Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-07-30
THE MURDER.
A Card from Mr.. Superintendent
Phillips.
ELMwooD CEMETERY OFFICE,
IL % 1870 I

Editors Appeal NOW tlldt TIC pun
man who was shot at ElmWOod Gem
etery last Sunday is in his grave, and
the excitement in some measure has
subsidized, and as my name has been so
prominently brought before the public
in the affair, 1 feel it my duty to lay a
correct statement before the public.
When / sent the hastily written cor
rections to your article of Monday
morning, 1 did not intend it as a card,
neither did l expect my signature
would be at the bottom of the piece
published on Tuesday morning. Now
for a full report, condensed in as short
a space as / can, emitting as much as
possible what has already been pub
lished. (Maley can prove all l write,
as he was present from the first till the
shot was ired.) l should not have
asked this Seaver to fill the grave,
knowing he was always surly, though
an erceUent ~GCOrkBldH; but as 4 walked
up the avenue to his house l thought
surely he will not object to the filling
of a grave-only a few minutes work.
I had, to my knOlciedge, but Seaver,
Maley and a black man on the ground,
and it takes three or four men to fill a
grave. walked to the door. Seaver
and Maley were sitting in their SHIRT
SLEEVES at an open window with their
HATS of, talking. | said: Maley
and Seaver Tor Seaver and Maley), l
! want you to fill upagrave at O'Clock"
Maley said "All right, sir" Seaver
said 81 can't do it; l have. to go e a
friend" l at once said 1" If you can't
| stay and fill it up, l will stop a day
out of your months wages" He then
said he never was hired to work Sun
DAYS. l said every man on the place
Knows that when he was called on to
work on Sunday it was expected he
would do it. (This man neUer refused to
arOrk Sunday 6efOre.) He then said
| that he had worked on Sundays, and
l got the pay from the company for
ldfm and put it in my own pocket.
This made me mad, and Isaid, raising
my hand, You shall leave this house
tomorrow morning, sir" l immedi-
ately walked to the bridge next the
lake which we are constructing, Maley
beside me, and were going to the black
mans house to get him to dig the
grave. Just as We had got over the
bridge we heard some one calling.
We both turned round and looked
| back. Seaver shouted wait q min
ute; l have something to say to YOU
He now had on a long LINEN BUSTER
| and a black slOuched hat. He ran in
a swinging gait, looking towards the
ground, and did not raise his head
until he came within a yard of me.
l thought he was going to town and
wanted to say something, little dream
ing he would strike me. Suddenly
he doubled up his fists and made to
strike me in the face, still facing him.
| Neither Maley nor l were armed; we
| did not even have stick in our hands.
| MaIey at once jumped in between us.
/ an a nervous, ercitGbte man, But No
| COWARD. The suddenness of the thing
! coafOunded me, and l looked on for
four or five minutes to the tumbling,
when, if wanted, l could have beenat
the other end of the Cemetery before
ne shook off Maley the third time. l
saw from the ~TUSSELING THAT HE DID
NOT WANT TO HURT MALEY IN THE
LEAST; he only 1rGRted 10 get him OFT
| of the tcdY 10 get at me saw at last
Maley getting tired, and Seaver get
ting savage, then my thoughts got a
little collected and | looked around.
| / saw then two men with white linen
| coats Il wish / knew their names, as
| they must have seen it all) on the hill
up towards the car stable. / shouted
and ran towards them through our
nursery ground. 1t must have been
that shout the poor man that was
killed heard. He, / suspect, waslying
on his bed, which l knew he had a
habit of doing Sundays when he was
home. The men on the hill stood Still
looking towards me. The first thing
| knew was the shot behind me. This
young man Dougherty must have run
! down, as is already reported. Seaver
never could have caught me, had
| DougheFty not run down, as at the
time of the shot | had thirty yards
| start of him, and could beat him run
ming; but think in case D~ougherty
had not come down, when he found
me out of his reach, he being so wild
with rage, might have turned back
and shot Aaley for interfering. 1t is
whispered around ! acted a cowardly
part. What could / do, without even
a stick in my hand, or time to get one?
| But no man that Tired iR the county
| IiDDerdTy, Ireland, 1Chich / did for
| tgeptysthree gears, IS likely to be q cO3C-
| ard. When I got to the statiOn-house
the officer said WHY DID 1 NOT SHOOT
KIM DOWN WITH A SHOTGUN? My
shotgun was a quarter of a mile away
| at my house. In conclusion, concern
ing the escape of the assassin, ! have
a few words to say. When the crowd
came up, ! only saw n man with a
pistol. q forgot to say Sewers pls-
tOl must have been very small, as /
never saw it. That is the FIRST pistot ne
hdd.) The crowd ran well in the open
ground over to Seaver's house, while
/ was attending to D%ougherty, They
saw the woman; they did not k10lC she
acas SeaUer's WUe. They asked her
which way he ran? She said out the
! north gate, A boy working for me
then came Up and told the man who
/ carried the pistol, he saw Seaver run
ming from the lake THAT is to b0) I'D
through Chapel Hill. This man never
| stirred, neither did any OF the others.
| l did not blame them, as ] would not
have followed him there unless ! had
a shotgun with buckshOt, the ever
greens were so thick. When ] saw
the confusion l ordered my horse. The
remainder was published in Tuesdays
paper. A word now about the police.
When ] got to the station house, the
officer who jumped in the buggy said
Why did you not take a d9hble bar
relied Shot gun and shoot him dOwn?'
(This letter lets you know my gun
was a quarter Of a mile away The
police should have got saddle horses
instead OF buggies, Is it likely Seaver
would keepthe public roads, and could
they cross lots with buggies? The
balance of the police went out on the
HeradldO ears. We all knO1v hOlc fast
Mey trarel. No uOader the man eS-
ea0edy Seaver fold one Of my 1len
that with this siX-baTreled navy re-
volver which he carried of, he could
take any man down at one hundred
yards. Maley acted thepart Off brave
man, and / would have been killed at
the bridge but for him. / am sorry to
be obliged to bring this matter before
the public again, and thanking you
for the space in your paper,
lam, very respectfully,
SAM'L W. PHILLIPS,
Superintendent of Elmwood Cemetery.
NINETEENTH CENTURY, a Southern
monthly published in Charleston, S.
c., Cooley. Peterson. DemOreSt, Les