Sugar planter. [volume] (West Baton Rouge [i.e. Port Allen, West Baton Rouge Parish, La.]) 1856-1925, 1866-09-15
. CONVICT RETURNED TO PRISON.

A little more than two months since, q
man calling himself John Thompson was
arrested in this parish under circamstan-
ces which induced the belief that be was
an escaped convict, be having had a heavy
iron shackle removed from one of his legs
the night previous by some freedmen up
on an adjoining plantation. He~stootly
denied, at the time of his arrest, that he
was the person, and complained bitterly
of being an injured and persecutcd man
whose word could not be taken in prefer
ence to that of a negro. He told a very
plausible story as to his presence in the
parish /; but the testimony was too strong
against him and be was committed to Jail
until it could be ascertained who and
what he was.
On communicating the facts, with a full
description Of his person, to the Chief Of
Police in New Orleans, be was identified
as a man who had escaped from the Mis-
souri, penitentiary some months previous,
where he had been sent for ten years for
highway robbery. While serving out his
time, he contrived to escape by smashing
in the head Of n Of the keepers with
an iron bar and then made the best use
of leg bail. Hc found his way to New
Orleans, and, while there, was arrested
as a vagrant and sent to the workhouse.,
During his s%ojourn in that establishments
he conided to a fellow-prisoner the full
particulars Of his history, which were
promptly reported to the Chief of Police
who Immediately communicated with the
Governor of Missouri upon the subject.
The result was a requisition upon Gov.
Well for his person and a reward of five
hundred dollars for his capture. Tie
officer sent down for his conveyance back
to the pen~itentiary, had him heavily iron
ed and then removed him to a steamer
for the trip up. When nearly opposite
Baton Rouge, he contr;ved in some way
to break the chain which confined him,
and jumped overheard. It is probable he
concealed himself in tie bushes along the
river bank until dark, when he visited
the plantation referred to, and by aninge-
NOUS story Of his being an escaped Union
man from>the clutches of the rebels who
were going to hang him, induced the
supplemented freedmen to assist him in
removing the only iron he then had on.
Longing about the ferry-landing next
day, one of the freedmen, not exactly ad-
miring the appearance of things, report
ed what had occurred the night previous
to which he was a witness-and Con-
stable Gibson, who Glanced to be present,
promptly arrested him. The examination
of the several witnesses resulted as be-
fore stated. g4 8Hk #5.JEJ
Sometime elapsed before communica-
ton was had with the Governor of Mis-
Isouri in reference to the matter, and Mr..
Thompson became SO upruly in prison
that the jailor was compelled to iron him
to the floor, he having threatened the life
OF nearly every one about the building.
An attempt was being made for his release
upon a writ Of habeas corpus, and the
day appointed for the examination, when
a dispatch was received from the Warden
of the penitentiary at Jefferson City, NO..
stating the facts of Thompson's escape
from there, and giving his real name as
O'Br;en, alias Clancy, and to detain him
until he could be sent for. This settled
the habeas corpus question, and on Fri
day evening Of last week, two officers al.
rived at Baton Rouge with the necessary |
papers to take charge of him. The iden.
tification was immediate and complete. 1
Heavily ironed, and strictly guarded, he
nee more for his destination on
the steamer Lizzie Gill Us Lua s1yatosss,a bal
The 0ficara rennrfnd h;,mn 80 49, x6GGI