The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-08-18


march from Sandusky to the isl and.
The carly September days dragged S low
y along, full of fear and trembling. The
i9th proved to be the day of fate The
lhilo PARSONS, passenger steamer loly-
ing between Sandusly and Detr, Dit,
stopping at Putin Bay, left Detroit nr-
~ in the morning. The first stop on
the Detroit river was at Sandwich, n
small Canadian town. Hero a quartet
of men came on. At Maiden, a short
distance further down, scoro more
boarded the steamer. Several of the
men carried largo valises, but the most
conspicuous piece of baggage was great
oId-iashioncd trunk, secured with ror,cs
"nd seemingly very heavy. Still there
WAS nothing at all suspicious about tn
or the men or their traps. At othcv
points down the river passengers were
taken up until when the Parsons came
to the dock ut liclly's Island some four
teen miles from Snndusky and ten mile s
from tue island she had an unusually
large passenger list. The clerk happen
cd to be i'll charge of the boat, the cap
tain being off for the day When the
boat had got clear of the island, and was
fully on her way to Sandusky, four men
stepped up to the clerk, and at the point
of rcvolvers compelled his surrender.
The trunk was burst open and relieved
of its load of revolvcrs and bowie knives
The boat carried no armament, and had
but few hands to work her, and the
task OF securing possession was trihinp
Under the direction of the leader of the
conspirators, they cruiscd about idly for
some time, then put into Middle Bass
Island AS she lay here the Island
| Queen, passenger packet, plying between
| ~ Gl II.
and threw out plank to discharge her
passengers. Instantly she was seized by
the plottcrs, who fired volley after vol.
ley, but did no damage. Captain Orr.
OF the Queen, attempted to cast off tho
rope, but was prevented. The engineer
refused to obey the orders of the cap
tors, and received n severe wound in the
check, from revolver fired by some nm
known party. The passengers, includ-
ing fifty one hundred day men, on their
way to Toledo to be mustered out, were
put in the hold. Captain Orr was close
ly questioned as to the situation in San
dusky, the numbers of strangers in the
city, and the excitement existing, but he
absolutely refused to talk. The number
OF people on board was too great, and
1t was decided to put the women and
children ashore, together with the one
hundred day men, who were parolcd.
Tho Queen was then taken several
miles out to sea and sunk. From the
unsettled conduct of tho raiders it was
evident to Captain Orr that some part of
the plan had miscarricd The man in
command was Beall. His appearance
was such as to excite remark, more csDc-
cially as his followers were a particularly
mean looking set. This was strikingly
the case in the person of John Burlcy,
who was second in command. The fol
lowing programme is outlined from IL
document in the Confederate archives,
prepared by Jacob Thompson
bCall was to lead the water part of the
scheme while man named Cole had
charge OF the land end Cole was to
either ovcrpower the officers of the
Michigan, or to throw them off their
| guard At given signal Beall was to
steam rapidly in and capture the ship.
~ cannon ball sent screaming across
the island was to be tho signal for the
5000 prisoners to rise and overpower
their gmrds Sandusky was to be sacked
ana Toledo, Cleveland and Buffalo were
to suiirr like fate. The prisoners were
to go to Cleveland and from that point,
stealing horses wherever they could,
dash across the State to Wheeling, w.
Va, But Cole failed, and SO did the plot
to capture Johnson's Island Beali at
last saw the game was up and started for
the islands. The boat was urged for
ward at terrific rate She stopped long
enough to land her captain and crew
and then proceeded to the Canadian
shore where she was sent to tho bottom.
Many of the islanders, fearful that the
plot would succeed, had, during the day,
destroyed much of their property. The
excitement which next day followed the
exposure OF the plot was wonderful, and
Tor the time overtoppcd the Presidential
campaign which was then at white heat.
Three months later Bcall was captured
near the Suspension Bridge, Mt Niagara
Falls, and locked up. 1t was discovered
that an attempt was being made to bribe
the turnkey, So, 600 having been offered
him to ro.easc Beall, The prisoner was
then placed in confinement at Fort
Lafayette. One j. $. Brady appeared
for Bcall at his trial. The defendant
was charged with being spy; with at
tempting to wreck Lake Shore train,
for the purpose of robbery, and with the
iclonlous seizure of vessels. Beall's de-
tense was weak, he admitting very much
that was charged against him. One of
the features of the case was manifesto
ilohi ocliefSou DaVlS, declaring that the
acts on the border were committed by
his orders, and should be recognized as
lawful acts of war. Beall was declared
guilty, and General Dix approving the
sentence, the prisoner was ordered to be
executed on Governors Island, the resi-
dence Of the late General Hancock,
February 1S, 1865. The night before
the day set for his death, Bcall wrote o
touching letter to his brother, in which
he claimed that he was unaware of hay
ing committed any crime against society.
President Lincoln at the last moment
granted a respite until February "a,
when the prisoner was executed without
showing the slightest sign of fear.
The plot pertaining to the shore was
entrusted 20 Major G. II. Cole, who, the
better to conceal his purpose, was fgur-
ing as n Titusvillo, Pa, oil merchant.
His first stem Was to Obtain an intro1uo