The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-12-24
IFrOm the Cincinnati Gazette I
The TleksbuFg Butchery.

I AhO NANheDufS DutCuCFy.
! Here Is the plain unvarnished story
OF the recent Outchery at Vicksburg.
as il was told US yesterday by one whc
/ Is a considerable tax-paye- in that
city, who was there during the esrlier
! stages Of the crime, and whose char
acter anu veracity are YOuched for by
responsible parties.
The predecessor OF sheriff Crosby
was man named G. f. FurIOng. He
was very bad man every way. He
/ plundered the citizens remurseiessly.
and when he left Office last year, tcok
away as his proceeds or booty $50 600.
[ He was bitterly incensed at his defeat
by Crosby. He wanteI To continue
his own fat piekings. He has been
one of the leading men in the outrag-
eous assault on Crosby.
This man Crosby is colOr,-d. He is
about ttwenty-eight years of age, and
/ Is one of the most intelligent and Ca
I pabie cOlOred men in the State. He
had the respect Of the people of War
rem county (Vieksburg) His ability
was as unquestioned as his honesty.
| de had served term as Treasurer be-
] fore he was elected to succeed Fur
| long as Sheriff in the autumn of 1873.
bis official conduct as Treasurer was
above reprOach or question. His ac-
counts were all found correct when he
submitted them for final settlement.
In fact, his election as Sheriff was
largely due to the good record he had
made as Treasurer. He was borne ID-
to Office on the tide of reform move
ment.
He assumed the duties of Sheriff and
Tax Collector OF the Ist of January Of
the present year. As Tax Collector
he had to give bonds in the sum of
Sl00, 900; as Sheriff, in $4,000. He
had no difficulty in securing chem.
Among his bOndsmen were d. K.
Bruce and II. r. Pease, Senators ; f.
H. Little, President of the Memphis
q Grenada Railroad, and James II.
Holland, State Treasurer His bond
was accepted as good and sufficient,
and he began at once to perform his
duties.
In September last one Of his boni-
men, l.. n. Hill, died. His widow
presented petition to the Board of
supervisors setting forth the fact of
her husbands decease, and asking
that his name be taken from the Sher-
ifi's OOnd. Under the laws OF Mississ-
ippi it is only necessary that such
request should be preferred to make it
obligatory to grant it. Furthermore,
the name thus taken off could not,
under the laws, be replaced by new
one but new bond had to be given. 1t
was Certainly pr3tty hard, this de-
manding two bonds in less than 3
year.
However, new one was secured.
CrOsby's bond as Tax Collector Was
made out this time for Sl0S. .001-$S. 900
more than required by law. His bond
as Sheriff was filled out t. the full
amount required - $4,000. Among
his 6Ondsmen this latter time were
Martin Carey, whose property in
VicksOurg is assessed for SIS, ,005; Lew
Is Kent, who pays taxes on Sl3 900,
aud fifty other persons WIN owned
more or less property in Warren eOun-
ty. This is the bond which the lying
rascals set forth as being of no ae-
count; these are the sureties that We're
said to be "wOrthless." /"
Among the number on this second
bond was one G. 8 Yerger, of Jack
oOns II 10 dSoSllctA LIat tile w ulIc
Leaguers visited this man, aud told
him that they would bring suit against
him for perjury If he did not Withdraw
his name. He was down for only e
thousand dollars. Intimidated by
their threats, it is charged that Yer
ger consented to do what was de-
manded of him. He made a request
to have his name taken of. This, bear
in mind, would necessitate a thir
bond. The board refused to comply
with the demands OF the Iascsls who
were trying to force Crosby ous of Of
fee. Meantime the "citiZens" held
public meeting, and passed a resolu-
ton denouneing in advance any white
man who should consent to 90 upon
Crosby's new bond, which they were
confidently counting on compelling
him to make out. AS we said, the
beard refused to fool any longer with
FuTlong's malconteEts. "This bond"
they said, 'is as good as any ever Of
fered in this State. Had 1t been pre-.
sented by Democrat there would not
have been word in oppo5ltion to it.
Aue u0EasOO ss-~--,~ r-~s1sSrE'rO
men, and this is a conspiracy against
an honest man that we are not going
to help along" Crosby, too, went be-
fore them, and asked what charge
they had to make against him. "Put
your finger on any dishonesty have
committed, either as Treasurer or
Sheriff." he said. Not 8 man could
do it. They told him they were not
impughing his honesty they simply
wanted him out OF the way.
Matters stood thus until Saturday,
Dec. 4th. Then a meeting OF "citi-
zens'I was held, at which it was de-
cided to force Crosby to resign, A
Committee first visited him, and then
a mob. Summoned by 300 or 800 men,
what course was left him bat to step
down and out
On Sunday Crosby went over to
Jackson to consult with Governor
Ames. He returned TO VIcksbure in
time to bs there on Monday morninY.
EARLY that day the big Sell on the
Courthouse summoned the people to-
gether. From six to eight hundred
responded at once to the summons.
They formed In order, and were sup
piled with needle guns. 'DO you call
this state of war or peace ?'' our in
fOrmant asked.
Meantime word vas brought that
the negroes from the country were
coming in in obedience to the sum-
mons from Crosby. 1t was determIn-
ed to meet them on the. way. One
company was led by a Capt. Miller.
Out about mile and half from the
city troop of colored people were
met coming in, an old negro named
Owen was their leader. He was asked
where he WAS going. "TO see Sheriff
Crosby" was the answer. "WelI,
Crosby has given up, and You had bet
ter GO back home" Owen thought be
should obey the summons Of Sheriff,
and it was finally settled that he
should be taken to Vicksburg, while
the rest of the company awaited the
massage that he brought back.
Owen was taken to the Courthouse,
where Crosby was still held in con-
finement, and had an interview with
the depOsed officer. Crosby told him
that everything was settled in this
city, and that the company Of colored
people must disperse to their homes.
Owen started back with his white
guard. When he reached his friends
he was turned loose Then the
slaughter began. Some uDhung des-
peradoes, more bitter than the rest,
were determined not tn be cheated Of
blood. They were armed with needle
guns some OF the negroes with re-
volvers, but most of them with moth
ing at all. What, wonder that they
were shot down like dogs ? What
wonder that at least $50 negroes were
killed, and only one white man
One who saw the slaughter said it
was simply horrible. The men from
the city were reinforced by q troop Of
murderers from the country, and be-
tween the two, the eolored men were
moved down 1t was simply mas
sacre, a cOld-bloOded butehery. The
.....-. 4 .--..--. r.nnknl Ahn.n Arnr