any sort of 
(iueslion between a Avhite man and negro, in which there 
was any feeling, it was impossible for the white man to get 
justice. I have known some very outrageous cases of this 
sort; one in which a negro went into the store of a white 
man. Ilis wife waited in the store. He was armed, and 
he assaulted and cu.rsed her in the most shocking and 
abominable manner. The negro was indicted, tried by one 
of these juries and acquitted, upon the clearest evidence of 



148 KETNIPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

a wantoif attack and assault upon the ^oman. These are 
mere instances of what universally occurred. Not one of 
these jurors in five hundred could read or write. Tliey 
invariably slept while we were ariiuing the cases to them. 
It .was the most disheartening- thing in the world. They 
would sleep during the entire argument, then go out and 
promptly render their verdicts. You could not do any- 
thing with them unless you would repeat to them ribald 
jokes, or something of that sort. You could arouse 
their attention in no other way. There was a class of 
them, or ring, that hung around the court house as pro- 
fessional jurors, and, as witnesses, they thought it their 
duty, generally, to swear lor the side that summoned 
them." 

An instance of this kind is related by Judge Shackle- 
ford, a Republican. It occurred in AVashington County. 
There was an Irishman by the name of Kelly indicted lor 
murder, and after all the evidence had been elicited in 
the case, the district attorney and the counsel for the 
defence came to an agreement to submit the case. The 
district attorney stated to the jury that he would be 
satisfied with a verdict of manslaughter, or a verdict of 
guilty, as charged in the indictment, coupled with a sen- 
tence to the penitentiary for life. This had been agreed to 
by the counsel for the defence, yet the jury went out, and 
to the utter surprise of every one, brought iu a verdict of 
" not guilty," and the court could do nothing more than to 
discharge both prisoner and jury. 

The justice courts of ^lississipi)i have jurisdiction in 
all matters where the amount in controversy does not 
exceed $150, and they have an extended jurisdiction iu 
criminal matters. They may ininish for assault and bat- 
tery, petty larceny, alfrays and riots, all disturbances of 
the i)eace, and they have a general committing ])ower in 
all cases. It will be seen tliat this extent of jurisdiction 
renders them the most important courts in the State. Yet 
these courts were often presided over by the most ignorant 
and vicious of the negro population, and so illiterate as 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICA.TED. 149 

to be wholly unable to read intelligently any law what- 
ever, or to comprehend a legal argument. 

The following- description of a negro justice, given un- 
der oath by EoberL Powell, Esq., a lawyer of Madison 
County, before the Mis.si8.sii)pi investigating committee, 
ni;iy be received as pretty generally ai)i)lieable to those of 
other counties : 

Q. By Senator Bayard: Had you any justices of the 
l)eace wJio were colored ? 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Do you know their condition as to illiteracy '? 

A. This year we have one in the county that can write 
his naine. Last 3'ear, however, I don't thiidc there was a 
colored justice in the county who could write his name. 
I know several of them personally. The way they kept 
their dockets was to get some friendly neighbor to write 
them up just before the grand jury met, to present to them. 
They report but few lines. I think one of them reported 
about five dollars. 

Q. When the docket was written Avere they able to 
read it ? 

A. ^o, sir. 

Q. Were these justices of whom you have si)oken able to 
fill up the writs they issued, to sign them, or know what 
they contained ? 

A. No, sir. 

Q. Bid they sign these writs by a nuirk, or get some one 
to write their names to them '? 

A. They signed them by a mark. 

Q. Have you seen them so signed ? 

A. I have. 

But, if the offices of superN'isor and justice of the peace, 
were, in many counties, as we have seen, tilled almost 
entirely by ignorant and vicious negroes, the judges of the 
higher courts, appointed by Governor Ames, from the carpet 
bag or scalawag element, were in many instances but little 
less infamous. The chancellors especially, for the most i)art, 
were as motley and iucomx)etent a set as ever i)olluted the 



JoO KEMl'KR COUNTY VINDIOATED. 

s<';its of justuw. In fact, it was diilicult for a person of 
strict integrity, under this administration, to hold the 
])0.sit;on, and wJierever one i)roved himself to be abovt; 
])artisuu intlueuces when on the bench, he was promptly 
removed. This was the case in regard to Chancellors 
Peyton and Drennan. The iormer had been appointed to 
the bench by Goverjior Alcorn, and was removed by 
(lovernor Ames, because he refused to make certani 
rulings and decrees in conformity to the wishes of the 
governor in the case of The University of Mississipi)i, 
et al. i\ The Vicksburg and Xashville Itailroad ct al. 

For the purpose of making this chancellor subservient 
to his will in this matter, Governor Ames approached the 
father of the chancellor, lion. E. G. Peyton, who was 
then chief justice of the State of Mississij)[)i, and en- 
deavored to persuade him to exercise such inliuence over 
his son as woukl induce him to frame his decisions in ac- 
cordance with his will. This infamous proposition the chief 
justice spurned with scorn and indignation, and, although 
a Kepublican, was ever afterwards bitterly hostile to Ames 
and his administration. 

The circumstances of the removal of Clnincellor Dren- 
nan, of the twelfth chancery district of ^Mississippi, were 
as follows : A radical candidate for sherilf in Yazoo 
County by the name of IMorgan, and a henclnnan of the 
governor, had shot and killed his rival for the same ollice, 
under very aggravated circumstances. Morgan was tried 
ami refused bail by the justice court. 

At that time the statute forbade a justice of the peace or 
any judge granting bail to any person charged with a 
ca]»ital crime where the proof of guilt was ])0sitive or the 
l)resumi)tion great. 31organ sued out a writ of habeas 
corpus before the chancellor, who, upon hearing, refused 
also to grant bail, and remanded Morgan to jail. Upon 
this he received from Governor Ames an order of removal. 

In both of these instances the action of the governor was 
evidently in i)ursnaiice of a purpose to control and render 
the judiciaiy of the State entirely subservient to his will, 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDIGATKD. I5i 

aiul that, too, by metbods in violation of the. constitution 
of the State, and coiitraiy to all the provisions of law, 
made as safe<;'uards to the integrity of the judiciary. 

The constitution of the State of Mississii)pi provides 
that the chancellors be appointed by the governor of the 
State, with the advice and consent of the senate; but 
Governor Ames, in order to dispense with this traniuiel 
ni)on his purposes, declined to make the nominations t«> 
the senate, as required by law, and made the appointments 
after the adjournment of the legislature by virtue of his 
authority to fill vacancies in vacation. The character of 
some of these appointments is here given. 

He appointed as chancellor of the eighth chancery 
district, a man by the name of J. D. Barton, who was not 
only totally incompetent to discharge the duties of the 
ofiice, hut had been publicly charged with the crime of 
forgery. Of this Governor Ames was informed upon high 
authority. Among his informants was J. M. Stone, the 
present governor of Mississippi, who then resided in the 
same county with Barton. Yet Ames refused to believe it, 
or, at least, cared nothing for it, and ai)pointed Barton as 
chancellor ; but when at the next session of the legislature, 
his appointment came before the senate for confirmation, 
the charges were investigated, and the proof of guilt was 
conclusive. Yet Ames refused to witlidraw his nomination 
until he was told by his IViends that it was impossible to 
get the senate to confirm the appointment. 

In some cases he appointed men to be chancellors who 
were not members of the bar; in these instances tht^ 
persons were promised the appointment as a reward for 
some services rendered, or to be rendered, to the governor, 
and they would then pretend to read law for a short time, 
and get their licenses, which would be followed imme- 
diately by their commission as judges of the chancery 
courts. 

There were some of theni who had never practised. A 
man by the name of Cullins was appointed in Marshall 
County, who had been a sort of physician, but had never 



153 KEMPEU COUNTY VINDICATED. 

read a law book. IL; wa.s a State senator, receivrd liis 
appointment wliile at Jaekson, went home, managed to 
procure license, and immediately took his seat ii[)on the 
chancery bench. 

These licenses to ])racti('e law were quite easy to obtain ; 
the custom was to make npplicntion to tlie court thron.i;ii 
motion made by some nu'mber of the bar. A committee 
of two or throe members would tlu^n be appointed by the 
court for the purpose of examination ; this conunittee a)id 
the candidate wouhl then withdraw to a corner of the 
court room, talk to the applicant a little about law, then 
fto in and report favorably, and license would be i;raiited 
at once. 

The whole tiling: of admission to the bar in Mississippi, 
jsince the war, has been a mere matter of Ibrm and a farce. 
The writer himself has known young men admitted to 
l)ractice in the courts of the State who, elsewhere, would 
not have been considered competent for an ellicient clerk 
in a law office. Hence, even their admission to the bar 
afibrded no recomnuMulation to Ames' appointees. 

As chancellor of the ninth district he appointed a man 
named L. C Abbott, who was not a lawyer, either by 
reading or i>ractice. lie had never practised law, or 
written a bill, though he is said to Irnvc been a conscien- 
tious man and tried to do the best he could, so far as a 
man could be conscientious, who would attempt to occupy 
>u:-h a i)osition under such circumstances. He had been 
adndtted to the bar only a few days prior to his nppoint- 
nu'ut, and with the distinct understanding that his 
admission to practice should be followed by a commission 
to act as chaiu'cllor. 

In tlie thirteenth district he appointed William Breck, 
Avho was said to be wholly unworthy an<l incompetent to 
discharge the high duties of the office of chancellor. He 
"was a man of little or no knowledge of th(> law, or experi- 
cnee in its practice, ami he had also l)eeu i)nl)liely charged 
and r('i)orted to the governor as having defraiuled and 
swindled, as assignee of the estate of orie Green, of Madison 



KEMPER COUNl'Y VINDICATED. 153 

County, tbe creditors of said estate, and as having been a 
I)arty to certain illegal and fraudulent contracts let out by 
the board of supervisors of Madison County, while he was 
the president of the board. 

It may be observed here that the chancery courts of 
Mississii^pi have full common law chancery and equity 
jurisdiction, without limitation as to the amount in contro- 
versy, and when the suit is once properly brought, and 
the circumstances arrayed so as to give jurisdiction to the 
particular court, its writs run throughout the entire State. 

They have control of the estates of minors, and the 
dower of widows, and the partition of estates, and they 
have the power of granting all remedial writs, such as the 
writ of habeas corpus, injunctions, ne exeat, etc. 

Waiving all questions of honesty of purpose, or leaving 
them to the judgment of the reader, I will mention here an 
instance or two of the manner in which these powers were 
sometimes exercised by these chancellors : In 1875, a large 
number of the citizens of Oktibbeha County sued out an 
injunction against the collection of a railroad tax in that 
county. The sheriff of the county, by whom the tax was to 
be collected, was a Eepublican, and a contractor with the 
authorities of the railroad, and was, therefore, a i>artici- 
pant in the advantages of collecting this tax. This tax 
was to go to him under a contract for work on the railroad. 
A bill of injunction was prepared and filed by the Hon. J. 
W. C. Watson, on behalf of the taxpayers, and the sheriff 
being the principal defendant, the process was placed in 
the hands of the coroner, as provided by law in su(;h cases. 
The fiat for the injunction was obtained in the name of 
some ten or twelve taxpayers, from Chancellor Frazee. 
The sheriff, upon this, applied to and obtained a fiat of in- 
junction from Chancellor Sullivan, enjoining the coroner 
from serving the original or i)rior writ. 

Upon the strength of this novel injunction, some ten or 
twelve other tax payers came forward and having caused 
the first bill to be dismissed, filed another bill, praying for 
the injunction of the sheriff in behalf of themselves and 



154 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

tlic other tax payers of the county. This was likewise very 
])roperly ^iirauted by Chaneellor Frazee, who lived some 
<listaiiee away ia the County of Cliiekasaw. The tiat eaiiio 
back and was phiee*! in the hands of the clerk to issne; 
but he was dilatory in his action. In a day or two after, 
Chancellor Frazee proceeded to JStarkville, the county 
seat of Oktibbeha, and stopped at the residence of the 
sheritf. The next morning- he went to the clerk's oiiicc and 
dissolved the injunction he had granted to all the tax 
payers in the county, save the ten or twelve whose names 
were especially mentioned in the bill. 

Thus this chancellor, without notice to the opposite par- 
ties, and upon his own motion, without even a petition for 
that purpose, virtually dissolved an injunction, and re- 
quired the clerk to issue an amended process, declaring 
that the injiuuition was to be operative only as to the per- 
sons e.spechiUy named in the bill — some ten or twelve per- 
sons, out of, perhaps, three or four thousand. 

It is unnecessary to add, that these proceedings were 
altogether irregular, to say the least, and not at all in ac- 
cordance with usage, if not in positive violation of law. 

It is plain that tins whole transaction was i)rompted by 
])artisan considerations, for its very anomaly is too glaring 
to be attributed to ignorance, while the purpose was too 
manifest to be confined within the province of mistaken 
duty. 

Another instaiuje of this character, and one that occurred 
within the knowledge of the writer, will sullice for the pur- 
pose of showing the character of the men whom Govenu)r 
Ames lifted to the chancery bench of Mississii>[)i. Tlie 
writer had occasion to act as counsel in a suit belbre Austin 
Pollard, chancellor of the seventh district. On rendering 
his decree, he ai)pi)inted the clerk of his court, one U. II. 
Harrington, as coiiiinissioner to comi)utc the amount in. 
volved in the decree. The clerk made out an exorbitant 
bill of costs, besides falling into an error of a considerable 
sum in (computing the amount covered by the Judgment. 
The counsel made a motion to have (he eompiilation cor- 



ke:\iper county vindicated. 155 

reeled. The chancelloi- positively rernsed to entertain tlie 
motion. Upon this the clerk was arrested on a charge 
of extortion, and bronj^lit to trial before the major of West 
Point. Tlie chan<;elIor came in with him and attended the 
trial. The clerk was found guilty. Tlie next morning the 
chancellor opened his court, and on his own motion, with- 
out the knowledge of the parties, revised the bill of costs, 
making it even larger than that lor which his clerk had 
been found guilty of extortion. This same clerk was sub- 
sequently tried and convicted of forgery and altering the 
records, and was sentenced to the ])enitentiary, but suc- 
ceeded, through means of some technicalities, m having 
-the judgment reveist-d by the supreme court. 

What ma.y have been the notion of right and justice 
these men entertained, the writer does not pretend to 
define; but it is certain that such conduct is utterly in- 
compatible with that ])urity which the teachings of chan 
eery jurisi)rudence and the sacred functions of that court 
would lead us to exi)ect. 

The clerks of the circuit and chancery courts during 
this period were extremely ignorant and unreliable; many 
of them could not write or read, but depended entirely 
upon some deputy who could, but who was generally, if 
possible, more untrustworthy than themselves. 

The sheriff of De Soto County *for four years, was an 
illiterate, ignorant negro. He had no conception of the 
duties of his office, and, in fact, did not i)ietend to dis- 
charge them. The business was all done by his dei)uties, 
who were generally irresponsible persons. And while the 
funclioirs of the circuit judges do not require a higher 
order of talent for the purposes of justice than those of 
the chancellors, they, at least, are more open to view, and 
incompetency in their exercise is more readilj' detected, 
which, perhaps, made them more cautious ; yet, with 
one or two exceptions, the entire judiciary of the State, 
during this time, lacked the confidence and respect of 
both the bar and the people, for there was but little cer- 
tainty as to whether right or wrojig would triumph in 



156 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

any cause in law or equity. They saw the whole judicial 
machinery ramified with corruption, permeated with vice, 
and clogged with ignorance. 

During this era of crime and misgovernmenfc there was 
no held more prolific of villainy than the ofQce of the 
shrievalty. The sherifCs were, ex-ofticio, the tax gatherers 
of the counties, many of them notoriously defaulted, wliilc 
others, no less vicious, managed, by engaging the co-opera- 
tion of the auditors of public accounts, in concealing the 
tracks of their crimes, under color of their otlice and un- 
der cover of political fraternity, extorted, at pleasure, the 
hard earnings of the negro, whose ignorance and credulity 
toward his white allies rendered him a tame subject for 
tlieir exactions. 

The sheriff of Noxubee County, in 1875, one W. ]\I. 
Conner, was reported to the governor as a defaulter, hold- 
ing twenty-two thousand dollars of public money which he 
relused to pay over to the county, and yet, on account of 
the partisan services of this individual, Governor Ames 
refused to remove him from office. 

The sheriff of Colfax, now Clay County, was indicted 
for malfeasance in office, was tried and convicted, and a 
judgment of tine and removal from office passed upon him. 
This judgment was affirmed by the supremo court, and, 
Avithiu two hours after the affirmation of the judgment, 
Governor Ames reappointed him to the shrievalty of the 
same county. And it was by his direction and aid that 
the notorious I'eter Crosby returned to Vicksburg and at- 
t('mi)ted to take i)ossession, by force, of the shtTilf 's office 
of Warren County, whicli he had voluntarily abandoned, 
and which caused a conllict between the races, in Avhich 
many lives were lost. But, as we will have occasion to 
recur to these events hereafter in taking a special view of 
Governor Ames and his conduct during the canvass of 
1875, we will d<'fVr any ])arti('nlar notice of them until 
then. 

It was in rctrrciicc to {\\i^ dclcnnincd attempt to rt-in- 
state Crosby that, on being warned of the hazard attending 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 157 

it, and the terrible consequences likely to ensue, tliegover- 
jnor declared that " the blood of the martyrs was the seed 
of the church," and that " the killing- of twenty-live or 
thirty negroes would result beneficially to the Eepublican 
party." 

Th euse of these expressions was testified to by Major 
Allyn, at that time the commander of the Federal military 
forces in Mississippi, and intimate in both his official and 
l)ersoual relations with the governor ; and on another occa- 
sion, wlien there were a number of negro politicians as- 
sembled at the governor's mansion, for the purpose of 
discussing the right of the negro Crosby to be reinstated 
in his office, and the manner in which that object should 
be accomplished, some one present intimated that, if that 
attempt should be made, as Governor Ames urged that it 
should be, there would be bloodshed. Upon this, the Gover- 
nor declared, in substance and effect, that he and other white 
men had faced bullets to free the colored people, and now, 
if they were not willing to fight for their rights and to 
maintain their treedom, they were unworthy of it. 

In consequence of such expressions and the active aid ho 
promised, on the morning of the 7th of December, 1874, a 
large body of armed negroes appeared before the city of 
Vicksburg, with the avowed intention of capturing the city 
and reinstating Peter Crosby in the office of the sheriff of 
Warren County. The citizens Hew to arms in defence of 
their homes, and marched out to meet the besiegers. A 
bloody conflict ensued, in which many lives were lost, and 
the negroes were totally defeated and dispersed. 

On this occasion the people of Mississippi had the morti- 
fication of seeing their governor instigating and abetting 
the negroes in a war of rapine and savage butchery upon 
the white people of tho State ; and that the attempt proved 
a failare was owing to the prompt manner in which the 
whites accepted the gage of battle. 

Being thus baffled in his efforts to i)ro(lucea war of races, 
as he declared, for the benefit of the radical party, he now 
songht to avail himself of the opportunity, at least, of 



ir)8 KESrPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

iiivokiiin tlio i)resence of the United States niilitnry forces, 
aiul called lustily upon the President of the United States 
for troops to quell what he chaiacteiized as a rebellion on 
the part of the white people of the State. 

The call was answered by the authorities of the Federitl 
government, who were ever ready to seize upon everj- circum- 
stance calculated to fan the embers of hate in the minds of tlu^ 
Northern peopU', and to further ]);ntisan i>urposes. Troops 
were sent to Yicksburg, and through their instrumentMlity 
the negro, Peter Crosby, who had now become extremely 
obnoxious to the people, was leinstated, and the sheritf of 
their choice, A. J. Planigan, forcibly ejected by the arnu'd 
tbrces of the United States. The governor, so far, was 
triumpliant, and no doubt felt that hereafter his schemes 
wouhl meet with no further opposition, and that his acts 
wouhl henceforth be beyond any (piestion or eiibrts of 
redress by the wiiite j)eople of ]\Iississii)])i. 

JI(^ now began to gather around hini the most vicious men 
of liis i>iuty that couhl be found iu the State, and who were 
thoroughly imbued with his s]»irit of hostility to the whites, 
an<l entirely subservient to his vengeful desires. 

The following is tin- record of thre(i of the governor's 
conlidential admirers ;nid bosom fiieuds: Itaymond wns 
editor of tiie -Jackson Pilot n ])aper conducted entirely iu 
the interest of Auies, and iu obseipiious advocacy of his 
poli(\v. lie was also the State: ])riuter, for which he was 
paid the enormous sum of eighly thousand doUars ])er 
annum, Avhen tlie work coidd liave b(>en ])ro('ured for less 
than one fourth of that sum. Vet this man, with this 
princely salary, placed his ])riiiting oflice in charge of 
another, it is said, at a salary of eighteen hundred dollars 
iu currency i)er annum, and accei)ted for himself a clerk- 
shij) in the ollice of the State Treasurer, at a salary of fdteeu 
hundred dolhus iu State warrants, worth seventy-five cents 
on the dollai'. This was done in order to handle the funds 
of the State, and easli the warrants, which he ])urchase(l 
at a heavy discount. A. II. liowe, ex-cougressiuan ajul 
ex-treasurer of Panola County, was another. Jle had 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 159 

obtained imlawfully from the negro board of supervisors 
of that coimty about five thousand dollars, of which 
amount he swindled the county The third, ami last, that 
it is deemed necessary to mention here, was one A. T. 
Morgan, of Yazoo County. This man had married a negro 
woman, and, it is said, that when State senator he oii'ered to 
sell his vote on the printing bill to Eaymond for two thou- 
sand dollars, but Eaymond said he bought it for nine hun- 
dred dollars. He is the same individual that murdered his 
rival or opponent for the office of sheriff, and in which case 
the governor appointed a chancellor especially for the 
purpose of granting him bail. 

He secretly, and without any competition or public bid- 
ding, conferred the contracts for the convict labor of the 
penitentiary upon two of his partisan and personal favor- 
ites — namely, one O. C. French and one C. S. Jobes — who 
were partners in the transaction, upon terms most unfavor- 
able to the State, and upon conditions precedent that they 
should render to him certain partisan and personal services 
for the advantages he had thus bestowed upon them, to the 
great detriment of the interest of the State, and to the 
increased penance of the unfortunate inmates of the State 
prison themselves. 

Proving more and more violent in his feelings toward 
the white people of Mississippi, his mind was constantly 
irritated by a consciousness of the scorn he merited on 
their part, and his whole policy seemed now to be shaped 
by a desire and fixed purpose to degrade the sovereignty ot 
the State, and to bring its constitution and laws into con- 
tempt. He never suffered an opportunity of humiliating 
the people to pass unavailed. All his appointments, re- 
movals and reinstatements seemed to be subordinated to 
that purpose and design. He even assumed to appoint 
and commission justices of the peace and constables, in 
contravention of the laws, and in violation of the constitu- 
tion of tlic State. This he attempted in the County of 
Washington. He corruptly approved the bond of one M. 
L. llollaml, who had been api)oiuted State treasurer by 
him. 



IGO ICEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

This 1)011(1, as required by law, was to consist of an obli- 
gation made to the State to the amount of eighty thousand 
dollars, with three or more good freehold sureties, Avhose 
solvency and responsibility for that amount should be es- 
tablished by their oaths that they were worth the penalty 
conditioned and nominated in the bond over and above 
their just debts, legal liabilities and exemptions in free- 
hold estate, and to be approved by the governor before 
the candidate could be inducted into oHice. 

Notwithstanding these positive requirements, Governor 
Ames approved the bond of Holland, regardless of the 
fact that his sureties had not made the oath of solvency 
and responsibility as required, and notwithstanding a 
jn'oinpt admonition from the attorney general of the 
iState, his constitutional adviser, that he had examined 
the bond and found it to be insuflicient, and not in the 
due form of law, and that the said Holland had no right to 
exercise the functions of the otlice of State treasurer until 
his bond w^as perfected. In the face of all this. Governor 
Ames thrust this man, thus irresponsibly qualified, into 
the treasurer's ollice, and gave force and validity to all of 
his acts in the same manner as if he had been duly 
qualified. 

Nor was his i)ardoniMg i)owc'r exercised in a less parti- 
san manner, or less in derogation of justice. Indeed, so 
notorious and arbitrary was his conduct in this respect 
that the vilest criminals, provided they were his political 
adherents, looked with no unfounded hopes for this boon, 
which he disiiensed with such lavish hand. 

The following is an instance of this character: One 
Alexander Smith had been tried and convicted in the 
Circuit Court of Chickasaw County of a heinous crime com- 
mitted ui)on the person of a little girl under ten years of 
age ; for this crime he had been sentenced to the peniten- 
tiary of the State for life. There was no question as to the 
guilt of this criiiiiiial ; no technicality of law violated on 
the trial, and no grounds for an app(Mil. Tlu^ proof was 
positive and incontrovertible, and the sentence was 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 101 

reached by aud through the regular channels and due 
forms of law. Smith was placed in the penitentiary for 
the term of his natural life, but soon after this ho came 
into possession of a large sum of money, which was imnnv 
diately put in operation to procure his reprieve. One 
Frederick Parsons and one William Koonan were well 
known partisans and personal friends of the governor. To 
them he at once applied for mediation. He gave to Par- 
sons the sum of twenty-eight hundred dollars, and to 
Noonau the sum of two hundred, for their resi)ective ser- 
vices in his behalf. 

These men at once set to work to effect the object for 
which they were hired. They procured the signatures of 
parties living in remote i^arts of the State, who had never 
even heard of the case, to a petition to the governor for 
the pardon of Smith. 

On that petition, neither the name of the circuit judge, 
before whom the trial had taken place, nor that of the 
district attorney, nor any other member of the court, or of 
the jury appeared, nor, in fact, the name of any one con- 
nected with the trial ; yet ui)on the strength of this peti- 
tion thus obtained, the governor tendered his pardon to 
Smith, and he was enlarged and restored to all his rights 
and privileges, v/hile dyed all over with the black stains of 
unatoned and unmitigated guilt. 

This liberal exercise of the pardoning power, which was 
dictated by no humane considerations, but purely for 
partisan purposes, as the character of its recipients shows, 
was carried to such an extent as not only to interfere with 
the course of public justice throughout the State, but it 
was a charter of immunity for the commission of crime. 
According to his report of i^ardons aud commutations of 
sentence, made to the legislature on January' 17, 1876, 
it will be seen that Governor Ames i)ardoned thirty-seven, 
and tlM3 negro lieutenant governor, while acting governor, 
thirty-two convicts during the single year of 1875. 

Thus were sixty-nine convicted felons turned loose at 
once upon society, aud most of them devoid of any mitiga- 

11 



102 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

ting circumstance to justify u pardon. By reference to this 
same rt'i)ort, it will be seen that these re|>rieves were for 
the most part based upon the recommendation of parties 
who were particular personal or political friends of the 
govoi'nor. 

The imnumity fiom the le^al consequences of crime thus 
occasioned and ajjoroved by the chief executive of the 
State did uot lail to bear its Iruits. It promoted a disposi- 
tion of lawlessness, for which the governor himself was, in 
a great measure, res[)onsible. It encour;iged and prom])ted 
his partisans to the i)erpetrati()n of any villainy which 
might redound to their personal or i)olitical advantage, 
and the contagion once promoted by the examples of the 
highest otUcers of the State government continued to spread 
until the whole macliinery was gangrened with corrui)tion, 
at which even the stomach of Korthern Eepublicans 
became nauseated to sncli an extent as to call forth such 
observations as the following fi'om a k'ading Eepublican 
paper, the Philadelphia P/y.s.s; 

"The administration of Governor Ames, a carpet bagger 
and political adventurer, has done much to disorganize 
society and teach general contempt for all authority in 
Mississip])i. The disorder is palpably the result of a 
corrupt and powerless government, that has taught its 
ignorant negro depen<lents that they were above the law 
in a struggle with the whites, and they have made the 
common mistake of taking their leaders at their word." 

During this lime the legislature of Mississippi could not 
be more approi)riately characterized than by the apt 
denomination of " black and tan." It was comi)Osed almost 
entirely of ignorant negroes and Northern i^olitical adven- 
turers, happily called carpet baggers ! These legislatoi-s, 
having little or no property interest in the State, manifested 
on every occasion the most bitter feelings against the white 
l)eople who owned all the ])roi)erty and paid all the taxes. 
Indeed, the legislatnre was constantly actuated by the 
worst spirit ofcomnmnism, and the desire and intention to 
so tax the property of the whites as to force them to sutler 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 1C3 

its confiscation or abandonment, was in many instances 
open and avowed. 

In this tlie cupidity of tlie carpet bagger and the race 
prejudice of tlie negro found apparently an indissoluble 
boird of union, and a common incentive to every act 
antagonistic to the property holders and tax payers. 
Consequently the taxes during this period were utterly 
insupportable, and had they continued to exist much 
longer would evidently have soon produced universally the 
A^ery effect for which they were imposed. 

The people of Mississippi found themselves impoverished 
to an unexampled degree by the result of the war. The 
productive property of the State consisted entirely in land 
and negro slaves, and with the loss of the latter the former 
became almost worthless, as the negro, naturally imlolent, 
manifested in the early days of his freedom the determina- 
tion to labor only so much as might be required to supply 
himself with the necessaries of life, and this disposition 
continues to this day to be a marked feature of his 
character. 

The white people of JMississippi, driven to these teriible 
straits, sought by every means in their power to find 
some palliation of these onerous and oppressive measures. 
They had offered, as has been before mentioned, every 
description of compromise, but jet without avail. It was 
now determined to offer a petition to this infamous legis- 
lature for even a i)artial redress of their sore grievances. 

For this purpose, a convention of tlie tax payers of the 
State met at the capitol in the City of Jackson, in the 
raontli of Deceuiber, 1874. It was composed of solid 
property holders from all portions of the State, without 
reference to political party. It adopted an address to tlie 
legislature setting forth their grievances, iietitioned for 
their redress, aud designated the remedies they desired to 
be applied for that purpose. They represented the general 
poverty of the 'people and the depressed value of every 
kind of property, which rendered it impossible for them to 
pay the enormous rate of taxation to which they were sub- 



1G4 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

jected. They fompared these rates Avith those of former 
(lays, when the country was abomuling in wealth. That, 
since the reorganization of the State upon a basis resnltinj;- 
from the war, which had deprived them of nine-tentlis 
of their property, the i)eople had j;rown constantly poorer, 
and the means of support harder and harder to be i)ro- 
cured, while their si>irits were even bnrdened with dread 
less the very shelter should be torn jiway from over the 
heads of their wives and little ones. 

That in addition to their i)overty, there were necessarily 
many burdens to be borne by the Southern people nn- 
Juiown to them in more prosperous times, such as their 
l)art of the public debt of the general govern ment, the 
great expense of the public school system, and the in- 
creased i)rice of necessary commodities, and to this might 
be added the wilful waste and extravagance of ])ublic 
officers, and the heavy local burdens that fall n]>on the 
ndiabitants of cities and towns. For the remedy of these 
evils, they asked for economy on the part of the party in 
(Control of the State government. 

They showed the rapid and continued increase of the 
taxation imposed upon them, which had been continually 
augmented and raised from a State tax often cents on one 
dolkir in 18G1), to fourteen times as much in 187-4, and that 
the county levies, in many instances, were increased in a 
still greater ratio, wliile the people were much poorer at 
the latter period than at the former, and that this tax was 
even greater, from the fact that the assessed value of their 
property was greatly in excess of its market value, and 
thus, while their [)roi)erty decMned in value, ami the peoi)le 
became poorer, their burdens of taxation were continually 
increased. 

That nothwithstanding these extravagant tax levies, the 
public debt during all these years had increased annually 
on an average of over six hundred and sixty-eight thons- 
aml dollars, a sum wliich, if economically administered, 
would itself defray all the expenses of the State goveru- 
mcnt. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 1G5 

That proportional results had, in many instances, at- 
tended the operations of the ])oards of county supervisors, 
wliose malfeasances and extravnuaucies lind saddled the 
counties with ruinous debts. That these facts, wliether 
regarded as the result of misgovernment, or as i)roof of the 
uuprosperous condition of the people, i!risin<^' from other 
causes, were alike painful to contemi)late. 

That the general failure of crops during- that year con- 
tributed to place the taxes still further beyond their power 
of reach. That all the crops raised in the State during that 
year, if sold at their market value, would not pay the cost 
of production and their enormous taxes; and that in con- 
sequence of this, in many parts of the State, the people 
were on the very borders of famine, and tiiat these suffer- 
ings fell heaviest upon the poor, who formed a very large 
miijority of the citizens ; and they then asked, if in this 
condition of things, the few officials of the State, who were 
the mere servants of The people, ought to be allowed to 
grow fat and rich, while the people were suffering for the 
common necessaries of life. 

They asked that a system of rigorous economy be estab- 
lished ; that the salaries of public officers, of every grade, 
be reduced to a scale commensurate with the extreme pov- 
erty of the people and the product of all other labor, and 
that the number of ofticersbe leduced to the sniallest num- 
ber adequate to the performance of the necessary functions 
of the government. 

They enumerated the following particulars, to which 
tliey suggested the application of economy: First, the 
])ublic printing — which they represented to have cost the 
State, prior to the year 18G1, but eight thousand dollars 
l)er ainium, and that subsequently to the year 1S70 it had 
cost annually an average of more than seventy three thou- 
sand dollars, and which could not be attribiited to any ex- 
tra amount of labor in this department, for that, in the 
State of Georgia, where like conditions exist, the cost of 
l)ublic printing, during the years 1872 and 1873, did not 
average more than ten thousand dollars per annum, thereby 



IGO KEMrER COUNTY VINDICATED, 

sliowinj;- that the cost of public printing in Mississippi, 
for those two years, was oi.uht times that of Georgia for 
the same i)eri()(l. The remedy suggested and asked for this 
evil, "Was a diminution in the size of the public journals 
and rei)orts, tlie omission of all useless and superfluous 
matter, and a reduction of the price of printing, and that 
the same matter be paid for but once. 

They represented, also, the injustice of what was known 
as the district pi-intiiig bill, and which required that cer- 
tain newspapers be designated in each district as the only' 
bearers of i)nblic notices, by means of which the people 
Avere forced to contribute to the maintenance of a ]iartisan 
press, and to bestow their ])atronagc on persons who were 
obnoxious to them, besides the inconvenience and futility 
of such notices being made in ])apers often at a distance, 
and with little ('ir(!ulution. 

They suggested a reduction in the nuud)er of circuit 
judges and chancellors, which they represented as having 
been increased as to circuit judges, without sullicient 
reason, from ten to thirteen, aiul v.iiich ten circuit judges 
performed, without complaint, all the duties of the thir- 
teen, in addition to all the duties now performed by the 
twenty chancellors, and that the litigation before the thir- 
teen circuit judges and the twenty chancellors was far less 
than it was before the ten judges who formerly performed 
all these duties. Tliey called attention to the increased 
expenses of the legislature, and to the number of sinecure 
cilices that had been introduced in connection with it. 

They showed that the salaries of the governor and lieu- 
tenant governor were fai- larger than those paid by other 
States of like ])oi)nlation, and they asked that the salaries 
of the treasurer, auditor, secret;uy of state, and attorney 
general, and all other State oHicers be lixed at the amounts 
they were jjiior to tlie wai'. Thai the h'c^ of the slieriIVs 
and (;leiks of the (;ouits weie too high, and, besides, wei'C 
often greatly augmented by exorbitant and illegal charges. 

They also emiiiierated, as lit subjects for the applic^alion 
of economy, jail ices aial tlu> cost for the support of pri- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 1G7 

souers ; Uic salaries of the inspectors of the penitentiary; 
the trustees of the insane, deaf and dumb and blind asy- 
lums, and the approi)iiations to the State universities. 

They complained of the unjust discrimination made in 
maiutaining a few favored students at these universities in 
exclusion of other children of the State at large. 

They also comi)hiined of the extravagant rates of taxa- 
tion for public school purposes, and the reckless appropria- 
tions made for them, which they showed amounted to the 
sum of six hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars an- 
nually. 

They suggested that the office of commissioner of immi- 
gration be abolished as utterly useless and siuecural, and 
recommended that the salaries of school superintendents 
be saved by combining the duties of that office with those 
of the sheriff; and they requested that the salaries of 
teachers of common public schools be reduced to the 
smallest ainount sufficient to secure the services of com- 
petent teachers. They recommended amendments to the 
constitution, fixing biennial sessions of the legislature, and 
])rohibiting special legislation. They alleged that a large 
portion of the time of the legislature was consumed in the 
consideration of bills of that character, and by means of 
which the reports and ])amp]dets of acts were rendered 
volumiuous and expensive, when general laws would at- 
tain the same ends. They called especial attention to the 
powers and abuses of the boards of county supervisors, 
which they characterized as the most important courts of 
the State. 

They represented these boards as being composed gen- 
erally of very ignorant an<l untrustwortliy ))ersons, who, 
for the most part, were under the influence of the sheriifs 
and clerks of the courts, to whom they made extravagant 
allowances, and, as a remedy for these evils, they recom- 
mended tlnit the law be repealed which allowed them pay 
for their sei'viees. In tliat event, they believed that while 
jno one would seek the olli.ie, the people could always find 
a sufficient number of good men who would perform its 



168 ICKMPER COUNTY VHNDTOATED. 

duties. Ami finally, they asked for more time within 
■which to pay the taxes for the preceding year. 

Such are the most prominent and inii)ortaiit features of 
this remarkable document — remarkable for the history it 
contains, and the disclosures it makes of the true " in- 
ward ness" of the terrible state of affairs existing at that 
time in Mississippi, and also for the calm and statesman- 
like manner in which the facts are set forth, and it is a 
X)ity that it was intended for such unworthy hearers. 

To this calm, lucid and respectful petition and appeal of 
the tax ])ayers of the State the legislature made no re- 
sponse. Those of its members who were sufliciently in- 
telligent to comprehend it were, no doubt, galled by the 
unpalatable facts Avhich it brought so lucidly to their view, 
while on the ears of the illiterate negroes of that body it 
fell with the hollow thud of inanition, and was spurned 
with all the insolence of power clad ignorance and African 
arrogance. 

It had no other effect upon the legislature than to still 
further excite the prejudices and inflame the passions of 
the negro members and their Northern allies, and to 
cause them to draw the color line across the benches of 
the cai)itol. Legislation became even more partisan and 
hostile to the white people and property' holdei's of the 
State. Yet there were a few leading white Kepublicans 
who saw in the shocking disclosures made by this remark- 
able paper the first cloud ca[)S of that storm which a 
year later swept over the State, and completely revolution- 
ized its politics, driving from power the ignorance and 
corru])tion that preyed upon its vitals. 

In the utter failure of this noble effort to redress or 
abate their intolerable grievances the tax i)ayers saw the 
necessity of girding themselves for the only alternative 
that could save them from utter ruin — w]ii(;h wiis the over- 
throw of the radical i)arty in tlu^ State. To this end they 
now resolved to devote e\ery iMiergy, make every sncrifK c. 
and invoice every legitimate means in tlicir i)Ower. This 
movement, witli its results, was the keystone of their sue- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 1G9 

cess ill 1875. Its eliect was to awaken a general feeling of 
indignation, to cement the sympatbies of the people, and 
to concentrate their efforts, while, at the same time, it 
tended to paralyze the radical party, by enlisting the sym- 
pathies of some of its more respectable members, and 
causing alarm and confusion to others. The negro citizens 
had begun to feel the effects of the existing ruhious rates 
of taxation. They were often, in consequence of their ex- 
treme ignorance, made to pay their taxes two or three 
times in the same year b}^ unprincipled tax collectors, and 
it was upon this subject that they, for the first time, began 
to lend a listening ear to the remonstrances and overtures 
of the whites. 

JSTor did the efiects of this appeal stop within the borders 
of Mississippi — it thundered against the walls of Con- 
gress, and grated upon the ears of the national leaders of 
the party. 

'It was then that Geo. C. McKee, a radical representative 
in Congress from Mississippi, wrote from his desk in the 
national capital a letter, of which the following is an ex- 
tract : " 1 would beg you to bear in mind that there is no 
fear of cutting too deep. Tlie evil is too enormous. The 
petition and appeal of the tax ])ayers' convention should 
be heeded. It is about the ablest ])aper I have seen 
in Mississippi for years. Of course, I do not subscribe 
to each and every one of its sentiments. I do not sup- 
pose there was a single member of the convention who 
did. But in its general tenor it is correct, and 1 hope 
our legislature will not allow themselves to be scared 
off from what is right by any outcry of partisanship. 
Let not the action of the tax payers' convention 
at Jackson be identified with the action of the 
tax payers' league at Vicksburg. The 'petition and 
appeal' are singularly and carefully non-partisan. Al- 
though I doubt not that a large majority of the members 
of {hat convention are working and plotting for the over- 
throw of the liepublican party, yet, when the people meet 
tis citizens, and present to the people's legislature well 



170 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

founded grievances, it is no answer to tbeir comiilaiuts to 
say that most of tlie convention were Democrats. When a 
])arty governs tor the ]>arty alone, and not for the i)eople, 
it lias no business to govern at all. And this tax i)aying is 
not so niucli a question of i)artisan feeling as of pocket 
T)Ook feeling." For the benefit of those who may desire 
to study carefully this most extraordinary document that 
t'ver emanated from a free i)eoplo, or was ever preferred to 
the legislature of a free government, it is presented in full 
in the appendix to this work. For the lessons it teaches 
<ieserve to be learned and treasured. 

Uj)on the priiu'jjjles set forth in this i)ctition, involv- 
ing issues upon which hinged the question of life or death 
to the whiter i)eople of Mississipi)i, both parties l)egan, in 
the early part of the year 1875, to gather up all their 
strength for the conflict. And it was now for the first 
time that a ray of hope pierced the dark clouds that had 
so long, like a pall of death, enveloped the political skies. 
For ten long and gloomy years the negroes and the radical 
l)arty had possessed full sway over the destinies of the 
State, while every obstacle to its mad control and its 
furious career of vengeance, corruption and ruin had 
hitherto been ruthlessly battered down by the military 
])Ower of the Federal government. The Democratic party, 
seemingly in a hopeless minority, could but stand aside 
with a feeble and scorned ])rotest against the outrages of 
the dominant and all powerful faction which controlled 
cveiy department of the Federal and State governments. 
Yet, that feeble voice that continued to emit its ominous 
tones, almost unheard amid the wild din of vengeance and 
corrui)tion, in behalf of Justice and ])eace, was soon to bo 
echoed by half a million majority of the American i)eoi)le, 
and by ncaily fifty thousand majority in the State of Mis- 
sissippi, while the fill of radicalism in tin; State was but 
anollicr vcrificalion of tlie adage, that " Vis cousili expcrs 
sua mole rnir' (po\v«'r without intelligence falls of its own 
wi'ight), and the ])rineiples which were so long spurned 
lia\"e Iteeoaie the key note of American politics. Surely, 
"Tjiith crushed to «arili will rise again." 



KEMPEK COUNTY VESfDICATED. 171 

Never was there a political party that had such full 
power, that had such full control of all of its elements, and 
so imbedded in every feature of the national and State 
governments as the radical party. It had completely 
hedged itself with apparently impregnable barriers, witlihi 
which it had gathered every means of supi^ort, every 
aliment that could coudnce to its own perpetuity. Ifc 
gathered its tribute with an arbitrarj^ hand from every 
source, and it drowned the voice of opposition with the 
beat of the drum and the clangor of the national arms. 

It had made and unmade sovereign States at will. It 
had enacted laws in derogation of the Fedei-al constitution 
for the sole purpose of perpetuating its power. It had even 
mutilated, nullilied and defaced that constitution for the 
same purpose. And if this policy obtained in the national 
legislature, and it was thus prostituted, it did not lack 
imitation in the State governments. In Mississippi every- 
thing had been done in furtherance of the same policy. 

The legislature had created numerous new counties for 
the 85ike of increasing radical representation. It had 
passed bills of ajjportionment of representation of the most 
unjust (character. Formerly, in Mississippi, every county 
was entitled to at least one representative in the legis- 
lature. By these bills ten counties in the State were 
deprived of separate representation because of their Demo- 
cratic and white majority, and consolidated with others so 
as to give an aggregate preponderance to the negro vote, 
and by that means secure a radical negro representation. 
It had extended a personal control over the various offices 
of the counties. Many of the members were the sheritfs 
of the counties they represented. Some were county 
treasurers, and some were also members of the boards of 
county supervisors. 

Subsidiary to this, much of the time of the legislature 
■was spent in enacting special laws and in the entertainment 
of i)rivate bills — all for tlic purpose of enhancing the 
personal influence of tlie members. 

Yet in all this panoply of power, integrity and iutelli- 



172 KEMPEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 

j^ence, tlio only ingredients that can give stability to power 
in any free government, were ntterly wanting, and notwith- 
standing that it indeed appeared an appalling undertaking 
to those who sought its overthrovv-, yet, considering the 
mass of corruption that pervaded the whole system, and 
the absurd variance it worked with the very laws of 
nature, and every sentiment of enlightened humanity, it 
appears a matter of wonder that it should have existed so 
long. 

That a political party, in a free government, and founded 
upon ignorance, fostered by hatred, nourished by corrup- 
tion, and pursuing an aggressive hostility to a people that 
have no superior, should be able to long mlc that j^eople 
through the instrumentality of an inferior and degraded 
race, will appear to posterity a fact almost too absurd for 
conception. The white ])eople of Mississippi, in common 
Avith their fellow citizens of the South, were willing to 
abide with patience the decrees of fate so long as those 
decrees Avcre compatible with the preservation of their 
manhood and honor, of which their conduct through the 
great struggle justitied them in exj^ecting no invasion. 
And it must be confessed that it is painful to acknowledge, 
and even to <'ontemi)late, that the spirit manifested by the 
dominant section showed such a marked dillerence in 
sentiment between the two sections as to engender appre-| 
hensions in regard to the continuity of that concord so 
necessary for the ]H"omotion of the general welfare of all 
classes and conditions- of a people with such diversity of 
interests as is exhibited throughout the vast domain of the 
Union. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 173 



CHAPTEE VIL 

The whole sj'stem of recoiist ruction adopted and en- 
forced by tbe radical party ui)on Mi.ssissi()pi was a net 
work of tlie most odious terms and de,Qrading" conditions, 
the history of which belongs, for the most part, in com- 
mon to all the Southern States. 

Ill 18G7, the State was reduced to the condition of a mili- 
tary province. Federal garrisons were stationed at all 
l)rominent points, and over these was placed in command 
one of the most blinded, benighted and bitter partisans 
that could be found among the oflicers of the army. This 
was Adelbert Ames, of the State of Maine. 

The career of this man, who, by virtue of this appoint- 
ment, became a kind of military governor, was character- 
ized at once by an utter disregard to the rights and feel- 
ings of the white people of the State. Ho paid no attention 
whatever to their laws any furtlier than it suited his views 
and purposes to have them enforced. He endeavored by 
every means in his power to degrade them. lie declared 
himself to be the champion of the negro race in all its 
arrogant claims, and even prompted them to more unrea- 
sonable demands. He declared that he had a mission to 
perform in the interest of the negroes, and avowed the 
union of his fortune with theirs. 

It was under the auspices of his supremacy as military 
governor, that a convention was convoked at the State 
cax)itol in 1SG8, to frame a new constitution for the State. 
Tliis constitution embraced many features of the most odi- 
ous character ; and it is evident that the convention that 
liramed it was actuated solely by a view to party exigen- 
Icies, and a desire to place the State perpetually in radical 
harness. While many white citizens of the State, the best 
and most prominent, were disfranchised by this constitu- 
tion, it conferred unlimited franchise upon the negro race, 
and it so apportioned the representation in the legislature, 



174 KEMPKll COUNTY VINDICATED. 

by inexpedient combinations of constituencies, as to g'ivo, 
as they li()])cd, ponuaneiit ascendency to tlio nej^roes, wlio 
were largely in the majority. Thus, at a time when the 
State had scarcely emerged from the clouds of a war by 
which it had been utterly prostrated ; when it was on the 
very borders of bankruptcy ; when every source of public 
revenue seemed to be dried up, and the citizens were re- 
duced to straits that involved a life and death struggle for 
existence, this convention sought to saddle the State with 
a constitution that turned the whole machinery of govern- 
ment over to the most ignorant, degraded and vicious por- 
tion of the population, who were utterly incapable of con- 
ducting it, or even of comprehending its functions. At 
this juncture it is not surprising that the ca])ital and intel- 
ligence of the State took the alarm, while every sentiment 
of pride and patriotism received such a shock as to causo 
intelligent men to look aghast at the gloomy prospect with 
mingled feelings of dread and indignation. 

By this constitution the revenues of the State were to be 
placed under the control of those who bore no part of the 
burdens of taxation, while those who bore the heaviest 
l)ortion were shorn of tlieir political rights. It required 
no pi'olbund retlection, or far reaching sight, to discover the 
germs of violence and ruin engrafted into this remarkable 
charta of government. Its disfranchising features pre- 
sented to the negro, on whom the power of voting had 
already been conferred by the military authorities, the 
alternative of voting against the adoption of this form of 
government, which placed them above the whites, or by 
voting for it, to exhibit the spectacle of exercising their 
lately acquired rights to deprive others of the same rights. 

Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the 
white peo])le ma<lc an ardent canvass lor the rejection of 
this constitution, and the arguments they made for this 
purpose did not fail to make an impression u]ion the minds 
of the negroes. They iiad not at that time been so com- 
pletely alienated from their natural aifection for their 
former owners by the teachings of radicalism as to turn a 
deaf ear to their warnings. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 175 

Tbey saw men in whom tliey bad confidence doing all in 
their power to defeat the constitntion, and they had not 
yet arrived at that state of arrogance wliich afterwards 
prompted them to claim superiority. There were, as has 
been said, some features in this constitution peculiarly 
offensive to tlie white people, one of wliich was that by 
which the whites and blacks were mingled in tlie common 
schools. This measure, while it was extremely odious to 
the whites, did not enlist the sympathies of the blacks. 
They saw at once the unnatural state of affairs it would 
produce, and they recoiled from the consequences which 
they well knew would attend its practice. 

To counteract all these cousiderations that operated so 
forcibly upon the fears and the confidence of the negroes 
those who favored the adojition of the constitution tohl 
them that it was the wish of the Federal government, to 
Avhich they owed their emancipation, that they should vote 
for the constitution ; and that not to vote for it, would bo 
a grave offense to their only friends, and would jeopard 
their newly acquired rights. That the Southern whites 
were their political enemies, whose advice, if followed, 
would lead to the loss of all their privileges and remand 
them to slavery. 

This occasion was the beginning of the operations of the 
Northern adventurers who had already flocked Southward 
in the wake of the Federal garrisons. Notwithstanding 
these influences, the large majority voted with the whites 
against the adoption of this constitution, the spirit of which 
was proscription, and its embodiment a standing declaration 
of war between the races. 

That it was alone the prescriptive features of this pro- 
scribed policy of government that created such autngonism 
to its adoption, is shown by the fact that when it was 
afterwards shorn of its principally objectionable features 
and resubmitted to the people, it was adopted by a very 
large majority. 

But it is a remarkable fact that upon its rejection at its 
first submittal, the men through whose instrumentality it 



17G KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

M-as framed, cliarged that its defeat was procured by fraud 
and intiniidation. They appealed to Cousress, and to the 
President of the United States, to set asiiU^ the verdict of 
the ])eople, and impose tliis constitution ui)on them, regard- 
less of its rejection by so large a popular majority. 

But the I'^ederal -government, not yet ha])itu;)te(l to 
usurpation or inured to ]Kirty exigencies, declined to in- 
terfere. Yet, the disfranchisement of many leading citi- 
zens of the State was effected by an act of Congress ])r()- 
hibiting any one from holdingoflice except those who could 
take a certain oatli, which it was imi)ossible for any true 
Southern man to do. 

This gave the military governor the ])retext for causing 
the vacation of any office he chose, for removing any officer 
not in political accord with him, and substituting in their 
stead his personal and partisan friends ; and of this power 
and opportunity he availed himself, to the fullest extent, 
in order to pave the way for his advancement to the United 
States Senate. At this juncture the white people, seeing 
no chance to have a governor chosen from the citizens of 
the State, who would be at all in sympathy with them, and 
in order to mollify the hostility of the general government, 
nominated for that oftico fJudge Tjouis Dent, of Washing- 
ton, a brother-in-law of tlu^ rresident of the Uniti'd States. 

Tliis, indeed, was to them a humiliating alternative. It 
was very humiliating to realize the im])ossibility of ])!acing 
a true iMississipi)ian in her governor's mansion, and \'ery 
mortifying to be compelled to import a stranger for that 
l)urpose ; but such were the exigencies under which they 
labored that they were willing for the time to sacrifice or 
subordinate their personal feelings to the public good. 

In this canvass James L. Alcorn was the candidate of 
the radical i>arty, into the ranks of which, through the 
l)olicy of the military goveriniuMit, and the instrumentality 
of the cari»et baggers, the negroes had now been inar- 
shalled in a solid mass. Alcoiii was a citizen of the 
State, but one whose c(^ndnct had rendered him entirely 
untrustworthy and obnoxious to the white people. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 177 

The election of Alcorn was eflected by tlie active inter- 
ference of tlie district military commander. General Ames 
attended in person i^be convention of negroes and carpet 
baggers that nominated bis friend, and wben called upon 
for a speecb, be made tbe following laconic barangne: 
" Yon bave my sympatby, and sball bave my support." 
Tbis, by reason of bis uniform and tbe military jjower be 
had already so ijrominently displayed, exercised very 
great control over tbe sentiments and conduct of tbe 
negroes. 

In tbe interest of Alcorn, be sent United States troops 
to various parts of tbe State. lie caused leading Demo- 
crats to be arrested and tbrown into prison, and by this 
means controlled and determined tbe election in accordance 
witli bis wisbes. While he was military Governor of Mis- 
sissippi be ruled with hatred in bis heart, and a rod of iron 
in bis hand. His proscriptions were wholesale, and as 
systematic and inexorable as those of Marius and Sylla. 
Tbe best men and tlie truest patriots seemed to incur bis 
especial dislike, and were expelled from othce witbout 
cause. If they stood at all in tbe way of his ambitious 
schemes, or in tbe way of oflice seeking adventurers, it 
was sufficient to evoke an order for their expulsion. 

Nor were his i)ersecutions less notorious than his pro- 
scriptions. Citizens were frequently arrested for their ])oliti- 
cal oi)iuions, and dragged from their homes by armed sol- 
diers of the United States, without warrant, and often 
without knowledge of tbe ofience with which they were 
charged, kept under a military guard, often in chains, 
carried to places remote from the scenes of the offences 
alleged against them, and tried before military commis- 
sions created for the purpose to convict. 

In such cases the writ of habeas corpus was tbe only 
remedy to which tbe citizen could look for relief. But 
Ames was not to be baffled in his persecutions by any 
ancient right or form of law. 

He determined at once to forestall any effort to avail 
themselves oC the operation of this time honored writ. Mili- 

12 



ITS KEMPEll COUNTY VINDICATED. 

tary law, coinbiiied with the dictates of his own arbitrary 
will, was to be, indeed, the supreme law of the land ; and 
to tear away every barrier to his cruel and cowardly per- 
secutions, he issued the following despotic 

MLLITAIIY order: 

" To commanders of posts of Grenada, Corinth, Jaclcson, 
Lauderdale and Yiclishurg. 

"The coininandiui;- j^cneral, Adelbert Ames, directs that 
yon do not obey in future any writ of habeas corpus issued 
by the United States district or circuit courts, nor any or- 
der made by such courts for the release of prisoners in 
your custody. Should such order be served on yon, you 
will report the fact by telegra[)h." 

That this order was in violation of that clause of the 
constitution of the United States, which guarantees to 
every citizen under arrest the right of judicial inquiry 
into the cause ol" his imprisonuient, is beyond all (piestion. 
Kor can it be chilmed tliat any such power was conferred 
\\\)()\\ military commanders by the reconstruction acts. But 
the constitution had no bounds for the paity then in 
power. And this partisan tool of tlie Washington authori- 
ties, was left to {\\v. flee exercise of his own vicions will, in 
0|)i)ressing and torturing a i)eople whom, from the bottom 
of his heart, he desi)ised and regarded as worthy only to 
])e ruled and robbed by adventurers from the Xorth. It 
was left for Ames thus to annul this sacred right, a riglit 
held heretofore to be inalienable in every common law 
country, and which has existed from the days of liunna- 
mede. 

Governor Ames persistently and disdainfully spurned 
all kindly relations with the white peoi>le of j\Iississipi)i. 
lie desii'iMl none but the aifections of the negro, ami with 
him alonc^. he desired to unite his fortunes; and while he 
Avas continually fanning the llames of iirejudice against 
himsell", his vanity e\'eu suggested to his imagination the 
s|»''c(;ul<' of Mis.;issi|»[.ians cringing Itel'uie iiim with I he 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 179 

offers of corrupt overtures. He stated on oatli, before tlio 
Bontwell committee, that be was satisfied he had been ap- 
proached from time to time by the leading' white people 
with llattering oll'ers of honor and oflice if he would put 
on the garb of Democracy ; but this assertion was fully re- 
futed and its falsehood i'ully exposed at the time by the 
Democratic press of the State. 

In answer to a question of Senator Bayard, he said : 

"It is a notorious fact that in that party — and I don't 
hesitate to say that I imagine I have been api)roached 
from time to time by the oi)positi()n with most tlattering 
offers held forth that, should I chauge my coat and become 
a tool of others, I migist receive any honor that I might 
deiuaud." 

Q. Will you state the names of any leadiug members of 
the opposition w!io liave made this i)ro])osition to you? 

A. Not unless it is essentially necessary. 

Q. You have stated the fact, and I merely ask you to 
give you an opportunity" to state them if you choose. 

A. I say, witli reference to that, that any ])roposition of 
that hind would not be made iu wiiting, but in a way that 
the person whose name I miglit give might evade it, or 
give another interpretation of it. But, as I stated origi- 
nally, I imagine that I ha^"e been a}>p:()a.clied, and I have 
no question in my own mind on that point. 

Q. Can you give the name of any person of the opposi- 
tion party to you in MissisJpi)!, who made such offers to 
you as you have described ? 

A. I think I can ; but I prefer not to do so unless the 
committee require it. 

Q. Do you know their names, or the names of any one 
or more ? 

A. The events referred to occurred a number of years 
since. I think I would be able to name the persons, or cer- 
tainly to ascertain their names vrithout any difficulty. 

Q. From whom would you ascertain them ? 

A. The chaige was publicly made in a Kepublicau paper, 
called the Leader, in 1870 or 1871, and I think never denied 
by tlie opposition press ? 



180 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Q. Were the parties named, who made you the otlfcr, in 
that i)aper ? 

A. I do not remember. 

]t is true tliat such a cliargo did appear in that paper, 
l)ut it was j)roniptly challenged by the leading* Democratic 
])aj)ers of the State, ami proof was demanded. The reply 
of the Leader was that the proposition had emanated from 
]3emocratic members of the legislature, who would soon be 
called upon to elect a United States senator. Upon this a 
disclaimer was nuide and published by every Democratic 
member, in which each one, separately and singly, denied 
])ositively that any such proposition had ever been made or 
thought of. 

No reaflirmation of, or attempt to substantiate this 
charge, was ever made. This, together with the relnctancy 
and manifest inability of Governor Ames to designate the 
authors of the pro])osition, is well calculated of itself to 
breed grave suspicions as to the existence of anj' such fact. 
The administration of Alcorn was impressed with the same 
features that characterized that of his military predecessor. 
The active interference of General Ames in the canvass 
had enabled him to triuinpli at the election, and it now be- 
came a ])rominent object on the part of Governor Alcorn 
to consummate the compact by which Ames was to be 
])laced in the United States senate. This, owing to the 
circumstances which have already been mentioned, was 
easily accomplislied. And in 1870, Adelbert Ames, a citi- 
zen of Maine, and an olTicer in the United States army, took 
his scat in the United States Congress as senator from the 
^ttatc of Mississippi. lie was military governor at the 
x"jie of his being chosen to the senate, and it is said that 
lie ccrtilied to his own election. Alcorn succeeded Ames 
rtS governor under the new constitution. 

