The Lincoln County herald., 1866-03-30
Cndition Of Ken,ueky \ Tecn.s..c

C0ndttt0n OF ken'Uck Y IrGTS."".
Washington, March sl9, ls66.-Ths
following report Of Mr.. Bonested, Special
inspector Of the fcsdmsn's bureau for the
states.of Kentucky and Tennessee, was
transmitted to Congress to day BY Gen.
eral Howard. .
To Major General o. o. Howard, Com.
missioner Of the Bureau Of Refugees,
Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, War
Department, Washington, D. U.
General: In compliance with tho in
structions received from the Department,
directing me to proceed to the city Of
Lexington, Ky. to examine into the con.
dition Of the freedmen there, I have the
homer to report that Visited Lexington
and vicinity. and prosecuted my iuvssti.
cation for the period Of about one month,
adopting tie following method: In oil
cases Of extreme cruelty to the freedmen
I have relied upon the best and most re.
liable evidence I could procure, taken
1rder oath. In regard to minor aots Of
crue.:y es,aer to persons or property, and
in reference the economical, social moe!
coalition Of the race, I b.ve been con .
trolled By persons, observation, aided BY
information Teee:TcA from intelligent and
twor;hy aouyts..
From the deposi;.oas .a.en hy me, and
herewith transmitted, bavc compiled d
the facts 10 the more cxlrems cases Of
cruelty and outrage for reference, and
make the Sane part .al portion Of my
report.
An examination If the sworn evidence,
or the abstracts made theretrom, will re.
veal to you sixty cases OF ontrago in q
limited district and period, unparalleled
in their a,r ,city and ness, cruel
ties for which, in po Instance as developed
BY tho testimony, is there the least shad.
ow ofexcuss or pal!iatiun.
You will observe that I have been able
IN mos. Instances 10 give you the names
Of the injured, in many the names Of the
offenders, with dates and localities.
/ have classified these outrages as fol.
lcws.
Twenty thrse cases ofmost severe and
iuhuTa beating g. men; tour Officiating
snd too.a:. I'VE OF roboing and shoot.
ing; three Of .rh,:ns; Ave men shot and
killed Two she: AMI woun ied; four beat.
en TO dss.a ere beatsa and roasted
;.rss veu:a ,ss.ul.sd sad ravished; four
-erec ess:-o, :rc women tied up and
vt:pcei --:,. :a:e.sib,s, two gen and
ih.is :iI..;s. .si:cI aol driven from
thar cars* sci .hsi- property des:-oysd
;"' :S-l,E :. {: ,u,airs y: dwellings and
a. :: The ;rri i.s. shot.
or .s.. .:,ns twelve -an we're Ia.
- so.t:s-s, aai three women tie wives
ef nion soldiers
And yet regret to say that these ca.
ses !constitate hut q portion Of the casa.
logue Of crueltie,, l heard Of quite q
number Of additional cases, but aid not
succeed in obtaining the proof, for want
Of ftimeand proper facilities White meu.
however friendly I, the freedmen, dislike
to make depositions in these cases for
fear Of personal violence The same rea
son influences the black-he 10 fearful.
tinid and trembling
He knows thst since be has been 4
freedman he has no. up to thi. time, had
the protection Of either the Federal or
state authorities, that there is no way to
enforce his rights or redress his wrongs.
The civil authorities will give him Nc re
lief and this department, up TO this wri.
ting, has been power!ess.
VI the oSrnse, reported there has been
hut one arres, ty the civil authorities.
and that was c4e o. murder. the mur
derer was released ou light bail and is
HOW q; large, Nc eaor. having been made
to bring him 20 trial.
The arm Ct tie evil law has, however,
tecu brought no re;uisitlon quite re-
Gently, 10 release and protect offenders.
On the nigh, Of the 18th Of February.
1856, gang u: white men. residents Of
Ba:: county, entered tn, house u Joseph
Ra.,s -. person vino ha! been a ireedau
for several ye,vs-humb.e auu incIt1s.ys
and :.uch respected. the owner Of forty
sc,t: OF land, and beat and horribly man
sl'i him, Lis in'es.ines rro:rudipg
Us fingered two days in agony aud died.
4. the came time they Sc: upon 40 old
man named Thscker. who was at the
mouse ofBslls, beating him for soue time,
putting cut an eye and tnen very delib-
erately placing him over the Ere, roasting
him frs: upon one side then upon the
other Upon the same night, and q. is
presumed, BY q portion Of the same gang
an attack was made upon the house Of
Pete Burns, about four miles from the
residence Of Balls Burns was . most
exemplary man, aud 3 preacher of the
Gospel" They robbed him OF hls bacon,
money and clothing, shot him in the head
severely woundiog him, and there in his
presence ravished his wife. Two other
colorsd persons Who we're At the house Of
Burns at the tine were severely beaten,
and ona of than shof in TIA had IT,