St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-05-18

the door, and the second son of the
Judge, boy of ID, in aiding them, was
shot in the wrist. The mob pushed the
guard 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, a
planter and practicing physician. He
was instantly killed 10y the judge. As
soon as he fell, the mob, cewardly as
all mobs are, rushed out of the build
ing. There was a lull for few min
utes; then the crowd outside began to
yell, ''Fire the jail; burn them out -
Afterwards they shouted, THE Jail is
on fire. 1t was stratagem worthy
only of savages. Judge Chisolm, be-
lieving that the wooden building was
already in flames, determined to fight
his way out and to sell his life as dearly
as he could. He came down the stairs
with his wife and three surviving chill
dren. The dead bodies of Johnny
Chisolm and of DR.. Rosser had previous
" been carried out by Overstreet and
Wall, who left 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 Cornelia
thrust it aside. A volley of shots was
fired against the door. The judge push
ed it open and got into the hall. Mrs.
Chisolm fired both barrels of a shotgun
and wounded one of the assailants in
the face. The murderous mob closed
in around their victim. His daughter
chung 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, aided
by IA citizen who, for a wonder, showed
a spark of humanity, carried the wound
ed 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 through
out the whole tragedy, assured them
that her father was dead, that he had
died in her arms in the Jail, and per-
suaded them not to mutilate a dead
body. The bleeding and unconscious
man was then got within the shelter of
his house. Toward evening the muir
derers rode out of the town.
Judge ChisOlm is still alive, but his
recovery is scarcely within the bounds
of probability. | visited him this even
ing. He said: 81 want to live for the
dearest wife in the world, for my chill
dren, and for my country. | ana dying
for my country" The surgeon forbade
him to talk more. The brave young
girl, although suffering severe pain from
her shattered right hand, is cheerful and
hopeful. The surgeon says be never
saw woman with such nerve, and
that she bore the severe pain Of extract
ing the shot from her leg and dressing
her hand without groan. She has Il
sweet, intelligent face, dark brown hair,
and pair of large, resolute blue eyes.
The ChisOlms are people of refine
ment and culture exceptional for this
part of the country. There are books,
pictures, and Il piano in their pretty lit
tie 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 to complete the work of
assassination, aud five or six of his kins-
men, well armed, keep watch every
night.
Glmer is spoken of us an unprincipled
mana gambler and something of ii
desperate. Mcclellan was an indus
trious, 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.
In my conversations with the county
officers and Others of the principal citi-
zens of the place, have been shocked
to find them all more DESTROYS of eXcus-
ing 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 to justice,
or even the hope that they will he ar
rested. A portion of the community
entirely sympathizes with the perpetra-
tors 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 briefest form in which
the facts can be clearly stated. | wish
L 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 Re
publicans, and in view of the bitter
feelings against ChisOlm and Gilmer
that had pervaded the county for years.
Still it was by no means purely polit
zeal outrage. The personal feud be-
tween ChisOlm and his adherents and
the Gully family had roots outside of
party differences, and the Gullys no
doubt believed that Chisolm and Gil
mer had instigated the assassination of
their kinsman. After all, the principal
cause, underlying all others, must be IA
low grade of Civilizations condition
of society in which the laws are not re-
spected, the sacredness of human life
not appreciated. E. V. S.