Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1862-07-17
TWENTY MONTHS .EXPERIEyCE
AMONG THE REBELS.
Statement of AT
lFromtheN v t3e,ald /

..s From them Y Hesald
We are indebted .sr tie flioviay interesting
turned from South Csrolins, that most rsbid Of
all the States In Soresss, where ne was tr1pris-
OHed on account Of his supposed Union prcclivi-
tsl and from which be succeedsd In efscting
his escapea " week, since kir. Wilson m q
son of ex Alderman Wilson, of Brooklyn- gen
tisman who 10 widely esteemed and fespecte
not only In our sister city, but wherever be 10
Known. MI. Wilson, Jr,, ~. nished our reporter
with al eXceeclnQly Interesting account OF his
VISIT to, and compulsory stay In. the Aforesaid
State OF South Carolina
We present, In the following statement, an al
most rsTbd,in re2o,t ot the scenes, iacidents and
Occurrences as related BY him TO our reporter: :
In the latter part OF October, 1900, 1 left New
YORK, he SAYS, for Georgetown, 8. c., with the
view OF entering into the dry goods business.
The war feeling high at the tinpe, bat stih Il
Syas hoped that the diticultIes between the con-
tending sections would soon reach peaceabie
solution. NV Appearance there was losked upon
with ruspicion sIn no oae called upon me or
sud ANYTHING that could constFue into an init
NATION that I should take my departure Soon
after, however, there were Indications that my
presence not at all desirable, and, a!thoug
the authorities took apparent notice Of me, the
people INDUCED in insinu It ons of rather un-
pleasant character. IL 10 true, however, atthere
were no threats ~ that time. Despite ths ed-
verse circumstances, and of he evident i'll cling
entertained towards me, | m,nagsd to get along
petty well till the fall OF Pot RoYsl and IL
cupttion a Beaufort by our troops. After this
event all Northerpers became objects OF suspicion,
and attention WIS especially directed towards
myself. II YVES reported that was rejoicing In
the Union victory, and II was also bruited ab@ut
that had, In common with other UniOnists, ex-
dressed INV qualification at hose events
About four p m on the 10th of November
last, wss surprised By the appearance Of an
store, healed by the ShesiR Of the district, En
Waterman, Jr. A large crowd collected in front
o. the building, and, "a II may be supposed, the
greatest excitensnt prevailed; Mr.. Waterman
81 ~aGd fNrsx 81 and ,1A
ly 20 the following purPort:-
Il Hr wis n in 20
yes" replied; that is my name
yourself under arrest "
"By what authority" asked, edo you arrest
me, and on waat charged"
The eharge,n he replied, SIS a very serious
cRe, and you viii ascertain 1t soon enough ~
''Wbers 10 your warrant 1 dem inded; cor
writf ] must sre tc 7se Gefore can consider my
seil under arrest -
The authority on which you are arrested Is
that oi "a citizsns OF Georgetown district who
are the Eesp5nslhle parties In the matter -
GEis ended the cohveIsstio7, and without
fCTtbe; ceremony 1 was marched of 20 JAIL,
which served me a residencs for much longer
tine than wa 'sirable Here I was ccnhnsd
with ngEoer oi 'ther Union prison "a, consist
ing mainly of tncse who had escaped from the
steamer OsccOla, which ran ashore on ths south
Carolina COS, some short tine ego. go. s...-
The ext moraiag ] wrote to the Maynr Of the
town, demandn thecsrse OF my arrest and In
q G.
that he was extFern siy sorry that had got In %
such pJSiaCn, bu hat, people are Judged by
the company thsy k5-p, | hat only myself 70
thank for IL. This remauk | was aware had ref
efence TO my ecq Iaintance with Unioa msn-all
OF whom, may here mention, had managed To
eject thsiT escape bsforp tasy were subjected TO
TIE same summary treatment to which I was
obliged TO submit IL will however - be add "A
see what can b. done 10 tae vyay Of getting YOU
a hearing Z" The day wss waited upon py
committee OF I've planters, who had bsen se.