During his career in the United State senate, his course 
vas marked by an utter indiilei'ence and disregard to the 
interests and liglits of the State \\c i)reten(led to represent. 
lie was ever ready to give credence and imjmrt to any 
slander which the carj>ct baggers, and often more d^.'graded 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 181 

native rud teals, might eoiieoct aud perpetrate upon the 
white people of the State, aud invariably voted for every 
measure of persecution which their bitterest enemies in- 
trodneed to congress. ]S"ot once was he known to assume 
the attitude of their champion or defender. In sliort, 
his course in congress is too well known to require any 
lengthy commentary. Suffice it to say that his senator- 
ship was simply a burlesque upon a Eepublican form of 
government. 

At the expiration of his term in the senate, in 1873, he 
returned to Mississippi aud entered the canvass as a can- 
didate for governor against Alcorn, in consequence of 
which a rupture occurred between these two radical lights, 
which eventually caused an incurable split in their party. 

Criminations and recriminations of a bitter character 
were now bandied between them and their respective ad- 
herents. In this contest Ames had a decided advantage. 
lie was sustained by the worst element of the party. The 
carpet baggers flocked to his standard and marshalled the 
negroes in a solid phalanx under his banner, lie was, 
in consequence, elected by a large nuijority, and with the 
opening of the year 1871, he began his notorious career as 
governor of Mississippi, or rather as governor of the ne- 
groes aud the few white adventurers who had alone elected 
him to the position ; for from the native white people he 
sought no support, either before or after he entered u])on 
the ofQce of governor, but his whole conduct manifested a 
desire to repel any sympathy on their part with his admin- 
istration. To show that the white people were actuated by 
the sentiment '■'■ lyrincipia non homines^^^ it may be adduced, 
that at this election, they, as the least of two evils, 
accepted and sustained Alcorn, whom they had spurned in 
his race with Dent. While they had but little confidence 
in Alcorn, they saw, in the administration of Ames, a pro- 
lific crop of the bitter fruits they had already tasted under 
his military rule. 

The mutual denunciations indulged in by the two wings 
of the radical party during their canvass, did not cease 



182 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

upon the election of Ames. He entered upon his office as 
governor of the State, confronted by the opposition of the 
native white people and tlio hostility of a portion of his 
own party, whom he had alieiuited. This breach in his 
]iarty continued to widen during the progress of his ad- 
ministratiou. 

The two wings now assumed the name respectively of 
tlie Ames and the Alcorn wing. In reference to this oppo- 
sition to his administration by leading members of his own 
l)arty, Ames made the following statement before the 
Bontwell committee, in atiswer to Senator Bayard : 

Q. Without going into the fact of the cause of their op- 
])ositi()n to you, was there, or was tluMC liot, in Mississipi)i, 
in the year 1875, a violent and vigorous opposition to you 
and your administration in the ranks of the liepublicau 
party ? 

A. I say violent — but not powerful — not numerous. 

Q. Did not IMr. Pease, the ex-senator, publicly denounce 
your administration ? 

A. He did. 

Q. Bid not IMr. Alcorn, Ihc ])resent senator, denounce 
your administration constantly'!* 

A. lie did. 

Q. Have they not constantly charged you in ]>ublic with 
making an effort to array the races, one against the other 1? 

A. I am not aware, that Mr. Tease ever did; Senator 
Alcorn has always made lliat charge: I do not think Mr. 
Pease ever made that charge; at least, it never attracted 
ni}' attention. 

Q. Are you aware of IMr. Pease's publication in regard 
to your administration '^ 

A. I never read it, but I know that he did nmko such 
charges. 

The following is an extract of the jniblication referred to, 
and it is inserted for the reason that it einanated from a 
leading Ite[)ublicau of the day, ami one who was intimately 
acquainted with the workings of Ames' administration. 
This statement was publisheil in the New York Tribune of 
October 12, 1875 : 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 183 

^' I regret to say that in several localities in the State of 
IMississippi a deplorable condition of affairs exist. Indeed, 
among the people throughout the State there is a most 
lamentable want of confidence in the State government. The 
colored people distrust the power of the State under Gov- 
ernor Ames, and the whites generally question his disposi- 
tion to administer the government so as to afford i^rotection 
to life and property and maintain domestic tranquillity, for 
whicb governments are instituted. As to his motive, I do 
not undertake to explain ; but the fact is, he has, unfortu- 
nately, pursued a policy calculated to create distrust, and 
he has caused the white population, who represent the intel- 
ligence and wealth of the State — the true, essential element 
upon which the maiutainanceof good government depends — 
to believe that he has been, and is now, attempting to 
create an open antagonism between the races, and to 
plunge the State into a condition of revolution and domes- 
tic violence such as will necessitate martial law, and 
thereby advance his personal political schemes. * * * 

"I was going to say that, notwithstanding the excitement 
incident to partisan strife and the race i)re'iudices, which 
have been wrought up by the extremists on both sides, the 
majority of the people, regardless of race or political affilia- 
tions, deprecate violence, and are ready to assist the 
properly constituted authorities in jireserviug peace. I 
have no war to make on Governor Ames personally. He 
is deader now than Hector ; but he hopes, by the means he 
is pursuing, to secure a legislature that will send him to the 
United States senate. 

" To reach the senate was his ulterior purpose in becoming 
governor. All his appointments are made upon the condi- 
tion that his appointees shall support him for the Senate. 
The preservation of the liepublican party in Mississippi 
depends upon an honest administration of the laws of the 
State, and it will go under unless the remedy for all our 
troubles is within political integrity, exact justice and 
honest dealing. 1^'ederal interference is not ueeded or 
wauled. The use of force would do more harm than good. 



184 KEIMPEK COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Nine tenths of the white population arc opposed to hiiri. 
They want good men to come into office to work a reform 
in existing abuses." 

Upon this same subject, J. S. Morris, Esq., formerly 
attorney general of the State, and a leading radical, ad- 
dressed a letter to the chairman of tlie llepublican State 
executive committee, and bearing date September 8, 1874, 
in wiiich he said : 

''The evils which have for some time past afflicted all 
classes of our people, are attributable, iu a large degree, to 
the desertion by high liepublican oflicials of the principles 
of the party, to wilful and llagrant violations of the consti- 
tution which they are sworn to support. These are well 
known to every intelligent man in the State, and will be 
universally discussed, exposed and i^unished in the next 
election." 

Thus, with the leading men and most intelligent portion 
of his own party, whom his misgovernment luul alienated 
from his administration, arrayed against him, aiul bearing 
upon his shoulders the terrible load of hatred he had wil- 
fully engendered on tlic part of the white people, and which 
lie had on all occasions sought to aggravate and inllame, 
the position of (iovernor Ames in the beginning of the year 
1875 was by no means enviable. 

Amid this universal discontent of all classes of the ]ieoide, 
and the restless distrust of him ami his administration, 
pervading the whole State, he saw no other means of effect- 
ing his ambitious purposes than that of force and intimida- 
tion — the exercise of the military power of the general 
government in co-operation and alliance with his armed 
partisans. And it is questionable, from the general tenor 
of his conduct, whether he ever desired to accom])Iish his 
})olitical schemes in any other manner, llis sole wish 
seemed to be to ride into the United States senate upon the 
crest of violence and the ]>alanquin of military rule. 

He was (charged ])ublicly by ex-Senator Pease, Senator 
Alcorn, ex-Attorney General JNlorris, and Attorney Gen- 
eral Harris, all leading radicals, with using the executive 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 185 

power of tbo State for the purpose of securing his electiou 
to the United States senate, and to this end it is evident 
that he had prostituted every function of the gubernato- 
rial power, lie had, for this purpose, and in scorn of tlie 
intelligence of the State, united Ms fortunes with the ne- 
groes, ichom he believed to he in the majoritij. 

Although utterly unlearned in the science of civil juris- 
prudence, ho avoided eveu the acquaintance of the most 
learned and intelligent citizens, and, in fact, all who could 
liave imparted an air of respectable polity to his adminis- 
tration, and surrounded himself with the most reckless 
and vicious adventurers, who were entirely obsequious to 
his wishes. Conscious of having no claim to the respect 
of the white people, and without the least eflbrt to obtain 
it, he determined to defy their opposition. 

The end of all his methods to consummate his intrigues 
and accomplish his designs was the sword. IJe declared 
that he regarded all opposition to his administration as a 
" rade issue," and avowed his intention of using all his 
power, personal, political and oflicial, in belialf of the ne- 
groes, who were now as thoroughly enslaved to his will 
and to that of his obsequious tools, with whom ho had 
tilled the various offices of the State, as they ever weixi 
to the most arbitrary owners. 

Yet there were many of the most intelligent of this race 
wlio were by no means blind to the disastrous conse- 
quences of such a course on the part of the governor. 
]lence, about this time, ex-United States Senator Kevels 
addressed a letter to the President of the United States, 
the following extracts from which it is deemed not imperti- 
nent to introduce in this connection. He says : 

'• The great masses of the white i)eople have abandoned 
their hostility to the general government and Eepublicau 
princi])les, and to-day accept as a fact that all men are 
born iree and equal, and I believe are ready to guarantee 
to my people every right and privilege guaranteed to an 
American citizen. The bitterness and hate created b}^ the 
late civil strife has, in my opinion, been obliterated m this 



186 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

State, except, perhaps, iu some localities, and would have 
long" since been entirely obliterated, were it not for some 
unprincipled men who would keep alive the bitterness of 
the past, and incnlcate a hatred between the races, in or- 
der that they may a;j,j4ran(lize liiemselves by office and its 
emohunents, to control my pc'0i)le, the etibct of which is 
to degrade them. ******** 

" If the State administration had adhered to llepublicaii 
])rinciples, advanced pati-iotic measnres, ai)pointed only 
honest and competent men to ollice, and sought to restore 
contldence between the races, bloodshed would have been 
unknown, peace would have ])revail(!d, Federal interfer- 
ence been nnliiought of ; harmony, friendship and mutual 
conlidence would have taken the place of the ba^'onet." 

It is hard to conceive of a more terrible responsibility 
than that lodged by these charges upon the shoulders of 
the governor, but that ho was utterly indifferent to both 
the circumstances and the consequences of his course, may 
be gathered from the pertinacity with which he held to it. 
lie was alike deaf to the voice of warning and expostula- 
tion, and his short career was like an angry tornado that 
sweeps onward in its maddening course, strewing its path 
Avith ruin, until stayed by its own exhaustion. 

Terhaps the most infamous act of the Ames administra- 
tion, and which drew upon it the fiercest opposition of tlie 
more intelligent and honest members of his i)arty, Avas 
what is (tailed the Pearl Kiver navigation scheme, v.hich 
was an a(;t of the legislature, api)roved by Ames, in re- 
gard to the State lands. 

The genej'al government had given to the State of Mis- 
sissipi)i certain lauds for educational ]nirposes, and for the 
improvement of navigation, etc. The opportunity whicii 
this donation afforded for swindling the State had been 
seized u[)on by a ring, composed of the editor of the Filot^ 
the oflicial radical papei-, and AVarner, French, Sullivan, 
O. S. lice, adjutant to the governor, and others of his 
warm i)artisan and i)ersonal friends. 

These men proposed to the legislature that if it would 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 187 

give tliem these lauds, coiuprising one liuiulred and 
twenty thousand acres, that they woukl open the navi- 
gation of Pearl lliver. The legislature made the grants as 
requested, and the governor approved them without talc- 
ing the proper bonds for the i)erlormance of the service. 
These men sent O. S. Lee, tlie governor's adjutant, to Chi- 
cago, to hud a purchaser, ile soon returned, bringing witli 
him a man named Baldwin, to wliom the lands were sold 
by tliese men, while not a chunk was ever removed from 
the river, nor has the JState received any other equivalent. 

AVliether the fraud and other invalidating elements of 
this transaction wili su[)port the principle of caveat emptor, 
or otherwise restore these lands to the State, has never, to 
tlie knowledge of the writer, been tested. Surely there 
should be some way to annul such an outrageous swindle. 

In such a state of affairs, it became evident that the 
Democratic party, composed of the wealth and intelligence 
of the State, was disposed to combine with the discon- 
tented elements of the opposition for a strenuous effort to 
gain control of the State government. 

This alliance was promoted by many natural features 
which it convoked. It was an alliance between labor 
and capital, the employer and employe, both of which had 
suffered alike from the corrupt administration of govern- 
ment. It was also an alliance between natives of the saun; 
soil ; men who had been reared together from infancy, and 
whose natural affection and mutual faith had been dis- 
rupted by base devices. It was an alliance of mutual in- 
terests for the protection of mutual rights and the promo- 
tion of mutual prosperity. The radical party had arrayed 
the negro in a groundless and unnatural state of political 
hostility against his former owner. 

Therefore, it is not surprising, that when the barriers of 
deceit and prejudice, and the race hedges that had hereto- 
fore impenetrably fenced in the radical party were once 
broken through, that the negroes should have flocked by 
thousands to the staudard of their natural allies. To 
defeat this event was an object to which Governor Ames 
directed his efforts early in the year. 



188 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

For this pmiiosc lie procured tlie passage of a bill by 
the legislature, in the spring of 1875, called the Gatling 
gun bill; so named because the purchase by the governo)- 
of Ibnr Gatling guns was authorized by its i)rovisions. 
This bill empowered the commander in chief to organize, 
from the enrolled uiilitia, two regiments of ten companies 
'each, and to purchase four or more Gatling guns, and or- 
ganize a cori)s of select oHicers and men froni the infantry 
to send with these guns. It may be observed that these 
guns were regarded as peculiarlj' terrible and destructive. 

To elfect the pnrpose of this bill, there was an appr()])ri- 
ntion of sixty thousand dollars, of which five thousaiul 
dollars were limited to the purchase of supi)lies and 
munitions of Avar, ecinipments, etc. Alter this li\'e thou- 
sand dollars had been drawn and expended for the i)urposes 
for which it was designated, the tax payers obtained an 
injunction from the chief Justice of the kState. 

This injunction was based ujjon the condition conpled 
with this appropriation, that it should not be drawn 
unless the militia be called into active service. The writ 
prevented the expenditure of the money for the i>urposc 
intended, and it is to the timely interference of this man- 
date from the chief justice that the people of Mississippi 
to-day owe their narrow escape from the horrors of a race 
war that would have drenched the 8tate in blood. Is'ot- 
withstanding that the military preparations of the gov- 
ernor were paralyzed by this circumstance, they had pro- 
dnced a, dangerous state of feeling — they had inllamed the 
])a.ssions of the negroes, and excited the indignation and 
fears of the white people. His plans, up to this time, had 
met with no serious opposition ; in fact, they had succeeded 
but too well, ami the state of alfairs they had i)r(Kluced 
caused at last a sense of alarm to seize upon eveu the 
nund of Governor Ames himself, lie had been, as already 
stated, bafiled in his etforts to secure the co-operation of 
the Federal army. As early as the L'oth of JMay, as if i»re- 
paring for hostilities, he had addressed a letter to the sec- 
retary of war, iu which he applied for a statement of arms 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. ' 189 

and otliei military stores tliat had been issued to tlie State 
since 18(30, and the amounts of the a})]>ortionment for the 
different years. This was for the ])nrpose of ascertaining; 
what qnantity of arms and munitions he might depend 
upon obtaining from the general government, in advance 
of tlie formation of his companies. 

Again, on the 2d of June, 1875, he wrote to the chief of 
the United States ordnance department, making application 
for a price list of ordnance and ordnance stores, also for a 
book of forms in use in the department. On the first day 
of May of the same year, an order was issued from head- 
quarters, State of Mississippi, adjutant general's oflice, in 
which was announced the officers of the Mississippi State 
tooops, as follows : 

" Brigadier General Albert G. Parker, of Holmes County, 
aide-de-camp; Lieutenant Colonel James J. Spellman, of 
Madison County, aide-de-camp ; Lieutenant Colonel Omar 
S. Lee, of Holmes County, aide-de-camp. [This man after- 
Avard proved a defaulter for a large amount, and tied the 
State.] Brigadier General Win. Gray, of AVashington 
County ; General Brown, colonel, first regiment of infan- 
try ; Alexander Warner, of Madison County, major gen- 
eral, State militia." These men were all radicals, and 
three of them, Spellman, Gray and Brown, were negroes. 
Warner was also chairman of the State Eepublican execu- 
tive committee. 

There was no Democrat appointed to any offico in the 
military service of the State. It is not deemed necessary 
to set forth a fall list of all Governor Ames' military appoint- 
ments made during the spring of 1875, preceding the elec- 
tion ; but it will be sufficient to observe that they were 
numerous enough for an army of great magnitude. Coupled 
with these i)reparations, were constant threats on the 
part of Governor Ames, to bring United States troops into 
the State. It was necessary for the existence of his party 
that the political unity of the negroes should be preserved, 
and that they should bo solidly massed in the radical 
ranks. To do this, it was necessary to retain them under 



190 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

tlie impression tbat lie was supported by tlio rcderal 
authorities, and would be sustained by the military' power 
of the general government ; for the great body of the 
negroes had but little relish for the idea of entering alone 
into an armed contest with the whites. 

These demonstrations produced tlie ver^- state of feel- 
ing the governor desired. From what has already been 
adduced, it will not be a matter of surprise that the 
campaign of 1875, in ^lississippi, was conducted by both 
parties with a feeling of bitterness extending to all parts 
of the State, and which, being thus aggravated and iuteu- 
sihed by the conduct of the governor, soon assumed an 
alarming as]>ect. That individual seemed to cherish the 
idea that the white people over whom he ruled had no 
rights not subject to military authority, or which could be 
exercised in antagonism to his own personal interest and 
the interest of the radical party. The "race issues," which 
he so promi)tl3' recognized and promoted, would, he hoped, 
produce results which would alford him a pretext for in- 
volving the aid of the United States army in ])ursuance 
of his purpose to control the election — to crush out all 
opposition to radical rule, and to his own ambitious scheme 
of riding into the United States Senate on the necks of the 
negroes of ]Mississii)pi. Nor did he wait for the self 
presentation of such i)retext, but sent the very functions 
t)f his oflice to lish for them throughout the borders of 
the State. 

Accordingly, on the 24th of September, 1875, he sent the 
following cinmlar letter to each of the sherilFs of the State, 
most, or all of whom were cainlidates for reelection : 

"Sir: I am directed by his excellency the governor to 

inquire if any militia organizations are needel in your 

county to assist tlie ci\il olTiccn's? Are there any threats 

from the o])p()siti()!i lliat, in your Judgment, will be carried 

into elfcct ; and, if so, will it be possible to hold a (iiuet 

and peaceable election ? 

"A. S. rACKi:K, 

Adjutant GcncraV^ 



ICEMPEK COUNTY VINDICATED. 191 

The assurance implied in these questions, being the 
surest nietliod of fixing beyond doubt the re-election of 
these sheriffs, as a matter of course suggested to them the 
reply desired ; and wherever there were any doubts in this 
resi)ect, those doubts either gave rise to false reports or to 
actual eftbrts on the part of the peace officers of the 
counties to stir up something as a pretext for the sending 
of troops into their respective counties. Thus were the 
very precincts of peace invaded by the governor, and the 
very fountains of order corrupted that they might con- 
tribute to the tide of strife, with which it seems he wished 
to see the whole State inundated. It is not likely that 
these sheriffs, with such intiuences bearing upon them, 
"would fail to avail themselves of this proffered opportunity 
of rendering their tenure of oflice secure. Hence we find 
them replying to the governor in one general strain, the 
key note of which was " riot and intimidation " in their 
counties ; and, in some instances, as in the case of the 
sheriff of Monroe, as stated by Ames himself, we find them 
smuggling arms au<l ammunitiou, supplied them by the 
governor, into their counties. 

The negroes were thus informed that they would be 
supplied with arms, and receive armed protection against 
the whites from the State and Federal authorities, in any 
act they might perpetrate in furtherance of the general 
scheme of carrying the State by violence.- And this idea 
of ])rotection and immunity extended to their individual 
coiuluct; they became, in many instances, intolerably arro- 
gant and impudent. 

Nothing could more plainly indicate the disposition and 
])urpose of Governor Ames than this unsolicited offer of 
nil! to the sheriffs. The very questions he puts to them 
piocliule any idea of his having received any unfavor- 
able reports from them of tlie condition of affairs in their 
(ioniitics. Ifc was a si)onta.!icons suggestion o^■idently in- 
tended to ai)[)rise tiiem of the means he had adopted to 
efit'ctnate his plans of controlling the election at all hazards, 
and, if i)0osible, to place society in such a state as to render 



192 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

the wliite people forever powerless and terrified by the 
presence of an armed negro militia. In other words, it 
seems from the course which he pursued and the means he 
adopted, that it was his desire and intention, if possible, to 
Al'ricauize the entire State of Mississippi. 

This i>olicy and conduct of the governor was soon pro- 
ductive of its natural and expected fruits. The negroes 
assumed, day by daj-, a more threatening attitude, and in 
many of the negro counties the white men grew pale and 
haggard with alarm and anguish. In many instances, 
they became sick from constant watchiug and loss of sleep. 
Their ])illows were haunted with ai)paritions of the assas- 
sin. They lived in constant dread and expectation, 
not knowing on what night, or what hour of the night, they 
and their wives and children might be butchered, and their 
homes consumed by the torch of the incendiary. 

Such was the universal state of feeling among the white 
people in many localities of the State. Yet, notwithstand- 
ing these influences, there were, even at this time, a few 
well disposed negroes here and there who deprecated 
this state of things, and manifested a feeling of kindness 
toward their former owners, but in almost every instance 
of this character they were threatened with death, beaten 
and silenced by their own race. 

In Yazoo County, a negro member of the legislature of 
the State, named Patterson, paid a negro fifty dollars to 
take the life of another, who voted with the Democrats. 
For this Patterson was hung by the friends of the mur- 
dered man, who were all negroes, and his ])rocurement of 
the death of the negro Democrat was confessed by the 
negro who committed the deed, while occurrences of 
whipping and threatening for this cause were frequent 
throughout the State- 

The first serious public outgrowth of this state of 
a Hairs was also in Y'azoo County. The sheriff of that 
county, one A. F. JMorgan, a white man, had, as has been 
belbre stated, married a mulatto woman, and, as a matter 
of course, was an autocrat among the negroes, lie had 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 193 

al.so murdereil a radical rival for the office of sheriff, and 
had, in many respects, rendered himself peculiarly obnox- 
ious to the white people. Ha was a stanch personal and 
l)artisan frit'iul of the governor, and was ever ready to 
serve Lis wishes, ui^on the least intimation of their char- 
acter. 

The government of this county was completely in tlie 
hands of the worst elements of the radical party, so that 
it was utterly impossible to bring Morgan to justice for any 
act that he might commit. 

As has been stated, a chancellor, Drennan, had been 
removed from office by the governor, because, in the exer- 
cise of his judicial discretion and his judgment of the law, 
he had refused to allow bail to this man for the murder of 
Hilliard, his opponent for the office of sheriff. The whitQ 
people, believing him to have been guilty of an outrageous 
murder, were anxious that he should be brought to trial, 
and law and justice vindicated ; but the negroes became 
furious in his behalf, and made the most terrible threats 
in regard to the people and town of Yazoo City, if he 
should be brought to punishment. This was more than a 
year prior to the event of which I shall presently speak, 
and the bad feeling engendered by this circumstance con- 
tinued to grow, and was encouraged by Morgan on his 
triumphant return from the Hinds County jail, where he 
had been placed for safe keeping, to the sheriff's office of 
Yazoo County. 

No indictment against him was found until the State 
passed into the hands of the Democratic party, when he 
immediately became a fugitive from justice. 

That he was guilty of murder was found by Chancellor 
Drennan, when, after a hearing extending through five 
days, he refused to grant him bail ; but he was a bitter 
partisan, had married a negro woman, and all these efforts 
U) bring him to justice inflamed the animosity of the 
negroes against the whites. No sooner had the campaign 
of 1S75 opened, than this man began to pi}" all his arts in 
inflaming their minds and instilling the lessons dictated 



194 KElVn^ER COUNTY VmDICATED. 

from the mansion of the g'ovornor. So viohnt had he 
become in his harangues that it was deemed expedient on 
the part of some white men to attend his meetings, and if 
])()ssil>le, to check to some extent hy tht-ir i^resence his 
inthimmatory discourses. 

For tins i)ur})ose they were present at a negro meeting 
in Yazoo City, on the night of the 1st of September, 1875. 
At this assembly there were about a dozen white Demo- 
crats in attendance. Moigau was the speaker of the oc- 
casion, and while engaged in one of his usual incendiary 
diatribes, a Democratic negro in tlie audience arose and 
uaked him some question, upon which the negroes became 
very excited and indignant, and such expressions as 
" Knock him down !"' " Put. him out !" etc., were heard 
throughout the ludl, which they doubtless wouhl have, 
carried into effect, if nothing more, had not the white gen- 
tlemen in-esent offered him protection, which resulted in a 
general firing of pistols in the room, in which Mitchell, 
a white man, was killed, and Foote, a negro, was 
wounded. 

Morgan lied from the room and proceeded to Jackson, 
where he sought i)rotectiou and aid from liis friend 
the governor. Upon which the governor tlueatened, and 
in fact began preparations, to send ^Morgan back under a 
nnlitary escort of negroes. 

This step greatly exasperated the Avhite people of the 
county, and they began in turn to make ])reparations to 
prevent the advent of such an expedition into their 
county. 

A few days after this, on the 4th of September, a riot 
of a more serious character occurred at tlie little town of 
Clinton. 

Inspired and infliuned by these events and the attitude 
of the govc) nor, and i)y the inflammatory s])eeches of the 
radical oiators of lioth cok)rs, a feeling of intense excite- 
ment and animosity against tln^ whites existed on the 
]);iit of the negroes at the cai)ital of tlie State an(i in the 
neighboring kr.vns, wlu-ic these intluences were most 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED, 195 

directly felt ; and while this cauldron of excitement was 
at its fullest ehiillition, a negro barbecue and political 
mcetiug was announced to take place at the town of Clin- 
ton, on the 4th day of September, 1875. Clinton is in 
the County of Hines ; the county containing- the State 
capitol. To this barbecue and speaking dense masses of 
negroes, mostly armed and in military order, flocked from 
the surrounding country. The number was estimated by 
many eye witnesses as being not less than twenty -five 
hundred men, women and children, of which more than 
twelve hundred were men, of whom a large number bore 
arms of some description. A general invitation had been 
extended to all persons to attend this meeting, at which, 
as had been announced, there was to be a joint discussion 
between members of the two i^olitical parties. According 
to this understanding, there were some sixtj^ or seventy 
white men in attendance. Of these, some twenty or thirty, 
perhai^s, wore pistols on their persons. Not more than half 
of them, however, participated in the fight. All that is 
known, to any degree of certainty, about the inception of 
the riot tlmt occurred on this occasion, is that it originated 
in a personal altercation between a white man and a 
negro. This hap]>ened amid the dense throng of negroes 
that enveloi^ed the speaker's stand. It seems that this 
M'hite man attempted to avoid the difficulty, and retreated 
from his dangerous and heli)less position in the dense 
crowd, and reached a small party of whites who were 
standing about a hundred yards from the stand, whither 
he was pursued by the negro and his friends. This party 
consisted at hrst of four or five persons, but on the assault 
on the white man being renewed, it was increased to about 
a dozea white men, who were soon, however, separated 
into groups of two or three by the pressure of the dense 
masses of negroes who immediately gathered around them. 
At this time the cry of "A fight!" "A fight!" was heard, 
and immediately such exclamations as " Come on !■' " Eally !" 
"Kill the white men!" were heard in every direction. 
Ul)on this the drums were beaten, and dense masses of 



190 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

negroes with knives, pistols and clubs, rushed upon the 
little party of Avhites, wlio still endeavored to retreat, 
and had succeeded in making their \yay a short dis-f 
tance to a small ravine, at the same time asking the 
negroes to stand back and keej^ the peace, and saying 
that they desired no difficulty; but at this juncture their 
retreat was cut off by the advance of another dense maas 
of negroes who bore down upon them in front, at the 
same time crying, ''Kill them!" "Damn them !" " Jvill 
them ! " There were now eleven white men surrounded by, 
perhaps, live hundred armed negroes, all clamoring for;j 
their blood. The whites made every effort to escape and' 
avoid bloodshed. They pleaded for peace, but they were 
now pressed almost to sufibcation by the dense crowd of I 
negroes. At this time an unfortunate circumstance gave 
the desired signal for the attack. A i)istol in the hands of 
one of the wliite men, being struck by some one jostling 
against him, was discharged into the ground at his feet; a 
negro then shot a white man named \Vharton. Upon this 
the firing became general, the whites using their arms 
vigorously. Two negroes were killed and four or five 
^vonnded, when the crowd in front of the whites began to 
break and retreat. The whites also began to leave the 
gronnds in small squads and in different directions. At 
this some negro cried out, " Don't let a wliite man get 
away !" The negroes then rallied and pursued the whites 
in every direction. Two young white men, lively and 
Thompson, were overtaken, killed, and their bodies hor 
ribly mutilated. 

One Charles Chilton, a white man, who had reached his 
home immediately, on the road, a short distance from the 
si)eakiiig grounds, was shot and killed while in the act of 
assisting some negro women and children to enter his yard 
to escai)e being run over by the dense troop of negro 
horsemen who were dashing wildly up the road. A Cajitain 
AVliite was ca[)ture(l, shot, stabbed and beaten and left for 
dead by the road side, while several other white men were 
Avonnded in tlu; fight or in attempting to leave the grounds. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 197 

Such, iu substance, was tbe origin, so far as known, and 
the result of the riot at Clinton, Mississippi, on tbe 4th. of 
September, 1S75, as concurred in by all of those persons 
whose testimony was taken before the mayor of Clinton, 
within a lew days alter the events occurred. That the 
negroes were anticipating and desired a tight, and went to 
Clinton that day prepared for it, is a conclusion that can 
scarcely be avoided b}' any calm and i)assionless view. 

It is stated by many gentlemen who were present that 
the negroes seemed from the first, and througliout the day, 
unusually disrespectful toward the whites, and frequently 
rubbed against them in a boisterous manner, as if they were 
seeking to provoke a difficulty, and at the same time re- 
marking that they intended to have theii* way there that 
day. It is quite evident that the negroes, who were armed, 
went to Clinton that day v»'ith the intention of attacking 
the whites, and that they made a quarrel between a white 
man and a negro the pretext and signal for the slaughter. 
Upon the heel of these events the wildest and most horri- 
fying rumors fiew through the country. It was reported 
that the negroes were gathering for the destruction of the 
town and a general slaughter of the whites. The citizens 
Avero horrified with the events that had already taken 
place, and even more so at the yet more terrible scene, 
which their just fears i^ictured upon their imaginations. 
They called aloud for their fellow citizens to bring them 
relief and save their town from ruin, and their wives and 
children from destruction. A prompt and speedy response 
came up from all directions, and before the bright sun of 
the Sabbath morn had again peeped at the scenes of the 
previous day, five hundred white men, with glistening arms, 
were gathered in the streets of Clinton for the protection 
of the town. During the great excitement that followed 
this massacre, which continued for several days, there were 
some seven or eight negroes killed in the vicitdty, who were 
known to have been leaders in this riot or chief actors in 
the murders. This was the work of the friends and rela- 
tions of the murdered men. 



198 KEMPEU COUNTY VINDICATED, 

Yet, iiotwitlistandiag this scene of turbulence and blood- 
sbcd, in which more than a thousand negroes either di- 
rectly or indirectly participated, on Monday niorninj;^, two 
days alter, the town of Clinto!i and the surrounding- coun- 
try were as quiet as if tlie soil had never been bathed but 
with the balmy dews of heaven. All was quiet and peace 
lestorcd. 

Another riot occurred not long after this at Friar's Point, 
in Coahoma County, which was inaugurated by the negroes, 
and originated in the party schism between the adherents 
of Governor Ames and Senator Alcorn. On this occasion 
three or four hundred armed negroes approached the town 
for the avoM'ed puri)ose of destroying it. They were 
promptly met by the Alcorn party, headed by Senator Al- 
corn himself, and in theconllict that ensued two white men 
and nine negroes were killed. The Democrats had no share 
in this matter. These riots are all traceable directly to the 
policy of the governor, and were the natural results of the 
teachings of his ])artisans, and to the feeling which his own 
conduct aggravated and inspired. 

Prior to these events, a disturbance took place at Vicks- 
burg, but it seems to have been unpremeditated and of no 
]>olitical importance. In this aliray, which occurred on the 
5th of July, a man by the name of Hill, the same who had 
figured so notoriously in Kenii)er County, w'as wounded. 
This man was there befriending Cardozo, the negro super- 
intendent of education, who was engaged in a difljculty 
^vith a white man, from wiiich the riot originated. These 
riots created alarming rumors throughout the State, and 
greatly added to the llames of animosity between the two 
parties and the two races. There was no iirosecution or 
legal investigation of these riots set on foot by the civil au- 
thorities of the State. Governor Ames had but one remedy 
he desired to apply, and that was the bayonet. There is 
nothing to show that he exercised any of the civil functions 
anil powers of his oflice to suppress these disorders, or to 
jjacify the spirit from which they originated ; but in con- 
formity with his ideas of government, he i)romi)tly applied 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 1139 

to the President of the United States for protection, "but as 
Le failed to establish such a condition of aiiairs as couhl 
justify General Grant in sending United States troops to 
his aid, the application was refused ; not, however, from 
any returning res})ect for constitutional government on the 
part of the President and his advisers, but owing, as he 
said, to the repugnance on the part of a majority of the 
people of the United States to the further interference of 
the general government in the affairs of a State. Yet, at 
his suggestion, the attorney general sent a man in a rather 
nondescript capacity to the ca})ital of Mississippi. 

This man, wliose name was Chase, acted as a kind of spy 
of the Federal government, witli power to investigate the 
police condition of the State of Mi^ssissippi, and to control 
matters, by constant threats to introduce Federal troops in 
the State, should he find it necessary to do so. 

In the meantime the rebuff" he had received from the 
Federal authorities, and the resolute and manly attitude of 
the white people, entirely disconcerted the military plans of 
Governor Ames; consequently, he intimated to the Demo- 
cratic leaders of the State, through this man Ciiase, his 
willingness to enter into an arrangement with them in re- 
gard to the conduct of the eleclion. This intimation met 
with a cordial reception, and, accordingly, a committee of 
gentlemen waited on the governor, and represented to him 
the terrible state of aiiairs ; the great danger of a race 
conflict ; the determination of the white people to defend 
their rights ; to protect themselves, their families and their 
property to the utmost of their ability ; but that they de- 
precated such a necessity, and begged the governor to 
disband his militia, and to put a stop to armed negroes 
marching to and fro through the country, as that alone 
could possibly preserve the peace between the races. 

They stated to him in substance that it was these mili- 
tary and intimidating movements on his part, which were 
the sole cause of the excited state of public feeling ; that his 
calling out, and arming the militia, their marching through 
the country with fixed bayonets and with drums beating, 



200 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

and liis rc])orto(l intention of invading* the eonnty of 
Yazoo, attended by all the oiicnnistances of war, had i)ro- 
duced an intense feelinj;- of indignation among the whiti'. 
citizens, and that all these demonstrations were attiihnted 
to political i)nri)Oses on his part. They assnred him that 
the peoi)le woidd not toUaate this liourishing of bayonets 
all over the coniitry, and that if it was not diseonlinncd it 
wonld surely result in a eollision between the races; tliat 
the best way of settling matters was for him to disband 
his troops, and accept the pledges of the best citizens and 
most iniluential gentlemen of the State that peace and 
quiet should be maintained. Upon this, the governor pro- 
posed to disband his militia with their arms in t.heir hands. 
This was objected to, upon the ground that the retention of 
their arms by the negroes might still be the source of se- 
rious disturbances. The governor then agree<I that the 
tj'oops should be disbanded and their arms deposited with 
the commander of the United States troops stationed at 
Jackson. 

This agreement gave general relief to the ]ieople of the 
State, and at once re-established the reign of i)eace. This 
failure to procuie Federal troops to garrison the counties, 
and this sudden fall, as they considered it, from his lofty 
military pretentions, caused a great reaction to take ])laco 
in the minds of the negroes, and a great change in their 
<!ondnct towards the white ))e()i)le. They at once began to 
listen 1o their arguments and to tlock to the Democratic 
clubs. Their ardor and race animosities gave place to a 
disposition, for the first time, to cultivate terms of friend- 
ship with the white peoi)le, and to vote with them in their 
eiforts to obtain a respectable administration of the State 
government. Yet no sooner was the result of the election 
known than the cry of " framlaiul intimidation-' was raised 
by the radical party throughout the land. The leading' 
radicals of the State, carpet baggers, whose occupation 
was now gone, {locked to Washington and i)Oured their 
slanderous tales into the ears of Congress, and the congres- 
sional investigating committees were at once set on foot 



to visit the State, drag" to the light of day the dark crimes 
represented to have been coirimitted, and to exhibit the 
nionsf (;r of intimidation to the eyes of an execrating warkl ; 
and 3'et the testimony taken before these investigating 
committees was so daiuagiug to radical rule in Mississippi, 
that their reports were not suffered to be published till 
after the presidential election of 1870. Before the subject 
of the general State canvass is dismissed, it may beiH-opev 
to insert the following address of the State executive com- 
mittee of the Democratic party, for the i^urpose of showing 
the principles which controlled the canvass on the part of 
the white people: 

Headquarters Democratic ai^b ) 

Conservative State Executive Committee, [■ 

Jackson, Miss., Sexd. 29, 1875. ) 

To the People of Mississippi : 

Eecent occurrences in the State render it proper that 
we should address you in reference to the conduct of the 
present canvass. 

An unexpected conflict was brought on at Clinton, on the 
4th instant, by the fault of the members of the Eepublican 
party. In that conflict several citizens of the State were 
brutally murdered, and their lifeless bodies inhumanly mu- 
tilated. In a day or two, sooner than could have been an- 
ticipated, considering the circumstances of brutality and 
outrage attending the conflict in the beginning, quiet and 
order were restored. The governor of the State has made 
this distnrbance a i)retext for calling on the President for 
the use of the national army to suppress vrhat he was 
pleased to term " domestic violence." To prevent the dis- 
grace which would fall upon the people of this State by the 
representations made by the governor, that disorder pre- 
vailed here which could not be suppressed by the local 
authorities, many good citizens in various parts of the 
State, though seeing no necessity for the military power, 
voluntarily organized themselves into companies and ten- 
dered their assistance, should it be needed to preserve order 



1:02 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

and cnlorce the law.s. These ofiers, though made iu good 
faith, and in a most rcspectrul manner, were not, in any in- 
stance, accepted, but were uniforiuly treated with coutenii)t. 
Jtis a subject of congratulation, ami of just ])ride to the 
l)eoi)U; of the State, that cursed as we are with rulers, alien 
to us in syuipatliy and interest, and utterly impotent to 
l)erform any good function of government, and with ability 
only to commit mischief, that we have been able to pre- 
serve order and to hold society together. 

In fact, we can safely say, that in no part of the Union 
does there x>revail a more perfect peace, or a greater respect 
lor law, or a greater desire to preserve order, than in Mis- 
sissippi, and this is well known to the State executive, if 
he knows anything of the disposition of the people over 
whom he rules. Under these circumstances, we cau regard 
the i)resent eftbrts of the chief magistrate of the State to 
put into active service the militia, and thus, in a time of 
})rofound peace, to organize a standing army iu violation of 
the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, in 
no other light than as a deliberate attenii)t to incite dis^ 
t.urbances, so that there may be an imaginary insurrection 
which he may suppress in blood. 

We deem it our duty to warn you against these machi- 
nations of the chief magistrate of the State, and to urge 
you not to be betrayed in a moment of passion and just re- 
sentment into acts of violence not necessary for self de- 
fence. The governor, in his eftbrts to blacken the fair 
name of the State, and to procure Federal troops, which ho 
lioped to use for the advancement of his personal fortunes, 
telegraphed to the attorney general of the United States 
that the race feeling was so strong, that it was believed that 
the organizing of a militia of colored men would develop 
a war of races extending even beyond the limits of the State, 
and that the organization of whites alone would be inellec- 
tual. Notwithstanding he entertains these views, he has 
steadily refused the prolfcrcd aid before alluded to, and is 
now ])roceeding to organize, as we are informed, a regiment 
(»t Ciich raci', and to iiiu.->ier them into active ser\ ice. There 



ciiu be no otlier reason for tliis tlian a wish on the x)art of 
the chief magistrate of the State to incite that war which 
he said would he produced, and to bring about disorder 
and confusion. For it is well known to all of you that there 
has not been the slightest <lisorder, not the pretence of a 
riot or insurrection since the disturbance at Clinton, nor 
has there been any obstruction to the execution of the 
laws at any time, except such as may exist in the incompe- 
tency and wilful neglect of Republican officials to discharge 
their duties. That there is crime in the State is true ; but 
there is not more than exists in our sister States, and there 
is nothing that looks like insurrection, or an attempt on the 
l)art of our i>eople to obstruct the enforcement of the laws. 

The horrible misruh^. of the jtresent State government 
has, very naturally, produced Jin intense interest among 
all classes of our people in the result of the pending elec- 
tion. It is right, and m\ aus])ici()us omen, that this interest 
is so deep and so universal. ^Ve would jiot liave you to 
abate one jot or tittle of the earnest zeal and deterjniua- 
tiou you have hitherto nmniiested to lescue our State from 
the corrupt horde of adventurers and their ignorant allies 
wlio, by sowing distrust betvreen the races, seized the govern- 
ment of the State for sellish and unworthy ends, and who 
have so administered it that, but for the conservative love 
of law and order of our people, we would now be in a state 
of anarcliy. AVe would rather urge you to work with a still 
greater zeal and with a more untiring energy, until the 
redemption of the State is secured beyond all doubt. 

We are glad to be able to assure you that victory is so 
certain that it cannot be lost, except by our own misman- 
agement or failure to carry on the contest to the end, in the 
same spirit that has characterized it up to the present 
time. 

In every x:)art of the State our friends are organized and 
thoroughly alive to the importance of the contest. Every- 
where on our side there is union, harmony, activity and 
conlidence. Our adversaries, on the contrary, are divided, 
demoralized and dispirited, and their rank and hlearckei>t 



204 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

together ouly by the desperation of their leaders, who seem 
detennined to retain their ill f;otten and ill nsed power at 
any cost to the i)eoi)lc of the State. 

Be patient, yet firm and determined. Let every true son 
of jNlississippi act as if the fortunes of the day depended 
on his individual exertions. If there be, in any quarter, 
strife and rivalries among our friends, let them cease. Let 
every consideration of self and personal advancement be 
buried out of sight. Let us all be animated by the one sen- 
timent that there can be no higher duty to discharge than 
to work faithfully to secure the redemption of our beloved 
State, unless, perhaps, it be to use nobly the victory, when 
it is won, for the common and eipial good of all her people 
and to the injury of none. 

J. Z. George, Chairman, 11. n. Chalmers, 

I. A. P. Campbell, L. B. Chrisman, 

TJ. M. Young, E. C. Walthall, 

Thomas B. Sykes, A. T. Koane, 

H. M. Street, I. D. Vertner, 

John A. Binford, W. A. Percy, 

W. II. 11. Tyron, E. Kichardson. 

On the 2Jth of September, 1S75, the following secret cir- 
cular was sent by the chairman of the liepublican State 
executive committee, addressed to the shcrift's, chancel- 
lors and circuit Jiulges of the State, who had jointly the 
a])i)()intment of the registrars of election : 

" Dear Sir : You are aware that during the present can- 
vass and in the conung election, while the opposition are 
using every means to defeat the Republican party, avo are 
forced to the necessity of em[)loying every lawful advan- 
tage our position gives us. Not the least of these is the 
matter of registration, and the proper performance of the 
duties of registrars. 

" lb is apprehended that many Bepublicans have already 
been prevented from registering by threats and intimida- 
tion. It is, tlierefore, of the greatest imiwrlance that the 
miijorily uf (he hoard of registrars should be composed of 



T J^x^JJA.\JJ-l.^^u±J* 



men not only true and faithful, but who will also have the 
courage and firmness to discharge their duties fearlessly, 
especially in canvassing the vote and making up the re- 
turns. With this view, we earnestly ask you to examine 
the list of 3"0ur appointments critically, and satisfy your- 
self fully as to the character of each man, and make such 
changes as, in your judgment, will promote the free and full 
expression of the people at the ballot box. We take the 
privilege of addressing this circular letter to all the judges 
and chancellors throughout the State, because it has been 
suggested to us that there are some professed Republican 
registrars who are incompetent, unworthy and of doubt- 
ful fidelity. 

"A. Waener, CliairmanP 

It surely requires no close examination of this document 
to disclose its imi^ort and purpose. The circuit judges, 
chancellors and sheriffs of the several counties, jointly ap- 
pointed the board of registrars; that is, the circuit judge, 
chancellor and sheriff respectively appointed a registrar 
for the county. These registrars, in their turn, appointed 
the inspectors of election, and supervised and canvassed 
the votes and made up the returns, and, in fact, controlled 
the whole machinery of the elective franchise in their re- 
spective counties. Such were the organization and power 
of the officers whose adaptation of character to the dntics 
required is so strenuously demanded by the chairman of 
the Republican State executive committee. What these 
" lawful advantages'''' were, in an honest and impartial per- 
formance of their sworn duty, to tlie party which possessed 
the appointment, is not readily discernible. But they are 
.further required to be " not only true and faithful," but to 
have sufficient courage to meet whatever requisition may 
be made upon them in the interest of their party, " espe- 
cially in canvassing the vote and making up the returns." 

It is hard to conceive of language more suggestive of the 
?v>/e expected of these election officers, by the chief of the 
party, than this last phrase. 

To lock themselves up in a secure and rctiied room, with 



liUa KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

tlie boxes, and then peaceably and leisurely count the bal- 
lots, certainly does not seem to require any liigli degree of 
courage; but, in the lace of their oaths, to make and utter 
a false list of the votes, surely recjuires attributes whicli 
none but an unscrupulous partisan could denominate 
courage. 

J>ut it seems that the chairman was apprehensive that 
there might be some registrars appointed who would not 
l)Ossess a sufficiency of the "courage" for the puri)ose in 
(juestion. lie had been informed that some were " incom- 
l)etent, unworthy, and of doubtful lidelity," and he desires 
the honorable And grave and (lignilicd judges and ehanceliors 
of the State to lay aside their sanctilied ermine and patrol 
the counties in search of registrars who might have the 
courage, worth and Jidelity to use every advantage their po- 
sition conferred ; in short, Avho would make up the returns 
favorable to their party at all events. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

Let us now return from our peep at the general condition 
of affairs in tlie State to the conduct of the campaigns in 
Kemper County. Tlie feeling' of distrust and alarm Avhich 
we liave found existing- almost universally in Mississippi 
at this time, was greatly increased in this county by the 
lawless and violent conduct of Chisolm and Gilmer. Tlierc 
was a general and peculiar interest felt in every canvass in 
this county, not on account of any special importance thej^ 
possessed, but in consequence of the high handed career 
these men had long pursued in the county, and of which I 
have treated in previous chapters only of the most criminal 
and diabolical features. 

It will be necessary now to advert more especially to 
their liolitical despotism and partisan outlawry, which led 
to the complete overthrow of all law and justice in the 
county, aiul produced an era of alarm and distrust well 
nigh bordering on desperation. 

They had the whole negro population of the county, 
which exceeded that of the whites, comi^letely under their 
control, and were, in fact, the arbiters of life and death 
throughout the county. 

From the time that Chisolm was appointed sheriff', in 1S70, 
he had been the acknowledged leader of tlie radical party 
in Kemper County. He was looked upon by the ignorant 
negroes, whom he controlled with despotic hand, as the 
fountain of all law and the medium of all power — county, 
State and Federal, civil and military. They voted in every 
instance for whomsoever he designated for office. 

The first canvass in which Gilmer threw his black heart 
into the radical scale was that of 1872, in which he was a 
candidate lor the State senate, to which aspiration his dia- 
bolical part in tlie murder of Dawson, as has been already 
stated, ])romoted him. 

No hoouer had be entered the canvass than, hund in hand 



1308 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

witli Chisolm, lie began his infamous career. Indeed, so 
joint and inseparable became the careers of these two men 
from this time, that it would be difUcult to treat of their 
conduct singly. Prior to this time Chisolm, as he himself 
testified, caused a great many of the leading citizens of the 
county to be arrested by the military authorities. This 
fact has already been alhuled to in a former chapter. ITe 
luul, besides this, and after the cessation of military rule in 
tlie State, while sheriff", reported many citizens to the grand 
juries of the Federal court. This was done to procure, if 
l)()ssible, their imprisonnu'ut and removal from the county, 
or such a conviction as would either work their disfran- 
chisement or alford grounds for challenging their votes at 
the polls. 

In consummation of their plans to intimidate all disaf- 
fected negroes, and to prevent the white people from voting, 
Chisolm and Gilmer procured United States troops to bo 
sent to Scooba on the day of the election, who surrounded 
the i^olls with fixed bayonets, and api)eared ready to do 
their bichling. 

On this oc(;asion it is said that Gilmer took his position 
in a middle door leading to the jwU room, and examined 
the ticket of every negro that approached, and whenever 
lie found one with a Democratic ballot in his hand he seized 
and tore it up, at the same time forcing the negro to pass 
in with a radical ticket, which he substituted in place of the 
Democratic. He also (challenged all the white men who hail 
been indicted chielly ujjon his information and that of Chis- 
olm in the United States court, and on their i)leading "No 
conviction," he would reply that there soon would be, and 
that they consequently could not vote ; and thus, with such 
imi)udence hurled in their face, and the bayonets of the 
Federal troops pointed at their breasts, they were but too 
glad to make their escape from the scene, retire to their 
homes and there contemplate these glorious features of the 
" best government," etc. 

I'erhaps the most cruel and ouliagcons instance of this 
kind occurred at l)c Ivalb. An aged genlk'nian, wiio lived 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 209 

a short distance in the country, named McCIelhind, a man 
of the most peaceable and innocent character, caine in to 
tlie polls bringing with him several negro men whom he 
emi:)loyed on his farm. This old man went to the ])ol]s 
with his negro employees, and all voted the Democratic 
ticket. When the lieutenant in charge of the Federal troops, 
named Shelby, saw these negroes vote the Democratic 
ticket, he, without the slightest provocation, kicked the 
old man out of the court house, where the election was be- 
ing held, in a most shameful and brutal manner. Wlien the 
I)eople saw the poll box in the hands of Federal soldiers, 
ready to do the bidding of Ohisolm, who stood over it witli 
observant eye as the arbiter of the very right of franchise, 
and men beaten because their negro employees voted with 
them, they, as a matter of course, felt that it was an intol- 
erable humiliation, to remedy which no effort in their power 
should be spared. 

Nor was there any remedy or redress to be found for 
these outrages — surely none to be had by a recourse to the 
courts of law. They, too, were controlled by these same 
men. The law was in their hands, and its vindicatory arm 
was never raised, save in its maddened strokes against the 
objects of their jiersonal or political vengeance. In any 
cause of virtue the courts were dumb. 

During this same canvass, Chisolm, in a speech at Scooba, 
told the negroes to stand tirm for their rights, and if they 
could not obtain them otherwise, to go for the white people 
in their homes. Mr. J. W. Maury, a highly respected and 
reliable gentleman, who was the opposing candidate for 
sheriff, on hearing of this expression, afterward took occa- 
sion to ask Chisolm, while making a i)ublic speech at De 
Kalb in this same canvass, if it was true that he gave such 
counsel to the negroes at Scooba; when Chisolm, drawing 
himself up, replied with much emi)hasis, " Yes, by G-d ; I 
did !" 

At this same meeting one Kellis, a radical, was making a 
speech, in which he denounced Dr. Saunders, the Demo- 
cratic candidate for the legislature, as a habitual drunk- 

14 



210 KEJIPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

nrd, 111)011 AYliicli John W. Gully, who was present, with 
many other Democrats, replied in a very mild manner that 
Kellis erred ; that he knew Dr. Saunders well, and that he 
did not get drunk on all occasions as asserted. Upon this, 
Chisohn rushed up to the speakers' stand in a very boister- 
ous and anj;ry manner, seized a double barrelled gun, and 
exclaimed, " John G-illy, you damned old scoundrel, if you 
can^t keep your mouth shut, leave the court house!" At 
this the Chisolm clan made a rush toward Gully and gath- 
ered pressingly around him. Mr. Maury, the opposing can- 
didate for sherili", then remonstrated with Chisolm and his 
crowd, telling them that Gully meant nothing, and that he 
had only told the truth in defending the personal character 
of a friend. By this means he succeeded in allaying the 
excitement of Chisolm and his partisans, who, for this triv- 
ial oflence, had assumed an attitude toward Gully which 
even threatened instant death. Mr. Maury, then, by pre- 
arrangemeut, arose in reply, and after contradicting and 
refuting the slanderous assertions made in regard to the 
Democratic candidates and the white people generally, 
demanded of Chisolm what he had those guns concealed 
behind the judge's stand for ; to which Chisolm replied 
that John Gully had that moi-ning brought some guns to 
town hidden beneath his shawl, which was known to bo 
entirely false, and so jn-oclaimed hy JMr. ^Nlaury. Soon after 
this, Chisolm announced that he would speak on a certain 
day in the village of Wahnlak. News of this was dispersed 
far and wide among the l)lacks, accompanied, as usual, by 
such instructions as Chisolm deemed necessary to the con- 
summation of his ])lans ; and accordingly, on that day the 
negroes poured into the village from every direction, in a 
boisterous aiul threatening manner, and prominent among 
these hostile demonstrations was a wagon load of shot guns, 
all loaded, which was stationed near the speakers' stand. In 
addition to this, the negroes, as they arrived upon the 
grounds, were formed into line, placed under the connnand 
of a very desperate individual named David, and regularly 
drilled. 



KEMrEIl COUNTY VINDICATED. 211 

Before tlic speaking began these guus were distributed 
among the negroes, who immediately gatliered around the 
stand with them in their Iiands. Alter Chisolm had fin- 
ished a very iniiaramatory harangue, Mr. Maury arose in 
leply, and eontradicted some assertions that Chisolm had 
made. Upon this there was a general npi'isiug of the 
negroes, and every gun was eoclced and pointed toward 
the stand. Captain James Jenkins, a highly esteeraed 
eitizen, ealled on Chisolm for an ex})lanation of all this 
l)ristling and flourish of arms. To wliieh Chisolm rep'lied 
that he had taken these preeantions through fear that he 
might be mobbed ; and yet there was searcely a single 
pocket pistol even worn by the whites in attendance that 
day. It is said, moreover, that Chisolm's speech on this 
occasion was extremely bitter and incendiary. It seems 
that he had but one speech, which he used on all occasions, 
and which he toned to suit the circumstances. It seems 
that this ghost of assassination — .which no doubt had its 
origin in the throes of conscience — often haunted him, and 
was often invoked as a pretext for conduct, the- purpose of 
which was too apparent for so flimsy an attribution as the 
aggressive character of his fears. 

On one occasion there was a small squad of men, said 
to have come from Alabama, who were, on some errand 
or other, passing through the county, and had camped 
overnight on the outskirts of the village of De Kalb, in 
a grove near Chisolm's residence. In the early morning 
they were discovered by a negro boy, and their presence 
reported to Chisolm. As to what followed I will let him 
state upon his oath, as testified before the ku-klux com- 
mittee, page 250. He says : " I met this boy at the gate, 
and I saw that he was very much excited. He said : 
' Judge, there are twenty-five or thirty men over there 
after you.' Said I: ' \Vhat in the devil are they after me 
for!' He said: 'I do not know what they are after you 
for.' I said : ' Where are they V Said he : ' They are gone 
on in the direction of De Kalb.' Said I : ' Hezzy, you go 
by and tell Joe and Tom and April to get their guns and 
come up town just as quick as they can.' " 



212 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Q. Wlio vrerc tlicy ? 

A. They were colored men living on ray place. 

It will be observed that at this very time Cliisolin was 
the sheriff of Kemper County, and we have him here arm- 
iiii;- four negroes who were living on liis place, and piir- 
sniiig a squad of strangers for the purpose, evidently, of 
creating a disturbance. 

lUit the climax of this story yet remains to be told. 

Q. Were these men mounted ! 

A. Tliey were all on horseback. They halted at Gully's 
store, and got a gallon of whiskey, and then left town. 
# * * * * * 

I got up a crowd of fifteen men, white and colored, and 
followed them to the Alabama line— to Painville, in Jvem- 
per County. 

Q. Was that over the line ? 

A. Yes, sir. I followed them over the line and waked 
up a grocery man, as I supposed they would stop there to 
get a drink. 

Q. AVhen did yon get to Painville'? 

A. About an hour before day, Sunday raoriung. 

Q. Did yon overtake them I 

A. I did not see one of them. I stopi^ed where they got 
dinner, and saw where they had killed a great nniny 
chickens and dogs, and one thing and another in the road. 

This invasion of the State of Alabama by the sheriff of 
Kemper County, Mississippi, with an armed posse of ne- 
gro(!S and white radicals was, perhaps, without parallel 
in the American States, and could only spring from a state 
of atfairs whose counterpart would bo sought in vain on 
tliis continent, save in the lawless i)rovinces of Mexico. 
This cNpedition was no doubt intended to spite and in- 
timidate the friends and relatives of young Dawson, who 
resided in that part of Alabama, and who, as has been 
said, manifested great indignation at the barbarity and 
iniputiity with which the murder of that unfortunate man 
had been attended. Some of these visited Kemper County 
immediately after that occurrence, and made every eifort iu 
their power to bring the perpetrators to justice. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 213 

TIio open aid which Chisolai aiiordcd his friend Gilmer 
in this matter, and his >strennons exorcise of his influence 
as sheritt* and partisan leader of the county, to shield him 
from the strokes of justice, had very much enraged the 
friends of Dawson against him. They well knew that it 
was his influence that prevented an indictment or even a 
committal of Gilmer and Davis for this crime. 

It was in consequence of this that some severe articles 
appeared in the Mercury (a newspaper published at Meri- 
dian), written by Judge Dillard, an uncle of Dawson, charg- 
ing him with defeating the ends of public justice, to which 
A'ery acrimonious and insulting replies were written and 
l)ublished by Chisolm. 

