Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1857-08-04

lie Knew nInl 10 De hard drinker- q
bad man = and libertine and be had
done all IN his powerto prevent his I'd other
from marrying him. He could not bear
the thought that such man should be the
husband of his mother = but the marri
age took place, and the result was as we
have seen. The poor wife pioed awav
beneath her husbands iru,ality and ne
1 glect, and finally, because she would not
give up her own couch to Creole slave
girl, he beat her, and then turned her
out of doors
1t appeared IN evidence that Owen
Payne had come 10 town on some business
with his attorney. When he married with
Mrs. Roby he made will in her favor.
Since then he made one in favor of his
fayorite slave, whom he set free. In an
hour of passion he had DESTROYED this sec
ond will, and made new one i'm favor of
drunken companion of his In three
months this was destroyed, and another
made IN favor of a second creole. Lately
however, a nephew of his - a son of his
brother = named Richard Payne, had
come to visit him; and all former wills
were revoked, and new one made CIV
ing everything this nephew. How long
that would have stood, had the planter
lived, is not clear, but probably not long,
for Richard Payne was loose, sporting
character, and very ugly when drunk. =
And II afterwards appeared : but never
mind; we shall come to that soon
Presently a man, named CHRISTOPHER
Grutt, was called upon the stand He
was a honest looking drover, of middle
age, and seemed sorry that be was OBJ
iiged to testify. But he did SO, and as
follows:
lie and companion were on their way
atoot TO the town. Just at dark they came
10 the cypress wood, where the ro,d is
built over a small swamp, and Just as they
entered this wood. a horse came galIopino
past them with saddle and bride on. Their
hrst impulse was to catch the horse, but
they thought that perhaps his rider had
been thrown and hurt, so they hurried on
TO hnd hlm. Near the other end of the
wood they saw man STOPPING over some
thing. with his back towards them They
hurried mp, and found the prisoner at the
bar Just IN the act of pulling a Bowie
knife from deep wound in The breast of
man W lay beneath him. They at
once took him into custody, and then hur-
ssied on for help.
The next witness was another drover,
named Henry Page. He had been with
Grntt, and was the companion spoken of.
His testimony was exactly the same as
the last. Only he was further questioned
concerning the prisoners behavior upon
the OCCASION. lie said, the young man
was frightened when they took him, and
could not talk at all, only very incoher-
emily and wildly.
These Witnesses were not cross-cxam
med, as the prisoner informed his couu-
sci that they had spoken truly.
The next testimony elected was i'm
portant 1t was to the effect that Just ut
the fall Of sunset, while the shadows were
the lorg st, and the sun hung redlv upon
the hoIizon, young Roby returned from
fishing excursion. At the inn he inquired
If Owen Payne was in town. NO" said
the hostIer, who had just come in, ''he
has just started for home. lie was pretty
drunk, 50 ] guess he'll reach his house
by morning"
Upon this Roby started up and decIar-
ed he would go aud overtake him. His
words on the occasion, as sworn TO by no
less than five persons, were -
"Ill find HIM, and Ill have satisfac-
uon! He shall either make to my mother
the fullest reparation, or I'll take repair
alton myself
Something was further said about his
taking a horse.
No" he returned, Il know how he
rides. / can overtake him before he
reaches the swamp. Ir SHALL BE 4
Do
Others were found ready to testify that
they had frequently heard him make
threats against Owen Payne's life.
Surely, this all looked dark.
AT this point a side door was opened
and litter was borne into the room, and
upon 1t was the body of the murdered
man. The two drovers were asked #
that was the body over which they had
seen the prisoner. They said, it was.
knife was then shown them, and they
identified Ii as the one they had taken
from Roby. Others swore that 1t was
Roby's knife.
Finally the prisoner was allowed TO tell
his story. He struggled a while with his
feelings, but at length managed to control
his emotions sufficiently for speech.
He suid that the Witnesses thus far mad
all told the truth with the exception of one
point. The knife produced was not his
he had lost his Bowie knife month be-
fore. His mother bought two knives
some years ago, and gave him one, keep
ing one herself. The one she kept, to
use for pruning vines and cutting fruit,
she had left at Mr.. Payne's, and had not
seen 1t since. - On the evening in ques-
ton he started after the planter as had
been stated. His idea was, either to in
duce him to make sole provision for his
mother, who was his (the planter's) true
wife, or else to challenge him. He had
meant, on former occasions, when speak
! ing of revenge, the same to challenge
4 him and fight him. That was all he meant
at the inn. When he left the village on
that occasion he started into an easy trot,