The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1878-07-03
Spcciul TO tic NcWS and Courier.

nlnuCTeu tue IlttLLeT lIOll uSihS W.
the attention of thegencral public us strongly
and urgently or as often as 1t Shouid nave
been. 1t may be also remarked that the Oh
tenders, in every instance, had superior op-
portunities for presenting thelr SlaG ot ehei
case as il arose, and In many such instances
the representations OF the one side only were
ever heard. On 8; very few occasions lhuGGu,
comparatively speaking, papers puDils'leu IN
In the upper counties wouiu CONTAIN soiis
account OF reported misconduct on the part
Of revenue officers, such for instance as tne
unwarranted arrest and Imprisonment OF u
suspected moonshiner; the forcible entry IN:
to the private dwelling OF alotncr; insult oi.
fcrcd to the wife Of still another, &C., &c; but
preceding such narrative by several days
readers outside OF the county would nave
been informed Of the capture OF q .noleo
despcrado,' the destruction, Of sill oi
two, and Of ever so many gallons OF mash.
and in the face of such tidings the protest 81
the pickcnS Sentinel or of the fe0uce Courier
would be read with but languid interest Of
with indittercnce.. no
law. and the rights of innocent. citizens
shamcrulry invaded and trampled upon on
rcpeated and repeated occasions, Tor Il pcrloo
extending through several years, very rev o.
my readers are prepared to beileVe; out INA
such has been the case can readily De proven
and will be proved to the satisfaction OF az
or the fault will be mine, not that OF the SUD
ordinate officers OF the United States revenue
department.. ,
Inc lnISSl lISl}tIlCC HNS IhlS
the most attention abroad, and on THIS &C
count and because it involved the deatn o
one of the victims, and because or the lccll.t
which exists in thisc community in regard tt
it, it Is proper that 1t should pc cohsloercI
first in order. l refer to =
TIE L OF AMOS LADD.
A few days ago information was as usua
tclecraphcd over the country by the deputy
mnrsha,s concerned in the affair tiini on'
Amos L.add, an Illicit distillcr IN ilcKehs
County, had been killed ut his home ny o
party of officers who had been sent 10 arTes
shoot him in sclfdcfence. The officers nee
the county Immediately after the dced wa'
performed and the facts of their supseuueIl
arrest at Grccnville and trial at Walhaiit ure
On the preliminary hearing before judge
Kcrshaw they were refused ball except IN ono
instance, and are now lying in jail awaiting
trial on the charge OF murder.
From the atfidaritS made by theHl III Icsai.
TO the occurrence, which afidarits arc no"
on file in the office of tho clerk oil court o
this county, ! nave obtained their version o
the affair. which is to the etcct mat, pciis ~
search OF Redmond and of Laid, tlcy pro
ceeded To the ncighbOrhood OF Ladu houSt
on Saturday evening, the Sth or June, aho
secretcd themselves in the WOODS auJacent
whence they could see what passed al the
house. On Saturday evening they saw u iIial
come to q fence near the house where nt
whistled and raped or the fence, when
sign was answered by a woman in the mouse
who went out to him, and after some CONVEX.
sation the man went away ana the "oiiItu
returned To the house. The officers remained
i'm hiding that night, n next morning sa"
the man return to the house, when ne Was
presently Joined by another. The officers
quickly surrounded the house, ana upon rush,
ing up 10 IT from several directions one OF
the men in the house whom he ordered t.
surrender. The maj in responS aimed M
eun.a flint and steel rifle, at the officer and
pullcd the trigger. The gun missed ilre
whereupon the officer nrcu, tme iiit rr's Sac
ond shot was fired and the man fell dead IL
the yard. The officers, linking mat u wa
Redmond, asked the woman VINO ~ was
they had Killed, and OH being told that IL WAS
Ladd instead, immediately rctrcated with all
possible speed to the nearest railway staLinn
where they took the first train FOR GfecnTlIle
ut which point they surrendered themselves
Durham ~testities that rs he came AROUND tht
corner of the house he heard q gun fire, and
Immediately Amos Ladd las he proved 10 DC
rushed out of the doorway towards MIN
whcreupon he, not knowing who had nreG
the first shot, or that Ladd was WOUNDED, amC
believing his own life to be in danger. fireC
upon him and he fell. One OF the Officers
then picked up Ladd's rifle, which had fallel
near him, and the party left the house.
