The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1867-01-25

.lA b.ss5 30 sgriH.N NO. 81. ]
" III llnld ae1z1la aaalyiatl kLL
and in the course Of an hour returned !
TO the spot armed with rife, tho con-
tents Of which he discharged into the
body. Of Johnstoner producing fatal con
ssquepees Rogers, wholwasa man Of
some wealth for those primitive times,
and was possessed Of conslderabIe in
fluence among his rough, uplsttered
neighboyR was acquitted Of. the charge
Of murder-by sh examining. Justice
This was the beginning of the terrible
.Esndetta that has run through rthe
years tbatloIlOwcd, cutting down the
males oftho two finiliss in the pride
of their strength and manhood n
The two Jobnstone lads vowed yenz
gennce upon the murderer Of their pa
rent, and one Of them, James, worked
hight aid aay, yith but one object in
tview-to accumulate. the means to
fbdfShaas 4 ride. 44t1chgth,, he Became
The owner of one, and one Sabbath
morning, with his gun upon his shopl.
der, he approached the house of Rogers.
The latter was sitting upon his poarch,
and as he saw young JohnstonO ap-
preaching, probably divining his in
tOntion, arose hastily and started to-
ware the rack whore his own gun was
suspended. But tho avengor Of blood
was upon his path, and ere ho could
reach his weapon he fellupon the floor
a corpse his heart pierced by the
bullet ofhis foe. Rogers left behind
him a wife and three children-one Of
whom was a boy. Among tho rough
backwoodsmen Of Carter County,
young Johnstone's crime WAS looked
upon with satisfaction, If not favor
the Indian law Of retaliation being
looked upon by them as thevery cream
fJustice, Atterward Johnstone mar.
ried, and as the years passed by he
became surrounded by an interesting
and numerous progeny
The boy William Rogers, in the
meantime, had almost reached man.
hoods estate, When one morning, with
out diyulging his intentions to hi,
mothers or sisters, he left Ihe hous,
with his fathers rife upon bis shoul
der, as ifhc were going out to hunt
I and,in less than an hour a grief.strick
7 Een mother and children wore weeping
ever tbscorpseofA husband and father
4 YouDg Rogers, in his turn, had beooni
: an aVengerj and James Johnstone fel
beneath his hand. 'gri roH 20 yd
: In time the memory of these thre
murders died away, and those VIII,
were children then had grown to b
5 men and women. William Rogers hat
. taken to himselfa wife, and becom
tive head ofia growing family. On
morning he rode into Elizabethtowr
: and as he did not return that night
circumstance that had never occurret
before-hls wife became very uneasy
9 and in the morning induced her broth
= err to start to town in search of he
), missing. husband About three mIle
: from the house he came upon the bod
of his brother-in. law, lying in the roa
stiff and cold in death His brain ha
been pierced by. srile ball Althoug
/, his murderer was never discovered, y,
,s the community quietly accepted til
It belief that Henry Johnstons, son
=. James, who was slain by Rogers, ws
ID the perpshAtor of the deed. Son
10 years afterward, IN a drunken momen
b in Ehzabethtown, this young man a
10 plSnowledged he had slain Rogers, an
n, gave az. his reason that the latter ha
of killed his father. Johustone was
q. young man, and few months befoi
the murder, had been married to
n young girl in the neighborhood.. laa
~ Again the chart oftime was uprole
a, and at least ten years had been sdd'
e, tothe'Past when young lad, son
ID the murdered Rc gers, engaged in 8
- alteration in the yard of the eour
n house, at Elizabethtown, with Joh,
Iy stono. who was then middle.ag'
le man, and Inflicted such wounds up'
ip him with a knife that he died on Il
lit following morning. 1'n ~