Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1890-01-09
# the corporation and shot them

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This explanation of the causes
which led to the lynching does not,
in the opinion Of law abiding citizens,
in any way justify the murder OF
eight defonssless human beings.
The greatest indignation is expe-
rienced here at the brutality Of the
decd. All is quiet at Bsrnwoll late
this evening, although trouble has
been anticipated and may yet come.
After the lynohers had got their.
prisoners, accompanied by the jailor,
whom they compelled to prcccde
them, they silently fled out of the
Town 10 i. dark wood and there put
the prisoners to death. The victims
were tied to trees and posts OH the
road leading to Williston and were
shot to death, each body being rid.
died with bullets.
DISGRACE TO THE STATE.
AUGUSTA, GA, December Is
Tho Chronicle, referring to the
lynching of the negroes confined in
Jail at Barnwell, charged with the
murder of two white men, will say
tomorrow
"White men who mob and shoot
negroes accused of crime, violate the
laws of God and their country.
They are guilty of murder, and how
ever revolving the crime supposed to
have been committed by those upon
whom their vengeance is wrecked,
men who take the laws in their own
hands, who usurp the place of Judge
and jury, are conspirators against
the peace and integrity of the State
and enemies to the most sacred
rights and the only safeguard of the
liberties of the people. The shoot
ing of negroes, whether guilty or
not guilty, by the hands of lawlcss
white men, il brutal. 1t is a dis
grace to our civilization and a
scandal and shame to any community
that tolcrates or perpetuates such
acts of lawlcssness, inhumanity and
crime"
SCENE OF THE TRAGEDY.
The place of the tragedy has al
ready been described i'll the Budget,
rs being OH the outskirts of the
town. The marks of that butchery
of mon still remain by tho side of
the road. The blackjack oak grows
here in small sapplings, which the
weight of a man will bend to the
ground; they are hardly too high for
their tips to be touched by tall
man. 1t was to these sapplings that
seven of the men were tied, the
eighth was tied to the "corporation
post" At tho foot Of tho tree to
which Peter Bell was tied lay his
old blue knit worstcd cap and two
red bandanna handkerchiefs. The
other marks are bullet holes in the
trees and fence and the corporation"
post. The two "Heffernan men"
were tied on the left of the road 60
ing out, and the Martin murdcrcrs
OH the opposite side. The bullets
wero shot from about twenty-five
PAGES. There is another mark, which
will, however, be eradicated by the
first rail-; that is, the pool of blood
which lies beneath the tree to which
Rake Morrall was tied. He fell face
foremost to the ground, and being
shot in the face he left his stain
there. There are signs of disturbed
ground around the trees, though the
men could not nave lived long after
the first volley.
THE DEAD MEMS FACES.
The assertion that the men were
acut up with bullets" is misleading.
Their skins were punctured in a
number of places, but there is no
"cutting up" The expression on
their faces was most horrible. The
feeling of man who stands before
an array of guns and pistols, about
to bclch forth death, cannot be i'm
agined; neither can the expression
that those men wore when last their
faces looked upon be described
Their eyes were open and CLASSY,
their mouths tightly drawn, and
every muscle rigid and set. In some
cases a bullet had struck on the
forehead or jaw, and the DOSING Of
blood or brains from the wound
added to the general horror of the
picture. 1t is too dreadful thing
even to contemplate.
A Lawyers sTATEMENT.
Mr.. Duncan Bellinger, who is one
of the attorneys for the defence of
Ripley and Adams, says that there
is now on the records of tho Court