Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1861-10-31
Secession in Tennessee.

g While yet beseeching them to act on
their own doctrine and let us alone, the hoofs
of their cavalry were indenting our plains,
and the tramp of their troops were about
our homes And yet there are those who
] set up the pulling cry Let there be no
ing against coercion Why, God bless you,
friends, they never got anything except oy
coercion. They coerced Tennessee, Georgia,
Alabama and Virginia out of the Union.--
They attempted it IN Maryland the Gov
ernment stopped it-they attempted it in
Kentucky; the people stopped it lCheers
and cries of " good, good 1' Their whole
ca reer has been one of coercion, of outrage.
insult, blasphemy and crime. Detachments
Of their myrmidons, who were sent, as they
said, Ito protect US from the despotism of
Abe Lincoln" (?) would pass through our
comfy, in Tennessee, on the railroad.
As they went they saw the flag Of our
country, the glorious old Stars and Stripes,
floating from the gable of an humble school
house, where the little boys had placed 1t as
an emblem of their pure and dawning love
for the Union. What did these miscreants
dog They stopped their train, and. with
hootings and ribadry, with menacess and
execrations ard blaspheiny. they tore it from
the children and trampled it in the mlre.-
They would enter private houses, and under
|, pretence oc seeking ammunition, would rum.
age drawers and desks, robbing the family
of their money, and the females of their
| heir looms. They would order their meals
and lodging in tones of insoence and terms
of insult. They would feed their horses
with wastfulness, and scatter the food reck-
lessly on the ground. And after eating to
the fill OF their insatiate appetites, and riot
ing and rumaging they would mount, and
with oaths and obscenity, would tell the
family to charge it all to JEFF. Davis. And
this, my friends, is secession.
. They came into my county; they called
at my house. Some of their number came
forw ard and demanded of my family whether
was ct me-saying that if was they
had come to take me, and hang me. Pleas
ant intelligence this for gentlemen (?) to
communicate to wife and daughters But
my daughter. indignant at their conduct,
said g No, my father is not at home he is
absent in another county, wherehe is making
speech for the Union and this presume
you knew, or your cowardlY crew would not
have dared to show themselves at this
house ~ [Thunders of applause They
then sulIenly withdrew. As they passed on
through the neighborhood they came upon
the house of Union family the husband
was not at home, but his wife stout heart
ed woman, had her Union flag at the gate
post They insolently commanded her to
remove it; she would not. They attempted
to seize it, and she seized it; they struggled
for it, but she kept her flag. They then
went into the woods, cut hickory withe,
and returning, scourged her person with it.
Kisses, and cries of " shame, shame ~
This, my friends, is secession and these
are the men you areto 9 compromise with ~
Some of these same d. mons, five of them,
fieads in human shape, stopped at the house
of a man named Markham, who, seeing them
approach, and fearing insult and outrage to
himself if he remained, and thinking that
they would not be so likely to provoke
quarrel with the family if he were not pres
ent, took his rifle from its resting place and
retired unobservedly by them into little
thicket hard by the house, in order to be on
hand in case they offered any abuse to his
family. He had an amiable wife and two
daughters, the youngest girl of about
twelve years, and the other just blossoning
into womanhood, about sixteen, as beautiful
as the morning and as pure as the dewdrop.
The secessionlsts entered and insolently de-
manded dinner for themselves and feed for
their horses. The wife told them there was
the crib and the fodder, and they would give
them their dinner. They took the hay and
the corn and scattered it about the ground,
and ordered the ladies to hasten their din
ner.
g In due time the dinner was prepared,
and soon greedily devoured. After satiating
their appettes a. the table they began to
address rude remarks to the wife and daugh-
ters. One of them attempted to make love
to the young lady, when her young sister,
seizing the tin horn or trumpet, which is
kept in almost all rural homestea ds to make
summons to dinner or sound an alarm to
neighbors in case of any accident, sprang to
the door and blew blast. At this the he'll
lish demon turned, drew pistol from his
girdle and fired its bullet through her brain,
and with one wild shrek she fell in agoniz-
ing death at the feet of her mother. That
blast, the shot, the shrek and scream pierre
ed the ear of the waiting father; he sprang
from the retreat he stood at his door-one
glance revealed all; and taking deliberate
aim he sent his rifles ball straight through
the williams heart! A suppressed voice,
Good God" !" followed by tremendous ap-
plause 7 The other four, alarmed at the
trumpet's blast, and knowing the whole
neighborhoed would soon be upon them; at