The Aberdeen examiner. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1866-current, 1881-04-28
THE FACTS AS GIVEN JUDGE BRIpGsR.

| as ZOu acres OF land ana valued, Includlng
all buildings thereon, at $500; value of
horses, mares, mules, neat cattle. etc, $685.
cash value of all carriages, wagons and
vehicles of all kinds, s75 cash value of ell
merchandise or stock in trade. $500; making
the total appraised value Of Edward Heath's
property in this parish $3.50. which was
liberal and fair apprasement. Charles
| Heath usually visited the place and managed
it for his brother. He was never en- the
| place more than three or four mon tbs during
each year. The place was generally leased to
or worked on shares by colored labo rers.
| The Principal VIII to landowners in the
ward are A. w. Faulkner, b. A. Blanks (now
deceased), Henry Haas and j l.. Siaemore.
The renal nder, Or principal portion Of the
land in the ward, is owned by lolored per
sons. There are about 100 colored voters in
| the ward and twenty white voters. AT the
| last election the vote stood; Democrats
| twelve, Republicans sixty four. Faulkner
and Blanks plantationsin the ward are five
times larger than Heaths and worth five
times as much Neither one of them have
resided on their places since the close of the
war. They have been leased or cultivated
| by colored laborers on the share system, the
same as Heath's, and in majority OF years
there was no white manager or white man
| on the places. Slzemore has not resi- led en-
his place for tive years, and it is cultivated
by colored laborers. For several years
Haas g plantation was worked on the same
system
During oil this time l never heard Of any
| objection or complaint against the system
or plan of managing these places, and there
never was any trouble or outrages perpe-
| trated in the ward. The colered people in
| the ward sometimes have personal difficult
| ties between themselves. Mr.. Heath, nor no
one else in the ward, was ever threatened or
moested in consequence of the management
| of their plantations 1t is, on account Of its
location, rather isolated from the remainder
of the parish, Their being but few whites in
| it. 1t is controlled by the colored population
III it, The ward is represented in the police
| jury by colored man, who is alss a mem
Der of pari school board; the justice Of
the peace and constable are both colored.
The statement of Charles Heath in relation
to the alleged troubles and the causes are
false. In the first place, every one in this
parish manages his property or plantation
to suit himself and have never heard any
objection o. protest to their so doing. 1t is
fact Il at plantations are leased n various
parts OF the parish to colored laborers, with
not a single white man upon them, and |
have never heard of an objection or difficulty
in consequen CO thereof. The plantation be-
longing to the P Il. Smith heirs, in ward
No. ], being worth six times the value Of
the Heath place. and in the finest section Of
tue parish. is now and has been for years
leased and controlled entirely by eolored
people, there not being white II an on the
place.
Ed Heath 5 in and mill was burned on
the night Of the tweuty-ffth of December
1890. Heath says the burning of the prop
erty was not alluded to in the papers. The
Colombia (La,) Herald of the thirty-frst Of
December 1889, contains the following;
FIRES
"On Sunday night last, the twenty-sixth, |
the Heath gia-house and store burned to the |
ground This gin was constructed i'll New |
Orleans and brought 10 MIR Heath's place, |
about nine miles below Columbia. 1t was |
run by steam and insured, but for what
amount we are unable to say
There having been several fires recently in
the parish and all Of the buildings burned
being insured. determined to have the
nun DiaIpicf Ennpt
met on the first Monday in January, and in
my charge to the grand jury called their
attention to these facts and instructed them
to investigate the ma tier fully. l directed
their special attention to tho Heath burning,
and directed th sm to investigate the affair.
The following is an extract from the sreport
of the grand jury at that term.
Extract from the Grand Jury Report, Jan
nary term, 1891
THAT they have made special inquiry into
the burning Of the gin aud mill Of Heath.
81 uated on Long Lake plantation, and tind
it the general opinion of elsons RESTING in
the vicinity of tho said plantation thai the
burning was the work Of an incendary, but
find no clue to the perpetrator OF the act"
1t is reported that the property destroyed
was fslly covered by insurance. | have
eonversed with an eye witness efthe burning
of the Heath gin and tho circumstances at
tending it, and am fully convinced that the
was burned to get the insurance
money. The foreman of the jury informed
me that whilst they could not get sufficient
evidence to authorize them TO fad bill, yet
he was fully persuaded and convinced in
his ewn mind that the property was bErned
to obtain ths insurance money. This is the
general opinion of those in tho parish who !
are acquainted with the facts. Indeed l |
think evidence has been obtained sufficient
70 justify the grand jsry, at The July term,
n finding bill. c
Our Jurors are disposed TO perform their \
duty regardless of persona, as tive convic-
ions for arson were made at the January f
erm. t
There arc mortgages on record against .
Ieath's property in this parish to the
hat it is true, that the property burned was .
insured Tor $4,000. The appraisers appointed
md sworn 10 fix its value since the fire, with p
ew of collecting the insurance, inform me .
hat they liked it's value at Sli00.
Heath says he has 1000 acres, valued at,
including buildings, $4,000 His assess-
neut shows 260 acres, valued at, including y
buildings, $25OO. He intimates that he had e.
large stock at the time of the fire. The APP G
cash value. of tho merchandise Il
Il stock in trade. was $500, and am inform
d by the sheriff and others familiar with 81
lis business that he never had large stock
n hand, and at the time of the fire the stock
vas much smaller !"
His statements are totally false. and Sian !,
er on the people of our parish. With the ex-
option of an occasional personal difficulty
noug the colored people themselves in the
ard and larceny cases, there has been no
utrage or crime committed in the ward u
With the exception of larceny, it is peace 3.