The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1867-02-06
IErOm the Louisville tKy.) Journal
4 tennessee Vendetta.

give US the particulars Of a terri
bic feud that has been raging for
twenty years between two families
Of that country, and which was
brought toan end by the bloody
deaths of the sole surviving males
of the warning tribes, in thestreets
Of Elizebethtown, on the evening
Of the 9Th instant. The history Of
the affair, as detailed by the cor
respondent, is as follows
In the fall Of 1916 a family
named Johnstone removed from
the neighboring county Of Wau-
tauga, North Carolina, into Car
ter county, East Tennessee, and
settled down in the neighborhood
of another family named Rogers.
Johnstono, who appeared to be an
energetic, industrious man, lmme-
diately went to'work at clearing up
a little farm. In this lobor he was
assisted by two sons-both mere
lads. While the three were en-
gagged in erecting fencing about
their patch Of land, Rogers rode
up to where they were at work,
one day, and laid claim to a pile
of rails, about a dozen in number.
This claim Johnstone disputed,
and finally, on Rogers applying to
him the epithets of "liar" and
'thief," the North Carolinian pull
ed him from his horse: and admin
istered to him a severe chastise-
ment with his fists. Rodgers went
off vowing vengeance, and in the
course of.an hour returned to the
spot armed with Q rife, the con-
tents Of which, he discharged into
the body of Johnstonc, producing
fatal consequences. Rogers who
was man ofsome wealth for those
primitive times, and was possessed
of considerable influence amOnp
his rough, unlettered neighbors,
was acquitted of the charge Of
murder by an examining justice.
This was the beginning of the ter
rible vendetta that hasrun through
the years that followed, cutting
down the males Of the two families
in the prime Of their strength and
manhood. .....
The two Johnstone lads vowed
vengeance upon the murderer Of
their parent, and one Of them,
James, worked night and day
with but one object in view-to
accumulate the means to purchase
a rife. At length he became the
owner of one, and one Sabbath
morning, with his gun upon his
shoulder, he approached the house
of Rogers. The latter was sitting
upon his porch, and, as he saw
young Johnstone approaching,
probably divining his attention,
arose hastily and started TOWARD
the rack where his own gun was
suspended, But the. avenger Of
blood was upon his path, and ere
he could reach his weapon, he fell
upon the floor q corpse, his heart
pierced by the bullet of his foe.
Rogers left behind him e young
wife and three children, one Of
them was a. boy. Among the
rough backwoodsmen Of Carter
county young Johnstone's crime
was looked upon with satisfaction,
if not with favor-the Indian law
of retaliation being looked upon
by them as the very cream Of JUS
tiee. Afterwards Johnstone mar
ried, and as the years passed hy
he became surrounded by an in
teresting and numerous progeny.
The boy William Rogers in the
meantime, had almost reached
manhood's estate, when one morn
ing, without divulging his inten-
ton to his mother or sisters, he
left the house with his father rife
upon his shoulder, as if he were
going out to hunt, and in less
than an hour a griefstricken mo-
ther and children were weeping
over the corpse of a slain husband
and father. Young Rogers, in his
turn, had become an avenger, and
Thomas Johnstone fell beneath
his hand,
In time the memories Of these
murders died away, and those
who were children then grew up