The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-07-02
CANNIBALIsM IN TEXAS.
Runaway Negroes Slaughter One of
Their number and Feast Upon His
Flesh

/ From the San Antonio Express june 81
/ There Is in this city a Mexican by the
name of Francisco Alvares, now resid-
/ ing on East street. west Of the san Pedro
who has frequently told story about
/ two runaway negroes, man and wo-
man, eating up third member of their
/ party. Alvares was with train which
| brought the two cannibals back To San
/ Antonio. Many persons have doubted
. the truth Of the tale told by Alvares,
/ but it Is nevertheless true, rs there are
/ many persons living who were here at
| the time, by whom the facts are remem-
bered. Mr.. John c. French. now one
of our we;ilthiest and most respected
citizens, was master of the train which
found the surviving man and woman,
and returned them To this city. The de-
tails Of the shocking story are also pre-
served in print, and are found published
in the Western Texan, a San Antonio
newspaper of that day, under date of
March 20. 1851 The following is what
the Western Texan said about it:
=. Several gentlemen, a short distance
in advance Of the train which had Just
arrived from FL Paso, eneountereda par
" Of runaway negroes at the Limpio
spring GA the other side of the Pecos
river. When discovered there were but
two Of the negroes alive, and they were
in a state of misery almost impossible To
be described. They had been entirely
without food for ten days, and had been
forced. 10 save themselves from actual
starvation, to kill their companion, which
act they had perpetrated on the morn
ing OF the day on which they were dis
covered. They had stripped his bones
of every particle of meat which could be
obtained, and after having satisfied their
hunger with this revolving food, were,
when captured, in the act of broiling and
preparing the remainder to serve them
in their march towards Mexico. With
out doubt, they would have persisted had
they not been discovered at the time
they were, as they were still 200 miles
from the Rio Grande, without any means
Of killing game, and in most emaciated
condition. The two that were taken,
one a boy calling himself Henry, and
the other girl, Melinda, were brought
in with his train, and viii be confined in
San Antonio until some intelligence is
received from their owner or owners. |
They give the following account of
themselves They say that all three be- |
lOnged to the same owner. Mr.. Charles |
Owens, whe lives near Holly Springs, |
in Marshall county, Mississippi from |
whom they escaped more than a year
ago, and have been on their way towards |
Mexico ever since that time. The name
of the boy who was killed was Morgan. |
They were all young negroes, apparent
" not more than twenty-five years old.
After striking the Fl Paso road, they
derived what sustenance they could from
the hides of oxen which had died and
been left on the road by the several trains
which have heretofore made that trip.
Finding it was impossible to support life
in that manner they had conversed sew
eral times upon the question of drawing
lots for their lives, to see upon whom the
fate should fall Of being sacrificed to
support the other two. This project,
however, was not assented to. The boy
Morgan then threatened to make sure
of the first opportunity, and kill Henry
Henry, however, proved to
be more cautious Of the two, and avail
ing himself Of the first opportunity when
Morgan was asleep, he cut his throat
and made use of the body as above des-
eribed. We have heard of instances of
misery similar to the above happening
Dn the ocean, but this Is the first in
stance within our recollection upon land,
where human beings were compelled to
1evour each other to save themselves
from death by starvation"