The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-15
LIFE IN LIBERTY.
Senator BradwelPs Description of the
Negro Orgies.

went at the special request of Gov. Gordon
to quiet the disturbance among the negroes.
II was met at the train, said be, by an
influential negro, who asked me what
brought me there. L have come down here
to stop this foolishness, said l, If it takes
all the soldiers and all the artillery
THAT amt the way to stop it," said he.
Just tie em to tree and strip 'em to the
waist, and give 'em good flashing. just
tell me to do it, and I'll stop EN-"
Half dozen of the other negroes stan d.
ing around agreed to join them, but de-
cilned their assistance and got the county
authorities together and estau lished patrol
OF ten men in the swamp district, where
this craze exists.
There were about seveuty-five of them
left, and they were collected at a place
called Jerusalem, where they had a rude
shed of boards, which they called Solomon's
temple. They had lived tor three days on
nothing but an ear of green corn day.
They were very much emGciatei, and the
Virgin Mary, as they called her, was sick
with the typhoid fever. Tney thought she
was about to be translated.
I'm the center of the temple was q DIV
goods box covered with C 10Th, which they
called the ark of the covenant James had
told them that any one who touched il
would be struck dead. When the sheriff
went and kicked the box over they all fell
on the floor as if they expected thunder
bolt to fall from heaven and strike them.
They seemed very much frightened, but
dispersed when the sheriff ordered them to
do so, saying, Boss, we amt doiu' no harm:
we's worshipin'
The woman they call the Virgin Mary is
an ugly old negress, the mother of several
children, and below the average in intelli-
gence. She was rather mild. Her method
was to make them bring their children to
worship her and make them fall down and
kiss her feet Then she would lay her hands
on their heads and bless them
They have released on bond the men
charged with minor Offenses, but thoss who
killed a woman at James order TO beat the
devil out of her are still in jail The man
who tried to prevent the murder and to
make James put on his clothes, is in a pre-
carlous condition and it is thought ne will
die.
Tho orgies they went through under that
old shed were hideous. They would form a
ring of men and women and dance around
with torches, making all sorts of hideous
noises. AS they got excited they would he
gin to pull off their uppermost garments.
Then they would take off another and con-
tnue taking off their garments ono at a
time until they were naked They would
get down on their hands and knees and
grunt like hogs and make noises like sheep.
Then they would get up and run all around
with torches crying fire a hundred times.
All this noise YVES TO drive off the devil.
Tony LeConte, vino called himself King
Soiom N, was following the example Of his
Hlustrlous namesake-he was picking out a
thousand.
The whole district is now being patrolled
and the negroes are quiet The day after
they were dispersed they met in three sepa-
rate places insmall gatherings. That shows
that tn ~ are weakening.
THE only danger of further trouble will
be on Aug. IL. the day they are to get their
wings. Bell said they would get them then
and the wings would drop from the sky
He charged them SIS pair for men and 81
for women. Later he reduced the price.
James, when he succeeded Bell in his
claim to be Christ, tore up the money that
came ia for wings and scattered the coin.
lie was magistrate, and adjourned his
court, telling them at the next time he
held court it 40 I'D be il heaven, and then
he would judge taem If they didn't do just
right,
brought their provisions together. They
let their crops go and let the cattle in to eat
them. Now they are in miserable con-
dtion.
There is one impression about this affair
which wish to correct. l observe that
| some of the northern papers say the trouble
is that the negroes are not educated. That
is not true. James was q magistrate and
wrote a fair hand. Tony LsConte was
licensed to teach school. | examined him
was very fair. Now he is eating grass
Whenever the jailer will let him out he
gets down on his hands and knees and eats
grass. He thinks he is Nebuchadnezzar.
THE real trouble is that the negroes live
more apart from the white people than any
in the state. 1t is low, swampy section of
the county, about fourteen miles long and
ten miles wide. White people can't live
there, and they have sold the land to the
negroes. In this swamp country there are
not less than 5000 or 5000 negroes, and
there is not a white family within five
miles of them. The negroes vote 1000 in
that district, and there are not dozen white
votes. They are cut of the reach Of the
white mans influence and it looks like
they have gone back to barbarism.
AT one end of tais swampy section of
country is the old Midway meeting hous e,
the oldest church in tae south. There was
an association there in IVA, and there
United States senators and governors of the
olden time are buried McIver, the COL
ored member of the legislature, lives there
on land that belonged to Lyman Hall, one
of the signers of tie declaration OF indie
pendence.
Years ago that old church was turned
over to the negroes, on condition that they
would take care of the cemetery. Since
then they have worshiped there, and u
northern man by the name of Wai.e, cou-
sin of the late chief justice. was sent down
from Connecticut by some missionary soci-
ETY. to preach to the negroes. He has been
| there leading them and preaching to them
for number of years, and has thousand
in the membership of his church. None of
these negroes have gone into this excitement.
| The crazy ones calne from a section of the
| swamp where there are negro preachers.
| They have another church there, and from
its membership the false Christs have
drawn a good many of their crowd
1.-THE negro preachers are out in my pa
per in statement of the affair. They esti-
mate that one-twentieth of the negro popa-
| lation was in the craze. The best element
of the negroes are down on thoss who were
| engaged in this affair. They say that the
whole negro population is blamed for it,
and it has gone out that they are all en-
gagged in it when they heartily dlsapprove
| it.
THAT country drained would be para
disc. Now a white man can't stay there all
night without having chils. 1t is covered
with swamps and stagnant pools of water
| but it is as rich as the Mississippi bottom.
They raise a bale of cotton to the acre with
out a pound of fertilizer. The white people
have about all sold their land 10 the negroes.
Col G.. C. Jones is one who would not sell.
He has q magnificent place there, and Col