The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1891-08-14
PILING UP THE TRUTH.
A Nashville Wholesale Merchant Writes
for Information
And the Answer Comes tnat Mcdowell
is Guilty.

And the Answer Comes tnat Mcdowell
is Guilty.
DUMAS, ARK, Aug. Especial. !
The following statement, voluntarily
made, by Circuit Clerk Henry Thane,
is of interest to Tennesseeans:
DUMAS, ARK, Aug. $50 the Public:
l cheertully add my certificate as to the
character of certain gentlemen partici-
patlng in certain mass meeting at Red
Fork, Ark, July y, 1891, concurring in
every way with a letter to the public by
Judge John NJ. Elliott and Hon. ). M.
Taylor under date OF Aug. 3, 1891.
HENRY THANE,
Clerk of Circuit Court, Desha County,
Letter from Z. =. Lee.
Mr.. f. S. Lee, who lives III Searcy,
Ark, is known by a number of Ten
nesseans, one of whom recently
referred to him as possibly pos
sessing information with respect
to McDowelps career in Arkansas,
and to crafty mis- desire for infOrma-
ton on the subject letter was writ
ten Mr.. Lee to get the true facts. In
reply Mr.. Lee says:
''I have no personal knowledge of the
moral or political character of John IL.
Mcdowell during his residence in Desha
County, Ark, at which time l was a
resident OF Lincoln County on plan
tatiOn about twenty miles from NC
DOwellS. / know everybody nearly i'll
Desha County and have always under
stood that John Mcdowell WAS Re
publican and very obnoxious to his
white neighbOrs.
"Whether his neighbors were justi-
fable in charging him with being Re
publican or not am unable to say, but
that he was generally understood to be
Homemade Republican there can
be no doubt. I mean by "Home-made
ID I Iinap, md rails N
the South, who Joined the carpet-bag-
gers during the dark days of recon-
struction. Mcdowell was considered to
be one of this class. Respectfully,
L. S. LEE.
Letter From L. Il. Banks.
Mr.. E. r. Banks is well-knOwn by
all the wholesale men of Nashville as
well as by many others, he having
formerly lived here. He is univer-
sally esteemed as a man of high char
acter and unquestioned veracity. A
gentleman prominently connected
with one of the leading wholesale
firms of the city recently wrote Mr..
Banks for his own private satisfac-
ton, knowing that whatever he said
could be relied on, to give him the
real facts concerning McDOwelps Ar
kansas record. To this letter of in
quiry he received the following re-
ply:
CRED FORK, July 80, 1s91.-Your most
welcome letter of the 18th inst, is just
to hand. In reply thereto will say,
from what can learn of the best and
most reliable people here, white and
black, that lived here in McDOwells s
time, he (McDowel) is certainly guilty
of every charge The American has
brought against him. The gentlemen
composing the mass-meeting held at
| this place on the 2lst inst. are among
the first and most highly respected citl-
| zens in the county and their characters
are above reproach. The signers to the
resolutions adopted at that moeting are
all white except JehaZy Cole, and he Is
considered by his white neighbors "A
most reliable and trustworthy man.
| He owns his own farm and his credit at
home and abroad is tirst-class. He -
! one negro that Mcdowell could not
| intimidate with threats OF bloOdShed
| and the United States Court.
"What seems to surprise the old citi-
! Zens here most, Chose that know Nc
| DOwellj is that ne should hold such
prominent positions at the hands of the
! people of the State of Tennessee. They
| do not seem to consider him man OF
much 'calibre.' They say though, how
| ever, that Coal Oil Jack has brains
| enough not to carry his case to the
courts. Z. T. BANKS.