The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-02-26

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and he stayed at the railroad cut they
went on to the store house for the pur
pose of burning It; he said ho saw th,
| flames directly afterwards; l was in
formed again that Mr.. Ellison wanted Il
see me; started out and saw Mr.. ELI
sons son, in the presence of his father.
heard his son saying, Don't admit /;
thing-let them prove it on you;" Mr.
Ellison then said that he was excited al
the spring, and that he did not know
anything about it; they then carried him
to the Trial Justices office for trial; the
Trial Justice warned him, saying that ht
was not bound to make any confession
and that if he did he would not get any
thing for it; ho then said he was moi
guilty, and then admitted that what he
said to me in the spring lot was SO; ELI
son was then sent to jail; the other ar:
rests were made about week after;
had an interview with Mr.. Poore the
morning of his arrest; did not see any
Of these parties after the fire till they
came In after arrest they came very
often to town generally; Poore came tc
my store and we talked; he said he was
troubled about Ellison's confession, and
wanted the case to come off, I agreed
| with him; we went back into the store
told him 1 thought he was friend o!
mine, and asked him about the prayer he
made on the night of the fire; he denied
it and said he did pray that the Lord
would open his eyes to see him an honest
man; Mr.. Ellison was brought Il sup
pose) to my house in chains on the night
of his arrest; don't know whether he
slept that night or not; Capt. Alley re-
fused to let me see Ellison that night
Alley and Acker were both there next
morning; did not say to the parties
that night anything about getting confess
sions; Capt. Alley, I supposed, expected
pay for his services he was the only one
be is a detective, from Spartanburg:
asked Ellison what he thought of Poore's
prayer, and he answered, 81 see you
have got that" saw Ellison in prison ;
went there to see if he had any confess
sion to make, but don't recollect that I
said had been wanting him to confess
all the time, SO that it would be lighter
with him; did not offer to take him out
on my bond nor that of any one else, if
he would confess; I don't recollect say
ing TO Mr.. Ford that could get TO con-
fession from Ellison until I mentioned
all the parties to him; don't recollect of
having a conversation with Alley and
Bladon to extort confession out Of Eli
son said to Mr.. Ellison, 81 under
stand that you have said that there was a
woman who knew it all, and it would be
told by Saturday," did not make any
confession at the jail; there are at least
nine hundred and sixty debts that I did
not sue on; there was no fire in the GALA
boose that night, and they brought the
prisoner to my house.
W. P. Anderson, sworn, says: am
the young man who was sleeping in the
store on the night of the fire, and escaped
through " window by means Of ladder !;
the fire originated in the grocery room,
in which there was no fireplace; the 81"
and main building were two stories was
sleeping over the main part; am certain
the fire originated in the grocery room !;
there was cellar underne cath that room !;
the door to 1t was gone it was filed with
empty barrels, etc., and connects with
the main building; was in the store the
evening of the settlement between Mr..
Anderson and Gambrell; Gambrell was
very angry, and said he (Anderson) did
not treat him as others had an interview
with j. F. Ragsdale the day after the fire;
Ragsdale pointed at the cellar where the
al" joins the main building, and said,
" 1t was set fire right there, wasn't it?"
asked him to sign paper promising to
give assistance in prosecuting; he said,
F" You want to see who will sign and
who won't to find out who burned it, do
your" heard Ellison make confession,
at the preliminary trial didn't come to
the Jail with Ellison, but came with the
other prisoners; was riding in buggy
with Poore; the others came in a wagon
which had three seats on the first seat
were Bladon and Gambrell, on the second
II loln ND IL nd
on the third were Acker and w. M. Rags
dale; was with the party when Ellison
was arrested; he was arrested at his
house; the party went and surrounded
Ellison's house, and Acker knocked at
the door, which some one opened, when
Acker told his business; Ellison at first
said he wouldn't 60, but Acker called in
Bladon, and they brought him out /; I
think there were six in the party didn't
hear any threats to take his life; no in
ducements were offered him to make a
confession; no reward was offered; I
stayed with the prisoner, Ellison, nearly
all night when we got to the railroad the
Constable said it was cold and some one
would have to set up; VIM. Ragsdale
was at Ellison's when Ellison was ar
rested j. F. Ragsdale was at Williamson
when arrested was at my uncle's house
and said he must go; went to the gate
and told him he would not 60 unless he
was better man than am.
Cross-examined Matches kept in the
store; not kept in any safe.
Capt. n. Alley, sworn, says: Lives in
Spartanburg county was called upon by
Maj. Anderson to investigate the matter
of the burning of his store; have been a
detective eighteen years went to Will
liamston and carried two men with me /;
/ returned home and then went back to
Williamson to see what had been done |;
l then advised Mr.. Anderson to have q
warrant issued for Ellison; we went
for Ellison and found him at home |;
Acker made the arrest; the door was
open, and I saw and heard everything
that was going on; Acker told him he
had warrant for him he said he would
not go; he resisted (; the old lady got hold
of Mr.. Acker got Ellison out of the
house, but he still resisted; we put
handouts on him; Ellison lives four
miles from Williamson; no induce
ments of any kind were held out to him ;
he wanted to talk to me that night, but l
said no. for him to do his talking to
Maj: Anderson the old man Ellison was
very cold; pulled off my overcoat and
put it on him; we carried him over to
MAJ. AHuerSOuS uOuSc, Wuero IueTe Was
a fire slept in the same room with Ell
lison that night; did refuse to let Maj
Anderson talk with Mr.. Ellison that
night; I wanted Ellison to be cool when
he was talked to; am no officer of any
kind; Ellison said to Mr.. Anderson, in
my presence, that those men who are in
dicted were with him that night when
the house was burned, and said the same
thing at the trial, with the addition that
he came through the woods and went
back through the woods; he also said
that it was very near day when he got
home; at the trial Esquire Pinson warn
ed him that he was not required to GRIM
mate himself; Ellison said he wanted to
tell it, and then repeated what he said in
the spring yard.
Cross-examined: The reason that I
did not let him confess to me was that I
always make it a rule to do so; will
not be witness in case that work up
if can help it; did not tell Mr.. Eli
son that he would be killed if he did not
confess; if I had it would have been q
lie for T ygould not have allowed IL. nv