Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1868-10-08
The Georgia Hassacre--The Republicans
Ambushed and Assassinated.

From the Tribune Special Correspondence. -
ALBANY, Ga, Sept. 20. 1868.
| hasten to lay~oefore your readers an
account of the recent important events
+ in this section. On the 18th inst, Capt.
! William Z. Pierce, Kentuckian by birth,
u gallant officer OF the Union army dur
/ ing the late war, staunch Republican.
{ and the reguiar nominee of the Repub-
I licans of this Il lId) Congressional district;
4 for the United States Congress, proceed
! ell to Americus, Sumter county, "a town
/ but few miles from Andersonville, for
/ the purpose of making his first speech
/ in The canvass of his district. He was
accompanied by Mr.. John Murphy, a
native of Indiana, and now citizen and
/ the sheriff elect of this county, elected
/ by Republican majority of about 700 in
a poll of about 100. Reaching .Ameri-
! Gus, they registered their names at the
/ hotel Five minutes thereafter they
/ were informed by the proprietor that his
! 6oarders insisted upon his tNrling these
/ gentlemen out OF the house. They were
I Radicals, they must leave, or he could
/ not be landlord of theirs. H.F
/ The gentlemen replied, Erase our
names from your books.u Shortly after
! this they addressed the colored Repub-
/ licans, amid the mutterings and curses
/ of. the white citizens, who were in town
! in force. After speaking, they went, by
J invitation, to the house OF II. K. Mccoy,
Republican and associate Chief-J ustice
of the State. While there the colored
Republicans attempted to march through
the public square with drums and fife,
. though alaaImed. They were ordered by
the Judge of the Superior Court in ses-
/ sion, to stop the noise, meaning that of
! the drum and file. Some colored man,
not hearing the order of the Judge, nor
comprehending Il cause of the cessa-
ton of the music, called out 'sgo on with
the music,n whereupon the sOhites dretU
their pistols, shot guns, bniUes, etc., and
drove the cOlOred men from the square
Messrs Pierce and Murphy. knowing
nothing of this, approached the public
square, paying little heed to the warn
ings of the colored people who told them
that the whites had dsworn to kill them"
|, The Mayor addressing the mob was
informed by angry men that the blacks
should not be harmed, 6Wt the '.d--d
aUhite Scot1lolreIs'' shall die. As Messrs.
Pierce and Murphy neared the square an
/ old white man said, more to himself than
to either of these gentlemen, "God d-n
non, Vou'N neUer Ieuue that square dtiUe."
rhev then turned, and by q circuitous
route reached the office of Mr.. w. c.
Morrill,, Agent Of the Freedmen's Bureau,
where they took refuge. They remained
concealed thus until after ,siglttfdN, when
lir. Morrill, sent his servant with them
through the fields to point outside the
town where he met them with a wagon,
in which they escaped into Lee county,
and thence 70 this place. Returning
over the road upon which he bad taken
out the wagons, Mr.. Morrill, found 1t
2,icketed 6y half dozen armed men,
THESE men inquired of colored men who
passed over the road after Mr.. Morrill, for
two men, giring careful description Of
Wsssts. Pierce and Mnphy. ia'i ~
That night every road leading from
Anericus, in any direction, apds picketed
On armed bodies of tohite men Similar
bodies Of men kept watch over houses
where the two gentlemen were supposed
70 be concealed. None OF these peoptc
made an secret Of their intentions of
ni,gderIisg Zlessrs. Pierce and Murphy.
Yesterday, the 10Th inst, Mr.. Pierce,
ACCOMPANIED by Mr.. Murphy, the Rev.
Il. 4. Putney, Philip Janin "a colored
mau. recently a member of the Georgia
Legislature, but who Was expelled on
account of his color), and about seventy
five ,loIored men approached the town of
Camilla, Mitchell County, where Messrs.
Pierce, Murphy, and Jariin were to- adj
dress the colored Republicans. -Four
miles from Camilla'they were met by q
white man named James Johns, who at
first stated that he was in search of a