The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1872-07-13
DAsrARDLY OUTRAGE.
Ku Klux In llissoari-Peace and
Good will Under d Gratis Brown.

Ku Klux In Missoari-Peace and
Good will Usasr D 0ratz Brown.
Mr.. Thomas Callahan, Of Gen.
treville, Reynolds county. Missouri,
an account Of whose i'll treatment
by mob Of disguised men was
published by our telegraph news
yes e.day morning gives the fol-
lowing statement Of the outrage:
The first start in the troubles
was An irrecohcilable difference in
politics. ! have always been .
Radical Of the strictess kind, and
the gentlemen on the other side are
Democrats. To begin: I will
state that the court house Of Rey-4
nolds county was burned on the
18th Of November, 1871, and also
on the eth Of May, 1872. It Was
evident that the fire WAS set both
times, and was not accidental. /
have been teaching school there,
and Sheriff James H. George col.
iected 600 Of my money. He
failed to pay it over. had threat
ened him with legal process, and
he ordered me to leave the neigh
borhood. About the middle Of
June I wrote IN article for the
Ironton Enterprise exonerAting
Marion johnson, . citizen of Rey-
nolds county, who was under in
dictment to appear for burning the
court house. The article came out
on Friday, the 2Ist Of June, and on
the Esd Of June, in the night few
minutes before IL o'clock. my wife
who had been sick two months, had
lain down and fallen into . doze
Expecting to be called momenta-
rily to wait on her threw myself
across the bed, when the door wa.
silently opened and seven men with
blackeLed faces and wearing
strange clothing, mostly ragged ,ap
preached our bedside before ",
knew anything of their presence
l was out of the reach of my pisto
They siezed my wife and dragged
| Ter from the bed. Two of then
sliced me, and then ransacked til,
house and plundered it Of such ar
ticles as they wanted. Four Q
them tied my hands behind M
with whiting. Then took holt
OF the rope whiting with which
wss tied, and two held pistols a
my head, and in this way the,
draggad me half . mile and tie,
me to q tree. They then took e1
my shirt the only garment had on
with knives, and told me they wer
going TO ask me some question
} about some letters that had appear
co in the lronton papers. / toll
them had written bot one lette
put my name In fnll to il, an
wasn't going back on anything
contained. The leader then sai
to me: You state In that letter thu
: Marion johnson did not burn th
coult house. How do you kno,
he did not burn il? My answ<
was that / had heard all the testi
, , mony before the grand jury an
unless the jury was packed thel
J, was NO testimony to hold any bod
for setting the fire the first tim
8 told them that in respect to Ii
: burning the second time, I hs
proof that Marion johnson was n
= nearer Centrevills that night tbs
) IL miles. They then said that
had burned the court house, I tol
them that I had not. The fir
time 1t was burned l was tweni
q miles away, and the second time
: could show where Twas during tt
: burning. They then, with the mo
+ horrible oaths and cursing, 0rde1
i me to tell who did burn it. I vi
n tied to the tree but I turned n
head. l was ordered to turn
a back again. One OF the men o
. dered another one to burst n
e head open il l didn't turn my f.
!; to the tree. I turned my eye arou,
!. and saw standing within six feet
n me with . cooked pistol, the m,
n who did the burning. / suppos
it I refused TO tell, ] thought tn
might not whip me altog ethcr
!. death, but il I did tell that N
,r would kill me on the instant, i
charged him with the burning.
d told them l would not tell, a
!, they swore the most horribls oat