Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-02-08

introduced were either fer the. pur-
pose of imputing motives for the
murder, or breaking down the alibi
set up by DIR. B., or for guarding
Keats, the virtual prosecutor, from
the counter-charge whichnow hangs
over him. Some attempt was in
deed made to prove by two witness
es that DR.. b. was, at nine o'clock
on that morning, near enough TO
have been where this witness says
he saw him at the time specified.
The witness was a stout, coarse
looking negro boy, stupid and ig-
norant and hesitating about every
thing else, but perfectly pat and
prompt about DIR. B. and thechunks
of fire and the other man with the
black horse and mule. He did not
know how old he was, what season
of the year it happened, whether it
was hot or cold, wet or dry, and it
seemed to be his cue to communi-
cate nothing but the story about DIR.
B., which he came to tell.
On cross examination he said that
he lived two miles from the furnace;
that he went to see Ben. CoWder on
the morning of the murder, and
after he heard of it, which was late
| in the morning, he rode the mule
over the Stewart county line to tell
the neighbors.
OF course we cannot give all the
evidence at the length we have
assigned to this. In answer to this,
evidence was adduced to show that
at the place where the boy described
himself as standing he could not
possibly have seen what he de-
scribes, on account of the configura-
ton of the road add the dense under
growth of twenty years since the
coaling and the road in that hollow
went out of use. But the full refu-
tatiOn of it was given when DR..
Bethany proved by long series of
| witnesses that he had been through
out the day in places which rem
dered it physically impossible for
him to have been present where
Olive Ogburn says he saw him.
We must dismiss this, however,
and at present direct attention to a
matter brought up by several col
ored witnesses for the prosecution,
but which told in the end much
stronger for the defense. These wit
nesses were Harrison Ogburn, father
of the boy Ogburn, and two near
relatives of his, Sam. Chiffon, his
step-son, and John Lea, his nephew.
We shall give the history of thi-
matter, not in the order in which it
was told, for that would be to invert
the order Of events, but in the order
in which il TRANSFERRED in the neigh
borhoOd of Blooming Grove Furn-
ace.
Late last winter, or early last
spring, these three negroes, one
after another, approached respect
able gentlemen in that neighbor
hood under the pressure of a secret
which seemed oppressive to them
and about which they desired tC
consult these gentlemen. Their Sc
cret was that Thos. Keats had pro
posed to them to kill DR.. Bellamy
: for hire. OF course this was soor
/ made known to DR.. Bellamy, who
, with some friends, accoSted at dit
ferent times the negroes and Keat:
5 himself to look into the truth 0
the matter and also to warn Keat,
1 that if he CDR. B. should he killed
: he would be held responsible for it
Just about this time the negrOes
began to give quite a different rep
resentation of the matter and to sa!
] that what they had said was a lie
? and that Bellamy and his friends
had scared them into telling it by
| presenting pistols at them anC
, threatening to shoot them if they
g did not. jesse Ogburn, who is /;
5 colOred preacher of some note il
e that part of the county, testifies tina
' Harrison Ogburn of his own accOrC
+ told him both the versions of TIN
: story. He also told Mr.. G. G.. Lyle
? the first story with several details
I He said, "Mr. Keats wants me t.
. kill DIR. BelIamy because he killed
| Brown. He told me to come to hi
: Office for buck-shOt." Another tim'
:. he had it arranged that Sam. Chill
b, ton Should go to Bellamy's CHECKER
: house and raise a disturbance ther,
0 for the purpose of bringing the Doc
e tor out, when H. Ogburn was tOshOo
! him. John Lea, on the Othe
t hand, told the original story to Mr.
: Riley Wiley and Mr.. Levi Cooper
n In both cases the communicated
y was unsolicited, and it was not &C
;, companied with any signs of fea
r except the fear of being burdene'
# with such secret. All three nov
/ adhere to the second version of tn
g story and swOre to it in court.
: 1t was clearly stated that n
e threats were used by Bellamy AM
his friends in making the visits t
/ enquire into this conspiracy
D was proved by one witness that h
: had a pistol uncOncealed in hi
/, breast, which is not surprising in
n man who was riding among an IN
e known number of people who hat
f been suborned to murder him.
e 1t took a great many witnesses t
: prove the alibi of Bethany as ma.
: be supposed when the testinon.
q had to follow him through tn
g rounds of a country doctors praC
e tice. Without Il break these wit
n nesses prove his progress along tn
|, GAINESVILLE road, starting from hi
!, own house at or Whereabouts, b.