Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1845-05-15
Jack Long,
OR LYNCH.LAw AND REVENGE.
IcoNcLupEp. |

uiust " tiW'Hs pait5, nu0 ~ iuohh
gu, Il the wind W saw them dlsmoun,sd
and grouped abon, the yard. recog
nzed the voice Of our host in sharp, d..
cisiye altercaiion. under our winiow. with
some one, whos- harsh, overbearing tones
couvinc,d ne that II must be Htnch.
listened nx'ously, and heard him swearing
in round terms tina, Hrnry's story was all
CANNON, an 'old womsn's tale, that he
| didn't believe word OF IT; but if Stouer
was murdered, Henry was the man who
did it. | could only distinguish that the
| Planters tone was angry AMI decided,
when the moved on out of hearing -
How he managed 20 quiet him, csnno,
conjecture, tHenry frtuns;ely heard
nothing of ~ but wh4n W. joined them,
Hlnch greeted US With gruf sort Of c-
Witty. He was thick sci, broad Shout
dertd, ruffian Unlocking fellow; wearing
the pslpabe marks OF the debauchee IN
his bIuated person and red features.
We were soon under way. A ride of
nearly half the day through the scenes OF
yesterdays adventure elected nothing,
and we were all getting impatient, when
fortunately Henry's search. undertaken
at my earnest suggestion, was successful
in recognizing the place where he had
witnessed the curious appari!ion of the
evening before. On close examination
the moccasined tracks were discovered,
and with wonderful skill the Regulators
traced them for several miles, till, finally,
in en- opeE glade, among the thickets, We
found the fragments oil man who had
been torn to pieces by the wolves, mum.
bers of which, with buzzards and ravens,
were hanging around the place. The
bones had been picked so clean, that 1t
would have been out Of the question to
hope TO identify them, but for the fact that
gun was lying near which was instant
| ly recognized 10 be Stoner's. | observ.
ed that there was round fracture, like a
bullet-hole, in the back Of the skull; but il
was too unpleasant an object for more
minute examination. We gathered up
the bones to take them home to his fami-
ly-bu, before we left the ground, dis
covery was made which startled every
one; it was the distinct trail of shod
horse. Now there was hardly horse in
Shelby county that wore shoes, for where
no stones, shoes were unnecessary--cer.
tainly there was not horse 10 our COM
pany that had them on. This must be
the horse Of the murderer! OF course
Henry was freed, even from the suspicion
Of these brutes. They believed that this
trail could be easily followed, and felt
sure now that they should soon come up
on some results. They set off with great
contii' nee, trailing the shod hrse Till
nearly night, when in spite OF all their in
genuity, they LIST IT; and though they
camped near the place Till morning aud
tried again. could never find 1t. They
were compelled 10 give up in despair aud
scattered for their separate homes.
The very next day sfler their breaking
up, followed the astounding report that the
horse Of second one oil their number
had gslloped up to his masters door with
an empty saddle. The Regulators as.
sembed again, and after long search
the body was found, or the fragments Of
it rather, bare aud dlsmembered by the
wolves. The rumor was as in StoneI's
case, the man had been shot 10 the back
of the heal, out the skull had been grt at
" dis6gufed. The two murders occur.
ring WITHIN three days, Qor the man must
have been shot on The day the Regulators
dlsbanded, and Will on his way me
aIone) CT ated INN nse sensation through
out the country. The story OF Henry -
winch afforded the only possible clue To
the p'rp traitor -and the singularlty oi all
the incidents, completely aroused popu-
lar enouons. What cuul! be the mo
live or WHO was this invlncible assassin
for the last ffart at trailing Inn had be1n
equally unava,lng) remained an utter
my sery. Hnch and his band raved and
fumed like madmen. They swept The
country in all directions, arres,ing aud
lynchlng what they called suspicious per
sons, winch meant any aud every one
who had rcnde,e himself in the ST. ghtrsl
degree obnoxious to them. Ii twas glo-
rlous opportunity for spreading far and
wide wholesome terror of their power,
and wrea king a daslar lily, hoarded ven-
RrouNC az
not dared before to strike op~nly Their
fairy wos particu arly directed og inst the
lass OF Hunter Emigrants, who, as the
most atutdy and uBmanageab,y honest,
had incurred IN a proportiouable degr e
their most merciless aud unmt z led hate.
Public sentiment just fed extreme meas.
ures, for the genera safety seemed TO de-
mand that the perpelrator these secret
murders should be brought to light, and
great as was The license under which he
Tad acted, Hinch ye, felt the necessity Of
being backed by some shallow Of approx.
al growing out of the necessities of The
Case. He and The mscfeants under his
command enjoyed nov for several days,
unchecked by any law of God or man,
perfect saturnalia of riotous violence
Outrages too disguslingly hldeous IN Their
details to bear recital we're committed in
every part of the county. Inoffensve
men we're caught up from ihe midst Of their
fimilles. hung TO the limbs Of trees ill life
was nearly extinct, and then cut down.
This process being repeated four or Ave
.lmes, till they were left for dead, and all
to make them confess their connexion with
the murders! will not further particu-
larze