The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-26 00:00:00

A PLEASANT STATE OF SOCIETY.

The following is an account of the tragedy which
occurred in Sumter county, Florida, on the 13th
ult :—" The Rev George Andrews, of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, killed two men, and wounded
two others. He was accused of seducing a young
girl 14 or 15 years of age, a relative, living at his
house at the time. He was further accused of severely
whipping the young girl, and acknowledged as
much to the citizens. For these misdeeds a summons
was issued for him to appear at the Court- house at
Sumterville, before the people, on Saturday, the
16th inst. Having heard of this and of the parties
who were to serve the summons—Messrs. M'Lendon
and Lang—he proceeded to the house of the former
and took dinner with the family. After dinner
they went to the workshop. Andrews asked M'Len-
don for the loan of his horse to go to Adamsville,
which was granted. He had in his possession one
double-barrelled gun, one yager rifle, two repeaters,
and two bowie-knives. While the horse was being
caught, a conversation arose about his (Andrews)
being summoned before the 'regulators.' Where-
upon Mr. Lang said, Yes, sir, and here is the sum-
mons for you.' During this conversation M'Lendon
was mending a pair of shoes. Immediately after
Lang's answer Andrews levelled his gun at
M'Lendon, shot him in the side, and killed him in-
stantly. Turning round quickly he levelled his
gun to shoot Lang with the other barrel. Lang
knocked up the gun and received the whole load
in the palm of his right hand. Lang then picked
up Andrews' yager to shoot him (Andrews), but
could not cock it on account of his shattered hand.
He threw down the gun and ran. As he ran An•
draws shot him through the left wrist with a re-
peater. A Mr. Hyatt, in the shop at the time,
picked up the yagcr, ran off about 30 yards, and
levelled it at Andrews, but the latter was too
quick, and shot Hyatt with his repeater, grazing
him on the shoulder. Hyatt shot, but missed. Here-
upon Andrews took after Lang, and pursued him
200 yards. Not being able to overtake him he
returned to the shop, reloaded his guns, and pro-
ceeded over to Mr. Condray's, about one mile dis-
tant. At Condray's gate Andrews met Dr. M'Henry,
whom he told he was tired and very thirsty, and
wanted a drink of water. Stepping inside the
yard, and seeing Mr. Condray talking to a negro
boy, he observed, I have commenced my work,
and right here I intend to finish it.' Whereupon
he levelled his gun and shot Condray through the
bowels, who only lived about four hours. The
Rev. Mr. Parker being present, seized the wretch
from behind, and held him fast until M'Henry
came to his assistance. As the doctor caught hold
of Andrews, the latter presented his gun. to the
doctor's breast, who warded it off, and the load
went into the ground. He was then tied and con-
fined until next morning, under strict guard.
The news having been circulated in the neigh-
bourhood, a large number of citizens assem-
bled at Condray's house. After due delibe-
ration he was judged worthy of being hanged, and
about 12 o'clock he was hanged accordingly, 60 or
70 citizens of the country signing his death war-
rant. There was not a dissenting voice on the
ground. The last words of this hardened wretch
were, lam only sorry that I did not kill three or
four more."'—New lark Paper.