The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-09-10
.sSranttO be Made King


seat OF the recent negro instruction,
near Waynesboro Ga. Gov. Smith is
sued orders for him to have access to all
means of information, and below we give
his interview with one of the negro con-
spiratOrs:
JAKE MooRMAN's CONFESSION.
Jake Norman is d negro of rather dull
intellect even for a man of his race. He
is about As years of age, tall and rather
slim, and speaks rather indstinctly, jun
| bling his words together. When | asked
him to tell me what he knew about this
plot, he began talking in a low tone of
voice, rarely looking up from the floor
and | was able to understand So little that
he said, and he omitted so many impor-
tant links in his narrative, while dwelling
at length upon unimpOrtant points, that
/ was finally forced to stop him and draw
the story out by repeated questions We
| shall not attempt to reproduce his pecu-
liarities of dialect or idiom.
Norman said that he was first lieuten>
ant of a company commanded by Jerry
Walters and organized at Buckeye Colored
| Church in Laurens County. Laurens
sent no delegates to ayncsboro, but was
represented by Francis Merkerson of
| of this county. Norman saw Merkerson
| before the Waynesboro meeting. but at
that time he learned nothing of the OBJ
ject of the meeting. When MerkersOn
returned, he called meeting at Moor
| man house and made a speech to those
present, of whom there were about TWEEN
ty. He told them that they must form a
Band of Brothers. and must put their
names down not to steal produce and
trade it off for whisky; to stand by one
I, 20 oh ,ul,p4 ,Ioir ,fE
| told them. He also reported that they
were all to vote for Gen. Grant next year
and to make him king.
"GRANT TO BE KING
Now, Jake said /, did Merkerson
tell you that he heard about the election
of Grant to be king. at Wayncsboro?'
eyes, Sir" was his reply, that is what
he reported. He said that we were not
to work on the roads any more under the
direction of white officers, but were to
have our own officers, and if the white
people would not agree to that then the
black men were to go TO one end Of the
road 10 be repaired, and the white men
to the other, and they were to work III
separate gangs He said we were all to
have 40 acres Of land"
"How did he say you were TO get it?"
''Well, he didn't tell US at that time
and we didn't know. The jury question
was talked about, and he said that at the
next term of the Court we were going to
have twelve colored jurors and twelve
white ones, and we were to have. our
rights
At this meeting Norman says, the
names of a. number of the colored people
were taken down and their numbers were
added to at subsequent meetings. The
second was held at Buckeye Church a
week after the first, and some time later
there was muster, at which II were pres
ent. Norman got all his instructions
and information from MerkcrsOn, who III
turn said that he received them from Cor
day Harris, who in turn received them
from General Harris, and that Gen. p
r. Rivers of South Carolina was the COM
mander-in chief. Norman and his friends
seem to have thought more about the 4C
acres flaud and the mule than any~
thing else, and asked MeI kerson about
it every time they saw him. He told
them that when Gen. Grant was made
king the land would all belong to him
in short, would be Government land, and
they would be allowed to take it at Gov
ernmept prices and on long credit.
Nothing seems TO have been said about
any force being necessary to take 1t until
about the first of the present month, when
it seemed to enter the heads of some of
them that the white people might object
to any such arrangement MCTkerSon
said that they would not, that the lands
would not belong to them any way when
Grant was king.
THE ALLEGED ORDER FOR ATTACK.
Jake Norman says that he saw the
letter purporting to have been written by
Corday Harris to Jerry Walters and Har-
risoH Tucker, captains of companies,
which ordered the attack upon the whites
to begin last Friday in Merkerson's
hands, and saw him deliver it to Jerry
Walters. He did not hear the letter
read, but MerkoTSon told him its con-
tents. The companies were 20 meet at
Station No. j, on the Central Railroad
of Georgia (Tennile), and go thence to
No. ii (Bartow), there TO meet Gen. Riv-
ers ofSOuth Carolina. From that point
they were TO egin their operations, di
rectiOns being given as 10 the very plan
tation which was first to be visited. They
were to be armed with pitchtorks guns,
hoes &c. EMoOrman seems TO have had lit
tie doubt about such a proceeding and sew
eral members of his company decided
GA the spot that they could not 60, and
0'hers ueS!Tc9 10 'llHA "pouI It -dcf-
kerson Said mat theFe Wouid be no fesls-
lance by the white people,
NOW JaNe ! inquired, what dId you
think OF 1t! lhd you think that The white !
people would give up The land without |
struggleY'
y tell you the truth, HT, ! didn't !
was the rcplY
what dId sou purpose to do II you met
with resistance -,
he orders were to Kill anybody who
resisted.
Would You have done II?
Yes Sir, l SUN o ,se | would. ] would
have obeyed orders
Did you ever biii anybody, Jake?'
oh no, SIr, never did.
Had you had any misunderstanding
or any cause Tor hard ieeI'pG against any
OF the white people whose plantations you
I