The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-09-04
The GibsOn County Horror


10 our last issue we promised to give
in the columns of the BULLEr1x this week
the particulars of the Gibson county
horror. In looking over our exchanges
for information, We have had an eye to
| truth unadorned, hence we copy the
following article from the Humboldt
Journal Of the 8th ult es the best ex>
pose Of the whole affair with which We
have met:
The usually quiet town of Pickettville,
to the east of Humboldt six miles, on the
Memphis and Louisville railroad, was
thrown into the widest excitement last
Saturday night by the appearance of a
band of armed negroes N the neighbor
hood. The band numbered some thirty
or forty, evidently with insurrectionary
intentions.
About eleven o clock, as James War
rem and Monroe Morgan were return
ing from Picketville to their homes, near
Shlloh church they were met and fired
into by this insurrectionarv band. The
young men state that some thirty or forty
shots must have been fred at them.
Happily they escaped unhuft, by aban-
doning their horses and taking to the
woods They were pursued some dis
lance by the murderously inclined mob,
yelling and shooting IN the widest man.
neri
Morgan and Warren Don found their
way back to P1cketyille, which they had
left about an hour previously. Here,
having heard the firing, the citizens
guessed the real state of affairs, and
when Morgan and Warren arrived, had
armed and equipped themselves ready
for the combat, for it was believed the
Legroes were marching on the town and
would attempt the destruction of life and
property. A party from Picketville start
ed Immediately in hot pursuit of the
negroes who did the shooting-up to
Sunday evening they arrested some
fifteen or sixteen implicated in the affair
The negroes were taken to Pieketville
and securely guarded till Monday, when
| they had a trial before A. Jordan, ESQ
of Milan, and were committed to Jail.
During the trial they confessed that their
intentions Saturday night, were to MUIR
der several citizens about Picketville,
and destroy the town They stated also,
that the negroes OF this county, with one
or two exceptions, had well organized
bands, for carrying out these intentions
There seems to be a deep laid conspira
cy among the negroes, against the white
people, and it may be, there are unprin~
cipled and devlish white men at the bots
tom oil it urging them to an undertaking,
which cannot but prove suicidal to the
black race. Their bread Is buttared on
the side of peace and quiet A riot can
only result in harm to the negro, and
possibly in his utter humiliation in this
section, for the colored people here, are
mere handful compared with the
whites. Rioting won't benefit him in the
least, or anybody else. Monday even
ing they were taken by the officers and
safely lodged in the Jail at Trenton to
await further developments and trial be-
fore the circuit court
TAKEN OUT OF JAIL AND MURDERED
Tuesday night about one o'clock, par.
ty Of masked men on horse back entered
Trenton and marched on the Jail where
the negroes were confined, and demand
ed the keys of the iaiIer stating at the
same time that they wanted the negro
prisoners put there the day before At
first the jailer empbatically refused to
give them up without the necessary au-
thoTity. After some dillY~dallyiRg, mix
ed with threats to tear down the Jail, the
keys were given up and the negroes
were taken out and carried of by the
masked party. -Four of them were MUIR
dered-murdered is the word-in the
bottom near Trenton, where they were
found by the Sheriff and posse shortly
afterwards. The others were found next
morning further from town riddled with
bullets. Two were mortally wounded,
the others dead
This unprecedented and most deVilish.
~ diabOlical act of Iawlessness, gave
most interesting family The father
rise to intense excitement throughout
the county kilograms were sent from
Trenton to this, and adjoining towns,
calling for Immediate aid from the citis
zens as it was reported that mob of five
hundred armed negroes were marching
on Trenton, and would avenge the mur~
derOus act Of the white mob the night
before. The report had it, that the ne
groes were Staying women and children
along their way this raised the excite
ment to its highest pitch, and immedi-
ately a large number of our citizens, as
many as could obtain guns and steed,
started in quick haste to the rescue Of
Misunderstanding on what was supposed
to be the scene of massacre they found
the report without simultaneously in
the wind. The boys returned after
things 60, quiet about the county seat,
and now content themselves in musing
over the might have BEEN" &c, what
tbpv would have 6npa if SO md SO