Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-03-23
A FENrREss COUNTY TnAGEDx
Slaughter of n Ighe1e FamiIy-COn-
vkcti0B of the Murderer

Slaughter of n Ehele FamiIy-Con-
vtction OF the Murderer
| JAMEsTowE, Tenn, Feb. %, 1901
have been attending court the past week
This sitting attracted the greater attendance
and interest from the fact that three per-
sons were upon trial for murder.
You viii probably recollect that something
more than year ago . letter from the
judge spoke of an atrocious murder. COM
mitted but few miles from here. The cir
oums.anees, as have gathered them from
the testimony before the court, were these:
The Galloway family, consisting Of an
old lady, Mrs. Lucy Galloway, her daugh-
ter Kate, and three young grandchildren.
James, Willy B., and an infant but thirty
five days old, lived in a somewhat isolated
locality, off from the road. There were no
men in the family, the husband of Kate
having died during or shortly after the close
of the war. On the morning of the 10th
Of November, 1868, an old man, VIM.
Brown, called at the. house of the Gallo
ways, and discovered the old lady, Kate.
and the two boys on the floor, which was
strewn with the marks Of butchery and vio-
lence. The neighbors were summoned.
It was found that the old lady, Kate and The
boy Willy B., four years Of age, were dead.
Jimmy, sig years old, was insensible.
though yet alive The infant lay on the
bed, crying piteously. From the appear
ance of the bodies it was concluded that
they had been murdered the day previous.
An axe was lying on the floor covered with
blood. An iron fre-shovel also had blood
and hair on it. The old lady had been
struck twice with the axe, each blow
cleaVing her skull Hates head was split
open, and her left arm was broken of at
the wrist. The fingers still grasped card,
with which she had been carding cotton.
The boy Willy 3. had been Drained with |
the axe. Jimmy had a terrible cut over
his right temple, the brain protruding. |
Nothing l have ever heard or read of, save,
perhaps, the Deering family, of Pennsylva- |
mia, by Anton Probst, could match the |
hellish' work of that morning.
Suspicion at once pointed to a young |
man, Calvin Loyaston, a grandson Of |
Brown, as the perpetrator of the fendish |
crime. Loyaston had been in the neigh |
borhood, from which he disappeared sud |
denly about the time of the murder. Off |
GERS were at once put upon his track
Jimmy Galloway, on becoming eonsci-
Gus, was questioned. He said that ''Cal. |
Loyaston killed his granny, his mother, |
and little B., as he called his brother. |
They first, he said, made his granny give |
up her money; his mother would not give
up hers. He further said that Jane and |
Eliza Brown, daughters of the old man,
who first discovered the murder, and aunts |
of LoyastoD, weIe there; that Jane hit |
him on the head with the shovel, and that !
Eliza stood outside by tree.
This is substantially the same story little /
Jimmy tells in court, and left 20 himself /
he always tells it the same way; but the /
lawyers cross-examined the boy as merci- /
lessly as they did the adult witnesses.
Loyaston was overtaken at his home in 4
Kentucky, eighty-ive miles from the scene
of the murder. Among his clothes was
found shirt despatched with blood He |
attempted to account for this by saying his
nose had bled, aid the blood had dropped |
upon it. As the stains were upon the
arms and back of the shirt, as well as on
the breast, it was evident that his state
ment was untrue. He had told at a meet
ing some sixty-fve miles from the scene of
the murder, the next day but one after it
must have been committed, that there had /
been terrible murder committed on Well
river-women and children murdered
and, when asked how he knew it, vaguely
replied that he met a man on horseback
who told him of it.
He was brought to jamestown, and at a
preliminary trial, testified under oath the
two Evans boys did the killing, and that
he stood guard so that they would not be
thus making himself, by his
own confession, an accomplish. The |
Evanses were brought to trial, but, as
nothing could be proven against them, they |
were discharged. The two Brown girls /
were indicted with Loyaston for the muir
der of the Galloway family. At the April |
term a jury could not be obtained, and the
trial was ordered to Huntsville, Montgom-
cry county, where Loyaston was tried,
found guilty, and sentenced to be hung in
July. The Governor extended the time
until November. Finally his lawyers made
an appeal to the Supreme Court, where the /
sentence was confirmed They then moved
a new trial, on the ground that, as Loyas-
ton did not ask change of venue, the trial /
at Huntsville was null and void, and the
Supreme court so ruled it, and ordered |
him back to jamestown for trial.
The trial here was interesting; but, as l |
have given the leading facts, it is scarcely |
worth while to take up thede tails. Loyas-
ton and the Brown girls were brought to
rial under the same indictment. A sever
ance was asked for and granted. LoyastOn /
was tried first. doubt if there could have /
been trial this tim, if Loyaston had been /
disposed to stave it off. He had over forty /
and as a majority of men in 1
this county had expressed an opinion, it |
would have been nearly impossible to have
impauelled Jury But strong susDiciOn
was entertained by himself and his attor-
n IN Pat Wildrick, and l think they had
ample ground for that opinion.
The trial occupied about three days, and
considerable legal ability was displayed
both by the State and the defense. The
Jury, in less than an hour after they had re-
ceived their charge, returned a verdict of
murder in the first degree. The Judge
him to be hung the f2th day of
April next
Calvin Ioyaston was born on Wolf
River, in this county, and is not yet 20 /
years of age He is about feet inches
in height, rather stoutly built, of dark COM
plexion, with black hair, which is very fine
and glossy, and worn long, and black eyes,
which never look straight at any person.
On his trial he has shown no kind of emo
ton, and received his sentence without a
change Of countenance. 1t is said that he /
admits to the killing of eight persons dur
ing the last year of the war alone. On the
whole think that he can be well spared /
from this world.
The Brown girls were tried and acquit-
ted, as there was no evidence against them
but the boys The whole community here |