This correspondence resulted in a personal altercation in 
the streets of Meridian, in which Chisolm shot Dillard, 
under the following circumstances. It seems that neither 
had ever seen the other before, and by accident they met 
that day. Without deeming it necessary to set forth the 
full particulars of this circumstance, which is of no general 
importance, save so far as it elucidates the character of 
Chisolm, and to show that the account given of itbj^his 
fulsome biograi^her, AYells, is utterly false. For this pur- 
pose I will rely upon the reader being satisfied with Chis- 
olm's own sworn statement in regard to it. He says 
(Boutwell report, page 772) : "I was returning from Jack- 
son, and stopped over at Meridian on business, and me and 
Dillard met in Judge Ham's office, who knew the bitter 
correspondence that had passed between us, and knew our 
feelings toward each other. I did not know Dillard my- 
self at all ; didn't know the man ; never had seen him before 
that morning ; and a big man came in, and they all seemed 
to be greatly excited, and I was dumbfounded myself. 
Judge Ham said, 'Judge Chisolm, walk into Judge Fewel's 
office, and let us talk this nmtter over,' and when I got in 
there, he said, ' That is Dillard.' Says I, ' Hell ! is that 
Dillard V and I started to walk out, and he says, '■ Come 
back into the office ; Judge Dillard is a very bad man ; ho 
is a desperate man, and he is drunk to-day, and I would ad- 



214 KEMPER COUNTY VESTDICATED. 

vise yon now to try to avoid ineeting liim at all, if you can.' 
Says ], ' Fewel, this is one of tlic days I don't feel like 
fi.illitini;' at all ; I ain't jjotany li^iht in nic to-day.' He said, 
' I don't think yon do want a dillicnlty with anybody.' Says 
I, 'I don't.' In passinu,- alon<;- tlie street, I went into the 
I'eople's Savinjis l>ank, to make some depositof nionej', and 
to take the receipts of the cashier, and me and him was 
talking', and he asked me where I was going-, and I told 
him I was going down to Jndge Love's ,• I had promised to 
pay some money for a nuin in that connty, and I walked 
down the street, and I saw Love and the man Dillardabont 
twenty steps before me. I saw that there was nothing for 
me to do bnt to Avalk right on, and I went on and spoke to 
Jndge Love, and shook hands with him, and he says, 'Al- 
low me to introdnce yon to Judge Dillard; I remarked 
that we didn't talk, and Dillard then commenced abasing 
me. with his])istol in his hand, and mine was not out: my 
hands were loo.^o. I stayed tliere and took it until I got a 
cliance to (aoss the street, and then I fixed myself and came 
baclc, and we met on half way ground, and I shot him. I 
mean by Mixing myself to liave my i)istol like his was." 
This descrii)tion of the shooting of ])illard not only 
shows the character of Chisolm, but gives the lie to 
the representation made of it by J. M. Wells. If that 
individual desired the truth, wliy did he not refer to 
this sworn description of Chisolm himself ? But the 
features of the nairative did not suit the purposes of 
tliis slanderer, and so he i>rererred drawing ui>on his own 
imagination for a jnstilieation of his heio — which that hero 
himself did not attempt, or jx'rhaps even desire. As a 
matter of course, Chisohn stated tliis matter to the semito- 
rial committee in a manner most favorable to himself. 
I'l'om wliom (lid ^VelIs obtain his xersion of the affair ? for 
it is eiitirely dilferent fioin the rei)resentation of it which 
("hisolm made under oath. It is certain that the sworn 
words of the dead man contradict his vicarions biographer 
in this, as well as in many other instances, wl;i(t]i have 
already been, oi' will be, noticed in this woik. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 215 

I-'or this attempt on tlie life of Dillard, Cbisolm was placed 
under recognizance for his appearance, and at the circnit 
court was indicted and brought to trial at the second term, 
before Wm. M. Hancock, a radical and partisan friend of 
Chisolm. Therefore, it will not be a matter of surprise, 
from what we have already seen of the rulings of this class 
of judges, and the prtyudices of negro juries, that he was 
acquitted. 

It may be observed, however, that Dillard had the mag- 
nanimity to forbear the exercise of any influence in the 
prosecution. 

This circumstance formed another ground for Chisolm 
to base his apprehensions of danger from the dreaded 
Alabamians. Judge Dillard was a prominent citizen of 
the adjoining- County of Sumter, in that State, and was, 
as has been before observed, an uncle of Hal Dawson. 
The conscious guilt in the killing of this n)an had, as wo 
have seen, caused both Cliisolm and Gilmer to entertain 
lively susjjicions of all Alabamians. And these suspicions 
were intensified b}' the circumstance of the shooting of Dil- 
lard. Henceforth the grim spectre of an Alabamian seems 
to have forever haunted their minds, and formed a favorite 
analogy for the constant association of the name of John 
W. Gully. So apt ATas Chisolm in this respect, that in his 
examination before the ku-klux investigating committee, 
the fact Yv-as noticed and observed by Mr. Blair, in the 
following colloquy with Chisolm : . 

Q. Who is this man Gully ? 

A. lie is a great big South ern bully. 

Q. You have had some (pmrrcl with him, have you not? 

A. Oh, yes, sir ; certainly I have. 

C^. I thought so, from the way yon brought him in on all 
occasions. What have you quarrelled about ? 

A. Well, he is regarded as the leader of the crowd that 
comes to my town, ]Mr. Taliaferro told me that he was the 
lircsident of the shebang— the high priest of the concern 
in my county. 

Q. Is that what you and he quarrelled about particu- 
larly f 



2iG KE]0'EK COUNTY VINDICATED. 

A. I never knew auy thing else for us to quarrel about. 

Q. Was it not about some matters of a note, or a forgery- 
matter? 

A. No, sir ; that liad nothing to do with it ; \\e were 
quarrelling before tliat came up; we had had one or two 
rows before that thing ever came up. 

Q, That only made it worse ? 

A. 1 suppose so, but I do not know that it did ; it did 
not amount to anything that I know of. There never has 
been the scratcli of a pen against me in the county, if that 
is M'hat you want to get at, and there has been everything, 
from rape down, against him. 

Q. What was this allegation that he made about you ? 

A. lie made a charge against me there, alter we had 
split, that I was trying to hx up, to get some government 
cotton. 

Q. From whom ? 

A. From the government. 

Q. How did lie say you were trying to do that ? 

A. lie said that the man who Avas on the aflldavit never 
made the aihdavit. lie never said that, however, until 
after the man died, you understand. 

Q. Was that all he said 1 

A. The God of Israel only knows what he said. I do not 
know anything about that. That is what I heard him say. 
I know the courts never bothered mo about it. There is 
nothing on God's green earth against me in the courts or 
anywhere else, that I know of, except what Gully saj^s. 

Q. I thought you and he were somewhat acrimonious? 

A. Yes ; that did not start the thing at all ; we were out 
before that, and he thought he w^ould take that start of me 
to break mo down. 

Q. Generally, he is a pretty bad man, is he not ? 

A. Well, I tliink the ])co})le think so, both Democrats 
and lxci)nl)licans ; that is my oi)inion about tliat. 1 think 
they regard him as a very bad man. lie has some money 
yet, because he docs not i)ny his ch'bts, and lives in a pala- 
tial house, and all his proi)erty is in the name of his son. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 217 

I suppose tbat is very easy to do iu tbis country; but I 
only refer to bim (tbere are otber men tbere besides bim) 
as tbe bead centre of tbe concern. That is why I referred 
to bim ; not because I care anything more about bim than 
I do about any otber little man in tbe county, because be 
is a very small man here ; I only refer to bim because otber 
men told me tbat be is tbe bead centre of tbe concern 
there. 

It may be observed here tbat John W. Gull^'j at tbis time, 
was the recognized leader of the Democratic party of tbe 
county. Ardent, enthusiastic, bold and outspoken by 
nature, be labored with untiring zeal in the interest of 
his party, and was tbe trusted leader and represen- 
tative of the intelligence and property interest of the 
county, while Chisolm occupied a like position in tbe radi- 
cal party, and that their respective spheres sbould have 
engendered unfriendly feeling between them is not at all 
wonderful. Chisolm bad always considered Gully, as be 
calls it, tbe head centre of the Democracy of the county, and 
his most powerful opponent. To get rid of bim, or to de- 
stroy bis influence, bad from the first been bis most ardent 
aim. He bad reported bim to the military authorities as a 
ku-klux, and that having failed, be was charged with tbe 
crime to which he alludes in bis testimony. For tbis 
be was arrested and carried before a military tribunal. The 
v.'oman Vvbo was alleged to be tbe victim of this crime went 
before the clerk of tbe court, and made an affidavit tbat it 
was false. Yet Chisolm and his clan were not to be baf- 
fled in their ])urpose. She was carried to the military camp 
and there coaxed and induced to retract her oath of denial. 
Her former affidavit was considered a nullity, and full force 
nnd el'fect was given to her subsequent and forced accusa- 
tion. Yet Gully succeeded not oidy in tracing the original 
ciiai'ge to its malicious source, but proved l)y incontrovertible 
lestimony the impossibility of the act at the time alleged. 
tSo clear was bis proof of innocence, and so plainly was it 
the M'orkof malice, that he was again triumphantly and bon- 
oral)]y acquitted, and thus once more escaped the meshes 



218 IvEMPEU COUNTY VIOT5ICATED.' 

of lii.s inveterate foes. But if Gully was thus fortunate iu 
refutini; tlie cliarjieof illicit love, it was not the case with 
Cliisolm. Jt is a notorious fact in J3e Kalb and in Kemper 
County that he dressed a nep'O woman and quartered her 
in one room of his law oilice, and on one occasion, it is said, 
iMrs. Chisolm repaired to this room, pistol in hand, and was 
oidy prevented by her husband from killing- her dusky rival 
and quenching' in blood his illicit tlamc. 

During the year 1874, an act was passed by the legisla- 
ture of Mississippi, requiring the county boards of super- 
visors to summon before them all delinquent taxpayers of 
their respective counties, to show cause why they had not 
])aid their taxes, and to sutler such i)ains and penalties as 
might be iuq)osed upon tliem lor their delintpiency. Under 
that law ]Mrs. Hull, a widow lady, and sister to John W. 
Gully, was summoned as a delinquent, although her brother 
had promptly paid her taxes, for which he held tlie receipt 
of tlie slierilV, \V. \V. Chisolm. On the day appointed for 
the appearance of Mrs. Hull before the board of supervi- 
sors, Gully ])resentcd himself with the receipt, and upon 
liis remaiking the fact that he had it, Chisolm became 
furious, and there, in the court room, and in the i)resence 
of the board, began to indulge in the most profane and 
insulting language, directed to Gully, Ui)on this. Gully 
observed to the board that he thought it hard tlmt he could 
not ai)pear before them to attend to business without be- 
ing insulted by the t^herilf. At this Chisolm immediately 
retired to his oflice, which was an adjoining room, and soon 
rea])peai'ed with his i)isl()lin his hand. CJuUy sinq)ly called 
the attention of the l)c)ard to this, when the president told 
him that he could retire, and that they would send tor him 
when needed. AVhen tiie case was reached, the clerk of 
tlie board was ordered to notify Gully, ui)on \\hi('h Chis- 
olm, with an oath, said that he himself would summon him, 
and at once i)i()ceeded to Gully's store, and on his notilica- 
lion to Gaily, which he made in a very im])erious manner, 
the latter remarlccd that he had already insulted him about 
this lualtci', as he had donir on almost every occasion that 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 219 

lie visited the court lionsc on business, and that it must not 
be repeated. Cbisolm then went to bis bouse, ^ybich was 
but a sliort distance away, and got liis double barrel gnn, 
came back, tired it off, and reloaded it, then placing it 
against and beliind the corner of tlie next liouse to Gully's 
store, promenaded for some time back and fortli in front of 
tlie store. In the meantime, he liad summoned his clan, 
several of whom seized their guns and repaired to the court 
house. Gully, well knowing their designs, took every pre- 
caution to avoid tlje difiiculty, and, quietly walking over 
and presenting the receipt, returned to his store. Tliis 
circumstance was witnessed by many of the most reliable 
citizens, who were satisfied that Chisolm was then seeking 
an opportunity to kill, or have Gully killed, as his conduct 
was otherwise inexplicable. 

During this same year, the legislature passed an act im- 
posing a i)rivilege tax upon all merchant^', bankers, law- 
yers, keepers of livery stables, and all transient venders, 
ajid others. This tax ranged from two to five hundred 
dollars per capita, and was collected by Chisolm, as sheriff 
and tax collector for the year 1870. Yet, in the report of 
the State auditor for that year, the amount of the revenue 
from this tax is suinmed and expressed for every county in 
Mississippi, exce]it Kemper, in reference to which the au- 
ditor tersely adds, "No i)rivilege tax collected in Kemper." 
Yet there is, perhaps, not a single person in the county, 
belonging to one of the classes designated as subject to this 
tax, but would on oath declare that he paid it to Chisolm, 
or his deputy, and for which many still have his receipt. 

These facts are corroborated by a radical who was at that 
time one of the officers of the county, and who stated to 
the writer that he had a personal altercation with Chisolm 
for remonstrating v^•itll him about his conduct in this re- 
spect. But a sufficiency of these disgusting circumstances 
have been emimerated to serve the purpose for which they 
are adduced, namely, to depict the true character of the 
man, and with an expression of disdain, and a feeling of 
relief, the writer dismisses the subject. 



220 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

It now becomes necessary, in order of time, to advert to 
UM incident wliicli, no doubt, liad its origin, like many other 
crimes committed in tlie connty about tliis time, in the in- 
.s[)iration drawn IVom the immunity alibrded by the radical 
authorities. Of this circumstance, the carpet bag biogra- 
plier. Wells, has manufactured quite a supply of food for 
Ids mendacity. To again show his aptitude and proficiency 
in this respect, it will be necessary to qnote his statement. 
He says: " In the month of October, 1874, some one, in the, 
night time, entered the room of a daughter of George Cal- 
vert, who Hves in the southwest beat of Kemper County. 
The young hidy awoke in great alarm, and just in time, as 
she believed, to see some one, whom she did not recognize, 
run througli tlie doorway and escape before the family 
AveTe aroused. 

" Suspicion of this grave offence centred upon one of two 
negroes living on the place, bnt 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. Ilis own explanation of his absence was that 
lie had been out, as he had often done before, to witness a 
fox hunt in Avhich some gentlemen were engaged not far 
away. Notwithstanding this, he was taken into custody, 
Avithout process of warrant, or any legal arrest, and carried 
to De JCalb, when the deputy sheriff, Charlie Eosenbaum, 
very properly refused to take the ])risouer, save only in the 
manner and form prescribed by law." 

After a careful examination of the facts, and from his 
knowledge of them, obtained from theolliccrs and eye wit- 
nesses of the proceedings in this case, the writer is pre- 
l)ared to say, that there is not one iota of truth in the above 
account. Tlie young lady fully recognized her assailant, 
Avliose name was Perry Greenlea, and the negro was duly 
arrested and tried before a justice of the peace of the county. 
The evidence of guilt was positive, and he was found guilty, 
and was sent under a regular and lawful mittimus to the 
Kheriifof (he county. The deputy sherilV, although a radi- 
cal, did not refuse to receive the prisoner upon auy such 



KEIIPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 221 

STOunds as those alleged, but he was returned to the custody 
of the justice and his constable, for the reason that the jail 
of the county had become so decaj'cd that it was totally un- 
safe as a prison, and he was refused by the sheriff or his 
deputy with a request tliat he be sent to the jail of an ad- 
joining- county^ as provided for in sncli cases by the statutes 
of the State. Wlien this action of the sheriff was known, 
and tlie negro brought back to tite neigliborhood, a crowd 
of both black and white gathered, and took the negro from 
tlu! hands of the constable and hung him, just as they wouhl 
liave done under simihircircuinstaiujes in perhaps any other 
county and neighborhood. In consequence of this visitation 
of justice, long' a rare thing in any form under radical rule 
in the county, the negroes became greatly enraged, and their 
movements and sulky deportment showed but too plainly 
that they had something- serious in view. Finally, a negro, 
named Wash. Smitli, informed Mr. Harbour, a gentleman 
residing- in tlie neighborhood, that, headed by a negro 
school teacher, named Brown, they were endeavoring- to 
get up an insurrection, for the avowed purpose of killing all 
the whites, and that they were making' violent threats of 
wreaking- suramary vengeance upon the perpetrators of 
the hanging- of (xrcenlea. On learning this, (Jiiptain J. L. 
Spinks, who was then a justice of the peace, and now the 
popular representative of Kemper Cou.nty in the legislature 
of the State, visited the negro who gave this information, 
for the purpose of interviewing hiiu more closely concern- 
ing it. The negro seemed very much alarmed, and proposed 
to make an aiiidavit before the justice in regard to the 
truth of his statements, which he did. He stated that the 
plan was for the negroes to assemble with arms and proceed 
to the neighborhood of the hanging, carryijig with them 
the negro coroner", who was also a waiting boy of Chisolm, 
under the pretence of holding an inquisition, and that a 
note written b^' Brown had been sent among the negroes 
av>]nising them of the movement. He charged four negroes 
in the neighborhood with being the iUvStigators and leaders 
of the scheme. These were immediately arrested, and 



222 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Moses Grilfin, one of tlic four accused, confessed the con- 
spiracy. Tliey were bron.ubt to trial before the justice and 
two ol' tbeni were convicted. Orillin, having turned State's 
evidence, was released, and was simply placed under bonds 
to keep the peace. 

The news of the iuforniation of Smith, and the confession 
of Grittin had, in the meantime, spread through the county, 
and even into the counties adjacent, and the minds of nu'u 
being prepared by experience for the reception of such 
reports, their fears were aroused to the highest degree, so 
that on the day of the trial of these negroes, quite a large 
crowd of citizens had gathered there from the surrounding- 
country. Prior to this, however, as Chisolm was the high 
l)riest of the radical party, and exercised full control over 
the county, a correspondence had been entered into with 
liim in regard to the matter, for the purpose of securing his 
co-operation in the interest of peace. To this end, Mr. A. P. 
Davis was sent to him as the bearer of the expression of 
the wishes of the peo])le, upon which Chisolm promptly 
wrote and sent n note by ]3avis to oue of the leatling nc- 
croes, ordering him to desist from his hostile demonstrations. 
But on the assembling of the citizens at the trial, and when 
the whohi truth Avas laid open by the testimony, the nuitter 
was deenied to be of so serious a nature, that it was thought 
best to come to some more definite uiulerstanding with 
Chisolm, in order to allay the fears of the people, and, if 
possible, to obtain some satisfactory guarantee against any 
future attem])ts of this character, and, he being the sheriff 
and p'^ace oflicer of the county, as well as the recognized 
leader of the negroes, it was considered important that he 
.shouhl visit the neighborhood, as his presence would, it was 
thought, have a soothing and assuiing effect. In pursnance 
of this, they now dispatched two gentlemen of the neigh- 
borhood, Arcliy McMahon and J. E. Driver, to invite 
Cliisolm to come there. lie, with some excuse, declined 
going, but gave these men every assnrance that he would 
use his inlluence in the interest of ])eace. Upon the return 
of these envoys, at the request of the citizens generally, 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 223 

the following note was written and sent to Clusolm. Two of 
the signers of this letter were justices of the i)eace, and the 
other a member of the county board of supervisors. The 
note and its purport speaks for itself; and it may bo 
observed, that the writer is informed by one of its authors 
that its having- been written on a grange letter head was 
purely accidental, and that neither its import or indite- 
ment had any connection or relation whatever with that 
association. 

" Mount Pleasant Grange, 
Ko. 230. 
" J. K. Davis, Master. J. L. Spinks, Sec. 

^' Moscow, Miss., October 1, 1874. 
" Judge W. W. Chisolm, De Kale, Miss. 

" Dear Sir : Wo 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 conversation you 
had with Archy McMahou 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. 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, if the negroes 
come upon us as they threaten to do. We insist on your 
immediate i^reseuce 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 that you will not 
fail to come. 

" Eesijcctfully, your friends, 

ADAM CALVERT, 
J. L. SPINKS, 
JOHN R. DAVIS." 

Of this innocent aud commendable i)roceeding of some 
of the best citizens of the county, the carpet bagger, 
Wells, indulges in the following dissertation, which, ia 



221 KEMPER COU^;TY VINDICATED. 

view of (lie facts, is as ]u(li(;r()us as it is contemptible. He- 
says: " It Avas believed by the leaders of tliis allVay, that 
an opportunity was now ])resented lor carrying out a Ion;;" 
clierished desire— that of niurderin.i;' Judg^e Chisolni, and 
niaknii;" it apjx'ar as the volanlary act of the whole coni- 
niuuity.'' * * " The adiuonilion of friends saved Jndi;c 
Chisolm's life on this occasion, as tiiat wliich follows will 
«dearly prove: David Calvert, a brother of Adam Cahert, 
who married a sister of Judge Chisolm, afterward told his 
wife's family that he was cognizant of the note being car- 
ried to liis brother-in-law ou the occasion ()f the ' negro 
hanging' near the house of Justice Spinks ; that he knew 
the object for Avhich it was delivered, and to thwart tlu! 
l)urpose of the men who sent it, and prevent the! shedding 
of innocent blood, lie himself despatched 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\i(lual to 
l)rove a conspiracy lilve this, there might be found room for 
(luestioning its existence, but, fortunately, whatever evi- 
dence may be needed to dispel every doubt in the matter 
is at hand, and will be found in the letter which follows: 

"llio, JMississim, September . 

"Judge W. \V. CiiTsoL:\r. 

" Siu : I believe there is a plan on foot to assassinate you. 
This belief is founded upon an assertion that 1 heard one 
AVilliam LVarse make, in the presence of four respectable 
ladies, lie said that you would be taken out of Do Kalb 
before next Sunday night, and meet witli the same fate 
that the negro did who was hung on last Saturday, near 
here. Other remarivs, similar to this, have been repeate<l 
to me l)y your friends, which I vrill not take time to men- 
tion now. There was an armed force of from fifty to one 
hundred men met at tlie grave of tlie hanged negro, on 
^Monday, to prevent tlie holding of an inipiest. Your 
Iriends in this neighborhood think you would do well to bo 
on your guard. My liglit is dim, and I don't see well at 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 225 

night. I will close by saying tliat I liope you will be ou 
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 alwve," says Wells, " was written and sent to 
Judge Chisolm by a special messenger. Mr. Windham, its 
author, was an honest and kind hearted man, although a 
Democrat, and a brother-in-law of Adam Calvert. His op- 
portunities for knowing the facts were the very best, and 
his statement in writing over his own signature will hardly 
be doubted. The fact that lie is now dead, and out of the 
Avay of all harm, accounts for his name being given here." 

Now let us for a moment notice the contradictious and 
falsehoods that glare upon the very face of this state- 
ment. In the first place, AVells has already been quoted as 
alleging that the assault upon this lady, and the hanging 
of the negro, Perry Greenlea, took place in the month of 
October, 1874 ; yet it will be observed that the re- 
X>ortcd warning was dated September. — (Wells, CLisolm 
massacre, pages 102 and 107.) Again, he says : " The leaders 
of tljis affray " (meaning, of course, the two justices and the 
supervisor who extended the invitation to Chisolm to come 
to the neighborhood) " sought to murder Chisolm and make 
it appear that it was the work of the whole community ;" 
and yet he makes his man, Windham, say that there were a 
hundred men there. Again, Wells, after stating a fact pur- 
ported to be alleged by one David Calvert, suddenly admits 
that "there might be found room for doubting its exist- 
ence," and in his preparation for the introduction of the 
letter, he premises its assured truthfulness and ponderous 
weight with such vehemence that the reader is doubtlessly 
surprised that Windham should confess, in the second 
sentence, that his story was " founded upon " what he heard 
one Pearse say. And Wells closes his comments upon this 
letter with the magnanimous peroration, that the fact that 

15 



226 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

tbis man Windham was dead, and beyond the reach of harm, 
accounted for his nanjc bein^' j^iven. Perhaps it did not 
occur to him in what terribk; Jeoi)ardy he liad lefc David 
Calvert, the brother-in-law of Chisolm, who was not dead, 
whoso family secrets and contideutial communications he 
had so ruthlessly divulged ; but it seems, unfortunately, that 
AVells cannot make his blanket cover all his bed — when he 
pulls it to one side he exposes another. It is remarkably 
strange that Chisolm, in his two examinations at Washing- 
ton, before the congressional committees, in which he took 
so much pains to recount and picture every semblance of 
spite or threats against him, should have been so perfectly 
silent in regard to this terrible cousi)iracy. Perhaj)s it 
can be accounted for on the ground that John W. Gully 
had no connection with it. 

As to this man, Windham, for whose veracity Wells so 
gushingly vouches, it is well known in Kemper County that 
he was a disreputable radical — who went about olKciating 
as chairman of negro night meetings, and was expelled from 
the masonic lodge for defrauding it. But the date of this 
letter being a month anterior to the events to which its 
contents relate, engenders grave sus[)icion that it was 
either a forgery, or was written subse(piently, for a purpose 
Ibreign to its import. But 1 will not follow Wells any 
further in this matter. I will leave him to the contemida- 
tion of the reader, while he branches olfinto his usual en- 
comium upon the merits of the unfortunate IMiss Chisolm, 
which he ahnost invariably does after every flight of invec- 
tive and spasm of ku-klux delineation. It is a great pity 
that the task of ]H-eserving the juemory of this young- 
lady has not fallen into the hands of one with more discre- 
tion and sense of proi)riety than to make it a hobby to pass 
from one slander to another, and to so mingle it with 
political events as to leave it in doubt as to wliicli was tho 
more bitter partisan, she or her father. The writer is pre- 
])ar(>d to give her a more amiable character, and to treat 
her iiu'inory with a more delicate consideration than to 
constanlly use it as an iutcijacent theme between murders 



ICEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 227 

aud assassinations, with wlii(.-li slio liad not tlie slightest 
coiiuection. The nunnoiy of pure and virtuous Southern 
M'oraeu is not accustomed to such treatment, and the con- 
spicuous role assigned her by Wells is no doubt a i)romi- 
ueut feature of his slanders. 



228 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 



CHAPTER IX. 

At tlie beginning of the year 1875, John W. Gnlly and W. 
W. Chisolni were, as lias been stated, the chairmen of the 
countj'' executive committees of their respective parties. 
The Ivepublican ticket for the canvass of that year, in 
Kemper County, was composed of the following* names : 

For the State Senate John P. Gilmer. 

For lieprcsentative Moses G. Halford. 

County Assessor MosES McDade. 

Coiaity Treasurer Hezzy Jack (colored). 

The harmony of the canvass, on the part of the radicals, 
was disrupted early in the campaign, in consequence of the 
nomination of the negro, Jack. 11. A. Hopper, the then 
treasurer of the county, desired re-election, and upon his 
defeat before the convention, publicly charged, in a speech, 
that llczzy's candidacy against him had been corruptly 
procured, to which llezzy })romptly gave the lie. This 
caused a llouri-sh of pistols among the parties and their 
friends at the time; which, however, resulted in nothing 
serious ; but threats of revenge were continued to be made 
by Hopper, which caused Hezzy to be on his guard, and to 
^'o constantly armed until a short time afterward, when 
Sie was engaged in conversation with some gentlemen in 
the court house yard. Hopper came along, and with his 
liand on his ]>istol, attempted to seize hold of Hezzy, 
and lircd two shot.s at him without effect. At this Hezzy 
l(';ij)ed back, then drew his pistol, and lired two shots at 
Hopper, one of whi(,'li took etfect in his iace. Hezzy then 
ran away, and the alfair ended. They were both indicted 
for assault \vith intent to kill, and tried, and both were 
acquitted. 

This negro, Hezzy Jack, had long been, and was at the 
time, a waitniiiu ol' (^hisolm, and was C()nii)lolely under his 
intluence. He was, otherwise, by no means a bad ni'gro, 



KEMPER, COUNTY VINDICATED. 229 

and would have been more acceptable, without this influ- 
ence, to the white people than any one on the ticket. 

It was he who informed J. W. Gully of the threats that 
Ben Eush had made against him, and warned him of his 
danger. 

This difQculty had the effect of impairing the influence 
of the Ohisolm clan over the negroes, and rendering the 
minds of the latter more accessible to the overtures of the 
Democrats, and was worth more to them than all the 
intimidation that existed even in the imagination of Wells 
and his class. 

The state of affairs in Kemper County at this period is 
truly beyond the conception of those not familiar with it. 
The same condition of general corruption, which has been 
described as prevailing throughout the State under radi- 
cal rule, existed with multiplied aggravation in Kemper 
Oount3\ The radical government had here become in- 
tensely unpopular, and had engendered personal feuds and 
bitter political and race animosities. The negroes had a 
voting majority of about three hundred in the county. 
They were entirely under the control of Chisolm and his 
clan, and voted solidly on the radical side, while the white 
people were as solitlly Democratic, with the exception of 
the Chisolm clique. This small clique controlled the entire 
machinery of the county. It numbered among its mem- 
bers all the county ofhcers, the judges and registrars of 
election, except one registrar at each precinct, and through 
this combination Chisolm ruled the county as despotically 
as a satrap of Persia. 

He had ruled the county as its sheriff for seven years 
preceding the election of 1875, while the other oflices were 
hlled by the men whom he told the negroes to nominate. 
It was too much power to be possessed by any one man be 
he ever so just. 

As sheriff", he had the selection of petit jurors, and a board 
of supervisors, chosen at his dictation, selected the grand 
jurors, and he sent whomsoever he wished to the legisla- 
ture of the State, and tilled all the ollices of the county 



230 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

with bis personal friends. Indeed, it may be said that the 
very life of every man, Avoman and child in the County of 
Kemper hun^- ni>OM the smack of his iiniier, so great -was 
his intluenee over the negroes and his white adherents. 

The Kepablican candidate for representative, Moses G. 
TTalford, was a man of but little force of character, and a 
lit subject to become the tool of Cliisolm. For this reason 
he was idaced upon the ticket. McDade, the candidate for 
county assessor, was of a similar character, and Chisolfi 
had his name placed on the radical ticket for alike reason, 
ibr otherwise it is impossible to perceive what merit or 
quality either of these individuals possessed to entitle them 
to ])romotion, even in the radical ranks. 

The candidate for county treasurer, Ilezzy Jack, was a 
negro, totally ignorant and illiterate, who was unfamiliar 
with a tigurc in arithmetic or with a letter in the al- 
])lfnbet. Surely not a very' suitable person to conduct the 
linancial affairs of a county! but the more ignorant and 
incompetent these officers, the more absolute would be the 
rule of Cliisolm. 

During the s(tven years of radical rule, the indebtedness 
of the county had been increased to an extent bordering on 
bankruptcy. It was said to be the most indebted county 
in the State, and yet the late of taxation was nearly forty 
dollars on the one thousand, while the property was 
arbitrarily assessed at an excessive value, and a debt of 
twenty-seven thousand dollars was contracted for the 
em]>loyment of teacliers ; ibr the greater number of log 
cabins used for school purposes were erected b^'^ i)rivato 
enterprise and contributions. 

So burdensome were the taxes, and so utterly impossible 
was it for the i)eoplc in their extreme poverty to meet them, 
that more than one hundred thousand acres of land were 
seized by the State ibr taxes, as no purchasers could bo 
found, even at the profitable percentage guaranteed to 
them should the lands be redeemed. During- all this time 
the i)overty stricken i)eopl»;i beheld Chisolm and his friends 
growing rich. It is said that when he entered the ofhce of 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 231 

sheriff he was too poor to purchase a horse, and "when ho 
left it he was worth fifty thousand dollars ; yet he was 
au extravagant man, but he possessed at least one good 
quality — the quality of liberalit}'. He would rob the county 
without compunction and lend money to his j)ersonal and 
political friends without the least prospect of regaining it. 

He is also said to have been liberal in his contributions 
to the churches and other eleemosynary objects. But this 
liberality evidently proceeded more from a spirit of vanity 
tiian liom the jiromptings of any virtuous sentiment, for 
he was iii)parentiy utterly destitute of religion and of any 
reliiu'd moral sentiment. He was coarse, vulgar and i)ro- 
fane in the extreme, which rendered him truly disgusting 
to all gentlemen of relinemeiit. 

As an instance of this, United States Senator Bayard, 
who was one of the senatorial investigating committee, in 
a letter to the writer says : " I send you Chisolm's testi- 
mony, which will show him to have been a violent and dis- 
orderly man. I remember his x>ersonal appearance, his 
production of his pistol in the committee room, and the 
general impression he made upon me of being an outlaw; 
so that when I heard of his shocking death I was not much 
astonished, although I could not but be horrified with its 
details." 

Here M^e have a true impression of Chisolm's character, 
made upon one who never saw or heard of him before, but 
whose tutored observation and knowledge of human na- 
ture enabled him to form at once a correct opinion of his 
character. Ko doubt the other grave senators, Avho com- 
posed that committee, were no less disgusted than Senator 
Bayard, and with the same candor, would express them- 
selves in a similar manner. 

Ohisolm took especial delight, on all occasions, in flaunt- 
ing his ill acquired prosperity in the face of the people 
whose losses furnished his ill gotten gains, while any 
at(einj)t on the part of the people to investigate and ex- 
])osc the financial condition of the county was met by 
insult and even danger to life. To such an extent was 



2:3L* KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

this the case, that many of the best citizens of the county 
refrained from visiting tlie court house, unless they were 
conipelled to do so on business. 

To throw olf this intolerable yoke, became now the one 
ruling passion of the people, and they determined to make 
one supreme eftbrt, and to employ every legitinmte means 
to tins end, while the radical leaders were as equally deter- 
mined to maintain themselves in power at all hazards. 

Under these circumstances the campaign of 1875 wiis 
inaugurated, and it was conducted with all the vehemence 
and vigor of des])eration. The radicals sought in every way 
to stop the ears of the negroes against the arguments of 
the Democratic sjH'akers, and to prevent them from listen- 
ing to their si)eeches. For this ])urpose every method of 
intiaming their minds and kindling the prejudices of I'aco 
"was resorted to ; every old cry, by which the party had 
lieretofore been so successful, Avas raised with lusty voice. 
They predicted to them the utter ruin of their race if the 
Democracy should come into power ; invoked all the mem- 
ories of the past, and painted in gloomy colors the return 
to slavery as an inevitable consequence of Democratic suc- 
cess. From long habitual political associations with the 
negroes, they well understood their fears, were perfectly 
ac<iuainted with their weaknesses, and knew well how to 
take advantage of their ignorance. Subsidiary to this, tho 
l)arty whip was raised over tiiem with keen lash, social 
ostracism for party defection was promoted and encouraged 
among them, excommunication from the chur(;h was urged 
to be cjilbrced, and e\en i)ersonal violence incited against 
all who should vote the Democratic ticket. Yet, notwith- 
standing all these potent inlluences, there was, early in tho 
canvass, a notable disposition on the pai't of many of tho 
negroes to cut themselves loose from these men. This 
feeling was particularly enhanced by the failure to obtain 
Federal military i)resence, and to gratify their jieculiar 
fondness for military parade and dis])lay. 

This cliaracteristic and disappointment was availed of 
by the J)emocrats, who procured drums and lifea and 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED, 233 

bauds of music, with which they traversed the county, and 
whicli they freely employed at tlieir meetings. Flags were 
thrown to the breeze and iuuocent displays invented. This 
did not fail of its purpose. The negroes were first at- 
tracted and then gradually began to lend a listening e:ir 
to the Deir.ocratie speakers. This having been accom- 
]>lished, it was no longer difficult to make them nnderstand 
the true situation and to comprehend the fact that their 
own and the interests of the white people were one and the 
same. This done, tliey flocked by hundreds to the Demo- 
cratic standard. The county was thoroughly canvassed by 
the candidates of both parties, and many political meet- 
ings were held. 

At these meetings the Democratic speakers would offer 
to divide time with the Eepublican, but this was abnost 
invariably declined by the latter. The chief arguments 
used by the Democratic speakers to induce the negroes to 
change their political affiliations were the incompctencj" and 
corruption of the radical officials, the high and ruinous 
rate of taxation, and the general depression of all business, 
which kep't them, as well as the white people, in extrenui 
poverty. 

They showed them what they might expect under a com- 
petent and honest adiuinistration of the afiairs of the 
county, and this they promised should be the result of the 
success of the Democratic party. They also gave them to 
nnderstand that there could never 1)0 any state of amity, 
good w'ill and mutuality between the two races, which was 
so necessary to tlieir mutual prosperity, so long as the 
negroes continued to foist such corrupt men in oflice. 
These arguments were not such as the radical candidates 
desired or were competent to meet; their hobbies were the 
old issues of race, and the designs of the whites upon the 
liberties and rights of the negroes. They ajipealed to their 
Avorst passions, and pointed at the great social gulf be- 
tween tiie two races, which they endeavored to convince 
them to be the result of an invasion, or a withholding of 
their just rights. 



234 KEMPER COUNTY VKsDICATED. 

Auotlier arguineiit was tbat tlu-y were indebted to the 
radical party lor their rree(U)iu • tliiit General Grant bad 
fought lor t Ileal, and was tiie i^ivat eliaiiipion of their rightSj 
and that it was Ins desin' that all of them should vote the 
radical ticket j tlnit alt who did not so vote would be aban- 
iloiied by hiui to t!ie white peoi)le to be put back into 
slavery, or be treated in any way they might sec ijroper. 

These arguments,' however ridiculous, were yet aa im- 
provement, as respected the credulity of the negro, upon 
the old forty acres and a mule doctrine, and the like, 
which were for a long time so effective. They had been so 
often deceived by these promises that they no\v no longer 
l)aid any attention to liicni, and the radical leaders found 
themselves at a loss to invent some new talisman to work 
upon their imaginations. Military support had failed them, 
and ill their desperation they resorted to every possible de- 
vice as a substitute. It Inid alwnys been the custom here- 
tofore for the negroes to march to the election precincts 
and up to the ])olls after the manner of soldiers, armed with 
clubs and sticks, some of them with old swords and pieces 
of scythe blades. In this way they would take possession 
of the polls, and the white men would be comi)clled to give 
way to them, ami wait for them to get through before they 
coidd vote. This way of rushing them to the polls in a body 
and in military parade was resorted to by the radical lead- 
<rs to prevent any of them from being approached by the 
white people for the purpose of influencing their votes; and 
in like manner they heretofore attended their political meet- 
ings, except that on these occasions many of them carried 
their shot guns in addition to their swords and staves. 

The canvass of 1875 in Kemper County was conducted, on 
the part of the radical party, chiefly by Chisolm and Gilmer. 
They did the si)eakiiig. Chisolm, by his long continuation 
in the office of the shrievalty and his rnpid accumulation 
of money, had maimged to have quite a number of small 
farmers indebted to liim, ui)on whose property beheld trust 
deeds. These he promptly notitied that they must either 
vole lor him or come to a settlement, or the trust deeds 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 235 

would bo enforced. By this means lie compelled a few 
Democrats to either vote for him, or stay away from the 
polls, to which he triumphantly alhides in his testimony at 
Washington. As that testimony not only develops further 
his character, but gives an insight into the conduct of this 
cam.paign on the part of the radicals, it is here quoted. 

Keport of the senatorial committee, page 756. 

Question by the chairman: The object of this committt^e 
is to ascertain how the canvass was conducted, especially 
with reference to whether there were any acts of intimida- 
tion ; and this committee woukl like to have you state fully, 
in your own way, what occurred under your own observation 
in Kemper County. 

A. The canvass in that county was, I thought, very warm, 
and there was a good deal of excitement attending n.iy 
meetings. 1 don't know anything about the meetings of the 
opposite party, except what was in my own tdwn. I atten-ded 
one or two of those. The canvass opened in the county at 
Black Water, so far as the Kepublicau party was concerned. 
I made an appointment to make a speech at Black Water, 
and Judge Bell, a candidate for the legislature, asked me 
to divide time with him. I told him I would, of course. 
There were some colored men came to me in a few days, and 
told me that 1 had better not go to Black Water ; that they 
swore that 1 should not sj^eak there. Old Billy Bailor, a 
prominent colored man, came to me and told me that if I 
went to Black Waterl would not be apt to come back home : 
that the Key boys and the Hudnalls and the Hodges, and 
McClelland and D. V. McWhorton, down to Black Water, 
said that 1 should not make a speech there — such a speech 
as I had been accustomed to make. I saw Judge Bell a few 
days after that, and saj-s I, "Judge, I don't want any 
trouble, you know. In the first place, I am not able to 
light a regiment of men, and if there vras going to be any 
speaking down there, 1 wanted just to take my own course 
in this thing. I am perfectly willing to divide time with 
yon, but I don't want to go down thei^e and have any trouble 
with these men." He said that he thought it was a mis- 



236 KEMPEK COUNTY VI^'D1CATED. 

take, and that lie Avould try to control that thinj?. I got 
several of my friends, wliite llepublicans, fifteen or twenty, 
all Southern men, and most of them Confederate soldiers, 
some of them the first men that ever left the county and 
"went into the army, to go with me to Blade Water. We 
met a large crowd of white men and some freedmen there, 
and Judge Bell made a speech, and I replied to him. 

in my si)eecli there were a good many questions asked 
me. 1 had been notitied jireviously how a light was to bo 
started by questioning me. An old man, Dorset White, 
■was to ask me some questions, and they thought I would 
lire up and say something very severe to him, and then 
they would oi)en on me. AVhen he asked me some ques- 
tions I replied to him tliat Judge Bell and me were mak- 
ing the canvass, and that I didn't think I ought to be 
interrupted, and Judge Bell told him to stop. # » * 

Q. By Mr. Bayard — Were the questions disrespectful or 
improper to be put ? 

A. \V'eII, if I am not mistaken, one of the questions was 
to know why I hadn't had all the school warrants paid. 
That was a disrespectful question for a sensible man to 
ask me, from the fact that a sensible man would have 
known that I had nothing to do with the payment of 
school warrants. He knew very well tliat I coukl not 
answer it. 

Q. W^as there any question asked you that was derog- 
atory to you to have answered 1 

A. I don't know that there was. 

Q. State a few questions tliat he asked you. 

A. Some of them were to know how it was that the 
llepublican party taxed the people so ; wlmt they put such 
heavy taxes on the people for. Of course I Nvas no legisla- 
t(ir, and had nothing to do with it. 

i). Still, did you think that was an unreasonable ques- 
tion to be asked by people who Mere i):iying taxes 1 

A. No, sir; not specially. 

At the same time Mr. lludnall started to get up, and 
Captain Kush, who was captain of a company from my 



KEMPER, COUNTY VINDIGA.TED. 237 

county, who was a i)articular friend of Ids, got bold of liiia 
and pulled him dowuj and Captain Kash afterward told uic 
that he said he was going to get up and go for nie. As 
soon as I got through my s})eech Bell rejoined for a quar- 
ter af an hour, and when I got up to reply to him they 
commenced asking me questions again. I was to have a ten 
minutevs' rejoinder, and I didn't get through within the ten 
minutes. I told them that I had said as much as I cared 
to, I believed, and I called my crowd. I told them that I 
didn't propose to bandy words with them. 1 says, " I 
have got through with my speech, and I'm going to my 
buggy." And I, with six or eight of n\y friends, walked 
up to my buggy ; but they didn't interfere with me at all. 
There w'as no interference, except they seemed to want 
to get up a general talk, and see what it would amount to. 
I learned from other parties that they had a good many 
guns down there in the bushes, but that I don't know any- 
thing about. After that I had no more discussions with 
them at all — no more joint discussions. 

I made a canvass of the county. At nearly all of my 
meetings they would come, from hve to ten, sometimes fif- 
teen or twenty armed men, with double barrelled shot 
guns, rilles, and one thing or another, from difierent direc- 
tions ; and they would say to each other that maybe they 
might kill a buck that day, and they would take their 
guns along. I made my speeches, however. 

I spoke at every x>oint that I was to speak at in the 
county. At some places there were no colored men turned 
out. They told me that they had heard so much talk in 
the neighborhood that there would be some trouble that 
they were afraid. My speeches to the colored men all the 
time were that I thought there would be no trouble, but if 
there was to just let me, and what few white men there 
Avere along with me, and the white Democrats light it out; 
that it should be a straight out white man's fight. I didn't 
want them to have anything to do with the fighting; that 
if there was any fighting to do, what few white men v/ent 
with me would fight; that we didn't want them to have 
anything to do with the fightnig. 



238 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Q. Was there an}' particular disturbance at any of your 
meetin*i"s ? 

A. There was not, except on the hist day that I spoke at 
Scooba, on Satnrchiy before tlie election on Monday. On 
that day, after 1 had left De Kalb, and was about a mile 
from town, I was stopped by a j'oung man named Haltbrd 
—I tliink they called him Julius, but 1 am not positive 
now; his father was a candidate for representative on the 
Republican ticket, and his name is Closes J. llalford. 
This younj;- man, his son, met nie and threw up his hand, 
and hollowed for me to halt ; he rode np to me — and Mr. 
noi)per, I believe, was in the buggy with me ', I am not 
l)Ositive as to that, but I know there was some one with 
me — he rode ni) and said his latlier had started him that 
night to meet me; that lie had heard I was coming to 
Scooba, and that I never would get there ; that 1 Mould 
be killed before I got there. I told him I hated to turn 
back after I had started, as I usually went where I started 
to go to. There were four or live men with me, and they 
rode u]) and asked what Avas the matter, and we consulted 
about the matter, and I asked them to ride ahead of the 
buggy. I asked the young num how they Avere going to 
kill me, and he said I\Ir. Poole, one of the men in the 
l^emocratic club near Scooba, said that they were to be 
liuntiug right on the road ; that Poole came to his lather's 
house at midnight, and said that they Avere going to be 
hunting that d:iy on the road, and that they Avere going to 
kill me; that they were going to jjretcnil to be deer huut- 
,ing. lie iKslongcd to the Democratic^ club, but came and 
told llalford that night, so this young man told me. 

I sent these men ahead of nu', and I drove on down about 
six miles from Scooba, and i"\lr. .lames West, who belonged 
to the JJemocratic; club, came Avalkiiig, as 1 thought, sort o' 
out of the Avoods. 1 got out of my buggy and took my ]»istol 
in my hand. Says he, " ,Iu(lge, what is the matter f aie 
you going to shoot; uur;"' I said, '-No, sii'; 1 haxc no 
intention of shooting you. lam a little excited though, 
Jim.*' Says he, " I (;ame down here to see you, but, for 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 239 

God's sake, dou't let anybody know I have been bere ! But 
if you are determined to go to Scooba, you must stay there 
all night, and not come back to-night." I said, "Jim, tell 
me the truth about this juatter." He said, " I have told 
you enough now, I suppose, to get myself in trouble. I 
don't want you to say anything about this. 1 am your per- 
sonal friend, and I am satisfied that almost all the people 
in the county are your personal friends." Theu I told 
what Ilalford had told me, and he said that lie thought 
that by having the men riding on before me that we would 
pass by all right ; but if I would go on to Scooba, he told 
me, not to go back from there that night. I kept my 
horses geared up, and ready to go back, though I didn't 
intend to go back, but I held out that I Avas going. 

The uegroes told me that a crowd of men had gone otf 
from Scooba with guns, in the direction of De Kalb, leaving 
that day about twelve o'clock. I don't know whether that 
was correct or not, but at Scooba there was considerable 
excitement that day, and there was a man from Clark 
County there ; I think his name was Carter. I was intro- 
duced to him that morning, and I think he was drinking 
right smart. lie told me that he was sorry that a Southern 
man with the brains, and the sense, and the general intelli- 
gence that I had, would be going against his countrj^, and his 
kindred, and his friends ; tluit he thought that it was bad 
enough for the dunuied infernal jSTorthern Yankees to be 
trying to destroy the South without Southern men doing 
it. 1 told liinT that I was conscientious in all I did ; that 
I thought after 1 got whi})ped that I v/as whipped, and 
that 1 believed the best policy for the Southern people was 
to do what the Constitution of the United States said — 
give every man an equal and a lair showing to exercise his 
lights freely and voluntarily; and consequently, I was a 
Republican ; but 1 remarked to him, " The damned carpet 
baggers,! have no i)articular love for them,'' (What does 
Weils say to this ?) "got no i)articular use for them," but 
ilu'ie were no eaipet baggers in my crowd ; it was all South- 
ern men, and my IVii lids were nearly all of them gallant 



240 KEIVTPER COUNTY VTNDICATED. 

Confederate soldiers, and I told liini that I supposed that my 
family had as good a record, as far as the war was con- 
cerned, as he or any other man in Kemper County ; while 1 
didn't go myself, that they had made honorable soldiers, 
and filled honorable graves upon battle fields. 

I made my speech that day under some excitement ; there 
was a good deal of excitement. 

I will state that Mr. Duke, anothergentlemnn at Scooha, 
told me that the excitement was caused by some gentlemen 
coming from Jackson down there, who claimed to be United 
States marshals. I don't know as to that. I told Mr. Duke 
that I didn't know that they were United States marshals. 
I know one of them had been a United States marshal ; but 
I didn't know whether he was now or not. I hadn't sent 
for him ; they said that they came there with Senator Gil- 
mer a night or two before that. I told him that I sui^posed 
that they had a right as citizens to be thej-e. I went to see 
Mr. Woods — n. Woods, jr., — a leading man and a very quiet 
man. I asked him if there could not be some arrange- 
ment made whereby there could be some assurance of a fair 
election. 

Said I, " There is a great deal of excitement here to-day, 
and what is the cause f 

He said he didn't know ; and he remarked that he su])- 
] osed that those men coming over from Jackson caused 
some excitement. 

Said I, " ]Jal), 1 want to make some arrangement, if I 
can, to have a lair election ; there ain't no use talking about 
holding an election without you let us have an election." 

IJe said that God knew in his heart that he wanted a 
fair election, and no trouble. Lie said one diliiculty might 
be avoided if wo would agree not to let twenty negroes 
vote that they knew to be under age; that perhaps that 
would quiet them, and he said he would go over and get 
Mr. Duke and Mr. Glider Jones, old citizens there, and 
bring tliem over to talk the thing oven' in his oflice. They 
canie, and J agreed with Mr. Duke and ]\Ir. ]\liller Jones 
that tiiese men should not vote; that 1 would ask them as 
asi)ecial hnor no! lo vole, il'that would (suii't thethiug. 



KEMPER COUNTY VESTDICATED. 241 

Mr. Duke said tben that that would quiet them, provided 
we didn't interfere with the negroes, and make them vote 
tlie radical ticket. 

I said, "Duke, by God, I am a free American citizen, 
and I have as much right here as you have! I have as 
much interest in the county as you have. I will make 
a proposition to you. T propose now to let all hands 
do tbeir own voting', and for the white men of the 
county to have notliing- to do with it. Just let them get 
their tickets and vote as they damn pleased." 

lie says, "Tbey won't do that." 

I says, " Weil, when I meet my friends, I intend to talk 
to them, and try to get them to vote the Republican ticket, 
if any of them talk of voting the Democratic ticket." 

lie said that if we should interfere with them, and should 
attempt to do that, there would be a fuss on election day. 

I said, " I don't know what will be the result, but 1 
intend to do it." 

1 said, "1 understand there is to be an army of Alaba- 
mians over there;" and they said that they didn't know 
anything about that, if there was. 

1 made my speech, though under strong excitement. I 
expect 1 made the bitterest speech that day that 1 made 
during the canvass; but 1 know that 1 didn't advise the 
negroes to anything except peace, because 1 told them all the 
time that they could not fight ; there was no use talking about 
their figliting ; if they had to fight to vote, by the Eternal, 
they could not vote ! But in my speech that day I told them 
every one to go to the polls and not be bluffed off; that I 
thought perhaps tbey were playing a bluti" game, and go 
and vote and go right off immediately. Dr. Gilmer made a 
speech that day. He was senator at that time from that 
district. He stated to them that lie would be there to give 
them their tickets, and that they intended to have a fair 
election. 

Notwitlistanding all this, it is a well known fact that no 
sooner did these men discover that tbey had sure enough 
lost their hold upon the negroes, whose votes they did not 



212 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

<losp:\ir of until tlie last inorneut, tlian they tletermined at 
all events t()])reA'ent the lioldinji' of an election. 

It is soniewlint reniaikable that Wells did not refer, in 
his work, to this sworn description of these events by 
('hisohn himself. He quotes, at len<;th, Gilmer's tale of his 
romantic dod.^ings throujjh the pinj^ woods in endeavor- 
inji' to make his way from iScooba to De Kalb, on the eve of 
ihe election ; but it is plain that the language of his hero, 
and the facts he divulged in his testimony, did not suit the 
purjioses of this wily biographer, 

A lew days before the election, (lilmer went to Jackson 
and procured three desperadoes, and brought them with 
liim to Hcooba, rej)resentiug them to be deputy United 
States marshals. These men were named Davis, Es- 
keroll and Jelf, D. 13ell, who is now in the penitentiary 
of the State tor murder. This man rejiresented himself 
also as being a Democrat, but that he intended to 
carry the election for the radical party, or kill every 
man, woman and child about Scooba. He told the 
i-adicals ])ublicly, in a sjieech on Saturday ])revious to the 
election, to carry the election at all hazards, and they, at 
the same time, threatened to arrest, in thciir assumed 
ofiicial capacity, all the leading Democrats. This conduct 
created considerable alarm and indignation, in the heat of 
which Colonel dames 11. Duke, a i)rominent citizen and 
Democrat, sent a note to DcKalb, requesting hel}) I'rom the 
<'itizens of that i)lac(^ and surroumling country, should 
these threats be attemi)t('d to be carried into eil'ect. The 
]ie()i)U^ were very naturally astounded and dismayed at this 
new and strange feature*, of Federal interference, and 
"which was thrt'atene;! to be so harshly exercised, and 
being at a complete loss what to do in this humiliating 
<!ilemnin, they telegraphed to Genei'al J. Z. (Jeorge, at 
.laclcson, who was the cl;airiuan of the Dcjiiocratic Static 
executive comiiiit tci\ to know wli;it tlic\ should do. (leneral 
(leorge at oi;ce waited on tlu' United States maislml, ;it 
.J;u.'kson, a .Mr. Lnlct', and was inCormcd by him that he 
know nothing of tlic-e i)ai1ics, and that no such <lei)nlics 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 243 

liad been appointed. General George immediately ap- 
prised the people of Scooba of this fact, Avhereupon there 
was great indignation on the part of the Democrats. 

The following is the testimony of James 11, jS^eville, Esq., 
who condncted the inquiries about the marshals : " On 
Saturday before the election, three men came from Jack- 
sou, Mississippi, and represented themselves as deputy 
United States marshals. I paid no attention to it, but 
supposed that if they were deputy United States mar- 
shals, they had been sent there by authority of law, until I 
heard of some very violent speeches that they had been 
making, and language that they used, tending to excite the 
colored peo[)le and the white people, and, probably, bring- 
about bloodslicd. I then telegraphed to General George, 
chairman of the Democratic executive committee of the 
State of Mississippi, as follows : 

" ' ScooBA, Miss., October 30, 1875. 
" <■ General J. Z. George : 

" ' Gilmer reached this place on Saturday, with four 
United States deputy marshals ; says he is going to make 
arrests for intimidation. Would you advise us to submit 
to an arrest ? No intimidation has been used. 

" ' Eespeetfully, 

J. H. Neville.'" 

" ' Jackson, Miss., Octoher 30, 1875. 
"'J. H. Neville, Scooba: 

" ' No such deputies have been appointed, so says the 
United States marshal. J. Z. George.' " 

In the meantime the three impostors, so soon as they be- 
came aware of the exposure, suddenly left the village, and 
were seen there no more. This strategy having failed of 
its purpose, it was now determined to prevent an election 
l\y concealing oc destroying the registration books. These 
books, belonging to tlie Scooba precinct, had been sent 
by the chancery clerk, who is alone their legal custodian, 



214 * KEMrER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

to tlie registrars, but by some meaus Gihncr got possession 
of them and locked them up in liis safe in his store. After 
the failure of his intimidation scheme he tied to the 
arms of his friend Chisolm, at De Kalb, whence, in accord- 
ance with some understanding with inomiuent Democrats, 
he sent the following note: 

"De Kalb, Miss., November 1, 1875. 
" T. n. Ore, Esq., Scooba, Miss. 

^^ Dear Sir : I write you as one of the mauagers of the 
election for Scooba precinct. I have talked with gentlemen 
of the opposite side, and in whom I have conlidence, and 
they tell me tliat they will write to their friends at Scooba, 
and assure jne there will be protection ; and T am satisfied 
that you will not be harmed iu the discharge of your 
<luties, and that every man will be permitted to vote what 
he chooses. This being the case, I can see no reason why 
the election cannot go on. You will find tlie registration 
books in the safe; either Wood or Chancey has the com- 
bination, and will deliver them to you or Spencer, or any , 
of the ollicers entitled to receive them." 

The men to whom he refers here were his partners, and 
Spencer was the clerk in his store. So we find here the 
registration books locked uj) in the ])rivatc safe of an in- 
dividual far away from their legal custodian, and that in- 
dividual a candidate for a seat in the State senate. These 
books had been unlawfully- turned over to the charge of 
Oilmer by the registrars, to be either altered, defaced, con- 
cealed or destroyed, as he might see i)roper, in order to 
carry or prevent the election ; but for some reason he con- 
cluded, as will be seen from the preceding note, to permit 
the election to be held. In connection with this note, and- 
showing the temper and wishes of the ])eoi)le, is the fol- 
lowing note, written by the parties with wjiom Gilmer made 
the arrangenu'ut referred to in his letter, to some leading 
Democrats at Scooba : 



KEMPER COUNTY "VINDICATED. 245 

" De Kalb, Miss., JSfoveniher 1, 1875. 
<' J. n, Duke, James H, Neville, Esq., and W. H. 
Halsell. 
" Dear ^irs : We, tlie undersiiincd, liave been acting as a 
conleiencc conmiittee here between tbe liei)ublieans and 
our I)eniocra{i(; friends, and liave, after .some excitement, 
agreed and determined to have a fair and i)eaceable elec- 
tion, and have iirranged to liave a force of good and reli- 
able men to insure peace and good order, and a full expres- 
sion of the elective franchise ; and we appeal to you as 
representative men of your beat, to have peace and good 
order to-morrow, and to give the managers all the moral, 
and, if needed, the physical force, necessary to protect all 
])artics and keep peace. Mr. Gilmer will write to the 
managers and advise them to hold the election. We will 
have peace and quiet here and you miist do the same. 
" llespectfully yours, 

James Watts, ] 

E. Fox, [■ Conmiittee:^ 

A. CJ. Ellis, ^ 

These letters were given in evidence and vouched by 
Mr. A. G. Ellis, in his examination before the Boutwell 
senatorial committee, at Washington, in June, 1870, page 
1,790. These registration books contained the names of 
every qualilied voter in the county, as none were qualified 
who had not registered, and they were the sole evidence of 
the right of franchise ; hence, without them no legal election 
could be held, and it would have been an easy matter, by 
a little alteration or defacement, to have changed the vote 
of the county. The law provided for the most considerate 
care of these books ; they were required to be in the pos- 
session of the chancery clerk, except when needed by the 
board of registration for the purpose of holding an elec- 
tion. They were then turiunl over to the registrars^the 
clerk taking their receipt for them, and after the deter- 
iiniuatiou of the result of any election they were required 
to be returned to the chancery clerk upon his leceipt. 



240 KEMPEU COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Notwi til Stan ding" tliis, tliese books, belonging to the Scooba 
beat, were lodged for an unknown length of time in the 
])iivate safe of John P. Gilmer, who was at that time a 
candidate for oflice. 

