Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-08
THE COUNTRY BAND.

and IN a few minutes the crowd had found
seats or standing room in the court room to
hear Judge Briscces charge to the grand jury.
The charge was short and TO the point and
and at the same time the earnestness which he
manifested in giving the new grand Jury an
idea of what was expected of them.
In the opening of the court all the formal.
ties of other jurisdictions are dispensed with
and business begins soon as the Judge ap-
pears on the bench. Justice is dealt out in a
fair but stern manner. and it does not take the
court several days TO dispose of a trifing case.
The civic business is always first on the docket
and when that is finished the time of the court
is devoted to the hearing of criminal cases.
THE SUSPECTED MEN.
The county Jail is near the extreme end OF
the town and in it are the suspected murderers
OF the late Frank NJ. Bowie. The Jail is a two
story brick structure and is between the rail-
road station and the court house. high white
washed fence incloses the yard and during
times OF excitement attending murder trial
some one Is constantly on guard. The little
square brick structure was erected in 1866 and
since that time but very few executions have
taken place. Soon after the iail was built four
of the negroes implicated in the murder of Col.
Lyles. near piscatawav. were executed and sew
eral wears afterward coloreJ woman was
hanged for poisoning a family OF children near
Beltsville. Her name was Mary Wallace.
In the meantime. however, fifth colored
man implicated in the murder of Col Lvles was
captured in Boston and he too was hanged.
That was four years after the commission of
the crime. The murder of Col. Lyles was a
brutal affair. the motive of the crime having been
robbery. Among the notes taken from the
house were several Virginia bank notes. and the
attempt to get rid of them in Alexandria was
what caused the arrest of the four who were
hanged together
thsa of iaiI L. 4tvo
sons have been taken from it and lvnched.
One was a negro named Mike Green, who was
IN Jail for a felonlous assault on a white woman.
and the other was Yermillion. the barn burner.
who was hanged to the bridge three years ago.
THE ANCIENT RECORDS.
In the Office OF the register OF wills, as we'll
as in the clerks Office. there are many ancient
and curious documents. Some of them date
back far 1898. and the original copies Of
wills and legal contests are still to be seen.
They were. of course. written with quill pens
and the ink is black today as is the ink in
the entries made during recent weeks The
records in the ONCE of the register Of wills
show the peculiarly of the wills made in olden
times. and" said Register 1. Vinson Perrie,
they show how families. like nations. rise and
fall Some of the families that were numer-
Gus years ago. besides being influential and
wealthy. have died out aud are now almost ex-
tinct. The Clasetts. Keys and other families
hold their own very well, while the Bowies are
not now near so numerous az they were years
ago. The Beales were well represented in
former times. but they. too. have become
almost extinct"
In those days most of the citizens signed
their name to documents by marks. each hav-
ing his own peculiar design. These marks
were registered in the clerks office. some Of
them being given as follows: Thomas Trueman
Greenfield. a swallow fork on ye right ear and
a crop and slit on We left. Thos. Qarones, q
staple fork on We right care. a crop and under
keel and over keel on the left. Sam Magruder,
on the left care n swallow fork and under bitt
and on We right and over half; We right care
a swallow fork and under bitt; and on We left
and over half ON We right q swallow fork and
under bitt; on ye left care an under half and
over half.
In the year 1907 the will Of John Smith was
fled, the record showing that he a resident
of Mattapany Landing. Prince George county,
and states that the maker of the will was sick
and weak in body. But threw mercy. in per-
feet sence and memory calling to minde the
uncertainty of this life. and that it is appointed
for all men to dye reads the viii. doe make,
ordaine. constitute and appoint this my last
will and testament" Making certain explana-
tons the will continues. "Bequeath my soule
into the hands of the Almighty God, the Gre
ator, with true and hearty sorrow for all my