The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1879-10-31
A BAND OF GEORGIA OUTLAWS,

"A BAND oF 'GEoSGlA ouTLAWSAN
4 Rciyn Of Terror -Tico Large an "a.
Furatiui Families Suspected Of CT Sc
dy IN the Outruycs- TIE Mystery JIG
CrjmcS-1n MppcNctrdJic Seam .it
Refuge Of tie BmtliUi.
MlLLEDGEvILLE, GA, October 16.srt ou
reaching this unusually quiet little city !
found deplorablc state Of affairs e3ssting
in the upper part of the county. In hct,
the condition of things is almost incredible.
\ band Of men, numbering probably ten or
twelve, after committing murder and soon,
openly defy arrest and continue their work
Of depreciation. Back of the scene of sout.
RACES is deep swamp in which they hide
themselves when they discover the approach
Of force that they cannot openly resist.
In order that the situation, which prom
iscs much Of thrilling interest, may be un-
dcrstood it is necessary to review the oc-
currenccs Of the past few years in Bal iwin
County. Four or five years ago thore saS.c
to Baldwin from East Tennessee an iii.y ar,.
ed hunchback by the name Of MisSael
Shaw. lie soon betrayed Il most desp4snte
character, and was surrounded by men
equally bad In 1873 the negroes 81 the
middle belt of Georgia planned an insur.
rcction that was to embrace several counties
and utterly weed out the whites. These
plans were discovered by chance letter
picked up containing an order to the cap
tain of ncgo company, and almost instant
ly the whites went TO organizing allthrough
the black belt. Shaw pat himself to. the
head Of his little band Of dcspcradocs,
which he named the Georgia Tigers" aud
went to work us sort Of patrol and regu-
latlng squad. There is no telling what
damage was done during these days OF dis
turbance, as the country was fullo fugitive
negroes and armed squads, but nothing can
be learned definitely. After things lad
quoted down, howcver,'vt was diEcptcrcd
that Shaw aud his crowd were still oIH.auiz-
ed and were pluudcrinS and killing. They
operated upon the edge Of SWAMI and
it was impossible to detect them. The nc
groes were driven out Of the section that
they infested aud valuable plantations were
thus rendered almost worthless. One day
Col McCorIb, who owned one of these
places, received on anonymous letter. telling
him that if lie would look in an old we'll on
his place he would lud the skeletons of
three men who had beeu missing iov some
time, and that tic skeleton Of another .hi2s.
ing man could be found in 4 creek near by,
where it had been anchored down with
stones. The letter further said that Mike
Shaw and his crowd were the murderers of
these people, and that they had b.TrtilleSS
ror the mes; itrini2>. caus"- st~;etL4,lA
simply because they had workad' No days
il the corn field Of Shaw's gang and it was
cheaper to kill them than to pay tbem. A
search was made and the skeletons were
found us described. Arrests of the whole
gang were being planned when it was report
cd that Mike Shaw's wife had been found
in her bedroom with her skull crushed in
murdered. y half.wittcd boy sworc that
he saw Shaw himself kill his wife. lie
said that he caught her by the hair on the
piazza of the house, beat her over the head
and shoulders with bludycou until she
was lcllcd to the floor, aud then dragged
her into the house, leaving trail of bloo4
all the way. Immediately after they. had
N the house Il pistol shot was
heard and Shaw came running out. Shaw
was put upon trial, convicted, and a!tr} long
delay was hanged for this murder. His
gang was scattered and dcmoraliZcd, and
somc Of them hid out in the swamps. 1t
Is supposed 10y many that they are connects
cd in some way with the present disturb
anccS, although they are located in Il differ
che. part Of the county.
REIGN OF TERROR
One Of the mysterious points Of this
whole matter is that it is impossible to def
nitely place the responsibility Of the bloody
work that is now being done. The people
will not talk about it, aud II perfect terrorism
is established in the troubled district. The
Of the late troubles are these !:
DR.. j. y p Robson is a phi isician living IL, ar
the line of Hancock County. He is per-
fcctly fearless man has had his nerve tested
often, and has never flinchcd in an cmer-
gency. There was Il negro living Oh his
place name Cicero, who has been very Bad.
Iy maltreatcd in tho past year. Once he
was taken out Of his house aud beaten un-
til he was nearly dead Indeed, it appears
that his assail.nts left him for dead in the
woods. His employer, DR.. Robson, took
him to his house, bad him well cared for,
and when he had recovered took his part
and sworc that he would protect him. He
had one OF two difficulties with his neigh
bors over this Interference with the plans
Of the negro enemies, and at length re-
ccivcd note saying that if he did not dc.
sist he would be burned out and killed
He pursued his way despite these warnings,
and one Light he saw that his sawmill was in
flames. lie Dire: scd hastily and ran toward
the mill for the purpose Of putting out the
lirn nSt ~ snnn nS hn cnnhn within IL n