The New York herald., 1879-03-16

| ensued. in which Aston was shot twice and his
stomach so cut that his bowels protruded. He killed
| Stewart however pouring a load of buckshot into
| him after ne was prone upon the earth He was
taken to Jail almost dead He was famous fiddler
| and procuring fiddle sat there "with his entrals
| protrudng." as he wrote to a friend, playing the
old tunes Of his boyhood. His body servant gained
admission to his cell and had coil of rope wrapped
about his body With this he was going to try and
escape. Suddenly mob assaulted the Jail. over
powered the Sheriff, broke in the doors and seized
Colonel Aston. He game to the last. and fddled
up to the very instant he was seized, his dauntcss
face looking full upon his assailants He was tum-
bied into blanket, the ends twisted. and he was
then hustled out of the jail Once out in the street
he thrown to the ground still enveloped i'll the
/ blanket and hundred bullets poured into his
body Thus died the last of the ..Halifax Alstons
| They remarkably athletic and handsome
race of men, Gideon. who was killed by Pelot.
is always cited the handsomest youngster of
his day. 1t may be said, here that the young Cas-
| tilion who killed him put into the navy a
midshipman and was drowned in the Mediterranean.
Willis Aston was man of wonderful strength. He
once shoudered load of 500 pounds dead weight
and carried it through the streets OF sparta ON bet
His life was stormy one. His feud with the In-
grams, brave and powerful family. was the sensa-
tion of Georgia for the time it lasted. He always
carried his "yager" with him. and escaped the whole
difficulty with only one finger shot away. This feud
dramatized under the title of 1.-The Watch" and
sold largely Its authors were never discovered or
they would have been killed. as the heroes of that
day did tolerate the publication of their troubles
The manuscript was discovered one morning in the
and sold it, making great deal Of money by II.
COLONEL ROBERT A. AI.sToN.
IL. A. U
with all the chivalry. fearlessness and hot-headed-
ness of his race he dreaded, above all other things,
meeting an end like his ancestors 1t was not fear.
for an Aston does not know what fear is He was
brave man as ever lived. In the army. one of
Morgan lieutenants, he was the most reckless and
daring of them all. He once actually had biscuit
shot from between his teeth. but with laugh he
continued his breakfast. He said to your corre-
spondent once:-.I have a boy who is o hot-headed
fellow himself. and have taken INV wife's hand in
many time and knee ed with her by his bed
side and prayed to God that l might be-
l., ~ and trsak
death" 1t was his highest ambition. as he
has often said. to break the old tradition that
'an Aston must die in his boots" Once
again was with him when he was going to the field
to meet Colonel L. Y. Clarke. of . rival newspaper.
The challenge had been issued. and he was just going
to take the midnight train. Suddenly, he turned to
dark wall and. leaning his head on his band. prayed
aloud that God might spare him the death his people
had died. and allow him to live in peace till quiet
death could claim him. He never believed. however,
that this would be granted him. Itmade him gloomy
to talk of it, but to his fri ends he would that he
knew his destiny to ''die the Aston death" He
even had a superstition tnat certain man going
to kill him. There had been any trouble
between tnem but Aston always said, THAT man is
my fate" The his friend, and never became
anything ese Despite these gloomy thoughts Aston
was devout believer IN the code. After he had
is peacemaker,' he said. In South Carolina where
the code stood above the State law. there
was so quiet and decorous community. In
Charleston county there was not a murder in
eighteen years. and the files of the Charleston Courier
for nearly twenty years do not show the use of
the word "liar'' 'scoundrel" or any similar
epithets single time. There street fights
or and no assassinations. high code Of honor
was established and it made towards brave
men. He used to tell OF Carolina judge (Mr.
