Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1873-12-25
Murder Will Out.
An Extraordinary Story Of Cri me
and RetributIOn, Now First Pub
liShed.
A Leaf from Lawyers Diary.

The following graphic anC
remarkable narrative has beeI
obtained by us from a prominen
lawyer in one Of the Easter
counties Of Kentucky. The
facts in it have not before been
published, but for their entire
accuracy the writer will vouch
Ed. COURIER-JOURNAL.
In 1865 | was the States at
torney in the judicial dis
h'ict in the State Of Kentucky.
| had gone to the county of
O--onc Of the counties in the
district-for the purpose Of be.
ing present in the prosecution
Of the criminals. There haC
been no court held in the county
since 1861, owing to the ciyi
war. l found everything in tht
worst confusion possible. MeT
( had been murdered in cold blood
and nothing was done with the
them. Murder, arson, robbery
/ and all the crimes in the cata-
logue, had been committed
with impunity, and the malcfac-
tors had gone unwhippcd Of JUS
tice, owing to the absence Of
law. During the war every
thing was in anarchy; there
was no safety for women or in
nocent children-all suffered a.
like. When it was known that
circuit court would be held in
that county, the news attracted
very large crowd.
On Monday morning, Novem-
Der s, 1865, | found Il large
crowd in B., the county seat
of O.. Men, women and
children came, some the distance
of thirty miles. Gucrillas and
bushwhackers came with their
guns and pistols, As though they
intended to overawc the court,
and determined that none Of
their gang should be indicted
for the numerous murders Of
which they had been guilty
Court opened, and the sheriff
returned his list Of Il grand ju-
ry. The court instructed them
as to their duty; they were
sworn and sent to their rooms,
[ had determined in my own
mind that every person that had
been guilty Of Il misdemeanoI
in O. county should be leg
ularly indicted, if | could in any
way obtain the evidence against
them.
There was Il case that was
shrouded in mystery. y young
man, who was the pride of a
widowed mother, had suddenly
disappeared from the county a.
bout two years before, and had
never been heard from. His
name was Charles Belknap; he
was an only child; handsome,
finely educated, and as brave as
a lion. Imade diIigent inquiry
| had about one hundred wit
nesses summoned. | examined
them closely, and when | dis
missed them [ warned them to
tell no one what had transpircd
in the grand-jury room. In
that way | hoped to keep tho
real murderers in the dark as tc
what i was doing.
l could only gather the fol-
lowing circumstances i'll the
case. That young Belknap left
his home in June, 1863, and was
riding a very fine horse, with
I$1.500 in his possession. lie
failed to return at night, and his
mother became very uneasy a.
bout him and the next morning
set out to make inquiries con-
corning him. She went to the
house of Squire Mosely, who
lived about five miles from
her, a leading man in the coun-
ty, and told her story and made
inquiries concerning her son.
The Squire told her that hel
son had been at his house the
day before and left in the direc-
ton Of the town Of B; that
he left about 10 o'clock in the
morning. This was all she
could hear Of him. No one
else had seen him, and she went
home a broken-hearted mother
She made inquiries of every per-
son; every stranger that passed
was interrogated, but all in vain
She still kept up her search fol-
her boy, and about twelve
months after he had so mysteri,
ousIy disappeared she was re.