To ascertain the fate of those belonging to the De Kalb 
T)cat, let us return to the testimony of W. W. Chisohn, 
Boutweh report, page TOO. He says: " I went home on 
Sunday morning ; I snpi)Ose I got home abont one or two 
o'clock. When 1 gxjt home, the chancery clerk, Mr. Poole, 
and the circuit clerk, Mr. Push, came up to my house and 
told me that they thought there was a right smart of excite- 
ment u]) town ; that Welsh and Watts and Allen and 
John Gully were in town, and they seemed to be excited 
about something, and they were walking over the town, 
and going' around the court house, and walking about a 
great deal, and they didift know what it meant. 1 told 
them that I didn't suppose it meant anything particular. 
* * * I thought things looked very bad indeed, from 
everything I could hear from e\'ery i)art of the county, 
and the next morning I went down town, I suppose, at 
about half an hour by the sun ; I went to mail some let- 
ters, and was met by ]\Ir. Chark^s McCrary, and he asked 
if I was going to be at home that day; I told him that I 
was; he said he heard that I was going to make a speech 
tliat day. I said, ' I have not heard of it, Charley.' 1 said 
J supposed that everybody would be gone from hon)e to 
the big Democratic barbecue out at Moscow. lie said he 
didn't know about that. I went home and ate my break- 
fast, about seven or eight o'clock, I suppose. 1 saw a great 
many men in town. AVhen I got back from breakfast I saw 
several men from a good distance in the county coming in 
town. I began to impiire what the devil was on foot. Did 
they think today was the election ? Phil— P. 11. Gully- 
came into town pretty soon with some of his sons and 
some of tlie young Ilalfords, bringing guns with llicm. I 
sent lor Plni, and 1 asked him what in hell and damnation 
all these things nunint, and he told me that it meant this: 
that Allen and ^VeLsh ami Watts had sent runners all ovtr 



ke:mper county vindicated. 247 

the county, and that the people were all armed and cominj;^ 
to De Kalb for the purpose of going on to Scooba, as he 
understood it, from a telegram that James II. Duke had 
sent up there. I told him that it was very strange indeed ; 
that I could not imagine what the devil all this thing 
meant. I said, 'I see you are not going to permit us to 
hold a fair election ;' he said he ho[)ed it would be a fair 
election. * * * I got a note from a man named T. II. 
Orr, down there, stating that it would be impossible for 
an electiou to be held at Scooba ; that the whole county 
was in arms, and that the negroes, he reckoned, would be 
run oft". I sent for Mr. James II. Brittain, and some oth- 
ers, and told them: says I, 'Gentlemen, you can take the 
election.' That was about four o'clock INIouday evening, I 
suppose. I am a little ahead of my story ; I will go back a, 
little. About two o'clock that day, Mr. Lee, the president of 
the board of registrars of that county, came in from the 
w^estern i)art of that county, where he lives, and came over 
to the court house, and seemed to be considerably excited. 
He said, ' Judge, I am surprised to see you here.' I says, 
< By God, I am here yet ! but things don't look very well, 
Jack.' He says, ' What are you going to do f I says, ' Let 
us try and hold the election, if we possibly can, some way 
or other ; I don't know whether we will be able to have 
any electiou or not.' * * * Just as I got the note from 
this man at Scooba, stating what he thought about the 
election there, I went over and told him. Says I, ' Mr. 
Brittain, you all pronnsed this morning that these men 
should leave town after you found out there was no 
trouble at Scooba. I have got a letter from there stating 
that the whole county is in arms at Scooba, and that 
there is a regiment of Alabama men over tliere.' Says I, 
'You can take the election, anyhow, and run it just as you 
damned please !' Says I, ' Gentlemen, if this is an election^ 
I am sure that I never knew what an ele(*tion was before. 
Here I am with ten men, and here is three hundred or five 
hundred men in town, Avith five hundred guns, perhaps, 
and I have got a pistol.' Says I, ' Damn you, if any ten of 



218 KEMrER COUMTY VINDICATED. 

you will be sntisfied, I will fi^hf, any ten of you, if you will 
only let me have a fair election !' Ho says, ' We don't want 
to have a fight.' I says, ' I know that damned well ! You 
don't want to fight, but you don't intend to-let us hold an 
election.' TTe says, ^ We are going to have a fair election ; 
but the damned niggers have ruled this county just as long- 
as we intend to let tliem.' Says I, ' God (hunned, if I ain't, 
as white as any of you, anyhow I' lie says, ' Y(;:i run wiili 
a damned black crowd !' ' I says, ' Xot withstanding that, 
11. y character is as white as yours ; and I am sure that I 
stand as fairly with the community as you do.' " * * * 

it is indeed remarkable, in view of his antecedent testi- 
mony, that Cliisolm nowhere mentions the name of John 
W, Gully in connection with these transactions, or, imleed, 
v.'ith the canvass. He seems for once to have escaped his 
memory. 

In tlie meantime, Chisolm had procured the registration 
books from the chancery clerk or the manager of the elec- 
tion, and locked them up in the safe of the sheriff's ollice. 
On the evening before the election, A. J. Lee, the president of 
the board of registration, and the other liepublicau managers 
of election, being convinced that their party would be de- 
feated the next day, left De Kalb in order to prevent the 
election. On being apprised of this, the leadir.g citizens 
inquired of Chisolm about the registration books. Here- 
idled that he was not their custodian, that he did not know 
Av here they were, aiul " damneil if he cared" where they 
Avere. There are, to-day, more than a dozen gentlemen in 
De Kalb who would state this upon their oaths. A. G. 
ICllis, Estp, a prominent young lawyer, a Democrat and 
Christian gentleman, was one of the committee of citizens 
appointed to wait upon Chisolm and to ascertain where 
these books were. He testilied, in legard to the transac- 
tion before the lk)utwell investigating committee, as fol- 
lows : 

Q. When did those lle])ul)lican managers leave? 

A. They went awaj' that night. I don't know whether 
they went away before or after that. One of them, the 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 249 

l)resident of tlie board, A. J. Lee, left before night. He 
brougbt his wife with hiin up there, and I don't know what 
she ciiine tbere for ; it was a most uniisnal thing. He came 
up there to liokl the election. lie lived some twenty 
miles away. He said his wife became frightened. It was 
through him that we found out where the registration 
books were. We went to Chisolm ajid asked him where 
the books were, and he very tauntingly said, " I am not the 
custodian of those books. I expect Mr. Lee can tell you 
where they are;" and referred us to Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee was 
gone, and we sent some runners after him. They followed 
and overtook him some three miles from town, on his way 
home, and he assured them that he did not have the 
books. 

Q. As a matter of fact, did Chisolm say that he had the 
books, but he was not going to give them uj) without Lee's 
order ? 

A. 'No, sir ; he did not say that. He said he did not 
have anything to do with the books, and that he did not 
know where they were, and yet they were, at that time, 
locked up in the sheriff's office in his safe. We then told 
him that we were going to have those books, if we had a 
difficulty about it — if we had to tight; that the election 
had been ordered. I was spokesman of the committee, and 
I spoke very positively, and I am free to say that we were 
determined to hold that election, for they had run over us 
in the county. I had seen white men kicked out of the 
court house myself at the previous election, and we were 
determined to hold the election. We told them that wc 
were going to have those books, and we were going to 
have a lawful election ; he then gave his wife the key, and 
slie went, in company with this committee, to the sheriff's 
office, and unlocked the door of the safe. We hesitated 
about taking them out, and stated that we had no business 
with those books, aiid we would not take them out; that 
Dr. Poole, the chancery clerk of the county, was the 
l»n)per custodian of the books, and if she saw proper she 
could turn them over to him. She went to him and re- 



250 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

qnosted liiin to take out tlic books, whicli he did with his 
own liiiiids, and took tliein into liis office." 

Tliis statement of Mr. Ellis, who is now deceased, is fully 
coij'oborated by the statement made to the writer by tlio 
then chancery clerk, and other gentlemen now liviiij»- in 
])e Kalb, who, with iNIr. Ellis, com[)0sed the committee to 
ascertain where the books were. Poole said that be did 
not know that the books were in Chisolm's safe, or how 
they got there. 

The conduct of the radical managers, in leaving the polls 
on the eve of the election, rendered it, as was intended, 
impossible for the citizens of that beat to hold a lawfnl 
election. The only provision, under the then registration 
laws of the State, for a vacancy in the board of registrars 
of the county, was as follows : 

Jievised code, 1871, section 319 — " Whenever any regis- 
trar shall resign his situation, he shall give notice thereof 
to the j)resident of the commissioners of the county, who, 
if no prior regular meeting shall be had, when the vacancy 
can be filled, shall, in due and sufficient time for the regular 
notice of registration, call a special meeting of the board 
of commissioners to fill such vacancy of any registrai's, 
and any vacancy arising from such a cause, or from 
death, removal from the county, or refusal to accept, or act 
on such appointment, or to discharge the duties under the 
same, it shall be tilled in like manner, and every person so 
ai)i)ointed shall proceed to take oath and discharge the 
duties herein required." 

Yet, there being no other alternative, the remaniing 
manager, on the morning of the election at De Kalb, ])ro- 
ceeded to appoint two associates, and opened the polls. 
That the election in this beat, under snch circumstances, 
was unlawful, in view of these provisions, will not be ques- 
tioned; and had the radical a<lministration maintained 
itself in tiie State, it would doubtless have been disre- 
garded ; but the election in this beat could not alter the 
f)vei whelming majority for the DcMnocrats in the county, 
und (he intbinuility being occasioned by their own wrong. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 251 

the radicais never raised the question of validity. But if 
the refusal of the managers to act, in this instance, impaired 
the legality of the election, it was not the case at Scooba, 
Avhere the same efi'ort was made; lor in regard to pre- 
cincts of election other than at the county seat, the foHow- 
ing provision was made by tlie registration laws : 

Keviscd code, 1871, section 309 — " The registrars shall ap- 
point, at their meeting at tlie county seat, prior to any elec- 
tion, three inspectors and two clerks for each supervisor's 
district, and ])lace of noting in the county, excepting that 
at the county seat, said registrars, with their clerks, shall 
preside. Ami if, on the day of election, any of such appointed 
inspectors or clerks shall fail to appear, the remaining num- 
ber may elect to fill the vacancy from the qualiiied voters 
who can justly and propeily take the prescribed oath. And 
when not more than one of the inspectors appears, or there 
has been some failni'e in the a|)[)ointment, the remaining 
inspector and clerk, with the approval of the qualiiied re- 
gistered voters present at the time to open the polls, may 
Duake such appointment. And if neither of the inspectors 
appear, then such qualiiied electors may make such appoint- 
ment, and in such case require of the appointees the pre- 
scribed oath belbre anj- ofhcer qftalitied to administer the 
same." 

Section 373. " Eegistration shall in alLcases \w. prima faciG 
evidence of the right to vote; and on the day of election 
no person shall bo challenged at the polls in his right to 
vote, except for identity." 

The radical leaders, Chisolm and Gilmer, were very well 
aware of these provisions and their import, and when they 
were forced to give up the books containing the evidence of 
registration, they were in hopes that the election would yet 
be defeated by the withdrawal of the registrars and in- 
si^ectors. 

This attempt to deprive the people of their franchise, and 
at a time, too, when they were making every ettbrt to throw 
off the intohnable yoke under which they had so long 
groaned, and by the very men whom they recognized as the 



tij2 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

chief ageuts and autUors of their troubles, caused intense 
excitement, and engendered the most bitter feelings through- 
out the county against Chisolm and Gilmer. This, together 
■with the importation of the impostors as United States 
marshals, and thoir threats and incendiary speeches to the 
2iegroes, were ^vell calculated and sutiicient to arouse the 
indignation of any people not utterly lost to every sense 
of resentment for the most outrageous wrong that could be 
perpetrated upon them. 

Thej'^ saw the very men whom they were making every 
legal effort to detlirone, resorting with impunity to the 
most high handed violation of law, availing themselves of 
every imposition, and resorting to every subterfuge that 
villany could suggest, ami that, too, under color of oflice, 
to drown their voice and thwart tlieir effort, upon the 
success of which hung all their hopes for an honest govern- 
ment, one that would give them once more peace and hap- 
l^iness, and i)reserve to them the scanty remnant of their 
substance. Notwithstanding these aggravating circum- 
Ktances, the people proceeded to the attainment of their ob- 
ject quietly, but with the utmost determination, and not a 
threat was made, or a linger raised, against the authors of 
those nefarious machinations. 

Yet there was one other hope left to the radical leaders, 
Aviiieh was to invalidate the election, if possible, upon the 
ground of intimidation and violation of the enforcement 
acts of Congress. To this end, after all tlieir other ma- 
nreuvres failed, tliey lied when no man ])ursued them, and 
retired to the forest, where the}' remained until the elec- 
tion was over, and even until several days after. 

While all these various stratagems were being attempted, 
they had made preparations for a collision on tlie day of the 
election. Those negroes, generally the most ignorant and 
vicious, who still adhered to the radical cause, or rather 
Mho were yet subject to the iniluence of these men, were 
iiotilied to appear at the ])olls witli their arms; in olxMlience 
to wliicji about fifty negroes brought tlieir guns to IScooba, 
and, on (inding a change in the state of affairs, on account 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 253 

of the absence of their white leaders, deposited them in 
the house of a negro situated iu a dense forest across the 
raih^oad, opposite to and a short distance from the village. 
The white i)eople ascertained, by some means, during the 
day, that they were there, and took possession of them. 
At this, some of the negroes manifested a riotous disposi- 
tion, but, finally^ returned to tlieir homes without voting, 
which they declined to do, as they had been instructed l)y 
their leaders, who had also designed this to be another 
feature of their intimidation scheme. The negroes, after 
the election, came in and claimed these guns as their 
property, and they were promptly turned over to them. 

The white people were not at all surprised at the presence 
of these guns. They had been taught from the beginning 
of the canvass to expect riotous demonstrations, if not 
serious collisions, on the day of the election ; and while 
they met every circumstance coolly and determinedly, they 
were prepared for an^^ emergency. Chisolm had openly 
and frequently, during the campaign, avowed that, to use 
his liivorite expression, " they were going to wade through 
blood and hell to carry that election ;" and, as Mr. A. G. 
Ellis, in his testimony before the Boutwell committee, at 
Aberdeen, observed, " The white people did not know 
whose blood he might want to wade through." These 
guns were said to have been deposited on Sunday pre- 
ceding the election. 

The radicals had appointed a political gathering at 
Scooba, on Monday, the da3^ before the election. This 
gathering was intended, among other purposes, to give 
these xiseudo United States marshals an opportunity to 
perform their operations, which was prevented by their 
timely detection and flight. Indeed, it appears that the 
presence of these outlaws was the sole cause of all the 
excitement at Scooba. Their threats, their violent expres- 
sions, i'allammatory speeches to the negroes, and their im- 
]nident deportment gave credence to the rei)orts that tlie 
negroes were coming in armed lor the ])urpose of carrying 
the election or killing the Avhite people, but on their de- 
parture everything again assumed a quiet attitude. 



25J: KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Ou the. exposure of bis fraud uiid the lli^ht of his mar- 
shals, Gilmer, in order to fashion his part of the evidence of 
intimidation, fled, as has been before stated, and made his 
Avay, as lie says with many narrow esca])es, to his friend, 
Chisohn, at De Kalb. This romantic hei^ira forms the only 
(!es(;ription Wells gives of all these transactions. It was 
then that Chisolm, (lilmer, JJajtper and IJo.senbaum, after 
fall consultation, gathered their tents, and, in the peaceful 
rays of the setting sun, with suitable viands for the rustic 
sojourn, repaired to the forest, where their contemplation 
of the situation and their concoction of future plans would 
1)6 disturbed by no sound, save the mournful requiems of 
the tall pine tops that hid them from mortal eyes. But as 
no oue pursued them, or seemed to remember them in their 
forest castle, after a few days they returned, to find th.'it 
the storm had calmed into a gentle breeze. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 255 



CHAPTER X. 

It is charged by Cliisolm aud Gilmer that there was a 
crowd of Alabamiaiis at Scooba ou the day of the election 
of 1875. That there were some geutlemeu there from that 
State is beyond question, and as to the causes of their pres- 
ence, there were no doubt two. 

Kemper County is situated contiguous to the County of 
Sumter, Alabama. The line between them runs through a 
densely populated district of negro voters, and it had here- 
tofore been a notorious fact that the registration books of 
each of these counties contained the names of many voters 
in the other, and that there were many negroes who were 
in the habit of voting in both counties. 

To avoid this, some citizens of Alabama, who resided near 
the line, were invited over on the day of election by the 
citizens of Kemper, in order that they might identify those 
characters living on their side of the line, so that they might 
be successfully^ challenged and prevented from voting at 
Scooba. For this purpose, and none other, some of them 
came. But there were others there who were relatives of the 
murdered Dawson, and who, no doubt, sought an opportu- 
nity to take revenge upon Gilmer and Chisolm for that hor- 
rible deed. Be this as it may, it is certain that none of these 
men were there for the purpose of interfering with the elec- 
tion, or intimidating any of the voters. Tbey were merely 
observers, with no sinister designs, and took no part what- 
ever in the affairs of the day, inasmuch as their presence 
simply was calculated to accomplish the object of their visit, 
which was to identify any Alabama negro who might at- 
tempt to vote. After the temporary excitement, occasioned 
by the acts which have been described, this election was, 
by the uniform testimony of every good citizen, the most 
peaceable and quiet ever held in the county. 

Tlie negroes were heard to express themselves generally 
that tliey liail long voted the Kepublican ticket, that it had 



256 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

(loiic tljcm no good, and that if tlicy voted at all at tliis elec- 
tion, they would vote with the Democrats, and give that 
l)arty a trial ; and when they found that Chisolin and his 
clan had gone to the woods, they became thoroughly indif- 
ferent and disgusted. The radicals now sought to raise the 
cry of intimidation in Kemper Coujity. The governor of 
the State, Adelbert Ames, testified, under oath, in regard 
to the state of affairs in this county, as follows (Boutwell 
reix)rt, p. 12) : 

" I was speaking of counties where the men were driven 
away from the polls. That was true in Monroe County. It 
was (Equally true in Kemper County. I speak of those coun- 
ties where there will be no controversy on the part of any- 
body. But you can go to the majority of the Kepublican 
counties, and you will lind that the liepublican voters were 
driven away by intimidation, which was resorted to for this 
effect. In Kemper County, the sheriff, I\rr. Chisolm, had 
been an officer ever since he was twenty-one years old, and 
1 think he must be a man of forty-live or fifty now, always 
a very popular man, and officially his standing was ^xcellent. 
There was no complaint against him at all, except that he 
was a llepublican. IJe was one of the few men who had 
the courage to come l)efoi'c the grand jury of the United 
States court and report the condition of affairs in that 
county, lie was threatened with assassination, and I think 
I have his written statement of the facts. He said that 
there was no complaint except that it was really a race is- 
sue, and Democrats said to him that this was a white man's 
country, and white men are going to rule it. That was the 
charge that was made against him and his party ; that the 
negioes were not qualihed to vote, and they should not 
vote, lie complained bitterly that men with whom he had 
always lived and liad had all kinds of relations with (so- 
cially he stands very high), should consent that a body of 
m(!n should come. (Vom Alabama to assassinate him, ' if he 
made an attempt to keep the peace on the day of 
the election.' Tlie result was that he abandoned all at- 
tempts to keep the peace, and the election went by default. 



KEMPEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 257 

I don't know what the returns are. I see that in Kemper 
County, in 1873, the vote was one thousand two hundred 
and twenty-nine Eepublican, and seven hundred and 
eighty-one Democratic, making a difference of four hun- 
dred and fortj^-eiglit Eepublican majority. 

"In 1875, there were four hundred and eighteen Republi- 
can votes and one thousand three hundred and thirty-nine 
Democratic votes, making a difference of nine hundred and 
twenty-one on the otlier side. He will testify to your com- 
mittee, as he has already testified, that it was through 
intimidation and violence that no election was held there." 

Now let us refer to the testimony of Chisolm himself, in 
regard to the election of 1875, which is here introduced iu 
refutation of this sworn statement of Governor Ames. 

Question by Mr. Bayard. — Mr. Chisolm, do I understaiul 
you to say that you kept all your political appointments in 
that canvass 1 

A. Yes, sir. 

Q. Did you make, Mr. Chisolm, an active and vigorous 
canvass throughout that county up to the time of the 
election 1 

A. Yes, sir ; I made a x)retty active canvass up to the 
Saturday night before the election. 

Q. And you said that your last speech on the Saturday 
night before the election was the bitterest of your canvass ? 

A. Yes, sir; I think it was. It is my opinion that I 
made the bitterest speech that day that I made during the 
canvass. 

Q. Were there any threats made to you j)ersonally dur- 
ing the canvass ? 

A. Well, there was this kind of threats : stating to me 
that I was not to interfere with the negroes ; and, when 
they gave them tickets, that they would be damned if we 
should go to them and get them to change them. 

Q. Did you regard that as a threat ? 

A. 1 regarded it as this : stating to me that I should not 
be allowed to do what they were going to do. I did not 
regard it as any sx)ecial threat. 

17 



258 KEMl'Ell C;0UNTY VINDICATED. 

Q. Did any one in the canvass specially tbrcatcn you? 

A. Xo one that I Icnow of. 

Q. 1)1(1 you witness, duiiiii;- the canvass, any act of vio- 
lence n])ou any one in connection with the election ? 

A. No one oceiined at any speaking I bad. 

Q. Were you armed yoiirsell on those occasions ? 

A. I generally canied my pistol. i 

Q. How were your IViends ? 

A. They canied their pistols in their pockets. 

Q. And you generally went armed ? 

A. Always, sir; wi> had our pistols. 

Q. At the time you met this young man, before you got 
to Scooba, you say you got out of your buggy, ^Yith your 
I)istol in your hand. AVhy did you do that ? 

A. Because I saw him coining through the woods. 

Q. Had be any arms ? 

A. No, sir; nothing at all. 

Q. You disnu)unteil and drew your pistol I 

A. Yes, sir; I just took my pistol out of my buggy. I 
carried it lying on the seat. 

Q. And when you were at the meeting, wbcrc did you 
carry your pistol .' 

A. Behind me, in my pocket, where 1 have got it now. 
It is a little old ])istol — not very dangerous, but it is all 
right, you nniy bet (showing it). 

In this conflict of sworn evidence, Wells ])romptly comes 
to the aid of Ames, and says, speaking of Chisobn, at 
Scooba: "His life was threatened, and pistols -ivere drawn 
to carry the threat into execution. After repeated elTorts 
to quiet tlu^ mob, he was comi)elled to quit the stand in 
oi'der to save his life." 

Ami so 1 will leave it with the reader to settle the ques- 
tion of veracity between the three, Ames, Chisobn and his 
biographer, AVells. The wiiter has l)een totally unable 
to learn of a singlt! instance of intimidation in Kemper 
County on the part of the Deniocrats ; that they used every 
method of coaxing and persiuuling the negroes to vote 
w ith them, and niade a luost energetic canvass, is beyond 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 259 

dispute, but that any one was frightened by the Democrats 
from a vohmtary exercise of his right to vote as his choice 
might dictate, has not the least foundation in fact. Yet, 
says Wells: " The Saturday before the election took place, 
Professor Thomas S. Gatliright, for many years one of the 
most iuHuential and ]iopular educators of the youth oft lie 
State, made a speech at Do KaU),within sight of Judge (Jhis- 
olm's house, in wliich he used words very nearly as follows. 
After repeating Judge Ciiisolm's name, he said: ' Genthv 
men, if you ever expect to have peace and harmony in your 
county, you must get rid of this man. I will not under- 
take to tell you how to get rid of him; that you know as 
well as I ; hid you must get rid of him P 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 si^eech and pantomime were re- 
sponded to with loud and continued cheers. On the fol- 
lowing IMonday the same language was repeated at Moscow, 
a cross roads store, ten miles distant from De Kalb." 

From what source, if any. Wells obtained this story will, 
perhaps, remain unknown, save to himself and the members 
of the clan who concocted it. The well known character 
of Professor Gatliright, who is at this time president of the 
State Agricultural (College of Texas, will itself refute any 
such representations. There are many citizens of Ue Kalb 
who heard Professor Gathright's speech on the occasion 
referred to, and the writer, after conversing with many of 
them about this matter, is prepared to say that there is not 
to-day a man in the County of Kemper who would openly 
allege that he ever saw Professor Gatliright perlbrni any 
such gestures on any such occasion. He Avas, and is, well 
known to be a gentleman of mild, moral and conservative 
views, though a stanch Democrat and patriot, and against 
him the "barbed arrows" of this carpet bagger fall as 
harndess as they did when, on one occasion, in the town 
of Brandon, a negro, whom he had swindled, thrust his 
list in his face and publicly proclaimed him a G—d 
d d thieving scoundrel. In view of these representa- 



2C0 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

tions of Wells, it is, indeed, strange that Chisolm, in his 
sworn testimony before the committee at Washington, 
shonld state (see Eeport, page 770), that he knew of no 
threat made against him during this canvass. 

But there were notable instances of intimidation on tlie 
part of the radicals, of which a notorious instance occurred 
in Scooba, during the canvass of 1875. Dick McCall was a 
negro wlio had announced himself a Democrat. Peaceable 
and harmless, he bore a good character in the village, 
among the white i)eople. On one occasion he was sitting 
quietly in the store of Captain J. K. Duulap, wiio was at 
that time the town marshal. Gilmer came in, ajul taking 
his seat in front of Dick, and pulling out a large knife, 
began to pitch it at Dick's bare feet, and finally thrust the 
knife into his foot. Dick, to avoid the ditliculty, and 
Avell knowing the character of Gilmer, quietly arose and 
left the room. Upon this Gilmer followed him, saying that 
he intended to kill him, if he Avas the last man ; but Dick 
by some means eluded his assailant, Avhen Gilmer, taking 
liis gun with him, and accompanied by his half brotlici', 
one M. Wood, proceeded to Dick's residence. Before 
reaching it, however, he overtook Dick, and fired two shots 
at him. Some one, in the meantime, had api)riscd Dick of 
his danger, and loaned him a gun, and being thus pre- 
l)ared for his defence, he returned the fire, firing two shots 
at Gilmer. This occurred just at dark, and Wood stated 
that the shot from Dick's gun entered the ground at 
Gilmer's feet. 

1^0 legal notice whatever was taken of this matter, so 
utterly i)aralyzed was every nerve and sinew of the law 
■when in contact with these men. It can scarcely be sup- 
posed that the man who, in cold blood, had deliberately 
shot the dying Dawson with impunity, could be reached 
by the arms of the law for pitching his knife into a poor 
negro's I'oot. 

To what extent this intimidation, and lliese threats and 
acts of bodily harm for allliHating with the Democrats, 
were practiced by these men upon the negroes, and by the 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 2G1 

negroes upon each other, in their social relations, could 
not be ascertained, as tlie very nature of the acts pre- 
served til em ill secrecy ; while, on the part of the Demo- 
crats, the only semblance of force brought to bear upon 
the negro in the exercise of his choice, was that, in some 
instances, they were told by their employers that, in 
consequence of the high rate of taxation under radical 
rnle, and the consequent stagnation of business, which 
rendered their i^roperty a burden, and their agricultural 
operations totally unprofitable, if they voted the radical 
ticket and continued such a state of alfairs, they could not, 
and would not, give them employment any longer. This 
policy, however, which, in view of the circumstances, 
should have been general, was only put in practice here 
and there, and it, no doubt, had its eSect to some extent. 
In such cases these employers would say to the negroes, 
" Vote as you i)lease, but remember that if you vote the 
Republican ticket and maintain that party in jiower, I can- 
not employ you any more." A colored preacher residing 
in Kemper County, on being told this by his employer, 
made the following demonstrative reply : 

"I am a colored nniu, and I have to associate wdth my 
colored neighbors here, and if I do not go to the election, 
they won't let me go to my church. They will turn me 
out of the church, and they will not have anything to do 
with me ; and I cannot associate on social terms with you 
white people; and I have children growing up here. I vote 
the Republican ticket, not from choice, but from necessity." 
And this same sentiment was substantially expressed by 
many negroes in the county. It was mostly upon their 
private and social relations that these men sought, in this 
respect, to operate. 

The Republicans must have been driven to desperate 
straits for incidents of intimidation when they brought 
this charge against Southern planters and employers, when 
it is a public and notorious fact that the employers and 
owners of :S^orthern factories and manufacturing establish- 
ments invariably control the political sentiments of their 



202 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

cmi)loyees, and it is an established practice in tlic very 
departments of the government itself. 

The ])latf()i'm adopted by tlie Deaiocratic party of ^lissis- 
sippi, on the third of August, 187.">, contained an invitation 
to the voters of botli races to unite vigorously with them 
in the approaching canvass, to aid them in throwing off the 
intolerable yoke of radical rule, and to establi.sh good gov- 
ernment in the State, and promised them full protection in 
all their rights. This platform of principles contained 
every provision and i)rofession that the most fastidious 
negro rights man could desire, and gave the Democratic 
speakers the opportunity of meeting their antagonists fully 
on all the issues they might make. 

During tlie canvass of 1S75, the candidate for Congress, 
Coh)nel Singleton, made a si)eech to the negroes at Scooba, 
in wiiich he held up to them this ])latform of prhiciples 
Avitli gieat effect, and urged them for their own good and 
the welfare of the whole i)eople, to sui)port the Democratic 
ticket, and aid that party in restoring good government to 
the State — a government wliich would be honest, and dis- 
])ensc impartial Justice to all its citizens, lie arraigned 
the corruption, extravagance and incompetency of tlie 
radical leaders, and depicted in a clear light the ruin 
brought upon the whole peo[)Ie by radical misrule. This 
si)eech was listened to by the large negro audience with 
profound and anxious attention. Chisolm was present 
taking notes. Yet, on being invited to speak, he declined 
doing so. The atmosphere of the occasion was, no doubt, | 
too lucid for his style of argiunent. The negroes were! 
gradually drawn to Democracy by an honest conviction, 
effected by the i)ortrayal of facts of which they had a 
l)ainlid exi)erien(;e. 

Jt has been charged that the Southern people committed 
a great error in not acqniescing, at first, in the ])olicy of 
congressional reconstruction, in not making politi«'al friends 
of the negroes, recognizing all tiieir rights, and anticipat- 
ing the radicals in gaining ascendency and control over 
them. Yet, however plausible this i)o!icy might have been 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 263 

iu theory, apart from the hypocrisy of such a course, it is 
doubtful whether it coukl have been practiced without 
dragging with it a train of troubles more permaDeutly 
detrimental to society than the worst features of radical 
rule. 

The arrogance of the negro, at that time, engendered by 
his suddeu (nnancipation, and the teachings of the carpet 
baggers, could not have been bounded by the barriers of 
the most extended political horizon. He would have 
demanded as the price of his alliance, full social recognition ; 
and the commingling of the two races necessary to have 
satisfied him, iu this respect, would have degraded the 
white race and broken up the fountains of society. Thj3 
negroes joined the Democratic party as soon as they were 
qualified to do so— as soon as they were capable of compre- 
hending the difl'erence between political and social equality. 

The experience necessary for this qualification was af- 
forded them by the corruption of the radical party, and 
the almost solid integrity of Southern sentiment through 
all the vicissitudes of reconstruction, during which period, 
and up to the liiU of 1S75, they were continually incited 
against the whites by Northern adventurers and vagabonds 
for purposes of their own, and who prowled about from 
church to church, school house to school house, and negro 
quarters to negro quarters, forming them into clubs, and 
binding them to their personal schemes by all sorts of 
oaths, and filling their ears Vvitli incendiary speeches. 

But having passed tlu'ough all this experience, the negro 
api)eared at the poll box, in the fall of 1875, a much wiser 
being, and fully convinced that all his rights and franchises 
were perfectly safe in the hands of the white people of 
Mississippi. And the election of 1875 will ever remain a 
notable epoch in tlie history of the State as the period of 
the termination of the most corrupt government tliat ever 
disgraced the annals of civilization. 

To show the vast increase of public expenditures in Mis- 
sissii)pi under Ivadical rule, as compared witli those of 
former and subsequent Demociatic administrations, the 



264 KEMPER COUNTY VESDICATED. 

following: statistics arc introduced. They were compiled 
Iroin the reports of the auditor, and are perfectly- reliable : 

DEMOCRATIC COMPARISON OF STATE EXPENSES, 

The disbursements on account of the State government 

were : 

1848 $344,717 00 

1840 270,300 00 

1850 295,932 00 

1851 223,037 00 

1853 229,288 00 

1857 345,502 00 

1858 401,032 00 

1859 400,015 00 

The following was for the ordinary i>urposes of the 

government, for the administration immediately' succeeding 

the war : 

October 10, to May 1, 18G5 $290,285 00 

May 1, 1805, to May 1, 1867, 2 years 555,027 00 

May 1, 1868, to May 1, 1869 502,723 00 

May 1, 1869, to May 1, 1870 302,138 00 

UNDER REPUBLICAN RULE. 

Jan. 1, 1870, to Jan. 1, 1871 $1,001,259 00 

Jan. 1, 1871, to Jan. 1, 1872 1,329,046 00 

Jan. 1, 1872, to Jan. 1, 1873 1,500,828 00 

Jan. 1, 1873, to Jan. 1, 1874 1,400,000 00 

Jan. 1, 1874, to Jan. 1, 1875 1,319,000 00 

Under radical rule the expenses of the executive 

department were, in 1875 $33,974 30 

Those of the legislative department 

were 118,624 00 

Those of the jndicial department 230,025 00 

The cxi)enditures on account of the executive depart- 
ment under Democratic rule were : 

1848 $8,003 00 

18.j4 8,008 00 

1858 11,225 00 

Yvoiu M:iy 1, ISlM, to ?.Iay 1, 18G0 10,129 00 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 2G5 

That was tlic last year of the rule of the citizens before 
the Eepublicaus took charge of the State goverumeut. The 
expenses of the same department — the executive dei>art- 
ment — under Ilc})ublican rule, were as follows : 

1S70 $24,200 00 

1871 34,000 00 

1872 32,834 00 

1873 34,973 00 

1874 54,900 00 

1875 33,947 30 

From January 1, 1870, to January 1, 1871, under Alcorn's 
administration, $54,000 were expended on that account and 
as a secret fund. 

The gross amount of expenditure for 

the year 1875 was $1,430,102 83 

For the judicial department under 
Democratic rule : 

1848 $74,741 00 

1849 83,280 00 

1855 99,527 00 

1858 139,824 00 

1850 147,000 00 

October 1, 18G5, to May 1, 1800 49,775 00 

May 1, 18GG, to May 1, 1807 103,349 00 

May 1, 1807, to May 1, 1808 191,440 00 • 

The expenditures of the same department under radical 
rule were : 

1870 $320,399 00 

REPUBLICAN RULE. 

1871 $328,000 00 

1872 434,973 00 

1873 300,221 00 

1874 308,854 00 

1875 230,025 00 

The appropriations by the Democratic legislature, for 
the year 1S7G, for this department, were $70,000. 



2G0 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

The following statements arc taken from the annual mes- 
sage of liis excellency' James JI. Stone, tlie present gov- 
ernor oi" ]\Iississip[)i, made to the legislature at its session 
of 1877, an<l will present a very forcible comparison of the 
actual expenditures for the year 1875, which was the last 
of radical rule, and the exi)enditures for the year 1870, the 
tirst under Democratic rule : 

Disbursements by warrants, from Jan- 
uary 1 to December 10, 1870 $507,810 55 

The disbursements for the remainder 

of the year will not exceed, say 40,000 00 

I^faking total disbursements for the 

year 1870 $547,810 55 

In 1875, from January 1 to December 
31, the disbursements by warrauts 
were, as per auditor's report 1,430,192 00 

Prom this sum should be deducted 
(being interest on State debt paid 
in 1875) 300,000 00 

Leaving the actual disbursements for 

the year 1875 $1,130,193 00 

Showing that the disbursements in 1875 exceeded those 
of 1870 by the sum of $582,375.45, the excess being greater 
than the entire disbiusenuMits during the year 1870. 

During 1870, to December IS, there 
was recei\ed into the State treas- 
ury the sum of..... $003,250 00 

To this sum must be added (taxes of 
1870, uot reported to Decend)er 
18), say 275,000 00 

:M:iking the leceipts for 1870 $038,250 00 

The total acreage of the Slate is 23,5;;(>,7!I0 

Of wlii(tli (he total valuation is $95,0()7,i80 00 

Slate lax on Ilie same 023,371 00 



EEMPEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 2G7 

The total valuation of personal prop- 
erty in 1870, four counties being- 
omitted, the assessment rolls from 
Avliicli Laving been returned for 
correction and not yet re-returned 
to the auditor, is $35,702,040 00 

On this the State tax is 232,078 00 

The subjoined statement will show at a glauce, and in 
detail, some of the substantial results accomplished by the 

change from Radical to Democratic rule in Mississippi. 
The decrease of expenditures under the administration of 
the latter is strikiugly exemplified : 

Dcpartaieiit. 1875. 1876. Decrease, 1876. 

Legislature $118,624 30 $100,854 73 $17-, 769 06 

Judiciary 230,025 98 89,943 45 140,082 53 

Executive 33,947 30 30,340 09 3,006 61 

Library 4,528 87 1,888 73 2,040 14 

Ex. Con. Fund 10,000 00 4,400 00 5,000 00 

Deaf and dumb and 

blind institutions, 25,000 00 18,350 00 0,050 00 

renitentiary 06,040 20 19,109 75 47,476 45 

Public printing 50,803 02 21,080 05 29,122 97 

Lunatic asylum 97,000 00 68,730 00 28,270 00 

Com. immigration.. 5,210 65 440 13 4,770 52 
Express and post- 
age 2,559 01 1,718 42 840 59 

Com. for assessing.. 34,588 03 14,53105 20,050 38 

Militia 5,000 00 5,000 00 

Total $573,939 45 .$202,047 60 $311,89155 

Embraced in tlie statement of the expenditures for 1870, 
there was an appropriation of three thousand four hun- 
dred and eight dollars for printing, and sixteen thousand 
dolhirs for the penitentiary, to cover deficiencies in those 
departments for the year 1875. 

It will be observed by an inspection of the tables, 
tliat tlie expenditures daring the year 1875 were the most 
economical of radical rule. The action of the tax payers 
in the early part of that year, together with the defec- 
tional si)irit then beginning to be manifested by some of 



2G8 KEMPER COUNTY VmDICATED. 

the radical leaders, forced upon their legislature for the 
first time even the thought of economizing. 

In 1870 the Democratic legislature levied, for State i)ur- 
])oses, a tax of six dollars and lifrj' cents on one thousand 
dollars. In 1872 the levy was thirty i)er cent, greater than 
the levy for 1870; in 1873 it was ninety-two per cent, 
greater ; in 1874, one hundred and fifteen per cent, greater, 
and in 1875 it was forty-two per cent, greater. So that the 
expenditures for the last named year were necessarily 
somewhat curtailed in order to conform to the reduction of 
the taxes to which the radicals had been reluctantly driven. 
The change of administration under Democratic rule was no 
less beneficially operative upon the credit of the State than 
upon the economy of its expenditures. In January, 1875, 
the warrants of the State were sold on the streets of Jac^c- 
son at seventy-three cents on the dollar, and sales of them 
were made at that rate by public ofiicers. On the 1st of 
January, 187(>, when the first Democratic legislature met, 
tliey were sold at from eighty to eighty-five cents, and 
during this session they advanced to ninety-five cents, 
and in the succeeding dull months of summer, when there 
were but few taxes to be paid, and but little occasion for 
financial oi)erations, they rose to ninety-seven cents on the 
dollar ; and in the Ibllowing Xovember they advanced to 
ninety-nine cents, since which time the warrants of the 
State have been virtually at par. Such are some of the 
substantial and visible fruits of "home rule" in Missis- 
sippi. From the tables it will be observed that the cost 
of administering the diflerent branches of the State gov- 
ernment was, in 1876, the first year of Democratic rule, 
less than one half of the jinblic expenditures in 1875, the 
last year of the radical administration. The moderate tax 
of six dollars and fifty cents on one thousand dollars, im- 
posed by the legislature of 1870, has been, in 1877, reduced 
to five dollars on one thousand dollars, while the taxes 
levied by the counties have been reduced in like ratio, 
causing a decrease of taxes on realty of one hundred and 
forty-eight thousand six hundred and fourteen dollars and 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 269 

four-cents, and on personalty of one liundrecl and fifty-nine 
thousand nine liundred and forty-three dollars. 

On the 1st of January, 1870, the entire indebtedness of 
the State proper Avas one million one hundred thousand 
two hundred and forty-two dollars and twenty-one cents. 
This sum, on the first day oi" January, 1877, had been re- 
duced to something" over six hundred thousand dollars. 
The indebtedness of the counties has likewise been greatly 
reduced, and when the indebtedness of the State and the 
counties incurred under radical rule shall have been dis- 
charged, the taxes in the State of Mississippi will be as 
low, perhaps, as in any other State in the Union ; and, as 
seen from the preceding statement, this object is being 
vigorously pursued by the present administration, and 
will be accomplished at no distant day. 



270 ICEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 



CHAPTEll XI. 

On the 3d day of November, 1875, Ihc moruing sun rose 
upon i\Iis.si.ssippi redeemed from licr long and terrible 
thraldom of radieal rule. The angel of i)eace and prosper- 
ity again smiled in her skies, and all nature seemed, to the 
rejoicing eyes of her people, to wear a brighter aspect. 
Hope again beamed forth from behind the clouds of de- 
spair that liad hung so long like a pall over their heads. 
Nearly every vestige of radical power had been swept 
away from the State government, save in the executive 
department, and the people thought tliat now the machin- 
ations of that party would cease forever — but not so in 
Kemper County. It is true that there was a lull here, but 
it was the pause of Apollo, sighting his arrows at the Gre- 
cian cami)s on the plains of Troy. Chisolm again gath- 
ered his clan, and early in the spring of 187G, appeared 
again upon the stage as candidate for Congress. In this 
canvass he was the only candidate of the clan, as the 
election was to be for members of Congress only. Every 
effort was now made in the old way to organize clubs and 
again band the negroes together on the Eepublican side, 
but all secret elforts of this kind failed. 

The negroes had now had a taste of Democratic rule, and 
all the illusions with which the radicals had heretoiore 
veiled their minds were forever dispelled. Gilmer admit- 
ted that there Avas no chance for his party in this cam- 
paign, and took but little part in it. And Chisolm was 
also well aware that his ])rospects were hopeless, yet there 
might be some chance in a contested election, should the 
House of llepresentatives remain iJ(>])ublican, if he could 
make a showing of intimidation and violation of the en- 
forcoincnt acts. The next elfort was to gather the negroes 
in large crowds at public si)eakings, as they had been 
wont to do, but this i)lan also failed. The negroes would 
not turn out. The next thing, then, was to create circuni- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 271 

stances out of which they couhl fashion some semblance of 
intimidation, which, as we shall see, was a i)olicy vigor- 
ously jmrsued on every occasion where there was an op- 
portunity. Chisolm sought to bandy vrords with drunken 
men at his apj^ointments, for the purpose of aggravating 
them to use harsh expressions toward him, while the other 
members of the clan present would inform him of pending- 
danger should he attempt to speak. These, with other 
devices, furnished the stories which they concocted for 
their purpose, and presented in their sworn statements be- 
fore the congressional investigating committees, to which 
reference will be made in the progress of this narrative, 
and it was from those that Wells draws the inspiration of 
his libels. But he rnns counter to the verdict of history 
when he seeks to fashion the following sentiment by the 
mould of slander. He says, quoting from the Vicksburg 
Herald, in reference to the canvass of 1875 : " A few weeks 
preceding the election the ' great and gifted ' Lamar de- 
livered an address at Aberdeen, which the Vicksburg Ucr- 
aid, a leading Democratic paper, commented upon as fol- 
lows : ' 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 ho 
declared that the contest involved ' the supremacy of the 
unconquered and unconquerable Saxon race.' We were 
glad to hear this bold and manly avowal, and it was 
greeted with deafening plaudits. We have never seen men 
more terribly in earnest, and the Democratic white lino 
speech made to them by Colonel Lamar aroused them to 
white heat.' * * * in auother 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 rejieat what we have heretororc said : let the 
poor negro pass, and let the white scoundrels who have 
lired his heart with evil passions be the only sufferers.' 
The utterances quoted were repeated verbatim by Lamar, 
at Scooba, in Kcm])er Count3\ a few days after." 



272 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

So far from being the subject of reprobation, if tlic policy 
advised, and the principles inculcated in the preceding quo 
tation, bad been early, i)ronipt]y and universally practised 
throughout the Southern States, it would have saved theiu 
JVoiu seas of trouble and gulfs of ruin ; and would have 
met with the applause of all fair minded nuinkind. It will 
ever be a ■svonder to the historian, when he attempts to in- 
terpret the character of men, how to account for the 
extreme passiveness exhibited by the Southern people 
under the opi)ressive rule of radicalism. That a peo[)lc 
who at the first alarm of war had si)rung forward solidly to 
meet the issue, who had for four years waged the fiercest 
and bloodiest war of modern times, and all ibr the sake of 
a principle, should so long submit to the infamous govern- 
ment of ignorant and degraded negroes, led by adventurers 
from the slums and cessjiools of a foreign society, is a 
question ui)on which history will, for all time, place her 
l>rivate seal ; the solution of which can oidy be found in 
a rare exercise of the supreme qualities of honor. The^" 
had laid down their arms from weariness of the strife, and, 
for the sake of i)eace, had accepted the situation 5 and to 
£omporfc themselves in good faith became as sacred to 
them now as were the claims of duty and chivalry and 
lionor on the held of battle. For it cannot be denied that, 
notwithstanding the defeat of their two main arnnes, there 
Avere resources yet remaining sufllcient to have prolonged 
indefinitely a desultory warfare ; but this was spurned by 
the Southern soldiery. When it became impossible ap[)a- 
rently to accom})lish the establishment of the Confederacy 
by a grand, open and honorable means, they were willing 
to accept an honorable peace, and abide with honor its 
terms. And there is no question that nuich of the old 
aft'ection of the Southern i)eople for the government of 
their fathers would have been speedily revived had the 
Federal goverinnent pursued a just ])oli('y toward them. 
AVhether or iu)t patience is a i)eculiar phase of chivalry 
may be an oi)en question, yet it is doubtful which is en- 
titled to the greater admiration— the gallantry which the 



KEMTER COUNTY VINDICATED. 273 

Southern people displayed iu the contest, or the patience 
with which they bore the process of radical reconstruction. 
So iirottiiuent was this feature of their conduct, and so 
aggravating- the circumstances under which it was so 
sublimely exercised, that, in the minority report of the 
Senatorial committee appointed to investigate the alfairs 
of Mississippi, in 1875, Senators Bayard and McDonald 
could not refrain from making the following observations, 
which evidently sprang from the depths of conviction, and 
are set forth in the spirit of candor: 

"A condition of afl'airs which would be incredible and 
utterly intolerable in any of the Northern States exists in 
many of the black counties of Mississippi, where tho 
property, intelligence and character of the community is 
trodden to the earth, insulted and ignored by the most 
ignorant and sometimes vicious members of the com- 
munity. Things are of daily occurrence, and were proven 
almost daily before the committeeT which, if attempted iu 
the States of Massachusetts, "Wisconsin, Minnesota, or, in- 
deed, any of the Northern States, would be met by a 
poi])ular uprising and speedy overthrow. In such a con- 
dition of affairs, the forbearance and self subordination 
exhibited by the white population demands and should 
receive the strong sympathy and high respect of every 
just and well regulated mind." 

Yet such sympathy and respect would have been a i)Oor 
condolence, coming from those who established this state 
of affairs, and were strenuously endeavoring still to i)er- 
petuate it, be their minds never so well regulated. 

It was the reconstruction policy that the people of the 
South blamed for all their evils and wrongs, not so much 
the vile wretches who availed themselves of the opportu- 
nities it aflbrded them. So long as it was impossible for 
them to reach the cause, they spurned to vent their spleen 
upon the effect, otherwise than to maintain a state of 
ostracism and a feeling of scorn toward the carpet bag- 
ger and his (U;graded white allies of the South. It was the 
high sense ol' honor and self respect of the Southern peo- 

16 



271 KEIMPER COr^'TY VINDICATED. 

pie tliut tolerated tliis class. As heretofore remarked, it had 
been the practiee of the radical si)eakers to play upon the 
i.i;noraiice and crednlity of t!ie ne;;ro. They would tell 
them all manner of thinj^-s, such as what the President of 
the United States said they mast do, and wliat the general 
of the army said, what Congress desired of them, and 
l)ictnred to them in gloomy colors what would be the result 
of their non compliance. Subsidiary to this, they constantly 
represented the Southern whites to be hostile to every pro- ; 
gress of the negro, aud were even eutertaiuiug designs 
against their freedom. Such discourse had its effect u])ou 
their untutored minds; aiul the white people determined, 
during the canvass of 187(1, to attend the radical meetings 
for the purpose of preventing the repetition of these false- 
hoodsj and this their very i)resence, in most cases, effected. 
Where this was not the case, as it was not with Chisolm, 
and as they were allowed no division of time, or any 
chance of being heard on such occasions, they, in some 
instances, adopted the i)lan of interrupting tlie .sjjeaker, 
in the midst of such falsehoods, with <piestions and con- 
tradictions; but so far from this ])olicy disconcerting the 
Kemper clan, they attempted, as will be seen, to turn it to 
advantage by moulding it into evidence of intimidation. 
Chisolm had nuide appointments to speak at many i)laces 
in the congressional district, most of which he says he 
tilled without let or hinderance, but as the canvass ad- 
vanced the hopelessness of the radical cause became more 
apparent. 

r»y all their devices they had failed to make any nuirked 
impression u])on the negroes, who now seemed disposed to 
adhere as .solidly to the Democratic party as they had 
heretofore to the radical, ami it was manifest that Chisolm 
and his clan grew more desjjcrate as their chances waned. 
Martyrdom was now liis oidy ho[)e, and he coveted its 
crown. 

On Iheolstof October, -when the canvass was drawing 
to a (;lose, Chisolm had an appointment to speak at Shii- 
qiiahdv, a railroad \illage in Noxubee Counly, near the 



KEMPER COLL\TY VINDICATED. 275 

border of Kemper. He appeared at that place witli his 
croicdj oil the day appointed. It was in a populous district, 
and a hirge audience, comprisin^i;' more than a thousand 
negroes, headed by the radic-al sheriff of the (;ounty, and 
about oiic hundred whites. Under such circumstances, had 
the negroes been friendl}- and faithful to his cause, he surely 
would have controlled the events of the day in his own way. 
On his arrival in the early morning, he repaired to the hotel, 
shut himself up, and sent out his clan, as spies, to ascer- 
tain and report to him tlic prospects, and to gather what- 
ever expression could be construe<l into a threat of vio- 
lence. In the meantime, the sheriff, either ignorant of the 
gloomy i)rospe(;ts, or of the alternative designs Avhich had 
been adopted, teh'graplied to Chisolm from Macon, the 
county seat, to hold fast until his arrival. 

Whde awaiting this event, the si)ies were active in the 
performance of their ])art of the programme. They soon 
ascertained that there was no possibility of making any 
impression upon the negroes; tlu\v saw, with dismay, the 
Avhites and blacks riding in viva(;i()usly, side by side, with 
Democratic badges, and hurrahing for the Democratic 
party. On the arrival of the sheriff, and aiter taking- 
counsel together regarding the situation, it was deemed 
best to refrain from si)eaking, and rest upon the reports of 
the spies. This conclusion having been rea(;hed, it was 
further advised that Chisolm should proceed to Macon, 
where, on account of the direct inlluence of the sheritl' and 
other radical officers who retained positions there, it was 
hoped that the negroes would be more impressible; and to 
that place tlie clan, in company with the sheriff, now re- 
paired. But in the meantime, the white people had procured 
the services of a Democratic negro orator, from Louisiana, 
named Younger, a man of uncommon talents for bis race, 
and far the superior of Chisolm in general intelligence, as 
well as in the gift of oratory. The white people Avere, 
naturally, extremely anxious to hear the discussion be- 
tween them, and being apprised of his refusal to speak at 
Shucjualak, and the reasons assigned for not doing so, 



27G KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

tlioy determined now to removo every imaginary obstacle 
from his waj', and to leave him no grounds upon Avliicli to 
rest an excuse lor failing to allbrd them the pleasure they 
anticipated in hearing the arguments between him and 
Younger. For this purpose they induced the sheriff to 
appoint one hundred deputies from both i)arties, whose 
duty should be to keep the i)eiice. A largo audience 
assembled to hear this discussion. The number of persons 
])resent was computed to be between five and six thousand 
negroes, and about three hundred white men. 

The white people, although they had not the slightest 
apprehension of any disturbance, were so eager for the 
discussion that tliey gave Chisolm and his friends every 
l)ledge of protection and immunity from any insult or 
interference. Under these circumstances the discussion 
M'as begun by Chisolm, who spoke without limitation of 
time and without the least interruption. Younger then 
replied, at discretion, occupying about the same time. By 
])rior arrangement Chisolm was to have had a half hour in 
which to rejoin to Younger, but so scathing aiul unanswer- 
able were the arguments of the latter, so great was his 
superiority, aiul so complete was his polemical victory, that 
Chisolm sneal^ed off and declined to rejoin, as an excuse 
for which I will quote the language of his own sworn state- 
ment : lie says, Teller's report, page 7o5 : "I lured a 
hack, and went to Macon the next day. There was a 
division of time agreed upon there between me and a man 
named Younger, from Louisiaiui. I spoke for an hour and 
a half. 

"Q. Did you get through? 

" A. No, sir. I was to have a half hour for rejoinder 
to Younger; but, just about the time I was to spoak, Mr. 
];osenbau]n, my old deputy sheriff, was there, a Southern 
man, born in Kemper County. lie spoke to me and told 
me that he thought the intention was not to let me rejoin 
to Younger. S;iys I, ' Why, Cliailic, have you heard 
anythi)ig ." ' Yc,",' lie said; ' 1 have been stilling al)out in 
the crowd a little, and they say that they have got to endure 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 277 

Ibis au hour and a half, but they will go for you in the re- 
joinder.' That put mo on my guard directly. I received a 
letter from Gilmer asking me to come into tlie circnit chnk's 
office. I went in there. Young Allgood \Yas in there 
with him — the deputy sheriff. Mr. Gihner said I must 
not attemjit to rejoin to Younger. Mr. Gilmer said that 
he had heard some threats in the crowd ; that they did not 
intend to let me rejoin. Young Allgood remarked to me, 
' I know these people, and I know the condition they arc 
in. The groceries are all shut up, but they have got 
Avhiskey somewhere, and are all drnnk. You had better 
not make any speech ; you had better not attempt to re- 
join.' I sent for Colonel Allgood, the sheriff. He came in 
there. He said he thouglit, perhaps, I could s])eak. His 
son took him off and talked with him. A little while 
after he came back and said, perhaps it was well enough 
for me not to attempt to spe.ak." 

The superior logic of the negro, and the apparent con- 
fession of defeat, on the i)art of Chisolm, caused a great 
deal of innocent merriment among the audience, and when 
Ghisolm failed to answer the calls made for his rejoinder, 
vociferous applause went up for Younger. 

It is, indeed, amusing to read the excuse of Chisolm 
for his conduct on this occasion, when it is remem- 
bered that there were nearly twenty negroes for every 
white man in the audience, and then there was the radi- 
cal sheriff, Allgood, who was also chairman of the county 
Eepublican executive committee, with his one hundred 
chosen dei)uties, selected from both political jiarties, for 
the pur])ose of keeping the peace and preventing the least 
disturbance; besides this, the meeting was, by an ami- 
cable and satisfactory arrangement, presided over jointly 
by the secretaries of the county executive committees of 
the two parties. The next appointment of Chisolm, subse- 
qnent to that at Macon, was at Scooba, but so great was 
the mortification of his defeat by Younger, that on his 
learning from -his li'iend Kosenbauni that the young men 
intended meeting him at the depot at Scooba, with uuisic. 



278 IvIEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

in celebratiou, as ihoy said, of his glorious victory, lie. coii- 
cliulecl to ioreyo his a|)poiiitinent at that phice, and i)ro- 
cecded directly to Do Kalb. 

Sonic time previous to this, however, Chisolni was pre- 
sent at a Democratic meeting, at Scooba, and was cour- 
teously invited to participate in the discussion of the 
questions of the day. The invitation was promptly ac- 
cepted, and although he was, as usual, very aggressive 
and bitter in his denunciations of the ])emocratic party, 
he was listened to quietly and without the least inter- 
ruption, until, ill the course of his arguments, arraign- 
ing the dishonesty of leading Democrats, he took occa- 
sion to read an extract from the Xew York Tribune 
containing grave charges against Mr. Samuel J. Tilden, 
upon which some one in the audience replied that that 
charge Avas a lie. At this Mr. A. G. ]"]llis, a lawyer, and 
member of the Democratic county executive committee, 
arose and rebuked the interruption, upon which quiet was 
again maintained. ]]ut to show the acerbity of his feel- 
ings, and his constantly offensive demeanor toward the 
white peoi)le, I will here quote his own statement in refer- 
ence to the matter. He says: 'M had not spoken more 
than lifteen minutes before I was iuterruiited ; at tliis time 
they had got tlie Democratic crowd thoroughly drunk ; 
they were patriotic; they had patriotic whiskey in them. 
They were thorouglily wiouglit up to tlie point that 1 should 
not speak. 1 sj)oke about lifteen minutes, and they inter- 
rupted ; said ' it was a damned lie ;' said ' that I could not 
speak there unless I told the truth.' 1 pointed my remarks 
then to the cli airman of the Democratic executive commit- 
tee, and asked him if 1 was to speak, lie said, 'Yes; go 
on.' I remarked then, ' If I have got to tell the truth ac- 
cording to this ignorant rabble, what tliey consider to bo 
tlie truth, I (frtainly shall not make a speech.' Squire 
J'llis got up and asked them to be quiet and listen to 
my si)eakiug. Of course they were not (piii-t. They inter- 
rupted me on divers and sundry times during my speech, 
but I spoke the time 1 was allowed to speak. I got 
tlirough the hour." * * #****# 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 279 

111 striking contrast to this sworn description, given by 
Cliisolm Limself, I will now array that of Wells. He says, 
page 127, speaking of this same occasion : " After the fiery 
eloquence of the Democracy had ceased to burn. Judge 
Chisolui got up and quietly intimated, that inasmuch as he 
had been invited there to take part in a joint discussioi!, 
he should now be permitted to speak. * * * As pre- 
dicted, he had spoken but a few minutes when he was in- 
terrupted 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 tlie threat into execution. After repeated 
elTorts to quiet the mob, he was compelled to quit the 
stand in order to save his life." 

On Friday evening preceding the election, Cliisolm 
reached his home at De Kalb, thoroughly disgusted with 
the prospects ami the fruits of his canvass, lie had lost 
the shrievalty of his county tlie preceding yaav by the de- 
fection of the negroes, and he was now convinced that his 
efforts to regain his prestige and obtain a seat in Congress 
by means of the populous negro vote of the other counties 
of the district were in vain, riqtied at his loss of power, 
and the full realization of his overthrow, he now retired to 
his house, and wrapped himself in the grim folds of 
his own reflections. It Avas now that the desire of revenge 
usurped in his bosom the seat of ambition. To this he 
uow devoted his meditation. 

lie had early in the canvass caused it to be iiosted that 
he would close the campaign at De Kalb on Saturday im- 
mediately before the election, on which occasion it was 
understood that there would be a division of time with the 
Democrats and a joint discussion. With this understand- 
ing, the Democratic executive committee had procured the 
attendance of Colonel S. M. Meek, of Columbus, a distin- 
guished orator, to meet Cliisolm on this occasion and close 
the canvass on the part of the Democrats, On Friday 
e\'cning, quite a number of citizens from different parts of 
tlic county had gathered at Do Kalb, in order to be present 



280 KEMrER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

at the joint discnssion on tlie next day. There were also 
a ftood many nej^roes present, and, in order to gratify their 
fondness for show and parade, n jirocession of Democrats 
was formed, in which they had a band of music and a 
small cannon. 

There are but two roads leading into the village from 
the west, and at the entrance of one of these was situated 
Chisolm's residence, with a largo common in front ; so 
that in marching through and around the village it Avas 
necessary- to pass immediately in front of his house. Being- 
apprised of his arrival, the processionists halted on the 
common, in i'ront of his house, and fired off their cannon, 
Avhile the band struck up some patriotic air. This they 
also did at several other convenient places during their 
march. While here some persons in the crowd culled for 
Chisolm to come out and acknowledge the comi)liment, as 
they said, of the serenade. In this procession were John 
W. Gully, chairman of the county Democratic committee, 
and Colonel ^teek, the Democratic orator for the. next day, 
whose participation was for the purjmse of inspiring an in- 
nocent enthusiasm on the occasion, such as is always de- 
sired by all parties on the eve of an election. But if this 
parade atid nuisic in Iront of his residence was provoking 
under the circumstances, Chisolm did not hesitate to meet 
l)rovocation with provocation ; he stationed himself in his 
portico, with his gun at hand, nnd, in the words of his 
daughter, in a letter quoted by Wells, " cursed them in 
language more forcible than elegant." In this letter, 
which contains expressions not Avont to be used by South- 
ern ladies of refinement, and of which many of her ac- 
quaintances in De Kalb today doubt her authorship, she 
says: "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 
marclu'd uj) to onr gate with a great crowd < serenading,' 
as tln'y said, and lu-aily (Vightenod m«> to death. You see 
1 was then Just being initiated. Others of our family had 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 281 

often seen the like when I was away at school. Tliey 
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 even- 
tually land." * * * * * ii Weli, 
they left after finding- how little they had accomplished, got 
some more men and whiskey, 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 daylight, papa's friends came in from all parts 
of the county, including- four gentlemen from Macon. 
They were all at our house — about fifteen good, true, white 
Eepublicaus, 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 on their march. They had the Democratic flag, the 
band plaj'ing ' Dixie ' and the ' Bonnie Blue Flag,' a 
few ragged old negroes, and hundreds of villanous white 
scoundrels, half of whom w^ere owing papa for the clothes 
that CO veered their backs. He stood on the steps, and 
cursed them in language m^vc forcible than elegant. The 
first time, they yelled like the savages they were, and one 
man shot oif a pistol in the air; the next time, two or three 
fired, and a few more each time, until the shooting became 
incessant, and several shots struck the wall just by the 
door. At this time nearly all the gentlemen Avho had been 
Avith us were over at Mr. Gilmer's and Captain Rush's, to 
get Mrs. Gilmer and her baby and Mrs. Eush 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 mo that 



.282 KEMPER cou^"^Y vindicated. 

if anotlicr shot Avas tired ho inteuded to kill some of them, 
lie bcii'ged ine to leave him, because those who did not nm 
would lire at him, and he feared some of the shots might 
hit me. I told liiin tluit 1 ])ri;yed the same shot which 
killed him mi.i,''ljt al.so hiy my lifeless body by his side. 

