Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-03-02
TWENTY YEARS AFTER.

"The Mills of the Gods Grind Slowly,
but They Grind Exceedingly Fine"
About twenty years ago an old man
named Kerce and his son were lynched in
Worth cOunty.for alleged cattle stealing.
At that early day, both in Georgia and
South Carolina. the crime of cattle steal
ing was a felony, and in South Carolina
was punished by death. The taking off of
Kerce and his son without trial by jury
and legal conviction of the crime for which
they were charged aroused, even at that
time, deep feeling of indignation among
the law-abiding people of the county, and
efforts were made for the trial of their muir
derers; but they were never tried. As
each term of the court rolled round for the
investigation of the case the court house
of that county, with all its records, has
been burnt. and so for twenty long years
the course of justice has been delayed.
At the present term of the Superior
Court in that county seventeen of the citi-
Zens, men of good standing in the CON-
munity. are to be tried for this act of law
lessness and murder, committed twenty
years ago, thus eXemplifying the truth of
the caption of this article, that the ''mills of
the gods grind slowly. but they grind eX-
ceedingly fine" The long standing of the
will be gradually exposed during the
trial, together with the standing of a
number of the accused, will doubtless in
vest the occasion with intense interest,
and its final disposition will place it on
the records as one of the most remarkable
trial in the annals OF criminal juris-
prudence.
The story of the murder is thus recount
ed from memory by a gentleman now
connected with the Macon GTnphic as it
was related to him, and is substantially
as follows:
Before the late civil war there emigrated
from one of the CarOlinas a man named
George Kerce, who settled in Worth cOun-
", in what is known as the Warwick
district, it being one of the finest grazing
sections of the State. He Immediately en-
tered into the cattle and wool raising
business. Things went prosperously with
him, and in a few years he had quite
snug sum Of money as the reward of his
labor. But there were dark whisperings
about him and his transactions, and it
was bruited about the county that he was
a cattle stealer. These whisperings soon
assumed the potency Of open accusations,
which issued in warrants charging Kerce
with cattle stealing.
Old man Kerce pursued the even tenor
Of his way, allowing himself to be dis
turbed by these prosecutions as little as
possible. He was a man of powerful
physique and nerve. He would pitch in
TO his accuser, then pay him for the cattle
alleged to have been stolen, and by ''su-
CARING" the court house fellows would
manage to keep out of the meshes Of the
law.
Afterwards there came threats of lynch
ing, and Kerce kept his house barricaded,
with plenty Of powder and ball within,
and his negroes and boys with himself to
do the shooting in case Of an attack.
At last, one night a mob started out to
capture old man kerce, and they had not
proceeded very far before they overlook
the old mans son. They carried this boy
on to the house and made him call his
father out. In this way they captured the
old man when he was unarmed and COM
ing to answer the call of his beloved child.
Securing their prize, the lynchers carried
him and his child to a spot near the banks |
Of Swift Creek and proceeded TO put Mr.. |
Kerce out of existence.
There is version of the affair which re-
counts the scene around the captured |
lion not surpassed in cruelty and inhu- |
manity by the unciyiliZatiOn of cannibals. |
The old man was put to torture, and when |
the spark of life ceased to glow in his |
breast. he was thrown into the creek, his |
body weighted. Then followed a CONSUL |
tation as to what should be done with the |
boy, his little son, which consultation lit |
will be substantiated) was presided over |
by a preacher. After dehberation il was |
decided to kill the child in order to |
destroy all the living evidence of |
their bloody work, and accordingly a |
similar fate was made of the child, and |
when a few weeks after the old man |
Kerce's body was found weighted down in |
the creek, near by was found the corpse |
of his little boy, similarly disposed OF.
There was feeble attempt made at each |
court to bring the parties to justice, until |
very lately, when Henry Morgan, dis |
member of the Albany bar, |
took the prosecution Of the case in hand |
and has worked patiently, until he has |
weayed coil Of evidence around seven |
teen Of the mob who were engaged in this |
hOrrid crime, and who are to be tried at 1
Isabella at the coming term Of the Supe- |
rior Court in Worth county. In cOnnec- |
ton with this case it is remarkable |
fact that every time the case
has been approached for trial |
heretofore, the court house has been |
burned down as previously stated. IT has /
been destroyed by fire three times. Judge |
Richard Lyon and Colonel r. X. Hines, of |
Macon, remember the case, The latter,
who practiced at the Albany bar for
several years, was we'll acquainted with
old man Kerce, and says the first fee he
ever earned was for prosecuting the old
man in Dooly county for hog stealing. He
saws that Kerce was a terrible case, and
a curse TO the country at that time, but
that his murder and that of his little son
was most fiendish, and fearful blot upon
the county.
Since the above was written, we learn
that Worth Superior Court adjourned
Tuesday afternoon, and the members OF
he bar all came in, Only one OF the de-
endants i'm the celebrated kearce case
vas tried, and he was acquitted.
GLsNN's SULPHUR SOAP for diseases
# the skin.