Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1860-07-13
Three Free Men Carried into Slavery.

| Three Free Men Carried into Slavery.
The following account Of the kidnapping
Of three free negroes in illinois we copy from
the Chicago frss D Ts3bshns Of the 9Th inst
And this is the inevitable workings Of tn,
peculiar institution which our -latter-day
Democracy, are seeking to peipetuate ant
extend:
CLIFTON, m. July 4, 1880.
Solomon sturses Esq, Chicago:
DEAR SIR: About eight o. clock last Sunday
evening, our usually quiet village was visitea
by band Of the most barbarous men that
ever Witnessed. It seems BY what was devel
oped at the trial Of some Of the parties yestcr
day, that several men from Missouri have had
their headquarters ut Ashkum the past three
weeks or more, where, with the assistance o.
one George d. Smith, . trader il Ashkum, and
Mr.. Cornelius, formerly Kentuckian, who
lives in the immediate neighbOrho0d of Ash.
KUN, have been working up plan for several
weeks, to kidnap some colored men who have
been living in this town. About eight O'Clock
they had managed to get five Of the boys in.
to the "SeNus House." where Smith made
himself very free in entertaining them, VII, n
eight other men armed to the teeth, rushed
in and presenting their pistols told the boys
they were prisoners. Two Of the most pow
erful of the boys made rush and knocking
down several Of the ruffians, made their es-
cape, the other three were beat severely on the
head with the butt of their pistols, overpow-
cred, handcuffed, thrown into wagon and
driven off before any alarm could be given,
all done in the space of ten minutes What
makes the affair the more diabol:cal, is the
fact that one of the men carried off never was
slave, and one had been freed by his master,
the third one might or might not have been a
slave, but little was known Of him. 1t ap-
pears from what we learn since the affair &C.
Cured, that one of the boys that escaped
probably had been a slave, and that his mas
ter was one of the band who figured here
1t appears that this slave owner made a bar
gain with Smith and Cornelius, of Ashkum,
that if they would assist him to take "Ned,
one Of the boys that escaped, that they would
catch as many more as they could, take them
South, sell them and divide the spoils. After
the three were taken they were driven to
Ashkum, about four miles, where they were
put on board the cars of the Illinois Central
Railroad Company. There seemed to be a
perfect understanding between the kidnap-
pers and the Conductor of the train much
morc"-as the cars hardly came to stop be-
fore the negroes were thrust on board, and
the train moving. A sufficient number of
citizens went on the train from here to pre-
vent the negroes from being put on board,
and were fully prepared to have done so, had
the train made the usual stop-but before
half of the citizens who went on the train
could get off to render the required assistance
the train was in motion, snd as learn, the
kidnapped negroes were taken to St. Louis.
In addition to the nine kidnappers, who
were doubly armed with revolvers and bowie
knives, the Section men who work. on the
track of the Railroad Company. for about if
ten miles distant. numbering about twenty
five, were in attendance apparently to render
assistance if needed, all stout ablc-bodicd
Irishmen.
hope and pray that it may never be my
lot to witness another such scene.
In haste, yours truly, J. E. KINGxAN.
The New York Journal Of Commerce comes
out for Breckenridge.
The cattle disease has made its appearance
in Pennsylvania.