The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-07-04
WARDS REWARD.
How He Wanted to Speculate
on the Grant Parish Affair.
Vigers Spells his Little Game.


From the beginning of the Grant parish
case down to the present time, no one has
made himself more odious and despicable
than VIM. Ward, blood-thirsty negro who
in his zeal to secure the conviction of the
prisoners on trial left nothing undone which
ingenuity could suggest or low cunning in
vent. He worked necessarily during the pen
dency of the case, and what with nstructng
witnesses and manufacturing evidence he
succeeded in influencing the verdict more or
this scamp.
During the session Of the last Legislature
when the Radical heart was yet full of rancor
at the Colfax affair, Ward, with an eye to
business, and in keeping with his past char
acter, determined to profit by the event. He
thought that the negroes of the Legislature
would readily pass any appropriation for the
relief of those selt-exiled patriots from Grant
parish, and accordingly, after cogitating some
time, he hit upon the plantation dodge, which
after the war. He therefore set about making
up his inventory Of losses occasioned by the
mob, as he calls it, to his herds of stock,
warehouses of cotton, household furniture
ETC., and he made a pretty good job of it.
This inventory he put in the form of an aft
davit and got several veracious (?) witnesses to
attest its truth, and thus armed, he presented
himself as the injured cherub at the door of
the House. The following is his tale Of woe in
his own choice style of spelling
STATE OF LOUISIANA,
Parish of Orleans.
Personally came and appeared before me w.
l.. Evans, I'd Justice Of the Peace IN and for
the Parish of Orleans
William Ward being duley swim accordingr
to lawdoth depose and say, that he is sitiZen
of the Parish OF Grant and that on the 9Th day
of April A d 1873 an armed mob invaded the
Town Of Colfax and that the said mob did take
IL carry away the following property belonig
to the said William Ward 'Towit'
(;O Three mules (2) Two Horses and the
said William Ward was growing crops in said
Parish he cultivated (2O) acres in cotton QO)
Ten acres in corn all Of which was loss to
him also plantation supplies to the amount of
furniture also Q) one Wheeler Il Wilson Sew
ing machine amounting to (S4OO) Four hun
dred dollars also (18) Eighteen Bales Cotton
at 15c per pound ($l45O) one Thousand -Four
Hundred and Fifty dollars Horses and mules
lS75O) Seuen Hundred and Fifty dollars amount
ing in the aggregate to the sum of (S36OO)
Three thousand Six hundred Dollars
(Signed) WILLIAM WARD
Sworn to and subscribed to before me
this 26th day Of January 1874 w. L. Evans
Second Justice Peace.
We the undersigned witnesses testify I'M
der oath that the foregoing statement of Will
liam Ward is true and correct in each particu-
lar.
(Signed) E. Fl. Flowers,
W. S. CALHOUN,
SACK THOMAS,
VALcoUR JOHNSON,
his
THoM X JOHNSON
mark
Sworn and subscribed before me this 26th
day Of January 1874. W. L. EVANS,
Second Justice Peace Parish Orleans La
This ak didn't grind worth cent, and then
he with renewed ardor set about it in another
way. He offered to share with certain parties
the amount of his appropriation, if he was
successful but probably he didn't come down
heavy enough for the members, for dissatisat-
fed with his past success, he thought he
would try vigers, Bill vigers, clerk, whom We
believe the BULLETIN has made the public
acquainted with before.
One day, with pangs of patriotic anguish
racking his heart, and with tears of humility
standing in his eyes, he wrote the following
billet dour to vigers, hoping to push; on his
little game:
want this amont to carry it drought total
,6 hundred Dol. 1 will leve 10 hundred.
This persuader WAS written on torn slip of
note paper and sent to Vigers Wards lucky
star was not in the ascendant that day for
Vigers couldn't see it, and poor Ward saw the
Legislature adjourn without getting his $1,000
In the realms of his vivid imagination he
pictures, wandering like lost stars, Is bales of
cotton, mules, 2 horses and 20 acres of corn,
and sighs that dis niger isn't happy any
more.