Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1873-01-22
A CASE OF EXTRACTION.
rME DEAD ALIvEA AND TIE LOST FOUND
Arrest of ThOs. G.. Boyd, OF sweet
water, i'm Canada.
His Trail Followed and the Fugitive Tia.
ken from the Paws of the British Lion.

current that Thos. G.. Boyd, of Sweetwa-
ter, who created such an excitement
throughout this section in September last
had been arrested az Tho Queens Doilii;ii-
IONS and snatched from between the pro-
tecting paws of the British lion-thanks to
the eXtradition treaty-was on American
soil in the custody of detectives who had
been on his trail for long weeks, and with
their mission accomplished, would start
with their prisoner for East Tennessee, the
scene of his crimes, and are now on their
way as fast as steam can bring them.
1t will be remembered that Thos. G..
BOYD was indicted in the Federal Court,
charged with swindling the Government
Of large sums of money by fraudulent
bounty, pension and other claims. and
fearing that his guilt would be proven,
early in September last conceived a
plan which would enable him to
escape the punishment that would
necessarily follow conviction. This was
nothing less than to make it apparent that
he had been murdered, when, of course,
all proceedings would naturally cease and
in perfect security he could spend the re-
mainder of his life in a foreign land in the
enjoyment of his i'll gotten gains.
The idea so boldly conceived was carried
into execution on the 4th of September last,
when Boyd, having matured his plans,
sent two men, Reagan and Hensley, who
the mountains for the avowed purpose of
summoning witnesses to appear in his be-
half, he following two days after and join
ing them, when, in sequestered spot in
the mountains, near the North Carolina
State line, the farce of being attacked by
disguised men was gone through with and
Boyd was spirited away by the gentle
KukluX, when the second act in the dia-
bolical farce was consummated in the desc
Grafton of the grave of Samuel Bowles, a
colored man who had died a short time
previously, and burning his body until
the resemblance to humanity was almost
destroyed.
The horrible details of the affair were
published in the CHRONICLE as soon as
the facts could be obtained at the time, to-
gether with the examination of Boyd's
henchmen, which fixed his atrocity be-
You'd the shadow of doubt. He escaped,
however by the aid of friends, and moth
ing was positively known of his where
abOuts until November last, when rela-
tive of one of Boyd's bondsmen was sent
to follow the clue which resulted in his de-
lection.
The first intimation the public had of
the matter was by the reception of dis
patch on Tuesday evening from rs. G.
Boyd,n dated at Detroit to a kinsman, di-
recting him to prepare comfortable cell
in the Knoxville Jail and closing with a
message of love to his wife. This rumor
was the topic of conversation yesterday and
the signature "S." G.. Boyd accounted for
as a clerical error merely. But while the
public were in ignorance of the facts in the
matter, which were being so quietly devel"
oped, the officials of the Government and
the sureties of the fugitive were not idle,
but were on his trail and patiently and
persistently weaving n web that should en-
Velop him in its tolls and have justice met
ed out by bringing him to punishment.
Curiosity was the besetting sin of our
~. IDsz.-I Ng,I
had his full share, for he had an itching
desire to read the newspaper reports of his
disappearance and under an assumed name
he wrote one or more letters to q gentle
man at Sweetwater, asking that copies of
various papers be sent to him at his place
of concealment. This came to the knowl-
edge of his sureties and being heavily in
volved, Mr.. /. Il. LenOir to the extent of
S27, 900; Mr.. Benson, IS 900; Cooke & Hen
derson, $1,000, with perhaps others in
small sums, all together aggregating near
~ $40, 000, the two former sent Louis Lenoir,
nephew of the first named gentleman,
to the Dominion of Ontario, who discover
ed the object of his search at London, a
town about one hundred and twenty miles
from Detroit. Boyd passed pnder the as
sumed name of Smith during his sojourn
in Canada.
He knew Boyd by sight though Boyd
was not very well acquainted with him,
and writing back TO Mr.. Lenoir, the
necessary papers were procured and sent
by VIM. B. Lenoir, son of /. T. Lenoir,
ESQ, to Washington where a requisition
for eXtradition was obtained from the Presi-
dent and forwarded to Louis Lenoir, VIM.
b. Lenoir, in the meantime proceeding to
Niagara, where he would be within easy
call, ii he should be needed to identify
Boyd. But his services were not needed
in this respect, for on Tuesday night Mr.
Lenoir was gratified by the reception of a
dispatch, which was sent from Detroit the
same day from Louis Lonor, stating that
Boyd had been arrested and his cousin
Willie had been sent for from the rendez-
vous at Niagara.
1t is reasonably supposed. though not
positively known, that the Messrs. Lenoir
and the prisoner started for this city on
Tuesday last, and his arrival is expected
on Friday night or Saturday, if no deten-
ton occurs.
Gen, J. c. Vaughn, of Sweetwater, and
other friends of Boyd were in town yester-
day, and a strong effort will doubtless be
made to release the prisoner on bail.
4, In few days at farthest the full particu-
lars of the mystery that surround this re-
markable case will probably be made
known and wheh all the facts are elected
will form a chapter unequaled in interest
by any other in the criminal annals of East
Tennessee.