, 1879-03-18
THE FIGHTING ALSTONS.
A Carolina Family Whose Mem
bers Must All Die with
Their Boots On.
0'd-Time Chivalry--violent Deaths Of
the Alstons Through many
Generations.
"Col. Bob" Meets tho Fate OF
His Race.

~
co'rstD"ndsHee n'' lork 81. Hera'd. .I,aI
ATLANTA, dh'' Aate1l Is'-4"c h,'''.'E - "a w.
AoneFt a. Alstoh IN ms Guy Q" 'as1 luceuny
'esi'cs t'e memory OF le '''ost ''''l'oas Ahn..y
nEooaoly Of the olu.tltnc c"lFaltS aaSs,-'hs
hehtlns o'stoifs ol eafoiina' l''c MAtofs o'
tb's aauaeiots strain ol b!ooa "a 'htes"osen
Win Tie history ot those lusouleht oAys "heh
eentiemeh lou9ht VI tl'e ofop o! nat* h'a
s'leht movement OF tic p'etos'nhger was tAe
nnswer to all insult or ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS eloso
oil al' aseh'neht.
Inc Alssohs "erc enllant men o. sent'e o'ooa
anu usually iaTee fortunes lucy we're llcc
Hsess "hu Htterly 1ccK'ess n4itsr", n"o .fe'
oaent'y occatno 'hFo'etu IN o'lleultea l'"'
,ifanea thcr cstnses Win COSTS anu 1ofle'tnfes'
t.ooao'J lhc oest known o1 the'n' sol' bon
H'ston' hao several AFFAIRS o. honor h'u "oana'
cd Ills antagonist every TING that he went to
tic field. lie was m itnpcrIou,, passionate
man. ant, n, cool under fire "a liz would be II,
NJ. aro,,,,g-,o,,, t1,s ,,ns, n,tsht. dim, wan
s m, 1Iavp. whn,, ,,a s",,n,,c1 IN the ,noc @
On one OCCASION hc was slaltlns In Augusta,
nunntnncc. tnnncl him ncro.B the shpulocr
, ,s,,h " rdrr.~n hh hls,o, M whce,en m \. ] ",irk =.
Wnh llo"h""'p' t''r'o'' ""es'eu no 4a'eN"o
lightning. Tho gentleman apo'ogtzcd tn The
most ample Terms. Atston took tic whip from
hta hands. 1,shci him orrnss tl,a hory; and
I'm, snta !. Nnv sr rot,r nnoiorv 10 occcn, !.
l'e.. hu.o' No"' SUI su"4 s,y uuo"sy 70 ".ecpt
eu'' VI courac lncetha aollo"eu' IL Is sAl'l
That Asiou once fought gentleman who dis
putca tho ago Of sonIo vino of which Alston
lad been bonstlng, throwing sntno ot tho vino
| In Ills face that he might get the full flavor.
Col, Bob A1stoa canr OF tic fnn,lly known as
mr., ,,,,,r,r ,,sro.a
11 'HL.s"n ,!L.s. H.',1a .oe' ~
Their cstatcs lay about Aa'finx, ~ c'' and they
dominated tint whole section for years. They
wcro enormously wealthy, md travelled from
~, ~ ,no,r cst,tos tn ouo,l,or in o1n,nst ,,o,i
Wv ~ n,>.'' ,,, ~ =, Dsso's ',
SING. lucy haa hu1'a'eas ol a'aYes' "na h'"afs
Travelled With coacfl-alld-lour and a small army
| Of rctaincss. The mon were princeIY In their
habits of eyocnsc. nn,l nut Tho ;. Cnt1nu o,,ovr
,,,a ,,I,,,o ,il,o ,,o,,,o,, ,ro.o ,tr1,
III. n.us'' t"c no"'en "e.o ''ls"',s1a!s VII"
| spf1tea. aifs. boo 4A'ssot, tae efahunother OF
tha subject Of this eketcll. always carried her
own sl,Ucts M1d pi.lnws With her Wien sllc tray-
cIct. and Il casc Of lont.susnr. l'arc known
her" SAWS Cul. Tom lfownr,1. connection, alto
pitt 800 on cock.iight, With her uwll birds,
nnd thsu stand n,.l watcl, the strnaClc to the
tteath.h Col. Willis Alston, known rs " Honest
| Willis Afstou,f the Erattuncle Of Uoh Alston,
fought dozen ducls in une winter, nu1nhcrlcss
Quarrels having sprung from hts assaults on II
oc1aalt!hs state treasurer. Ac klllcu TWO men,
s.N mao inse. @ ...nItn.y ~ t ,I nusIauu. ~ iI,s !,
n.o - op, ~ THs "l
frat
t"i,,nn ,,;,h, IL, Ih viii, tha b1o'n,v .,p.
