Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1876-11-29

house of Jesse NJ Kenney, a colored man, three
miles from Colfax, and found him quietly engaged
in making a fence. They shot him through the
head and killed him. This seems to have been an
unprovoked, wanton, and deliberate murder. This
aroused the terror of the colored people. Ru-
mors were also spread of threats made by them
against the whites. April I, the court opened and
adjourned The alarm somewhat subsidized, and
MANY colored people returned TO their homes the
others maintaining their possession of the court
house, the whites maintaining an armed organiza-
ton outside the town. April IL, the eolored men
threw up small earthwork near the courthouse.
Easter Sunday, April IL, large body of whites
rode into town and demanded Of the colored men
that they should give up their arms and yield pos
session of the courthouse This demand not be-
ing yielded to, thirty minutes were given them to
remove their women and children. The negroes
took refuge behind their earthwork, from which
they were driven by the entlading fire from a can
non which the whites had. Part of them fled for
refuge TO the court house. which was a one story
brick building, which had formerly been a stable.
The rest, leaving their arms, fed down the river
TO strip of woods, where they were pursued and
many of them overtaken and shot 10 death.
About sixty or seventy got into the courthouse.
Alter some Intellectual firing each side, the roof
OF the building was set fire to. When the roof
was burning ever their heads, the negroes held
out the sleeve Of a shirt and the leaf of book as
flags OF truce. They were ordered to drop their
arms. A number of them rushed out, unarmed,
from the blazing building, were met by voey,
and number killed and wounded; Others were
captured. Fifteen of the blacks crept under the
floor of the burning building, but were all-captur
cd. The number taken prisoners was about thir-
ty-seven. They were kept till dark, when they
were led out two by two, each two with a rank of
mounted whites behind them, being told that they
were TO be taken short distance and set at lber-
ty. When the ranks had been formed, the word
was given, and the negroes were all shot. A few
who were woGnded, but not MORALLY, escaped,
feigning death.
The bodies remained unbunt till the next Thurs
day, when they were buried by Deputy Marshal
from New Orleans.
Fifty-nine dead bodies were found. They
showed pisol-shot wounds the great ma ority of
them in the head, and most OF them in the back
Of the head.
This deed was without palliation or iustfca-
ton; it was deliberate, barbarons, cold blooGed
murder. 1t must stand like the massacres Of
Glencoe and of 81. Bartholomew foul blot on TIE
pages of history"
This is true, but it is also true that this massa
ere did not begin to parallel, in cowardly and
fendish atrocity the massacre of New Orleans
referred TO by Senator West in which 26O men
were slaughtered in cold blood.
NIL
"Spread over all these years arc large number
of murders and other acts of violence done for po-
ltcal ends. In reply to an inquiry by the com.
mittee, Gen. Sheridan, who is gathering careful
statistics of the number of persons killed and
wounded in Louisiana up to Feb S. 1875, since
1866, on account of their political opinions, re-
ports the number so far ascertained as follows:
Killed, 2,l4l
Wounded, 2,ll5
Total, 4,256
Much evidence was taken by the committee
from persons in both political parties in regard to
this matter. The statements on both
sides left it beyond dispute that murders were
events of the most ordinary occurrence as
hardly to make an impression on the memory of
intelligent men in whose neghborhood they &C.
CURED; and this not only in cities but in rural
commu mites that there existed throughout
great part of the State intense degree of poit-
cal heat and hatred; that as a rule, homicide
murder and assault with intent to kill, went with
out legal punishment that the white men gcuer-
ally went armed Under all the circum stances
we do not doubt the substantial truth of Gen.
Sheridan statement"
These extracts give only a faint picture of the
persecution of the loyalists of Louisiana since the
close of the war The annals of the dark ages
present no crueles more horrible than the repub-
licans, whites and blacks, of Louisiana have suf-
fered for opinions sake.
Mi.
| recall these memories to show the satanic in
sincerity OF the pretext, so vauntingy photographed
from New Orleans by the banditti, that thousands
of negroes everywhere have voluntarily voted the
democratic ticket in Louisiana; to indicate that
until human nature is transformed, it is iucon-
ceivable that our overwhelmingly Legitimate ma
Jority in that State can be constitutionaly over
come as long as the White Line leaders are as
now, the candidates and managers of the demo.
cratic party; and to point out by historical and
logical inference how ignorantly cruel and absurd
is the assumption of judicial mpartisity contained
in the declaration that the question is not which
political organization is right, but which of them
the least in the wrong" 1t will be time enough
to make that statement when it can be shown that
the black or white republicans of Louisiana have
been guilty of even one of the murders and mas
sacres that have been proved against the demo-
cratic banditti. J.R.