3Iy dear , 1 once tli()u.t;!!t tliat 1 never wouhl tire of 

life; but if sucii i.s to be miiu', death, if I could share it 
Avilh my dear ones, would i:r,leed be a sweet relief." 

That this letter was written in the light of subsequent 
events, there can bo but little (juestion, and there can also 
be little question as to what will be the verdict of the fair 
minded reader against this man who introduces an inno- 
cent girl in such a clmracter, in order to give import ami 
authenticity to traducement. iS"o one can read tbis letter, 
with a knowledge of the events that followed, without being 
convinced that portions of it, at least, were dictated to 
conform with those events, and no reader of relinement, 
should he view them as genuine, can read the expressions 
used by this young lady, in this letter, without entertainnig 
at least a feeling of pit y for one ai)[)arently so lost to all 
sense of refinement. Hut let us return to the letter. She 
says : 

" Colonel Mock and John W. Gully headed the procession. 
At one time JMeek passed by, witii his arms around the 
neck of a ragged, filthy and degrade<l negro. 1 call him 
'degraded,' not because of his black skin, but rati ler for 
being found in such company, exchanging embraces with 
so low and disgusting a being as JMeek that day proved 
himself to be." 

I will not follow this scurrilous jeremiad any further. 
But it may not be improper to observe the fact that Col- 
onel S. M. Meek, the subject of this vituperation, be its 
author who it may, is too well known in Mississippi to be 
aflected in rei)utation by any such foul sibilations. The 
attempt (o inipiid' to Colonel I\Ieek any act not compat- 
ible with the character of a high minded Southern gentle- 
man, is of itself sufLicient to aliix the seal of falsehood to 
any matter of v» hieh such eltbrt forms a part. Subsidiary 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 283 

to and as an inducement to this letter, wliicli seemed so 
^ve\\ to suit liis purposes, Wells indulges in the I'ollowiug 
language, a part of which he pkicked from a radical paper, 
but wliich he here adopts as his own : 

" Eepeatedly throughout the day did this crowd of 
ruffians and jail birds march by Judge Cliisolm's door, 
to the tuue of 'Dixie' and the 'Bonnie Blue Fkig,' firing- 
cannon at intervals and pistols by volleys. The latter 
were at first discharged upv.'ard, but, as the crowd becariic 
emboldened from the excessive use of liquor, and meeting- 
with no resistance, the shooting- was directed over the 
house, and fiuall}" 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 Cheva- 
lier Bayard, a man who must hide beneath the black cloth 
and clean linen that ho wears a cowardly and craven 
heart. Close by the side of this hcau ideal of Southern 
chivalry, walked John W. Gully, the i)residing genius of 
the demoniac festival." 

The writer has taken particular pains to discover, if i)Os- 
sible, any indentations resembling- those of bullets in any 
part of the Chisolm house, and there is not the least in- 
dication whatever of a bullet mark in either of the two 
posts that support the little porch. He has been shown 
only one hole in the coarse weather boarding- w'hich has 
the slightest resemblance to that of a bullet, and, if such, 
it must have proceeded from a pistol much nearer than the 
gate, and which was pointed downward at an angle of at 
least forty-five degrees. In addition to this, it is the 
universal testimony of every one who marched in these 
processions, that no shots were fired at Cliisolm's house; 
and as to Wells' ^^heau ideal of Southern chicalry,^^ with a 
coward's heart under the folds of his black cloth and clean 



284 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

sbii't, it is more than questionable whether that indi- 
vidual ever participated in an}' test suihcieiit to create 
any ideal of that (piality 5 and as to the latter part of tlio 
phrase^ it a[)plies so aptly to the character which he bore 
in the South, as to suggest more the oiispriug of con«cious- 
uess than conce[)tion. 

In the early morning' of the day on which these hostih^ 
demonstrations are said to have occurred, John \Y. Gully, 
chairman of the Democratic count}' executive committee, 
sent a note to Chi^^olni over his own siguature and those ol 
the other members, politely inviting him to come out aud 
take part in a joint discussion. This he did at the reipiest 
of many gentlemen, as everybody was anxious to hear the 
discussion between him and Colonel Meek, who was well 
known to bo one of the most eloquent speakers iu the 
State. To this respectful invitation Chisolm made no jui- 
swer, and as his reasons for not doing so were given by 
him in his testimony at Washington soon after, 1 will hero 
quote them. 

lie says : " I suppose it was ten o'clock when I got a 
communication from iSwauzey and J. W. Gully, and some 
other name — I Ibrget the other name. They signed them- 
selves ollicially, by authority of the Democratic executive 
committee there. I got this from the hands of a gentleman 
by tlie name of A. G. Vincent. lie preseiited it to me. I 
lead it, and remarked to him, says I, ' Mr. ^'incent, do 
you think 1 could make a speech here to-day V He said 
he did not think I could, or perhaps I could, I don't know 
how it M'as. I said : ' I understand from a hundred dif- 
ferent sources that they will not let me speak.' Says I: 
' I won't answer this note.' lie says : ' Why not V Says 
I : ' This carried a lie on its face. It sets out by stating 
that it is a Democratic meeting, when you know that such 
is not the fact; that it is a Kepublican meeting, and that 
the Democratic meeting was held here yesterday — that is, 
by ai)pointment.' lie said that he had forgot about that. 
Says i: '■I will not attempt to speak unless I am satished 
that I will not be interfered with.' Says \: '•I am not 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 285 

afmid, under ordinary circumstances, of anybody interfer- 
ing' with me ; but when you have got such a crowd of two 
or three hundred men, I am afraid of what they may do.' 
Well, he went off, and I never saw him any more tliere. I 
made no effort to speak, and there were no Eepublican 
speeches. That was on Saturday before the election ; the 
election was to be held on Tuesday. I did not go out of 
my house at all on Tuesday. They held the election, or 
what they said was an election." 

It may be observed, as a liuale to the political career of 
this man, that there were but three votes cast for him at 
T)e Kalb, and he ran considerably behind the Hayes ticket 
in Kemper County, and that he should have prosecuted the 
canvass to the very last, when he had long known that the 
whole people of the county, black and white, were almost 
solidly against him, shows an obstinacy and desperation 
rarely to be found in any man of sound mind. It can only 
be accounted for upon the grounds already set forth — the 
hopes he still cherished of successfully contesting the seat 
of his opponent upon the ground of intimidation. But, 
as this same general election for congressmen completely 
changed the political complexion of the House of Eepre 
sentatives, his hopes in that direction were likewise dis- 
lodged, and there was now nothing left him but to seelv his 
revenge before the United States grand jury at Jackson. 
Thither he now hastened, carrying with him his friends, 
Ilopper, Gilmer and Eush, and, upon the joint testimony 
of the three, thirty-one citizens of Kemper County were 
indicted, and several United States marshals sent to arrest 
them for violating the right of suffrage, and for intimida- 
tion, in shape of parades, serenades and the like. 

In addition to this, and about this time, an event oc- 
curred which created a profound sensation throughout the 
county, and which was as diabolical as it was startling. 
On the 20th of December, while John W. Gully was re- 
turning, on horseback, from the country, where he had 
been on some private business, when about a mile from 
tljc village he was waylaid and shot with a double bar- 



280 IvEMPER COUNTY VCNDICATED. 

relied shot gun, from a little ciuineuce, coverecl with a thin 
grove of black jacks, near the road side. Two shots ■sverc 
fired by the assassin, both of Avhich toolc eil'ect in (! ally's 
breast and arms, and his horsa was also severely wounded 
in the shoulder. The shot brouf^'ht GUII3' to the ground, 
but on rising to his leet he saw and recognized his dastardly 
assailant, who, in the belief that his murderous work had 
been thoroughly accomplished, was making his waj' oil' 
through the forest. Gully, fearing that his assailant 
might make his escape, kept his identity somewhat a 
secret, only imi)arting the information to a few of his 
friends ; and sure enough Ben Hush, whom he recognized 
to be the man, and who lived with his wife and chikh'cn 
■within two hundred yards of the court house, disap- 
peared, and was, from that moment, seen publicly in the 
count}'^ no more. He had lied, as will be seen hereafter, to 
the State of Arkansas. 

Hush was one of the most faithful and daring of all the 
Ohisolm clan, and that he had been on that account de- 
IHited to take the life of Gully there is but little question. 
Such was, and is today, the general belief of the people of 
Kemper County. Yet, in reference to this circumstance, 
and in endeavoring to shift the odium of this infamous at- 
tem])t fi'om the clan. Wells has the audacity' to resort to 
the following concoction. Jle says: "After the iirst im- 
])ression 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 wore IVeqtiently heard : 

"Well, the only wwider is that Gully was not killed 
long ago. There are scores of men living in- the countv 
■who would feel warranted in taking his life in any possible 
■way." And again, " The question, of course, arose, ' Who 
did do itf" This, perlia[)s, might have been answered 
Avith soMu; degree of satisi'action by propounding another: 
"Who, if anybody, had a right to do it f (!ully, with 
deatli and the ghosts of the victims of his own murderous 
liand staling him in the face, might thus have soliloquized." 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. ' 287 

It is a fact well known in Kemper County that John W. 
Gully was always an advocate of peace, that he never 
sought a difliculty wiMi any one, and though fearless and 
open in all his acts and in all his words, he always avoided 
personal encounters if jjossible. Although a man of strong 
passions, and quick to resent an insult, he coveted the part 
of peace maker between others. He was never known to 
use a deadly weapon but in self defence, and on but two 
occasions; one was when he wounded Rush, who waylaid 
him at the time he killed his brother, Sam Gully, and the 
other when he wounded McRea with bird shot, who was 
firing at him in his own store. Both of these circum- 
stances have already been related. 

He was one of the most popular men in the county. Be- 
sides being the chairman of the Democratic county execu- 
tive committee, and the leading Democrat of the county, 
which position he had held from the reorganization of the 
l)arty, he had long been the senior warden of the masonic 
lodge; audit is universally and confidently asserted that 
there was not a human being in Kemper County who 
would have done him a personal injury, save the members 
of the Chisolm clan, or some one instigated by them; and 
it Avas generally believed, at the time, and which subse- 
quent events confirmed, that this attempt of Rush was the 
result of a conspiracy and settled plan, of which Chisolm 
was the chief and guide, to get rid of the leading Demo- 
crats of the county, and that Rush, because of his old per- 
sonal enmity, was chosen as the most suitable person to 
begin the work, by taking the life of Gully, the chief of the 
county Democracy. But let us now return to the arrest of 
the thirty-one citizens, which was compassed in further- 
ance of this plan. 

This conduct cx'cated intense indignation throughout the 
county. Men, whose patience and easy temper had here- 
tofore retained tiie ascendancy over their feelings, and con- 
trolled their actions and expressions, now gave vent to the 
feelings of bitterness against Chisolm and his clan. They 
seemed to realize the fact tiiat there was to be no peace in 



288 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

the county; no rest at all from the constant turmoil which 
these men had so long provoked and kept in agitation. 
To see thirty-one of their fellow citizens dragged otf by 
United States marshals, at the vengeful instigation of 
these men, and for no other crime than that of being true 
Democrats, and their having endeavored to redeem the 
county from their ruinous control, was, it seemed, the 
heaviest stroke of all. It was, indeed, a most inhuman 
and uncalled for act of tyranny and oppression, and par- 
took of the character and horrors of an inquisition by the 
government. 

JMr. Money, the member of Congress from this distinct, 
on being apprised of the difficulties under which some of 
his constituents thus labored, nobly forwarded to them 
twenty dollars, with the offer of more if needed. He ex- 
]n'essed a warm sympathy for the indicted citizens, and 
signilied his willingness to aid them to the utmost of his 
ability. This prompt indignation on the part of Mr. 
Money, at this outrage npou his constituents, will long be 
remembered by the sullbrers, and by the people of Kemper 
County. 

Many of these men were poor and unable to defray their 
expenses to Jackson. In this extremity they called on 
their friends for aid. A meeting of the citizens was held 
at De Kalb, on the first day of January, 1877, for the pur- 
l)oso of raising funds by subscription for the purpose of 
paying the expenses of those who were unable to do so 
themselves. 

At this demonstration of sympathy for their op])ressed 
neighbors, Chisolm became exceedingly wroth. lie col- 
lected his clan, and brought them armed with shot guns to 
])e Ivalb on the day of the meeting, and in this manner 
])araded the streets, at the same time comporting himself 
otherwise in the most hostile aiid defiant manner toward 
the poople. This was now the last opportunity for a public 
gratification of his revenge, and he could not brook the 
idea of being thwarted the least in his designs. If he 
could i)rovoke a dilliculty on this occasion, he thought it 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 289 

would give strength to his proceediugs. But the people 
■were yet too i)atieiit for his purpose. Ko oue that tlay 
cauic in coutiict witli him or niiy of his armed clan. The 
object of the meeting was quietly but determiuedl^" accom- 
l)lished, and the citizens dispersed. Here, I cannot re- 
IVain from referring to the reasons, alleged by Wells, for 
Chisolm's conduct on this occasion, for Cliisolm nowhere 
makes any explanation of it himself, nor does he allude to 
It at all in his testimony taken soon after in Washington. 
tSays Wells (referring to the sereiuiders) : "But the per- 
petrators of these vdlanies in Kemper were not to escape 
thus easily. ISome thirty or more of the gang, which had 
wantonly insulted Judge Cliisolm and his family, were re- 
])orted to the United States grand jury, comprised of men 
of both political parties, and indicted under that clause of 
the enforcement act which guarantees to every citizen 
who may be a candidate for oftice a full, free and uninter- 
rupted canvass. Judge Ohisolm, Gilmer and Uopper, in 
answer to a summons from the court, gave testimony before 
this jury. # # * * 

" On the first day of January, 1877, following- the arrest, 
a ' citizens' meeting' was called at JL>e Kalb to give exjires- 
sion, in some substantial wny, to the public indignation. 
It is not believed, as one might supi)osc, that this call was 
for the i)urposc of organized resistance to the Federal 
authorities. There was an object ahead far more signifi- 
cant, 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 ruftians at 
De Kalb, and take the life of Judge Cliisolm and all his 
associates ; for by so doing they hoped to destroy the last 
chance for a successful prosecution of their clan in the 
United States court. The lirst of January came ; but, 
owing to a heavy fall of snow the night before — an unusual 
ocL'iu'rence for that climate — and the bad condition of the 
](>:i(ls, the 'meeting' was not well attended. Besides, 
Judge Cliisolm, knowing their intent, had quietly called 
around him on that day a sufficient number of his friends 



290 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

to guard against the possibility of an attempt being maclo 
upon liis lile. Ten men like Cbisolm, when prepared, were 
able at all tinu's to Iiold llie 'citizens' to a carei'ul consid- 
eration of their acts.'' 

After this gush of llumniery and balderdash, it would be: 
a matter of surprise that Chisolm, in his testimony giveui 
Defore the subconr.nittee on i)rivileges and elections, at 
Washington, just six weeks after this occurrence, nowhere 
alludes to this instance of jeopardy, although he was called I 
upon to relate every threat that had ever been made against 
mm in word or deed, if the reader had not already dis-i 
covered that whenever Chisolm leaves any gap down, im 
tins respect, his consentaneous biographer has no ditliculty 
m tilling it. But there is another fact observable, and thafc: 
IS, that these criminal intentions have now been shifted f 
from John W. Gully to the shoulders of the thirty-one | 
indicted citizens. This circumstance, at least, relieves the 
usual monotony of his tale, and introduces variations 
which it will be more excursive to trace. As to Chisolm and 
Jiis ten armed clansmen causing the citizens to be carelul 
of their acts, that circumstance will doubtlessly ex[)lain 
liieir consideration manifested on another and subsequent 
occasion. 

These thirty-one citizens, arrested purely through tiu> 
malice of Chisolm and (iihner and their clan, were all 
])laced under a heavy bond for their ap])earance at the 
next term of the Federal court, to be held at Jackson, in the 
following JMay. In tlie meantime, another meeting of the 
]>eoi)le of tiie county was lield at De Ivalb, on the 10th of 
January, for the purpose of perfecting the arrangements for 
allbrding pecuniary aid to the persecuted citizens. 

On this occasion Clusolm again summoned his armed 
clan. They went about the village, however, without their 
guns, until (liliner, taking exceptions to some remark" made 
by a g(Mitleman na;ned McNN'liorter, placed himself upon 
the door stei)s of a store, and, with his i)istol in his hand, 
began to cui'se an<l al)use him in a most violent manner. 
At this time Chisolm came up, and cried ou*^, " iJoys, get 



KEJIPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 291 

your gnns!" Upon wLicb tlie clan, fifteen in nmuber, went 
straightway to Cbisolm's office, and iniinediatelj' returned, 
all armed with double barrelled sliot guns, and then paraded 
around in a most boisterous manner. In the meantime, 
some of the citizens carried ^IcWliorter off, and devoted 
themselves to the preservation of the peace, and the clan 
again failed to provoke a contlict. A few days after this 
occurrence, Ohisolm and Gilmer proceeded to Washington, 
where they procured themselves to be summoned as wit- 
nesses before the committee above referred to, aiul there 
gave the testimony which the writer has quoted from on 
several occasions during the i)rogress of this work. jMiss 
Chisolm, it seems, accompanied them on this expedition, 
and on her return wrote a letter describing her journey, 
which Wells has quoted, in order to show, as he says, the 
refined taste of the author. From this letter I will, in 
turn, quote but one paragraph, to show the kind of refined 
taste which seems to strike him so ibrcibly. In this letter 
the young lady says : " AVashington is by far the most 
beautiful city I saw in all my long Journey. Its broad ave- 
]uies, great thoroughfares, magnificent buildings, lovely 
parks, and, best of all, handsome gentlemen, combine to 
make it seem to me a i)erfect paradise." 

While Chisolm and Gilmer were absent, perfect peace and 
quiet reigned in the County of Kemper. The remainder of the 
clan kept themselves, during this time, in retirement, ami 
nothing occurred worthy of notice until Chisolm's and Gil- 
mer's return, which was about the time of the March term 
of the circuit court. A short time prior to this an attach- 
ment had been sued out by a mercantile firm in St. Louis 
against the goods, v.ares and merchandise of M. Woods & 
Co., of Scooba, in which firm Gilmer was a partner, and 
Woods was his half brother. This attachment was return- 
able to this term of the court, when the trial of it was to 
have taken place. But on tbe night ])reccding the first day 
of the term, the office of the circuit clerk was entered by 
unknown parties and robbed, ami these attachment papers, 
together with many others, were purloined. 



292 KEMPER COUNTY vrNDICATED, 

Judge J. M. Arnold, who presided at that term, could 
not do otherwise tluan deliver a scathing rebuke to the 
"whole people of the county ibr permitting such a high 
handed act of lawlessness, although he was well aware 
that the Democrats of the county had no more to do with 
the robbery thau with the riots in the states of Mexico. 

The judge, in conformity with his duty under the cir- 
cumstances, ordered the most strenuous efforts to be made 
to detect and bring the peri)etrators to justice, and he 
recommended to the board of supervisors to oiler a large 
reward for the apprehension of the guilty parties, which 
the board did, but in vain. The robbers had laid their 
plans thoroughly, and covered their tracks securely, and 
the deed, to-day, lies hidden beneath the veil of mystery. 

No sooner had Chisolm returned thau he began again 
to breathe vengeance against — as he called them — those | 
damned serenaders. lie declared publicly that nothing 
less than their hearts' blood would ever satisfy him, ami that 
lie would nuike the people of Ivemper County feel him yet, 
and he invariably nmde use of such expressions in connec- 
tion with the name of John W. Gully. He seemed to have 
grown more bitter i'rom disappointment and defeat, and 
his expressions in regard to the leading Democrats became 
more violent. Yet the people hoped that he would now 
desist from causing any further trouble, and seemed will- 
ing that he sliould " curse himself down easy." But sucli 
was far from his intention. It is true, the plan inaugurated 
by the attempt of Rush had, for the time, failed, but now 
it was to be renewed under more promising ausi)ices. 

Some years before this, a negro boy, by the name of 
AValter ]viley, who liad been raised in Kemper County, 
shot and kiUed, in the streets of De Kalb, a young man by 
the name of Dabbs, a clerk of Jolin \V. Gully, lliley lied 
from justice and took refuge somewliere in Tennessee, 
ile was a desi)eratc character, and Chisobn and Gilmer 
now, no doubt, sought for and succeeded in ascertaining 
his whereabouts. 

In the meantime (jilmer had been arrested and turned 



KEMPEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 293 

over to the authorities of the State of Missouri for ob- 
taining goods in St. Louis under false pretences, the par- 
ticuhirs of wliich have already been rehited. Chisolm went 
up afterwards and succeeded in procuring bail for hiui. 
Aiter this Chisolm returned, but Gilmer yet remained 
away. He, however, returned also in about a week after- 
ward 5 and, on tlie night of Gilmer's return, Walter Eiley 
was seen for the first time in the neighborhood of De Kalb. 
When Cliisolm came back alone, he was asked why Gilmer 
did not return with him, to which he rei)lied that some one 
in Do Kalb had written a letter to the parties who were 
prosecuting Gilmer in St. Louis, and that Gilmer was re- 
maining there for the purpose of ascertaining, if possible, 
its author, and that it would not bo good for the x>ersou 
who wrote it should he succeed. 

On the next day after Gilmer's return, and the appear- 
ance of Walter liiley, John W. Gully, Avhile returning lato 
in the evening to his home, about a mile and a half from his 
place of business in De Kalb, was shot with a load of buck 
shot and instautly killed, by some one who had concealed 
himself in a cluster of bushes immediately on the edge 
of the road. Gully fell dead from his horse, and the re- 
port of the gun gave the alarm to his family. Upon which, 
his wife seated hersell' at a window, and eagerly watched 
the road for the coming of her husband. This, she stated 
to the writer, she had been accustomed to do whenever she 
heard a guu fire in the neighborhood, since the first at- 
tempt was made to assassinate him ; and when, on this oc- 
casion, she heard the report of the gun, she had a presenti- 
ment of what had occurred, and her heart sauk within her 
bosom as heavily as if she was already standing over the 
cold, mangled body of her murdered husband. 

When the body of the murdered man was reached it was 
lying in the road, and his monej", hat and boots had been 
carried away by the assassin. So clovse was the muzzle of 
the guu that his face and neck, where the shot entered, 
were blackened by the powder. 

The news of this terrible deed spread rapidly over the 



294 IvEMiPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

couiify, carrying horror and consternation to the bosom 
of cver^' citizen. 

Never, perliaps, in the history of any people was there 
such intense excitement as in the County of Kemper at 
this time, and rumors of all sorts Hew thick and fast. At 
first, all conjecture was centred upon Ben Hush, who, it 
was reported, had suddenly returned to tlie county, and 
had accomplished what he had before attempted. 

The news Hew from mouth to mouth that there was posi- 
tive evidence that Ohisolm and Gilmer were parties to the 
crime. 

So g-reat and so general was the belief that the deed was 
compassed by them, either directly or indirectly, that it 
Avas impossible for the minds of men to be drawn into 
any other channel. 

They had witnessed for nine long years a persistent 
course of outlawry" on the part of these men, pei'hax)s 
never before practiced in any civilized community, and 
that, too, with an impunity and boldness that distanced 
every remedial clfort. Under such circumstances, to parry 
the suspicion that they were, too, the authors of this deed, 
was out of the question. The calmest conjecture pointed 
at them the finger of guilt. 

On Saturday, the 2<Sth of Ai)ril, John \V. Gully was laid 
away in his linal resting place, in a church yai'd a few 
miles from l)e Kalb. It was the wish and intention of 
the masons to bury him with the forms and ceremonies of 
that order, of which he had long been a prominent and 
brilliant member, but, owing to the absence of the master 
and other ollicers of the lodge, these ceremonies were post- 
l)oned. 

There were between two hundred and fifty and three 
liundred men, from all parts of the county, at the burial. 
Strong men were seen to weep as they looked down into 
that grave, and all were silent and wrapped in moody re- 
tlcclion. Their symi)atliy, their sorrow, and their fears all 
combined to cast a ])all of gloom over the scene and depict 
a deep cast of anxious thought on every brow. The tor- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED/ 295 

riblo scenes and incidents of the past wrought tbemselvos 
up afresli in their memory, and then, blending with the 
frightful visions of tlie future, weighed like an incubus of 
horror upon their hearts. They had witnessed scenes in 
their county, of which these men had been the chief actors, 
that eclipsed, in glaring villanies, those of the Murrell and 
Copelaud clans. They had seen robberies and forgeries in 
the open day light, and murders and assassinations be- 
neath the curtains of the night. They had known the 
lauds — the very homes of hard working and honest men 
and helpless women — of vridows and orphans, upon which 
the taxes had been regularly paid, and for which they held 
the receipt of Chisolm, struck off to the State, and the 
title remain for years alienated without their knowledge, 
while their hard earned money had gone into the pockets 
of Chisolm and his associates. They had seen more than 
a hundred thousand acres of their lands seized, and then 
every means of support swept away by the enormous taxes 
which the dishonesty and cupidity of these men had 
caused to be heaped upon them. 

Yet all this they had borne and might still have borne 
with ])atience. They might endure with stoic composure, 
while their pockets only were pierced by the lingers of 
dishonesty and tlieft, but when they saw the dagger of the 
assassin thrust into the hearts of their best citizeus, their 
blood staining the altars of revenge and trickling along 
the path of ])ersonal ambition, it would have been less 
than human had they not awakened to a sense of their 
woes. They had witnessed the murder of Ball, in 18G0, 
attended by circumstances the most atrocious. His house 
was surrounded in the dark hours of night, when he and 
liis familj^ were in bed, at a time when sleep is sweet to 
those whose necessities compel them to labor through the 
hours of the day. His assailants, without giving the least 
warning, began their assault, and fired their guns into the 
windows of his dwelling. His walcing thoughts divined 
the murderous intent. No time was to be lost. It was 
death to remain with his family, and yet almost certain. 



29G icEMPEii cou^;ty vindicated. 

dcatli to attempt bis cscajie. . His wife clung to liiiu with 
all the strength of woman's love and woman's fear. Should 
lie fly and leave her and his little children to the mercy of 
the murderers? Their loud curses told him that he alom^ 
M'as (lie victim sought. The oidy gleam of hope hovered 
around an efibrt to escape. IJe leaped from a window, 
,iud, passing his assailants, was snaking his way to a 
neigliboring forest. lie was discovered, ])ursued, ami bar- 
barously butchered. Yet he did not die iuunediately. lie 
recognized the murderers to be some negroes Mho were 
well known to be warm adherents and tools of Cliisolm. 
A short time before this, Ball had attacked Chisolm in the 
road, the circumstances of which have already been re- 
lated. 

The proof against this negro was ample, and corrobo- 
rated by the dying declarations of Ball. Yet, as has been 
seen, one of them was aided by Chisolm to escape, and the 
other acquitted througli his inlluence. 

In 1870, Sam Gully was shot and killed by Ben Bush, in 
the streets of De Kalb. He had deliberately armed him- 
self ibr the purpose, and waylaid the intended victim, who 
was in company with his brotlier Sam. Tor this he was ac- 
quitted through Chisolm's inllueiu;e. 

In 1871, Hal Dawson was enticed by Gilmer into his 
store, where he was shot and killed by J)avis, and after he 
had fallen down dead, Gilmer walked up and shot two 
balls through his head. Chisolm, who was sheriff of the 
county, notoriously protected the crimiimls, and shielded 
them from the arms of the law. Gilmer, after this circum- 
stance, became the intimate friend and companion of 
Chisoljn, and was rewarded by a seat in the State sen- 
ate. They ever afterward were joint workers in all their 
crimes and iniquities. 

In order, however, to promote Gilmer to the State sen- 
ate for his services, it was necessary to get rid oi" (lambril, 
a Xortiiern school teacher, who now held that position, and 
had refused to become an accomi)lice in their villanies. 
For this reason Chisolm desired to get rid of him, and to 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 297 

place liis more obsequious and ready tool, Gilmer, in that 
position. To dis])0se of Gambril was a matter of but little 
moment. He was attacked and killed by a negro a short 
time afterward. 

They had seen Floyd killed by a liired assassin in his 
own store, in 1871, and Chisolm, as sheriff, permit the 
murderer, who had been arrested, to make his escape, and 
even aid him in doing so. They had seen Bob Dabbs, 
a clerk of John W. Gully, waylaid and killed in the streets 
of De Kalb by a clansnian of Chisolm, and the same hand 
tliat laid the corpse before them low. They had seen John 
W. Gully, a short time before, shot by " some one in hid- 
ing by the road side," and wliom he recognized to be Chis- 
olm's right hand man, Ben Hush, who immediately iled 
from the county ; and now, to this list was to be added the 
man whose mangled body they were now committing to 
the tomb. 

Their minds, after wandering back through all this 
bloody panorama of crime, returned laden with horror to 
the contemplation of the murder of one whom they loved, 
as the leader in the lodge, and the grange; their chosen 
leader in their eftbrts to throw off" the oppressive yoke 
which these men had fastened upon them, and Avho was 
ever foremost in every enterprise for the public good. In 
addition to this, another thought naturally arose: if these 
parties were guilty, of which no one had a doubt, " could 
they be reached by the law ?" It is true, the courts and the 
administration of justice are in the hands of the citizens, 
yet, will they not be rescued or screened by their clans- 
men ? For ten long years Chisolm and his clan had done 
what they pleased with impunity; they had pursued their 
high handed and lawless career unchecked, and apparently 
beyond the reach of all human laws. He had threatened, 
repeatedly of late, that he would make the people of Kem- 
per County feel him yet, and it seemed that his threat 
was to be made good, and to what extent was now the im- 
l)ortautquestion. Hence, it is no wonder the inquiry should 
arise in every one's uiiud, " Who will be the next victiui f 



29S KEMPEll COUNTY VINDICATED. 

The writer is infonncd by many of the i)roniiueiit nicit of 
the county that, Icnowini;- th(; character of Chisolin, and 
the threats ho had publicly made, when they heard of the 
first attem[)t to assassinate Gully, they felt sincerely that 
they, too, would fall victims to the assassin's stroke ; and 
their uneasiness in this respect became manifest to their 
families and friends, who shared in the same painful fore- 
bodings. 

Jt was a liorrible and maddening thought, and one whicli 
seemed to prey ui)on the minds of all who stood that day 
beside the grave of John AV. Gully. The very repetition of' 
tlio attempt demonstrated a determiuatiou and earnestness 
which added to the general alarm. 

AVhen the last clod had been heaped upon the body of 
the unfortunate man, amid the farewell sobs of the heart 
broken widow, the crowd slowly and silently dispersed. 

In the meantime, it was rumored that Ben Hush had 
been seen in the neighborhood the day before the assassi- 
nation, and if so, as a uuitter of course, suspicion woukl 
attach, lirst of all, to him as the perpetrator of the terrible 
deed. 

In consequence of this, aud prompted by their own be- 
lief, and the universal opinion of the citizens, some of the 
relatives and friends of Gully proceeded to make the fol- 
lowing usual afliidavit before Captain J. L. S[)inks, who 
presided in another beat of the county, but who happeneil 
to be in Do Kalb that day on business, T. W. Brame, Esq., 
the Justice of that beat, being absent. 

APFIDAVIT. 

'' State of Mississim, ) 
Kemper County. ] 

• " Before me, J. L. Spinks, a Justice of the peace, in and 
for said county, ])ersonally came George S. Covert, who 
stated, uixMi oath, that he has good reason to believe, and 
does believe, that B. F. Rush did, on the night of the 2Gtli 
instant, in said county, feloniously kill and murder John \V. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 299 

Gully, and that W. W. Chisolin, Alexander Hopper, New- 
ton Ilopper, J. P. Gilmer, and Chnrlie llosenbauni were 
accessories to the deed ; whereu[)on he prays that warrants 
be issued for their arrest, and tiiey be made to answer the 
charges brought against them. 

" (Signed.) George S. Coyert. 

" Sworn to and subscribed ) 
before me, April 28, 1877. ( 

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

^' Witnesses. ~3. J. Griffin, S. Evans, Esq., John W. 
Smith, J. E. Smilh, Dr. Edwards, M. Eosenbaum.'-* 

It will no doubt be amusing to those who have any 
knowledge of the law, to leurn that Wells devotes a vhole 
l)age in endeavoring lo i)resent what he considers a Ua- 
grantfact, that tliese witiuisses afterward declared that they 
knevv' nothing about the nmtter, nnd that their names were 
set down as witnesses without their knowledge and con- 
sent. I dare snv that it is the last instance on record where 
it is contended that the consent of witnesses must be ob- 
tained before they can bo summT)ned to testily in a cause 
in court. 

" State op jMississippi, ) 
Kemper Count ij. ] ' 

" To the sheriff or any constable in said county, greeting : 

" Whereas, George S. Covert has this day made com- 
idaint, on oath, to the undersigned, a justice of the peace 
iu and for said county, that he has good reason to believe, 
and does believe, that B. F. Eush did, on the night of the 
2Gth instant, kill and murder John W. Gully in said county, 
and that Yv''. W. Chisolm, Alexander Hopper, !Newton Hop- 
per, J. P. Gilmer and Charlie Posenbaum were accessories 
to the deed. Wherefore, wo command you to forthwith ap- 
preliend the said B. E. Push, W. W. Chisolm, Alexander 
Hopper, Newton Hopper, J. P. Gilmer and Charlie Kosen- 
baiim, the accused, and bring thenj before T. W, Brame, 



oOO KEiU»ER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Esq., or some other justice of the peace of said county, at 
De Kalb, on Monday, the 30th day of April, 1877, to an- 
swer the above eharii,e, and do or receive what, accordin.i;- 
to law, may be considered touching the same, aud have you 
then and there this writ. 

" Witness my hand and seal, April 28, 1877. 

" (Signed.) J. L. Spinks, J. P." [seal.] 

This warrant was duly executed, and the parties named 
therein arrested according to law. It may be observed that 
the atliant, George S. Covert, was a nephew of John W. 
Gully by marriage, and seems to have been the only one of 
the immediate family not so overwhelmed with grief and 
horror stricken but that he had the presence of nnnd to 
take the above legal steps. 

In the meantime the news of the murder of Gully, the 
reappearance of Knsh, and the general belief of the guilt 
of Chisolm and his clan, had si)read over the county; 
and so great was the shock and alarm that men seized 
their guns and hastened to Dc Kalb to aid, if necessary, 
in the arrest of the clan, and in bringing them to Jus- 
tice. All Saturday nighfe and late Sunday morning, they 
continued to come in from different parts of the county. 
They well knew that the sherill" would not bo able to 
arrest them without a strong i)osse, and not even then 
without bloodshed, should they be ajjprised of the war- 
rant, and allowed time to assemble. Ilence, there was 
a necessity for haste and caution on tlie part of the sherilV. 
To these apprehensions Wells adds what confirmation he 
is capable of, in the following words: "Jf by anj-^ means 
Chisolm should become ai)i)iised of their i)urpose before 
his arrest and continemcnt had been ac(;omplished, they 
well knew he Avould call around him again, as in times 
past, a few devoted aud heroic men, upon whom an assault 
could only bo carried at a most alarming sacrifice to the 
assailants." This was well known lliroughout the county, 
and by noon on Sunday, the liDth of April, a large crowd 
of armed men had assembled at Dc Kalb for the purpose 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. oOi 

of preventing the alarming sacrifice that might otherwise 
attend any attempt to enforce the law against these men. 

Early on Sunday morning, Alexander Hopper and his 
brother lISTewton were arrested at the residence of the 
former, about a mile from the village, and placed under 
guard. The sheriff then proceeded with his posse to 
Chisolm's house and arrested him, and, at his request, the 
sheriff permitted him to remain there, together with tlie 
two Hoppers, having placed a guard over them, composed 
of persons whom Chisolm himself named. But, owing to 
the excitement manifested by the crowd, the shcrifi' thought 
it best to remove them to the jail, which, in a short time, 
he did ; and a deputy was dispatched to Scooba for Gilmer 
and Rosenbaum. Yet, notwithstanding the dispatch and 
caution exercised, they made an attempt to rally the clan. 
Hopper, on being arrested, under the pretence of finishing 
his breakfast, wrote a note and sent it by a negro to 
Chisolm, informing him of the proceedings; and Chisolm, 
while under guard in his house, caused a note to be con- 
veyed to Gilmer and Eosenbaum at Scooba. Gilmer and 
Eosenbaum, on receiving the note sent by Chisolm, set out 
immcdiatelj" for De Kalb. They were met on the way by 
the young man, Mr. John Pool, who was bearing the war- 
rant for tlieir arrest to the marshal of Scooba, who was 
deputized by the sheriff to make the arrest. They pro- 
ceeded to De Kalb, where, on their arrival, and hearing the 
situation, they repaired to the house of Roscnbaum's father. 
Here they were soon arrested by a special deputy. But 
this attempt to gather the clan was thwarted by the prompt 
action of the sheriff and his deputy. In the meantime, 
Chisolm's horse was brought out and saddled, for the pur- 
pose of making his escape through the back way to the 
house; but, as the crowd had now surrounded the premises, 
this design, too, M'as frustrated. 

In the Chisolm house there is a small closet, the 
low upper ceiling of whicli forms a trap door, which, 
on being pushed with the hand, opens into the garret 
above. This arrangement was, no doubt, designed by 
Chisolm as a means of escape in case of his being attacked, 



302 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

which his many ciimcs, no doubt, caused hiiu constantly 
to apprehend. In this closet he kept his guns and his 
armor. Through this aperture Chisolm's wife, accordini;- 
to Wells, and he doubtlessly received his information 
from her, persuaded her husband, x)rior to his being car- 
ried to jail, to take refuge, and that she would hand np 
his guns, with which he could play sad havoc with the 
heads of those who dared to intrude. This Chisolm 
declined doing, through fear that the house in that case 
migiit be tired. However this may have been, the wiiter? 
after a careful examination, could divine no other pitrpose 
of the construction of this trap door leading from this little 
closet into the low attic, than that to which his wife now 
desired that he should devote it. 

It becomes necessary now to introduce a person to whom 
a casual reference has been already made, and who, at 
this time, becomes a prominent iigure in this narrative. 
Angus McLelland was a Scotchman, and said to be a sub- 
ject of Great Britain, but had for some time resided iu Do 
Kalb, in the cn])acity of a blacksmith and job worker. He 
is said to have been a man of very e(;('entric habits, and 
associated but little v.ith any one in the village, and? 
although nsuidly oi" ({uiet demeanor, he was known to be a 
desperate man when aroused. 

This man, Cliisolm, by some means, succeeded in enlist- 
ing in his clan, though JMcLclland had never before taken 
any interest in i)olitics, and claiming to be yet a J3ritish sub- 
ject, had never demanded even the right to vote. Lie Avas 
a man of silence and daring, and of unswerving lidelity. 
Chisolm had gained his friendsliip, and it)und him an obse- 
quious coadjutor in all his schemes. On learning that 
Chisolm was arrested, this man left his mill and went to 
his aid, and when he was marched off to jail, McLelland 
seized Clay Chisolm's gun, and followed him. JMrs. Chisolm 
and her daughter, and her three sons, Clay and John and 
Willie, all went along with ("hisolm and the two IIopi)ers 
to the jail, and when they n-ached there, notwithstanding 
the remonstraiicti of the sheriif, they all entered, and were 
lockctl up together. 



KEMPEK COUNTY VINDICATED. ' 303 



CHAPTER XII. 

The defiant bearing of Cliisolni during all this time was 
not at all calculated to allay the intense and growing 
excitement of the people. As men recalled to each other's 
memory the dark days tlirough which they had passed, the 
terrible crimes that had been committed in their midst, and 
of which they fully believed these men to have been the 
iiistigiitors, if not the guilty perpetrators, and the success 
with whicii they had heretofore baffled and escaped all law 
and justice, an ominous murmur of bitter indignation ran 
along the street, Avhile the relatives and friends of the mur- 
dered men grew pale with frenzy, and became clamorons 
for immediate retribution. 

Just at this time the deputy sheriff came along the street, 
having in custody Gilmer and Eosenbaum. On seeing 
these men, the crowd grew more furious, and a gun was 
lired that sent a load of shot through the body of Gilmer. 
He ran through a narrow alley and fell, and was then shot 
twice more, this time with a pistol which sent two balls 
through his head, and wonderful to tell, they entered in 
almost identically the same manner as those he had shot 
througli the head of Hal Dawson under similar circum- 
stances. The coincidence was indeed a striking one, but it 
could not relieve the horror of the deed ; nothing could do 
that, save that deep sense of wrong which spurns all reflec- 
tion and brooks no restraint. And here the writer will 
take occasion to state that it is not his purpose to attempt 
to Justify or even to palliate the exercise of mob law under 
ordinary circumstances. Its i)rinciples he condemns; but 
he does contend, and the voice of history proclaims it, that 
there ai'C occasions in the affairs of men when the dilatory 
foriris and ceremonies of the written law, with its frequent 
uncertainties, are totally inadequate to satisiy the demands 
of justice. In such cases there is no other satisfactory 
rcmcdv but a resort to that higher unwritten law which has 



oOl KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

its sanction in the universal sentiment of society. It is a 
part of the hiw of self (lefence, wiiich belongs alike to 
nations, commnnities and individnals. 

These men liad long been a curse to society, not simply 
theoretically and sentimentally so, but actually and prac- 
lically so in a \voel'ul experience. To such extent was this 
the case, that every feeling of hope, every suggestion ot 
l)rogress, and every promise of prosperitj'^ constantly bred 
the aggravating thought — " If it were not for Chisolm and 
Gilmer." Such a state of public feeling was ill lifted to 
bear the shock which these terrible spectres of blood pre- 
sented, and to which were now added individual fear and 
personal anxitily. These general sentiments, added to the 
feelings of grief and revenge naturally entertained by the 
friends and relations of the murdered men, all conspired to 
produce the terrible events of the 21)th of April. And that 
no merely jiolitical animosity could penetrate or reach that 
intense combination of more serious considerations by 
Avhich these people were that day actuated, is manifest 
from the fact that liosenbaum, who was in company with 
Gilmer, and the Hoppers, all bitter radicals, escaped un- 
liarmed. 

After Gilmer was killed, the dei)uty sheriff proceeded 
with Uoscnbaum through the midst of the crowd to the 
jail, and thcne locked him up with the other prisoners. 
Upon this there was a seeming lull, but it was the ominous 
calm that precedes the storm. Men were seen in groups 
here and there, either wrapped in silent meditation or con- 
versing in low nnd portentous tones. But, just here, Wells 
comes to the rescue of the chain of events, aiul describes 
the terrible beating and hanging of two negroes, of which 
lie has, in addition, given his readers a thrilling engraving. 
In this connection, he says: "The two negroes, who were 
reported to have seen Chisolm and Hush in their myste- 
rious nightly vigils, when concocting the scheme of nuirder, 
Avere to be com])elled so to testify ; and, now, that the con- 
hueiiKMit of .ludge (/hisolm and his friends i>r{>V('iite<l the 
possibility of interference on their part. Fox and lIani[>ton, 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 305 

the pretended colored witnesses, were taken into a wood 
near by and himg by the neck, for the pnrpose of forcin^i? 
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." So says Wells. Now, 
let ns see what one of these negroes (the other is not now 
in the county) has to say about the matter. George Fox, 
who is here represented to have been heafen nearly to death 
and then Imng, now lives a few miles from De Kalb, and on 
hearing of the picture Wells has given of his having been 
hung, not long since visited the writer in his room, and do- 
sired to see the picture, which, on being shown him, with 
a broad contemptuous grin, and with his eyes dilated with 
amazement, he exclaimed with indignation : " Dat's all a 
lie !" Ho then stated to the writer that when the sheriif 
and his posse went to Ohisolm's house to arrest him, ho 
and Dee Hampton happened to be there, and that someone 
inquired of them what they were doing there at that early 
hour, and upon this a young man who lives in tlie same 
neighborhood with him, whom he knew well, approached 
with a piece of bridle rein in his hand, and, shaking it at 
him, or, throwing it over his shoulder, said, in a jocular 
manner: "If you don't tell the truth, we'll hang you;" 
and that this was all that occurred, and all that was said 
to them on the occasion, and the only beating and hanging 
they have ever suffered. To this he offered to make his 
affidavit before any officer, which the writer deemed un- 
necessary. 

In the meantime, the old Scotchman, McLelland, had en- 
tered the jail, armed with the gun which he had brought 
from Chisolm's house, and volunteered to be one of the 
guard, and frequently remarked to Chisolm that they 
ought to fight it out, and proposed to the guard to fire on 
the crowd from the windows ; and when he heard that 
Gilmer was killed, he went down into the hall, on the 
lower iloor of the jail, having a large navy pistol fastened 

20 



300 KEMl'ER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

around Lis person, and told the guard, wliicli was con- 
voyed to the people, that for every one of the clan that 
■was killed, two of theru sliould bite the dust. The sheritT, 
observing the feeling whicli these remarks were kindling 
against him, approaithed. and advised him to go away, 
telling liim that his language and conduct were i)lacing 
him in danger, and several others did the same. Jle took 
no heed of the warning, but Vvcnt outside of the jail, and 
into the nndst of tlie crowd. Then, passing arouiul to the 
rear of the building, he was shot and killed, with his pistol 
half drawn from its sheath. 

This circumstance caused anotlier violent outburst of ex- 
citement, and but for which it is doubtful whether any one 
but Gilmer would have lallen on tiiat day. 

What it was that JMcLelland said or did at that moment 
to provoke the fatal shot, or who of the large crowd lired 
the gun, Avould, ])erhai)S, have remained unknown had it 
not been for Wells, who says that Mrs. Chisolm, who had 
gone back to water the stock, saw two of the Gullys, from 
her gate, two hundred yards away, in the act of shooting 
him. 

This was surely a diflicult feat, to recognize at that dis- 
tance tlie two Gnllijs in a dense crowd of, i)erha|)s, more 
than a humlred persons, but it seems to have suittnl Wells 
best that it shouhl ha\e been doiu! by some of the Gidlijs. 
in the meantime .Miss Chisolm, according to Wells, was 
standing at a window above making the following taunt- 
ing a[)peal to the multitude below : " Oh ! why do you do my 
])apa so bad 'i lie never has harmed any one in his life, 
much less any of you, so many of whom have taken food 
from his hand !" This taunting (piestion, however, if it 
did not reach the chord of mercy, gave Wells the oppor- 
tunity of making the following reply: " him !'" 

exclaimed Hill (rully, who stood Ixdow, with a gun on his 
back'. "We'll do him worse than that!'' Thus it seems 
that ncilhci' th<^ visage noi' the xoice of a (lully could be, 
dimmed or drown(Ml by either distance or din. ]5elbre the 
Icilling of i\lcLelland, iMiss Ciiisolm had [)assed out of the 
jail and on to tin; house, whence she soon returned \\ith a 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 307 

supply of aniinimition, bidden bencatli the folds of her 
skirts. This was, at least, a heroic act on the part of the 
young" lad^', and her filial devotion and constancy through- 
out the wljole terrible scene entitles her to admiration, and 
]ier memory to more tender treatment than it has some- 
times, as we have seen, received at the liands of Wells. 

The excitement occasioned by the shooting of JMcLelland, 
caused a rush to be made toward the upper story of tiie 
jail, where the prisoners were conlined, and a crowd, 
lieaded by Dr. Kosser, ascended the steps. It must be re- 
membered that, although there was a large crowd of per- 
sons present, but few, comparatively, participated in the 
attack. There were a great many persons present who did 
not go near the jail at all, but there was a general indiffer- 
ence as to what the more furious might do. 

In order that the reader may have a full comprehension 
of the event which is about to be described, it becomes 
necessary llrst to describe the construction of the jail 
building. It is a small, nearly square building, containing 
an upper and lower a|)artment. The cages and cells arc 
all situated on the upper lloor, in the form of a square 
room, so conforming to the main room as to leave a [)assage 
way around it. The ascent to this lloor consists of a nar- 
row and winding lliglit of stev)S. This stairway is entered 
by a strong door, and there is another door at the head of 
the steps, opening into the jail room proper. From the 
entrance of this door there is a sudden turn to the left, 
leading down a narrow i)assage, between the staircase and 
the inner room, containing the cages, into the open pas- 
sage way on the other side, where Chisolm and the prisoners 
Avere standing. The guns left by the guard, all but two of 
whom retired as soon as the mob began to ascend the 
steps, were standing just around the corner and against 
the inner room. It was at the further end of this narrow 
passage, and near these guns, that Cliisolm took his posi- 
tion when the attack was made. Here he stood, with gun 
in hand, while Kosenbaum and the Hoppers, with the re- 
maining guards, retired to the other side of and behind 
the inner room. 



308 



KEMPEll COUNTY VINDICATED. 



Tlic following diagrams show the aiTangcincnt of tho 
floors of the rooms and the positions of the parties. 

PLAN OF THE UPPER FLOOR. 




PLAN OF TUE LOWER FLOOR. 



0^ 



A Position of Eosscr when he was Icilled. 

C Position of Cliisolni. 

B Jolinnio Chisolin, killed by Kosscr. 

D Guns ol'tlu- iru.'ifd-<, stacked aijainst tho wall. 

E Tlie Hoppers, Kosenhauin and tho two guards. 

F Mrs. and Miss Chisolin. 

Position ol" Cliisolni when shot. 

P Place where ChLsolin fill. 



KEM1T.R COUNTY VINDICATED. 309 

Whcu Eosscr, at tlje van of tbe attaclving party, entered 
the jail room and readied the position marked A in the 
diagram, lie and Chisolm, who was standing at the point 
O, lired almost simultaneonsly, Chisolm's shot tearing 
away the fore part of Eosser's head, and Eosser's taking ef- 
fect in the body of the little boy, Johnnie Chisolm, wlio was 
standing close by, and a little in front of his father, some 
of the shot piercing his wrist, which was extended across 
his breast. The dead body of Eosser was then drawn to 
the door and carried down the steps ; on seeing which, 
some of the dead man's friends in the hall below cried ont, 
" Fire the jail!" At this Chisolm seized a loaded gnn and 
descended the steps, his wife and daughter accompanying 
liim, the latter immediately behind, with one arm thrown 
around him. On reaching the lower steps leading into the 
hall, two more shots were fired by Chisolm, one of whicli 
lodged in the ni)per facing of the hall door, and the other 
passed through into the street. Chisolm was then shot, 
the same shot also striking the bracelet on the arm of the 
young lady, which was extended around in front of her 
father, shattering it and burying some of the fragments in 
the tlesh. Chisolm now sank down on the floor of the hall, 
and the crowd retired from the building. Some of the mob 
then aided in carrying the bodies of Chisolm and the 
little boy home, and there was no disposition manifested to 
do Chisolm any further harm, but that, on some one 
exclaiming that Chisolm was not hurt, a few persons fol- 
lowed on as if led by curiosity ; and on their overtaking 
him. Miss Chisolm, who was walking behind her father, 
turned and told them that they need not shoot any more, 
that her father was dead. The mob seemed to be satisfied, 
save that there was a general manifestation of horror at 
the unfortunate death of the little bo}^, and the wounding 
of the young lady. 

That there were desperate men there, is not to be denied, 
and that in their maddened desperation, they were utterly 
reckless is too true ; yet it is universally conceded that 
there was not an individual in all that throng who would 



310 KEMPER COITNTY VINDICATED. 

have wilfully hurt a hair upon the head of the lady or the 
little boy. In his description of tliis sufliciently thrilling' 
and horrifying" scene, Wells could not lind satislactio)i 
without the concoction of a rigmarole about the little boy 
first having his wrist torn away, and in that condition at- 
tempting to bar the door against the assailants, all of which 
is without fouiulatiou in fact, as it is testified, uuaniinously, 
by all wlio witnessed those terrible scenes, and by all who 
examined the body, that the snnie shot that pierced the 
boj^'s wrist entered his breast, causing instant death. But 
his details of the wounding of the young lady were more 
truthful: "In addition to the wounds made by the shat- 
tered fragments of her bracelet, she received several shot 
in her leg, and her face was somewhat bruised by the 
splinters of the glancing shot; and the shot in her leg 
seems to have been of the same character. None of her 
wounds were considered dangerous. Indeed, it was some 
time before she seemed to be aware of any, except that in 
her arm." 

"When tlioy who bore Chisolm away reached his house, 
they found the doors all locked, and in the confusion the 
keys had been mislaid. Upon this, some one entered 
through a back window and opened the doors. Yet 
AYells, in order, as he conceived, to add more horror to 
the circumstances, says that Chisolm was dragged into 
the house tlirough a small back window. This, Doctor 
IMcClanahan, the nearest n(Mghl»or, friend and family i)hy- 
sician of the Cliisolins, and wlio entered the Isouse with 
tliem, as did many others, informs the writer is uttei-ly 
false, but that he was carried in at the front door, which 
had been thrown open as stated. If Wells' story were 
true, it would bespeak an unj)ardonable degree of crimi- 
nality on the part of his wile and other personal friends 
who were present, especially when it was so easy to have 
broken the fragile locks on the batten doors of the 
dwelling, and it would have mailed the heroic ])art \\'ells 
assigns her in the tragedy. AVhile it is not to be denied 
that the conduct of ]\Iiss Chisolm was, throughout the 



KEMPER COUNTY VmDICATED. 311 

wliole aifair, sublimely heroic, Wells again couies to tlio 
rescue of the old lady, whom he this tiuie seeks also to 
cloak Avitli the special intoipositioii of Piovideuce. Be 
says : " While Mrs. Chisolm was stniggliug with the mob 
at the outside entrance, Bill Gully came up and deliber- 
ately 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 stairs 
by her husband, and discharged both barrels at Gully. 
The wadding struck him full in the breast and fell harm- 
less to the ground." 

This seems to have been an interposition of Providence 
in behalf of a terrible Gully ! Yet Wells is not willing 
that it should be so construed, and soon finds a way out 
of the dilemma. He adds that the sheriff had loaded the 
gun with a blank cartridge. Whetlier it was the work of 
the sheriff, bad marksmanship, or Providence, if Wells 
desired to make her a Juan, a Judith, or an Artemisia, it 
is a pity that he did not choose a more plausible method. 

While the writer would not add one pang to the heart 
of the unfortunate woman, yet, when she is thus dragged 
into circumstances iashioned for the twofold purpose of 
slander and gain, he can but remember that he has en- 
gaged in the cause of truth, and if in casting about for 
Aveapons in its defence, he indulges in conscientious re- 
llections, all he can say is that he regrets that the biog- 
rapher of her husband should have thus drawn her within 
the pale of his misrepresentations. 

In the meantime a new light gleamed along the pall 
draped horizon of the Chisolm family. It was the star 
of martyrdom, wliich arose with the advent of J. M. 
Wells into the circle of the afflicted family. A telegram 
was sent to Meridian for him, and then, from the moment 
of his arrival, began that self ostracism which Mrs. 
Chisolm so strenuously maintained during all her trials. 
From that monicnt every advance of sympathy and offer 
of aid were contemptuously and insultingly spurned. Soon 
after the arrival of Wells, some ladies, who now live in Do 



312 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Kalb, mid who related the circainstancc to tlic writer, 
went with the kindest feelings of sympathy to the Chisolni 
residence to tender their condolence to the family. On 
reaching the gate, which is but a short distance from the 
door, Mrs. Obisolm made her appearance on the portico, 
Aviiere Wells was then sitting, and cried out in a loud and 
angry Yoice, " Turn those people back. Don't let the 
murderers enter my gate." This treatment of these ladies 
deterred others from going there, and from this time the 
Chisolms, as a matter of course, received but little attention. 
They all knew the character and disposition of Mrs. Chis- 
olm, and they were afraid to visit her. Thus it will bo 
seen that if the ladies of De Kalb did not visit the Chisolni 
family during their affliction, they had every reason for 
their course that propriety could suggest or humanity de- 
mand; notwithstanding, Wells has the assurance to charge 
them with a want of common womanly sympathy. A young- 
lady, whom the writer knows well, a bright model of noble- 
ness, tenderjiess and afl'ection, under whose mother's roof 
this book is being written, and who was a former school- 
mate and friend of Miss Chisolm, and who, in the sim- 
plicity of her pure heart, manifested her tenderness for 
her memory by imploring the writer to speak of her in 
none but the highest terms, says that the open and violent 
hostility of Mrs. Chisolm to all Democratic ladies deterred 
her from visiting her friend during her sufferings. 

One of the pastors ol' the cliurches at De Kalb, the Rev. 
]\rr. Ijovc, who is well known to be a man of exemplary 
piety and kindness of heart, in answer to a question asked 
by the writer, said that his reasons for not visiting them 
were that, on former occasions of distress in the family, ho 
had been especially invited, and that he cheerfully reiulered 
his services, and on his not receiving any invitation during 
this time, and hearing of the conduct of Mrs. Chisolm to- 
wai'd otliers, he concluded that his services were not de- 
sired and would not be agreeable. 

2s'o sooner did Wells enter the Chisolm household, where 
he took uj) his abode, than, bereft of his former occupation, 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 313 

every feature of raartyrdom was eagerly soiigbt for, in- 
vented and garnered up for the joint purpose of revenge 
tlnd speculation, iioni Avliicli originated Lis " Cbisolia 
Massacre." 

During this time the family were attended by Dr. Kline, 
of Meridian, a gentleman ot conscientious character, and 
eminent in his profession, and though he could only visit 
them at intervals, from such a distance, they received the 
best attention possible under the cii^cumstances. Although 
there was not the least foundation for apprehending any 
further harm, the following absurd proposition was made 
to the governor of the State, dictated by Wells, and 
Shauglmessy, who had lately- arrived from Jackson, re- 
turned as bearer of the appeal : 

''To Hon. J. M. Stone, Governor of Mississipin. 

" Sir : Believing you to be humane, and desirous of pre- 
venting the needless effusion of blood, I most humbly and 
respectfully appeal to you for aid in i>rotecting 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 Captain ]\I. Shaughnessy, of Jackson, be authorized 
to raise a body of men sufhciently large to protect and 
remove us to some place of safety. 

" Kespectfully, 

Mrs. W. W. Chisolm." 

This letter was carried by Shaughnessy, in person, to 
Jackson, and tlience forwarded to Natchez, where the 
governor was at that time, and to which he made the fol- 
lowing reply: 

"To ]M. Shaughnessy, Jackson, Miss. : 

" I cannot consent to your proposition to go to Kemi^er 
County with a body of armed men. I will return as soon 
as possible. 

" J. M. Stone." 



314 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

This correspondence no doubt served the purpose in- 
tended. Yet i)rior to tliis the governor had visited in jier- 
son Kenijx'r County, for tlie, purpose of ascertaining tlioj 
true state ofatlairs tliere, and, it needed, of rendering sucli 
aid to the Chisolius as his presence and constitutional 
X)0\vers niiglit enable hiui to do. He found everything: 
quiet, and not tlu^. k'ast indication of any furtlier danger 
to that family, lie, however, directed tl»e sheriff to keep 
close watch and deal promptly with any demonstration 
of that character, which was all he could do unden 
color of his authority. He also ordered the sheritf to ap- 
])oint a special dei)uty to take charge of a guard to be com- 
l)0sed of such persons as the Chisolms might name, but 
this offer was spurned by them ; they wanted Shaughnessyi 
and his troop of armed men to hunt down such persons as 
they might prescribe, and not succeeding in tiiis, which its 
instigators could have had really no idea of doing, they re- 
jected, witli disdain, alike the offers of the governor and 
tlie citizens. While the administration of Governor Stono 
has been marked by an unswerving determination to en- 
tbrce the laws, within the laws, without respect to persons 
or ])arties, he was iu)t to be tweedled into transcending the 
bounds of his constitutional authority ; which authority 
had been lixed and delined by the radical party itself. 

