Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-11-06

AS he was returning up street, we nalied
him. He wheeled his horse and started to
ride off, cursing the sheriff. The sheriff
spoke to him. Sylvanus also commenced
cursing me. had an old pistol that had
been loaded two or three months. The
sheriff gave me the warrant and approach
ed Thornburg, who was then riding on the
street in the direction of the Methodist
church. Some distance from Main street
met Capt. J. II. Lowry and asked him for
his horse on which I pursued ThOrnburg.
Opposite the residence of Mrs. Miller, near
the Methodist church, halted him, and ne
not stopping, fired at him. Sylvanus rode
on until he reached Ike Wright's, where ne
stopped and defied us, the sheriff then being
with me. In the meantime the IS sherln's s@ Tn son, =
Willie, came up with sXteen-shooter. The
sheriff asked for the gun, saying his object
was to shoot the horse, and by thus dismount-
ing Thornburg his capture would be easy.
Tom Glenn rode up. Pursuing Sylvanus in
the direction of his fathers house, was be-
hind the sheriff and his sons. heard three
reports of arms in the direction of Sylvanus.
When I got up to Thornburg's house, Syl-
vanus Thornburg and William Thornburg
were there, both armed with guns. Sylvan
us told me and the sheriff that he would
give us five minutes in which to leave there,
or he would shoot us both. The sheriff
that we had come to arrest Sylvanus on a
warrant. About this time, Joe Colcock,
Dunn Colcock and R. A. Parish came up.
Dan Thornburg held the reins of my horse
and the sheriff's horse, while we were on
them, until Bill and Sylvanus, armed with
guns, rode off. I then rode out toward the
Adickes' place and heard firing in the di-
rection of the Thornburg house, when lrode
back, and meeting DR.. jackson, ne told me
there were none of the men at Ihornburgs
house, and / came on back. was at the
barn the next morning after it was burned.
I did not see the track near the gate. saw
three tracks inside the gate. (Witness iden-
tilted prisoners shoe, and said itcorrespond-
ed to the track.) Placed in the track it was
identically the same; the track correspond
ed exactly to the shoes. / was in the Jail
when Sylvanus gave the sheriff his shoes.
(The shoes were here put in evidence before
the Court.) I have noticed Sylvanus' walk.
He had no walking stick when we were at
the house the evening of the 3rd. tie did
not ride like a man that was much intoXl-
Gated. I saw horse tracks in the road.
Some eight or ten of us went to the barn:
horse. The track of this horse was the same
as that of another horse track that was there.
Sylvanus' horse was shod all round.
Cross-eran.ined. Defendant was intoxi-
Gated on the evening we attempted to arrest
him. He did not fire at me. fired at him.
| do not think I hit him. 1t is over mile
from here to his fathers. do not know
which house they call the Finley house.
At the barn saw three tracks of shoes
two of them step part. The other was
some distance from these, going in the
opposite direction. I could not say, from
the track, whether the man was going hur,
riedly. The consecutive tracks were q
or feet apart. saw horse tracks, lead
ing, I think, towards Blacks Station.
These tracks were ten or fifteen steps from
the gate, leading up the road. l ala not \! It
follow these tracks hundred yards. did
not examine any of the roads leading there
for horse tracks. I fred at Sylvanus twice
in town, on my own responsibility, having
the warrant for his arrest in my hands. l
flred ;tfter mailing him. lie was riding
from me at the time. Before this I snap
ped nv pistol at him in the street, near the
market. The sheriff had summoned me to
assist him in arresting Sylvanus.
Redirect. When snapped my pistol at
Sylvanus near the market, he had pointed
his pistol towards me. On riding away, ne
waved his pistol. He made threats at Ike
Wright's. He told me if / came up to him
he would kill me.
RUFUS A. PARISH, s'ooIn. l reside IN
Yorkville, and am in the merchandising
and livery business. CThe shoes in evidence
were exhibited to witness, which he said
were the same he had seen Sylvanus Thorn
burg take off his feet and hand to the sheriff.
He gave them to me and l took them down
stairs. We went out to where the barn was
burned. I took the shoes. George Grist ac-
companied us. I examined the shoes as we
went and remarked that if the man who
burned the barn wore them at the time,
the tap on one Of them would tell the tale.
The track was peculiar. put the shoe IN
the track and it fitted exactly. | had the
left shoe in my hand and applied it to the
track. There were eleven impressions of
tacks in the track and the same number in
the heel of the shoe. The tap on the heel
also compared with the print of tap in the
track. The distance apart of the tacks in
the heel and the impression of them in the
track was the same. The sheriff called our
attention to a left track coming from the
barn toward the gate. The track was plain
ly made in bed of sand, showing the heel
plainly, and the print of thetap and the same
number of tacks. We placed the right shoe
in the track we found on the outside OF the
gate. It, too, corresponded with the track.
I cannot tell whether or not the track was
fresh. The sand was dry. The track in the
lot, coming out, was distinct. | did not
examine the horse tracks. / was one OF
the posse summoned by the sheriff to assist
in arresting Sylvanus Thornburg. We rode
out to the Adickes place about quarter
past nine, and remained until ten, when we
rode to Thornburgs house. We went from
there to the Finley place, where we met the
crowd. l proposed to Tom Glenn to go
down through the field, and we agreed to
meet at Fishing Creek bridge. About hall
past eleven o'clock that night, Sylvanus
passed near where we were-one hundred
some one fired on him. He rode on by.
We went on down to the Fishing Creek
bridge. When 1 first saw the fire of the
barn, it was about half past one. When
we first saw it we were two or two and a
half miles from the fire. The next time
saw Sylvanus was the next morning.
do not know the dimensions of the barn, or
what it contained.
Cross-eran,ined. l did not look at my
watch when the firing was going on. was
never in a skirmish or under fire, nor never
thought about the flight Of time when a
man supposed himself in danger. When we
first saw the barn.. it appeared to be blazing
up. There were woods between us and the
fire. / carried the shoes to the barn. l
handed the right shoe to George Grist. No
one but me and Mr.. Grist had the shoes
Mr.. Grist counted the sprig impressions be-
fore applying the shoe to the track: We
were all together at the first track ex-
amined. George Grist counted the impress
sions in the track. We were there half an
hour. We found the tracks soon after we
got there. The shoes were not set down on
the ground except in the tracks. l was
with George Grist all the time. don't think
the shoe was set down. / had one shoe in
my hand. We set the shoe in the track
after counting the tack impressions: l kept