The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-08-18

! LIN S.tii' oSplSiipIA N'.F . NeAstoSoSN. StO' @
iv along. full of fear and trembling. The
18TH proved to be the day Of fate. Tht
H:tilo Parsons. q passenger steamer ply
ING between Sandusky and Detroit
Stopping IL Prt-in-Bay, left Detroit ear
i IN tue morning. The first stop OF
The Detroit river was at Sandwich, {
small Canadian town. Here quartz,
ot men came on. st Maiden, short
distance iurtlcr down, a score more
boarded the steamer. Several of the
men carried large vaEses, but the most
conspicuous piece of baggage was great
o;;l-:aSi:io2ed trunk, secured with ropes
a,?t; seemingly very heavy. Still there
was nothing at all suspicious about eth.
er the men or their traps. At othe,
points down the river passengers were
taken I'D until when the Parsons came
to the dock 81 ke?ly's Island. some four
teen ,niies rom Sanduslly and ten miles
from the island, she had an unusually
large passenger list. The clerk happen
eti to be in charge OF the boat, the cap
tain being Of 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 revolvers compelled his surrender.
The trunk was burst open and relieved
Of its load of revoivers and bowie knives
The boat carried no armament, and had
but few hands to work her, and the
task of securing possession was trifing.
Under the direction of the leader of the
conspirators, they cruisea about idly for
some time, then put into Middle Bass
Island AS she lay here the Island
Queen, passenger packet, plying between
the islands and Sandusky, ran alongside,
and threw out plank to discharge her
passengers Instantly she was seized by
the plotters, who fred volley after vol
ley, but did no damage. Captain On,
OF the Queen, attempted to cast off the
rope, but was prevented. The engineer
refused to obey the orders Of the cap
tors, and received severe wound in the
cheek, from a revolver fired by some IN
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 On was close
Iy 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
it was decided to put the women and
children ashore, together with the one
hundred day men, who were paroled.
The Queen was then taken several
miles out to sea and sunk. From the
unsettled conduct of the raiders it was
evident TO Captain Orr that some part of
the plan had miscarried. The man in
command was Beal. His appearance
was such as to excite remark, more espe
cially as his followers were q particularly
mean looking set. This was strikingly
the case in the person of John Burley,
who was second in command. The fol
lowing programme is outlined from a
document il the Confederate archives,
prepared by Jacob Thompson. g
Beall vas to lead the water part Of the
scheme while o man named Cole had
charge Of the land end. Cole was to
either overpover the officers of the
Michigan, or to throw them off their
guard At "a given signal Beall was to
steam rapidly in and capture the ship.
a cannon ball sent screaming across
the island was to be the signal for the
1900 prisoners to rise and overpower
their guards. Sandusky was to be sacked
and Toledo, Cleveland and Buffalo were
to suffer q like fate. The prisoners were
to so to Cleveland and from that point,
stealing horses wherever they could,
dash across the State to Wheeling, ".
Va. But Cole failed, and so did the plot
to capture Johnson's Island. Beall at
last saw the game was up and started for
the islands. The boat was urged for
ward at a terrific rate. She stopped long
enough to land her captain and crew
and then proceeded to the Canadian
shore where she was sent to the 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
~. ,osure OF the plot was wonderful, and
fol she time overtopped the Presidential
campaign which was then at white heat.
Three months later Beall was captured
near the Suspension Bridge, at Niagara
Falls, and locked up. It was discovered
that an attempt was being made to bribe
the turnkey, $1,000 having been offered
him to release Beal. The prisoner was
then placed in confinement at Fort
Lafayette. One J. S. Brady appeared
for Beall 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
felonious seizure Of vessels. Beal's de-
Tense was weak, he admitting very much
that was charged against him. One of
the features of the case was a manifesto
from Jefferson Davis, declaring that the
acts on the border were committed by
his orders, and should be recognized as
lawful acts Of war. Beal 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 Is, 1865. The night before
the day set for lis death, Beall wrote a
touching letter to his brother, in which
he claimed that he was unaware of hav-
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 to Major c. H. Cole, who, the
better to conceal his purpose, was fgur-
ing as a Titusville, Pa, oil merchant.
His first step was to obtain an introduce
ton to the officers of the Michigan.
This done, the rest was an easy mat
l. ,,.,c 81,