nio,. ~ thes" s,vn i,r"si,crs ~" hmt shoti ,fonl
n ,yit vi th. sos nf ri nj. tstn s uS,, .i'
Su wore tic ater Aistous' ioaedatc ancestors. s "
An AtsToa MUST DIE WITH HIS boots oS.'
Did Col. A1stou, who was himself killed in n
duel, had tllrco sons-NiI!Is, Gideon, md
Augustus. Wills Alston was tile father of Col.
his death by violence, Or died, Us the family tra.
t1ision runs, :. in Its bo0ts.n Gideon Alstol, the
tlrst Of tr three to tl!c, was killed n peculiar
n1; ill., III Whe, s s,a Tns n 2csy c
nnorcd Of the lady who attcrwar1 larrIed Sam
Iiouston-a Miss Trtmbtc, hcltcyc. llo pal
lcr ssnoIs ,s sqs dG ssyofa l" mo,ls ;
hoy wns fricndless and noor. and Alston adopted
him, taking him homo with him when to left
Nashville. Il SEEMS that there was some feei'
ins betwcsn pelai anu Gideon Alston; at NY
the ynrtl for tha purpose Of "practtclnE Will
their PISTOLS" Gideon was tllcn u co'legs hoy,
having Just turned sophomore IN tl,o Stats Uni:
yerslty. in a few tnoH,enta nftor l,u left tic
q pIstol-bullet through his hrAin peiat said
TINT he Ind shot himself accidentally, md TILL
Is all that was cycr known OF tho matter.
rton,na rnAarny.
Anil n,v oon,es o oro -, ] t,'o n,,.t r,no-,,,h,<
,.ao n ~" ~ sufI H., wv ~ III m f,. "
s III e,n H. ,"s % VI s'I r. in.1s @ ~. "
sr;t'isi,. ratrtr,, rn,,nr otnh n"of ~ .H" ~ -
r.... .,i, .., aa,ss', H. " ~ ~
.tsus auitf, Eet'eass, ~ ~ VIZ st ~ W.:
,.,,t ~ ,' ~ ~" nnr,,, ~ III n.a,c ~
hnv,n,r hv hts ssiil md fcnricsan"ss anw"rn
tIu,cs aaycd tic llttle colony from tles,ructIo1
by Tic sumlnocs a,li their allies. 4 story i:
told Of him l,t will Illustrate his character I'M,
ut the SAME time show how dulcaty was til,
aei,sv Ut personal honor at that time. Gen
Recd was u political opponent Of t'ny. Call',
son. aud ut tlc sa,o time bis personal frirnd
l:oiitical feeling r.,, very lgh, .,pl On election
day Afr White utnde some reflections ,,pot, tl,t
integrity Of Gov. Gull Reed ut o,cu c,Aitongct
lin ior a duel. Tile men went, were both ucs
ptrntcly wounded, asu buhaycd with great gll
Iantry, lighting, l bcl!oyc, with b,wlc
knives, tlelr left h,,uls being strup1ct
together. Soruu tln1u Afterwards Ecet
became involved In a altlirllty witt, III,
A,etons. / giyo tic story as it was Etyci, nc b,
Cul. II, Il, hIstou himself, lie sai.l tIat NJ, art
fcIe aupearcI in NEWSPAPER retccttur on Goy
Call. Cul. Augustus Alstnn, who WIS the lead
rr OF tie Cali fuetiou, demanded tho na1,e o
Inc author, Lie was furnished with tic ilunl
OF Cen Heed, WIN was tie jca,,er OF tic onpo