Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-01-24
BLOODY BEATTY.
Remarkable Record Of O Member Of the
Present Tennessee Legislature.
f Nashville Banner.


the legislative hall may be seen a
stout. healthy man, thirty-nine
years old, of medium stature, f1orid
complexion, heavy brow, reclining
4 forehead, fairly well dressed, wear
Ing whiskers a la Napoleon ILL.,,
and OF u generally intelligent APP
pearance. That man is Hon. sCIabe'
Beatty, of FeEtress county. Proba-
bly, no man in the legislature has
80 remarkable a record. To look at
him and talk to him one would not
suppose the quiet, unobtrusive leg
islator had killed nearly a score of
his fellow mem, but such is fact.
lie has killed eighteen men. He is
a son of the noted "Tinker Dave''
Beatty, and was one of his fathers
most trusted lieutenants during the
late war. The company of which
he was member and his father
the captain killed more than five
hundred men of the class known as
"guerrillas" in the last two years Of
the war. +
In the, mountainous section OF
Tennessee and Kentucky the name
OF Tinker Dave was a terror up
to his death, and the many deeds OF
bloodshed and death in which he
participated are yet recounted with
horror by the older Inhabitants
| thereof. - ~.
| Prior to the war thinker Dave"
was peaceable citizen earning an
honest living In the mountains OF
Fentress county. In the early part
of the REBELLION the guerrillas in
that section raided the old mountain
eer's premises frequently and made
havoc OF his property, greatly mis-
treating his family. Finally, he
swOre revenge, and, organizing
company of 100 desperate and dar-
| ing men, he set about to kill ali OF
the class that had annoyed him.
The slain of his bands are buried all
over the mountains and in the val
| leys of East Tennessee and Ken
| lucky. "Clabe," the member of
| the legislature referred to, was then
a boy about eighteen years old, aud
| enlisted with his father to kill and
dismay the enemy wherever found.
Many were the bloody battles he
fought in savage disorder, some
times with the most unequal odds
against him, and sometimes with
the "balance of power" in his favor.
In his method of warfare there
was no surrendering, no taking OF
prisoners, no ransom for the capt
ured. Ii was death. When an
enemy was captured he was shot
dead upon the spot. 1t is not, there
fore, wonderful that during nearly
three years of steady searching for
blood, he should have killed eigh-
teen men to his certain knowledge,
besides, probably, many others Of
whom he did not know. In the
mountains of White county a small
detached force OF which he was
leader struck "squad" of "guer
rillas," and running fight ensued.
| Ammunition soon became scarce,
and Beaty's men attempted to cap
ture and subdue the fleeing party by
| physical force. In this they parti-
ally succeeded. Que of Beaty's
men. however, caught large, stout
fellow who resisted, and rough
and tumble fight followed until the
"H0n." "Clabe" turned to the res
cue, and, leveling his Enfield rifle,
fired and shot the large man dead,
and left him gasping in the noun
tain wilds. That entirely exhaust
ed the ammunition and the question
now arose, how were they to dis
pose Of another man whom they
had captured ? Beatty hurriedly
and summarily settled the. discuss
ion by picking up large club and
striking the hian a deadly blow on
the head, kiiliug him Instantly. In.
Clay county he was recunnOitering
with ten OF his fathers company
when an armed force of ~rab0nt
seventy-five4 men attacked him.
He returned the fire, almost every
shot killing it's man, and then fed.
/ turing every few moments and pour
ing deadly voliey into the pursu-
| ing force. Such was the isIarks.
manship Of his men that seldom
did a shot fail to kill a man, and
thus the little party of ten KILLED
nearly half OF their pufsuers and
repulsed the rest without losing a
man and only getting few slight
wounds. On that same raid he was
completely surrounded at one time
| by company OF confederates under
Capt. Foote ami Lieut.. Payne, and
with that desperate .boldness that
characterized most of his exploits
he made "break" and escaped to
the mountains unharmed.
The company existed and operat-
ed under nominal authority from
Gen. Thomas, and after the war,
when thinker Daven was tried in
| the courts for some of these deeds,
he was acquitted in every case. The
| Hon. L. G.. HOuk was his attorney,
and in recognition of his able servi-
ces, the old raider made him a pres
ent of a fine race horse, aside from
the large lee first paid In cash.
/ Young "Clabe" settled down to
peaceful pursuits and soon after
married. By hard work and fru-
gality he has acquired. quite COM
petence, and lived in such a man
ner as to win the respect and conf
dence OF his fellows. When nomi-
mated for. the legislature last fall a
disgruntled member. of his party
bolted and ran independent. Thus
with the democratic candidate
Beatty had two opponents, and he
got more votes than both. The cu-
rious feature of the canvass was the
brother Of a man whom Beaty had
killed heartily supporting Beatty,
and two sons OF another man whom
he shot dead in 1864 coming to the
polls and publicly electioneering
for him. His idea of the practical
may be seen in the fact that he
came to the legislature on several
rats of logs, which he sold for $4,-
OO0 Although he has remarkably.
good common sense, he can neither
read nor write, In consequence he
/ has private secretary to attend to
his clerical duties as legislator. He
is determined to give his children a
good education, and has q bright
| son in the Vanderbilt University:
Such Is 4 brief sketch OF one OF
the most remarkable men OF the
present general assembly,. and the
incidents OF his life written in de-
tail would make tale OF reality
stranger than fiction.