The People's vindicator., 1879-03-15

NO. q
house has four rooms; two of thel
face the street. / was in one Of thet
when the men came. l am sure tina
Mr.. Jimmie King was one Of the mel
and that Mr. Hartman was another
| could not see the other men, becaus
there were some apple trees between
me and them. am sure they cam
on election day.
To the District Attorney.-A few
days after this some parties agail
came to my house. 1t was Just af
ter dusk, and Mr.. John Trichel, ant
ten or fifteen men, more or less, VIII
| did not know, came to my house
Mr.. Trichel said Z: "Vienne, l want tt
search your house for some men wht
are ordered out of the parish, and
who it has been reported are here Of
were seen here" At the same tim(
he told me, II myself do not believ,
there is any of them here, but wanl
to satisfy those men," They search.
ed the house but did not find any one
and went off satisfied.
JOHN HUTsON
(colored) was next placed on the
stand. Live in Natchitoches; have
lived there ever since the surrender ;
was arrested in the parish last fall by
Johnny Hartman. He had another
man with him. They carried me to
the seriff7s office. They carried me
there between 8 and 10 in the morn.
ing, and l remained there until the
next day. They told me they took
me because l was spy. That was
the only charge. l was guarded
while l was there. I recognized in
the guard Mr.. Curtis, Geo. Kile, Joe
Cabin, and Sprowl. Mr.. Fortenot's
son was one of them. l don't know
his name. I was released by Mr..
Caspari, Mr.. Mason and Capt. Hynes.
Have been a Republican ever since l
became to voter. Had to vote the
Democratic ticket at the last election
because heard so many threats.
CROss-EXAMlNED.
By Mr.. Egan-I was at tic Repub-
lican meeting on the twenty~first
September. l stayed there unit it
adjourned. I was arrested a day or
two after the day Of the meeting.
When l left the meeting l started
home, and when got near to Mrs.
Phillips. l saw a crowd of armed
men and came back and crossed the
river and went back to where the
meeting was. This was about 3
o'clock. After that I went home. AT.
ter l heard that they had arrested
Blunt | went back to town aud stayed
within short distance of the court.
house. l was not molested on that
day and was not hiding. The men
who arrested me did not do anything
but take me to the courthouse.
The colored men told me l had to
vote. The white men did not say
anything to me about it. I was not
10 the crowd Of colored men who did
the shooting on the twenty first.
To the District .Attorney-Mr. RUS
sell was in command of the men l
saw. I believe his name was Rus.
sell. l 60 rot know bis first name.
They were armed. Saw a large mum.
Der Of men 10 town that day, but can.
not be certain who they were.
A recess of ten minutes was taken.
At the expiration of the appointed
time the investigation was continued.
JOS REID (coLoRED)
being placed on the stand. Live in
Natchitoches parish. Have always
been and am still a Republican. w.
ted the Democratic ticket at the last
election because knew if did not
| would not be let live in the parish,
Was told by a gentleman MIR. Messi.
that if did not vote he would not
guarantee my life.
CRoss-ExAM1NED.
The man is Jules Messi. He was
agent for q steamboat and ran for
coroner at the same time. 1t was the
day before the election l saw him. l
know bis brother. They look pretty
much alike. l voted 10 town. Mr..
Hausner went to the polls with me.
To the District Attorney - Mr..
Hausner was armed. He gave me q
badge. He said it would protect me
for the next two years to come. l
have the badge. WITNESS produced
it. 1t was small strip of pink rib
bon stamped "Voted tho Democratic
ticket Of 1887 Have seen armed
men. Have seen Jules Messi, Eli
HaIsey, VIM. French, Henry Tessler,
Charley Jones and Martin Mady with
arms. After the twenty. first they
used to ride around the parish and
shoot. Was at the meeting of the
twety first. Saw no armed men there.
After | left the meeting, saw Mr..
John Trichel and John Sauvin with
arms. These are the only two 1 saw.
To Mr.. Beckwith-The men 1 saw
lived down in the neighborhood
where l saw them. l live in the
quarters on the Blanchard place.
The quarters are about a quarter Of
mile from the road. They would
start riding at night, early in the eve.
ming, and keep up until twelve or one
o'clock. The nights were moon
shiney and could sec the men and
hear them at night. l kept right
close to my house. I never saw them
shoot, but have heard them. / knew
they shot because l would see the
discharged cartridges they used to
shoot, and knew nobody else had
any cartridges like them. They were
long cartridges.