New-York tribune., 1884-02-20
THE RIOTS IN DANVlLLE.
WHAT THE DEMOCRATIC DESIGN WAS
-4r EXISTENCE OF A SECRET CLUB AckNo"LND
CHARLES ApAMs's STORY.

CHARLES ADAMS'S sTOkf'
WASHINGTON. Feb. 19.-W. 2. Graves,
commission merchant of Danville, age sh" -.,on 20
t,o sr. uttness called in the Danyile
,"o y,,s ,h, ,s attended the Opera House meeuu
=, November q signed the Danville circular anu d
a.. contents He saw men only IN 'a' asan+
q, negroes in the riot lie "" Toward
when the firing began, ou' We tnat direction
h,s ulace OF business when wa - orov, of col
" - rmea and AIRED four shots into the cfo"uV ~.
nc -,- "S 1,a arad because he was never ye' ao'o
oieu p0P NV man TO shoot at him OF s'riAc az
~ retaliation Hedescrbed each OF MS sno's'h
s,n Tre oolored were firing to"aru hAi- ~ @
e. .hort time was as hot as ne ever saw.
~, soldier in the Mexican War and oonleder"'o
e,sr I'm thre ebellion. He knew OF no secret ~.
'-t,or m Dany1lle except the Democratic Clun WIZ
denied that shot Charles Adams and salo 'n NC
saw Charles Adams approaching him. trying 10 escape
,rom the crowd Adams threw up his arms anu ssAou
,,nsss not 10 fire. The witness told Adams 10 go 'o
,o,a shortly afterward Adams came out OF the s'ore
and ran away The witness shouted 10 nun 70 So O
80 ,ne store Adams turned and threw mp his arms
bes0ine the witness and others not to shoot Az TINS ~
Adams was shot in the The witness ud no' nie N'
shot He had fired four shots before that Inc "no'S
Ala po keow that he had hit anyone. BE would not say
that he fired without intending to hit anyone but ne saw
no one fall as result of his shooting He nao
his revolver because he anticipated difficulty with tne
negroes. A.. s ha
The witness said that rumor was current 1ne uay
fore the election that the negroes were TO nave o
nght PROCESSION before daylight election day an" VIZ
20 march in three columns to the pols as soon 80 '
were open and take possession of them
Senator L,pham-Was there any predeteTmlhauoh vi
,be mart o the Democrats 10 break the procession
1t did take place -, rboro
witness-No sir I will tell you frankly, sir. Ihere
was no understanding that effect, but II IL hao Oee "
tempted il would have brought about colsioh'
CoIORFp MIN TELL THE STORY OF Ihh ArfN .:
orse Adam, oolored) described the riot In quaint
rngro dialect rising 10 his feet and swinging MS s an"
bodv in illustrating the movements OF unere"' i
nal. and OF the crowds The witness was 1ne man va"
attemped TO take the revolver from Lea NoelS 0o
panion at tie preliminary riot SAID he; hos ~ ue %
country but my chaps [bOysl works In to"n WI" -
Afr Ras Blairs sto payin de clerk some money-owe"
hin, 70, dollars-when de firm began" "me sc"nlue
with Lea the latter fen and the witness ieh Oh Vop
TAYLOR one of the preliminary white rioters seIe uo
witness by the heels and sort turned MIN
like" illustrated by diving motion OF tne oouy' u
hands over his hesd As the witness was engaeu III us
Involuntary gymnastics fred twice the bullets pass
ing under the wtnesss body No. sab, de piston uu ho'
fire hissef"
In reply 10 Senator Sherman, the witness descrlpeo
cene which took place last Wednesday nigh ater nc
Go. .uhnpnaed 10 Washington He sleeping in the
denot Freeman came and shook the door Inc Witness
LET him in after some delay. Freeman asked nun "nat
ne knew about the riot The witness said that ne Sd"
au Freeman asked him II he had any whlsKey ana cac
OF his pOckets. Illustrating ny slaPPus N
coat and trousers pocketsl Freeman then called IN
Hatcher Barksdale Lea and Others all OF whom were Oh
their way to Washington. They told MIN thaI he Hdu
better know but damned little" about the rot Wnen nc
wen 10 Washington. Lea did not speak, but ooheu aS L
he would ,ump through" the witness. Barksdae came
,bo room and the witness described the affair to HIM
Mr. Barksdale said: "Wel GOge, youse anyways
iubus wouldn't advise yer TO venture witness ui'
not venture but remained in Danville until last mgh'
when he came on with crowd Of colored companions
Charles Adams a powerfully built colored man. wnon
CAPTAIN Graves denied shooting, was the next witness
He described his experience the day Of the riot ID
said that he ran of the store TO catch MS horses
saw Captain Graves with revolver in his hand and said
Captain for Gods sake, don't shoot me- am gong 70
catch NV horses" Captain Graves said. "Wel get on
NJ the wav 90 into the house" The witness turned Il
ca into the house when Captain Graves shot him. Th
witness rolled up his sleeve and displayed the wound
The witness heard Captain Graves testimony, but said
"at the same time know that he shot me-
p 7 Adams a well dressed intelligent looking coloret
man. brother of the preceding witness was called: "a
fhe time Of the riot, he policeman lie separated
the original compatanIs Lea at ITse @ d b Cp
later eonsentng to II. The witness was OrueIeu Oy
tam Joel Oliver with oatbs and threats 10 geI Oh tn
oicer ana was engaged in attempting to quiet the dls
tuTbanee. , =. ,, .ho ,so+ tho Grand Turv indtcte,
tho whole police and some Others, Whte ana Dac
for carrying concealed weapons The colored pe9pb
Irere moor aud could afford 10 pay the nneS Inc
white people better able TO pay. The outcome wa
that the eoore people ceased T Ttyg yfge ai7 aw canta
Graves shoot his brother. The general flying was al
over and Graves was standing alone He said, "Lool
orr am going to shoot" The witness thought tha
Graves was shooting him (wness), and hit bis brothe
ACCIDENTALLY He "reckOned" " that Graves had tw
shots remaining in his pistol and wanted TO get rid
them He knew Of no other motive Tor shooting then
GRAVES WAS SEEN TO SHOOT ADAMS.
After short recess W g. Bishop testified, but no FAC
NJ importance was elected from him.
Peter Smith, an extremely black negro, was sworn ii
saw the preliminary fight lie heard Hatcher say Ito tn
wbitesl II you all not towards, you will come out
He heard Hatcher say " Ready" as they fell in line
and then they fired The witness was not " skeered,
INT he walked away He saw Captain Graves shoc
Charles Adams BE didn't know who Graves shot at, bU
ne hit Adams. The witness knew Graves He had see
HIM In Patrick County several times and knew him wei
Mr. Graves who was recalled, said that he never wa
IN patrick County in his life and did not remember eve
10 have seen the witness. -, !.
Jefferson Hubbard a black man, was called, but u
,oSrev told Rarrulous story which contained little II
formation He said that he heard the whites begin cal
iDg " Heah beah heah Kill 'em. Kill EN-. Kill EN-, Jus
ike dat The colOred people having ran every Whic Wi
Wv p" the whites came up from even direction VII
dotible-barreled shot guns. s,...-., -. =,
Al past four the proceedings were aDourheu "