The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1872-10-24
Grant'. PoIitlc..l rsassiIe.
AILANIAs III. sept JJs Io1 z.
To the Editor of The World:

To the Editor OF The World:
SIR In February last was convaIescing
from an attack of rheumatism when my
friend, the Rev. David Wills, President of
Ogiethorpe University at this place, called
| to see me. / soon discovered the Doctor was
not in his usual spirits, and upon asking
the cause he said:
Il am not only deeply concerned but very
sad at the state of affairs in North Carroll
ma" 1t had been his former home. and ne
was warmly attached 70 his friends there
What new disaster has befallen the peo-
pie OF this unhappy State - / asked.
why. only last night we entertained two
young men who We're flying for their lives
from their homes there, and who are going
under assumed names to live in Tennessee.
They brought US the sad intelligence of the
arrest of an old friend, a Mr.. Samuel G.
Brown, of York county. This has been
done by order of Judge Bond, and after
mock trial he has. been sentenced TO five
years of hard labor 10 the StateiPenitentia-
ry of New York, and is now confined in the
prison at Albany
''Why have they done this?' ! asked.
Upon the plea that he was connected
with the Kuklux.s
"Well-is it true, and did they prove that
he was %
'sThey proved anything they wished. for
the witnesses were bribed. and notw it'll
standing the old man filed an affidavit prov
ing that so far from acting in concert with
the so-called Kuklax he had gone at mid
night on recent occasion TO prevent the
murder of negro. The Young men told
me there was not word OF truth IN the ac-
cusation, l am prepared to believe they are
false, for have known Mr.. Brown for years,
and more honest, upright. law-abiding
man does not live. And now" he said,
growing very earnest, II tell you what |
want you to do-you must get this old man
out of prison."
But how? 1t is impossiblel What can
do?'
you can do something, know You can.
Think of some means by which YOU can
aid him. Write 10 some of your influential
friends in New York to intercede in his be-
half. Write to some one at Atlanta. eX-
haust your woman'S wit, and I'll give you
seven months TO get him out of PRISON.
With a warm heart beating ia sympathy
with the cause, but in despair as to my abil-
ity TO do anything. sat silent and thought
full. Again the Doctor said:
''Something has led me TO speak thus ear
nestly to you, and feel confident of success
if you will only lend me your aid"
Suddenly happy thought struck me, and
l said
"I'I write to Mrs. Governor Hoffman,
whose husband is Democrat, and to Faith
er WalwOrth. q Roman Catholic prize st.
whom have heard lives at Albany. Sure
ly between the two the one a woman and
the other follower of Christ, We can do
something"
''All right. The suggestion is a happy
one. anu dCJ upOu IL at OnCc. NOW ifluSb
go. Goo speed you, for you are enlisted in
a noble cause, and if you hear anything let
me know"
With these words the Doctor left, and al
though l was scarcely able to sit up and
wrote with q feeble. trem bling had. PEN
ned two letters, and that nights mail bore
them on their uncertain mission of mercy.
The following is one of them:
ATLANTA, GA, February IA, 1872
DEAR MRS. HOFFMAN: Although a stran-
ger, you will pardon the liberty l take in
thus addressing you when my mission is
made known, for | appeal TO you in the
name of humanity-yea, more, l come to
beg you, as a Christian woman. and by
those sym pathetic and softer feelings which
God has implanted in your woman's nature.
to befriend the friendlesS and console the
afflicted. There lies in the State Prison ut
Albany an old man by the name of Samuel
G. Brown. who is sixty-five years of age.
almost blind and broken in health. He is
from Yorkville York District, South Caro-
lima, and is a victim of Judge Bond, of ku-
kluX nOtoriety, who was sent to Carolina by
Grant, for the purpose, it would seem, of
prosecuting the Innocent and protecting the
infamous. This old man was dragged from
his home. brought to Columbia, where Judge
bonds Court sits, and thrown into prison.
He was then taken through the mockery OF
a trial, and Notwithstanding he filed an afIi-
davit proving thai SO far from acting with
the so-called Ku-klux he had gone at mid
night on a recent occasion to prevent the
murder of negro, was sentenced to five
years hard labor in the State Prison of New
York, and required to pay fine of $1,000.
As he had no money to satisfy this atrocious
demand the modern Jeffreys has ordered his
plantation to be levied upon and sold. and
at its sale the poor mans family will be
turned adrift upon the world, homeless,
fatherless, and in poverty, Knowing your
husband TO be the champion of constitu-
tional liberty. the embodiment OF those
qualities which make man truly great and
noble, and believing thai you must imbibe
his sentiments, / hope l shall not appeal in
vain. Now, if the authorities will permit
it, will you not visit this old man in his
| loneliness and try to brighten his prisoners
cell by ministering to his wants. If you
have any scruples about his being South
erner let me tell you that fed and cared
for many Union soldier during the war,
aud that my husband, who was a surgeon,
gave the same attention TO Union prisoners
that he did to our own brave boys-believ-
ing that common humanity demanded such
a course, and with the hope that our con-
duct might fluid its duplicate in some kind
but Northern breast. Rev. DIR. Wills. II
Presbyterian divine, who has begged me to
intercede in behalf of this old man, has
known him for years. He says he is an
honest, upright man. whose character is
above reproach. and that he is innocent of
all charges preferred against him. The
Carolina people can do nothing for him, for
the heel of the tyrant grindS them to the
earth, and the same Government which
hung dead woEaan. and which oyerrides
Congress and the Constitution, plunges old
men into penitentaries in distant State,
and eXiles those who would dare intercede
for them. Thus is it reserved for a Geor-
! gia woman TO aid sister State to raise her
! voice against the atrocities which are daily
being enacted in her beloved, heart-bleed-
ing, and PROSTATE South. If the old man
needs clothing or comforts, / will at once
make up purse and send it on TO supply
his wants.
| Hoping l have asked nothing at your
hands which you will find it impossible to
grant, and begging you to communicate
| with me at your earliest convenience, be-
! lieve me to be.
Respectfully yours, &c,
MARIA JoURDAN WEsTAIoRELAND