Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1866-07-26
COpperhead Atrocities.

The Bourbon correspondent OF the Democrat
in communication to that paper last week, racks
his feeble brain with attempt to the
siatesmanke letter of Schuyler Colfax to the
Ws.tville eonye ation and proceeds TO relate some
circumstances which transprcd in this and adjacent
counties during the war, the responsibility OF which
he tries to fasten upon Mr.. Coiiax and the Repub-
iican party. We are ready to admit that mob law
can never be made 10 answer any good purpose.
bat in periods of great cxcitemens. in time of
civil war; the boundaries Of the law will sometimes
be oversteppsd. however much such result may
be deplored. Our Representative always counsel
ed the use Of legal means. bet sometimes his ex-
ample and counsel could not prevent condgn pun
ishmsnt. administered BY Judge Lynch, most al
ways under great prorocation, overtaking blatant
traitors.
II VS. certainly hard thing fof loyal men to
bear, and it not human nature TO tamcly listen
TO the utterances Ct loud mouthed traitor. and
read the iulminatons of disoyal press. while the
country was Keeling under tho blows being given
TO il By rebels in arms II is we'll known that this
county, during the war, the rendezvous of
sympathizsrs with treason, and we all recollec,
wildly the time when an expression Of loyalty 10
the flag would call down maledictions and threats
Of personal violence upon the head OF .s uttsrcr.-
Copperhead bulies paraded our streets, displaying
upon their persons emblems Of disloyalty, and bel
lowing the praises fthe chief OF the rebellion,
jeff Davis himself. Returned soldiers were as
saulted upon the slightest provocation by these
ruffsns, and, If one was not enough, another as
sisted in mercilessiy beating him for no other Of
fence than that Of being tue to his country
Union men were everywhere threatened in their
persons and property. and grain stacks, barns and
outhouses were fred in a manner that left no other
conclusion than that the injury had been incittd 10y
political hatred. Between two hundred and four
hundred men who were drafted from thi. county
never reported, and there is doubt that some of
them were harbored by their Copperhead neighbors
while another portion found refuge in Canada
Deserters we're promised protection and invited to
come here. and they did come. and when officers
were sent to arrest them they were resisted, as in
West township.
These manifest evidences of a rebellious spirit
were not confined to obscure individuals alone
They were the outcrcppings ola regular organiza-
ton, which existed all over the State but was more
particularly vigorous in Marshall county. The
leaders Of the Democratic party its nstitutors,
and the very came men who now are most promi
nent in Copperhead meetings were the ringleaders
of the secret conspiracy to which We refer. Ifa
certain saloon that stood Oh the west side Of Mich
gan street could talk, it would tell some strange
stories Of Democratic contempt for law and order,
and their protested readiness to wade knee deep in
abolition blood rather than obey the voice of
Uncle Samuel when he should call them to deeds OF
martial renown. II would say that there the lead
ers Of Marshall county Copperheads were won't to
assemble. after decent folks were in bed, and de-
wise plans for resisting the draft. II would tell Of
certain occasion when we'll known attorney
mounted the counter of that rum hole and, with a
revolver in one hand and bowie knife in the 9th
er,caIed upon his dupes to follow him in the work
or esrnag &c and bloodshed, and it only the bold
front assumed by the Union men Of this locality.
and the knowledge that they were prepared to
meet force with force, that deferred the Democrat
&c leaders from raising the standard of revolt. The
Office Of the REPUBLICAN repeatedly threatened.
and had allowed ourself to be inundated there
is no doubt but that il would have been destroyed
The cowardly msereants, who professed their read
full well that least half dozen Of Their number
would have bitten the dust before they had accom-
pshed much. Protesting to be afraid of violence
TO their own persons, nearly all Of the Copperheads
ofthis county provided themselves with arms,
which they took no trouble to conceal. They even
rent so far as to form military company. which
enbraeed among its members individuals who
xouldnow like to deny their connection with the
organization. and drilled in the Court House
square They a nice set offclIows to complain
of the manner in which they we're treated. In any
other country a loas rope and short shrift would
soaa have PIT al end to tcis plottings against the
government.
The efforts Of the leaders Of the Democratic par
y to incite rebellion In the North we're not con-
fined to Marshall County alone. Tie history of
every locality where they were numerous is repete
with circumstances that 60 TO show that they we're
ectuated by common motives and we're working up
on q common plan. They constantly appealed to
the worst passions and lowest preju Ices Of their