The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-03-27

| O6Q6Ial IGStu, VINO WHO WAS L0b ieAlbi
of the opposite faction. He at once
CHALLENGED General Reed, and meeting
was arranged. The weapons selected
were "yagers," this deadly weapon
being, as l have said, fsvorite with the
Alstons. Colonel Aston was attended
by Mr.. Kenon, his brother-iD-lsw. At
the word some" Colonel Alstou's gun
exploded, it being half triggered. The
contents were discharged into the air.
General Reed, aiming with deliberation,
fred, and Colonel Aston dropped dead
in his tracks His sister, s most spirited
woman, was nearly crszed st the news of
his death. She secured the lead that
had killed him, and with her own hands
she nodded it into bullets and sent them
to her brother, Willis Aston 1.-THE
father of R. A. Alston), and implored
him to come and avenge the death OF his
brother. She wrote that he had been
murdered, and the Alstons adhered to
this belief, although the general state
ment is that the meeting was fair one,
General Reed using Only his Just right
after the explosion of Alston's g wager"
At any rate it was very well understood
that Willis Aston would seek revenge
for his brothers death, as the family tor
generations had made one of ali their
quarrels. the first meeting between
Aston and Reed was dramatic. The
legislature had just met, and Reed had
been elected speaker. He was g young
man, of exceptional power and popular
ity, and his life promised to be brilliant
aud illustrious He had invited his
friends to the usual legislative supper,
and the banquet was in progress, every
thing going merrily and well. Suddenly
tall figure, mufaed in a swinging cloak
and with q SLOUGH hat down over the
face, stalked through the open door.
Without word it made for the head of
the table, where General Reed was sit-
ting. Instantly cries of " Alstonl Ais
ton I" arose and ran down the table. At
these cries the cloak wSs thrown back
and Aston was recognized. Reed rose
from his seat, and, whipping his pistol
out of his pocket, leyeled it at his asssil
ant and fired. The ball struck Aston
in his uplitted hand, carrying away two
fingers. This did not stop him, but
brandishing knife, he closed on
Reed. Before the men could be parted
Reed was cut pretty severely, and Ais
ton, / believe, wounded again. Aston
was taken from the room, and for some
months nothing more was heard of the
matter. One day General Reed was
walking down the streets of Tallahassee
when he was fired upon by Colonel Ais
ton. The contents of one barrel of q
shotgun was poured into his shoulder,
and as he turned to confront his assailant
the other load went into his heart. He
fell and died. Colonel AlstOn's friends
say that he had given Reed notice that
he intended to kill him on sight.
Willis Aston went to Texas, where
he lived for some time. He settled near
Brazoria. There was a DR.. Stewart, who
for some reason or other, pursued the
matter of the Reed killing and used re-
marks derogatOry to Aston. Aston
hearing of It wrote the remarks down,
and meeting Stewart Cd the prairie one
day he asked him to say whether Or not
he was responsible for these remarks.
DR.. Stewart took the paper. and while
pretending to read it, put his hand into
his holsters and drew his pistol. He
Jumped off his horse on the side opposite
Aston, and fired into him. A desperate
fight 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 he was prone upon the
earth. He was taken to Jail almost
dead. He was a famous fiddler, and
procuring fiddle, sat there Z" with his
bowels protruding," as he wrote to a
friend, playing the old tunes OF his boy
hood. His body servant gained admis-
sion to his cell and had coil of rope
wrapped about his body. With this he
was going to try to escape. Suddenly
mob assaulted the Jail, overpowered the
sheriff, broke in the doors and seized
Col. Aston. He was game to the last,
and fiddled up tc the very instant he Was
seized, his dauntless face lo0king full
upon his assailants. He was tumbled
into blanket the ends twisted, and then
he was hustled out of the jail. Once out
on the street he WAS thrown to the
ground, still enveloped in the blanket,
and a hundred bullets were fired into
his body. Thus died the last of the
" Halifax Alstons." They were s re-
markedly athletic aud handsome race
of men. Gideon, who was killed by
PeIat, is always cited as the handsOmest
youngster of his day. 1t may be said
here that the young Castilian who killed
him was put into the navy as a midship-
man, and was drowned in the Mediter-
ranean. Willis Aston was man Of
wonderful strength. He once shouldered
a load of 500 pounds dead weight, and
carried it through fhe streets of Sparta
on bet. His life was stormy one.
His feud with the Ingrams, brave and
powerful family, was the sensation Of
Georgia for the. time it lasted. He
always carried Ms wager" with him,
and escsped the whole difficulty with
only one finger shot away. This feud
was dramatized under the title of "The
Watch" and sold largely. Its authors
were never discovered, or they would
have been killed, as the heroes of that
day did not tolerate the publication of
their troubles. The manuscript was dis
covered one morning in the yard of
fearless widow, who published it herself
and sold it, making great deal of money
by it.
Col. +. A. Aston was q remarkable
man.. Filled with all the chivalry, fear
lessness and hot-headedness of his race,
he dreaded, above all other things, meet.
ing an end like his ancestors. 1t was not
fear, for an Aston does not know what
fear is. He was as brave man as ever
lived. In the army, as one of Morgan's
lieutenants, he was the most reckless and
daring of them all. He once actually
had q biscuit shot from between his
.oorh hut with q laugh he continued his