lect-d from amo S the most iaf f1eatial nen in
the district. I was not examined at all In nv
own behalf, but simply for the pur pose Of ascer-
tanning the extent Of the Union feeling in the
district, and 70 use my testimony In the crimina-
tl0a OF others
For the disclosures which was expected TO
make the induCemsni was held out that, by CON-
Pi'ance with their demand / would obtain my
freedom. REPEATED and insisted upon hearing
bad been arrested. Bot it was of no avail; and
AFTER being kept before this ommlttee for nearly
ta'ee holr', during which they had got ao!ut as
m1ch ibformation as would cover asout half a
pag OF fJoiscap, was Temsnded Ito prison
was tod, however, that II kept perfectly O uIst
should probably be released In few DAYS |
waited fOr nearly a week afterwards, ha vim ?
dun IA that time written frequently, asking for q
hesr.ngi but all ny communication, were treated
with silent contempt Ithen applied TO the Hon
James l.. Petigrew. well known LAWYER of
Charleston, asking him TO procure writ of
hsoeas corpus In my case. Ny application was
answered and was released 80
Within few days Of my release was visited
oV Or. CharieS Williams, one Of the prominent
citizens Of Georgetown, who said that II / drew
up petition he would get some OF the most In
1uentid! men OF the place to sign It This DR..
Williams 10 surgeon la the Confederate army
and raoid secessloniat In compliance Will
his suggestion l made out the petition and
when signed II was :esented to the Mayor, u pon
which obtained a conditional release The
terms OF ny discharge Were such that was Ii
able 10 erres. at sny moment. I remained In
Georgetown some days SITE; bat finding that /
was In psrsonal danger | applied for pefmission
% 90 further into the interior Having been al
lowed 70 do SO, went 10 Conwayboro', in the
same State but here I was, IL possible, still
worse on, and was not long In discovering that
got Into even worse place than 6eorg clown
] met with still greater persecution here. and /
had been there but few dsys when I was
ooiiged 10 apply 10 the sheriff fof prt lection In
Iact' 50 serious were the threats made az ainst
my life that my house had 10 be guarded by an
armed force, and l could not even Iraye nv
room with safety. So closely did they watch
me that at nlgnt they stationed men around the
mouse, who lay In wait to rounce upon me
should ! venture out Of doors They were I'm
hopes OF catching me while on 4 visit TO some Of
my friends. was also In the constant receipt
OF letters threatening that IL did not leave
with In a certain period the penalty would be
death. BY the advice Of friends took no notice
OF these communications, but remained where
was Until the feeling became 80 strong and the
TO be in light :. 80,
A day or two after this there were rumors tina,
RdHoods were coming up the w accamaw river
and the militia Were ordered out to fell trees a
an obstruction. was notified by the colonel OF
tue regiment TO appear In front OF the place where
TIE regiment bad been ordered to muster - II his
Was oonged TO do, as q proper regurd for nv
own safety. When made my appearances the
remarks OF the pea pie were certainty not or snch
aeharacter ss TO convey assurances'that my cam.
Planee With the order had insured my safety
Tney told me that they had me now "any way;',
that there was no sheriff now to interfere and
that they "would attend to my cesen-a crafty.
Ing ptece Of Intelligence TO 4 man In my sosirioa
Some demonstrations Of = rather violent chsrsc.
tsr having been made, fed for refuge into the
nearest house They then surrounded the house
expressing thsir liberalization 70 tear II down
II | were not produced immediately. As did
not want TO give the gentleman Of the house
WHO hsd been very Kind % me, any trouble,
contr:vsd 10 make nv escape by the rear and
nsd through cofnne.d 70 my own Residences
IN the meantime my name was called st the
muster, ana I We, moi prsseHts The colonel said
THAI l should be innedietsiy court martfalled
and visited With TIE fuu penalties Of the law
Tas seemed 70 settle my case. kiy non appear
eDee uader the elrcumstanoes Afforded anothe,
pretext TO TIE more violent amoHs Ine people for
carrying out their threats Of vcngeaoceF 81
Oa Sunday kept myself hidden Ia my own
house all day, and on Monday morning I lad .
report cfrrulsfSd hat A hsd