Pettigrew). who, having two before him for try
ing to fight duel, said:-"Gentlemen it will take
me an hour to write out these warrants. In the
meantime there is steamer at my wharf that
take you out of my jurisdiction, so that you can
complete your work before l could hold YOU"
Colonel Aston never fought duel himself though
he issued and accepted several challenges. The
servative spirit OF these latter days almost always
los without the Of hot
While Aston would have died before he would
have submitted to adishonorable compromise. know
what stubborn heroism it required to carry him
into an affair Of honor. He shrank with
horror from such test. His whole life overshad-
owed the memory of his ancestors and their bloody
ends. He q recognized authority on matters Of
the code, and was usually called into all prominent
affairs. While he was tenacious Of the honor Of his
principals, he sticked tor technicalities, and
usually succeeded in adjusting the differences Only
once was he second in fatal meeting He attended
young Mc(iraw Of Charleston. and loaded the pistol
that killed Tabor. There had appeared in the
Charleston Mercury n communication assailing Judge
McGraw, signed with non. de plume Contrary to
the usual practice of demanding the name of the
author OF the offensive article Aston demanded for
McCiraw satisfaction of Tabor and his two editorial
associates, holding that the gravamen Of the offence
was in the publication. The name of the author was
offered and declined. Tabor then announced himself
responsible McGraw, through Aston. challenged
went to the field. At the second shot Tabor jumped
straight into the air. fell upon his back shivered and
| died. McGraw was unhurt, and the affair stopped
there.
| HIS LAST MEETING.
Aston had been engaged in many personal en-
counters, but had been seriously hurt 1t was
harder for him to take insinuation of insult than
for almost any else but he always rcpressed his
fine talker. genial gentleman. of winning address,
and those saved him from many difficulties that his
impetuosity would have led him into. His tayorite
maxim. however. was the saying Of Sir Boyle
Roach, "The best way to avoid danger to meet 1t
| plumply!" and his boldness often suiiced where
| extemporizng would have failed. In the trouble
that led his death. after he had been of by
| Cox to arm himself his first impulse to get
| double barrelled shotgun and go and look Cox up
| and kill him He was thoroughly acquainted witt,
the violent habits of his enemy and knew best how
to meet them. He was dissuaded from this
| course, however, by Governor ColQuitt and
| others. He was very much depressed at the idea
| that Cox was hunting him down. and seemed
to have premonition OF what was coming. He SAID
throwing himself into chair in the Treasurers of.
fice, ut Is awful hard to know that Is dogging
you and that you have got to kill him or be killed
Instead OF going of to arm himself he went into q
restaurant to get some dinner. He ate heartily but
| was very much worried At length he persuaded
to take pistol. getting one that he had never seen
before. sef-cocking six-shooter. When he entered
tho Treasurcrs Office he seemed relieved to think he
had found retreat M from the trouble. No sort Of
| seemed to sicken him. When he saw Cox enter and
half draw his pistol at evidently mistaken fol
him he seemed to know that his time had come. lie
grew q shade paler and his face hardened and grew
| stern. His first word though, appeal Il
am not going to have any difficulty with you," he
| sisted, however. growing angrier all the time. Al
| length. when he stepped back and closed the door
and said II will force you SIR" he seemed to give
| up all hope. Captain John Nevns, his friend, who
| witnessed it ali, describes the that fol-
lowed :-"Coonel Bob quiet and calm. just like
| he was going to make speech. There not a
tremor about him. All right he says. wen have
| 1t out right here. Arc you armedr With that he
drew his pistol. Coxs already out. threw
myself between them and said. No you don't gentle
men!' Colonel Bob thrust his hand my
shoulder and fired. striking Cox in the mouth. AZ
the time Cox fired and the ball went through
my whskcrs. Their hands nearly crossed as they fired
still held them apart. They fired again by me. and
then turned them loose. Cox jumping and
dodging around but Colonel Bob never moved He
stood straight statue. After he had shot his
| fourth shot he turned his face to me and smiled
that peculiar smile he has. AS he turned he pulled
trigger again and his pistol snapped. Then Cox fired
again. aud saw red spot ooze out in Colonel
Bob's temple Cox was trying to cock his pistol
again when jumped in aud threw him back, catch
| ing Colonel Bob. He sank IN my arms. When
turned Cox sitting in chair splitting blood, with
his pistol on table. He said. II am dead man. -
1 cut Colonel Bob's shirt open" State Treasurer
Raynor says that Alston put both his hands on
| Coxs breast and said, ed, for Gods sake let us
have no diinculty. don't want to kill you; you