The Fort Worth gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-189?, 1891-05-28

ARREST OF THE TWO JUDGES
for contempt OF court. The arrest was
| made September ), 1882. and both judges
were taken 10 Jefferson City and imprisoned
| IN the penitentiary. The judges Were
| obstinate and remained in prison for about
a month when proposition was made to
! compromise the bonds The judges refused
| TO make the call for an election as long Us
| they were confined and at the solicitation of
! the bondholders they were granted fur
| Tough to go home and issue q call for an
election. The people again emphatically
refused to compromise, and as the judges
| declined to make the levy they were re-
! turned TO prison and remained there until
| the expiration of their term.
| From then until the present the judges
| have been elected to the penitentiary with
| great regularity and the elections have been
| followed by orders from the United States
court to make the levy, but these orders
have been Invariably ignored and the
! judges have suffered arrest and imprison-
ment rather than be unfaithful TO the trust
| imposed upon them by the people OF the
! county. The arrest of the judges OF the
county on the Sth of this month, and their
being held IN bond until the sitting of the
United States court III Kansas City IN
June Is the last chapter of the bond ques-
ton Of the county.
THE PLOoDY BONDS
But there is another chapter to the bond
question of Cass county. A chapter which
relates TO the bonds captured by the raid
ing soldiers. and it tells how the people
arose against men who attempted great
crime, and executed the penalty for their
transgression. swiftly and terribly.
In common wooden frame hanging
against the wall of Bishop s. Sterling's
drug store in Gum City, in the eastern
part of the county, is handsomely exc
cuted bond. 1t is finished with a green Dor
der, the coupons-thirty-e eight in number,
being also embellished with green. These
coupons are of the denomination of so
each, being the interest on $1,000 for six
months. Below is verbatim COPY of the
bond:
United States Of America. State of Mis-
souri,. Cass county funding bond. Interest
payable Seml-annually in New York. No.
900 $1,000.
Know all men by these presents-That in
pursuance of an act of the general assembly
of the state OF Missouri entitled IAN act to
enable counties, cities and Incorporated
towns to fund their respective debts. Ap-
proved March a, \. D., 1861 and also an
order of the county court of Cass county in
the state OF Missouri, providing for the fund
ing of certain outstanding bonds of said
county, the county of Cass. in the state of
Missouri, acknowledges itself indebted, and
for value received promises to pay to the
bearer at the banking house of Northrup &
Chick III the city and state of New York.
the sum of $1,000, nineteen years after date
hereof, with interest at the rate Of per
cent per annum, payable semi-annuaily on
the 22nd day of February and August of
each year upon the presentation of the
proper coupons of interest hereto attached,
at the said banking house Of Northrup &
Chick, in said city and state.
In testimony whereof the county of Cass
h tod III INC
tice thereof, under the order thereof, sign
ing his name thereto, and by the clerk of
said county, under the order thereof, at
testing the same and affixing the seal of the
said court. This done in the city of Harri
sonville the county of Cass aforesaid, this
the 22d day Of February, A. D. 1872.
Attestedl JEuIEL c. STEPHENSON,
Presiding Justice of the County Court.
c. H Dore, clerk, by P. H. Yelton,
deputy.
BODY OF FIFTY MASKED MEN.
This is one OF the ''bloody bonds" So
called, because they gave rise to the Gum
City tragedy. i'll which j. G. Stephenson,
presiding justice of the county court, J. +.
Cline. attorney for the railroad. and T. f.
Dutroe We're killed by body of fifty
masked men, who stopped the train on the
Missouri. Kansas and Texas road at Gum
City on the evening of April p, 1872. When
the train stopped Cline drew a revolver and
fired into the crowd, wounding two men,
and jumped from the train and attempted
to make his escape, but fell pierced by
several bullets, one of which passed
through his head, killing him instantly.
Stephenson was killed in the baggage car
where ne sought safety by hiding. He was
shot through the throat, the ball passing
through both iugular veins, and was given
a blow with some sharp instrument which
split his skull to his eyebrow, killing MIN
at once.
Dutroe was shot in the back OF the head,
the ball lodging over the left eye. He died
in about four hours. This tragedy was the
elimination of piece OF robbery which
brought disaster to everyone connected
with it, and which was accomplished under
the following circumstances:
The bonds which We're stolen from Harri-
sonville by the freebooting Federal officer
and which were afterwards recovered by
u regular officer at Fort Leavenworth,
became the subject of a bitterly contested
lawsuit. The county took steps to recover
the bonds and after several years of litiga-
ton compromise was effected by which
the bonds We're to be recalled and reissued
to the St Louis and Santa t'e road, with an
additional amount in consideration for
which the road was to be built through the
county. But this did not suit all the citi-
Zens and an injunction was served on the
judges restraining them from refunding the
bonds. This left the matter in such
shape that 229 unsigned bonds lay in the
Office of the county clerk awaiting the ter
mination Of the injunction proceedings.
II was at this time that a conspiracy was
entered irto by which these bonds We're to
be signed and stolen by the county
judges with certain others who were
TO AID AND ABET THEM.
Legal proceedings had been pending
since 1871. On the evening of March l,
1872, there met in the back office of Hines &
Cline. lawyers, Judges Stephenson and
F'orsythe of the county court, j. r. Cline,
lawyer. o. P. Yelton, deputy county clerk,
and R. B. Higgins. The bonds Were signed
by Stephenson as presiding justice, and
Yelton was told that il he did not sign
them he would be killed. The signature
was affixed and a hasty flight with the bonds
followed. The bonds were sold and the
proceeds divided among the conspirators.
1t was several days before the people
learned of the transaction. and then the in
dignation ran high. A hot search was made
for the perpetrators and hanging was freely
threatened. Judge Forsythe returned and
plead remorse, giving the full particulars
of the plot and its execution. K. B. Hig-
gins blew out his brains il the courtroom at
HarriSOnville, but the others were away.
The thievish judges We're Ousted and others
put IN their places. Suit was brought for
the recovery of the bonds and eventually
they were all returned. Cline and Stephen
son then came back to the city and brazenly
deaed the people. They walked the streets
with DutrOe as a bo1V puar1 and all three