The weekly clarion., 1877-09-26
Letter from 4. Apple w hjGe. lea re.
gard 20 Law lessnes~ im
Pike County.
osYKA. Mss. Sent. 10. ISL.

say "rumOrs are rife OF a fearful state o
lawlessness in Pike county," and r,qpes
me 10 give you the facts. l cheerfully com
ply with your wish in this regard, and senC
you the following. intending "nothing IL
extenuate nor to set down augbt ia malice.
| will say that | am, and have all my lilt
been, supporter of the majesty of the law
and of course oppc sed 10 everything SAVIOR
ing of arbitrary power. My creed is tha
right constitutes highland not might right
Prior TO the election in 1876, i'm order tC
counteract the baleful influences of Radi-
cal domin ination, the citizens OF the country
organized in each neighborhood political
clubs. How they succeeded is matter o.
history.
After the election the clubs of Amite
county, and of the upper portion OF East
Louisiana, continued their organization
and directed their attention to the suppress
sion of thievery and other lawIessness then
ram pant in that section, Operating in this
line they acquired the name of buIIdozers
and do doubt with all their patriotic inten-
tions, have done wrong sometimes. They
possibly adopted the doctrine OF the Ven
titan in the play of Othello, that to do a
!
that of some casuists, who have held that
the end sanetities the means.
Be that it may, to these 'bulldozers'
the people attribute the disturbances that
have occurred in Pike county, chiefly in
Osyka | know of no trouble any where
else in the county.
Now for the facts: Some time in June
last, the negro men of this town aud vicin
ity, to the number of fifty or sixty, assem-
bled with arms and paradtd the streets in a
very warlike manner, boaSted of their
prOwess, made violent threats, and gave in
solent and unsatisfactory answers TO par
| ties who interrogated them as TO their OBJ
ject. This was one Saturday night. Du-
ring the following Sabbath the town was
| thronged the whole day by negroes, men
| and women, who wore sullen and defiant
aspect. Late in the day, thinking l might
be able to do something towards promoting
peace and quiet, | went among them and
gave them gentle and friendly talk. They
would give me no satisfaction as to their
designs the night previous, and though |
had long been the legal adviser of many OF
them, they treated me with bare civility. /
confess | felt alarmed and advised the
whites to prepare for defense.
Ii should be borne in mind that up 10
this time there had no i'll feeling between
the races, nor any occasion for it. Ne en-
croachments upon their rights had been
complained of by the colored population,
and their hostile demonstrations remains to
this day a mystery. On Sunday evening
the whites organized an armed com pany of
some twenty-five or thirty men for the de-
fence OF the town, end it was only after the
negroes saw thaC we were prepared for
emergencies and not much afraid that they
retired. This was the first disturbance that
has occurred in our community s1ncethe
war. OF course, there was great deal of
excitement the ensuing week. The air
was full of rumOrs, and many seriously
feared dangerous outbreak, so that the
community was in a constant state of agi-
tatiOn.
Osyka is situated directly above the State
line, and it could hardly be expected that
our neighbors below would remain igno-
rant of the events that were passing. On
the next Saturday night when, according
to rumor, the negroes were to make another
armed display, band of men-masked,
the number of eighty or a hundred-came ,
into town from over the line, surrounded ,,
house, about midnight, where the negroes |
were assembled, presented their arms and |
iE formed the inmates that if they stood still |
they would not be hurt. They then com |
menced to call the names of the men who |
were conspicuous as the leaders of the pre- |
vious hostile demonstrations, when Frank |
Posey broke out of a back door and ran
As might have been expected, lie was fired
on and mortal wounds inflicted. His was
not one of the names called, nor did the
whites of the town. so far as ] can learn, sus-
1ect him of any com plicity with the armed
operations referred to- Oa the contrary. he
was quite taVOrite with the whites, and in
nv opinion not a white man in town or
county had anything against him. The
leath of no one, | am sure, was in the pro-
gTamme of the invaders, and his fate was
he result of his own folly in running after
re had been warned Of the consequences of
10 doing, and not of malice aforethOught.
The poor fellows death filled the town
With sadness, and no doubt it was sincerely
egrettcd by those who did the deed. After ;
ooSey was shot some few of the others were | ,
whipped, and the band retired. ,
In my opinion none of the citizens of ,
)syka or of Pike county, had any hand in |
his melancholy affair, though four of our {
iJizens and one of Louisiana have been in ,
icted for the killing-all of whom the
included, surrendered them
elves to the law and have been bailed by or
er of Judge Smiley. 1t is well known that
ne of the indicted was sixteen miles from
)syka when the homicide was committed.
nd | am assured that the others can all
i've satisfactory accounts of themselves at :
he time. a
1t has never been hinted that any citizens b
f Pike county are connected with the So
allied bulldoZerS; there has been no trouble fl
nyWhere in the county outside of OSyka, | n
nd until the blacks themselves inaugurated 5
he disturbance. a more quiet and law IL
biding people than ours did not exist. ''He
lat taketh the sword shall perish by the L
vord," says high authOrity-and until hui L
ian nature is made better, when the gaunt- il
t of defiance is thrown, response in kind v
ay reasonably be expected
In the North the Mollie Maguires and ty
rikers may kill people by the score and ir
estroy property by the millions, and it is OF
mere freak of i'll breeding. If by casualty al
single man is killed in the South, we are di
urderers and outlaws We are enjoying | re
.ace and quiet now l might add, that al
lring the late term of our Circuit Court in
of armed men visited the town re
Magnolia one night, and after calling re
r the Sheriff at his hotel and at
5 dwelling, and not finding him fly
either, they retired without the By
ast disturbance. They found one of his 81
DutleS IuSE OuJSlOe OF Town ana detained / eS
IN short time. but treated him with per- an
It civilty. 1t seems that they wanted the
il keys; but whether to release prisoner W.
punish one is not certainly known. te
lere has been some talk of a white man tic
40 has rendered himself inimical to the fu
ople in town and country, being ordered to Eu
I'VE, but | apprehend nothing of any con- or
luence to the public will grow out of CO
&c affair. | think our prospects for peace no
d the reign OF law aud order in Pike are mi
good deal better than they are in Pennsyl- lei
MIA. Yours truly, sci
/ APPLEwHITE. aY
an
go
aOtheP Letter from Hr. Apple