The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-06-29

/ found / was shot, reached for my revolver,
and at that moment saw John Reeves standing
| over Gardner in the road; he fired two shots in
quick succession full in the face. Before |
could think, heard another shot and felt a ball
| enter my back. and fell in the road on my
head. John Reeves rushed up to me and stand
| ing over me yelled: You - give mo
your revolvers now or Til fill you full of holes
"'For Gods sake / cried, in agony. don't
shoot me any more; am already dying This
seemed to satisfy the villain and he stepped over
| me, and went off short distance, and got Gard
ners horse, and the trio Of murderers made off,
Gardner was shot five times. l lay at the side
! Of the road, suffering great agony. Gardeners
sufferings were intense. he lay on the ground
few feet from where was, and l could hear
him moaning and grooming, Oh, BIZ, come mere.
/ am killed! am killed. My poor family my
poor familyr'
The above is the true story of the assassina-
ton. The report that Gardner gave one of his
revolvers to one of the Reeves boys, to look at,
is absurd in its falsity. and dishonors the
bravery of noble dead man. who lost his life
in the performance of his duty. The officers
were outgeneraled by the desperation of the
desperadoes, who would rather have died than
be taken alive
Mr.. William Cox, the officer who is still alive,
is fatally wounded. AS lie lay on his bed in one
position, unable to move, because of the great
pain he was suffering, he was certainly an object
of sympathy His limbs are paralyzed; his
spinal cord is shattered, and he hangs on to life
only by thread He has wife and one child,
and is thirty-fo years old. Gardner died the
| night of the tragedy, at 3 o'clock He
leaves wife and three children. He was forty
two years of age, consistent, valiant officer,
good citizen, a noble fellow, and much re-
npectad He uoe shot opca in tha fanplo once
| in the middle of the forehead, once in the small
of the back, in the left side, and once in the
| left leg, above the knee He lived eleven hours.
The murdered men were found by some passers-
| by half an hour after they were shot, and were
tenderly taken home.
THE SEARCH FOR THE CRIMINALS.
| The assassination threw the whole neighbor-
! hood into tumult of excitement. People went
| wild with indignation The sheriff secured the
country but no trace of the fends could be dis
covered. Several men were detailed to watch
| the farm where old man Reeves lived, and
| Sheriff Cox had five men watching the house
for eight days, but no trace could be found.
Finally reward of $500 was made up and offered
for the capture of the gang, and a score or more
of detectives have been after them, but all to no
| purpose. The desperadoes have been seen on
several different occasions. but the great fear en-
| tertained by the common people in regard to
| them is such as to give them free reign Sheriff
Cox, however, has not been inactive He has
left no stone unturned in the performance Of his
| duty.
| A sensational report was set afloat, few days
ago, at Shoals, by the finding of the dead body
| of tramp. Carrion birds had eaten the flesh
off the face, and left it unacceptable. The
body was found in lonely, desolate spot rear
| a cliff, half hidden in a sort of cave. The
| Martin county inhabitants were excited over
the discovery, and some knowing ones at once
declared that it was the body Of the desperate,
old doc" Reeves. The coroners verdict an
nounced it to be the body Of an unknown man
| and the remains were buried The next day,
however curiosity became so great that the
| rem aims were dfsnterred and q re-examination
was made, which revealed few marks answer
| ing the description Of the old counterfeter and
murderer. Your correspondent interviewed Dr.
J. A. Doss an intelligent young physician, of
Shoals, who is positive the dead man was one
of the assassins. He said:
when last seen in this neighborhood, the
gang were in the woods five miles east of Shoals.
| in the region of Widow Hardin's farm. They
had, no doubt, been close to this place. and in
| fact have heard that they were. seen in West
| Shoals. On Wednesday, June IL, two men an
swering the description of the Reeves boys
walked up to young son of Mr. John Stultz, In
| Orleans township who was returning with two
| horses from pasture. and made the boy get off
and give up the animals. Farmer Stultz came
out of the house and declared he would protect
his property, when the desperadoes pulled their
revolvers and quietly advised him to 60 into the
house, which he did without further invitation.
The robbers then rode off. When they reached
Daughertys mill, fifteen miles off, they aban-
doned the horses, walked eight miles further in
a westerly direction. and took two more horses
from farmer Jesse Reneker. These horses the
desperadoes rode for considerable distance and
finally let them loose near the cliff where the dead
| body of the supposed assassin was found 1t is
| my theory" continued the Doctor, that the
| young assassins became tired Of the old man
Reeves, and determined to get him out of the
| way, and they shot him in the back in the woods
whe re he was found. The Reeves boys couldn't
| get along as fast with the old man as without
him. He retarded their progress, and if alive,
! he was sure to be captured 1t is positive that
the last seen of any of the Reeves gang was
within mile of the place where the unknown
| man was found dead. We identified the body
as that of old Reeves by bullet wound in his
leg and popularity of his wearing cotton under
his toes. He was baldheaded, too and had
bread crumbs in every pocket"
| Doctor Doss's story was submitted to Sheriff
| Cox and that officer said he did not believe that
| any of the Reeves gang were Dead that they were
prowling around to do more devilment; that they
were counterfeiters and cut-throats and had a
| number of accomplices He believed that the
Reeveses started these stories on purpose through
their friends, in order to dupe the officers of the
| law. He said old man Reeves had Gardeners
nickel-plated revolver; that he had examined the
dead mans pistol, and it was an old, WORKOUT
instrument, utterly worthless. He believed the
| gang would turn up yet
| posse of officers searched the farm-h house of
the Reeveses, and the old woman in charge be-
came very much frightened. She declared that
she had been in hell for years, and that she had