At the time of these occurrences, the Chisolms were re- 
ceiving numerous letters of condolence from their partisan 
friends in the North, and which Wells has triumphantly 
arrayed as the rewards of " outraged innocence," one of 
which is here inserted to show the spirit of the sympathy 
afforded. The letter is given in full. 

" Pjiiladelpiiia, Ta., May 2, 1877. 
"Judge CiiiSOL>i : 

" In beliair of niysclf and follow members of o!ie of the 
niostiiillnential Keput)licaii clubs in this city, ])ermit us, one 
and all, to olliT to yourself and noble family our heartfelt, 
.sincere sympathies ill tiiis, your hour of distress. Would 
to Cod v/e could offer you material protection and eifectivo 



KEMPER COUNTY VTNDTCATED. 315 

aid ! Be of good clieer ; keep up a stout heart, and may 
heaven hear our prayers for your safety. The indi.unation 
Avith Avliicli we received the news of the murderous attack 
upon your galhmt little baud has not yet subsided, and 
were the distance not so great, you should sit beneath the 
shadow of fifteen hundred breech loading ritles (the num- 
ber of our club). Ah! 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 jof God grind slowly, 
yet they grind exceeding- small," and that the avenging 
gfoddess will, at no distant day, blot them out. The people 
here at the ]N'orth are beginning to talk as they did in 1801, 
and it is among the possible things to have " Sherman's 
march" rei)eated. If you, or any of your family, w ill com- 
uiuuicate to me a full and fearless account of the events iu 
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 will hope ibr your speedy recovery, 
and if there is any way iu which we can serve you or yours, 
do us the favor to make it knowu at once. Pardon this 
disjointed epistle, for I am laboring under some excitement 
from having- just finished the details of your martyrdom, 
W'hich will account for my rambling thoughts and tremulous 
chirograi)hy. 

"Accept again our sj'mpathies and well wishes, while 
our prayers, we trust, are registered above for you all. 
" Yours sincerely, 

V. P." 

While all these strains of sympathy for Mrs. Chisolm 
rent the Northern skies, not one kind word came from that 
quarter to soothe the bleeding heart of the widow Gully. 
The numgled body of her husbaiul was now crumbling- into 
dust, but he was only a Southern Democrat; and "the 
fewer of thi-m the better" was, no doubt, a true expression 
of that spirit which dictated this letter. 



31G KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

In tliG meantime, botli Chisolni and liis daus'li ter continued 
to grow weaker until tlie lotli of JNIay, \vlu'n Chisolni died. 
His deatli, by the advice ol" the attending physician, was 
lve])t a secret from the young' lady, who, by this time, had 
grown very feeble. Although the surgeon liad carefully 
extracted the fragments of the bracelet from her wrist, her 
ai'm was very much swollen from erysipelas, and showed 
symi)toms of gangrene, caused by the poison of the alloy 
of which her l)racelet was composed, in consequence of 
which the p])ysician,determined, on the 15th of May, two 
days after the death of her father, to i)erform a surgical 
operation. For this ])uri)ose, she was placed ])artially under 
the inlluence of chloroform, which was administered in 
small qnantities^ust enough to stupefy somewhat the sen- 
sation of pain, without perceptibly impairing her other 
sensibilities. Tiie surgeon then lanced her arm, which he 
had done before, and which had afforded her great relief; 
but she had now grown so weak, and her constitution was 
so enfeebled, that she died before the operation could be 
fully performed. It was, indeed, a horrible end, and the 
circumstances of her death will ever awaken feelings 
of sorrow and regret in the bosom of every citizen of 
Kemi)er County, and which will not be lessened by the 
fact that it Avas purely an accident; and that such was the 
case cannot be questioned by any one acipiaiuted with the 
circumstances. 

She was, indeed, a model of lilial affection, and possessed 
many qualities of mind and heart which, under more relin- 
iug iuMuences, might have constituted her a type of true 
Avomaidiood, Slie was buried by the side of her father and 
brother, on the Chisolni old place — a small, barren and 
<lilai)idated farm, about twenty miles distant from De 
]vall), but which Wells describes as " an oasis in tlie desert 
of Kemper County." Truly, a ludicrous sketch to the citi- 
zens of that neighborhood! After perusing this painful 
narrative, the reader will, no doubt, think that the facts 
furnish sufficient material for all the purposes of the tales 
of elegy, but not so with these pensioners of political 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 317 

animosity, wboso project now was to drive a profitable 
trade in the mourning weeds. To add to the liorror of the 
circumstances, they now (;liarged that the death of the 
young hidy was caused by the malpractice of the phy- 
sician, induced by political prejudices. This charge a 
leading Democratic i)aper, the Vicksburg Herald, had the 
iiuliscretion to make haste to publish, ibr which the sur- 
geon promptly instituted a libel suit in the circuit court at 
Vicksburg, and in which he has recently obtained a judg- 
ment for damages against the editor and proprietors of 
that paper. 

This disposes of another falsehood which Wells made 
one of the pillars of his rickety edifice. Yet, not satisfied 
Avith his attempts to asperse the bar, the press and the 
l>eople, he has the audacity to enter, with his polluted gar- 
ments, the very threshold of the church, to lay hold of 
the sacred altars of religion, and besmear with slander the 
robes of the ministers of the Most Migh. He says that 
" not a minister of the gospel, or a member of the congre- 
gation with which the mother and daughter worshipped, 
ever visited them or offered their services at the burials." 
AVhatever may be the custom elsewhere, it is not usual in 
Southern society for ministers of tlie gospel to perform 
either marriagci or burial ceremonies without si)ecial invita- 
tion; and the liev. Mr. Ellis, now the presiding elder at 
Meridian, who was then i>astor of the Methodist church at 
])e Kalb, of which these ladies were member*^, says that 
he did not visit them, it is true, because he was far away, 
but that he addressed a letter to IMrs. Chisolra, before the 
death of her husband and -daughter, tendering them his 
sympathy and advice, and offering to forego his duties of 
ministration and all his appointments elsewhere, and go to 
her if she desired him to do so. To this offer he received 
no reply; yet he, in company with another minister, the 
Eev. Mr. Glann, called to see her very soon after the death 
of her husband and daughter. But again Wells says : 
"After diligent inquiry, it is yet to be learned that any 
clergyman i)reachiug in De Kalb, Scooba or Meridian — all 



318 KEIMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

immediately a(ljoiniii<;- towns — lias iniblic-ly alluded to tliis 
in any way. What maybe said of the condition of society, 
which so bridles the months 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 :"' Wells surely had the opportunity of learning, 
during his residence in the South, if he ever visited the 
churches — that is, those of the white people — which is 
questionable, that it is not the custom here for '< ministers 
of the great Prince of Peace" to harangue mobs from the 
pulpit, mingle politics, free lovism and woman suifrage with 
religion, and constitute themselves censors of public policy. 
The}' do not believe that the " great Prince of Peace" set 
any such exam])le; but he can, no doubt, find all lie 
desires, in this respect, in the great bloody shirt funeral 
sermon on the death of the Chisolms, i)reached by Bisbo]^ 
Gil. Haven, of the Methodist Church, at Washington, on 
the loth of 3Iay, 1878. He will, doubtless, be i)leased with 
the picture there drawn by this oracle of the divine mind, 
and with the sentiments he there proclaims as the messenger 
of the "great Prince of Peace." lie will find there that 
the work begun at Pull Pun should be kept up so long as 
a Southern man dares to raise his hand against the villanies 
of a carpet bagger or the outrages of a radical outlaw. Ho 
Mill there learn that, if by any means they shouhl be at 
last overtaken by the liand of justice, wielded in the 
strength of despair, that the^^ will fall "martyrs to the 
declaration of independence," "to equal rights," "to the 
l)urity of the polls," and for " the preservation of the 
American nation ;" and that, like the Mahommedan, they 
will be transported forthwith to the "land of the blessed," 
where they will receive immediately the full reward of 
their sacred martyrdom ; although, like W. W. Chisolm, 
they should, in the bitterest language of profanity, scout 
every tenet of religion and spurn every message of these 
" messengers of the great Prince of Peace." Yet Bishop 
Gil. IJaveii, for one, stands ready to proclaim as one of 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 310 

tliese sacred messengers, that ^' in Christ he lived," " for 
Christ he died," " with Christ he dwells." And if this 
glowing picture needs any further coloring of the sacri- 
legious, Wells stands by ^Yith brush in hand, lie likens 
the attack upon Chisolm to that ui)on the Saviour of man- 
kind, and compares the death of his daughter and son to 
the '^ slaughter of the innocents" of Bethlehem. But 
I will leave the bishop and the carpet bagger to hold their 
faith in unity of spirit, in the bonds of slander and in 
liypocrisy of life. 

Ilowever horrifying were the details of the death of 
Chisolm and Gilmer, and however terrible were the circum- 
stances, it must be confessed that all regrets were much 
pacified by the consideration of the great change in the 
state of affairs of the county — a change which left its mark 
upon every feature and phase of societj'. Men, women and 
children could now lie down to sleep without dread of the 
assassin or the incendiary ; arms that had long been worn 
for self defence were now laid away as no longer needed, 
and a general feeling of confidence was restored between 
the two races; and in all the affairs of life men again felt 
that their lives and their property were their own. The 
county warrants, which, under the Chisolm rule, Avere as 
low^ as thirty cents on the dollar, now rai)idly advanced to 
nearly par value, and every kind of business received a 
new impetus and new encouragement throughout the 
county. 



320 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 



CnAPTEE XII I. 

It now becomes necessary to again introduce the negro 
boy, Walter lliley. It lias been already stated that, alter 
the nuirder of young Dabbs, several years before, and for 
Avhich he was indicted, he tied, and took refuge soinewhcre 
in Tennessee, and that, a few days after the return of Gil- 
mer from St. Louis, and on the night ])revious to the 
assassination of John Gully, he had been seen in the neigh- 
borhood of De Kalb. It was now ascertained that he had 
also been seen a few days after that event about Scoobii, 
and since then had been seen no more in the county. Upon 
this, a vigorous eftbrt was nuide to ascertain his place of 
abode, which proved successful; and Henry Gully pro- 
ceeded at once to Tennessee, Avhere he succeeded in arrest- 
ing and bringing him back to Kemper County. Here ho 
was immediately taken into the custody of the sherifT and 
locked up in jail. At the next term of the circuit court, 
whi(;h was in Septend)er, he was put upon trial for the 
murder of Dabbs. Tlie i)r()of against him was positive, 
and he was convicted and .sentenced to be hung; after 
which he made a full confession of this crinu^, and also of 
the assassination of John W. Gully, on the 2(;th of Ai)ril. 
The circumstances of his sudden and seciet return at that 
time, his killing of Gully and his promjtt •dei)arture from 
the county, seemed to connect him closely with the move- 
ments of Chisolm and Gilmer. The absence of the latter, 
after the former's return from St. Louis, connected with 
other circumstances, seemed to strongly indicate the proba- 
bility that Gilmer had gone after and brought him down 
■with him. In addition to this, it was also ascertained thai 
Chisolm, immediately on his return, a few days befoi v 
Gilmer, had gone to Mobde and borrowed one thousand 
dollars from the iirm of Dew & Kirksey, under the pretenc(i 
that he wanted it for the purpose of sending his son ti> 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 321 

college. Of this money, it was said that Walter Eiley Lad 
seventy-five dollars in bis pocket. Be tliis as it may, the cir- 
cumstances combined certainly atforded grounds for grave 
suspicion tbat Cbisolm and Gilmer were tlie procurers of 
tbe crime; but no confession of that character could be 
obtained from Eiley. All that could be elicited from him 
in this respect were some mysterious and guarded hints 
that he had accomplices. 

Yet there were hopes that; he would eventuall}' make a 
full confession, and clear up all the mystery connected with 
the killing of Gully. For this purpose, when the day 
arrived on which he was to have been hung, a respite was 
granted him ; still he continued obstinate and impervious 
to every importunity. He would frequently lead his inter- 
rogators to believe that he was about to divulge the whole 
matter and gratify their expectations, and then, as if in 
mockery of their anxiety, he would dash their hopes down, 
and leave them no food for their conjectures save the same 
mysterious hints. This inexplicable conduct he continued 
to the very last moment of his life. Not long before the 
second day fixed for his execution, a circumstance occurred 
which seemed calculated to add strength to the still un- 
shaken belief in the complicity of Chisolm in the crime. 
By means of a file, which he said was furnished him by a 
friend, whose name he would never give, he succeeded in 
severing the chains by which he was fastened, and then 
in passing out of the jail. A diligent search was imme- 
diately begun, and the next day he was found in Chis- 
olm's gin house, some miles away. The horses of Clay 
Chisolm and a cousin of his, named Bird, were standing in 
the gin house lot white they were hunting in the forest, not 
far distant. Il[\ey leaped out of the house and ran, but he 
was pursued and captured, after having fired a nearly fatal 
shot at one of his pursuers with Chisolui's pistol. He also 
hadChisolm's double barrel gun in the gin house with him. 

It was thought now that these circumstances could be 
used to induce him to make a full statement, but thej^ 
availed nothing in that respect. 

21 



322 ILEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Oil liis l)ein<^ recaptiircHl, lie made a written confession, 
it is true; but all, exc'ept his killinj;' of Dabbs and (Jully, 
Avas as vagu(5 and iudeliuite as avvv. All he would say in 
reference to his accoin[)lices was that he was persuaded to 
kill Gully by bad company, and that what he meant by bad 
company were those that encouraged him to drink ami 
ag'pfcd him on to the connnissiou of crime. 

On the 7th of December he was again led out to the gal- 
lows, lie walked with a firm step, and so ind liferent was 
his manner and heroic his bearing, that there are reasons 
to believe that he was not yet convinced that he was really 
going to be hung. His respite on tLvi day first appointed for 
his execution no doubt left some hope, at least, that the 
same thing would be repeated, especially as he had not yet 
made the disclosure expected. In his bosom alone now 
lay hidden the secrets of John Gully's assassination; and 
that he yet clung to those secrets as the means of again 
prolonging his life, if not of saving it altogether, is still 
believed by many. Chisolm and Gilmer were in their 
graves, and the immediate cause of their deaths was the 
belief that they had compassed the death of John AN . 
Gully; and while there may have been amplejustilication, 
not resting alone U])on this beliei", yet it was naturally a 
matter of great anxiety, on the ])art of the peo])le, that the 
whole mystery should be cleared up, and relieve their con- 
sciences from the assaults of the possibility of these men 
being innocent of the particular charge that drew such dire 
retribution upon their lieads. And now, wlicu the cart 
halted under the gallows, and Ililey leaped so impatiently 
and hurriedly upon the scaffold, exi)ectation was raised to 
the highest degree. The crowd now gathered around the 
platform upon which the doomed man was standing, con- 
tinued to implore him to confess, an<l manifested a state of 
anxiety which still seemed to all'ord him ])leasure. Acorre- 
sjxjudent of the Cincinnati Gazette was present and m;ide 
notes of the proceedings. Dut it is a i)ity lor the American 
press that an intelligent newsi)aj)er corivspondcnt could 
ikjI (k'sciibe the facts of llii.s si>lemn scene without the 



KEMPEK COUNTY VINDICATED. 323 

additiou of sensational expreHsious, and the garb of ro- 
mance with which he has disiiuiscd the trnth. While 
Lis statements are true as to tiieir main features, they are 
Avarped by his etibrts to i)roduce sensation, and by tlie pre- 
judice wljich caused him to retire from the scene with con- 
fessed feelings of triumph tlnit iJiU^vliad refused to the last 
to positively implicate the Ohisolm clan in the killing of 
Gully. 

The idea of putting into the mouth of this unlettered and 
ignorant negro the words of a Jerome, a Latimer, or a liid- 
ley, is so ludicrous as to ahnost atone for the misrepre- 
sentation. Here is this corresi>ondent\s picture of the con- 
fession and last moments of Walter liiley, published in the 
Oincinnati Gazette^ December 12, 1877: 

"Being" asked by the sherilf if he had anything to say, 
the condemned man replied, ' A great deal. I ^^■ant to talk 
about an hour.' Again there was a stretching of necks 
Oiud a general murmur. Then said the sherilf, 'Men, 
"Walter liiley will s[)eaJc to you. Let all be attentive! 
And the prisoner stepped to the front, and bowing grace- 
fully, spoke as ibllov.s : ' Well, 1 stand here on the brink 
of eternity to address my old neighbors and friends for 
the last time. But I feel that, wicked as 1 have been, 
I am freely foigiyen, and am going to a merciful Oxod. 
I have been a wicked man, but now I feel no fear — 
no fear of the great God, and oidy 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 in a few seconds resumed, 
in a calm and dignified tone : ' I have been a bad man, 
and you see it has brought me to a bad eiul. My grave is 
dug in the woods as though I was a 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 the 
people. But that gives me no concern, for God will raise 
me up even from this sand hill in the pine forest, and J will 
Btand with you all on that awful day. I fear not the face 



321 ICEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

of til is congregation, for I am soon to stand before a 
miglitier congregatiou than this earth ever saw. I forgive 
all who liave injured me, and beg forgiveness of all. I 
bless my fiiends and I bless my enemies. 1 am guilty of 
these two murders, and I alone am guilty, but 1 have truly 
repented, and liope for ])ardou.' The i)risoner here exhorted 
at great length, and several times repeated his confession 
of having killed Bob Dabbs, in 1871, the crime for which he 
was convicted, and John W. Gully in April last; then 
kneeled and offered a fervent i)rayer. He then confessed 
again and was silent. 

"iSheriff: < Would any of the people like to ask Walter 
a question f Then ensued a performance, the like of which 
probably was never before witnessed at any legal execu- 
tion. A murmur of questions rose on all sides, a dozen 
speaking at once, till the sheriff said: 'Let Dr. Fox talk!' 

" Dr. Fox : ' AValter, you told me when we last talked 
that you killed elohn Gully, and that you were alone. W^as 
that correct V 

" ' It was.' 

" ' Were you hired to do itf 

" < No, sir.' 

" 'Kemember, Walter, you are going into eternity soon, 
and if you can s[)eak a word to relieve the minds of the 
l)eoi>le, do it — please do it, for your own sake and the sake 
of this distracted county.' 

" From all sides the cry was repeated : ' Tell us, 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), ' 1 might say 1 was jjersuaded 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 yon know that if you keep back the truth 
it is as bad as to tell a lief 

" Sherilf (impatiently): 'Yes, yes; Walter understands 
all that.' 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 3L'5 

" Old man : ' Then let him speak and relieve tlie peoi)le. 
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.' 

" ' Well ' — a long jiause — ' I was persuaded into it." 

" ' Who, who, who persuaded you V '• 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. 

" 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 point- 
ing out the guilty. You have to die. No one here can help 
or harm you. Tell us if you have any other knowledge, 
and give relief to the innocent and the troubled.' 

" But the prisoner, with the same calm dignity and 
measured tones, without a trace of fear, replied : 

" ' Doctor, I know Tve got to die. Man can't save me. I 
only am guilty.' 

" A young man spoke: 'Whose gun did you kill him 
with V 

" ' Well, it was a gun I had.' 

" ' But whose V 

"'Well, one I had.' 

" ' Did you bring it from Tennessee when you came to 
kill John Gully f 

" ' I didn't come purpose to kill him. I was a working 
down this way on the railroad. That's how I came to be 
here.' 

" ' Then why did you kill him ?' 

" ' Well, 1 heard ho was alter me.' 

'' Again the blear eyed old juau sung out in a sort 
of whining tone: 'God can't forgive anybody who keeps 



32G IvEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

back piul of llio truth. Tell it all, Walter.' Then IVoin all 
sides rose a confused shout : ' Tell it, tell it ! You've got to 
die for it. Them that brought you here ought lo be known. 
There's no reprieve for you this time.' (Iveferring" to the 
fact that he had previously been resisted wlien on his way 
to the gallows.) 

" ' There are too many talking,' said the sheriff, angrily. 

" ' Let J)r. Fox talk to him.' " 

" ' Yes,' said the doctor ; ' I believe Walter will tell me. 
'Whose gun was it, Walter V 

" ' I got the gun from Uezzy Jack.' 

"'Ah, ah!' ran around the crowd; 'it's coming now; 
he'll tell about it now.' 

" But he didn't. At any rate, he did not tell what they 
"wanted to know. Lie said he got the gun of Jlezzy Jack, 
and that he knew Jack worked for Judge Chisolm. 

" Then Dr. Lox came to tln^ direct question : 

" ' Did you see Judge Chisolm or Gilmer about itF 

" ' No, sir ; never.' 

'"Did they sen<l you any word?' 

" ' No, sir ; if the.> did 1 never got it.' 

" Again the blear eyed old man groaned out : " O Walter, 
AValter, tell the truth, t lie whole truth, and nothing but 
the truth, or you can ncAcr enter heaven ! ' 

" For over an hour did this sickening- business go on, the 
))ooi-, tortured nuin rei)lying always with gentleness and 
dignity, that beyond what he had stated he knew nothing", 
and the whole crowd urging and contradicting him in half 
whisi)ers. It seemed to m(> tiie most curious, irregular and 
illegal proceeding" ever had in any civilized country. Then 
a\Ir. Brame, a magistiate, and a fair minded man, I think, 
from the a(M]uaintance I have with him, said: ' Waltei", 
let me tell you the law. What you say now can't be used 
against any oiu'. \'ou are ilead in law. No one can bo 
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 (hUly that must bo cleared u]). 
Can't you tell who peisuaded you to kill him, and give this 
comnnuiity relief T 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 31^7 

" ' Mr. Brame, I can't go before God with a lie iu my 
luoutli. 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 tokl Hezzy Jack, and he said, ' all right, go 
ahead.' 

" The whole crowd then fell to qnestiouing again, and 
elicited the fact that Eiley took forty dollars in money, a hat, 
l)air of boots, and a roll of cloth from Gnlly. In the midst 
of the hnbbnb the sheriff snddenly called ont: 'William 
Iviley, will yon come np here ?' and a venerable old man 
ascended the scaffold. The prisoner began to whisper to 
him, when the crowd shouted : ' Louder, louder, louder ! let 
ns all hear!' The aged man, who was a preacher, turned 
to the crowd, and said : ' Brethren and friends, I have a 
few words with yon. That man (pointing to the prisoner) 
Avas once my jiroperty. He still bears my name. lie was 
a bad boy, as he has told you. But I have not come here 
to play the detective on him. I came only to exhort him 
to true repentance. lie that confesseth his sins only shall 
be forgiven.' The old man then offered a fervent prayer, 
and said : ' Walter, in a very few minutes yon are to stand 
before God. I believe it is the will of God yon should con- 
fess to these 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 khigdom.' 

" Walter : * No, no. I cannot die with a lie iu my mouth, 
and I cannot say what this crowd Avants 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 impatience, 
but the crowd persisted in questioning him about his at- 
tempt to escape from jail. lie replied that the file was 
fill iiished by a friend, and he did not think a just God 
would i-eqnire him to betray that friend. He insisted that 
the Chi.-iolms knew nothing of his escape, and that Bird, 



328 KEMPEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 

CIny Cliisolm\s cousin, only knew it wlieu he went to tlu' 
gin house. Again and again did tlie crowd urge liiin, an<l 
always with the phrases : ' There is trouble and sorrow 
among us.' ' Do speak and relieve the minds of the pe()])le/ 
etc. At last, Avheu this tortnring process had continued au 
hour and a half, the sheriff ended it by summoning a 
colored preacher, who oifered prayer. Walter took the 
hymn book, and he himself gave out, two lines at a time, in 
the Wesleyau method, the hymn : 

" And must this feeblo body fail, 
And must it sink and die ? 
And some sliall quit tliis mournful valo 
And soar to worlds on high." 

"He led the singing in a clear voice, then sang a short 
hymn alone ; knelt and ollered a moving prayer. His 
brothers and a few colored people hurried np to bid hiui 
good bye. Ilis old master came, shook hands fervently 
and hurried away into the forest, the tears streaming 
down his face. The black gown was then ])ut on him, and 
the black cap drawn over his head, and the rope adjusted. 
Then said he, ' 1 want to speak last to Dv. Fox.' 

" The doctor hurried forward, and such was the anxiety 
of the crowd for a confession that there were murnuirs all 
around. ' Ah, liell tell who hired him now ; he didn't 
believe ho was to die beibre !' But, as the doctor told 
me, Riley only murmured in his ear, ' One minute and I 
shall stand before God. AU I Ijavo said here is true.' 
There was an awful pause. .^11 is lips moved in prayer. 
The sheritt" severed the rope with a single blow, and 
though Kiley fell but two feet his neck was broken, and 
he died almost without a struggle. From first to last ho 
liad not exhibited a tremor of fear, nothing more than a 
slight impatience at the persistent questioning." 

Unfortunately, this is the only written description of this 
scene, by an eye Avitness, that has yet been given to the 
public, and that it savors strongly of the sensational and 
argumcHtative is too clear to escai)e observation. Yet the 
Avriter has taken the pains to read this narrative to many 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 329 

who were present at tlie hanging of Riley, including tlio 
fair minded man to whom this correspondent alludes, and 
they all concur that wliile there are many things truly 
said, there is much oversaid and much unsaid in it. 

While Eiley contended that what he did say was the 
truth, he never once said that it was the whole truth, and 
from his hesitations and evasions throughout the whole 
time of his imprisonment, and at the time of the hanging, 
<lown even to the moment of his death, leaves no question 
but that he died with the untold secret of Gully's mnrder 
in his breast. 

The Eev. Mr. T. F. Brame, a highly respected minister 
of the gospel, who was sent for by Kiley, while in prison, 
just before his death, expresses his candid opinion that 
although Eiley made free use of expressions of penitence, 
he believes his heart was utterly incapable of any such 
sensibility. He had promised time and again during his 
coniinement that he would tell all at the proper time, and 
seemed, to the very last, to take unfeigned pleasure in 
feeding the anxiety and curiosity of the people. lie had 
previously said, and then denied, that he obtained the gun 
from llczzy Jack, and never would he say that Chisolm and 
Gilmer were not his associates in the assassination, llis 
answer was invariably that he was persuaded into it. 

As to the sensational phrases with which this corre- 
spondent has interlarded his descriptions of the scene, 
such as " There is trouble among us." " Do speak and re- 
lieve the minds of this people," which he puts into the 
mouths of the interrogators of Eiley, they are universally 
l)ronounced to be utterly false by. all who were present, 
with whom the writer has conversed. Because the gen- 
eral belief in the comi)licity of Chisolm and Gilmer in the 
killing of Gully broke the back of patience, affords no 
])roof that the old camel would not finally have sujik down 
even witliout this additional burden. So far as the justifi- 
cation of the mob was concerned, it was sufticient that the 
circumstances of the death of Gully, added to the former 
known crimes of Chisolm and Gilmer, created the indubi- 



ouO KEJIl'EU COUNTY YINDiCATED. 

table boliof in their ffiiilt. Surely positive kiiowledjio could 
do but little more in the way of Justilication. Iiideetl, tho 
latter nii<];ht have had the elleet of preventiug the mob b^^ 
the certainty of le,i;al ])uni.sliiiient. 

Tiiere is truly an unfathojuable mystery connected -with 
the whole career of Walter Kiley in this matter. That he 
sljould have left his family far away in Tennessee, at that 
time, and hurried to Ivempcr County, where there was an 
indictment i)endin<;' a.^ainst him for murder, feelinj^' his way 
amid the forest and beneath the shadows of the night, 
avoiding- every eye but that of Hezzy Jack, from whom ho 
borrowed the gun, concealing himself by the road side, kill- 
ing and robbing Gully, and then making his way back to 
Tennessee in the same clandestine manner, without ade- 
quate inducements, is a i)erplexity which must Innl a solu- 
tion outside of the known characteristics and elements of 
human nature. Yet all the reasons he would ever give 
were, " Well, I heard he was after me,"' and again, hesi- 
tatingly, " Well, I was i)ersuaded to do it." Who these 
instigators were, is a question to wllich the reader must 
tind an answer deej) down the chain of events which he has 
followed in the progress of this work ; it must be made up 
from the mingled voices of the many circumstances that 
liavc thronged his pathway. That the killing of Gully was 
closely connected with the previous attempt to assassinate 
him, either by the identity of actors, the identity of cause, 
or the identity of design, there can be no question. 

There are many to-day who, notwithstanding the coufes- 
sion of his guilt, believe that Walter Kiley had directly 
nothing to do with the killing of John Gully. When found 
guilty of the murder of Dabbs his execution became a cer- 
tainty, and his confession as to the killing of Gully could 
not alfect his fate. Tho total absence of every manifestation 
of fear, his remarkable inditftn-ence and apparent callousness 
to every feeling of humanity, suggest that his confessions 
were more the olfspring of a callous lieart than of a quick- 
ened conscience. There are others who believe that in con- 
se{pience of his i)revious respite, he could not realize that 
he would be hung at all, and that as retention of the infor- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED, 331 

matioii sought from him by the people liad been the caii.so 
of the former dehiy, he expeoted that its reservation avouUI 
again liave that result, and that his life Avould be spared so 
long as he retained the secret. While others, again, believe 
tliat lie had entered into oaths of secrecy and hdelity witii 
his accojn[)lices, whicli lie considered more binding than 
the obligation to betray them, even in tho face of death, 
and in this opinion the writer, after a critical view of all 
the circumstances, must concur. When asked who gave 
him the file with which he severed his chains, at the time 
lie escai^ed from the jail, he replied that it Avas furnished 
him by a friend whom he would not betray, and that he 
did not believe God required him to do so, and that friend 
remains unknown today. 

Whatever may have been the exact arrangements for 
the killing of Gully, or whoever may have been the parties 
to the deed, it is certain that Riley acted his part of the 
plot with skill and life long fidelity. Xo martyr ever went 
to the stake with more calm and perfect resignation than 
did, apparently, this doubly dyed criminal to the gallows; 
exclaiming, as he stepped into eternity, that what he had 
said was true, but that he had not told all. That all now 
lies buried with him in the sand hill, there to remain ever 
hidden from mortal man until the great panorama of time 
shall pass its scenes in review, and its secret scrolls shall 
be deciphered to every eye. 

The curtain now falls upon the last act of the bloody 
drama, and let us turn from these terrible scenes, bearing 
with us only the lessons they have taught us, and with tho 
reflection that there is a Power that shapes the end of all 
things, and who can fashion the fruits of human depravity 
into a balm for the healing of nations. 

It is to be hoped that the crimson lines in which these 
lessons have been written will ever be a warning to the 
tyrant, the assassin, and tho outlaw, and continue to be a 
glaring menace of the terrible retribution which sooner or 
later will overtake him who dares to invade the sanctuary 
of society, and trample upon the sacred rights ot the 
people. 



332 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 



CHAPTEE XIY. 

The feeliiif? of perfect peace mul ji^ood will to all men that 
has, siuce the death of Chisolm, reigued su[)remc iu Kem- 
per Comity, has been disturbed only by the vain, but har- 
]'assing eliorfc to brini;' a larjie number of the citizens of 
the county to ])unisliiuent before the courts. The Federal 
nntliorities continued their i)rosecution of the thirty-one 
<;itizens reported by Chisolm, Gilmer and their confeder- 
ates for violating the enforcement act. 

Their cause M'as continued from the appearance term, in 
]\Lay, 1877, by tlie consent of counsel, till the ensuing Nci- 
veniber, when it was again postponed to a special term in 
the following February. They were then ])laced upon 
trial for the alleged violation of the enforcement act of 
Congress, in intimidating Chisolm and preventing him 
from a free and uninterru])ted canvass during his candi- 
dacy for a member of Congress. Mrs. Chisolm and the 
chief members of the clan appeared as witnesses for the 
])rosecution. Their testimony was taken, and the assist- 
ant United states district attorney delivered an argu- 
ment lasting two hours; but as the prosecution failed to 
make out any case whatcn'er, the counsel for the defence 
declined to introduce their witnesses, but obtained their 
charges, and submitted the case to the jury, which re- 
turned in a few minutes with a verdict of '' I^Tot guilty." 

Thus, before a radical United States Judge, and an im- 
partial jury, this prosecution, which had caused these citi- 
zens so much trouble and expense, proved to be Avithont 
the least foundation in law or in fact. Notwithstanding 
this, a Cincinnati paper had the boldness to i)ul)lish, iu 
substance, the following ludicrous article : "^Irs. Chisolm 
lias returned from Jackson, Mississippi, where she has 
been attending as a witness against the lvemi)er County 
rioters, for intimidating her husband during his canvass 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 333 

for Congress. She says that she was uot permitted, even 
to prove that her husband was a citizen of the United 
States." After the riddance of this troubhj the citizens re- 
turned to tlieir liomes and again, in the hopes of peace, de- 
voted themselves to their several vocations. But their 
hoi)es were not to be realized. 

In the meantime, pressed on by the State authorities, 
who seemed anxious to gratify Northern sentiment, by a 
legal investigation, and by the strict injunctions contained 
in the charge of the presiding judge, a portion of which is 
given in the appendix to this work, the grand jury of Kem- 
per County had, at the September term of the circuit court, 
presented indictments against six or seven persons who were 
present at the killing of Chisolm, and soon after their release 
by the Federal authorities they were arrested and placed 
under recognizance to answer to these indictments. That 
such a proceeding was dictated only by a desire to main- 
tain the forms and ceremonies of the law, and to have a 
judicial investigation and interpretation of the matter, in 
order to a]^peaso tlie clamors of the radical press, is beyond 
question. For there were two or three hundred persons 
present at the riot on the 29th of April, each of whom was 
either a principal or an accessory to the killings, and each 
one was as guilty as any other, in one or the other of these 
capacities, and an attempt to punish six or seven men for 
the acts of the whole county is as absurd as would be the 
attempt to punish a whole county for the same act. 

There is no man in Kemper' County so penitent for the 
consequences of the riot of the 29th of April, 1S77, or so 
loit to a sense of honor, as not to sympathize Avitli those 
men whom it is sought, by these indictments, to make 
atone for the acts of the whole body of the assailants. 
And as to a judicial investigation of the matter, there is 
no occasion for that. No one denies but that it was a high 
handed exercise of mob law, and no investigation would 
be worth anything that did not comprehend the causes of 
the riot. 

It was an exercise of that higher law which is beyond 



331 KEIVIPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

the rcacli of all common or statute law ; one of tlioso occa- 
sions which aii.se in the allairs of men beyond the contem- 
plation of all written law, to attempt to jjrapple with whicii 
the courts but impair their own etliciency, and bring their 
own power into contempt. 

As an evidence of the general sympathy for the men 
whom these indictments seek to sacrifice as a propitiation 
for the crime of the county, the grand jurors who presented 
them soon afterward sent up the foHowing petition to the 
governor : 

"State of Mississippi, 
Kemper County, November^ 1877. 

"To his Excellency J. M. Stone, Governor of the State of 
Mississippi : 

"Your petitioners most respectfully represent that wo 
■were members of the grand jury of Kemper County, at the 
late fall term of the Circuit Court, and under our oaths wo 
believe that we discharged our duty, and that we did it 
conscientiously. However we might have been inclined to 
spare men, we dared not, in view of the oath we had taken, 
and the law as given us by the court. TVe felt, and still 
feel, that the rigid duty we were constrained to perform 
was harsh; and wc feel a great relief in understanding 
that, sin<3e we may have been compelled to do that which 
was harsli, it lies in your power, consistently with law and 
right, to undo it in a wise and judicious exercise of your 
merciful prerogative as governor. 

"While wc have discliarged otir duty fearlessly and 
honestly, as we claim, we Ihinlc that we do notliing incon- 
sistent with our action as grand jurors, when, in gralirica- 
tion of our feelings, ww most respectfully and eaiiiestly ]>ray 
you to relieve all those whom we were compelled to i)refer 
charges against concerning the liot of the L'Dth of Ai)ril, 
1877, by the interposition of your pardoning power. 

" We do not enter into the reasons of the view we take of 
the harshness of the duty we had to i)crform, bat assuri' 
your excelleney tint we honestly entertain this oi)inion con- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 335 

cerning it. As old citizens of Kemper County, familiar 
with its trials and troubles, and knowing the actors in 
them, Ave express to yonr excellenc}' our Arm conviction 
that the granting of our petition will accomplish more 
toward the promotion of peace and good order in our 
county tban tlie relentless prosecution of these cases, which 
we know will be irritating, and will produce continued ex- 
citement, running through tbe whole body of the county, 
and we fear will i)roduce rather tban quiet disorders. 
Executive kindness and clemency now will place our people, 
who long for quiet and peace, under such great and lasting 
obligatioQS to be law abiding and peaceful, that we express 
to you our firm belief that they would not forget it. We 
have confidence in your wisdom and statesmanship, and 
hope that they will combine to favor our request. 

" (Signed.) 

" A. M. Moore, J. J. Tinsley, 

Wesley Griggs, Jas. R. Key, 

A. P. Overstreet, C. Calvert, 

J. C. Hammack, W. J. Flake, 

W. H. Thomas, W. T. Harbour, 

John Teury, T. J. Cherry, 

P. McCaleb, W. K. Stennis, 

I. M. GiLLIS." 

The governor declined to interpose his pardoning power, 
and these cases are to undergo a trial at tbe next term of 
the Circuit Court of Kemper County. 

It is a pity that the governor, in view of the action of 
the President of the United States and the Governor of 
Louisiana in the forgery cases, did not comply with this 
])t'tition, since " no punishment for past political offences" 
has become the policy of the administration, and of the 
radical party, tlie governor miglit have very gracefully 
<'\:t(MukMl the example to the prosecuted citizens of Kemper 
County. 

Notwithstanding this, tlic peojjle of the county seem to 
be phicid, and the victims feel that if they are to bo 



330 KE:\rPER county vindicated. 

I)rosecuted iu obedience to tlie law, and their snfTeriiigs arc 
necessary for the good of the peoj)le and the interest of the 
State, they can but abide their fate with patience, and with 
the consohitiou that the act which brou;;ht them grief, 
brought peace, happiness and prosi)crity to their fellow 
citizens. 

If the sufficiency of the causes of the killing of Chisolni 
and Gilmer is a question of which the actors were incapa- 
ble of judging, neither are they competent judges who 
have no experience, and, therefore, no adequate concep- 
tion of these causes. /The question lies beyond the ken of 
any merely conventional interpretation of the moral code. 
When the beheading of Charles the First, and the execu- 
tion of Mary Queen of Scots, the horrors of the French 
revolution, the treatment of the Indians by the Puritans, 
and all other popular uprisings iu history, claimed to have 
been for the good of society, shall have been assigned a 
fixed place in the realms of virtue or vice, then nmy a true 
moral interpretation be given to the conduct of the people 
of Kemper County in the Chisolm tragedy; and until tlien 
we must leave the question to the exposition of tiiat higher 
law, which derives its force and sanction from the eternal 
right of self preservation, too sacred to abide the delays, 
deliciencies and uncertainties of any fixed and fornuxl 
code. 

Let those who, from a deceptive standpoint, take a false 
or partial view of these unfortunate circumstances, and 
who are blinded by the mirage of barbarity which sectional 
or partisan prejudice and ignorance picture to their view, 
remember that the Southern people, notwithstanding their 
misfortunes, have lost no sense of their rights, and no 
feature of their manhood, and that the same spirit in 
which Mississippi laid thousands of her sons upon the crim- 
son altars of war, is yet too vital to submit, for the sake of 
I'liritanic heresies, to the oppression of outlaws. 

lint, viewed iu whatsoever light, the people of Kemper 
County were in nowise responsible for the state of things 
that ])roduced these events. If they sjirang from a disrc- 



ICEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 337 

gard to law and order, that condition of society was due 
to the denioralizinf>- effects of radical rule. If their cause 
can bo traced to an ungovernable popular passion, that 
passion had been excited and goaded by a long and intol- 
erable series of ontrages, whicli wonld have produced a 
popular uprising in any other State or comnumit^' in the 
Union. No white people could have borne the oppressive 
rule whicli Chisolm exercised over this county by the aid 
of the negro votes. 

Nor can Kemper County be made a lone target for the 
shafts of obloquy and reproach, however wanting in justifica- 
tion may have been this act of its people; bat along by its 
side must be place<l, in orbs of almost obscuring glare, the 
religious and Know Nothing outrages of New England, the 
Mormon riots of the West, the railroad and coal riots 
of Pennsylvania, and the destructiou of the Catholic con- 
vents in Boston, in which houses of religion were entered 
find burned, men, women and children were murdered aud 
mutilated, and many driven out naked upon the cold chari- 
ties of the world, all in the name of religion, public policy 
or individual interest, and for which no man was ever pun- 
ished by any human method. If tlie riots in Kemper 
County were committed with a higii hand and in defiance 
of every law, and if the elements of barbarity entered into 
the act, it has its counterparts and similitudes in every 
Northern State. Yet the radicals of that section pretend 
to view the people of Kemper County as savages. Peace, 
Pharisees ! 

A late issue of the Inter-Ocean, a radical newspaper pub- 
lished in the City of Chicago, contained the following 
editorial : 

" ILLINOIS MURDERERS. 

" Three hundred and fourteen of them sent down to Joliet in 
ticenty years. Of these, one hundred and sixty-Uoo escape after 
i/ritf imprisonment, and wallc the streets as free men. Incon- 
trovertible figures show that three years and six months is the 
average punishment for Illinois assassins. Over ffty murder- 
ers, sentenced to the penitentiary for life, allowed to go free.^'' 



338 KEMPEU COUNTY VINDICATED. 

"'What sliall be done with otir murderers V was the sug- 
gestive text of a iniuister ol" the gospel, of this city, two 
Aveeks ago. 'The earth is tilled with violeuce," wasl 
another text from which a sermon was preached ou the 
same day. These men of peace had been led to this lino 
of thought OH account of the terrible lessons of the past 
six months. Eed handed rulliaus have walked our streets, 
and respected citizens have been shot down in cold blood. 
The Almighty himself has, as it were, been smitten and 
insulted, and it is time the pulpit, the press, and all re- 
spectable and law abiding citizens fearlessly expressed 
tiiemselves against the maudlin sentimentalism which has 
t)een conducive of such teirible results. Before the ques- 
tion, ' ^Vhat shall bo done with our murderers?' can bo 
intelligently answered, it is necessary to ascertain ichat 
has been done with that large portion of the slayers of men 
who escape the garland of hemp which their crimes have 
won for them. To place these facts in a reliable manner 
before its readers, the Tntcr-Ocean has taken the ])ains to 
have the records of the Illinois penitentiary for the twenty 
years ending December 31, 1877, searched, and the dis- 
posal of every murderer that has entered the gates of that 
institution duly chronicled. The Ust fairly bristles with ter- 
rible facts, aiul while it effectually answers the question, 
'What has been done with our murderers?' it certainly 
must prove of incalculable assistance to those who have an 
intelligent desire to solve the i)ressing question, ' Whal 
sliall be done with our murderers?' For all details the 
leaiU^r must refer to the couiplete list printed below. In 
brief, the investigation shows that in twenty years, from 
.January, 1858, to December 31, 1877, three hundred and 
iburteen murderers were found guilty of murder and senl 
to the State ])iMiitentiary, at Joliet. | 

" Of (his niiniher, ninety were to umleryo a sentence of life ii 
the penitenliiuy, and three or four long terms of iaii^rison 
nuMit, /. (.'., ninety-nine years, sixty-one years, etc., whicl 
])ractically means a liie senten(;e. l\venty-threo were sen 
tenced to twenly live years and upward; twenty-om 



IvEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 339 

from twenty years to twenty-five, and tlie balance of tlio 
cue liundred and seventy-nine to terms of imprisonment as 
low as one year, and as liigb, as in the case of Eeede, of 
Winnebago County, to nineteen years. The records show, 
in round numbers, that one hundred of these murderers have 
hcen deliberafeli/ i^ardoyied out of the penitentiary, and that 
sixty-two have been discharged or got out in other ways 
than through executive clemency ; twenty-one have either 
died or gone to the insane asylum, and only one hundred 
and thirty-one are now in the penitentiary. Of those who 
Avere sentenced for life, by far the greater portion have been 
pardoned out, and there now remain less than forty life 
men in the j^rison. There is not now in the penitentiary a 
life man who was there in 185S, nor but one who was there 
in 1808. Eight and nine years are the longest sentences, 
and these are excei^tions. The average sentences of Illinois 
assassins is three years and a half Inquiry shows tliat 
there have been but few cases where executive interference 
was warranted." 

This wail comes from the homo of Wells, the slanderer 
of jMississippi, and the same candor would no doubt make 
a more terrible exposition of the state of society in some 
of the New England States. Yes ; 

"The outraged gods frown on your lewd deceit, 
To earth disgusting— -and a crime to Iloavcn." 

Those references are not made in anj^ spirit of accusa- 
tion, nor are these incidents adduced as an argument of 
justification, but simply to show how apt men are to dis- 
' cover the mote from behind the beam ; especially is this the 
•case with the radical party, whose life has for years been 
nouiished solely by tales of Southern lawlessness Mith 
wliich the bloody shirt has been kept aflaunt. By these 
arts military supremacy', which was necessary to the exist- 
<MU',e of that party in the Soutliern States, was for ten 
years exercised over tliese States in time of perfect peace. 
No sooner was civil government restored than this party 
erased to exist in the South ; and I, for one, would say, let 



340 KEMPER COUNTY VrNDICATED. 

its crimes be buried witli it, let its meinorj^ rest in oblivion, 
and on its tomb be inscribed : Lived, sinned and forgotten. 

Yet, so late as the month of October, JS7G, the attorney 
.ixcneral of the United States, who under the radical ad- 
ministration liad also been constituted chief of the depart- 
' ment of justice, attempted to meddle in the domestic affairs 
of ^Mississippi, and, if possible, find an excuse to quartei 
I'ederal troops around the voting places of the State. With 
tliis view, lie opened a correspondence Avith tlie governor, 
who promptly replied that lie had been able to execute the 
laws of Mississippi and conserve the public i)eace; tliat 
the perpetrators of wrongs were responsible to the State 
authorities, aiul that he was able to bring all such to 
justice, and was determined to do so. But this policy did 
\not suit the radical press and the carpet baggers, who wert 
^et in hopes of making profitable ca])ital out of the Chisolnj 
tragedy. Nothing would suit them but for Shaughnessy, 
Avith his armed troop, protected by the commission ol 
the governor, to invade Kemiier County aiul wreak dire 
vengeauee on whomsoever the survivors of the Chisolnij 
clan, ]\Irs. Chisolm and her flunkey, Wells, the carpet 
bagger, might proscribe and designate. J / / 

This allied war on the part of the govei'nor, the carpet 
baggers and the remnant of the clan against the County ol 
Kemper having failed, on account of the intractability oi 
the governor, Wells now turned his face toward the North.] 

The outrage mill at Washington had ceased to grind. 
Yet not at all disconcerted, a thrifty scheme soon presented 
itself to his mind, and was immediately seized upon. The 
Chisolms were buried in the sand hills away down in the 
])ine forests of Kemi)er, and although, as he says, "in an 
oasis," yet it was enough that it was unhallowed ground. 
So that, with the plaintive notes of compassion mingled 
with the howls of personal revenge and partisan prejudice,! 
all cramnuMl into the mouth of slander, sun-ly here was ai 
chance of i)rofit not to be despised or spurned; hence, thej 
appearance of the book entitled "The Chisolm Massacre," 
etc., by Wells, the falsehoods of which, so far as they arc 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 3il 

wortliy of notice, are answered and exposed in tliis work. 
In this respect he will be noticed in a few more instances. 
Tlie impossibility for the hand of justice to reach a mem- 
ber of the Cliisolni clan through the courts of Kemper 
County during' the rule of Ohisolm as sheriff, has already 
been fully discussed and proven. If a crime was so heinous 
and open as to wrench an indictmentr from a reluctant 
grand jury, it was either stolen and destroyed, as we have 
seen in the case of the indictment against Chisolm for 
forgery, when the sheriff's office Avas robbed, and in the 
case of the one against Hopper, for his murderous assault 
ui)on Uezzy Jack, which was stolen I'rom the office of the 
circuit clerk, on Saturday night before the March teiin, 
1877, of the circuit court, or, if permitted to be tried, the 
criminals were acquitted by a petty jury selected by 
Chisolm for the puriwse. Notwithstanding these repeated 
and glaring facts. Wells has the temerity to ask why these 
men were not brought to punishment if they were guilty of 
the charges against them. 

The board of county supervisors, which, under the 
statutes of the State, selected the grand jurors, was com- 
posed altogether or mostly of radicals, irom the year ISG'J to 
1870, Mho were the tools of Chisolm, who, in turn, had been 
elected at his dictation. But AVells endeavors to obviate 
and falsify this fact by giving the boards of supervisors 
during these years a fictitious jiolitical complexion, which 
will no doubt be amusing to some of the members who have 
]iever had the baseness themselves to deny their open and 
avo^ved affiliation with the radical party. The following 
is a list of the names of the men who composed the boards 
of supervisors of Kemi^er County from 18G9 to 187G, as 
given by Wells, together with the politics he assigns to 
each : 

Board of 1869. 

T. iST. Bethany Eepublican. 

D. McNeil liepublican. 

G. E. Priddy Independent. 

W. EzELL Itepublican. 

Hezie Flore Eepublican. 



342 ICEMPEll COUNTY VINDICATED. 

This is tlio board that levied the iufamons " acre tax," 
ail account of wliich has already been given, and the same 
Mhieh Chisolm stated ui)on his oath before the Cougres- 
sional Investigating Coininittee, at Washington, February 
14, 1<S77, page 757, to have been a Democratic board, and 
Avhich statement, AVells, in his boolc, on i)age 40, adopts 
and reiterates ; when it is a fact well known in Kemper 
County that every member of this board were confessed 
radicals, and always acted vigorously with that party. 

Board of 1871. 
E. Edwauds Democrat. 

D. McNeil llepublican. 

AVm. Hudson Democrat. 

G. E. PiiiDDY Independent. 

T. N. Bethany Kepublican. 

Board of 1872. 

Moses Halford Republican. 

K. 'Saj.i Bepublican. 

John 11. Davis Democrat. 

(Jr. E. I'RiDDY Indepeildeut. 

W. 11. Stennis J)einocrat. 

Board of 1874. 
John II. Davis Democrat. 

E. Edwards Democrat. 

J. A. Jenkins Democrat. 

K. ISTaji liepublican. 

T. W. Adams Republicau. 

It will bo observed that G. E. Priddy, a well known 
radiciil, is here assigned by Wells the status of an inde- 
pendent ; and J. A. Jenkins, who was another stanch 
judical, will no doubt bo surprised to tind himself designated 
by Wells as a Democrat, in the board of 1874. 

These boards chose the grand jurors of the county, and 
the complexion of the jury may be easily conjectured from 
that of the boards. The grand juries thus selected, 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 313 

witli Chisolm as sheriff, and a radical tool as clerk, who 
together impanelled the petty juries, which were pre- 
sided over by a radical partisan judge, who kept himself 
always well in harness, in order to hold his position umler 
the Ames administration, readily answer the question of 
Wells, " Why were these men never brought to punish- 
ment ?" and the many unsuccessful efforts to bring them to 
punishment, which have been laid before the reader, impart 
to such a question an air of folly, if not of impudence. 

But again asks Wells, and with a little more plausibility, 
at first view, " If these charges be true, why were these 
* great criminals,' Chisolm, Gilmer and others, never pun- 
ished, or sought to be punished, in some legal way, after 
the overthrow of their power and the corrupt rule of ' radi- 
calism ' in the county V^ The answer to this question will 
bo found in the statute laws of Mississippi. The legisla- 
ture, witnessing the overthrow of the radical party in other 
Southern States, with a view to the protection of its own 
members and their comrades in crime, in case of a sudden 
political revolution in ]\Iississippi, made a law, which was 
approved by the governor, on the 5th of April, 1872, and 
which has already been referred to, that all prosecutions 
for criminal offences before that time committed, should 
be commenced within two .years after the commission 
thereof, and not after. 

No doubt that Gilmer, who was then in the State senate, 
voted for this law with great pleasure and complacency, as 
it relieved him from all possibility of punishment for his 
part in the murder of Dawson and others. The Demo- 
cratic officers of the county entered upon their duties in 
1876, aiul so great was the joy among the people at the 
l^rospect of once more having peace and quiet and good 
government, that but little was thought for awhile of the 
terrible past. 

The thoughts of inen were fixed upon the future, which 
was now, for the first time in nearly ten years, penetrated 
by the beams of hope. It was as if a new life had been in- 
spired into the land, and only darkened in Kemper County 
by the continued operations of Chisolm and his clan. 



311 KEMPER COirNTY VES'DICATED. 

The legislature of the State i)rocee(kHl at once to tear 
away the coils of corruption, and i»nt up the gaps of vil- 
laiiy which the radical i)arty had opened into every de- 
partment of the State and county governments. The pub- 
lic expenditures were brouglit again within the bounds of 
necessity, and hedged against every approach of dishon- 
esty. Tiierc were many obstructions to be removed before 
the ship of St.atc could move with its wonted smoothness. 
The code was crammed with conllicting and unintelligi- 
ble laws. 

The common law had been invaded with a ruthless hand, 
for the i)urpose of i)rotecting criminals, and every ])Ossible 
])Ower had been legislated into the hands of the executive, 
which that functionary had, as we have seen, exercised 
with an arbitrary hand. 

Among the lirst acts of the Democratic legislature of 
187G was to impeach, for high crimes and misdemeanors in 
oflice, the governor, lieutenant governor, and State superin- 
tendent of education. The proceedings in regard to theim- 
l)eachment of the latter have already been discussed, in con- 
nection with the general corruption of the public school 
system. 

It is not deemed necessary to give, in this work, a full 
detailed account of the impeachment of Governor Ames, or 
of the negro lieutenant governor. The proceedings will be 
Ibund in lull in the Journals and reports of the legislature. 
A summary of the charges is here given : 

First. — That he refused to take any action in r(\gard to 
oHicials who were reported to him, on unquestionable au- 
thority, to be defaulters to the State. 

Second. — That he arrogated and exercised appointing 
power, in violation of the constitution and laws of the 
State. 

7'A//v7.-^That he corruptly approved the ollicial bonds of 
higli State oflicers, knowing them to be worthless. 

Fourth. — That he refused to remove or suspend State 
ollicers whose ollicial bonds were declared to him, by the 
attorney general, to be worthless. 



KEMPEK COUNTY VINDICATED. 345 

Fifth. — Tbat he corruptly removed officers of tlie State 
for partisan purposes. 

Sixth. — Tbat lie corruptly leased the State penitentiary 
to his partisan friends for a much less sum than was 
oftered by other persons. 

Seventh. — That in the exercise of his appointing j^ower 
he corruptly made conditions precedent for the advance- 
ment of his o^n j)crsonal interest. 

Eighth. — That he corruptly permitted officers of the State 
government to exchange offices with each other. 

Ninth. — That in order to defeat the participation of the 
senate in the appointment of chancellors, he refused to 
nominate candidates to that body, as provided by the con- 
stitution, and then appointed them himself after the ad- 
journment of the legislature. 

Tenth. — That he corruptlj' removed judges and chancel- 
lors from office for refusing to render decisions in accord- 
ance with his wishes. 

Eleventh. — That for partisan purposes he Avilfully ap- 
pointed persons to be judges and chancellors whom he 
knew to be wholly unqualitied for such positions. 

Twelfth. — That he sought to produce a contiict between 
the white and black races, and for this purpose endeav- 
ored to arm and organize the negro militia. That he did 
incite such a conflict at Vicksburg on the 3d day of De- 
cember, 1874. 

Thirteenth. — That he corruptly exercised his pardoning 
power. 

Articles of impeachment, containing the above charges, 
passed the house of representatives on the 2d of March, 
1870, and were, on the next day, laid before the senate. 
To these charges Governor Ames put in a plea of denial, 
to which the house of representatives replied reaffirming 
them. 

On the 29th of March, the secretary of the senate ap- 
peared at the bar of the house and announced that the 
senate was organized as a court of impeachment, and was 
ready to proceed in the matter of the impeachment of 



;MG KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

Adelbcrt Ames, governor of the State of Mi.ssis.sii)pi. On 
the .same day the house received the following; coiiiuiunica- 
tion from the governor, through his connsel, to whom it 
was addressed, and which was answered by the accompa 
nying resolution : 

"Executive Mansion, ) 

Jackson, March 28, 1876. [ 

" Gentlemen : In rei)ly to your suggestion, I beg to sny 
that, in consequence of the election of last November, I 
found ]ny self confronted with a hostile legislature, and em- 
barrassed and baflled in my endeavors to carry out my 
plans for the welfare of the State, and of my party. I had 
resolved, therefore, to resign my ofllce as governor of the 
State of Mississippi; but meanwhile proceedings of im- 
peachment were instituted against me, and, of course, I 
could not, and would not retire from my ])osition, under 
the imi)utation of any charge aflecting my honor or integ- 
rity. For the reasons indicated, I still desire to escape 
burdens whicli are comi)onsated by no i^ossibility of ])ublic 
usefulness. And if the articles of impeachment i)resented 
against me Avere not ])ending, and the proceedings were 
dismissed, I should feel at liberty to carry out my desire 
and i)urpose of resignation. 

" I am very truly yours, 
" (Signed.) Adelbert Ames. 

"To Messrs. Durant & Pryor, Jackson, Miss." 

The following resolution was immediately adopted by the 
house : 

" Whereas, Assurance has been received by the House of 
Kepreseutatives of the State of ]\lississi])pi, that Adelbert 
Ames, governor of said State, but for the pendency against 
him of aiticles of impeachment exhibited by the IIouso of I 
]i<']»res(intat ives, would have resigned his ofllce of governor, 
and A\ill now do so, as the mamigcrs are informed by a let- 
ter, addr(^ssed by said Clovernor Ames to Ijis counsel, 
]\Iessrs, JJurant «Jc Tiyor, lead to said house, on a resolu- 



KEMPEK COUNTY VINDICATED. 347 

tion adopted diiecting its laauageis to dismiss said pro- 
ceeding; now, therefore, 

'■'■Be it resolved.. By the House of Iiepresoutatives of tlie 
State of Mississippi, that the managers, on the part of 
this liouse, in (he matter of tlie impeaehmeut of Adelbert 
Ames, governor of said State, be and tliey are hereby 
directed to dismiss the said articles against the said Adel- 
bert Ames, governor as aforesaid, heretofore exliibited by 
them against him at the bar of the Senate." 

Prior to the adoption of proceedings of imjieachmcnt 
against the governor, a, resolution was passed by the 
liouse to impeach the lieutenant governor. Why this 
order was adopted is as unaccountable as it is renuuk- 
able. The only charge against tlie lieutenant governor 
was the corrupt exeicise of the i)ardoning power, while 
those against the governor were multifarious and e<]ually 
as heinous. On tlie ITth of February, articles of im- 
peachment were i)referred iigainst the lieutenant gover- 
nor, charging liim with having received a bril)o for the 
])ardon of Thomas U. Uallentine, for the murder of Ann 
Thomas, in the County of Ijowndes, in August, 1874. Upon 
this charge issue was joined, and the trial i)roceeded with 
before the Senate, which, on the 23d of JMarch, found the 
lieutenant governor guilty of high crimes and misde- 
meanors, and immediately ])ronounced sentence, removing' 
him from office, and disqualifying him for holding anyofiice 
of honor, trust or profit in the State. Whatever tiium[>h 
of justice there may have been in this issue, but little 
credit can attach to the vigor with which this negro Wiis 
pursued to expulsion in view of the fact that Ames, the 
guilty head of the administration, was permitted to escape 
through the honorable door of resignation. 

