Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-05-08
A PHENOMENAL CRIMINAL.
Startling Confession of Man Hanged
i'm Birmingham.
He Was a Member Of an Organized
Band of Murderers Whose Cap
tain He Says is Now a
Prominent Memphis
Jeweler.

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 can t
recall them all. The confession is genuine
and written by the negro IN his own hand
writing.
His first murder was that of another
negro boy at Dalton, when16 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 breakman on the East
Tennessee road, where he became mem
Der of regulary organized gang of
thieves and murderers, and piled his ap-
palling calling for FIVE years, with little
interrupt on. He adds:
Then quit the railroad and for the next
year | did 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 I'M
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 genteel in
his manner and appearance. He frequent
ly carried his wife with him 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 1--we 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
go 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 in 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.
eve held up four men in Knoxville in
1887 and got between 5000 and $500
1--WE went to gainesville, Ga, after that
and robbed two stores. We blew open tt e
safe In each but got little. We then
set fire to them and burned them
"The worst crime | was ever implicated
IN and the only one ! have regretted before
! was arrested, was the robbing and muir
dering at Pinson Station, Ga, of my poor
old grandmother, Rose McCaver, who was
70 years old. My grandfather had died a
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 10y killing her.
I'VE went there one night just as she
had retired, though she had gone to sleep.
She lived by herself There we've two
white men and two coloreG men with me-
One of the colored men drew his pistol and
shot her. We then opened her trumk and
got about S}4G. We burned the house
with the body in it to make the people
think it caught on fire aGad burned her
up while she was aSiesp.
Il used to stay Il 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.
lin the fall of 1887 wac 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 a loaded club. We then
went through them. | got gold watch
off the man, and our Captain got gold
ring off the iady's finger We then car
ried their bodies and threw them In the
Lay.
From there we went 10 New Orleans
While there we went in drug store and
blew open safe aud got about SIS. ]
don t know whose store it was and have
forgotten what street it was on.
'tGur Captain, three other coiored fell
lows and myself went to Fulton, Ga.
where one night we unlocked store door
and found 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 waswhen there was six or eight stores
burned there in 1885.
''In 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. HargG0yes farm, near Smyrna. until
about the LIST of December, when | got
mad with nlY wife and left her and came
to Birmingham.
In February, 1889, went back over
there, and with three other parties went
to Mrs. Hsrgrove's 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 got $500.
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 q box about the size
of cigar box, tie it up tight and then
wrap it up so as to look like d bundle 1t
burns very slowly and eraits no smoke and
usually takes from four to six hours to ex-
plode making a slight noise. About dark
he carries 1t to a merchant and asks him
to lay it in his safe till morning when BIT
will call and get it. Some time after mid
might he goes back and un,ocks the door,
always having keys that.will fit any lock.
and takes the money out of the safe. He
won tnever 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 and two were
coiored. | have no idea of what | have
stolen. nor of how many burglaries 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 persistenty refused to
do SO, saying he was oath bound" and
he knew he would swing, but he would
never give them away.
ANECDOTES OF ASTOR.