Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1890-10-18
IN PIONEER DAYS.
Experience Of a Minnesota Sher-
ifs Wife and Son.

LIN IlUNELn ia
Experience of a Minnesota Sher-
ifs Wife and Son.
In the pioneer days Of Minnesota my
father was elected sheriff Of - coun-
ty, and in due time our family took up
its residence in the county Jail. l was
the only child, and was at that time
about thirteen years old. About a month
after we took possess on we received a
prisoner who was kno IN over a wide
circle of country as L ack Jim, horse
thief, robber and general desperate.
lie was a mar about thirty years of age,
very dark complexion, quick and wiry,
and his capture was hailed as a great
event. Officers had been after him for
over two years, and two of them who
had turned up missing we're believed to
have been shot down by the desperate.
He was brought to Jail loaded down
with irons, and up to the time of his ex-
animation father employed two extra
guards. After he had been remanded
to the higher court, Black Jim was so
quiet and humble that the extra guards
were dismissed, and he was looked after
by our regular turnkey, who was a mid
dle-aged man named Andrews.
The Jail was built Of stone, and was
the only stone Jail in the State at the
time. The prison part was twelve feet
wide by the width of the building, MAX
ing a Corridor about twelve by thirty.
There were no. cells in this corridor,
but IL was a clear space, with hunks for
five or six prisoners. 1t was shut in by
iron bars running from top to bottom,
and admission was had by a single door.
The windows were small and we'll
guarded. There was no fear of Black
Jim or any other prisoner getting out il
properly looked after.
Two weeks after our prisoner had
been remanded father was called upon
to organize a posse and seek the capture
of a gang OF horse thieves raiding in a
neighborhood twenty miles away. |
heard his instructions to Andrews be
fore he left. He said:
Don't take your eye off Black Jim.
This afternoonimy wife will 60 on duty,
and you can sleep and be ready for
night"
"Oh, you needn't be afraid Of any
thing going wrong" replied Andrews.
I'D just like to see Jim hoodwink me,
and | can watch for three days and
nights, if necessary"
saw that father dldn'tlike his boast
ing, but he was int hurry to be off, and
he left right away after dinner. An
drews took up his station in an arm
chair in the corridor, and | brought in
some wood for the big stove Gt was DC,
tober), filled up the. water pals, and
was busy for an. hour or two. / hap
pened to be in the corridor when the
gate bell rang, and was sent out to an
swer it. Tho caller was a kcen-looking
man about forty years old, pretty well
dressed, and he had a package under
his arm. When he had followed me
into the Jail building he said to An
drews:
lam Lawyer Thomas, of Brockyille,
and have come to see my. client"
Black Jim's examination had taken
place at a town eight miles away, and
neither Andrews, my mother, nor my
self had been present, therefore we did
not know any of the lawyers in the
. case. Father had not said any thing
about visitors, and when Lawyer Thorn
as demanded an interview with his
client, Andrews did not hesitate to let
him into the ward. From the moment
saw Thomas at the gate / took a dis
like to him. I set him down as a bad
man. / wanted to protest when Andrews
let him into the corridor. but | hadn't
the assurance. After he was | made
bold to say:
you ought to have asked mother,
first"
"Pah! What does your mother know
q about matters in here?"
~ don't believe he's q ~lawyer!"
''Of course he is! Why would he say
so il he wasn't?"
As soon as the lawyer had entered
the corridor he was heartily greeted by
; Black Jim, and the two retired to the
further end and sat down to be out Of
l-ear-shot Of the turnkey. There they
talked for a long two hours, and then
Thomas came forward, and said:
Il discover that / have left some
important papers at the hotel, and
must go for them. Will 1t DO against
the rules II call again this eysping?'
We had no rules about visitofsy9s this
was our first prisoner, and Andrews
promptly replied that tho lawyer could
return and remain until nine o'ciocks.I
saw some money slipped into his hand,
and he was all smiles as he bowed
Thomas out. l went and told mother,
and added that l believed Thomas was
a friend Of Black Jim's, instead OF be,
ing his lawyer, but she replied that An
drews was a faithful man, and was prob
ably satisfied that every thing was I'll
right. Black Jim went to his bunk, ant
i took advantage Of this fact to remov
the sash from the rear window of thu
corridor over the bench the pair had &C
cupied during their confab. This done
went up to the hotel, our village hat
only one, and went direct to the sta
bio TO see II Thomas had come, in
buggy. Nothing Of the sort had az
rived. Then | discovered that n,
stranger was stopping at the hotel.
made inquiries Of several citisens.s an
no one had seer q man Of Thomas de
scription. Then I asked who had beef
Black Jim's lawyer u the eiAminstion
and was told that his name was Stccor
e heck
! retasAsd homo 70 givs mother shes
49, and while they aroused consider
aha> anxiety. she could not sfally credi
nyeaeertions that the ~so-called Thoms
gss thsre 70 heis Black Jim get ava,
- eaptioned Audress withent tsIlin
~ uhst ] had discovered, bot be q
~ ~ tbst - 1nsv Thsuas 70 b