This negro had always manifested, in all his conduct, the 
highest respect and the kindest feelings for his former 
owners and for the white people generally, and it was his 
ambition to be respected and noticed in turn by them tlmt 
caused his ruin. lie craved the notice and good will of 
prominent white men, and the \ cry crime of \\hich he way 



313 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

convictc<l, and for whicli ho vra.9, cxi)ellc(l from office, was 
coiiiuiittcd ill tlic ellbrt to acquire prominent notice, and 
was the product more of vanity that of vice. 

Ou the downfall of Ames, the last vestige of radical 
])owe]' disapix'ared from the State. On the 2!>th of March, 
the same day on which he resigned, J. M. Stone, president 
pro tern, of the Senate, was inaugurated governor of the 
State of Mississippi, and entered upon the duties of that 
olAce. 

A system of reform was now begun in all the depart- 
ments of the State government, which was at once marked 
Avith palpable benelits to tUo entire community. Tiie judi- 
ciary was puritied by the appointment of judges and chan- 
cellors, with one or two exceptions, learned in the law, and 
of irieproachable character, and an upright administration 
of public justice was re-established. Crime began to rap- 
idly decrease, and the county jails, the support of which 
had become an enormous burden upon the public, now 
])ecanie empty, aiul the almost daily knocks at the door of 
the i)euitentiary ceased. The certainty of punishment, 
always more effective than the (piantity, produced a whole- 
some efl'ect upon all grades of society. 

The iniblic school system was i)laced upon a more satis- 
factory aiul substantial basis, and every objectionable fea- 
ture removed from tlie institution. The beueflts of these 
jneasures continued to multiply, and their fruits will in- 
crease with the years. 

There is not now an intelligent and honest man in the 
State who docs not feel disgusted with the rule of corruj)- 
tion that afllicted the State under the radical administra- 
tion. 

In his annual message to the legislature on the 8th of 
January, 1878, the governor says : 

" During the past year, general peace and quiet have 
])rcvailed. With few exceptions, confined to one or two 
localities, no distmbjuiccs llav(^ oeenrred, the laws have 
been cnfoiccd, and llu- comts li;i\ c protected the citizen in 
his life, jici'sun and pi(»|t('rly. LiK-al self government has 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 319 

been sufficieut to preserve the peace and to secure to our 
people the blessings of good government. The wisdom of 
the legislation of your predecessors, enacted in the memora- 
ble session of 1876, and in the session of 1877, is seen in 
the prosperous and satisfactory condition of every depart- 
ment, and in the general content and satisfaction of the 
people of all classes and races." 

And again, in his inaugural address, two days after, his 
excellency says : 

"Let us be thankful that, amid our poverty and gloom, 
no riotous spirit of communism has raised its head in our 
midst ; that the earnest conservatism which has ever 
characterized our people, has preserved ns from the ter- 
rible scenes of pillage and plunder and lawlessness which, 
during the past summer, struck terror to tbe hearts of 
thinking men in other communities. Those who have tra- 
duced and slandered an entire State for the acts of a few 
maddened and infuriated men, have had to hang their beads 
in shame, while mobs of thousands and tens of thousands, 
for days and weeks together, held great cities in their 
grasp, and robbed, burnt, murdered and plundered with 
impunity." 

Yet the governor did not, as he says, refer to these 
things in any spirit of exultation, nor in justification of 
mob law, anywhere or under any circumstances, but he re- 
ferred to them for the same purpose for which the writer 
has here introduced the reference : to show what a noise 
may be made over an ant hill until it is lost hi the shadows 
of the mountain. But, uothwithstanding the odium of 
comparing those authorities, the carpet bagger. Wells, 
says : " 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 execu- 
tion, which, in many of the States of the Union, where a 
wholesome fear of the courts is maintained, \vould at once 
produce a sense of insecuritj" to life and property so gTcat, 
as to call out at once the united voice of the jieople for a 
revision of the code or an immediate change of officers 
intrusted with its enforcement." 



350 KEMPER COU??TY VINDICATED. 

There was no "comparative ])eace'' iu jMissi.ssippi until 
tlie dethroiHMiicnt of tlie radical i)o\ver in the State, and if 
these remarks ai>]»ly to t!ie state of allairs under the rule 
of the ne.;:,'roes and carpet ba;4i!:ers, then the people of Mis- 
sissii)i)i did, in 1875, Just what Wells says would have been 
done iu otiicr Slates of the Union, and tluj i)eoplo of 
Kemper County acted upon a sinular principle on the 29th 
of April, 1877. Goaded by this intense feeling of "inse- 
curity to life and property," the " united voice of the peo- 
])le" "called oaf for an immediate change. It was 
wrought, and since that time a far more than " comparative 
])eace," as the above references indicate, has dwelt iu the 
State of ]\Iississippi. 

l>iit, again, says this ear])el bagger, " The people of the 
South are governed by passion and prejudice more than 
by reason or law." in rejdy to this, the writer will simply 
state, aiul this man may tak(^ the unction of its tersity to 
his soul, that the i)eoi)le of the South will in nowise a(;cept, 
as a judge of what should be their ruling sentiment, an in- 
dividual who stood (;iinging in the streets of Brandon, 
■without the least show of resentment, while a negro nnin, 
Avhom he had swindled, thrrist his clenched hst in his face, 
and called him a "damned thieving carpet bag scoundrel.'' 
This circumstauce was witnessed by Col. Frantz, the well 
known editor of the lUandon ]xC2)nblican, and by many 
other geutlemen. 

There is a sense of delight on the part of some persons in 
misrepresenting sentiment which they do not possess and 
cannot com])rehend. It rises from a sense of inferiority, 
and this is evidently the case with .1. I\I. Wells. 

If a Southern num, being armed at the time, bad shot 
this negro while (ionnnittiug this aggravating assault u]ion 
him, he would then, in the estinuitiou of Wells and his 
class, have fallen into the (category of those who have no 
regard for law and order. 'J'otally destitute themselves of 
the sentiment of (ihivaliv, they can recognize it only as a 
spirit of lawlessui'ss. In war they characterized it as 
" madness of rebellion ;" for a long time after it was termed 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 351 

" disloyalty," and then a " disregard to law and order." 
This quick sense of honor and fiery spirit of personal re- 
sentment, so common and so highly appreciated by the 
►Southern people, was always a terror to the carpet bag- 
gers, and was the only thing that protected the Southern 
ladies from the intrusions and insults of that craven set. 
They njight advocate with impunity their political opin- 
ions, follow tbeir low calling without injury, and with color 
of politics, band the negroes together under the banners of 
ruin to the people without personal harm, but let them 
think of ottering personal indignity to any white gentle- 
man or lady, and they well knew what the consequences 
would be. It was a feature of ostracism which they cared 
not to tamper with. 

But since their llight from the South, their foul tongues 
have not spared the ladies, who scorned them with all the 
jiower of disdain, it is true, but who otherwise did not 
deem them worthy even of the notice which corporeal pun- 
ishment confers at the hands of a gentleman. 

We have already seen Wells representing Miss Chisolni 
as standing on the porch of her father's house while a 
Democratic procession was passing along tlie street, and 
" devoutly praying that their cannon might burst and blow 
them all into the fiery furnace," in other words, into hell. 
But not satisfied with this caricature of the character of 
his paragon of refinement, he says that he has seen a 
beautiful young lady of Jackson, who was so lost to the 
" tender emotions of her sex," that on being questioned as 
to her feelings toward Governor Ames, " who with his ac- 
complished wife and interesting family of children lived in 
the same town with herself," bristle up with an expression 
as savage as an outraged tigress and exclaim : " I could 
tear out his tongue and heart and burn him alive !" There 
are, no doubt, women in the South belonging to the only 
class with which Wells associated v/ho arc capable of such 
sentiments as he characterizes, as in the case of Miss Chis- 
olni, ns the outcrop of superior refinement; but in regard 
to the htuiUifid young lady ofJaclcso)i, the writer will say to 



353 IvEMPER COUNTY VIXDICATED. 

liiin, that were lie to aj^ain make his appearance on the 
streets of that town, Avliicli he has so often promenaded, 
arm in arm with cornfield uegroes, while the j^entlemen 
Avould s(;orn to notice him, the little boys of the town wonld 
cowhide him along the streets with all the deserved igno- 
miny of a Titns Gates, while these same " heautiful young 
ladies, with dreamy eyes and drooping lashes," would wave 
their handkerchiefs in applause, from the windows, with 
all the pleasure of a " Catharine de Medici," and with hearts 
no less ai)palled. Unfortunately, as the champion and 
chosen historian of the iamily, he has the character of the 
amiable and unfortnnate INIiss Chisolm in his keeping, but 
if he cannot clothe her memory with more chastity than he 
has done, it is a pity that it cannot rest in the sand hills of 
her native pines. 

History will ever accord the highest meed of praise to 
the noble women ot the South. At the first sounding of 
the tocsin of war they buckled on the armor of their hns- 
bands, fathers, brothers and sons, and bade them go with 
all the exulting pride and ])atriotic s])irit of the dames of 
8j>arta. And amid all the vicissitudes of war, and all the 
ti'ials and snllerings that fell to their lot, they maintained the 
same spirit of defiance, the same calm, dignified demeanor, 
an abiding faith and unswerving constancy unequalled by 
the maids and matrons of liome in the palmiest days of 
lieroisni. If they did not lop off the head of a IIolo- 
fernes, sink ships of war, or scale the frowning ramparts 
of an Orleans, they inspired the soldiers of the con- 
federacy with that valor which gained the admiration of 
the world. Nor did their devotion slacken when the smoke 
of battle cleared away and the Southern fiag lay trailing in 
the dust, but with the same lofty spirit and virtuous pride 
they held the rod of scorn over those of their countrymen 
who for one cause or another would have dragged them 
down to the level of that society which radicalism sought 
to establish. Their fidelity to the elevated ])rinciples of 
Democracy conlined the contamination of treason to tho 
father, and prevented the inheritance of radicalism among 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 353 

the yontli of tlie South. Under such influence and re- 
straints, no offer of honor or emoUimeut could induce a 
young man, of any self respect, to ally himself with the 
radical party, and there are many to-day whose cheeks arc 
mantled with the blosli of shame when, in the presence of 
ladies, they are reminded that their fathers were radicals. 
All honor to the noble women of the South. The seal of 
their applause is stamped with more than mortal indeli- 
bility, and will blaze into a brilliant star beyond the verge 
of time. 

But to descend from the sublime to the ridiculous, let us 
return to Wells, the slanderer of Mississippi. lie says : 
" The State teems with little newspapers ; for when the 
fact is well established that a man is utterly incapacitated 
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 honors of some 
kind, and there being nothing else so cheap, a ' handle' is 
at once affixed to his name, supposed to be commensurate 
with his subscription list, exclusive of 'dead heads.'" 
Wells speaks here in part from his own experience, for, 
excluding the shot gun jihrase, in which feature he was 
incapable of sharing a part either in fact or significance, 
there was certainly one less of the class of papers he here 
describes in the State, when the lilthy negro carpet bagger 
sheet, edited by him at Brandon, Mississippi, succumbed 
to the contemi>t of his own party, and as to the sobriquet 
of " captain" which he assumes, if it was acquired during 
his editorial career, it was but the expression of his leader- 
ship of some negro club mustered in the dark hours of tlio 
night, and organized for the purpose of hounding them on 
to deeds of rapine and violence. And if he obtained his 
title during the war, it was no doubt derived from his 
expertness among the bee hives and chicken coops of the 
South. 1^0 doubt he has a wholesome disgust for the edi- 

23 



351 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

tors of Mississij)))!, who so often held up his political and 
personal dorclictio!! to the public gaze, and with whom he 
never dared to tilt the; hiiiee of debate. He sought circu- 
lation lor his [)ai)er mostly among the illiterate negroes, 
whom, if they could not read it, he endeavored to impress 
with the magic effect of porting it ujwn the logs of their 
cabins. 

The dignilied tone, alertness and manly bearing of the 
Mississippi press were I'atal to the operations of the carpet 
baggers. Its voiee has always been a two edged sword, 
Avhose sharp cuts and pointed thrusts cleaved deep lissures 
in the radic-al carcass throughout the length and breadth of 
the land. Xo circumstance could thwart its aim, no distance 
])arry its blows. And these same editors, whom Wells 
characterizes as " the titled gentry of the Mississippi 
press," have won as immortal fame and unfading glory in 
the great battle with radicalism as that which most of 
them achieved by their daring, courage and endurance on 
the field of battle. In the sanctum or in the camp, in the 
gloom of defeat, or in the brightest beams of victory, theii* 
swords and their pens, their blood and their brains, have 
been alike devoted to the cause of right and the interest of 
their peoi)le; to 1 he great i)rincii)les of constitutional law 
and American liberty ; clinging with one hand to the doc- 
trine of States' rights (the only hope left to the South), 
they gras])t'd the hand of the i)eoi)le with the other, and 
rescued them from llu; shackles which vengeance and 
fanaticism and folly were forging and welding around 
their liberties; like " si-ntinel stars"' they kei)t their watch 
in the skies, signalled the appearance of every cloud along 
the liorizon and heralded every beam of the rising day. 

^o wonder that the car[)et bagger looked upon the press 
of ^Mississippi as his Avorst enemy, and that its lashings a})- 
])eared to him " the terrifying features of the hydra headed 
monster, which (he !o\'ers of i;ei)nblican government have 
to confront," and thi'.t he should exclaim, with Wells: 
"The caidinal i)rin('iples of ])opnlar government arc too 
plebeian ever to be a.pi)reciated by the high born sons of 



KEMPEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 3oo 

the Soutb." The '' cardiual principles" of radicalism, wbicli 
sought to convert the South into a new Africa, and by 
means of the negro vote, to place all the power and prop- 
erty of these States in the possession of thieving adven- 
turers; to subject their white citizens to the political, so- 
cial and moral code of New England thieves, mixed with 
so much of negro voodooism as to preserve the alliance 
necessary for the purpose, was indeed too plebeian to be 
tolerated bj' any people not lost to every sense of pride 
and every sentiment of virtue. If tiiis state of things was 
alone to constitute that " domestic tranquillity," in speak- 
ing of which, Vv'ells' says, " comparisons become odious," 
then the Southern people niight well aftbrd to welcome the 
chances of that "irrepressible conflict," which he says 
existed between the negro and his former owner. 

It was upon the existence of such a conflict that J. M. 
Wells and his class rested all their hopes, and to the breed- 
ing of which all their aims and efforts were directed. And 
the fact that none such ever naturally and really existed, 
was the cause of their overthrow. 

There was never any antagonism existing' between the 
negroes and the white people of the South, save that kin- 
dled and fed by Wells, and others of his character ; and 
this they did by falsehood and deceit, and by the means of 
every low art that vice could devise to reach the mind of 
ignorance. 

We have seen that the leading carpet bagger of Missis- 
sippi, Adelbert Ames, rested the success of his adminis- 
tration, as governor of the State, upon that issue, and 
even proclaimed a war of races in the State, in which he 
declared himself to be in alliance with the blacks. 

But the election of 1875 put an end to their design and 
broke the wings that had fanned the trouble. On the day 
of that election, this world proclaimed monster of antago- 
nism shook off the unnatural garnu>nts in which radicalism 
had so long sought to clothe it, and disclosed an alliance of 
l)olitics and interest and good will between the negroes 
and their old owners. It was then that the carpet bagger 



350 KE3irER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

found liiiiisdf friendless and alone. The cranes bad all 
It'll llie radical pasture; and the carpet baggei', his occu- 
pation being gone, and being disrobed of his disguise, 
sought safety behind the sheltering higlits of radical rage. 
The legislature of 1870 was organi/.ed with a large J)emo- 
cratic majority in both houses, and the laws then enacted 
were characterized by an entire freedom from partisanship 
or partiality. In striking contrast with the i)redictions of 
the radical party and the representations of Wells, were 
the resolutions and speeches which marked the close of 
the session. 

The colored members exi)ressed their gratitude to the 
speaker and to the members of .the house generally for 
their impartiality, kindness and courtesy which they had 
uniformly shown them. Young, the negro representative 
from Washington County, said that he came there with 
some doubts lingering in his mind as to the disposition of 
the majority to accord justice, and as to the treatment the 
colored members would receive. While he was a Kepub- 
lican, he held that if a man was pure, consistent and honest, 
he was the man for position, regardless of what might bo 
his politics. He assured the members that if they would 
continue to kec^j) faith with the colored people, as they liad 
lieretofore done, no loreigner, no Northern man, no Western 
man, no carpet bagger could ever again alienate the colored 
people of J\Iississii)])i from their fellow citizens of the white 
race. "You," said he, " have the brains, the power and 
the property'. Only continue your kind trcatmeut, and 
show my ])eoi)le that you will do by them what is right, and 
they will stand by you and with you to the last." Carter, 
colortMl, from Warren County, dwelt especially on the liberal 
action of the house toward the colored normal schools, and 
in the interest manift'sti'd in the education of the colored 
race. Jacobs, of Adams County, and Mallory, of Le Flore, 
both colored, also, in the nam(! of their peo])le, expressed 
their thanks to the s[)eaker and to all the members for the 
kind treatment they had invariably received during the 
session, and in return expressed their kindest wishes for 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 357 

tlic white members, and for tbo white people generally. 
The resolution of thanks to the speaker was unanimously 
adopted by a rising' vote. 

This scene was truly a remarkable phase of that " irre- 
pressible conflict " which Wells declares still exists between 
tiie negro of the South and his former owner. " But," says 
that individual, " the friends of Eepublicanism meet with 
the same uncompromising opposition that Union men did 
in the South in 18G0 and 1801, and the stronger the hold 
which is fastened upon the government, and the greater the 
number of ' Confederate brigadiers' who secure seats in 
the national Congress, the more bitter, persistent and 
determined seems to be the opposition to everything sought 
to be introduced and maintained here, that is not Demo- 
cratic in name and Southern in principle." The first part 
of this paragraph is conceded with intensified force. The 
Southern people generally are far more bitterly opposed to 
radical rule and the carpet bagger than they ever were to 
the Union or to Union men. To the Union, so long as it 
existed or was capable of existing as it was established 
by its founders and interpreted by the Constitution, they 
w'ere never opposed, but, on the other hand, were its 
stanchest supporters ; but, w^hen it was proclaimed by the 
radical party, when it came into power by mere accident, 
to be "a league with death and a covenant with hell," they 
thought it was time to sever their connection with such a 
diabolical association. And as to the significance of the 
presence of brigadiers in Congress, Wells misses his mark 
when he seeks to excite the jirejudice of the Northern 
soldier by such an alhision. Brave men are alike every- 
where, and the true soldier of the North cherishes no ill will 
against the " Confederate brigadiers." It is only the camp 
followers, sutlers, chicken thieves, women insulters, and 
stay at homes, and dastard politicians, who entertain feel- 
ings of bitterness toward the officers and soldiers of the 
CoTifederate army. With this class his diatribes will no 
doubt have the desired effect. It was often said during 
tlie war, that if the matter were left to the rank and tile of 



358 KEMrEIl COUNTY VINDICATED. 

the two armies, tliey Avould soon frame a treaty of a satis- 
factory aud abiding peace ; but, imfortimately, tbe voice of 
these was scarcely heard in tlie uproar of office seekers and 
non-combatants whicli followed the cessation of the conflict' 
The true soldiers of both armies, as a general tiling, gladly 
retired to the quiet walks of life, ami left the field open to 
the lowest grades of humanity, who, lured by cupidity and 
revenge, swarmed in shoals upon the surface of recou- 
struction. 

" Tlie bravo man seeks not popular applause, 
Nor, overpowered with arms, deserts liis cause ; 
Unshamod, though foiled, he does tlio best ho can ; 
Force is of brutes, l)ut honor is of man." 

' These elements, when transplanted in the South, blos- 
somed and bloomed into that queer character known as the 
carpet bagger, who was truly a thrifty being so long as he 
could flounder in the filthy slime of reconstruction. But 
as State after State was rescued from that sea of corrup- 
tion, like the frogs of a desiccated lake, they made their 
way to other parts in search of congenial elements. Mis- 
sissippi, unfortunately, became one of their last and favorite 
resting places. Uere they gathered in a])palling ])r()fusion, 
until the muddy i)ools of ])olitics foanuul with the strug- 
gling mass of i)lunderers, who finally, as we have seen, 
turned their thirsty jaws upon each other, and in verifica- 
tion of the old adage, " When thieves quarrel, honest men 
get their dues." This was done, and the carpet baggers 
fled to i)aits unknown, whih) the Southern people beheld 
their rai)id exit with as much delight as did ravaged 
Greece the flight of the Persians from the plains of JMara- 
tlion. 

THE CARPET BAGGERS' FLIOUT. 

And do wo dreain wo roc 
Tiie carpet bai,^f^Gr3 flco 
From this fair Soutliern land; 
Wliere tiie adventurous band, 
Under the covert night. 
Gathered tlioir sable miirht 



KEMPER COUNTY VESTDTCATED. 350 

To strike the robber's blow, 
And lay all virtue low? 
Great Justice ! canst thou see, 
Unmoved, the villains flee ; 
Such plunderers go free, 
Unhung, with pockets packed 
From the Southern tills they sacked ? 
Of curses laid on man, 
They lead the frowning van. 
Incarnate demons 1 Lift their name 
High up the shaft of roguery's fame. 
And when they lost their power, 
They seized the exalted dower 
Of Slander ; and her frown 
Became the fitting crown 
Of their accursed renown. 
Cease, radicalism, cease, 
Tour gongs of hollow peace, 
Should he again come forth, 
This pocket eating moth. 
From cesspools of the North, 

Wells charges Mississippi with having been infested with 
" an ungovernable element, familiarly styled ' Bulldozers.' " 
Any radical who, in view of the forgeries of the Florida 
canvassers and the Lonisian;t returning board, can write, 
unblushingly, that word for the public gaze, must bo too 
obdurate in heart, too imbecile in intellect, and too de- 
graded in sentiment to feel the chastisement which the 
very mention of it should inflict ui^on the feelings of every 
patriot — of every honest man. But as he and his class were 
so habituated by the long exercise of such arts upon the 
credulous minds of the negroes, that they find themselves 
at a loss for other means of calumny than by charging the 
Southern people with using the same metliods by means of 
wliicli they themselves had so long nourished. 

To sup]iort tliese cliarges, Wells has taken the pains to 
cnll from tlie n(iwsi)apers of the State every precautionary 
advice, every local or personal reprimand, and every flight 
of moral discourse lie could find, however trivial the cir- 
cumstances which made the suggestion and called forth 



300 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

the rebuke. In this connection, he again assails the 
governor of the State, and charges hiui with partisan par- 
tiality in responding tavorably to a call made by the citi- 
zens of some of the lower counties of the State lor the sup- 
pression of existing lawlessness, when he had declined to 
comi)ly with the request of Mis. Chisolm to send the car- 
pet bagger, Shaughnessy, with an armed troop into Kem- 
per County, which was then in a state of quietude, lie 
sajs: "Again his excellency the governor has been 
forced to acknowledge the virtue found in the old adage, 
' It makes a dilFerence whose ox is gored.' Contrast his 
language of May, in answer to Mrs. Chisolm's appeal, 
when he had ' no jwwer to do anything at all,' with that 
of September last, in answer to the call of his own dis- 
tressed brethren." The language and the answer of the 
governor, to which Wells here alludes, and which he quotes, 
is as follows : 

"Executive Department, ) 
Jackson, jMiss., September 8, 1877. / 

" Hon. A. C. McXair, Brookhaven, Miss. 

" Dear Si7': I have the hoiun' to acknowledge the receipt 
of your favor, detailing the condition of affairs in three of 
the counties of southwestern Mississippi. I am now in 
corres])ondence with leading citizens in those localities, 
with a view of ascertaining what the emergency demands, 
and then to determine w'hat lawful means to adopt to meet 
that emergency. Such a state of things cannot bo toler- 
ated, and cost what it nuiy, it must and shall be stopped. 
" Yours very truly, 

J. M. Stone." 

The counties referred to in this letter were Amite, Pike 
and Fraiddin, in which disturbances of a local nature were 
then existing, and which, in some instances, had assumed 
proportions beyond the control of the local authorities. 
The cause of these troubles, which did not at all partake 
of a i)olitical character, can be traced only to the bad state 
of alfairs resulting from the long radical misrule in these 



KEMPER COUNTY VrNDICATED. ■ 361 

counties. In pursuance of the suggestions contained in 
the governor's message to the legislature, on the 8th of 
January, ISl^, the house of representatives appointed a 
special coiuniittee of live, including the members from the 
distressed counties, to investigate the alleged state of law- 
lessness in the three southwestern counties. This commit- 
tee performed its duties tlioroughly and with vigor, and 
gave the subject the careful, deliberate and impartial con- 
sideration which its importance demanded. The testimony 
of many of the most intelligent and reliable citizens of 
those counties was taken by the committee, and a large 
number of affidavits made before the officers of those coun- 
ties, and many i)rivate letters of prominent citizens were 
also submitted to the committee. These various sources of 
information disclosed the fact that for several months tliero 
had been more or less lawlessness existing in the counties 
of Amite, Pike, Franklin and Lincoln, and which had 
sometimes extended to the counties adjacent to these. 
Tiiese acts of lawlessness were generally perpetrated in the 
niglit time, by unknown persons, who posted threatening 
notices about the premises of i)"ominent citizens, and who 
whi[)ped and sometimes killed persons, and burnt houses. 

The committee rej)orted that they had striven diligently 
to ascertain the cause of this state of affairs, but were un- 
able to arrive at any conclusion, other than that it had its 
origin in the general financial depression and extreme pov- 
erty of the country ; that it was the work of a spirit of 
agrarianism, in which political considerations had no share. 
The long misrule and dishonesty in the management of 
the finances of the country, the intolerable burden of tax- 
ation to which they had long been subjected in conse- 
quence, and the failure of the system of agriculture then 
in use, had combined to produce a. state of financial de- 
]>ression, as the results of which, a large number of the 
]>eople saw tlieir lands, their houses and their homes, 
]*ass away from them by tax sales, and under the execu- 
tion of mortgages and deeds of trust. 

Ill former years, and until then, the people of these 



3G2 KE^rPER COITNTY VINDICATED. ' 

counties liad been as prosperous, peaceable and law abiclinq; 
as of any ])ortion of the State, but the policy, pursued of 
late years, of iiiakiiiLj <*<>tt()ii almost exclusively, for which 
they obtained low i)rict's, and of dependinj:; upon the pro- 
(ieeds of this croj) to i)urcliase supjjlies and the necessaries 
of life, for which they were compelled to pay exorbitant 
])rices, in consideration of advances on credit, cou])led 
with the onerous load of taxation imposed upon them dur- 
ing radical rule, caused their condition to grow continually 
"Worse, and finally culminated in disasters well calculated 
1() ])roduce despondency, if not desperation. 

Under such circumstances, many of these people gave 
Avay to unfortunate and deplorable feelings of commun- 
ism, such as have puzzled the wisest statesmen, not only in 
other i)arts of our own country, but in almost every coun- 
try in the world. 

The committee were emphatic in the statement that poli- 
tics formed no element in the production of these acts of 
lawlessness, and that they s[)rang from no feelings of race, 
or animosity against tlie negroes. The evidence of this was 
obtained from the numerous disavowals of this feature 
Jbun<l in many anonymous notes and letters which they 
found scattered over the country by these men for the i)ur- 
])ose of terrifying the people. Their object seems to have 
been to drive away tlie laborers and tenants, without in- 
juring them, in order to ruin the large land owners. It 
was evidently the spirit of incipient communism against 
Avhich the committee urged immediate and vigorous action 
on the ]»art of the authorities of the government. 

The committee asc(;rtained also that this spirit of law 
lessncss by no means previiiled throughout these counties, 
but was contined to ceitain localities, and that its exist- 
once was de])recated by tlie larger portion of the peoi>le, 
and by all of the better class of citizens, wlio were desirous 
that law :nid order siiould i)revail, and sliowed a ))erl'ect 
willingness t<> eo operate with the autlioiities in suppress- 
ing rioloHsncss and in itriiigiiig all \i()lators of the law and 
ilisturbers of I he jjcace to punishment. 



KEMrER COUNTY VINDICA.TED. 3G3 

On tlio reception of the report of tliis committee, the 
legislature promptly passed an act to suppress lawlessness, 
wbicli, together with the prompt and vigorous measures 
adopted by the governor, caused the ofl'euders to disperse, 
since which time peace and" quiet have been enjoyed by the 
citizens of these counties. 

It was the language and the action of the governor on 
tills occasion which Wells so triumphantly contrasts with 
the reply he made to Mrs. Cliisolm, when she petitioned 
him to send an armed force, under her friend Shaughnessy, 
to Kemper County, where he had been in person, and found 
everything in a state of perfect quiescence, with no obstruc- 
tion of the laws, and no hindrance to the execution of the 
process of the courts, or to the full XDcrformance of their 
functions. What analogy there can be between the proper 
action of the executive of a State, on the occasion of exist- 
ing popular disturbances, and his course when no such 
troubles exist, must find its development only in the logic 
and politics of J. Madison Wells. 

And just at this point the ingenuity of that individual 
seems also to have been exhausted, and, in casting around 
to recover itself, seizes upon the names of three score citi- 
zens of Kemper County, wiiich ho thinks deserves special 
notice, and is " unwilling tljat thej^ should be lost to pos- 
terity," as " active participants in the ' Chisolm ' massacre." 
These names he wishes to be "hung up along all the pub- 
lic avenues leading into the State," there to appear as " ter- 
rifying warnings," such as that inscribed on one of the en- 
trances of " Dante's ideal hell," to everj- " weary emi, 
grant" who, in search of a home, ma}- chance to turn his 
face toward the smiling gates and " genial clime of Missis- 
sippi." To all such he desires that these three score names 
shall read : " xVll hope abandoned when ye enter here," and 
that they should 'Miispire the gifted Lamar to honeyed 
words of reconciliation," and the honorable Mr. Money to 
point with " pride to the names of his constituency," and 
awaken a remembrance of the murdered Chisolm, his boy 
and sweet girl ; and that they should proclaim, for all time, 



364 ke:mper county vendicated. 

that four thousand negroes voted for the said Money who 
ought to have voted for Chisolm and the carpet baggers. 
Wells has lieaved all these ideas into a dozen lines, and 
these lines, compacted into the closing paragraph of his 
" Chisolm massacre," which butt against its terminal 
bounds, like pent Hoods that lash the barrier shore. 

As to the men whose names he wishes to illume above 
those of their fellows, although some of them were not even 
present, they have never denied, nor have they ever sought 
to conceal the fact that they, each and every one of them, 
participated either directly or indirectly, in the riot of the 
29th of April, at De Kalb. This legacy they are willing to 
leave to posterity, even without the concurrence of Wells, 
and they wish their names to be painted in " letters of 
gold '' on every guide post that points an entrance into 
Mississippi, as a "terrifying warning"' to all outlaws, car- 
pet baggers, and to all oppressors of the people, that there 
is no hope for them if they enter there, but to all honest 
and ujiright men, be they from whatever State, or from 
Avhatever clime, they wish their names to bo tokens of wel- 
come and good will ; to all such, who wish to settle among 
them, they extend the hand of friendship, of neighborly 
kindness and social fellowship. And as to the honeyed 
words of the " gifted Lamar," or the vaunted pride of Mr. 
IMoney, the character and i)ublic services of those gentle- 
men are too well known to be affected by scurrility. They 
are too far above the reach of the spiteful shafts of a car- 
l)ct bagger to discover even the random Hight of his 
arrows. 

With this feeble effort to daub with his exhausted brusii 
the names of the United States senator from Mississippi 
and the member of Congress from the Kemper district. 
Wells, with an eye to the profits, turns with a lively faith 
in its merits, to the alleged object of his work as a "guar- 
antee of tlie liigh character and responsibility" of which ho 
quotes the oi)inion of his partner, Mrs. Chisolm. And wo 
will here leave him beleaguering and bantering the young 
men of the country for contributions in the way of traffic 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 3G5 

for liis book, wliicli lie says ^\ill be devoted to the erection 
of a monument over tlie tomb of Miss Cornelia Cliisolm. 
If tbo young men of the country, or of any section, are dis- 
posed to contribute to the erection of a monument to the 
memory of that worthy and unfortunate young hidy, the 
writer, so far from any disai)proval, will cast his mite for 
the purpose, provided the management of the enteri)rise 
be placed in reliable and worthy hands, and lie will under- 
take to say that under the auspices of honesty and sincerity 
a sufficient amount for that purpose could be raised in Kem- 
per County. I3ut perhaps there is now no sucli necessity, 
since the government of the United States has adoi)tcd the 
Chisolm family. In the mouth of December, 1877, at t-he 
special instance and request of the President, the name of 
Mrs. Chisolm v/as placed on the pay rolls of the Treasury 
Department of the general government, and a few months 
later that of Mrs. Gilmer, the widow of the infamous John 
Gilmer, was placed among the employees in one of the de- 
partments of the War Office. As to the i)ersonal promotion 
and private fortune of these ladies, the writer makes no ref- 
erence; he would not pluck one sprig from their fortune's 
wreath ; but the manifest partisan prejudice displayed in the 
circumstances of these appointments was unworthy of the 
dignity of the chief magistrate of the nation, and should in- 
cur the scorn of every lair minded citizen. It was evidently 
intended as an act of the highest official confirmation of 
the slanders perpetrated upon the people of Kemper 
County, and an official strike at the Democratic party on 
the part of the President of the United States. 

But there is another, widowed by the hand of the 
procured assassin, whose unfading grief and quenchless 
anguish, veiled with meekness and Christian resignation, 
seeks no public ovation or governmental sanctiflcation. Mrs. 
Gully, by her Christian bearing since her great misfortune, 
deserves all that pure and tender sympathy she has re- 
ceived —a woman around whose head clusters a halo of 
more than ordinar3' virtues. She has sought solace only in 
acts of charity, and in providing for her little children and 
grandchildren 



3G6 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

She, has striven to hide her grief from the worhl, and 
submits with Christian meekness to the disi)ensation.s of 
Heaven. Never coukl she for a moment entertain the idea 
of acliieviiii;" notor'v'ty by her misfortune, and her very soul 
wouhl revolt at the thoii<;ht of bartering;" the bulh't rent 
and bloody g^arments of her husband for fortune or fame ; 
but with the tender sj'mpathy of her countrymen and the 
blessiui^s of llcaveu, she "lives on" in faith and in the 
iirm hope that her j;*arments of woo will be exchanged for 
an apparel of glory, when, with the end. of her earthly 
troubles, shall come a reunion with her loved and lost. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 3G7 



CHAPTEE XV. 

" What more noblo, 
Than to redeem the fortunes of a state, 
And, seizing fearlessly the wayward helm, 
While the whole crew stand tremljling and appalled, 
With blanchloss cheek, and an undaunted eye, 
And nerved arm, framed as to rule the trident. 
To steer the shattered vessel into port, 
And, like a rock amid the troubled ocean. 
Mock at the billows and defy the storm !" 

We have already noticed the great benefits wliich re- 
sulted from the redemption of Mississippi from the ruin of 
radical rule, and the advent of the Uemocratic party to 
power in the State. It now remains to show the continua- 
tion and the growth of those benefits up to the present 
time. 

When the people of the State became again in jios- 
session of its government, the state of public affairs was 
truly in a deplorable condition. The State aiul county 
treasuries were, for the taost part, empty, while ever accu- 
mulating loads of debt weighed down all i)ublic and pri- 
vate enterprise ; poverty walked abroad in the land with 
all its train of woes, aggravated by the discontent which 
always attends its presence, with those who never before 
liad felt its gripes or tasted its bitter cup. 

The condition of Mississippi in June, 187G, the first year 
of the redemption, is truthfully described in the following 
extract Irom the minority report of Senators Bayard and 
McDonald, of the Mississippi Senatorial Investigating 
Committee. After describing their visits to Jackson and 
Aberdeen, where they remained from the 0th to the 29th 
of Jane, they say : " No acts of a turbulent or disorderly 
nature were witnessed by the committee, and no signs of 
enmity or incivility Averc exhibited, but on the contrary, 
courtesy and respect Nvere, on all hands, extended to the 



368 KEMPEIl COUNTY VINDICATED. 

committee. The poverty of the people was a])parciit in 
their garb, the appearance of their houses, and the marked 
absence of good and coMifortable vt'liU-los. The Mant of 
Ijorses or equipages ibr ordinary i)leasnre was fraidvly 
stated to tlie writers by sun(b\v gentlemen, who regretted 
t])eir inability to allow us to see the surrounding country, 
simply because thc}^ and their families were too poor to 
indulge in the pleasure of a drive. 

"Large numbers of ladies in Mississippi, delicately- nur- 
tured and carefully educated, are com]>elled to perform the 
drudgery of their households nuaided by domestic servants. 

"This great change in their mode of life and fortunes in- 
duces them to conceal their wants from a stranger's eyes, 
and frequently forbids that open handed hospitality once 
so characteristic of Southern households. 

" The only exhibition of pleasure seeking witnessed was 
by the colored people, whose processions passed the com- 
mittee room, and whose holiday excursions by railway 
started from the depot opposite. The only cannon sound 
was from their lte])ublican ratification meeting, and theirs 
•was the oidy music heard by us in ^Mississippi. 

" The poverty of the colored people, also, was often pain- 
fully apparent in the groups of witnesses who clustered 
upon the long galleries, wretched in appearance and mis- 
erably clad, gi\ ing to the hotel the appearance of a county 
almshouse." 

This picture was by no means overwrouglit. The ne- 
groes, taught by the carpet baggers to regard politics as 
the first and highest of all considerations, had for years 
thought of but little besides club meetings, ratilication 
meetings, i)arades and public speaking. Their crops had 
been invariably abandoned or neglected at the most criti- 
cal period, and the very means of subsistence, otherwise 
than by tlielt, was even unthought of amid the marshall- 
ing of clubs and tlie beating of druuis. The labor of the 
country during all this time was utterly unreliable and 
worthless. Ko planter, when ho sowed his crop, had any 
assurance that lie would be able to have it cultivated or 



i KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 300 

harvested ; consequently, there could be but little credit 
based upon fanning- operations, greatly to the disadvan- 
tage of the negroes, who had no other means of obtaining- 
the necessaries of life. Nor was this demoralizing political 
intlnonce confined to the men, but tlie negro women also 
imbibed the same spirit of idleness which it engendered. 
They attended all the political meetings, listened with 
greedj' ears to the tales of the carpet baggers, and entered 
into all their political schemes; indeed, their hostility to 
the white people was more manifest, if not more bitter, 
than that of the men. Under this state of afl\iirs but little 
reliable household aid could be obtained from them. The 
ladies of Mississippi are worthy of all praise for the i>a- 
tience and resolution with which they grappled with the 
situation, and performed the drudgery of domestic aftairs, 
to which they were totally unaccustomed. Their perse- 
verance and ingenuity achieved for them a triumph over 
all their domestic troubles as signal as that won over 
political diflicnlties by the determination of their fathers, 
husbands and brothers. 

The ladies of the South have indeed had a hard time, 
but, while the years have rolled away, and with them the 
causes of their troubles, while every mouth and day leaves 
a defacing mark upon the remains of radicalism, the great 
"clock of destiny" is summoning them back to their pro- 
per sphere, announcing the return of the epoch when intelli- 
gence, virtue and good breeding ayIU again assume their 
wonted superiority over the hoi polloi and roughs of evei-y 
race. Already the sun of prosperity has risen upon the 
land, and its beams shine brighter and brighter as it 
climbs toward the zenith. The very breezes have become 
more balmy, the stars twinkle more brilliantly in the can- 
opy of heaven, and the midnight moon seems to shine with 
a purer and serener light, while all nature seems to clothe 
itself in new garments, and heaven and nature and art all 
combine to produce a clime 

" AVlicre cvoiy bud that gems tlic vernal spray- 
Swells into fruit beueath the Autuuiu's ray." 



370 KEMPER, COUNTY" VINDICATED. 

It was not reasonable to expect that the people of jMissis- 
si])])i would recover entirely, short of many years, from the 
litter i)rostnitioH of every interest, and the extreme jxiverty, 
both i)ubli(; and private, to wliich they had been reduced by 
the corrupt rule of radicalism. The absolute want and des- 
titution of a lar;;e i)ortion of the ])e()i)le had first to be re- 
lieved, before any considerable avail could be made of the 
great political change. Yet the recuperative powers of 
the State have been manifested to a wonderful degree. In- 
deed, the convalescence has even outrun, as it were, the 
skill of the physician ; and with many unwholesome laws 
u])on the statute book, and sadly in need of the i)resence 
of others, the State has advanced toward a state of health 
even beyond the prescriptions of the legislature. And it 
has but one drawback, and there is but one danger of a 
relapse — that is demagogy. Keei) back the little politi- 
cal poodles and conceited demagogues, who are ever ready 
to ride into ollice upon the beguilement of the people, and 
the State of Mississi])i)i will soon talce her lirm stand 
among the first communities of the earth; then, and not 
till then, call her recovered. The great l)ane of unlimited 
Iranchise is its tendency to political communism ; to leave 
the doors of oflice 0])en to incompetency and demerit. A 
democracy presumes an intelligent, patriotic and a homo- 
geneous jieople, and with the great mass of ignorance 
which has been incorporated in the political system of Mis- 
sissippi, there is need of every restraint upon this tendency. 
Although it Avas cast uiion the Avhite people without their 
consent, and against their i)rotest, yet, so great has been 
the political advantages of negro suffrage in a national 
jjoint of view, that every eftbrt should be made to bring it 
into harmony with political virtue. It cannot be parted 
with. Since the crown of thorns has budded into a wreath 
of ])()litical power, it must be cherished, and not a leaf ever 
sMiTercd to be ])lucked away ; but let it remain as the crown- 
ing arch of radicalism, the one lone pillar of its memory. 

IJut th(! right of sullVagc shouhl by all means be con- 
liiicd to those who pay their capitation tax, for this tax is, 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 371 

in Mississippi, devoted exclusively to the maintenance of 
the public schools, and it is the only method of compellinj;- 
the great mass of the negroes to contribute to their own 
education. In some of the States, as in Massachusetts, 
the condition })recedent to the right to vote is twofold — 
the applicant must not only have paid his poll tax of two 
dollars, which in Mississi[)pi should be the same, but he 
must also be able to read. Indeed, these two conditions 
are of a very com])atible nature; the former requiring the 
voter to aid in the maintenance of the ])ublic schools, and 
the latter compelling him to avail himself of their privileges, 
prior to his full exercise of the rights of a citizen. And 
while the latter recpiisition might be inexpedient, at i)res- 
ent, in a. general a])plicati()n, in view of the large majority 
of negro voters who never liad the op])ortunities of the 
])!()I)osed qualilication, and who are now, perhai)s, too far 
advanced in years to ac(piire it conveniently, yet both con- 
ditions should be rc(iuired of the rising generation. The 
operation of these two laws u[)on the franchise, combined 
Avith the unity of interest of the two races, together with 
a full restoration of tliat mutual sympathy and kind feel- 
ing engendered by early training and old associations, 
wonld insure a lasting state of harmony and prosperity 
between the white people and the black in Mississipi)i. 
ISTotwithstanding that a large nund)cr of them were dis- 
franchised, and therefore could do nothing, yet it is 
thought by numy that the white ]:)eo[)le of the State com- 
mitted a great error, in a politic point of view, in not Ibrm- 
ing an alliance with the negro in the early stages of recon- 
struction, as was done to a great extent in Virginia, and 
thereby preventing liis coin])iete subjection to the car[)et 
bagger. But we have already noticed the difticulties attend- 
ing the consummation and practicability of this compact 
at a time when the demands of the negro extcJided rdso to 
so(;ial equality and coin])lete agrarianisni. It may l)e that 
it was better for both races that the terrible lessons of ex- 
perience should be learned, so that their natural relations, 
wheu I'esumed, might in couse(iuence be better understood 



372 ICEMPEK, COUNTY VINDICATED. 

and more eutlaiiug. Ilowcver ruiuoiis may Lavo beeu tlio 
course i)ursucd by the negroes, they certainly deserve 
l)raise, in view of the inJhieuces brought to bear upon them, 
for doing no worse. It is doubtful whether any other race, 
under like circumstances, would have beliaved better. 

Although in many respects the most antagonistic races 
on the earth, yet there is a universal sense of inferiority on 
the part of the negro, in respect to the white man, whicli 
seldom rises into envy, and to this characteristic is due all 
possibility of harmony between them, either in politics or 
in private relations. So long as this natural sentiment is 
undisturbed by extraneous inlluences, so long only can 
they dwell together in peace. The amicable relations be- 
tween the two races, resumed immediately upon the restora- 
tion of home rule in Mississippi, shows how disturbing, 
irritating and unnatural was the policy of radicalism, 
■which for a long time so completely alienated and antago- 
nized them. 

And here, again, and for the last time, let us turn to 
Wells's terrible description of " nome Rule in Mississippi," 
under which, " While Soiitheni statefiincn of the Kemper school 
are gaining admission to the highest places in the national 
councils, the ' bloody shirt,^ by common consent of their North- 
ern co-laborers, is sneeringly held tip as a vulgar and unclean 
thing. Meantime Mrs. Chisolin,'''' etc., etc., etc., " turns from 
lier lonely watch by the window," and begins to i)ack up 
the ohl clothes of her husband, ''containing blood enough 
1o incarnadine the seas," in })re[)aration for her journey to 
Washington, whcn'c slie <'xpects to barter them to the radi- 
cal party for a fat little olUce in the United States Treas- 
ury Department, where, far away from her uncivilized and 
savage nativity, she can revel in that rehnement which the 
land of her birth, her childhood and her wouuinhood can- 
not afford. This is the import, and in part the language, 
of Wells, in the conclusion of his picture of honie rule in 
]\Iississip[)i. However much that individual may enjoy the 
Haunting of the so called " Idoody shirt" at this late day, it 
is not believed that he ever s[>ilt any oi" the lluid that gave 



KEMPEE COUNTY VINDICATED. 373 

to it its incarnadine lines. That was slied by geutlemcu of 
the " Kemper school," men who kuew their rights and dared 
to maintain them. And wlien " the onward tide of thonght " 
shall have kept yet " more pace," and yet more of the " high- 
est places in the national conncils " shall be filled by true 
and upright statesmen, be they I^orthern or Sontliern, the 
government of the United States, freed from the perjury of 
"joint high commissions," with the "bloody shirt" no 
longer waving from the dome of the national capitol, and 
fraud no longer sitting in the presidential chair, will cease 
to be a by word of scorn and contempt in all the Avorld, 
The national government will then join in the x)romotion 
of that tranquillity Avliich homo rule has produced unaided 
in Mississippi, the restoration of which has been so bene- 
ficial to the entire community. 

The eifects of this home rule, or, more properly speaking, 
of white rule in Mississippi, cannot be hidden beneath the 
spiteful misrepresentations of a loafing carpet bagger. Its 
advantages are felt and acknowledged by every honest 
citizen, and its fruits are apparent to every observer. It 
has established peace throughout the State, and if it has 
not produced a millennium of good feeling, it is because 
there yet lingers some of the i)oison disseminated by radi- 
cal rule. 

The State has again inaugurated the development of the 
resources in which it so plenteously abounds. Every in- 
terest has received a new impetus, and its social condition 
is fast assuming its wonted purity. Xegro supremacy, the 
most infamous feature of radicalism, and which will form 
the darkest page in the annals of this, or any other age, 
has been buried forever beneath the scornful indigiiation 
of virtue and intelligence. The dethronement of ignorance 
and vice, or, as it has been more aptly called, the taking 
of the " bottom rail " from the top and replacing it where 
it belongs, has wrought a reaction which will not fail to 
]H'oduee that state of i)rosperity v,-hieli the rule of intelli- 
gence promotes, and the natural condicion of things al- 
v;a^'s favors. Tiie way of the pursuit of hapi)ineso has 



371 IvE^IPEK COUNTY VINDICATED. 

been cleared up aiul reopened to all classes and to cverj- 
citizen of the JState, and the possibility of wealth and ])olit- 
ical }>reterinent, under the ordinary conditions, made ecpial 
in res})ect to all. 

The enormous burden of taxation under radical rule has 
been t^reatly li,uhteiie:l, and its limits lixed far short of 
what they had heretofoi-e been, and what they are in many 
oiher States of tlui Union. The I'ate of the levy for State 
l)urposes has been reduced irom fifteen mills on the dollar, 
ui^on an arbitrary an<l excessiv(^ valuation of property, to 
three and a hall' mills, upon a just an<l equitable valuation, 
which has l)rouj;lit the State levy to less than one seventh 
of what it was under lvei)ublican administration. The 
taxes levied by the county boards of supervisors have also 
been reduced to less than one half, and tifteen mills on the 
dollar has been made by law the utmost limit to which the 
combined taxation can be extended. This rate of taxation 
will certainly comi)are favorably with that of most of the 
other States, and is far below that of many of the States of 
the Union. In Kem])er County, under the radical rrgime, 
the county levy reached as hi,i;li as seventeen mills on tho 
dollar, yet, notwithstandini; this outras,-eous rate of taxa- 
tion, a county debt of thirty thousand dollars was accumu- 
lated between the y^'ars 1S7(> and 1875. This debt was 
bonded wIkmi the white ])eople ()l)taincd ])ossession of the 
county government, in l.S7(), and immediately i)laced in 
process of licjuidation. The rate of county taxes was then 
reduced to ten and three quarter mills, which has not only 
met the current expenses of the county, but has paid the 
interest on and largely reduced the ])rincipal of this debt. 

Similar circumstances existed in many other counties of 
the State, and in all of which similar results have been 
achieved, and this in the face of the fact that several heavy 
burdens were, in 1875, the last year of radicid rule, trans- 
ferred from the shoulders of the State to the several coun- 
ties. In order to nuike a show of economy in the State 
exi)enditures, that i)arly shifted the cost of ])roseculii)g' 
crindnals and the maintenance of prisoners upon the couu- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. o75 

ties. These burdens the Democratic party has very wrong- 
fully allowed to remain upon them. The argument that 
peaceable counties should not, through the channels of the 
State government, pay in part for the suppression of crime 
in more disorderly counties, is false in principle, and sub- 
versive of that armed unity which the whole State should 
exhibit against the violation of its laws in any of its parts. 
It is to the interest of every county that the sword of jus- 
tice and the dignity of the law should be upheld in every 
other county of the State. But in addition to these new 
burdens upon the counties, there was an imperfection in 
the law whicli imposed them. These expenses were trans- 
ferred to the counties, while the revenues heretofore appro- 
liriated to them were retained by the State. Such, for 
instance, was the jury tax, which was an assessment of 
three dollars for every jury empanelled in a State case. 
This had always been ap[)ropriated to the criminal expenses 
of the judiciary department of the State government, and 
it is still retained by the State, although the object of the 
appropriation has been shitted to the counties. And, as 
these additional expenses should be considered in regard- 
ing the county levies, they should be noted also in com- 
puting the reduction of the State expenditures, or in com- 
l)aring them with the expenditures under radical rule, 
except those of 1875, which were the lowest under that 
regime, and were made so by these same transfers. 

The expenses of the State government are also less than 
one half of what they were under the radical administra- 
tion. From the tabular statements already given we have 
seen that in 1875 the disbursements on account of the State 
government were about $1,500,000. In 1870 the whole 
cost of running the State government, including the ex- 
penses of the charitable institutions, was only $518,709.03. 
At the beginning of the year 1877 the total indebtedness 
of the State was $3,197,036.47 ; and during that year 
$305,050 of this debt was piiid, besides the interest, which 
amounted to $105,808. And certiticatcs of indebtedness 
to tlie amount of 8U2,785 were cancelled. The receipts 



o7G ICEMPER COUNTY VmDICATED. 

into ibe treasury, from all sources, during the year 1877, 
were $805,327.17, and the eutire disburseineuts during,- tlic 
year were $()G2,0.")1.09, leaving a balance in the State treas 
luy of ^203,202.78. Nor has this great reduction oi' 
expenditure been attended by any impairment of the 
etliciencj' of the State government. If, under Democratic 
and honje rule, economy has superseded extravagance, so 
have honesty and competency taken the place of ignorance 
and corruption. Every function of government has re- 
ceived new strength and vigor from the great change. 
Intelligent and resi)onsible citizens now till the odices for- 
merly held by ignorant, incompetent, irresponsible and 
vicious negroes and adventurers, who floated upon the sur- 
face of reconstruction, and were foisteil into office by the 
strength of negro majorities. 

Under radical rule the people had no confidence in or re- 
spect for, first, the officers, and then lor tlie functions of the 
offices themselves. They despised alike the legishiture and 
its enactments. They scorned the judges and the judg- 
numts of the conrts, and submitted to them only from ne- 
cessity and for tlio sake of i)eace and order. But as the 
ad ministration of the law became more honest, it became 
also more efficient, and produced a feeling of personal 
security almost unlvnown during radical rule. The result 
has been, also, to destroy all feelings of distrust and bitter- 
ness, engendered by radicalism, between the races, and to 
bring them together upon terms of amity and mutual con- 
fidence. Since this natural state of things has been estab- 
lished, and the two races have taken the positions naturally 
belonging to each, there are no longer grounds of discord 
between them. 

And the negroes no sooner found that their prospects 
were enhanced and brightened equally with those of the 
white i)eople. than they cheerfully ac(|niesced in the change, 
and a great luiijurity of them would as bitterly ojtpose the 
restoration of the old order of things as the whites them- 
selves. The consciousness of the kind disposition of the 
whites toward Ihcju has produced a feeling of security and 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 377 

contentment to wliicli tlie^^ ^vere strangers (luring the aliena- 
tion of the races under radical rule. Consequently, tliey 
pa3" but little attention to politics, and seem disposed, by 
common consent, to leave the conduct of public affairs to 
the superior race, ^vhile they devote themselves more to 
their material improvement. Their crops are better cul- 
tivated, and their improved condition is manifested in the 
better garb they wear, and in the number and appearance 
of their stock. They have laid aside the grum and silent 
aspect many of them were accustomed to maintain toward 
the v/hites, and have put on the air of cheerfulness so 
natural and i)eculiar to their race. The sound of the banjo 
and the old songs of the harvest are again heard in the 
land, while their children are no longer taught to look upon 
the white xicople as objects to be hated, and the time is fast 
drawing near when it may be said that the color line is 
entirely eliminated from the politics of the State, and with 
it the last lingering vestige of radicalism will have passed 
away. 

A far greater interest is felt in the public schools, 
and more money is appropriated directly to their main- 
tenance, and appropriated more guardedly and Avisely. 

When the Democratic legislature began to withdraw the 
school appropriations from the corrui^t channels through 
Avhich they were passed by the radical party, a howl was 
raised in the North that the public school system Avas about 
to be abolished in Mississippi. Yet, so far from this being 
the case, the State distribution among the counties, together 
with their aid, has enabled the public schools, in many of 
the counties, to be maintained six mouths in the year, 
instead of two months, the period of their annual existence 
under the radical administration. The people of Mississippi 
never objected to the public school system upon principle, 
but on account of its corrupt managcmetit by tlu^ radicals, 
and the social equality which that party sought to force, 
through it,, upon the white people of the State. This fea- 
ture caused it, at first, to be an object of peculiar disgust 
and contempt 5 but since its puriiication, if there is any 



378 KEEPER COUNTY VIITOICATED. 

inordinate lack of interest felt in tlic public schools, it is 
on tlie ])art of tlio blacks, who, in many instances, since its 
novelty has passed Jiway, manifest but little interest in the 
cause of education. But there is one difficulty frequently 
in the way of the establislnnent of public schools in some 
localities. It arises jroni the sparseness of the ])opulation. 
There being- no such thing as mixed schools, whicii, though 
not prohibited by any spt-cial legislation, are made impos- 
sible by i)ublic sentiment, it often ha])pens that there are 
not a sufii(;ient number of white cliildren in a district to 
form a white school, wliile in otiier conununities there are 
not negro children enongh to form a school having the 
nnmber of pnpils lequired by law. This is an evil which, 
like many others of a local nature, can only be regretted. 

This obstacle, together with other discouraging local 
conditions, such as creeks, swamps ami bayous, which 
abound in many sections of the State, renders it almost 
imi)ossible to maintain a thorough system of education in 
Mississij)pi. Yet everything is being done that can be for 
the education of both races. 

The legislature that came in on the reactionary tide of 
1875, many members of which were totally incompetent to 
grapple with the measures which the situation demanded, 
and many were not the choice of liie intelligent portion of 
the people, excei)t so far as they were the opponents of tlio 
radicals in v/hat was, in many instances, deemed a hoi)eless 
contest, is entitled to great praise for the action it took in 
regard to the public school system. Tlie two negro uni- 
versities and the State normal school for the benefit of 
the blacks received liberal appropriations, and fnlly com- 
mensurate with those made to the white university of the 
Slate, and to the charitable institutions. Surely these aj)- 
propriations for the maintenance of the colored high 
schools does not evince much hostility on the part of the 
white i)eople of I\lississipi)i to Ihe common school education 
of the blacks. ^Mississijjpi fell into the possession of the 
Democratic party burdened with more contrivances for taxa- 
tion, for the depletion of the pockets of the citizens and for 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 379 

partisan perpetuation than with public debt ! With the 
exception of the infamous Pearl Kivcr navi<iation scheme, 
there were no gigantic swindles under color of internal 
improvements, as in some of the Southern States ; the con- 
stitution of ]\lississippi, by a wise and fortunate provision, 

■ forbidding the assumption by the State of railroad bonds, 
and prohibiting- all grants to corporations, thus relieving- 
the State in a measure from the thieving rings that preyed 
upon the treasuries of all the other Southern States. This 
constitutional restraint enabled Mississippi to emerge from 
]icgro carpet bagger rule in a much better condition finan- 
cially than her less fortunate sisters. 

The State debt, on the first day of January, 1S7G, 
amounted, as we have already seen, to only about three 
million dollars, and one half of this sum was due to the 
school fund, the interest only of which is payable annuall}*, 
the principal never falling due. The total debt proper of 
the State, on the first day of January, 1878, had been re- 
duced to less than six hundred thousand dollars. This 
late of reduction, running- through the present year, will 
])lace the public debt proper of Mississipi)i at a sum below 
the reach of anxiety and beneath all consideration in com- 
parison with the resources of the State. 
Thus, w'ith a pure political atoiosphere, and an honest and 
I competent administration of the government, a healthy 
- financial condition, and a greatly improved social and 
: moral state, the future of Mississippi under home or white 
\ rule is all that her citizens can desire or her friends wish 
for. The resources and recuperative genius of the State- 
have been exemplified in a wonderful degree, and have 
I raised it rapidly from its utter i)rostration under negro 
radical rule ; and it is for its citizens to push the i)rocess of 
elevation to the level of the highest degree of prosperity. 

■ To accomplish this, they must first of all thoroughly adapt 
; themselves to the necessary conditions of progress, cut 
1. loose from all the drawbacks of old customs, shape their 

course to fit the circumstances of their situation, and pre- 
sent a solid front to every foe. 



380 KKMl'Eli COUNTY VINDICATED. 

From o'er the land and o'er the sea 
Comes the loud voice of history; 
In solid phalanx lies the strength 
That gives to freedom breadth and length ; 
As the tail oalv that towering shoots, 
Needs the support of all its roots 
To give it beauty, height and form, 
And strength to weatlicr out the storm ; 
So concord must susUiin the tree 
That bears the fruit of liberty. 
" Divide and conquer!" was the cry 
That often veiled proud Freedom's sky. 
Then let us, friends, close ranks preserve, 
And from our progress never swervo ; 
And then prosperity will sweep 
Across the land from deep to deep ; 
And hope and happiness will shower 
Their beams of gold from Freedom's tower. 
Let every breeze that fans the day 
Afflate the admonitory lay : 
Put on the new, pull off t'.ic old, 
And all the past forever fold ; 
Pull off the old, put on the new, 
And on the future fix the view; 
Let all dispute and bickering cease, 
Stilled by the Icthic waves of peace. 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 381 



CHAPTER XVI. 

