The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-03-20
THE srEvEvs MURDER IN UNION.
Conviction and Sentence of the Muir
derers-Charge OF Judge Thomas. i.

The Union Times puDllsnes Synopsis VI 1ne
evidence adducel on the. trial OF Henry Can
non. TAYLOR Palmer and Fred Green, negroes,
indicted for the murder of George M. Stevens
in Union, or. the 3lst of December last. The
circumstances connected with this dlaoollca
outrage have been published in full, anu the
main points only need to be recapitulated ID
order to refresh the memory. Mr.. Stevens
was a drayman, and was conveying oarrel
of whiskey to the house Of nelghbor, when
he was stopped by militia company OF aoou'
twenty negroes. under orders, as it was testl'
fed by colored men, of June Mobley, q negr
member of the Legislature. They demande
drinks, and Mr.. Stevens gave them flask nall
full. The negroes aid they wanted more.
Stevens refused, AMI as he drove on, received
a volley Of bulle.s. He jumped out, was
knocked down and shot to death.
The negroes above named were Identified as
the mur, ers, with the exception of Fred,
Green, who proved an abb. They were ably
defended by ex-Judge Munroe, one Of the old
est and best lawyers in the State, without lee
or reward; but the evidence was conclusive,
and in fifteen minutes after the case was given
to the Jury, which was composed of six whites
and six blacks, verdict of guilty was
rendered.
In passing sentence Of death upon the muir
derers, Judge Thomas used the following ian
guage:
prisoners-You are the first upon whom ii
has been nv melancholy duty to pass the SEN
tence of death. Before now the Sixth Clfcult
has enioyed such an exemption lroR ueauly
crime that it might have been said 10 oe at
peace with all mankind, for frequently ID otnel
climes it has been my boast thai TINS clrcult
presented less criminality than any other OF
the same area In the Southern States. But
Won stand before me to-day convicted OF that
murder which has changed this fair prospect
into the reign OF terror which pervades cne
land, which has caused many OF your race 10
expiate with their lives your guilt, which has
shaken our Sta:e to Its very foundations, and
which may yet end in internecine war.
Far be it from me to uporald you III your
you went out that night, that the incend!ary
torch which you bore would light such fire
a fire which seems unappeasable, ana Wnicn
threatens 10 consume not only you, Dut al! lnat
surrounds YOU. By the historian or phlloso-
pher this might have been anticipated, 10
place power in'the hands Of the weak ana un,
skilful has always been dangerous, anu resuited
In ruin. From the time when the chlid OF tne
Eun undertook to drive his fathers chariot in
their diurnal path, and set the heavens on IRE,
mn to the present, the experiment mas al
Ways failed. To have placed guns IN your
hands, and have you take the law In yonr
hands. was worse than madness Woslld
sooner have confded them to my children
What did YOU or your officers know OF their
use-of the regulations which governed arm
ed bodies, and which has grown into system
almost as intricate as the common law UT
of the serious consequences which nave re-
suited in our unevenly balanced sociai system
by their infraction?
But SO it is; you can look around you upon
your distracted country, upon the newly-maue
graves which dot your county, and upon your
own, yawning before you, and say IN your
guilty ignorance, you did 1t all.
From such a scene as this you need expect
no pardon short of Him; who alone VIII ior-
give the vilest transgressor. At HIS feet oes
seech you 10 cast every coming thought oil
your life, in suppliant prayer for your future
welfare. And If 1t be possible, as some slight
recompense for the wrong you have done upon
earth, mingle with these selfish orlsonS an ear
nest petition that in your graves all animosl-
ties shall be buried-that when In your deatn
the majesty of the law shall be vindicated, thaI
majesty, and with it peace and GOOD ofder,
shall be restored to your unhappy country,
The sentence Of the court Is that you oe
taken from the place where you now stand 10
the common jail of Union County, and there
kept until the third Friday in April next, when
yol shall be taken thence to the place OF pub
lie execution for Union County, and there, be-
tween the hours of II and p. NJ. be hanged
by the neck until you be Gead, dead, deaa; anu
may the Lord have mercy upon your sous.