Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-01-28
blood for Bleed.

We have several accounts and quite full
particulars of the taking out of jail and
killing of the five negroes in Huntington,
Carroll county, on last Tuesday night.
The immediate cause of the drama of
blood was the killing of Coleman on the
Saturday night previous. From the infor-
nation received we give the following,
which Is, no doubt, substantially correct:
After killing Coleman, the negroes went
to neighbor and burned his fodder stacks
and attempted to burn his house. A young
man fired into them and run them off and
got their horses. The horses were taken
to Huntingdon. This alarmed the muir
derers, and a negro named Mat Brown
went to another old negro and told him if
the inquiry was made he Ian old Fayette
negro) must swear that Mat staid with
him the night of the killing of Coleman.
The old negro told this to the authorities,
whereupon Mat was arrested. After his
arrest, and being told what could be proved
on him by Fayette, he confessed that he
was there, and told the names of the others
present, one of whom was named Allen
Robinson. They were then arrested, five
in all They confessed to the killing of
Coleman, and also confessed going some
him SO severely that he died.
They also went to a Mr. McLain's,
pulled his daughter out of bed, and treat
ed them cruelty, attempting TO rape her
always in disguise.
They say they know nothing of the ex-
press robberies which have been commit
ted there.
They were put in prison, after an exam
hafora Ma1ioArafa Il,
were placed around the jail.
About haf-pas 9 o'clock the firing be-
gan-supposed to be by the guards on per-
sons advancing Twelve or fifteen shots
were fired in rapid succession. Then a
charge. Then there was silence for half
an hour. The next heard was, Unto
line" the voices being those of young
men. From fifty to seventy-fve shots
were then heard all at once at the word of
command.
Fifteen or twenty more shots were then
| fired at irregular intervals, and then the
party was of. 1t was ascertained that one
of the negroes was missing, who about IL
o'clock returned and, being discovered,
was shot and killed. The negro Brown,
who was wounded in the thigh and had his
ankle broken in the first shooting, was also
| finally killed The party of men, unknown
bat undisguised, went to the jail in the
quiet hours Of the night, and overcame the
| guards and forced the jail. They then took
| the negroes, five in number from the Gus
tody of the Tailor, and taking them a short
| distance from the town of Huntingdon,
shot them dead, the body of each being
riddled with bullets. As the doom of the
negroes was made known, they freely and
| fully confessed to the murder of Col. Cole
man on last Saturday night.
! Col. Coleman was an old and esti-
mable citizen, and the atrocity of
his murder had exasperated the citizens to
the highest pitch Of excitement. They
not only confessed to the murder of Cole
man, but they confessed to being the same
party who in disguise murdered young Mr..
! Hurt some six weeks since. They also con-
fessed that, disguised as "Ku-Klu1," they
had committed many other aggravated Of
! lenses, involving terror and the loss of
| property in the same locality, such as
stealing, pillaging, burning and plumber
ing, etc. Under a knowledge OF these
facts, the feelings of the people were in
| tensifed to evaporation by the murder of
! Mr.. Coleman, and the community called
! loudly for vengeance. Without presenting
| to endorse or condemn this summary
| method of punishment for crimes so afro
cious and iendish, from what we can learn
the verdict of public opinion sxculpates
the parties from blame in the premises