New-York tribune., 1876-12-06
THE MURDER OF PINKSTON.


AND SHOT TO DEATH-HIs cnILD's THROAT CUT
THE WITNESS SHOT.
IFxon STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF TUE THiBUsEi
NEw-ORIEANs, Nov. 2S.-tive days ago L saw an
sAidayit sworn to at Monroe, Ouachita Parish. in
this State on the 21st of this month. and pnrport
ing TO be signed by Mrs. Eliza Pinkston, which gave
brief account of outrage which IN It's horrIoie
details surpassed anything l had ever heard Oh
sinco the Ku-Klux investigation rei'ised 70
believe that the story it contained co'liu
he true. The crimes enumerated were 30 Ie-
o,,;,o an .ha;r character 80 inconsistent with the
it Of modern civilization and 80 disoreditaDie 10
hrra, nature itself that il seemed to me incredipe
.hat thew could have been committed. The date Oh
+,s aAadavit was then so recent that supposed IL
imnossible for il to have reached New-Orieans py
tbe time when il was shown to me, and at once SET
about an investigation for the purpose OF learning
what foundation there was, if any, for the report.
I first discovered that the affidavit had actualy
been received by mail and that it was posted VI
Monroe ON the day of its date. None OF tne heP"p
hcans at the Custom-house knew anything aoous
the case except what they had learned tioin 'i'O
paper. o.,
tbon ;nou;red of prominent white Democrats
from Ouachita Parish if they had heard OF the case,
and they repIied that they had but that they old
not believe the outrage TO have been commltted Dy
tba Denecrats The woman, they said, was no
torious Democrat herself, and they believed ti'aU
a. poa;oal negroes Ind bulldozed" the family on
that account. But they admitted that Henry INK
ston and the infant child had been killed and Eliza
Pinkston severely wounded. After TINS relerroo
to the case guardedly in dispatch ana also Ih ID
letter TO THE TRIBUNE, still hestatlng 10 give tie
horrible details, lest should 30 gross ~
the people of this State.
Yesterday Eliza Pinkstonwas brought to tins CITY,
and last evening her statement was taken more Ill
detail than in the first affidavit. read it for the
6rst time this morning and viii append copy OF II
tn this letter rs worthy of preservation III fuli al
.bou9h the leading facts which il contains have al
ready been forwarded by telegraph. This afternoon
the poor woman was examined before the returning
Board Under the rules of the board no correspond
ents were allowed to be present, and late tins even
ing learn that the reports Of the proceedings 1hf
nished by the stenoeraphers OF the Tistlng commit
tees to be published in the local papers
are so meaCer as to convey only very
i1npsrfect idea of what took place. The Democratic
report Will contain nothing about Mrs. PnkSton's
examination. and that printed by the Republicans
viii omit altogether the erOss-examinaton.
Thought for a while, and | said so in dispatch,
that the admission of the Northern visitors and
their reporters wond insure almost as great pub
lctv To the proceedings OF the board public Sos-
sions but have found that this has not turned out
to be true The reports of the proceedings that are
published have been very imperfect, and Ill some
degree partisan in their character l don't mean
that there anything reported in them that does not
occur but do believe that neither report tells the
whole truth.
This evening visited Mrs. Pnkston at her board
nghouse in this city, and spent an hour in conNersa-
tion with her. / was accompanied by Mr. Astwood
of Carroll Parish, in this State. He is a we-cdu-
II ITO RGOubllcan
and il the "yellow man" whom Mrs. Pinkston
sneaks of in her statement having spoken at the
sama meeting with Mr.. Brewster at st. James
Chanel Ouachita Parish, on the Friday before the
election The house at which Mrs Pinkst0n Is
lodging n this city is apparently very respectable
one on GravieT-st kept by cOlored woman. was
impressed with its cleanliness, apparent comfort,
and the general good order of everything about 1t.
Passing through the parlor and dining-room, wo
were conducted up stairs to gallery overiooklhg an
interior court, and were shown into neatly-iur-
nishcd lodging-room opening upon It, AS we en-
-tored Mrs. Pinkston recognized my companion, al
though she had never seen him except at the meet
ing referred to. was introduced to her and after
saving that she was comfortable and, she hoped,
covering she at once began to talk about her
troubles.
Mrs. Pinkston is probably from 30 to 80 years OF
age, of pure African blood, and was born and grew
ND in Alabama. She is field hand OF ordinary IN
telhgence for one of her class, and very iiuent
talker. She has been the mother OF four Children
all born out of WodlOck. i am bound TO say that
there is nothing exceptional in this, for deporab!o
as 1t is chastity among the lower class of negro
women is very rare. Her youngest daughter was l
months old. She was married to her late and only
husband about nine months ago. My friend re-
marked that she had been very cruelty used.
i md 10 her
dress in front and removing the cloths with which
they were covered she showed US two wounds III her
breast One was caused by gun or pistol-shot. the
hall evidently being large one and the other was
stab-wound from a knife. Gashes upon her throat
and Jaw and on the back of her head had
been sewed up and we were told that there were Sc
we're knife wounds on one thigh, each OF her heels
. aud Cunshot wound in of her legs. In repeat
ing some portions of her story shall not attempt to
reprodnce many Of the negro idoms and expressions
which she used, although L shall give the narrative
ms nearly as possible in her own words.
AT what time did these men visit your house r.
asked.
About two hours before day." the reply. 81
heard them riding along the road heard the
horses"
"Was any one in the house except you. your hus-
band. and the little child that was killedp
"There was an old colored man there carly in the
evening. When went to bed left him talking to
Henry. He had been bulldozod and was bloody,
and wanted to sleep in the house. told him that
there was only one bed besides that we occupied.
and that kept that for quality folks. could not
let him sleep in that but fixed up some old quilts
in the corner and told him that he could sleep there
"Did Won see him while the men at your
houseT p
"No; he must have got out while they were