The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1891-11-25

receive what was due him, and MIR. Max
well did step out, not from the court
house, where he was supposed to be, bu
from small hotel not far from the pub
lie building. And at his back were
dozen or more men, armed with shot
guns. They fred at Lowe, and he stand
ing his ground in the hail of lead empt
led his pistol and then fled.
Around and around the town they
pursued him till he took refuge in the
house of widow woman named Mrs
Smart. She, arms akimbo on her steps
refused the mob an entrance. They in
sisted on going in, when tradition says
she exclaimed
"My husband, who is dad, was g
Mason. II there is Mason in the
crowd, | call on him to protect my home
against those / do not want to enter"
Then there was a parley. The result
was that Lowe agreed to surrender him
self and go to Jail for security, the leader
of the mob guaranteeing that he should
not be hurt. AS soon as he had deliver
ed himself man in the mob fired on
him.
Unarmed, bareheaded he bound away,
and running down the streets met man
by the name of Mayo, the boss of the
coal mines in the town. Mayo drew his
pistol and kept the mob at bay, though
he and Lowe were enemies. Lowe was
put in Jail for safe keeping. AS / have
said, the district court was in session.
The Jail was not hundred yards away
from the courthouse and the jailer's
name was Mat OLDHAM. The day after
this the same Nose Harris and myself
we're playing marbles between the Jail
and the courthouse when we saw two
men, one named Davidson and the
other named Witherow enter the Jail.
In moment or two there was rapid
firing OF pistols in the building and they
both came out, one ofthem calmly smok-
ing cigar Tom Lowe had been shot a
dozen times
THROUGH THE HEART
and head. He was IN his bed where he
was resting when his assassins entered.
Unarmed, without even an overshirt to
impede the deadly bullets, he had died.
When the first pistol shot was heard in
the court room, my father called the at
tention OF the court, Judge Stuart, who
was afterwards great power in Kentuc-
ky, to the fact that Mr.. Lowe, in charge
of the court was being murdered. There
was no attention paid to him.
Lowe, the great fighter for the Demo-
cracy, was dead and the American court,
American Judge and American district
or commonwealth attorney were salts
fed. The grand jury was in session, but
it failed to find an indictment. Terror
had struck the hearts of all except that
OF my father.
For his gameness in this | respect him
more for all he ever did in his long life,
and honestly he did many noble things.
AS have stated before there never was
a yell in our stock So the old man did
not boast of what he would do, but went
quietly to work. He began to appease fear
He began to show the people OF that
country place that naturally one man was
not more terrible or dangerous than
another. Then the "American party" or
to be truthful in every particular, David
son and Witherow began to fear him.
One day he was seated with a half doz-
en- men in store in the town. 1t was in
the winter or late in the fall. A great
fire glowed in the open fireplace. David
son entered. On his arm he carried a
big market basket containing something
over which towel was spread. He plac-
ed it within,six feet of my father, and
as he did so there was flare, a deafen-
ing noise, and the whole side of the
building was blown into the street.
Everybody in the house was grievously
hurt The turpentine in bottles fell on
the floor, and in moment the house was
in blaze. The fire bell rang out, and
the village people came rushing from
their home to ascertain what was the
matter. Men went into the building
and rescued all the inmates. Among
them was Davidson. His arm was brok-
en-, his face disfgured and body lacerat-
ed.
They laid him on floor of an adjoin-
ing building and there he died. Just as
the combustible went off, my father, be-
ing addicted to the vile habit of tobacco,
reached down to get a coal of fire in his
pipe. The great blast expended its force
over his head, and his life was saved.
But the fire burned his hands and ruined
his eyes, and he carried TO his grave "a
buckshot in his face as reminder of the
time when it was not entirely safe TO be
a friend of the damned Dutch" or a
friend OF man who was murdered for
Democracy. For Davidson's machine
was as simple as il was deadly. He had
procured tin can about fifteen inches
in height, with diameter OF eight inch
Is. Into this he placed another can of
the same height, but OF five or six inches
in diameter, leaving a space between the
the two of two or three inches. The in
ner can was filed with powder. The
space was filed with buckshot. The
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