New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1871-04-20
ku-kinx Outrases i'm Soash Care
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A correspondent Of the Cincinnati CONNER
cial, writing from III knoxville, South Carolina
gives a description of the killing of colored men
by the Ku- kux. The victims were confined
in Jail on charge of murder from whence
they were taken by the kukluX at night
The writer saws:
On Monday the excitement increased. At
midnight the barn of Colonel Young, situated
but two squares from the Jail, and right in the
centre of the town, was discovered to be on
fire. On Tuesday morning, one Walker, a cap
tain of militia, was arrested, and the negroes
gathered to release him. He persuaded them
not to attempt it, however, saying that it would
cost more than it would come to. The negroes
desisted, however, but went providing over the
country, firing off their guns, and, together
with the exasperated whites and KuKluxes,
managing to keep innocent people in perpetual
alarm.
On the next night, Wednesday, at 10 o'clock.
fifty armed ku-Klux came suddenly into town
and demanded the keys of the jail from the
sheriff, which were refused. They then arrested
the sheriff and put him under guard, and with
axes and other weapons broke into the Jail and
and took out five negroes who had been put
there under suspicion of having been connected
with the murder of Stevens. They departed
as nolselessly as they came by the Spartan.
burg road Next day, two miles from town,
two OF the prisoners were found dead and the
others desperately wounded
The dead men were buried and the three
wounded ones brought back to Jail. A meet
ing OF citizens was called, and committee of
two prominent whites and one colored Repub-
lican appointed to wait on the Governor and
ask that he use his best cndcavors To have
United States troops sent here.
Matters moved on, but anything but pleas
antly, until the middle Of February, when the
sheriff received by express a writ of habcas
corpus to remove the three wounded prisoners
to Columbia. The sheriff says they were not
able to be moved next morning, and there was
no other train for Columbia until the following
Monday, three days. Before that train went
down the three wounded prisoners and seven
others, were beyond the reach of any habeas
corpus known to earthly laws.
Sunday night, at - o'clock three hundred
ku-kiuX came into town They wore black
gowns, with masks Citing tight to thor faces
They placed picketS Oh all the roads, and
ordered all the lights out. 1t was "a dark and
rainy night, peculiarly suited to the dark deeds
to be enacted. These men went. to the Jail
broke open the outer door, and demanded of
the iaior and sheriff the keys to the dungeon
This was refused, which so exasperated the
ku-kluX that they threw down the officers
and tied them to "a rack-post in front of the
Jail. They then took the keys and took out
Syiyanus Wright, Andy Thompson, Elhton
Scott, Bill Fincher, Aaron Thompson Amos
Mex issick, Barrett Edwards, and Tom Byons
all prisoners on suspicion Of being connected
with the Stevens murder, and Mac Bobb and
Joe Nanlue, confined for other crimes In all
there were ten.
These ten prisoners had never had a trial,
and 1t was by no means certain they were
guilty of any crime but they were suspected
and that was enough for the Ku-kIux Early
Monday morning the dead bodies of two of
these unfortunate men were found suspended
from a hickory tree about a mile and half
from town, while near by were the bodies Of
six of the other prisoners tied to small trees
and their bodies perforated with bullets. The
remaining two have never been heard Of since
1t will, therefore, be seen that, so far, thir-
teen negroes have persisted for the murder of
Stevens. But that is not all two more, who
escaped the vengeance of the ku- klux by not
being in the jail at the time that institution
was visited, were last week sentenced to be
hung on tho third Friday Of this month. They
had a fair trial, and the ablest counsel in this
section of country. The jury before whom
they were tried was composed of six white
men and six black. When these prisoners are
executed it will make a total of fifteen that
have met death on account Of the Stevens
murder