The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1852-12-07
MISCELLANEOUS.
s HEROIC CONDUCT OFF A
AdISSOURI GIRL-TEIE CASE OF
MARY SILMORE,

The Sunday Times has lately Civ
en sort of romantic history of an
event which occurred in Southwest.
''srn Missouri not many years ago
The facts are cleaned from report
spf-the trial Of Mary Silmore for muir.
der. The writer of the article says
shat he was himself counsel for the
heroine, ON her trial, and the princi.
pal events related are on record in
the archives Of the Circuit Court of
Jasper County, Missouri.
On the 4th of July, 1910, the
lynchers of Jasper were all in mo.
tion. The captain of the band had
made a requisition for their whole
force, and, accordingly, full two hun
dred, completely armed and equip
ped, assembled at the court house rs
the point of departure on their des,
perate expedition. They were all
dressed, mounted on strong, servicea.
BILE horses, and might be termed a
respectable looking set of men for the
backwoods. Their captain, John
Mays, in particular, was a splendid
fellow, at least in physical appear
ance. Tall, graceful and command
ing, he was fitted to adorn the draw.
ing room as we'll as the battlefield.
One of these changcable beings so
numerous in tho far west, where any
profession may be assumed at will
without preliminary training. lie
had been first bee hunter, then a
Methodist preacher, then a doctor,
then lawyer, He was now Ga
fighter and, on account of his as
9tonishing prowcss in this new occu-
.5Sss'ssttiiea, .5sst had recently been elected to
che captaincy of tho lynchers, i'll the
place of 4 predecessor killed.
The company left the court house,
which, on the frontier, is the public
hall for all sorts Of meetings, and set
out on their campaign at ten o'clock
in the morning. 1t was a fine sight
to see them skinming away over the
green sward ofthe lcvel prairie, their
hunting shirts streaming in the wind.
and their gins glittcriny in the sun.
shine. Many spectators, collected to
celebrate the glorious day, witnessed
their departure, and many predicted
that they would not return as they
went.
AS for the lynchers themselves,
they seemed to labor under no gloomy
apprehensions, as the following con
Fersation (sworn to afterwards in
open court) will show.
Tom Barker.-Well, captain, do
you think old Silmorc will stand up
to the sticking point this bout?
Captain. by d and Ge-
neral Jackson ! ellis favorite oath. }
Have we not whipped him three
times already, until there is not an
inch of his hide, from the neck to
the hills, that does not bear the deep
scars for our hickories +?
Barker.-Very true, captain; but
then they say that he now keeps
twelve loaded guns, and as many pis.
tolls, rlways by his head, and swears
he will never be taken any more
alive.
Captain. Il don't care if he had
fifty cannon. The old rogue is a
coward, and q coward would not
fight if he could be armed with thun-
der.
Barker.-Yes; but they also say
that pretty Mary his younger daught-
er, has been practicing lately, and
can shoot nearly as we'll as her fa-
ther. May be she will take it into
her head to give pop Of powder and
lead.
AT this singular intelligence Cap.
tain Mays turned pale, and drawing
q long breath which sounded very
similar to love sigh, answered in a
softer and sadder tone" What a
pity that snch beautiful creature as
Mary should be the child of a thief
and counterfciter."
Barker (with a smile. )-I am told
that she used to be your sweet heart.
Captain l loved her as nv own
soul, and am satisfied that she loved
me until | joined the lynchers, and
then she never would speak to me
again. But that must have been the
york of her internal father, and III
have his scalp for it yet
Barker.-They say that she can
cut off the head Of hawk with pis.
tol at ten paces,
Captain. That may all be as they
soy, but yet she will never do harm
80 any human being. She is the
most ,ttnder-hcartel woman God ever
created. | wish you could have seen
her weep at the death Of her little