The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-09-22

came around Che corner OF the house. pistol
| In hand Theodore shook himself loose
moved as before slowly up the street, bug not
| firing. and was perhaps O hundred feet IRON ~
the courthouse door when a heavy BY bullet ,.1
| from O. deringer held by the elder Philip
Thompson pierced his BREAST It Vas T,: a NOR as
tai wound. The, young man fell Ta 1s5 was
no one now to return The Thompson fire, and
his friends picked him up, unassailed, and
| carried him to q room OF O. store near by.
There he died thatafternoon calm 2, ana steaa-
fast to the close. / think you WILL call MIN 9
| have to tell.
| SO father and two sons had killed father
| and two sons-rarely more shocking com,
cidence. Stngularly, no other person " !. g 81
| that crowded hall was injured, although fifty
| bullets and odd were afterward found imb-
| edded III various parts OF the room.
When young Theodore Davies was borne,
wounded to death, to the room hard by, ne
sent for his mother and the youngest brother,
| him It was evident that his time was but
short; but, taking the boys hand, he made
| him promise that he would pursue the quar-
rel no further. 1t has been too often the fash
| ion or II in Kentucky for the surviving members
Of d family, after one OF these bloody ARRAYS,
| to declare vendetta against those OF the
other side. In one case, that OF the Hills and
Evanses, in the neghboring county OF Ger "a. :
years ago, and since then 1t has been esti-
mated that sixty persons have been killed
relatives, more or less distant. of the two men
who fought In 1896.
placed on d. bed, for, as he said, the fast
| flowing blood could do no harm to the bare
floor. He turned to friend Of the Thomp-
sons, who had assisted In bringing him IN,
will, and then drew from his pocket Q closely
written paper, read it slowly and thought
fully through, called for d lighted match and
set fire to it, holding it in his hand until con-
have since been told by The surviving son,
was statement drawn up the night before
| by Theodore Davies ST., and intrusted to the
young Theodore prophesying exactly what
happened In the courtroom that day, and
giving proofs that led the old man to believe
that the Thompsons had arranged q detailed
plan to murder him and his two sons Ii the
verdict promised to go against the defendant.
That document, as represented. would have
gone far toward convicting the Thompsons of
deliberate murder, and If It was as represent
ed, you will agree with me that the dying
victims act In destroying 1t was that OF
noble spirit. A minister had reached the
room ; Theodore talked with him feebly, babe
mother and brother good by, and was dead.
The Thompsons W6Et arrested t6taa, Ebtat think
released on bail. One of the accused being
commonwealth or prosecuting attorney, the
Hon. J. G. s. Blackburn was engaged to con-
duct the prosecution He was then but at the
beginning of d career which has since been re-
markably successful. You will remember his
strong, rugged face and quiet determination
as he sat with the Potter Investigating COM
same quality. was shown in the unearthing OF
the Belknap fraud Of four years ago, when the
young lawyer was serving his first term In
Congress. just prior to his appearance In the
Thompson trial he had been engaged u "a
county. The brother and sister of John
/ Harper. owner of Longfellow, had been bru-
tally murdered in bed and an attempt made
the. same night to murder the veteran
turfman himself as he slept near by his
beloved horse In his stable at Lexington.
The three Harpers. bachelor brothers and
maiden sister, were very rich, and Adam
Harper, nephew. was. understood to be
their heir. Another relative publicly accused
have definite proof sufficient to bring the
matter before the grand Jury: :, Adam Harper
sued him for libel and 80" Blackburn was
retained for the defence. He filed an answer
pleading justification, and on the trial boldly
charged that Adam Harper and his son were
guilty Of the triple crime. Young Harper, at
recess drew pistol and fired at the intrepid
lawyer, who jumped upon his. assailant,
over to the officer, and went back into court
and finished his accusation. His client was
cleared. and when old John Harper died no
mention OF Adam Harper was found In his
WILL
1t was gravely feared throughout Kentucky
that, at the trial OF the Thompsons, there
would be still another bloody scene If the
prosecuting lawer attacked them with any
severity. Judge Wicklitfe q few days before
the case was called, gave public notice that
every person, as he entered the court room,
would be searched for concealed weapons.
The newspapers touched the case but GIN
Behalf Of the accused, and many of the facts
here given are for the first time in public
print. Blackburn, however, was in all this
interval steadily getting, a terrible array Of
points together, and two days before the trial
In that speech he distinctly charged q deli
berate conspiracy on the part of the Thomp-
sons, father and sons, to kill the Davieses,
father and sons, in the court room that
day. He charged that Philip Thompson,
Philip Thompson Davies, as they stood by
the stove. The young man, as was expected.
challenged Thompson to accompany him
without the courtroom and Is settle It there.
his pistol and shot young Davies dead. This
was the signal to his father and brother in
side; their pistols were out on the instant,
and Theodore Davies Sr, was dead on the
Theodore Davies, Jr, who had armed himself
that day only at his fathers earnest desire,
and, In anticipation Of what happened, escaped
equally quick death by @ marvellous accident,
| for three hitherto unerring revolvers were
blazing at him for five minutes or more. Such,
elaborated in all the details Of circumstantial
proof was the charge of the eloquent young
lawyer from Woodford. But the speech was
trusted to friend to put in print should the
attempt to make it In court be prevented
by the speakers death while addressing
the jury. It was understood at the time that
Judge Wickliffe and other influential men Of
the county had made an urgent plea that il
be not delivered, for as they said, it would
preeipitate a conflict which might involve all
that neighborhood. You, who live In orderly
cities, cannot appreciate the force of that plea
as made in Harrodsburg five years ago. The
Ku-Klux we're at their bloody work through
out that part of the State, and the local or
State governments were seemingly powerless
to stop 1t. Kentucky had not yet recovered
from Che effects of the war; border State,
she mad been torn with intestine quarrels
father was divided against son. and brother
against brother, and the county authorities
were often but the choice of one disorderly
faction against another. All this has since
been happily much changed, and the good
sense Of the people Is reasserting itself.
Whether Blackburn was overborne by these
appeals, or whether he yielded to the peremp-