Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-01-06
INRUMAN ASSASSINATION.
A Northern Fanatic Murders
o. SOutherIteF,
STATEMENT OF EYE-wITKEssEs.

As The radical organ of this city Civ
J. the following account Of a most inhl
man murder /:
A most lamentable and demoniae mu
e der occurred on the steamer T. L. NJ
Ie Gill, near New Madrid, Mo-, while &
her way to this city yesterday mornin
1t appears that an old man, named
g. Wilson, from Champaign count.
! Illinois, came aboard at Cairo With
a double barreled shot gun. During IL
Il evening a party of gentlemen had
game at cards, among whom was NJ
Brown, Z German, who had on a gra
d coat, whom the party nicknamed "Reb.
; The old man sat down beside them for
I time aud watched them. He afterwaTdi
in conversation with a young man, a
luded to this " Rsb,H and declared
; somewhat eXcitedly, that the cabin wa
! full Of rebels. There was no alteration
and all retired apparently without /
: feeling. Early the next morning the oil
man was heard praying most f%eryentl.
in his stateroOm, and il IS sal
for forgiveness for what he was about {
do. This was about six O'Clock, and tn
3 boat was at the wharfbOat at New Mad
rid, No. Mr.. Wilson was seen TO pas
out 81 The back door OF his state room
and up the stairway to the hurrlcan'
; deck, with his gun in his hand. Pres
emily Messrs. Brown aud LangfoTd, whj
} had been talking in the front cabin, nea
the bar, came out and stood by TIT
guards. The old gentleman standin!
over them Oh the hurricane deck, STOPPED
over and took deliberate aim, and firing
shot Mr.. LangfOrd, of Atlanta, Ga, IL
the head, killing him instantly. II /
thought that he intended to shoot Mr.
Brown, who happily saw the muzZle o
the gun and stepped back in season TO save
himself. The whole boat was at once
alarmed, and all in a state of wild excite
ment hurried hither aud you for safety.
The old man appeared ftenZied and de.
termined to shoot any body in his reach,
MIR. Brown borrowed 4 revolver and
went up, called upon him To surrender
and fired several shots at Wilson, and
wounded him slightly in the arm. he
afterward went up with the mate, and,
drawing their pistOls upon him. ordered
hirS to surrender. He would not sur
render, but would lay down his gun il
they would their pistols in order 10 make
a statement. While doing this, n OF
the mates from below succeeded in
reaching up and seiZing his weapon /;
]whereupOn the old man RAJ upon Mr..
Brown with threats. The latter then
sh0t him in the right side, and he fell,
probably, MORALLY wounded He and
the bod Of Mr.. Langford p ere placed in
the hafds Of the sheriff at New Madrid,
and tie McGill movFEOff.
WiHOn had l1Sf 2 son in the army
duri6g the warfeand was on his way 20
the home oEAznother son in ArkPnsas.
