The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1880-12-03

/ $%~Ah ofgtIS III v III
| pursuit of health and strength, gave me
some new facts in regard to our inter
esting book or it's author The little
southwestern suburb of the town, built
principally by the freedmen, is called
i f.sZille, Here the ]colored people
town. nIs9 aatBfslrtshle Cottages, and a
neat brick church. IN which they hold
| regular services. In thisyilliage sill re-
sides. very poor, an old negro, who has
| spells OF obsesss0n, in which he Asees
| visions" and reveals secrets not known
TO him-the person who in part forms
the character of Uncle Jerry-the bal
ance being based upon the history of an
other negro, who knew too much !"
| named Wyatt Outlaw, who was hung by
the ku klux, precisely as related in the
story, IN front of the Temple of JUS
tice,' in Graham, AIamance county.
"Col. Ezekiel Vaughn was charac-
ter drawn 10 the life, whose real name is
| Ezekiel Jones. He now lives in Vir-
! ginia "Rose," cur ehamberinaid at the
| McAdoo House, told us that she was
once his slave, and rendered how, dur
| ing the war, he used to have rheumatic
! awful and had to be "toted,'' by two
| colored men from his house to his tobac-
co-faetory. but, when no one was in
| sight, was as nimblc as chicken.
The shocking story of the murder of
John Walters savage and fiendish as
| it is, us well known in that country to
be an uncolored fact HIS real name
was John w. Stevens, and he lived and
was killed at Yanceyvilie, CasweIl coun-
| ty. | overheard Thomas Ruffin, a PROM
inent lawyer of Hillsboro, n. c., talking
about this murder with stranger at the
dinner-table at the McAdoo House, in
which talk he said that Stevens was
n 1xrHn h
| Kind of a Radical, and 'his death gave
great satisfaction TO our people" He
-weat on to say that Stevens melted the
negroes TO burn the buildings of their
| political enemies, for which he was ar
rested and tried; but the trial had to be
III Tourgee's court-so of course he could
not be convicted, and there was no other
course for them but to put him out of
the way. He confirmed the statement
that the dreadful deed was committed in
one of the rooms of the court house, in
broad daylight. with upwards of 200
people of both races in the building at
the time; and yet it was yelled in impen-
| etrabie mystery, and would doubtless re-
| main SO.
As this talk did not appear to be priv
late, l asked him if he, and others of like
mind, in regard to the murder, should
publish over their signature, in the
northern papers, the circumstances,
which, IN his opinion, justified il, the
effect would not be to change the i'm
preston made by "a FOOLS Errand'
Astute lawyer as he is, he was not thus
TO be caught. Sir" he replied, land no
southern gentleman are know the facts,
and are satisfied. We care very little
what others may think of it!'' This
with great dignity and measured utter.
ance. AS much as to say, if we want to
kill our political enemies, we shall do it.
and fig for the opinions of the north up.
on our conduct. In this conversation he
expressed profound contempt for Judge
Tourgee; but l learned afterward thai
s. | personal grievance was the source of it,
growing out of the fact that years ago he
; was beaten for judge of the supreme
court of his nativs state by our Yankee
est majority ever given to candidate
having an opponent IN that state.
have seen letter of Ruffin's in re
gard to Judge Tourgee's legal work
| "Digest of Cited Cases" ETC., in which
he pronounced it "the best work of the
kind ever written by any man, in any
language" But this was written when
he hoped 10 succeed our author on the
bench.
f The real name of Judge Thomas Den
ton is Judge Settle, United States dis
trict judge IN Florida. He is native o
North Carolina, and still owns a hand
some residence in Greensboro, near Judg,
Tourgee's.
The people in general, at Greensboro
have little to say about Judge Tourgee
! although / believe they are secretly
{ proud of him. Some are Indignant abou
his book, and refuse TO read it. Mrs
: Fulghum, wife of the editor of thu
, Greensboro Patriot, C'the Verdenton Ga
zette'') read a few chapters and then in
dignantly threw it into the fire; that is
this was her boast. Mr.. Yates, however
has sold great many copies there. Thu
! truthfulness of the narrative is admitted
! by nearly all with whom l conversed.
In q private letter the author writes
"Not only is almost every incident of a
Fools Errand' an actual fact, but they
are toned and tempered with an abiding
pity and considerate kindness
The wonder, looking back OIL
Int now, seems even TO me tina
the south has not been wiped GU
! with the bosom of righteous wrath at thu
> porth. How the facts there narrated
multiplied by thousands, failed to
+ awaken venging fire, / cannot see. TIL,
= combinations of that narrative tina
; pour in upon me astonish even me-"
, The recent elections lead US TO hopi
that, by means of "A FOOLS Errand" anC
many other good influences, the north
has at last awakened To a realization o
it's enormous blunder and crime, in with
: holding the stong arm of protection from
I the freedman, and also from the heroi,
men and women who went down into
that land of darkness to sow the Seeds
, and cultivate in that bad soil the frs
!. feeble growth of Liberty and northern
civilization. Judge Tourgee has tolC
! his great story, and won for himself last
: ing fame; but it is the wonder of won
ders-and no thanks to our government
+ with its almost cringing tenderness TO
= the dogma of state rights-thas, insteaG
? of being allowed to live for the accom-
! plishment OF this grand work, he wa
not rather shot out of his saddle by som
!, long haired, ignorant william, or tied NJ
;. to the limb of a southern oak by a bant
. of masked gentlemen, who ''care yer,
!, little what others may think of it."
ALMoN CLARKE.