Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-10-18

have talked In Marion. remember talking 10
Capt Peters once. He lives In Marion. The l
conversation was held at my house.
Direct examination resumed Mr. Court
married my cousin. t 0Hsgr.a.tIllt
James Fletcher. ! reside in Greencamp
township Marion county. have lived there
since last spring, Fred. Court spoke to me in
July or August, at Bufwick, one Saturday. He
TOOK me one side and said he wanted to speak to
me. 1t was close to store. don't remember
whether was alone. We went down TO the
mill yard. 1t was about three or four o'clock
IN the afternoon. We went to the mill yard,
he going ahead. IL was rather secluded
place. We could not be seen from the store. |
he commenced talking after we got there He
said no had paper he wished me to sign. He
wished me to sign without reading. told him
wouldn't sign anything without / knew what
u was. can't read. He said 1t was TO keep
from mobbing, from volunteering and drafting.
lie explained this without reading. He said
also something about an oath or obligation,
which he read to me. He swore me and put
my name to the paper. 'O' +" n'yis''i''a
The District Attorney then read the first OBJ
ilgation OF the published oath of Knights of the
Golden Circle, TO the witness, who thought it |
/ was the same as had been read by Fletcher, not
being able to point out any difference The
second obligation being read, the witness also
said be could not see any difference In this
either. r~s -Dsrr-f
/ consented that he should put my name 10
the oath; the signs were then explained TO nae
(Witness illustrated the signs used to ascertain
members; he said he had something to show
me when he saw me again; learned by means
OF them, some other members of the order.
Mr.. Court introduced Mr.. Dugan to me as q
4 higher brother; was acquainted with Mr.. ,Du-
gan before; had known him year and q half
perhaps; met another whom Mr.. Porter told
me belonged to the order. -.a,.d5
Gross Examined. work by the month on
iarms. am housekeeper; own farm; live
or miles from Courts residence. live
about two miles from the mill yard. The con.
versatlon took place this summer. Squire Yeo
keeps the store. came out of the store and
saw Court standing in the road, alone. He
spoke to me and said, "Come out--I have some
thing to say to you" When got out, he said ),
"come on" and we went down to the mill yard
and sat on some saw.logs. There was no force
about the mill The first thing Court said
when we had sat down, was that he had some
thing he wanted me TO join. He had piece OF
: paper. lie did not give me the paper. l can't
tell whether 1t was written or printed, having
seen only the back. | did not see my name
, signed. did not ask any questions about IT,.
} he explained 1t to me, and said he wanted me
} to join the Knights of the Golden Circle. About
, the paper, he said it was to prevent volunteer
/. ing, drafting, and to keep down all mobs. He
wrote my name on that piece of paper with a
pencil. He had two papers,; both were written.
when he asked me to sign, asked him to ex-
!. plain the paper. Have never spoken TO any one
Q OF the conversation until filed the affidavit.
! lie explained what the Society was. After l
told him TO put my name down, he wrote some-
r In frat Tha nta Oft Ia
9 paper are what was read by the District Attor-
, ney. The first man who came to me to ask if
s knew anything about the Order, was Mr..
! VIM. Fish. He asked me if had my name to
8 the Knights of the Golden Circle. No one else
ever spoke to me about it, until | made the
, affidavit. Court administered an oath to me.
Judge Bowen wrote my affidavit. l repeated
Q the oaths to Judge Bowen, and he wrote them
!, down. l went down to Berwick on that day TO
! buy some things at the store. Ii was on Satur-
| day. made the affidavit a week ago Monday.
i went to Marion in the morning. Mr.. Martin
u and Mr. Peters came for me. l was in bed
e when they came. They said they wanted to gel
IS me out OF the Golden Circle, but did not tel
y me in what manner.
10 Direct examination resumed. Last Friday
d. went over to my fathers TO cut some corn, anC
d about l0 o'clock three men came 10 me ant
e wanted me to 60 into the woods with them
,f They said Court was supposed to be lost, hav'
ia ing been gone since the Wednesday previous
II and that had better 60 out and help hunt fol
!. him. refused to go, as was busy at work
i Cross-examination resumed. The names 0i
g the men were Thomas Jones, Jep Pickand and
It John Abbott l know them when see them
They live in Greencsmp township. Mr.. Jones
!; is forty-fiVe or fifty years old Mr.. Pickand is
1t a young man, and Mr.. Abbott Is about thirty
q M COurE- wh Ua mi nm Rf hf
e defendant. Some men, it Ia said, went to his
house for him, and he ran off.
Some people say Court is crazy r-r
II VIM. bradshaw sworn. | live In GreencamI
e township, Marion county. know of no orde
called Knights OF the Golden Circle. There Il
an order, but we do not call it that name.
got a paper from Jacob Honiker. / think th
one shown Is the one. He read it over to m
and told me to take il. He didn't say why b,
gave it to me. He asked ms If / belonged Il
ct the order, and said no. While had the pa
'k per l showed it to two persons and read it Il
ty them. don't know whether they considere
rs that this made them members or not. / KEEP
at the paper about two weeks and then gave
,ll back to Honiker. received it again abou
ty three weeks after that. got il last, O weel
ago last Thursday evening, aud gave 1t to Dick
re ersoD. Honiker gave me grips and signs b
= which might know how 10 distinguish brotf
er. The first method of proceeding was to as
the person il he was out last night. II he sal
" yes, to ask him what he saw. He should ar
=, ~ swer the North Star. i then was 10 ask whic
;S way it was travelling, and he would reply, "to
Nv ward Bethleham." Also the hat must be rails
10 ns ed three times with the right hand. told th
S Ss men to whom / read the paper what the sign
"a were. aar-ttp U9
~ ~ Cross examined. The answer 10 the sig
with the hat, was, to raise the hat with the To-
- hand. Honiker gave no name to the societ.
He said that the Democrats constituted it, an
IN its object was to prevent mob violence. ID
I'd didn't allude to any particular threats Of mo
an violence, but said there had been threats. Hor
a. iker did not say where he got the PAPER.
MI He asked me If belonged 10 the order, on
~ when said no, he said he would leave the pt
ma per with me mao ~Art-;- .ha siona I new,
~. my saw any bylaws, or heard of any meetings
n n. anything Of the kind. What l understood WI
~ ~, that the Democrats had organized the societ
W. took no oath nor signed my name. did N
n. hear OF or see any books or papers, nor heal
no. of any officers or other members, do n
,er know of any list Of members or record of pr
n ceedings in existence. / never heard of al
ev other object or pupose Of the organization thi
|. / the suppression of mob violence, oH
n, 3, Direct examination resumed. The object
a. had in going was to protect persons from nj
to violence. was willing to 60 with the orde
led but did not suppose it had any other object thi
,id what was explained BY the paper. 4
md To the Court. do not think ever gave q
nat signs to any individuals TO ascertain wheth
me- they were members or not
hat At this stage OF the proceedings, the Cou
NV adiourped until nine o'clock next morning.