The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1875-01-22

had lifted the boards and taken refuge under
! the floor of the court house. They were al
captured About thirty-seven men were taken
pT1sOners the number IS not definitely fixed.
| They were kept under guard until dark, when
they we're led out two by two and shot. Most
| Of the men were shot to death a few were
! wounded, not mOrtally. and by pretending to
! be dead. were afterwards, during the night,
| able to make their escape Among them was
the Levi Nelson named in the Indictment.
| The dead bodies of the negroes killed in this
| affair we're left Unburied till Tuesday. April
15 when they werA buried by deputy mar
/ sbal and officer OF the militia from New
| Orleans. The se pers MS found fifty-Dine dead
| bodies They showed D'sto shot wounds, the
| great maj iority in the he art. and some OF them
| in the back Of The had. In addition to the
| dead found, some charred remains of dead
| bodies were discovered near the court house.
| Six dead bodies we're found under warehouse,
! all shot in the heart but one or two, who were
! shot in the breast. The only white men in
/ Jured from the beginning OF these troubles to
| their close. were HadnOt and Harris. The court
| house and its contents were entirely consumed.
! There is no evidence that any one in the crowd
/ Of whites bore any lawful warrant for the ar
/ rest Of anv blacks. There is no evidence that
| either Nash or COzabol after the affair ever
/ demanded the Office to which they had set up
/ a claim. But Register continued to act as
parish judge. These are the facts in this case,
/ as I understand them to be admitted. To
/ hold the people of Louisiana in general re-
| spOnsible for these atrocities would not be
/ fair. But it is a lamentable fact that insuffer-
/ able distinctions were thrown in the way Of
/ Furnishing these murderers, and the sO-called
| conservative papers Of the state not only
/ justified the massacre. but denounced as fed
| eral tyranny and despotism the attempt of the
United States officers to bring them to justice.
/ Fierce denunciations ring through the country
about officers interfering IN said election mat
/ ters IN Louisiana, while every one of the
| COlfax miscreaDts goes unwhipped of justice,
/ anO no way can be found in this bOasted land
| Of civilization and Christianity, to punish the
perpetrators Of this bloody and mOnstreus
| crime.
! Not unlike this was the massacre in August
| last. Several northern young men of car ital
and enterprise had started the little and
| tourishiRg town of Coushatta. Some of them
were republicans and ofice-hOlders under Kel-
| lOgg- They were, therefore, doomed to death.
Six Of them were seized and carried away from
heir homes and murdered in cold blood. Not
one has been punished, and the conservative
press of the state denounced all efforts to
/ that end, ard boldly justified the crime.
Many murders OF a like character have been
committed in individual cases, which cannot
/ here be detailed. For example. Z. S. CraffOrd,
judge Of the parish, and the district attorney
of the twelfth judicial district of the state.
their way to court, were shot from their horses
by men in ambush on the Sth of October,
1873, and the wife of the former, in COM
municatiOn to the department of justice, tells
pitifuI tale of the persecution of her hus<
bard because he was g union man. and of the
EFFORTS made to seize those who had committed
a crime which, to use her language, left two
widows and nine orphans destitute To say
that the murder of negro or a white republi-
can, Is not considered a crime in Louisiana,
would probably be unjust to a great part Of
the people, but it is true that a great number
of such murders have been committed, and
no one has been punished therefor, and mani
festly the spirit of hatred and violence is
stronger than the law.
Representations were made to me that the
presence Of troops in Louisiana was unneces-
saTy, and that there was no danger of public
Ao1-r
sequently, early last summer the troops we're
withdrawn from the state, with the exception
of a small garrison at New Orleans barracks,
It was stated that a comparative state of quiet
had supervened, and that political excitement
as TO Louisiana affairs seemed to be diving
out, but the November election was approach
ing, and 1t was necessary for party purposes
that the flame should be relighted- Accord
ingly on the 14th of September D. B Penn.
claiming that he was elected lieutenant gov
ernOr in 1872, issued infammatory prOcla-
nation calling upon the militia of the state to
arm, assemble, and to drive ont the usurpeTS,
as he designated the officers Of the state. The
White Leagues. armed and ready for the con-
fiict, promptly responded. On the same day
the governor made formal requisition upon
me, IN pursuance OF the act or l790, and sec
ton 4, article 4 of the constitution, to aid in
suppresslng domestic violence. On the next
day issued my proclamation commanding the
insurgents to dIsperse within five days Of the
date thereof, but before the proclamation was
published in New Orleans, the organized and
armed forces recognizing a usurping govern
ment, had taken fOrcible possession of the
state-hOuse and temporarily subverted the
government, Twenty or more people were
killed, including a number of the police of
the city. The streets of the city were stained
with blood. All that was desired in the way
of excitement had been accomplished. And
in view of the steps taken to repress it, the
revolution was apparently. though 1t IS be-
heved not really, abandoned, and the cry of
federal usurpation and tyranny in Louisiana
r-aHr led
had been sent to the state under the requisi-
ton of the governor, as other disturbances
seemed imminent. They were allowed to re-
main there to render the executive such aid
as might become necessary to enforce the
laws of the St ate, and Tepress the continued
YiOlsnce which seemed inevitable the moment
federal support should be withdrawn. Prior
to ana with a view to the late election IN Lou
isiana, white men associated themselves to-
gether in armed bodies called White Leagues,
and at the same time threats were made IN
the journals Of the state, that the election
should be carried against the republicans st
all hazards, which, very naturally, greatly
alarmed the cOlOred voters.
By section 8 Of the act of Feb. %, 1871, 1t
is made the duty Of United States marshals
and their deputies, at polls Wnere votes are
cast for Representatives in congress. to keep
order and prevent violations of the sO-called
enforcement act, and other Offenses against
the laws Of the United States, and, upon
reQuIEIt1On OF the marshal OF LOUISIANA
and in view of armed organization and
pOrtentous circumstances, I caused detach-
ments Of troops to be stationed in various 10
calities IL the state, to aid him in the perform
ance Of his official duties.
That there was intimidation of republican
voters at the election, notwithstanding this
precautiOn, admits of no doubt The follow
ing are specimens of the means used; On
the 18th Of October, eighty persOns signed and
published the following at Shreveport:
"We, the undersigned, merchants Of the
city OF Shreveport, in obedience to request
of the Shreveport Campaign club, agree to
use every endeavor to get our employees to
vote the peoples ticket at the ensuing cleo
ton and in the event of their refusal so to do,
or in case they vote the radical ticket, to re-
fuse to employ them at the expiration OF their
term Of service"
On the same day another large body OF per
sons published in the same place paper, IN
which they used the following language;
eve, the undersigned, merchants OF the
CITY Of Shreveport, alive to the great import
ance Of securing good and honest government
to the state, do agree and pledge ourselves
not to advance any supplies or money to any
/ planter the coming year, who viii give employ
ment or rent lands to laborers who vote the
radical ticket n the coming election"
have no information Of the proceedings Of
/ the returning board for said election, which
/ may not be found IN its report which has been
/ published, but it is a matter Of public mfor-
nation that great part Of the time taken TO
canvass the votes was consumed by the argu
/ meHts of lawyers saveral 0F vrhoTn rarrpeeufed