Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1851-11-13


notorious duellist by the name of Johnson
whose matchless prowess inspired universal
fear. He had slain half dozen foes on the
public " field of honor" and as many in pri-
vate encounters. All the members of the
"bloody fancy club" spoke of Mike Johnson's
feats with rapturous enthusiasm. But all
good men, when the " brave wretch passed,
turned pale and were silent. o..
At the May term of the District Court,
1929, the Grand Jury, mastering, extraordi-
nary courage, returned true bill against
Johnson for the murder of William Lee, an
inofensive youth, whom he had shot down
in drunken frolic, under circumstances of
peculiar aggravation. Thomas was retained
by friend of the deceased to aid in the pros
ecution, and Notwithstanding the earnest ad-
vice of his friends to the contrary, appeared
on the trial of the cause-one of the most ex-
citing ever argued in Vicksburg. On the last
evening of the session, after adjournment,
Thomas rushed into the presence of his wife
with looks of such evident agitation as to fill
her soal with overpowering alarm. ,ah
ID" Ny love, tell me in the name of heay-
what has happened!" she cried, pale as a
corpse, and shaking like leaf in the wind.
.. Nothing" answered the husband, think
ing to conceal the most fearful part of the in
tIlligence. /" Nothing, only the murderer,
Mike Johnson, after his acqujtal,1 grossly in
suited me in the courtyard, and | knocked
ham down" te-lIc - o1a. 2
And he challenged you TO fight him with
pistols!" almost shrieked the wife, anticipa-
ting the rest, with the quickness Of woInaIi's
keen common sense. a t
a1"Tt is even so," repliedthe lawyer mourn
fully a au a.l SIS
'Oh! say that you will not meet him. Oh!
swear that you will not turn duellist in this
Sodom ofthe south, "implored the wife, throw
ing her arms around his neck, and sobbin5
like child on his bosom. sa. i7ag
"There, do not weep now viii not turn
duellist, dear Emma, although much fear the
consequences will be my ruin
"God will protect you from the bold bad
The next morning it was known in Vicks-
burg that the Yankee orator" had been
challenged, and refused to fight. According
iy, he was denounced as coward word
which at that day, and even now, might be
considered as expressing far deeper scorn
than either robber or assassin. AS he passed
through the streets he was astonished to wit
ness the coldness manifested by his acquain-
tances, and even professed friends, while the
great mass of people seemed to. regard him
with inefable contempt Yankee white
liver " boaster," "poltron," were the sounds
most frequently rung in his ears, especially
when near the groceries, and there was one
on every terrace OF the broken hills.
The matter grew still worse. About a
week afterwards, Johnson met his victim in
the public square, presented a. cooked pistol
at his heart with one hand, aud belabored
him unmercifull with cowhde which he
grasped in the other. Resistance at the mo-
ment was out of the question, for the slight
est motion would have been the signal for
immediate death. He thought of Emma and
her sweet babe, and bore the castgation in
silence
After this, clients deserted his office, and
gentlemen refused TO recognise him or return
his salute in the thoroughfares of business,
or during his morning strolls over the hills.
Had his touch been contagion or his breath
pestilence, he could not have been more care
fully Stunned.
Another week passed, and the degraded
lawyer was IN a state of mind bordering on
insanity; and yet all the while he concealed
the mental torture from his affectionate wife.
One evening in more than common bitter
and gloomy mood, as he walked through the
public square, he was again accosted by Nike
Johnson, with his cooked pistol in one hand,
and an upllfted cowhide in the other. The
assault was the more aggravatng as the place
was thonged with spectators.
Coward and yillain," exclaimed john
son, "did not tell you that would cowhide,
you every week, until | had whipped the
courage Of a man and a gentleman into your
Yankee hide ~
al am not a coward" retorted Thomas in
a hollow tone, so unearthly fierce and wild
that it caused every hearer to start. At the
Instant, his lips were livid, and clenched be.
tween his teeth till the blood ran. His eyes
were red as mad dogs and the muscles o
his face quivered but his body and md limbs limbs
seemed to have the rightly Of marble, .ssag
He will fight pow," rung in an eager
whisper through the crowd, as they saw The
terrible tokens Of the fiendaroused-the fiend
- n H., 81 a JifIoraDt ipnfhS an all human