The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1879-09-25
THE MISSISSIPPI INFAMY.


prompt acquittal of the murderer, and
In this respect has not disappointed
public opinion. It was foregone con-
clusion from the very outset that the
wretch Gully would never be punished
for his brutal murder of Cornelia
Chlsolm, nor any of his gang who
joined with him in the murder Of Judge
Chisolm, his little boy and his two
friends. The circumstances of this
trial stamp it as the most deliberate
violation of law and perversion and in
timldation of justice ever known in the
criminal annals of this country. The
evidence in the case was as clear
as the sunlight. There was no
room for the shadow of a
doubt that Gully murdered the brave
girl Cornelia Chisolm deliberately and
wantonly. The defense introduced no
testimony that even threw doubt upon
the main fact. The most rigid cross
examination failed to disturb a single
statement of those who saw the murder
and had the courage to testify. In any
community which was not ruled by VIC
lence and stepped in barbarism, the jury
would have declared the wretch guilty
without leaving their seats, and the
court would have sentenced him on the
spot. But the De Kalb jury, shivering
for their lives and covering under the
threatening chances of the mob of Gull
ly's followers who swarmed into the
courtroom and were hanging about the
building, surrendered all their courage
and manliness at the bidding of these
desperadoes, and, waiting few min
utes for the sake of common decency.
came in and declared Gully not guilty |!
There was no phase of this trial that
was not a mockery of justice, and
disgrace to the court, the town, the
county and the State where it was held.
The murderer himself, who was on trial
for one OF the most awful and brutal
crimes ever perpetrated even in that
bloody region, was not under restraint.
He came and went at his pleasure, the
convenient Sheriff taking his word that
he would appear whenever wanted.
Knowing that he would be acquitted,
and that there was not power enough
In Kemper county to punish him, he
appeared promptly enough each morn
ing, and spent his time in the court
room, or in the town streets and sa-
looms, as best suited his pleasure: if
there had been any doubt of his &C
qulttal. there was no way to have pre-
vented his escape. He had plenty of
company, for the town YVES thronged
with his associates and followers,
many of them the very same
rufians who were with him in the
attack upon the jail, when the Chisolms
were killed, and thirty-two of them I'M
der indictments for murder found two
years ago, upon which no warrant had
ever been issued by the cowardly Of
fcials of the court. These ruhians held
high carnival in De Kalb. They were
in complete possession of the town. No
one dared to sympathize with the poor
woman who bravely ventured into this
nest of crime to demand that Justice be
awarded her for the murder of her hus-
band, daughter and son. Not man
among the many who witnessed the
murder in broad daylight dared to stand
up and corroborate her testimony by
telling the plain truth. All of them
had treacherous memories and forgot
everything that bore directly upon the
crime. The jury sat in it's box under
a duress as complete as if pistol had
been held at the head of each one of
them. The lawyers for the defense
went through their cross examinations
and speeches, and the court made out it's
with the usual formalities,
and followingthe ordinary presidents of
law, well knowing that justice would
not, and could not, be administered.
Thus the farce went on from day to
day, the authorities knowing that, even
if they had the will, they had not
the power to punish this convicted
and, yielding to the pressure
OF the mob, jurors and witnesses did
not hesitate, at the close of each days
proceedings, to fraternize with them.
Pending the verdict of the jury, the
murderer, surrounded by MS friends,
sat on the fence outside without even
being attended by bailiff, not caring
to go into the courtroom to hear the
decision which his friends had arranged
for him. When the verdict was an
nounced, Gen. Woodford, who escorted
Mrs. Chisolm to De Kalb and acted as
her counsel, together with their friends,
hurried to the railroad station lest any
harm should befall her, while Gully and
his fellow~rufians proceeded to get
drunk and celebrate his acquittal!
The extraordinary result of this trial
shows conclusively that the ordinary
processes of law are no longer possible
in Mississippi, and that the authorities
of that State have no longer the power
to protect the lives of it's citizens. 1t
shows that the moral sentiment of it's
people is completely deadened, and that
if there are any left who still have
belief in law and justice they dare not