St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-02-14
THE ASA ssINATIoN OF CLAYTON.

Gen. Powell Clayton and Judge
William H. H. Clayton, brothers OF
John M. Clayton, who was shot
dead at Plummerville, Ark, last
month, have given to the public a
joint letter telling in very few words
| and with no resort to violent denun-
Citations the story of that political
assassination. At Morrillton, the
county seat of Conway county,
which is not far from Plummerville,
a democratic club was organized
early in the summer, and soon re-
solved itself into a military compa-
nv. The men were furnished with
arms and ammunition by order OF
the governor At the September
election the company's arms were
deposited in the building where the
balloting was going on. Before the
polls opened the republican Judge of
election was arrested, and a demo-
crat was declared elected to fill the
vacancy, by the aid of the military
company which had marched in a
body to the room. At the same hour
two republican judges of election at
Plumrnerville were deposed in a sim
liar manner There has been a regu-
lar republican majority in Conway
county of 300 or 400 but the demo-
Gratis carried the September election.
John M. Clayton ran against C..
r. Breckenridge, democrat, for Con
gress in November, in the district of
which the county of Conway forms a
part. NJ. w. Benjamin, representing
the republican state committee, ar
rived at Morrillton the day before
the election; he was mobbed the mo-
ment he stepped off the train and
died from his wounds a few weeks
later. The election at Plummerville
was repetition of the September
election, the republican judges being
replaced by democrats a few mo-
ments before the polls opened A re-
publican United States supervisor
Charles Vail, then undertook to
open polls elsewhere, but a posse of
deputy sheriffs prevented him. The
supervisor finally returned to where
the democratic board was conduct
ing the election. After a fruitless at
tempt to run off with the ballot-box
Immediately after the closing of the
polls, the democratic Judges with
drew and a company of men, armed
and masked rushed in and forced
Vail lat the muzzles of their piS-
tolls" to turn his back-and the poll
books and ballot-box were not seen
again. Clayton shortly after the
election announced that he would
contest Breckenridge seat, and one
Alexander was employed to canvass
the precinct for the names of men
voting for Clayton. Mr.. Vail was
shot at and wounded by unknown
parties in December, and fled for his
life to Little Rock, and Alexander
soon followed and has since left the
state. When Clayton heard of the
reign of terror he FASTENED to Plum
merville and took up the work where
Alexander left it, and was shot dead
by an unknown party just as the i'll
fated man was in the act of sitting
down at a table near his boarding
house window.
This is the story, and terrible one
it is. Perhaps Mr.. Breckenridge,
who is serving his third term in Con
gress, may not think the letter of the
Clayton brothers worth noticing.
He has expressed sympathy for them,
but that is not enough. He will GER
tainly have a chance to meet these
charges against his political friends
at Washington. Meantime the dem
ocratic governor of Arkansas is do
ing what he can to hunt down the
murderer of Clayton. No state can
afford to pass over such a tragedy as
this until it has been sifted to the
bottom and the integrity of the law
sternly vindicated.-[Springfeld Re
publican.