THE SISTERS STORY
TIL account given by the women who were
in the house Is also obtained from a1luarlts
now on Tile, and corroboratcs the foregoing
cXccpt In one essential particular. that o
Ladd's attempting 10 shoot the officer. Ont
of the women, 1t may be said here, is KNOW
as RcdmOnd's 'Swcethenrt,'' MS ne Is tne
father of her. children. The fact OF her con
nection with Redmond has caused hcr 10 D(
closely watched by the revenue force, and nc
counts for their presence on this occasion
This woman ~tcstitics that on the SUNDAY
morning in question four men came 10 the
house where she was with her mother ano
two brothers, and one or them, called by tnt
his gun cock ed and presented 1T towards hel
brother Amos. She called to him and SAID
Don't shoot: don't shoot, for 1t Is my broth
err" He made no halt ort nr she on co m,nn ,@s
':was standing ut the door and at the time
seemed to be in the act OF picking up some
thing he had drorped ont or the eb m0or bn ana e H. ~.
tie later, two other shots were 1lreu by, tWL
men out Of the door on the opposite side o.
the house y \ and my brother died instant
w." One Of the balls passed through tht
flesh OF hisleft arm between the wrist and cl
how The other penetrated the right side pass.
ing near his heart, out at the. left side, anG
through the left arm. The third shot passed
through the cloth of his pants without touch'
ing the flesh. y soon as they had shot hin
the captain (Kane) asked. who Is 1t" j told
him it is ny brother. and you have. killed
him. He said, isn't it Rcdm0ndF' and / told
him Mo- He said 1t can't be helped now,
and then they all vent OF without saying
another word"
THE BROTHERS STORY.
Solathicl Ladd, the brother of the deceased
who was Smelling corn, near ne IRE place
captain rushed into the house and hred upon
Amos without saying q word. Amos was
opening the door TO 20 out. when the CUR
fired. he tllon started to fall and received
two more shots rs he fell. Deponcnt then
started of from the house, but was met by &
man with q cooked gun in his hand, who or
dcred him back. Both went TO inc spot,
where deceased was lying, and deponent SAD
to the captain, You ought not to have killc.
him." The reply was, ~ couldn't help it,
ali the officers had these short-cartridgt
shooting guns" (carb!neS.)
TIE MOTHERS STORY.
The mother, Milly Ladd, t~cStiiles that thu
officer shot las soon as he could and while
she was crying to him don't shoot Amos
She says, "was apparently going out Of tho
door, and seemed to be STOPPING down, ant
had one arm up on the door, and as soon n.
the gun fired he fell towards the ground, and
have been % years old the 10th ofthiS month";
The officer who fired the second, and proba-
bly, the fatal shot, was Durham.
a WORD OF EXPLANATION.
If may travel outside Of the rccor just
here. it may be remarked that the failure o
Ladd's family to deny, In their atlidavits, the
alleged fact of Ladd's having attempted tC
shoot the officer, Is doubtless owing to the
fact that they did not know Of the charge
haying been made against him, as they had
not, Of conrse, seen the anidavits made by the
officers. If Ladd had q gun In his hand, II
may be further said, this n be considered
evidence of any evil intention on his part, as
no one of the mountainecrS ever leaves his
house without bearing on his shoulder the
familiar old squirrel rifle, which Is always
..t, 90, ,Ixn ~, ,,,,yn DT f-t1ltnn y,,,l, nn ., n
AS they can ind in their rambling in the
woods. I.add was just OH the point oflcaving
home on such q short journey to II ncighbor'S
house and had slung over his shoulder a
two plough points which he intended taking
to Il neighbOring blacksmith shop TO have
mcndcd.
The evidence of the officers goes plainly to
with the rcdoubtable Redmond, whom they
feared n whom they intended to kill on
sight, and 1t seems safe TO conclude that Laid
fell n victim to their error!
1t Is commonly reported, both here and in
Grecnville and Spurtanburg, thatthc warrant
which they now show, containing Ladds
namc, was made out or filled in after his
death, and while ! will not pretend to say
thatthis Is even probably true in his case, |
am at perfect liberty to say that there is
abundant evidence in my, possession which
proves that they have made numerous arrests
heretofore without such warrant, and this
evidence i Will submit LII IL SuDSequenL leLleT.
The Court of General Sessions for PickcnS
County convcnes here tomorrow, when this
case will come up among the first for trial.
An effort will probably be made to have 1t re-
to the United States Court, which mo-
ton will he resisted if made. and will hardly
prove successful. A motion to remove The
case to Greenville Is also anticipated, and this
would probably be granted by Judge kcr-
shaw In view of the state of feeling here, or,
more strictly speaking, with Il view to remove
all grounds for the charge of IN unfair trial In
the event of conviction.