IAnearo%Oe that in b~rOoding yer the
evSS TAis son, he had become a monoz
lge5R e, and thought he was doing God
figSfce in killing the first rebel that be
Net. He had also, probably, become
frenzied with the idea that al upon the
McGill were rebels. The following state
ments of passengers will be read with
interest:
Statement Of Henry BrOWH.-I was in
conversation with a gentleman who told
me where he had been and where he
was going; we were standing on the
front guard he told me he had served
in the army of Virginia, and had been at
work in Illinois since the surrender, and
that he was on his way south TO Atlanta,
Ga, where his home is. He and | had
been standing there about ten minutes,
when a gun was fired, and he fell dead
beside me, when ONE Of the passengers
came out OF the door and asked, What
was the matter with the man?" l told
them some n had shot him. The
clerk asked me who did it? l
told him l didn't know; when
some of the passengers saw
the gun pointed down the second time,
and called u "look out - we all ran
into the cabin, aud about that time be
fired again, when some n remarked
about going Up stairs to see l remarked
to one Of the passengers, "if | had a
it'll v-,V-H1 80, -. ~ la a1 W. ma LTa
pistol when | got up on deck the man
was standing in front of the bell, load
ing his gun, when a man on the wharf
boat remarked to me, to shoot him ~
! called to the man 10 lay down his gun;
be refused doing so, and raised himself
up. when some Il on the wharf boat
called Outlook out, look out ~ l again
asked him to lay down his gun he said
he would not / fired at him three
times, when lie raised up and told me
" to 20 aud tell the officers of the boat to
come upi that they were all rebels on
the boat and wanted to kill him - l
went down and told the officers, and the
captain and clerk told US TO 20 up and
bring him down; when myself and an
other gentleman went up on deck and
asked him to give up his gun and come
he refused doing SO; we
started TOWARD him; he refused
10 give eup; he told US if
we would l9F down u arms, he would
lay down ID gun, and make a statement
to Us aboM where ne vas living and
where hehAs goingi said be had lived in
of ENted to live in a free
-n1eTI q !. D@1zNsgToes free, and
speNqgsffl aer ,tLe eompI&Sny e~opperheads
~ his CN&e uBLsR 4
az StlsAA the * nth, :
him FOR that. that GAEP 3'se
Arkansas where his SOM ~ hata
he had got on the wronm L-siec
crowd; that they wer-an- ~TGJe!s, ANTI
wanted to kill him; That be was trouble
all night. At that time some one took
his gun, and lie started atu-; we told him
to stand back aud give himself up, but
he refused, aud said he knew better; that
he knew what he had done, and started
Tor the other side Of the boat; / told the
gentlemen who was with me, TO go across
the boat and stop him; he did so. and
when the man discovered him, he came
back toward me; [ told him to stand
back and give up, but he refused, and
came running at me, when l fired my
pistol at him and wounded him in the
Statement Of r.. j. Aldridge.-I was
passenger on board the T. l.. McGill on
the morning Of the 4th inst. About :
o'clock, while standing in the forward
cabin, heard the report of a gun ; I ran
and saw a man lying down shot on the
forward guard, and saw the muzzie Of a
double Oarrelled gun pointed from the
upper deck down over the guard just
then the captain called for some one to-
up and take him Henry Brown I
asked for q pistol and volunteered TO take
him [; | loaned him my pistol he went
and saw Wilson behind the smoke
stack, apparently TelOading his qua
Brown then fired four shots at him, but
without hitting him Brown then came
down and got his own pistol Brown
and myself then went up Wilson had
his gun and was standing in shooting p0-
sition we both drew L pistols on him
aud called on him to surrender he re-
fused to do 50, but said if we would
lay down our pistols he would lay down
his gun we laid down our pistols
and he laid down his gun, stand
ing Oyer it.. We then asked him
to 90 down stairs with us he
refused to do SO, but said he wanted
to talk to Us lie said he was a union
man and that he lived in Champaign
county, Ill; just at that moment the
mate reached up yer the bADisters and
seized the gun he then ran wish great
violence toward Brown, saying that he
would not be taken Brown then fired
him, the shot taking effect in the
right arm and side, when he fell, saying,
u am a dead man " just then the pilot
came to him, when he asked the pilot if
he hurt that rebel he shot; the pilot an
swered him, you have killed the man,
but that the man he had killed was a
union man l then left the scene.
Statement Of James ". D1tidsOH-I
was present when the above CONVERSE
ton took place between the pilot and A.
G. Wilson, and coucur in the above
statement, and in addition he said he
was sorry he had killed a union man,
and exclaimed, "Oh, my God kill me
shoot my brains OUT"
Statement Of Paris WorthiRgtOH: I
am texas tender On board the steamer 7.
L. McGill: saw A. G.. Wilson come out
the back door Of his staterOOm with a
double barrel shot gun, and without a
coat and in his stocking feet. He went
10 the railing and looked over then,
going forward to the steps forward of
the pantry, he went up OF the hurricane
deck, and, going to the forward part of
lhe boat. he again looked Over the rail-
ing and fired st some one below. He
then stepped back, bat again went and
looked over the railing aud pointed his
$500 IT, - A. Z