Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-05-02
A PHENOMENAL CRIMINAL.
Startling Confession of a Man Hanged
in Birmingham.
He Was a Member of an Organized
Band of Murderers Whose Cap
tain He Says is Now
Prominent Memphis
Jeweler.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-The written con-
fesslon of the negro murderer Ben Elzey.
hanged here, reveals the most phenomenal
criminal career in southern criminal an
mails
The fend says he has been implicated in
no less than twenty-one murders and so
many robberies and arsoms that he car t
recall them all. The confession is genuine
| and written by the negro in his own hand
! writing.
His first murder was tia. of another
negro boy at Dalton. when Is years of age
Hs next shot and killed another negro in
Atlanta while playing craps. For this he
was sentenced to the penitentiary for
twenty years, but on account of age was
| pardoned
| He next became a breakman on the East
| Tennessee road, where he became a mem
| Der of regularly organized gang of
thieves and murderers, and piled his ap-
| palng calling for five years. with little
| interrupt on. He adds:
Then quit the railroad and for the next
| year dld nothing but loaf and gamble.
! steal, rob and murder and burn houses.
There were seven or eight white men
| and fifteen or sixteen colored men belong
ing to the party. One of the white men
was our captain and generally worked un-
der his instructions. No one would ever
take him for thief or murderer. He is
about thirty or thirty-fve years old He
always dresses well and Is very genteeI in
his manner and appearance. He freuuent-
ly carried his wife with MIN and stops at
the best hotels. He lives in Memphis and
has large jewelry store there. | have
been in it frequently Three of the white
men live In this city, the others have no
home that know. of. The colored parties
that belong to it live in Birmingham.
Chattanooga and Atlanta. They never all
60 together, but in squads of four or FIVE.
They are still carrying on their work. |
was the first one ever caught.
In 1886 we robbed and murdered several
men In Chattanooga and threw their bod
les III the Tennessee River. We, during
the same year, robbed and murdered two
men one night in Rome and threw their
bodies IN the river. They were both well
dressed. We got about $500 from them.
We held up four men in Knoxville in
1887 and got between $500 and S4O0
We went to Planesvile Ga, after that
and robbed two stores We blew open tie
sue III 6CtCu DuU gOU little. w Z then
set fire to them and burned them.
The worst crime | was ever implicated
IN AID the only one have regretted before
| was arrested, was the robbing and mur-
dering at Pinson Station, Ga. of nv Door
old grandmother, Rose McCaver, who was
70 years old. My grandfather had died
year before and left some stock that she
had sold, and knew she had the money.
| told my crowd that she had it, and we
could get it by killing her.
we went there one night lust as she
had retired, though she had gone to sleep
She lived by herself. There were two
white men and two colored men with me-
One OF the coiored men drew rs pistol and
shot her. We then opened her trunk and
got about $40. We burned the house
with the body in it, to make the people
think 1t caught on fire and burned her
up while she was aslesp.
Il used to stay great deal with her.
She was always very kind to me. She
haunted me day and night for long time.
now frequently see her in my dreams.
In the fall of 1887 | was in Noble. Ala.
with our Captain and two colored mem
berS of the crowd. One night white on a
back street near the bay we met a man and
woman. We covered them with pistols.
The woman commenced screaming. The
Captain shot the man dead. One of the
others struck the woman death blow over
the head with d loaded club. We then
went through them. | got gold watch
off the man, and our Captain got a gold
ring off the iady's finger. We then car
rled their bodies and threw them in the
lay.
From there we went TO New Orleans
While there we went in a drug store and
blew open safe and got about S75
don t know whose store it was and have
forgotten what street it was on.
Our Captain, three other colored fel-
lows and myself went to Fulton. Ga.
where one night we unlocked a store door
and found a man in bed asleep. Our Cap
tain shot him dead and then blew open the
safe. took what money there was in it and
set the store on fire to conceal the crime.
That was when there was six or eight stores
burned there in 1885.
I'm the spring and summer of 1888 = |
stayed in Atlanta with my wife. following
my usual occupation. In September went
up into Cobb county, Ca, and worked on
Mrs. Hargroves farm, near Smyrna, until
about the 1st of December, when | GOT
mad with my wife and left her and came
to Birmingham.
In February, 1889, went back over
there, and with three other parties went
to Mrs. Hargroves house and found her
sitting by the fire knitting. There was no
one else at home. One of us got an old
ak at the wood pile and slipped up behind
her, she being hard of hearing. and struck
her with it and killed her. We broke open
her trunk and goo $780,
Our captain knows how to make what
he calls blasting machine, that he uses
IN blowing open safes. The usual way of
using it Is to put it in a box about the size
of cigar box tie it up tight and then
wrap 1t up 50 as to look like ID bundle. 1t
burns very slowly and emits no smoke and
usually takes from four to six hours to ex-
plode, making a slight noise About dark
he carries 1t to merchant and asks him
to lay it in his safe till morning when he
will call and get it. Some time after mid
might he goes back and unlocks the door.
always having keys that will fit any lock.
and takes the money out of the safe. He
won t never let me know how he made the
machine. He also had a way of blowing
them open when he found them locked.
Il have been implicated in killing TWEEN
ty-one people, eighteen men and three wo-
men, nineteen were white aud two were
colored. have no idea of what | have
stolen, nor of how many brrglaries have
been implicated in. nor how many safes
have helped to blow open. nor how many
heople have helped to rob. >"
He was urged to tell the names of his
confederates in these awful series of crimes.
but positively and persistently refused to
do so. saying he was 'oath-bound. :" and
he knew he would swing, out he would
never give them away