Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-10-22
RIVES- WHITE FEUD.
A BRIEF, TELLING PICTURE OF A
FARMER FAMILY WAR.
scourge Of Little ceuutry Town
The Passion for Revenge.
Chicago Times)

Chicago Times)
II is hamlet OF twenty houses-eighty
people-nestling against the side OF a
mountain whose tree-covered crest Is al
most hidden from sight by the dark-blue
vapor which has hung there for centuries.
To the ratings on the north and east side
az the humble inn are hitched score Of
horses and mules. About the Inn ere
twelve or fifteen men. on the steps OF the
general store opposite are as many more.
non-residents Of the town. but living In
the country. A stranger would find HIM
self wondering II thu two crowds were
strangers to each other, and.if so, why
the majority of the men should mutter
and scowi as they looked across the mar
row street.
AZ | o'clock p. NJ. the crowd at the inn
moves up the street to the school.house.
Ten minutes later II IL followed by the
other. Now we know what has brought
these men from their homes. five. ten.
or fifteen miles away. Here are tho law
yers. principals and witnesses In law
suit. The justice of the peace takes his
seat with becoming dignity. though his
countenance betrays anxiety, and court Is
opened. IL Is the case of Rives vs.. White.
bo:h small farmers. Each has secured the
best legal counsel he could. and the num-
Der OF witnesses are pretty evenly d.
vided.
OLD FRIENDS.
Here are two OF the oldest and strongest
families In tho county. They have been
friends for three generations. They have
borrowed and lent, sat at each others
tables. attended the same church. looked
upon each other as relatives. Farmer
Riyes mule goes astray and brings up
among Farmer Whites corn. IL Is large
field. and the corn is scarcely worth haul
ing away to a market. The damage,
therefore, Is not worth mentioning. fnther
Rives comes and demands his mule. Both
men were close friends up to that mo-
ment Human nature has its on days
Farmer White is n tiled and asks for
damages. and two minutes later the men
are ready TO kill each other. A crowd
bound for town rides up, and blows are
struck, and the law is appealed to- A
family friendship which runs back Tor
almost a century Is broken by word
Rives and White fought side by side at
Stone river, Chickamaugua. Franklin, ana
on other fields OF battle; Their grand.
and Kings Mountain and Yorktown.
Their grandmothers fed the troopers OF
Marion. the Swamp Fox, and defied the
rough-riders OF Tarleton. All this Is for
gotten az tho case is opened and the Wit
nesses take the stand.
BITTER FEELING.
There is no jury. though the justice
doubtless fervently wishes there was, that
the responsibility might be shifted from
his shoulders. The witnesses exhibit
bitterness of feeling to surprise you. The
question at issue Isl Who struck the hrst
blow? There Is rank perjury on both
sides, and 1t Is with considerable reluc-
lance that the justice gives his decision.
To an outsider carefully following the
case II seems just and legal. Farmer
White is adjudged guilty of the charge
of assault and battery and fined a noml-
nal sum. He is chagrined and indignant
that the case went against him, wbile Inc
other faction is displeased that he was let
off so easily. Men mutter and glare at
each other across the room. The lawyers
advise that the fine be paid and a recon-
citation effected, but their words are
wasted. There is notice of appeal and
angry talk and the serious look on the
face of the justice Is proof that he real
ICES what his decision may result In.
The factions do not mix as they go out.
The witnesses feel all the hatred ana
animosity firing the hearts of the prlncl-
pals, and they avoid each other ana look
sullen and vindictive. One crowd rides
away. and after half an hour the other
takes the same road. The storekeeper
has sold a shotgun. two reviewers ana
half n dozen boxes of cartridges To-Day
This is the beginning of the Rives-White
feud.
MEANT TO KILL.
Twenty years pass away Farmer Rives
and White have passed the age OF W.
They are whlte-haired and wrinkled. inc
one limps from bulet-hole in his thigh;
the other has but little use OF his lett
arm because Of splintered bone. BON
shots were received from ambush anu
meant 20 kill. There have been other
shots fired from behind trees ana rocks
hut the bullets flew wild. Bingham was
n witness for Rives. He was amDushed
and killed during the first three months.
Thatcher was a witness for White. lie
was ambushed and killed a week AFTER
the death of Bingham. Stebbins, Carson.
parsloe. williams, Brown, Bebee-ail VIII
nasses and all dead Rives had two sons
and they werf shot down Whhe at "oIh
I'm the field White had a son ana daugh-
ter The son disappeared one Jay anu MS
bones have never been found. Inc oaush-
ter was shot off her morse "hiie ''"i"e
home from town.
r,yen,v wears have not added dozen
houses TO the hamlet. The inn STANDS
here inst the same, and across the street
are the same stores, though they may nave
changed proprietors two or three times.
There are no loungers at either place. III
is a peaceful summer day and the strag-
cling street is clear of all life when TWO
old men ride into town from opposite
directions and meet in front OF the inn.
II is an unexpected meeting. Both seem
n little furried for n moment, but then
they ride closer and one says
on l II.
I'm agreed is the ready reply
DRINKS BLOOD.
They have no firearms, but they nave
keen cruel knives which have been kept
sharnened for years. There is no waiting.
They are no sooner on the ground than
they eagerly advance upon each other
ond begin 10 cut and slash. Not WORD
,s uttered-neither cries out as the other
knife drinks blood. 1t IL over before any
one knows that 1t had begun. When the
alarm IL given the villagers rush 10 the
snot hut only to find the men dead
two old. gray-haired men, cut ana s'as"e"
and living dead in a pool of blood
'It is Rives and White. ana TINS Is the
aud of their feudr whisper half dozen
men as they look down upon the bodies.
Yes this is the end. 1t could not go
further. Murder or disease has wiped out
the Justice. the lawyers. the principals.
apd Tho witnesses, and In some cases all
their children. There Is no one LETT 10 go
into ambush-no one to come riding along
and topple off his horse a corpse AT the
renort of the shotgun loaded with siugs'