The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-10-13

81 black curssnx hair covered his Hne bead
ard coal hack eves xseamed from beneath
hesvv h-ows.
81 have heard Of yon-' said he 10 me- u
an tail that vou are brave. honess man
I want vou % come down 10 sc-abhieson-
vii rfve you . safe pass ard the best OF
treatment. tel you the whole history OF
Cur z.rtsr. and prove % you the wrongs
We hare suffered
@sYou speak a. though ycr we're 70 be
released sasd I. bat here you are hard
and fast IN Wilmington jail
The swamp Augei smiled i shall e.
care from here said he. The tal Is not
huist that vii hold RE long You can tel
The sheriff that i; you wish
sure enough he did escape, and vent
on mission 20 scrabbieton- This viii be
the frs. time this story has been pablished-
/ met Lowry and be took me 20 the srces-
trsl home. There he told the whole fam
iiy history, pointed out the place where
h. parents we're shot down, the tree where
bis father was Eashet.
We were Union men. said he None
az IS lifted finger fo- the Confederscy.
That Is why the state 80 readily lends us
all 10 hunt ia down. No Lowry ever
U@IESa 3 save " EeA We NV@Ak1h -
we set hira free. and the big slaye-holding
planters hated rs for 81
Finally he brought out the big brass
locked family bible and opened IL 70 the
record pages.
There, said he, pointing TO page, is
the recorded oath OF vengence- We have
sworn never 20 stay hand while we live and
a Mclean, Mcneil or McCisry is Ief. in
R0t,eson, and We never will.
Once Henry Berry Iowry's wife. Rhoda.
was taken prisoner and pat in Lumberton
iaEl as 3 hostage. Her eaptors thought that
By holding her they could compei the sur
render OF her husband. He Immediately sent
word tba, II she was not released at once
be would burn Lumberton % the ground
before morning. so great was the terror
of the community that they not only made
the sheriff release her. but put her in a car
riage and carried her home
After this matters grew worse. A score
or more OF the three offending families
were killed. with an occasional Lowry 20
even matters. Rewards were increased.
Parties, organized TO hunt the Lowrys,
went boldly into the swamps of Robson
and never emerged. The swamp Angels
seemed TO he endowed with charmed life.
They were absolutely fearless. They
seemed 10 have utterly put aside eau
ton. 4 swamp Angel would calmly board
train and ride for miles with
n sheriff who, he knew. had a warrant for
his arrest, would stop the cars In piece of
woods and step of. All The dangerous
characters in the Carolinas naturally
drifted 10 the swamp Angels until hun
bred or more. negroes and whites held the
border in condition OF absolute terror.
As might he expected, depredations were
then committed on people who had no
part in the feud, and crimes were ascribed
To- the Lowrys OF which they were entirely
innocent.
Finally, in 1872, the state Put forth
strenuous effort, and the gang was crushed
ont. One OF the Lowry boys was shot, one
or two were hanged, and one sent TO prison.
Henry Berry Lowry escaped, and with
several OF his fellows was supposed to have
joined fortunes with the James boys.
II so, he was never captured, and his
whereabouts are unknown save To 8
few intimate friends and relatives.
who guard well the secret. Numbers of his
followers can still be found around Robson
county. They live around Scrabbleton,
where q Yankee named Hayes, an ex-
soldier, keeps store, runs the postoifce,
and is king bee OF the whole region. Many
of the Swamp Angels have since given the
revenue officials q world of trouble over
moonshine whisky.
But this opportunity is taken to give the
unwritten story OF family who have been
known only az merciless desperadoes and
ru.iians. yet who were merely avenging the
brutal murder OF their father and mother