The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-27
MYSTERY OF JAMES SEE.
Thief, Murderer and Suicide, the Crave
Could not Hold Him.


lars Of the curious and thrilling story of
James See. See went to Texas shortly after
the war and got into odium among his
neighbors by the systematic method in
which he appropriated mavericks" or I'M
branded yearling calves. Finally, about
ten years ago, when hostility to him had
reached high pitch, he deliberately muir
dered two of his neighbors, named Ladds
and Tubbs, whom he believed about to
bring his thefts to the attention of the
grand jury. Having shot his two enemies
lie went Immediately to the house of a
friend named William Logan, whom he
found at work roofing his house. Dis
mounting, See walked to the ladder leading
up to where Logan was working, and, set
ting down at the foot of it, he calmly re-
loaded his revolver. Having done that he
looked up and said: Logan, you are go
ing to have a comfortable house" Pretty
good house, said Logan, wondering what
the revolver had to do with it, swell,
Logan, continued See, Il have just killed
old man Ladds and Sam Tubbs, now am
going to kill myself and put another d
rascal out of the way. You have always
been good friend of mine and l like you
tirst-rate. [ want you to promise me you
will tell the grand jury that am the man
that burnt the cattle. Ny son jeff had
nothing to do with it. Now, Logan, al
ways give my boys good advice and help
my wife along all you CAM Then he put
the revolver to his temple ana snapped it
several times, but it refused to fire. Logan
shouted to him not TO kill himself, and was
starting down the ladder to prevent him,
when See turned the revolver upon him and
ordered him to stop. Don't interfere with
me, Logan, or | will kill you" he called
out, with the effect of making Logan run
up the roof to the comb. Again placing
the revolver to his temple he sent bullet
whizzing through his brain.
While these bloody events were transpir
ing the news of the killing of Ladds and
Tubbs had reached Red River Station, and
a crowd of about thirty cowboys had
started out to overtake See and lynch him.
On arriving at Logan's they were told of
the suicide and shown the body. Finding
that the murderer had saved them the
trouble of killing him, the crowd dispersed
to Ladds' and Tubs to render any assist
ance possible. For two days no one could
be induced to bury Sees body, but
finally five cowboys agreed to perform that
service as a matter of accommodation to
Logan, in whose house the corpse still lay.
The five men stated that they would not
be seen with the body in daylight, but
would bury it at midnight This being
assented to, Bob Farmer, Perry and John
Fray, Feb Cummins, and Joe John
son carried the body out on the prairie
and covered it up under two feet of
ground.
Two months after the burial Mrs. See
was standing in her front door when a
cowboy rode up and handed her letter.
Looking at the address she was struck with
the similarity of the writing to her hus-
bands, but her amazernent was unbounded
when she found the envelope contained a
$50 Treasury note, folded within a sheet of
foolscap paper, bearing the following:
DEAR WIFE-Don't feel uneasy about
me; am all right. The grand jury can
crack its whip; have got clear now and
won't have any trouble to get away. Tell
the children to be good and do as you want
them to. VIII write again soon.
JAMES
The woman gazed at the writing for a
moment, and then, with piercing scream,
fell fainting to the floor. Her son, who
CHANGED to be in the room, ran to her, and,
after some exertion, succeeded in restoring
her to consciousness. She handed the note to
the young man, who recognized his fathers
handwriting at a glance, and at once ran to
recall the cowboy. But he had ridden
away upon handing Mrs. See the note, and
as the lady had not noticed what course he
took he could not be overtaken. Mrs. See
was SO affected by the note she determined
to show it to her sister-in-law, Mrs. Horace
Gray. AS. that lady was unable to pene-
trate the mystery surrounding the affair
others were consulted, and ere long the
entire community was discussing the mat
ter. 1t did not require much arguing to
induce the people to believe the story soon
set afloat that Jim See had been met by
cowboy while crossing Red river at Cedar
Spring Ford. Excitement ran so high that
it was determined to exhume the body,
buried by the five men, to ascertain if
there could be any mistake about it being
Sees. Therefore, notwithstanding the fact
that fully seventy-five people had viewed
the body and knew it to be See's, it was
taken up and left exposed twelve hours. The
remains were not much decomposed. The
features were still perfect. Blood and
brains presented a sickening sight as they
oozed from the ugly wounds in the temple.
Fully satisfied that James See was past
writing notes. and especially sending
money to his wife, the crowd allowed the
body to be reinterred. Almost year had
elapsed since the cowboy handed the note
to Mrs. See. Border life was productive of
too many thrilling episodes to have any
one remembered long. The mysterious let
ter was no longer an interesting topic of con-
versation. Mrs See had just stepped out of
the quaint combination store" at Red
River Station, when young man APP
preached her and handed her a sealed note.
Walking back into the store, she tore open
the envelope and extracted the contents. A
clerk who had come to wait upon her
noticed that she turned deathly pale and
seemed to gasp for breath. He asked if he
could do anything for her. She replied:
Yes. A young man out there just handed
me this note. Go quick and bring him to
me-" The clerk ran to the door, but the
young man had disappeared, no one knew
where. Mrs See was so agitated, the pro-
prietor of the store came forward to learn
the cause when the lady thrust photograph
at him saying: There; look at tbat"
The proprietor recognized the picture as
that of the late James See. That's my
dead husbands picture" cried the woman
shaking with emotion, land this is the writ
ing The proprietor took the note and
read aloud:
DEAR WEI send you my picture that
you NAV know am well and hearty. |
never had one taken before, and hope you
will be pleased with this one. Would send
you some money, but am a little hard up
Just now. You have plenty of stock you
can sell to buy what you need. Don't worry
on my account. Love to the children
JAMES.
The crowd of loungers about the store
were made acquainted with the cause or the
furry Horses were mounted and the
country secured TO find the young man who
had delivered the note, but nothing was