The citizens of Mississippi are aud have beeu the peers 
of any people in morality, intelligence and bravery. The 
four leading Protestant denominations have dotted the 
State with churches, while the Catholics and the denomi- 
nation called Christians have made considerable progress. 
Eeligious services are generally well attended, and there 
are comparatively but few adults who are not members of 
some church. 

The ministers are noted for their retired and circumspect 
life, and the gospel is preached in its purity, free from poli- 
tics and all the whining isms that characterize some of the 
denominations in the Northern States. Children, gener- 
ally, are early trained to religious habits, and are taught 
to view spiritual advancement as the highest aim in life. 
Profanity is generally looked upon as an evidence of low 
breeding, and is often a bar to the entrance of good soci- 
ety, while an oath uttered in the presence of a lady is con- 
sidered a disgrace and a violation of decency, that demands 
and generally receives i)unishment, as an insult, at the 
hands of her relatives or friends. The laws throw every 
protection around property devoted to religious uses, and 
are fierce against those who, in any way, disturb the exer- 
cise of public worship. 

The Baptist and jNIethodist denominations are the most 
numerous and prevalent, the Presbyterians and Episco- 
palians being confined mostly to the towns and villages, 
where they generally have thriving churches. Great in- 
terest is generally manifested in Sabbath schools, the 
denominations vie with each other in promoting their 
thrift ; and in every town and village, and in many a 
rural neighborhood, where the population is sufficient, the 
Sabbath bell sets the feet of the little ones in motion, who, 
with clean aud smiling faces, aud clad in their best garb, 



3S2 KEMTER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

trip their way to tlic churcli of God to learn tlio lessons oi 
Christianity'. It is here that all the distinctions of claSvS 
are battered down, and the rich and the i)Oi)r, the glossv 
sillc and the din<;y calico mingle in liallowcd comnui 
iiion. It is liere, too, that holy associations are formed, 
and here are learned those lessons of charity wiiich din 
to the heart thronj^h life, and whicli have always rendered 
the Southern i)eoi)le the most hospitable and generous on 
earth. These Sabbat li scliools, like the churches, are not 
merely phices lor the inculcation of peculiar doctrines. The 
children of parents of every denomination can mingle here 
and learn nothing but the pure precepts of Christianity 
untainted with any sectarian dogma. Here is caught that 
liberality of religious sentiment which characterizes the 
l)eople of all sects in the South. 

Drunkenness is considered a terrible disgrace, and noth- 
ing, short of the most heinous crime, so surely' causes a 
young man to lose caste, both in society and in business. 
Indeed, from its promptness and certainty, the social ruin 
(;aused by habitual drunlvenness is even more to be dreaded 
than the material adversity which generally overtakes the 
habit. The consetpience is that there is but little dissipa- 
tion prevalent among the better classes of young men in 
]\Ii.ssissi]»})i. 

The condition of the common school system in the State 
has already been noticed. There are three i)ublic universi 
ties in the State, and one State normal school. The latter, 
\\\\]\ two of the uinversities, is devoted exclusively to the 
education of the blacks. The university i)roper of the 
State, situated at Oxford, has always held a high rank 
among the learned institutions of the country, and is very 
deservedly the object of the pride of the State. It is the 
fountain from which many of her most distinguished men 
have drunk the deep draughts of wisdom which made 
them conspicuous in the councils of the State and of 
the nation, in tliis respt-cl tlie rolls of its alumni society 
will compare favorably with the escutcheons of any insti- 
tution of learning in the land, and under its present able 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 383 

management, this institution bids fair to become one of 
wide celebrity. 

Gen. A. P. Stewart, a distinguished officer in the Con- 
federate army, and one of tlie best scliolars in America, is 
now the president of the university ; and his administra- 
tion has clothed it with a renown which is fully sustained 
by its other advantages. A prosperous future is assured 
to this institution by the thriving present. 

During the last session three hundred and ninety-one 
students were matriculated into the university ; of these, 
thirty-one were students of law. There are now a chancel- 
lor, eight professors, a principal of the preparatory school 
connected with the college, and eight tutors employed in 
the institution. This institution enjoys no private endow- 
ments, yet the necessary appropriations, made by the 
State, including repairs, were, during the year 1877, only 
$39,000, and there is every prospect that it will, in a few 
years, become entirely self sustaining. 

The negro university of Alcorn bids fair to be of great 
benefit to that race and a credit to the State. Its career, 
liowever, has been checkered. Under radical rule its mis- 
management and corrui)t government became so disgust- 
ing to the negroes that many of them withdrew their sons 
from the institution. Tlie discipline, so far from restrain- 
ing them from evil practices, was so lax and pernicious 
that it encouraged the worst traits and propensities of the 
race. The 'classes had become so badly deranged as to be 
almost incapable of being identified, and, in some in- 
stances, were entirely broken up. Valuable property was 
aIlowe<l to be del'aced or destroyed, and the furniture of 
the institution was stolen and carried awaj'. Such was 
the condition of the university when the Democratic party 
assumed the nianagement of aiiairs, in 187G. Early in that 
year the governor appointed to the presidency of the in- 
stitution the liov. n. 11. llcvels, a negro, who had been a 
senator of tlie United States from ]Mississippi, and wlio 
was, in moi'ality and intelligence, far in advance of his 
race. Dis wise and economic goverimient was soon felt, 



384 KEMPER COirNTY VrNDICATED. 

and tlio university, from that time, entered npon a career 
of prosperity which has continued to characterize it. The 
sncceedincf term opened with fitly students, and the ex- 
penses of each were reduced to one dolhir and thirty-five 
cents per week, thus placing' it in the power of every in- 
dustrious negro to send his son to the institution. Eegard 
is now paid to the cultivation of good morals and honest 
habits, and the president, evidently mortified at the pre- 
dictions which its former decline seemed to justify, is 
doing all in his power to ])rove that his race is capable of 
enjoying and profiting" by the advantages which the higher 
institutions of learning- afford. The students, instead of 
being a nuisance to the neighborhood, as formei-ly, have so 
deported themselves, under the new administration, as to 
receive the commendations of the citizens. 

The appropriations made by the legislature to this insti- 
tution were, for the year 1877, $10,000, which was managed 
and applied with economy and honesty. At the beginning- 
of the present year, the number of students had been in- 
creased to eighty-three, the price of board reduced to 
one dollar per week, and only the salaries of the president 
and the three professors are now drawn from the State 
api)roi)riations. The other expenses are all paid by the 
l)i'oducts of the agricultural department of the institution. 

Toug-aloo University, also for the education of the col- 
ored youths of the State, was established, and is chielly 
maintained by the American Missionary" Societj" ; but a 
normal department was added by the State, and a State 
board of trustees was appointed by the legislature to act 
in conjuTKJtion with tlie society in sui)ervising the applica- 
tion of the appropriations made by the State. This appro- 
]uiation for the year 1877 was $2,500, but since that time 
the missionary society has entirely ignored all i)articipa- 
tion, on the part of the State board, in the management 
and control of tlie normiil departmcMit, and in consequence 
of wliich the Stale legislature has declined to make any 
furtlicr n])i)roi)riations to tlie inslilution. It is, however, 
in a tiniving condition, iind at the beginning of the pres- 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 385 

cut year numbered one linndred and six students. This is 
the institution of which the notorious Cardoza was treas- 
urer, and who, while acting in that capacity", stole $2,500 
of the State a[)pro})riations for the year 1874, and who, 
uotwithstandiug, continued to be the radical State super- 
intendent of education, until he was impeached and de- 
posed b3'^ the Democratic legislature, in 1875. 

There is, also, a thriving normal school for the use of 
negroes, situated at Ilolly Springs, which, at the beginning 
of the present year, numbered eighty-eight pupils. This 
school was established hy the State for the purpose of edu- 
cating colored teachers, and last year the legislature ap- 
propriated $3,000 to its use, which the governor, in his 
subsequent message, recommended to be enlarged. Besides 
these State schools, there are many other institutions of 
learning in Mississippi of a high order. 

The Baptists have quite a flourishing college at Clinton, 
in which many young ministers are educated for that 
church. The university of Columbus, established in that 
town by Mr. T. C. Belcher, a distinguished educator, is 
well patronized, and the institution is endowed with the 
j)0wer of conferring all the literary degrees. 

The Cooper Institute, situated near Lauderdale Springs, 
and established by the Eev. J. L. Cooper, is a thriving 
school, and reflects great credit on its founder. Prof. T. S. 
Gathwright, late superintendent of education, of Missis- 
sippi, and now president of the Texas Agricultural College, 
for many years conducted a most thriving and popular 
school at Summerville, in Noxubee County. At this 
school many young men of the State, who occupy prom- 
inent positions, were educated, and his successor will, no 
doubt, keep it up to its high standard of efficiency and 
popularity. 

The Mississippi Military Academy, established by Col. 
E. D. Murphey, first at Aberdeen, and lately removed to 
Pass Christian, also bids fair to become an institute of note. 
Besides these, there are many female colleges of high char- 
acter in the State. Most of the religious denominations 



38G KE^ITER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

have female schools, under the especial auspices of their 
several sects. 

The Mctiiodists have a ]iopnlar college at Verona and 
Meridian, and the Baptists also have a thrivin*;- college at 
Meridian. 

Tlie Catholics have a nourishing female school at Holly 
Si)rings; they also have a largely patronized and well sus- 
tained orphans' home, at Natchez. 

The public charitable institutions of Mississippi will 
compare favorably with those of any other State. These 
alone the corrupt hand of radical rule never dared to 
pollute. That the appropriations for their use were extrav- 
agant, and that the salaries of their oflicers and attendants 
were excessive, is true ; but that they were left iu good 
haiuls and were generally well m;>naged, is also true. The 
arm of Onu;ii)otence seems to have tlirown its protection 
around these institutions through all the dark days of re- 
construction and the radical regime, and they stand to-day 
the monuments of the best features of human nature — of 
charity, Avhich the voice of heaven proclaims a veil for 
many sins; of sympathy, one of the hinges upon which 
hang all the law and the projihets. 

The asylum for the insane, situated at Jackson, is in a 
prosperous condition. At the beginning- of the year 1877, 
there were three hundred and thirty-six patients iu the in- 
stitution ; during that year one hnndred and eight were ad- 
mitted and thirty-five were restored and discharged, and 
seventeen died, mostly from old chronic affections. The 
health of the institution has been remarkably good, there 
having been but few cases of acute disease. 

The capacity of the asylum will accommodate four hun- 
dred aiul ton patients, and the nund)er of inmates at the 
commencenuMit of the i)resent year was three hundred and 
ninety-one. The expenditures for the supi)ort of the asy- 
lum were, for J877, $r)8,!)()0, or about !?l(!8for <>ach inmate, 
wliicii includetl the cost of l)oard, (;lothing, medicine, fnci 
and the wages (»f tlic ofliccis, nurses and scrxants. This 
was a gieat rcdiirtioii from the cost of the asvhim under 



KEMPER, COUNTY VINDICATED. 387 

radical rule, the (iisburseinents on necouut of wliicli were, 
in 1875, as i)er treasurer's report, $153,550. This result has 
been aecoui[)lishetl by tlie pnietiee of ceonoiuy and the 
judicious use of the approiiriations in the i)urchase of 
supplies. The deaf and dumb institute, and the institute 
for the blind, both situated at the cai)ital of the State, are 
noble State charities. During the year 1877, the average 
number of inmates of the deaf and dumb institute was 
thirty-nine. In the beginning of the present year there 
were about fifty. The oidy drawback to this institution is 
a lack of room ; it has every other advantage that could be 
desired. It is already tilled to its utmost capacity for that 
comfort to the unfortunate inmates commensurate with the 
great sympathy and interest which the State manifests iu 
their welfare. 

The institute for the blind numbered, on the first day of 
January, 1879, twenty-nine pupils. In consequence of a re- 
markable oversight no provision existed, i)rior to the last 
session of the legislature, for the admission of colored 
femaies. This provision will largely increase the number 
of ])U[)ils. 

Both of these institutions are in a tiourishing state, and 
a knowledge of their advantages should be widely dissenji- 
luited. The deaf and dumb and blind of the State have iu 
them a comfortable and sure support, and every facility 
for securing an education and learning useful trades, at 
the i)ublic expense, calculated to make them independent 
and useful citizens. There is no excuse to the rich or the 
l)oor for not availing themselves of these advantages, which 
the Stat(^ urgently invites them to do. The spirit and con- 
duct of these institutions are beyond the level of any 
grounds of false pride on the one hand, and within the 
reach of the humblest citizen on the other. AVhatever 
may be the situation in life of the unfortunate individurds 
for whose l)enefit these institutions were established, the 
State claims the opportunity they afford of extending to 
them that })ublic sympathy which misfortune should 
awaken in the bosom of all intelligent humanity — a touch- 



388 KEMl'ER COUNTY VINDICATED. 

stone — the soul of states as well as the heart of iiulividual.s. 
Between the lirst of October, 1877, and the first of January 
succeeding, twenty-oue pujjils were received in the insti- 
tute for the blind, and the amount approjiriated l"or tlie 
support of the institution during- that year was $!),.'j()(>. 
The appropriation, under radical rule, for the year 1875, 
with a sparser attendance, was $15,200, and that for the 
deaf and dumb asylum, for the same year, was $27,-50. 
The disbursements on account of this institution, for 1877, 
with a large increase of attendance, were, as per auditor's 
report, $10,510.12. Dr. Carter, who, for nuinj' years, man- 
aged tiio affairs of this institution with success, resigned 
his positiou during the summer of 1870, and Professor 
Charles H. Tolburt was chosen by the board of trustees to 
till the vacancy. Professor Tolburt is a gentleman of ex- 
]>erience, and under his management the institution has 
every indication of pushing forward iu the same path of 
prosperity it has steadily i>ursned under his predecessor. 

The rapid increase in the number of convicts iu the 
State i)enitentiary is much to be regretted, as evidencing 
a prevalence of crime unknown to the State before the 
demoralization of radical rule. 

On the 1st day of January, 1870, the whole number of 
]n'isoners in the penitentiary was two hundred and forty- 
four, of whom sixty-five were white and one hundred and 
seventy-nine colored. On the 1st day of January, 1877, 
there were seven hundred and eleven, of whom six hundred 
and twenty-eight were negroes; and on January 1st, 1878, 
there were in the ])onitentiary one thousand and twelve 
convicts, of whom nine hundred Avere colored. Yet with 
this largely increased number the expenditures on account 
of the institution have been greatly diminished. The dis- 
bursements on account of the i)enitenliary under radical 
rule, for the year 1875, amounted to the sum of $132,825.84, 
and there were then four liundred and ninety-four convicts 
in the prison. For tlie year 1870, under Democratic rule, 
the prison cost the State $23,497.88, and during 1877 the 
amount disbursed on account of the ])cnitcntiary was 
$021.81>, 



KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED. 389 

The learned professions, in Mississippi, have been 
adorned by many distinguished members, and her states- 
men have ever held a prominent place in tlie councils of 
the nation, it would be inapt and inefficacious, in a work of 
this character, to attempt to mention all whose names glit- 
ter in the galaxy of fame, and are interwoven with all that 
is bright and pure in the annals of the State. At some 
future day the writer may make these the subject of an- 
other work, in which he will allot himself time and space 
to do justice to their character. Her Preutisses and 
Davises, and Sharkeys and Yergers, Georges, Barksdales, 
Urowns, Gholsons, Lamars, and a host of others, living 
and dead, enjoy a renown Avhose scope is far beyond the 
reach of this work. 

The governors of the State have generally been dis- 
tinguished for their ])urity and simplicity of life, aiul for 
their jiatriotism. With the exception of the radical reffime, 
no State can show a brighter list of its chief executives 
than Mississippi. The judges of the sui)remc court have 
also been distinguished for their learning and exalted 
character, and their decisions are noted for lucidness and 
sound judgment. Nor has the State been wanting in a 
comparable supply of i)oetic genius; the streams of Par- 
nassus have gushed Irom many a hill and meandere<l 
through many a valley of the State. Prominent among- 
those who liave drunk of its waters are S. Newton Berry- 
hill, of Columbus; W. W. Hoskins, of Corinth; AV. S. 
Kernan, of Okolona ; William Ward, of Macon; and 
Emmet L. Eoss, of Canton. Major Jonas, of the Aberdeen 
Examiner^ has also written some fine ])ieces. Nor have the 
ladies been callous to the sweet inspiration. Among the 
j^oetesses may be mentioned Mrs. A. J. Frantz, of Braiulon ; 
IMiss Hunt, of Vicksbnrg, who wrote under the nom deplume 
of Madge ; Aliss Sallie Ada Malone, of (jourtland, ami many 
others too numerous to mention, among whom discrimin- 
ation would be unjust. 

The citizens of Mississippi are and have ever been noted 
for bravery. In the council and in the field, in the storm 



390 KEMPER COUNTY VINDICATED, 

of battle and the ui^lit of persecution they have borne 
themselves with the same intrepid spirit, and with a valiant- 
iiess that has awakencnl the admiration of friend and foe. 
Her soldiery have been conspicuous in every battle in 
which they were engay,ed. Their arms shono with brilliant 
lustre at New^ Orleans, on the memorable 8th of January, 
1815, where the steady and deadly aim of the Mississippi 
rilles poured death into tiie face of the Uritish columns; 
and at the battle of J>nena Vista the ]Mississipi)i rei^iment, 
led by the gallant Jell'erson Davis, received the congratu- 
lations of the commanding general for saving the day to 
the American arms. 

Mississippians played a prominent part in the late war. 
From the INlississippi to the I'otomac, from the bloody 
ravines of iShiloh to the iron clad crests of Gettysburg, 
wherever they fought, they piled their dead in the fore- 
ground of every battle. At the first tocsin of war, they 
lushed to the front, opened their defdes on the ])lains 
of Manassas, and never faltered until they rested beneath 
the shade trees of Appomattox. 

Their promi)tness and constancy caused them lo incur the, 
l)cculiar spite of the radical party, and drew xiymn tlirir 
lieads the most rigorous features of reconstruction, whicii 
they met in the same undaunted manner, and with the 
same spirit of delinnce and endurance that had charac- 
terized them upon the field of battle. They scorned the 
craven strokes of revenge, and while they renewed in good 
faith their allegiance to the old government, they indulged 
in no pinings of regret; and will forever cherish the 
nuimory of their dead, and glory in the cause iii which the}' 
fell. 

Tlio rebol dead, Iho glorious rebel dead I 
No brand of hale cau bow tlieir country's head 
Beyond ihc shafts of deatli or liatred's ban ; 
Thi'ir iKimcs arp safe, their deeds ennobled man; 
They fell witli honor in thuir country's fight, 
AViih conscience basking in the beams of right; 
Whatovor be their cause, or right or wrong, 
Tli^y live in heaven, in history and in song. 



APPENDIX. 



PETITION AND APPEAL 

OF THE 

Tax Payers to the Legislature, 



To the Legislature of Mississippi : 

The tax payers of Mississippi, assembled by dele- ] 
gates iu couveution, respectfully show : 

That by reason of the general poverty of the people, 
and the greatly depressed values of all property, and 
especially of our great staple, the present rate of taxa- 
tion is an intolerable burden, and much beyond their 
ability to pay. 

To say nothing of the very large expenditures of 
common schools, the present rates of public expendi- 
ture greatly exceed the amounts deemed sufficient 
iu former days of aboundiug wealth. 

To-day the masses of our people are very poor, and 
they naturally feel, as they may well demand, that all 
public expenditures should be greatly reduced, and 
limited by the strictest rules of economy to the plain 
llepublican system made necessary by their impover- 
ished condition. 

It was hoped by many that a period of great pros- 
perity wouhl follow the reorganization of the State, 
and provision was accordingly made for a costly gov- 
erument, but that hope has given place to despair. 
Every day the people have grown poorer ; lands have 
diminished in value ; wages have grown less, and all 
industries have become more and more paralyzed. It 
is daily harder and harder for the people even to live; 
and many hearts are saddened today, burdened with 
dread lest the little home, only shelter for wife and 
children, should be sold by the tax gatherer. 



394 



APPENDIX. 



f These terrible truths sh()\v that the i)rescut rate of 
exorbitant expeiuiitiires must cease, or the iiieaiis ol' 
the peophi to i)ay will soon be utterly exhausted, and 
their goveriiineut will be (lisor;;aiiized. A wise states- 
man will be Ciirel'ul to consider the wants of the peo])!;', 
and studious to devise and prompt to apply needful 
remedies ; and this is what we respectfully ask IVoni 
the representatives of the people. We are satistied 
that public ex[)enditures can be very larj^ely reduced 
without impairing- the efticiency of the public service. 
It should not be forgotten that the Southern people, in 
their jioverty, have now to bear many burdens un- 
known here in former times. The public debt of the 
United States is enormous, and we all contribute, indi- 
rectly it may be, to pay the increased Federal expendi- 
tures. Wo may never see the tax gatherer, but we 
pay the taxes — they make part of the price of the 
goods we buy. In addition to this, we have the lai'ge 
expense of our conimon school system. These large 
items may doubtless be greatly diminished by a wise 
economy, and the people may bear them, thus limited, 
as necessary burdens ; but the fact that, with strict 
economy, such burdens may continue to be great, is a 
strong reason i'or rigid ecoiu)my of administration 
wherever possible. It must be remembered that the 
peoi)le of Mississippi suffer not only from the enor- 
mous burdens of needless State expenditures, l)ut also 
from gross wnste and extravagance of boards of sui)er- 
visors. Added to these are the heavy local burdens 
that fall ui)()n the inhabitants of cities and towns and 
the unhappy people of the levee districts. 

In vSeptembcr last. Senator Sherman said to the 
people of Ohio : " The first recpiisite of a party to ad- 
mi inster the government now is economy. The most 
diflicult to i)ractice, espec;ially after a i)eriod of great 
expenditure. What we most need is a very large re- 
<!nction in local ta\(\s; and, still more, a very great 
iiiiiilation of the power of local taxation. Now, in- 



APPENDIX. 395 

numerable local autliorities, counties, towns, cities, 1 
etc., have authority to levy taxes until this amounts, 
in many instances, to confiHcation. * * * 

Upon this question ot' local taxation we ought to have 
no party, or soon incomes will be absorbed by taxes." 
Apt words these, and wise, even when addressed to 
the people of rich and i)rosperons Ohio. With what 
added force do they apply to us who suffer under 
greater " local burdens," with the additional weight 
of enormous State exi)enditures ? 

To show the extraordinary and rapid increase of 
taxation imposed on this iin])ova'rislied i)eo|)le, we will 
cite these particulars, viz. : In i8()l), the State levy 
was ten cents on the liundred dollars of assessed 
value of lands. For the year 1871 it was /our times 
as great; for 187L*, it was eUjht and a half times as 
great; for the year 1873 it was iicvire (Oid a half times 
as great; for the year 1874, it wii^ fi>iirtee)i times as 
great as it was in the year 1809. The tax levy of 
1874 Avas the largest State tax ever levied in Missis- 
sippi, and to-day the people are poorer than ever. 

It is true that now, because of diminished ])roperty 
and depressed values, the percentage of taxation 
must be increased to the amount of re\'enues levied in 
former times; but what we comi>lain of is, that the 
aggregate amount of taxes levied on us in our poverty 
greatly exceeds the amount levied in prosi)erous days. 
Tlie enormity of this great increase in the percentage 
will become plainer if w^e consider the fact that our 
l)resent assessments very greatly exceed the market 
value of the property assessed. Thus as the people 
become poorer are their tax burdens increased. In 
many cases the increase in the county levies, in the 
same period, has been still greater. But this is not 
all. A careful estimate shows that during those years 
of increasing and most extravagant tax levies, the 
]>nl)lic debt was increased on an axerage annually 
over six hundred and sixty-four thousand dollars — a j 



39C Ai>PENDlX. 

( sum of itself sufiQcieut to defray the entire expenses 
of the government, economically administered. That 
is, the State spent on an average this large sum each 
year over and above the amount colleeled on those 
monstrous tax levies. What may be the excess for 
the year 1874 is not revealed. All that we know is, 
that many of the very large approiiriations lor the 
year were some time since exhausted. The like ex- 
traordinary results have followed the operations of the 
boards of supervisors, at least, in many of the coun- 
ties. Whetlier these fiicts prove a lack of economy 
ill administration, or are to be regarded as sad proofs 
of the ra-pid exhaustion of the means of the people 
and their consequent inability to pay, they are painlnl 
to contemplate. This excessive rate of expenditure 
would constrain even a prosperous people to cry aloud 
for retrenchment and reform. It is corru})ting in 
eflect, and. altogether evil in results. But if none of 
tliese things existed, we should be constrained by still 
other facts to make this ajjpeal to your honorable 
body. The present year has been mo-st disastrous to 
all engaged in agriculture, and consequently to all 
other pursuits, if all the crops raised in the State 
this year were sold at i)resent market value, the pro- 
ceeds of the sales thereof would not, as many esti- 
mate, pay the cost of production and the taxes. In 
many counties the result was still more disastrous, the 
crops being almost a total failure. It is a sad truth, 
that in some parts of the State many of our people 
are beginning to suffer for want of food, and very 
many are restricted in their poverty to a very few of 
the necessaries of life. These afllictions fall heaviest 
at i)resent on the very large class of our poor citizens, 
but all classes suffer more or less from this common 
cahiinity, and the year of their probation of want and 
sulferiiig is but Just begun. 

Presented in these several views of the sad con- 
dition of tile peoi>le of Mississii>pi, our present appeal 



APPENDIX. 397 

amounts to this : Shiill the few officials, the mere ser- 
vants of the people, be permitted to fatten and grow 
richer, while the people grow poorer and starve ? 
Shall these public servants be privileged to enjoy an 
extravagant waste of the money of the jieople to the 
destruction of the property of the State, or will the 
legislature interpose^ immediately, and by a vigorous 
system of wise reform enforce rigid economy of expen- 
diture in all departments of the government, legisla- 
tive, executive and judicial, and in counties, cities, 
towns and districts? Let all superfluities be abol- 
ished ; let every supernumerary be discharged 5 let 
every dollar, as far as possible, be saved to tlie suf- 
fering- people. For the present, and until the State 
has become rich and prosperous, let all salaries and 
public expenditures be graded, not according to the 
luerits and capacities of ofhcials, but be reduced and 
graded to the lowest possible scale compatible with 
the efficiency of most rigid economy of administering* 
suited to the extreme poverty of the people. 

Througliout the whole State the outcry against this 
oppression of excessive taxation, and still greater 
waste of expenditure, becomes louder and deeper every 
day, and it comes increasing in volume and siguiticant 
emphasis of tone and expression from citizens of all 
classes and conditions. All fear the approaching ruin, 
and all suffer from this common oppression, the ditfer- 
ence being only in degree. 

With regard to i)0ssibilities for retrenchment and 
reform, we quote and commend to the careful con- 
sideration of all the official opinion of Governor Ames, 
as follows : " There are opportunities for curtailment 
in every branch of the government" (message on 
finance, session 1874, page 3). We ask the earnest 
attention of your honorable body to the following par- 
ticulars, in whii;h, by proi)er legislation, very large 
sums nuiy be saved. 

The public printing, by Ihegrossuess of its excesses, j 



398 APPENDIX. 

C iimomils to i)ul)lic robbery. Wo submit that siu;li is 
the i>rac;ti('al result, whatever may be the iu()ti\-e on 
whieh the extiaordiiiaiy system is tolerated. Let ex- 
ami)les be cited in evidence : Vcv the tive years next 
precetlin^- the 1st of .January, 1801, the avera.ue cost 
of i>rintin,u" lor the 8tatedid not exceed eii;ht thousand 
dollars per annum. For the tive years commencing- 
with the fiscal year 1870, the avera.i^c cost of the 
l)rintin,i;- for the State has exceeded seveuty-tliree 
thousand dollars each year, beinji; an avera.ii^o excess 
each year on the former of sixty-five tliousand dollars. 
This enormous inci'case in the cost of public printing;- 
cannot be ath'ibuled to in(;reased ex]ieuse of ])erforni- 
\n'^ the i)ublic worlc, nor to the larg-e increase in the 
uund)er of our citizens, for tln^ like conditions exist in 
Mississippi and (}eorj;:ia; and yet the recent report 
of the controller i;<'neral of (ieorgia shows that tlie 
average cost of ihe i)ubli<; ])iinting' in tliat State 
for thci years ISTli and 187."» did U(»t exc«'ed ten 
thousand dollars, ^laik llu^ contrast, according" to 
the abo\ e averai^c The cost of the public ])rintin.<i,- 
for impoverished .Mississi])pi for those two years was 
over eiglit times j^reater than the cost of the sanu^. 
work done in the sam<'. year for tlie State of Ceorjiia. 
The journals of tln^ two houses of our legislature con- 
tain a vast amount of matter utterly worthless to the 
jmblic ; and theii- enoiinous l)ulk, with supplenuMds 
added, niijiht well cause the inquiry, wh}' were tliey 
gotten up in that bulky form if not to swell the i)rofits 
of the public i)rinter':? ^Vo cite for the contrast two 
exami»lcs, and one may verify tlie lij^ures in our State 
library. In the year 1850, the journals of the two 
houses contained together one thousand oiio liun- 
dred and sixty-three pages. In the year 1873 the 
journals contained together six thousaiul three hun- 
dred ami ninety-three pages— that is, moic^ than fi\e 
times the numlxu' of ])ages contained in those two 
journals for the year 1850. Those journals contain in 



APPENDIX. 399 

full every little report tliat a certain bill do pass, and 
thus they are swelled with a mass of useless uiatter- 
Doubtless the enormous difference in the cost for 
public printiug in Mississippi and Georgia arises from 
the fact that our journals are thus bloated witli useless 
matter, and also that official reports are printed and 
charged for more than once, and in part because of 
exorbitant rates allowed our State printer. 

The remedy for these gross abuses and waste of 
expenditure is plain. Let the journals be greatly re- 
<luced in bulk, so as to contain no matter not useful to 
the public in a legislative journal. Kequire the official 
leports to be so reduced in bulk as to contain oidy 
essential matters, and those to be stated in briefest 
intelligible terms. Diminish both numbers and quan- 
tities. Let no documents be printed and paid for 
more than once, and reduce to moderate rates the 
prices for public printing. Apply like rules of economy 
and justice to the people — to the public printing of 
counties, cities and towns. { § 

In this connection, it is proper to call special atten- 
tion to the district printiug bill, which was publicly 
advocated upon the plea, most extraordinary in a free 
government, that it is both just and proper to tax the 
general public to sustain party newspapers. In case 
of public sales, and in many others, the chief value of 
a newspaper i)ublication consists in the fact that it 
gives notice to the people of the particular county in 
which the sale, etc., is to be made. It seems a mere 
mockery, under a pretence of fairness, to advertise the 
property of a citizen for sale under execution or for 
taxes in a distant part of the judicial district, and at 
a point remote from the county in Avhich the sale is to 
be made. The same is true of many other notices re- 
(juired to be published. In very uniny cases of publi- 
cation re<iuired to be made under tiic law, the seeming 
notice can be of no possible use, and yet the poor citi- 
zen IS taxed with the cost of such useless publication. 



o 



400 APPENDIX. 

The number of circuit judges aiul chancellors is far 
greater than the needs of the pnblic service require. 

Before tlie jiresent constitution went into ell'ect, there 
were but ten circuit Judges in the State, who not only 
discharged all the duties imposed on the thirteen cir- 
cuit judges now provided for, but also i)erforme(l nearly 
all the duties now inii)Osed on twenty chancellors, and 
theie was no complaint that this number was insutll- 
cient. i>y the present system (and we believe in that 
respect it is a good one) nu)st of the business Ibrmerly 
done by the probate judges is now transacted by the 
chancery clerks. Tlie chancellors are almost exclu- 
sively occupied in wliat is strictly chancery or equity 
business, which, as before stated, was formerly' within 
the jurisdiction of the circuit judges. The litigation in 
the circuit and chancery courts is now far less in amount 
and value than it was when we had only ten circuit 
judges. The constitutional amendment, by which the 
jurisdiction of justices of the peace has beeu nuule to 
include all civil cases not exceeding in amount 8150, 
and the poverty of our peoi)le, by which business trans- 
actions are very much limited in value, have taken away 
at least one third of the civil business of the circuit 
and chancery courts. 

The expenses of the legislative department have 
grown recently into enormous ])roportions. The ses- 
sions are now annual, and have been greatly pro- 
longed, and there has been a great, and, as we resi)ect- 
fully insist, an unnecessary increase in the number of 
its employes, clerks, doorkee[)ers, sergeants at arms, 
porters and pages. Formerly, all the clerical force 
needed was furnished to the House of liepresentatives 
at 81,500, and to the Senate at $1,200 for a session. 

We do not wish to be understood as stating that the 
services of the meudjers of your honorable body are 
not worth all that is now chaiged, \i/..: five hundred 
dollars per annum. Tiierc is lu) price within our 
means to pay which could possibly be loo high for the 



APPENDIX. 401 

inestimable blessing of an intelligent, working and 1 
bouest body of men, wbo consecrate tbeir lives and 
devote their talents to tbe stndj'^ of political economy, 
and those arts wbicb make a people great, prosperous 
and happ3', and wbo bring to tbe great work of enact- 
ing laws for tbe State tbe ricb results of a ripe and 
varied experience in court affairs. But in our present 
impoverisbed condition we respectfully, but earnestly 
represent, that retreucbment in all i:>arts of tbe admin- 
istration is absolutely necessary, and we cannot doubt 
that tbe members of your body will initiate tbis reform 
by fixing tbeir salaries at the sura paid before tbe war, 
wbicb amounted generally to about two bundred and 
fifty dollars for two years, tbere being but one session 
in that time. Tbis sum would be greater than is 
realized on tbe average by citizens in private life, and 
greater also than the average i)aid members of tbe 
legislature by tbe other States in tbe Union. 

Tbe governor's salary might be, without detriment 
to the public service, fixed at $4,000 per annum, Avhicb 
is far larger than is paid by other States in tbe Union 
having no more wealth than Mississippi. The lieu- 
tenant governor's salary might also be fixed at the 
price usually paid to the presiding ofiicer of tbe Senate, 
viz., double the salary of a senator. Tbe salaries of 
the treasurer, secretary of state, auditor and attorney 
general we ask may be fixed as they were under tbe 
code of 1857 ; and the clerks and assistance allowed 
these officers reduced to tbe number and compensation 
with tbe salaries fixed by that code; and the salary 
and expenditures of the State superintendent of edu- 
cation should be reduced to a very moderate sum. 
nis office should be a room in the capital. And we 
respectfully ask that tbe salaries of all other State and 
district officers should be fixed at the rate paid before 
tbe war. The salaries then allowed were sufficient to 
procure the services of able and competent men, and 
we feel sure they will be sufficient now. Tbe truth is, 



402 APPENDIX. 

r that all i)rivatc pursuits arc so depressed, and all 
ollicial i)0.sitions so lii^ulily reinuuerative, that the 
dift'erence begets a wide-s[)read greed for office, and 
encourages that bane of all free governments, the 
growth of a large class Avhose sole interest in the 
State consists in their rec('[)tion of the emoluments of 
ollicial i)Ositiou. 

The cost of assessing and collecting the revenue of 
the State is out of all proportion to the necessary labor 
and responsibility required in the discharge of those 
duties. The gain to these oflicers is enormous. Under 
the code of 18j7 tlie nuiximum which an assessor 
{;oiild receive in any one year was live hundred dollars, 
and the commissions of the collector were gTaduated 
according to the amount collected, so that it rarely 
happeneil that a collector received as much as one 
thousand dollars per ainium, and he seldom, if ever, 
received as much as one thousand live hundred dollars 
in one year. We respectfully ask that the com])ensa- 
tion ])aid to these olliceis should be so regulated as in 
no case to exceed the sums above mentioned. The 
comi)ensatiou of the county treasurer should be fixed so 
as not to exceed in any instance the sum of five hun- 
dred dollars ])er annum. His duties are light, and bis 
resj)onsibiIity will be small if the county levies are 
restrained as hereinalter asked for. The fees of the 
chancery and circuit clerks and sherills are too high, 
and, we are sorry to add, in many instances arc very 
much increased by exorbitaivt and illegal charges. We 
ask tliat this subject be carefully looked into by the 
legislature, and the rates so fixed, that while a fair and 
just compensation is allowed for these services, the 
burdens of the suitor shall not be so great as they n(jw 
are; and we suggest that the State, like the United 
States, will (ix a i)oint in comi»ensation of ccMinty 
oflicers beyond which the fees shall go into the State 
treasury. 

In many counties this i)oint might be fixed at $000, 



w 

« J 

O 

w 
o 



APPENDIX. 403 

in othors at $1,000 or $1,200, but in no instance should ~ 
it be fixed beyond $2,000 lor clerks and $2,500 for 
sherifls, including; tlieir gains as tax collectors. The 
jail fees are a great burden on the people. They are 
now too high, and yet, in many instances, extra coin- 
pensation is allowed by the board of supervisors. 
Tliey should be lixed at the costs of a plain and 
healthy support of the prisoners. Imprisonment in 
the county jail, as a jninishment, should be made less 
frequent. Unfortunately, uiany who are guilty of 
petty misdemeanors feel neither the burden nor the 
disgrace of imi)risonmeut in the county jail. We leave 
it to the wisdom of the legislature to devise some other 
mode of punishment which, without indicting corpo- 
real pain, or bringing forward any badge of slavery, 
may yet prove more efficacious in reforming offenders, 
and be less expensive to the tax payers. 

The law, also, should recpiire the convicts sentenced 
to the penitentiary to be immediately removed to the 
State prison. They are now, in many instances, left 
in the county jails for many months, to the great cost 
o!' the several counties. The jail fees for a day should 
not exceed thirty cents. The salaries of inspectors of 
the penitentiary ought to be saved to the State by im- 
posing the very light duties of these oftices on other 
State oflicers, or on competent citizens, without sala- 
ries. 

The trustees of the insane, deaf and dumb, and 
blind asylums should be prohibited from using any of 
the funds appropriated to these institutions in the 
w;iy of salaries or fees to themselves. 

The appropriations to the State universities are be- 
yond the means of the State to pay, and beyond the 
necessities of these institutions. The salaries and 
mileage jiaid to the trustees of those institutions ought 
to be prohibited. Tiie duties of these officers are ex- 
tremely light and highly honorable; like services of 
all other institutions of learning, in the State, and j 



f^ ■{ 
c 

w 



404 APPENDIX. 

tliroujifhoiit tlic Union, are rendered by the best eiti- 
zens without eonij^ensation. 

Again, the expenditure of the State's money, i)oor 
as tlie people are, and laboring under the most erush- 
ing taxation, for tbo board and support of eertain stu- 
dents, is wrong. The State is under no obligation to 
furnish these favored few with what is denied to the 
ohildren of the State at large. The State supposes 
she discharges her duty to the great mass of her chil- 
dren when she furnishes schools free of tuition ibr 
four montlis in the year. Tliese schools are for the 
people at large ; the colleges and universities are for 
the more favored few. Not more tlian one in a thou- 
sand, even in the most favored countries, ever go to 
college. It is M'rong that nine hundred and ninety- 
nine should be burdened with a taxation so crushing 
that they are deprived of the means, in many in- 
stances, of even going to a i)rivate school, in order 
that one fortunate person shall have extraordinary 
benefits denied to the others. We therefore ask that 
the scholarshii)S in the two universities be abolished. 
These remarks apj)ly also to the normal schools, 
f AVhile Ave corditilly indorse liie wisdou) of that i)olicy 
Avhich extends to the children of the State the advan- 
tages of a free common school education, we respect- 
fully submit that our present legislation in that re- 
spect is radically defective in theory, and in its prac- 
tical workings is a great wrong, rather than of benelit 
to her citizens. The present rate of taxation for the 
purposes of education, and the approi)riation made 
for that purpose, amounts to the enormous sum of 
$(;75,000 annually ; greatly more thau is necessary 
for carrying on the State government. We suggest 
that the mistake in this matter has been this : 

Tiie attempt has been made on an impoverished 
State, with all its industrial pursuits in a deranged 
and consttintly changing condition, and all of its i)rop- 
erty values greatly depreciated, to suddenly inaugu- 



y Pi 



APPENDIX. 405 

rate a complete system of common schools, fully ade- ' 
qiiate to the wants of the whole people of the State, 
and to extend this even to a collegiate education. 
While this would be well enough, i)eiljaps, in a great, 
prosperous and wealthy commonwealth, yet the at- 
tem|>t in our State, in its present condition, has been 
productive of such an enormous taxation as to bring 
ruin to the doors of the parent in the attempt to edu- 
cate the child, and to produce in the i)ublic mind 
a growing and annually increasing hostility to the 
policy of free education itself. We therefore respect- 
fully suggest a thorough change of the law in this 
respect ; that the present tax for educational purposes 
bo greatly reduced ; that free education be restricted 
simply to elementary grammar schools ; that the pay 
of county superintendents be reduced, as herein re- 
commended, and that the effort be directed to the 
gradual and economical building up of a common 
school system which shall not, by its enormous ex- 
actions, excite the hostility of the citizen, but will 
rather attract to itself his support and affection. ^ 

The commissioner of immigration is au uiinecessary -j 
officer. His duties arc nothing ; his services of no 
value. We suggest that his salary might be abolished, 
or be made merely nominal, and all appropriations 
subject to his control be repealed. The salaries of 
county superintendents of education might be saved 
by uniting that office, having such light duties, with 
that of sheriff', with an extra compensation of lifty dol- 
lars per annum, except when the services of a compe- I 2 
tent citizen can be got for that sum. The salaries of 
teachers in common schools are far greater than is 
necessary to secure the ser^'ices of the persons em- 
ployed. For second class schools, $25 per month 
would be ample, and for iirst class, $50. On this sub- 
ject we suggest that a constitutional amendment is 
necessary in order to give to the present common 
schools the benefits of fines, forfeitures, and licenses j 



40G APPENDIX. 

r now required to be fnnded. Tlie sessions of the le<?is- 
latnre slionld be bienniiil. It is witliiii tlie ])ower of 
tlie lej^'islatui'e to iix by law lliat ir slionld meet only 
onee in two years. This is tlie i)lain ineanin.i>" of see- 
tion six, article eleven, of the constitntion. \Va ask, 
however, that biennial sessions be not left to the dis- 
cretion of the lejiislature, but that the rule be adopted 
by constitutioind amendment. The constitution shouhl 
also be amended so as to in-ohibit all special legisla- 
tion. A great portion of the time of the legislature is 
now spent in making that kind of legislation, when 
the same end would be attainable by general laws. 
One of the evils of the times is excessive legislation. 
Statutes are passed and then raoditied or repealed in 
whole or in part, without due deliberation, and the re- 
sult is that the statute laws of the State are becoming 
more and more intricate and confnsed at every suc- 
ceeding session of the Icgislatnre. The laws slioidd 
be plain and simple, so that the (iitizcn may, without 
danger or mistalce, eonlbrm his action lo them. 

Tiiere are nnuiy other abuses in the administration 
besid(!S those we have referred to. \\'e leave these to 
the wisdom and patriotism of the legislature to cor- 
rect. But, jn'obably, the most tlagrant evil of which 
the tax jjayers complain, and the greatest outrages per- 
petrated on their rights, arise from the acstion of the 
board of supervisors. This court is really the most 
important of any in the State, and should be com])osed 
of the best men in the several counties. As a general 
rule, we are sorry to say, the members of this board 
are wholly untit to discharge their duties, and are 
without responsibility or accountability. This, how- 
ever, is not the I'ault of the legislature of the State, 
except in so far as it encourages such men to seek for 
that position. 'JMie county hn'ies, in a larg(» majority 
of the connties, are exti'axagant and oppressive be- 
yond all endnrance. 'I'he contiacts for ]):tl)li(! work 
are made witlio.it economy or (;are, and with a reek- 



Pi { 



APPENDIX. 407 

less indiffercnco to the interest of the public. These 
boards, in some instances, employ tbeir own members 
to do the work not authorized by law, merely for tlie 
purpose of making them extravagant allowances. In 
many instances these members are wholly ignorant, 
aiul are completely under the control of the clerks and 
shcrifis of these counties, to whom they make extrava- 
gant allowances. This is a great evil, and we suggest 
that remedy which alone seems adequate. Legislation 
should be immediately enacted, fixing the maximum 
rate of taxation at fifty per cent, on the State, beyond 
which thej shall not go in any instance. These boards 
should also be prohibited from making any contracts, 
or allowances, or appropriations, except when there is 
money in the treasury to pay them. And every sucli 
order or warrant so made and ordered, when there is 
not money in the treasury sufficient to pay it, should 
l)e declared utterly null and void, and all persons 
concurring iu making or issuing them be declared 
guilty of a misdemeanor in oflice, and punished for 
such, as provided by law. 

There is another fruitful source of peculation and 
wrong in the power assumed by the board to allow for 
stationery, fuel, etc., to the county officers. Under this 
head large and unnecessary sums are allowed for ink, 
])aper, envelopes, sealing wax, gold ])ens, pencils and 
printed blanks. The actual cost of these things is 
very litth:", and the actual wants of the office ver^' 
small, as compared with the amounts furnished. It is 
the habit of these officers to furnish tlieir friends and 
favorites with stationery at the public's expense. The 
lemedy for this is to return to the old rule, by which 
each oificer was re(inired to furnish his own stationery, 
wood, lights, etc., at his expense, except alone where 
bound vohunes of record books were required. There 
remains another remedy to whieli we earnestly but 
respect luliy caW the attention of the legislature. It is 
confidently believed that either of the following would ^ 



408 APPENDIX. 

f tend greatly to tlie cliaractcr and responsibility oC the 
board of supervisors. To repeal all laws allowing the 
members thereof any compensation for their services. 
The services required of a competent and faithful 
board would not exceed ten days annually, and the 
work would be done within that time, if there were no 
inducements in the shape of a per diem to prolong the 
sessions. The services would not be more burdensome 
than the liability to work on the public roads and 
streets, and the members of the board might be 
exempted from the latter duty, as well as from jury 
service. It is believed that if no compensation were 
allowed, no citizen would seek the ollice, but that the 
people could find, without dilliculty, a sufficient num- 
ber of the very best men to discharge the highly 
honorable and responsible duties of members of the 
board of supervisors. 
^ I But if this be deemed wrong, then we suggest that 
the compensation of the members of the board be 
reduced to twenty-five dollars per annum, and that 
each member be required to give bond and security in 
the penalty of two thousand dollars, at least, by which 
lie shall be bound to a faithful i)erformance of the 
duties of his office, and in which he shall be liable for 
all illegal allowauces for which he may have voted. 
And it shall be provided that in every instance where 
an allowance or appropriation of money is made, the 
names of the members voting for and against shonld 
be recorded, and that such names voting for such 
appropriation be embraced in ever}' warrant issued on 
such appropriations. And in case the alternative of a 
salary is adoi)ted, tiien it should be provided that no 
warrant for such salary should be issued in any case, 
except where there is money in the treasury sufficient 
to pay it, after first paying all prior warrants ordered 

^ by the board. 



w 



APPENDIX. 409 

Tlie necessities of tlie people demand further time 1 
within wliich to pay their taxes for the year 1874. A 
delay of sixty or ninety days would afford great and 
needl'ul relief; and if, then, the lauds of delinquents have 
to be sold, the period of redemption should be two years, 
and the damages twenty-five i)er cent, for each year. 
We feel constrained to call your attention to the many 
tliousand acres of land now lield by the State under 
sales for taxes in arrears and unpaid. Practically, 
tliese lands are a bur<len to the State, and useless for 
all purposes of revenue. Many of them were sold 
during the last war, and some in 1848. If the titles 
could be depended upon at all, it would be wise to 
husband the resources thus provided and await the J" § 
developments of the future ; but the tax titles, we may 
fairly assume, are all worthless. The great object to 
be secured is, to make these lauds available for pur- 
poses of revenue, and we suggest that the owners, or 
])arties interested tlierein, be allowed to redeem them 
on payment of the State tax for 1874, and if not re- 
deemed by the 1st of July next, that they may be sold 
to any one upon the same terms. ISTor would we re- 
strict any one as to the right to purchase ; and would 
allow any man to buy any quantity he may desire. 
This policy would defeat the purpose of those who suf- 
fer their lands to be held by the State because of the 
invalidity of lier tax titles. 

In conclusion, we beg to assure your honorable ~i 
bodies, that in thus exercising the sacred right of peti- 
tion we have not intended to cast any retiection upon 
this or any former legislature. Nor have we been in- 
fluenced by any motive of gaining a party advantage. 
The members of the convention which presents this r 
petition belong to all parties. We regard the great 
interests of the State and her people, so much impov- 
erished by the abuses we complain of, as too high and 
sacred to be made the subject of party contests. Mis- 
sissippi has a soil unequalled in fertility and in the J 



410 APPENDIX. 

f vaiioty of its products. Our climate is genial and 
healthy. Every element of high prosperity and of 
material and moral advancement exists. But, not- 
withstanding all this, every business is depressed, the 
people discontented and paralyzed. We have the be- 
numbing influence of des])air and threatened ruin in 
lieu of the healthy and vigorous activity and energy 
of hopeful i^rogress. And there yet remains the sad- 
dest truth of all. There is distrust and a Avant of 
mutual ('ontideJice between the dillerent classes of our 
population, and a dee]) and wide gulf separating the 
rulers and the ruled. The tax payers do not desire 
this, and they now nnike this respectful petition and 
appeal to the legislature in the hope that that body 
may receive it in the spirit in which it is made, and 
that such action may result as will speedily put Mis- 
sissi])])! on the high road to prosperity, which shall 
bless all classes and conditions, and extend to every 

, section of the State. 



Pi . 

C5 



APPENDIX. 411 



Extract from the Charge Delivered by Hon. J. 
S. Hamm, Judge of the Seventh Judicial Dis- 
trict OF IMississiPPi, to the Grand Jury of 
Kemper County, at September Term, 1877, of 
THE Circuit Court. 

This extract is introduced to show the spirit of the courts, 
and the strict enforcement of the law on the resumption by 
the white people of Mississippi of the control of the affairs 
of the State. 

" The circumstances nnder which you have come together 
to discharge your duties are peculiar, and impose npon you 
a grave responsibility. Since the last term of this court, 
extraordinary events have marked the history of the County 
of Kemper. The assassination of one citizen was followed 
by the deaths, by violence, of several others. The laws 
were set at naught, the public ofiQcers resisted and defied, 
the jail broken into, and six persons shot to death ; some 
of these j^ersons being at the time in the cnstody of the 
officers of the law, under accusations of crime, and the 
others not being even suspected of any otfence. All these 
acts, except that of assassination, were done openly, and 
the actors must be known. These things were widely 
published in the newspapers of the country, and made the 
subject of acrimonious controversy and discussion — one 
side attempting to show that the honiicides were excusable, 
and the other seeking to make the impression that they 
were prompted by political hatred. With the opinions of 
the newspapers, however, we, as persons charged with pub- 
lic duties, have no concern ; on the one hand, they can re- 
lieve us from no obligation ; on the other, they can impose 
upon us no duty. For the rule of our duty, and for the 
extent of our authority, we must look to the constitution 
and laws of the State, as they have been ordained and 
enacted, in the appointed ways — through constitutional 
conventions and legislative bodies. We are not permitted 



412 APPENDIX. 

to refer to that mysterious, indefiinte, undefined and unde- 
finable thing called the 'higher law ;' a law which finds 
no i)lace either in the code of any civilized State or in the 
creed of any good citizen. 

" The Constitution ])rovides that no person shall be de- 
prived of life, liberty or property-, excei)t by due i^rocess of 
law; it also provides that the right of trial by Jury shall 
remain inviolate; and it further provides that in all crimi- 
nal ])rosecutions the accused shall have a right to be heard 
by himself or counsel, or both ; to demand the nature and 
cause of the accusation ; to be confronted by the witnesses 
agninst him ; and to have compulsory process for obtaining 
witnesses in his favor; and that in all prosecutions by 
indictment or information, he shall have a speedy and 
I)ublic trial, by an imi)artial jury of the county where the 
oll'en('e was committed ; and that he shall not be compelled 
to give evidence against himself. 

" These great and essential rights of the citizen were not 
left by the framers of the Constitution to be secured by 
legislative enactments. They were placed in the bill of 
rights — in the very front of the Constitution. The legisla- 
ture cannot take them away. They are fixed in the serene 
firmament of the Constitution, high above the reach of 
legislative caprice and popular frenzy. 

" Has any person in the County of Kemper been denied 
these great and essential rights 1 Uas any person been 
deprived of life without due process of law — without indict- 
ment by a grand jury, and a fair and impartial trial by a 
l»etit jury ? And if y<'a, wlio lias presumed to set at naught 
these great, cardinal i)rovisions of the Constitution, de- 
signed for the protection of every person ? These are 
in<|uiri('s for you to make — these are cpiestions for you to 
answer. And it behooves yon to address yourselves dili- 
gently and earnestly to these inquiries. You owe it to the 
County of Kem])er, whose good name has been seriously 
(•oiii]»i-omis('d, l)y the a(;ts of blood and <leath of which it 
has been the theatre, and by the oft repeated assertion, that 
the Avhole ])eoj)Ie of the county approve those acts; yon 



APPENDIX. 413 

owe it to the State, the majesty of whose laws has been 
coutemned aud set at naught, and the - authority of whose 
officers has been resisted and defied ; you owe it to the 
humane, the just, and the good, everywhere, particularly in 
your own State, to whose opinion you cannot be indifferent. 
There is yet another tribunal of which you should not be 
unmindful. That tribunal is posterity — the men who will 
succeed yon. When the mists of prejudice which pervert 
the judgment of the actors in the scenes passing before us 
shall vanish ; when these scenes shall be divested of the 
adventitious importance imparted to them by transient 
excitement, and be viewed in their true character ; when 
you, who are now required to sit in judgment upon the acts 
of others, and they whose acts are to become the subject 
of your inquiries, shall alike repose in the silence of the 
grave — then will come the faithful historian, who will 
record the proceedings of this day ; then will come a just 
posterity who will review your decision. And I trust that 
then your action may be noted in terms of commendation, 
and that this day may be remembered in the history of the 
State as honorable to her character for calm, dignified and 
impartial justice. 

" There are still higher considerations which must con- 
strain you to a faithful performance of your duties. You 
are ministers, sworn ministers of justice. You have taken 
a solemn oath, and you have called the great Searcher of 
hearts to witness that you will present no person through 
malice, hatred or ill will, and that you will leave no person 
nnpresented through fear, favor or affection, or for any 
reward, or hope or promise of reward, but that in all your 
l)resentmeuts you will j^resent the truth, the whole truth, 
and nothing but the truth. We stand in the presence of 
that awful Being whose all-seeing eye views with especial 
concern the temples dedicated to justice aud religion. In 
;i little while we shall appear at the bar of our final Judge, 
where the secrets of all hearts shall be made known, and 
where every human being shall account for his deeds done 
in the body. To our final Judge, at that supreme hour, may 



414 APPENDIX. 

wc all be able to appeal for the purity of our motives and 
the rectitude of our conduct, and may our appeal not be 
answered by the blood of innocence, or by the mute 
anguish of the widow, or by the moaning- cry of the orphan, 
bearing- witness against us, as recreant to the high trust 
reposed in us. 

" When a great crime has been committed, it is the duty of 
every good citizen to aid the public authorities to bring the 
perpetrator to the bar of justice, in order that lie may 
be indicted, and tried, and convicted and punished accord- 
ing to law, and by his punishment an impressive example 
set to deter others from the commission of crime. But iu 
no case does the law authorize persons to take the life of 
a fellow creature, though they may suspect or believe, or 
even know him to be guilty of crime. 

'" Lf men may take the law into their own hands; if they 
may with impunity slay others, because they suspect or 
believe, or even know them to be guilty of crimes; if they 
may arrogate to themselves the right of revenge ; then 
there is an end of all law, and of all lawful authority, and 
of all government. There will be no saiety for the rights of 
persons, and no security for the rights of property ; for 
there will be no rule of reason or justice, and no power to 
enforce such a rule. The law of the mob and the rule of 
revenge will be the only law ami tlie only rule. Terror 
will paralyze every heart and render valueless every right ; 
and a mournful scene of anarchy and violence, and rapine 
and si)()liation, and bloodshed and death will be the inevit- 
able and melancholy result. 

" The true (piestion, then, is, whether criminal justice shall 
be administered with the forms and solemnities prescribed 
and by tlie ollicers and agents ai)pointed by the law, or by 
irresponsible mobs, acting not only without the authority 
and forms of the law, but iu direct contravention of all its 
lulcs ; wliether the rights of tlu^ cntizen shall be determined 
by known and llxed laws, enacted and })romulgat<'d accord- 
ing to the constitutional requirements, or by mob law — 
a law brutal in its instincts, blind in its decisions, and (iruel 



APPENDIX. 415 

and unrelenting in its pnnislimeuts. The one eyed mon- 
ster of heathen antiquity is its fit pei'sonification, lor in its 
darkened rage it rends alike friends and foes, the innocent 
as well as the guilty. It sways a bloody sceptre over the 
ruins of social and political order, and wherever its domin- 
ion is fixed, there we behold the disintegration of all the 
bonds of society. This is an important question, for it 
involves not only the lives, the liberty and the property of 
the individuals who compose society, but the very existence 
of society itself. And the solution of this question depends, 
to a great extent, upon you ; for the initiatory and pre- 
paratory steps in the punishment of crime can be taken 
only by you. The law is not self acting, or self enforcing, or 
self executing. It can only speak through its ministers and 
agents ; and you are the api)ointed organ to give formal 
expression to its accusations against all who have disobeyed 
its precepts. Then let the potent voice of the law be lieard 
through you, and heard in tones neither to be misunder- 
stood nor disregarded by those who have violated its man- 
dates. As good citizens, you must loathe and detest crime. 
Then do not make yourselves responsible for crime by con- 
niving at it ', for in your case connivance will be interpreted 
to be approbation. 

" You are engaged in the service of no party ; you are 
enlisted in the cause of no faction ; you owe no allegiance 
but to the State ; and the State now calls upon you to per- 
form your duty, your whole duty to her, fearlessly as men, 
conscientiously as jurors. She requires you to administer 
the high public trust with which she has clothed you, with 
exclusive reference to the public welfare, regardless of all 
consequences to individuals. She commands you to rebuke 
the spirit of licentiousness now so mournfully prevalent, to 
stay the arm of violence so often uplifted for the shedding 
of blood, and to point out the guilty heads upon which the 
sword of justice should descend. It is not for you to 
absolve men from the legal consequences of their own vol- 
untary acts. You possess no such dispensing power. As 
grand jurors, acting under the solemnities of an oath, you 



416 APPENDIX. 

must know no man. Like the law, whose servants yon are, 
you must be no respecters of persons. All whose acts 
become matters of inquiry before you, must be subjected to 
the same ordeal. It is not for you to inquire whether those 
who are accused of crime, Imj hi.yh or low, rich or poor, but 
wliciher they be ijuilty or innocent. You know it is a 
l)()pular belief, that if a culprit possesses wealth or has 
inHuential friends, the law is powerless to reach and ])uuish 
him, however atrocious may be the crime with which he is 
charged, and however clear may be the proof of his guilt 5 
and to the reproach of criminal justice, candor constrains 
th(! admission that facts go very far to justify this belief. 

"Perform the grave and important duties witli which you 
are charged as the solemn oath you have taken requires 
you to perform them, and you will furnisli no ground for 
su(!li an imputation upon the (Criminal justice of the State. 
ln(|uirc diligently into all violations of the criiniiial laws, 
and make such i>resentment in each case as the very truth 
of the matter requires. I'rescnt no persons through malice, 
hatred, or ill will; leave no ])crson nn])resented through 
fear, favor, or alfection, or for any reward, or hope or 
promise of reward. In all your presentments, present the 
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In this 
way, and in this only, can you acquit yourselves of your 
duty to the State; in this way, and in this only, can you 
merit the applause of the just, the good and the wise; in 
this way, and in this only, can you secure what is preferable 
even to the applause of the just, the good and the wise — 
the apiMob.ition of your own hearts and consciences." 



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