Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-07-05
RaIicaliSliI.

the testimony Of Hon. Josiah Turner, Jr.,
! giving somewhat IN detail tho treatment
he received while prisoner during the
! Holden Kirk war. 1t will be remembered
that Mr.. Turner was arrested by order OF
Governor Holden in the county Of Orange
| by body of armed men from Kinks Reg
iment. 1t will be remembered also that
/ the county of Orange had not been de-
clared to be in 4 state Of instruction, as
provide? for by the infamous Shoflner Act,
| that the wit Of IItbcds Corpus had not
/ been suspended, and that Governor IIol-
| den ordered the arrest in retaliation for
| strong jenunciatory language used by Mr.
! Turner concerning him. IL will be remem-
bcrcd, also, that upon the Article Of In
parchment charging Governor Holden
with violation Of law i'll the arrest OF Mr..
| Turner that even Radical Senators upon
! the trial voted Guilty" 1t will be re-
mcmbcred also, that III spite OF this
the late Radical State Convention
! solemnly endorsed the acts Of Gov
ernor Holden III the Kirk war, and
nominated for Governor Tod X. Caldwell,
| who was at the time the next officer to
| Holden. We trust that our readers who
weary and sicllen Of the disgusting details
Of the outra8cS inflicted upon innocent and
! honorable citizens by order Of their Chief
! Executive, will pardon us for thus con-
stantIy referring TO the matter. The fact,
however, that the Radical party have seen
proper to adopt the acts and policy of
Governor IIoGcn's administration during
the time lie was, with the assistance of
Chief Justice Pearson, military monarch in
North Carolina, and to endorse them in
the most emphatic manner, makes it in
cunbent Oh us to tell the people what those
acts We're. The half of Ioldens lawless
conduct has not yet been told.
Josiah Turner, Jr., being duly sworn,
testified rs follows &:
/ was carried to Y anceyville on the 9th,
and l remained prisoner in the court
house until Saturday the 18th. g.
&. Was anything done to You pending
that time ? y. The first two or three days
l was 4 prisoner i'll the room where they
said Stevens had been murdered.
Z. Who was with you? A. No one
Gu Monday night some one came in with
a bucket OF water and threw it upon my
| bed. 1t vas & good long room, nearly half
the length OF this Senate chamber. ran
the fellow to the door, and | onquired CT
the man al the door who it was, and he
said he did not know, that he had been
| asleep. Directly some one came up and
! cursed the sentinel, and told him it was 4
shame to treat prisoner Ill that way. He
sad 'El on had better hold your tongue
| about ii, il WAS one OF the officers who did
! it." The next night the same thing was
repeated, although 4 less quantity of water
was thrown. Ali the windows We're put
down, auG us it was hot weather | asked
if the windows could not tie raised. He
said the orders Were TO keep them down,
and they were kept down close. The next
| night, when the water was thrown, ran
! for the fellow who threw the water, when
| Kirk came up.
q. Was that water thrown on YOU or on
the bed a" y, On me and on the bed. He
came up and he ordered seven men under
| Captain Franklin into the room. Before
that the room had been guarded by SEN
tincl at the door and ut the windows out
side. They kept seven men in the room.
! Franklin said that his orders We're that |
/ was not to speak unless 10 ask for some
thing to eat and drink. He put Il man in
each window and he said | was not to 60
| TO the windows. and that | was to cOnfine
myself to the back part of the room, and l
! must not speak to any Olc without per-
mission. These men remained OH the
| room with me until we We're marched
| fro there on the 18th. [ frequently saw
these men drunk while they were on their
posts as sentinels. l saw one with rock
raised at Mr. Hill, and | remember some
one cursed him and told him to put it
down, and that it was a cowardly act to
throw rocks ut 4 prisoner. L saw other
sentnels staggering with guns in their
hands, and stated on one or two Occa-
sions that they ought to put sober men on
guard that these men were too drunk. /
saw them frequently pointing their guns,
raising rocks, making threats and cursing
the prisoners. 1t was al everyday occur
renee.
q. State whether Kirk said anything
and ii SO what i'll your presence? a. L had
but very little TO say or do with Kirk
When L went into the room he came to
shake hands with me but | put my hands
behind me. EIe wanted to know what |
was arrested for. ] said had come to
find out, that l supposed that | would
learn from him. He said that lie had not |
heard of it ;nti now and he did not know |
anything OF it-that thatswas the first of it |
my appearance there. Kirk came in oc- |
caSlonaliy, once or twice into the room, |
and had a little conversation with him.
&. You were not with the other pris-
Oners? A. l was below III the court house |
and the other prisoners were above. He |
came i'll twice that l remember. After
giving me orders that l was not 10 talk to |
anybody, he came i'll with Marshal Car
row, and when lie spoke to me l told him
must get permission from the captain Of |
the guard before l could talk with him.
Kirk told me that | had already pernis-
sion. l told him that that was the orders,
that l could not talk to anybody unless l
had permission, and ! insisted that Car
row should get permission, and he got it.
Q. How long did you remain there A.
I'LL Saturday the 18th, when we were
marched up stairs. There were several
hundred soldiers, and they designated me
as went up stairs the King OF the Ku-
klux Khan. There was Il guard of seven
marched with me my way from Yam
ceyvile. They were all guarded, but |
was honored with a guard OF seven. We
got TO Graham Oh Sunday. There was
terrible rain for hours before we got to
Graham. The prisoners stood out for
three or four hours. just about dark they
got some tents, and were crowding into
the tents from 10 to II in each one. |
went around and counted, and there was
as many as 16 i'll one OF them. having
declined to occupy tent when it was