Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-05-18

with grating in it. The lock was broken
off with axes. While the blows were iall-
ing upon it, COrnelia implOred the two re-
naming guards, Overstreet and Wall, to fire
through the grating upon the mob pressing
up the stairs, but they refused. She then
carried the guns left by the other guards "
her father. After the lock yielded, the two
| guards tried to hold the door, and the Sec
ond son of the Judge, boy of l3, in aiding
them, was shot in tho wrist The mob
I pushed the guards aside, and the men in
advance gained the upper landing. fired,
and killed the poor wounded boy, who was
clinging to his father. First in the brutal
crowd came David ROsser. planter and
practicing physician. lie was instantly
killed BY the judge. As soon as he fell.
the mob, cowardly as all mobs are, rushed
out of the building. There was lull for a
few minutes; then the crowd outside began
to yell, Fire the Jail; burn them out ~
Afterwards they shouted, "The jail is on
fire." 1t was a stratagem worthy only of
savages. Judge Chisolm, believing that
the wooden building was already in flames.
determined to fight his way out and to sell
his life as dearly as ne could. lie came
down the stairs with his wife and three sur
viving children. The dead bodies of John
ny ChisOlm and OF DR.. Rosser had previous
ly been carried out by OyeIstreet and Wall,
who lett the jail to get out of harms way.
At the foot Of the stairs the hunted family
found the hall full Of armed men. One
man stuck his gun through the grating in
the door, against the breast of the Judge.
but Cornela thrust 1t aside. \ vOlley of
shots was fired against the door. The Judge
pushed it open and got into the hall. Mrs.
Chls0lm fired both barrels of shotgun
ard wounded one Of the assailanti IN the
face. Ths murderous mob closed IN around
their victim. His daughter clung to his
neck with one hand and with the other
thrust away the guns aimed at him. Her
hand was shattered by ball and five shots
struck one of her legs. Judge Chisolm fell
wounded in IL places. The mob, believing
they had accomplished their purpose, left
the Jail.
The wife and son Of the Judge, aid ed by
citizen who, for a wonder, showed spark
OF humanity. carried the wounded man to
his home, few hundred yards across the
commons. A body of men stopped them on
the way and were about to fire at the Judge.
when Miss COrnelia, with the remarkable
courage and self-possession she showed
throughout the whole tragedy, assured
them that her father was dead, that he had
died IN her arms in the Jail, and persuaded
them not to mutilate a dead body. The
bleeding and unconscious man was then got
within the shelter of hi house. Toward
evening the murderers rode out OF the town.
Judge ChisOlm is still alive, but his re-
covery is scarcely within the bounds of
probability. | visited him this evening.
He said 81 want to live for the dearest
wife in the world. for my children. and for
my country. sm dying for my country"
TUa tnr d. 20 H.
brave young girl, although suffering severe
pain from her shattered right hand, is
cheerful and hopeful. The surgeon says he
never saw a woman with such nerve, and
that she bore the severe pain of extracting
the shot from her leg and dressing her hand
without groan. She has sweet, intelli-
gent face, dark brown hair, and pair of
large, resOlute blue eyes. The Chisolms are
people OF refinement and culture excep-
tional for this part of the country. There
are books, pictures. and q piano in their
pretty little cottage. and the flower garden |
that surrounds it would be the wonder and
pride of any Northern village. The front
window OF the room where the Judge lies is |
boarded up to guard against an attempt ID |
complete the work of assassination, and five |
or six of his klnsmen, well armed, keep |
watch every night.
Gilmer is spoken of as an unprincipled |
mana gambler and something of des- |
perado. Mcclellan was an Industrious,
respectable citizen.
From the careful inquiries made by Gov. |
Stone, it appears that the brothers, sons,
and nephews of the murdered Gully were |
the ringleaders of the mob Ia my CONVEX
sations with the county officers and others |
of the principal citizens of the place, have |
haor Sbnnbo cd 20 E,I oil g.
of excusing or palliating the horrible |
crimes of the mob than to exhibit sympathy |
for the victims. From not single man |
have heard expressed an intention to aid |
in bringing the murderers t) ustice, or
even the hope that they will be arrested. A |
portion OF the community entirely sympa-
thlzes with the perpetrators of the bloody |
outrage, and those who do not are too much |
terrorized to try to enforce the law.
Such is the story of the Kemper tragedy,
in the brieiest form in winch the facts can
be clearly stated. | wish | could say that
politics had nothing to do with the terrible
affair. but cannot, in face of the fact that
the assailants were all Democrats and the
victims Republicans. and in view of the
bitter feelings against ChisOlm and GIlmer
that had pervaded the county Tor years.
Still 1t was by no means & purely political
outrage The personal feud between
Chisolm and his adherents and the Gully
family had roots outside of party iifferen-
ces, and the Gullys no doubt believed that
Chisolm and Gilmer had lnstigated the
of their kinsman After all,
the principal cause, underlying all others,
must be low grade OF Civilizations COR
dition of society in which the laws are not
respected. the sacrcdness Of human life not
appreciated. +. ).