Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1875-09-30

'sault and battery-the former to an impris-
onlnent Of twelve months in the State peni-
tertiary; the latter, to AL imprisonment Of
six months in the same, place.. Saul Ander-
son, cclored, who had pleaded guilty to the
committing Of rape upon child in Lands
ford township, received his sentence, which
was Imprisonment for life in the State peni.
tentiary. ,a-.."'. 1-----'"-
On Wednesday, upon the assembling of
the Court, the trial of the State ss. Dnblin l.
Walker, Benjamin Michael, Henry Blake,
and Julius Stephenson, charged with forming
a conspiracy TO defraud the county, began
and continued throughout the entire day. A.
M. Mackey, Esq, appeared for the State, end
Gen. w. A. Walker and S. j. Couch, Esq.
for the defendants. Ex Congressman Elliott,
of Columbia, was expected to be one Of the
defendants lawyers, but a telegraphic dis
patch was received from him on Tuesday,
stating his inability to be present. The par
ties charged with conspiring to defraud the
county were the late public school commits.
sioner of this county and the public school
trustees of Chester township, and the vsy in
which their embezzling propensities we're di.
rected, was the issuing of fraudulent school
certificate while in Office. Julius Stevenson,
one of the defendants, turned States evi
denee, and a noHe prosequi was entered in his
case. Besides endeavoring to establish by
testimony, that Ben njamin Michael, in whose
favor the alleged fraudulent certificate was
drawn, had never rendered the service to the
county called for by the sum stated in the
certificate, the earnest efforts OF the pofrcftUr
were directed toward showing by the evi-
dence of the late treasurer Of the county, Da.
vid Hemphill, Esq, and the present school
commissioner, F. B.. Lloyd, Esq, the fraud
connected with the school certificate in 9ues-
ton. The counsel for the defense endeavor-
ed to establish, by rebutting testimony, that
Benjamin Michael had rendered service for
the amount claimed in the certificate, and
that the alleged fraudulent certificate was
copy of school certificate issued in favor of
Benjamin Michael in 1871, and upon which
he had never drawn the money, for the reason
of his having lost OF misplaced the same.
After arguments from the Solicitor, and the
attorneys for the defense. and the delivery of
strong, vigorous charge from the Judge,
which carried no comfort to the souls of the
defendants, the jury retired to consult over
their verdict. The jury, composed Of one
white man and eleven colored men, spent all
the night in the jury-room, and announced
their agreement upon verdict at six o'clock
Thursday morning. The verdict was guilty,
with the recommendation of the defendants
to the mercy of the Court Considerable i'm.
portance attaches to this case from the fact
that the defendants were prominent and in
huential colored politicians one of them,
Dublin I. Walker, representing, at the pres
ent time, this county in the State Senate.
Isuppose, in consequence of his conviction
of the crime of misapplication Of the public
funds, he will be deprived of his seat in that
honorable body, which will occasion the elec.
ton of another Senator from this county.
The case that resulted so unfortunately for the
defendants, was splendidly managed by the
representative Of the State; indeed, am ex-
ceedingly doubtful if the case could have
been conducted with more skill had it been
in the hands of the learned Judge, himself,
who presided upon the bench at the time Of
the trial.
The State business having been concluded,
the trial of civil cases Was begun on Thurs
day. The cases on thatda and Friday were
not such as to merit any special mention.
Saturday was consumed in the trial of the
case of the Chester and Lenoir Railroad
Company U.s. the President and Directors Of
the late Kings Mountain Railroad Company.
The object of the suit is to recover$l 800, with
interest, which the plaintiffs allege to have
been, or should have been, in the hands of the
defendants at the time of the transfer of the
assets of the Kings Mountain Railroad Com.
- k,,ro oaI
into the hands of the Directors Of the Chester
and Lenoir Railroad Company. The defen'
dants admit that the amount claimed by the
plaintiffs was in their hands at the time of, or
Immediately previous to the transfer, but al
lege that it was disposed of as the Directors
of the Kings Mountain Railroad Company
ordered, viz: by the declaration of divi.
dend and the distribution of the pro rata
portion among the stockholders. The plain
tiffs deny the truth of the allegation of the
disposition of the amount claimed, in accord.
ance with the order of the Directors of said
Company. The plaintiffs are represented by
Major s. P. Hamilton and G. S. Brice, Esq
of this place, and the defendants by Colonel
j. H. Rion, of Winnsboro. The case was not
concluded on Saturday, and is now progress
ing toward conclusion, which will probably
be reached this afternoon or tonight.
Upon the assembling Of the Court this
morning, very large audience was present
to hear the sentence of the presiding Judge
upon Dublin l. Walker and Henry Blake,
who had been tried and found guilty of is.
suing fraudulent school certificate. Benja-
min Michael; who was charged and convicted
of the same crime, and who mysteriouSly dig
appeared on the evening before the day of the
trial, will be sentenced at another time if he
is ever caught. Judge Mackey expressed his
"profound sorrow" in imposing sentence upon
one who had been so highly honored by the
people as the prisoner, Dublin l. Walker.
Yet the verdict, he stated, was just; having
been found against him by eleven men of his
own race, and one true man Of the white race.
The Judge informed the prisoner of the fact
that twenty-five additional fraudulent school
certificates issued by him had been found by
the grand jury, and that if he was tried upon
each one, be would spend the remainder Of
his days in prison. The prisoner was told
that, Judging from the school certificates that
had been issued, there ought to have been one
hundred teachers in the county in 1871, when
in fact there were only thirty. The abuse by
him of the high trust that had been con6ded
to him, was dwelt upon for time, when his
Honor proceeded to impose the sentence,
which was, inasmuch as the jury recommend
ed mercy, one year in the State penitentiary.
Henry Blake then received his sentence,
which was three months in the State peniteu.
tiary. Judge Mackey directed the jailor not
to place handouts on Dublin I. Walker when
taking him to Columbia, as he had already
been sufficiently degraded --. -