The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1893-08-15
ROUTING THE GANG.
CITIZENS or SOUTH ALABAMA
TIRED OFTHR IRREGULARITIES.
They are Surrounded and VIII DO f"' 10
Death When Captured-The H1ss"ry OF
Their Crimes in Their Locality.

their number including Burke, the leiloer'
who. with others, is supposed 10 nave %
s;,ssinated Ernest McCorquerdaie, ie"u
mo c;tizon of Coffeeville, on Christmas
night. 1892. hroncb If
The Meachim Beat gang is praicn ~
the Sims gang tnat was VIZ tronhIe for
wear. They have caused much lrouoie iGi
\ long time and the McCorquerdale as: :',,o,,
nation was the elimination OF their "ioNo"
| deeds. , +o burke
Detectives traced the murder TO bur ''
ana his men and attempted to arrest l heli'
, th", n,Iin1 for reinforcements with result
that = uitched battle was fought ana thc
men killed. There are said to be l2o men
in the Meachim gang and that they thre? ~,
| to rctaliatc and clean out L hoiil'9 i LIZ
citizens Of that place have armed tneilseN I %
with Winchesters and are on iheir s"'i'
Koutine tho tang
Mobile. Ala, August ia special 10
The Register from Jackson, Ala, says.
The counties of Clarke, Chocta"' MINI, VIM"
| ana Marpugo are stirred to the hlShc"'
nitrb nt the murderous dongS of the noto-
rious Neachamtes, and at TINS WrllihS Nc
| tween four and five hundred men are III
| Meacham beat for the aVoWcu pui r,n,
of wjping out every member Oh VIC go
and avenginS the muruerouS W 4he cum
petrated upon the good people Oh the couii-
Erom a resident of Jackson. who is wei
acquainted with the operations OF tne suMs'
an interesting story was Sieahen. e no
| Mpachamites number between inirt!-h'e
and ffty men and the point of their opera
tons is Meacham beat, six miles trolii
| Coffceyille and about seventeen mlles from
ThomasyiIIe. Five years ago, when inG
| settlement was founded. these men piIe,l
their vocation as farmers and were 10 an
intentS and purposes good cItlZehs.
year ago, however, trouble began.
They Run "H,ind Tiger"
The county is Il prohibition one, but one
day Il sign was displayed on Il tree III ihe
village that whisky could be secured on
| certain uirht, during the week by applying
ut a certain store. Customers were plentl-
full When they entered the store they We're
met by Il masked man who would deal oul
| to them whisky in such quantities as theE
| desired No questions were asked
by either party and then the buyer was
warned under penalty of death to say nolh-
| ing Of the business methods followed by
the dealer.
This violation of the law went on for
some time and the selling OF whisky led 10
| the crimes being committed. Several fatal
| shootings between drunken men occurred
| The best citizens expressed themselves tree
ly and several of them were threatened
with death if they attempted to take any
| action.
Finally John A. Hare had his barn, sta
beS and houses burned and on his going
into the yard to fight the flames he was
shot at and narrowly escaped fatal INJURY
Joseph Anderson was another victim. lie
| was shot down on IA Sunday evening while
walking through his field and died instantly.
| His assassin was never arrested, although
| il was we'll known who committed the
deed A few months later a thrifty old
negro, and the only one in the Meacham
beat at the time, was killed while at work
at his mill.
4he Gangs Leader Killed.
At this time the clan widening and
taking in more new men. Terror existed
among all and men joined the gang through
fear and to protect themselves: In Decem-
Der last Ernest undergraduates death fol
| lowed This cowardly assassination. oc-
| curing as it did on Christmas night in
| the presence of the unfortunate victim
| family, worked up the entire community and
his assassin finally located. The eyl-
dence was complete and Oh Monday after
noon the murderer met his death. He was
| Il. James, the leader of the MeachamiteS
and acknowledged Il terror i'll the COM
munity. The posse located James near
! Cot1eeyille, Monday afternoon at o'clock.
! He had been out attending Il meeting OF
| the elan and on the way back and
| la the act of entering his gate, when four
men who were stationed at near by points
| Of advantage, pulled down on him with four
| Winchesters. Every bullet took effect and
James fell in his tracks. His body was
carried i'll the house by his family and next
| morning the remains We're inferred i'll the
little cemetery of the town. James leaves
| Il wife and several children. Kirk James
| and others of the gang are said to have met
their death at the same time.
Among the other acts of laWcssncsS com
| mlttcd by the gang We're the distlliDg of
Illicit whisky and the counterfeting of
money. Since the killing of McCorquodale,
| they have also added two more crimes to
| their category. About month ago Il negro
named Willis House, was shot down while
at work in field near Coffeevile, for an
! alleged insult to white woman. Two
weeks ago the alarm was given Ill Mcach-
am beat that n negro had attempted to
outrage white woman. posse was
! formed and all the negroes in the beat
! were brought before the woman, who fail
! ed to identify the guilty person. Sam
| House, brother of Willis House. was one
| of the men brought forward and he was
identified, but proved an alib by two prom
inent men, and was released. About two
| hours before daylight the next morning
! House was called to his door and shot
! dead by two unknown men. Subsequent
developments went to show that there was
no attempt to outrage the woman, but the
! affair was Il ruSe to get a chance TO dis
pose Of House, who had related to certain
| parties that he knew who killed his brother
! Willis House. Then followed the trouble
/ at Thomasvile. the Mechanics threat
| ening to clean out the whole town on ac-
count of one of their number. who stole
| pair of shoes, being caught up with. The
! last outbreak on the part of the outlaws
caused the lawabdng people of all the
| surrounding counties to come together and
! agree that the gang should be stamped out.
Capture Of To0ch Bedsoe.
I.ater-Tooch Bedsoe, one of the Mcacham
gang. WAS captured after hard chase by
| the posse. Seeing his end was near. he
| confessed that Bob Burke killed John An
dcrson and shot down Willis House and
that Levi James. the leader of the gang
! killed Ernest McCorquodae for Il large sum
of money and that James Gordon killed
Lem House; also that Captain James
| Forscue had been marked out az the next
victim The posse riddled Bedsoe with
bullets.
The dead of the gang are Levi james,
! Bedsoe and Kirk James. Other members
of the gang are located in swamps and the
posse proposes to bag them all by tomorrow
night. One man, Sandy Norris. vino was
taken today in pitiable condition
that the posse turned him to the sher
if instead of shooting him.
A Blight on the section.
Jackson, Ala, August 12.-The trouble in
Meacham beat is al an end. The posse has
disbanded and quiet reignS supreme. Babe
Burke, Jim Jordan and Mack Burke, three of
the worst men i'll the gang, and the acknowl
edged leaders, escaped by taking refuge in
Sailla swamp.
Kirk James was killed last night. He was
captured in his field and put i'll charge of Il
guard of eight to be lodged in Jail. A