St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-08-12

JACKSON, Ala, Aug. 1.-THE coun-
ties of Clarke, Cherokee, Wilcox and
Marengo are greatly excited over the
numerous doings of the notorious
MeachamlteS, and between 400 and 500
heavily armed men are at Meachim5et
Tor the avowed purpose of wiping ont
every member of the gang and ayeng-
lug the numerous wrongs perpetrated
upon the people of the counties named.
FROM a resident of jackson who is we'll
acquainted with the operations of the
gang this story was had:
Ihe Meachamtes number netveen
thlrty-hve and fifty men, and the point
OF operation is Meachimbet. six miles
from Cotfeeville and about seventeen
miles from ThomasviIle. Five wears
ago, when the settlement was founded.
theSe men piled their vocation as farm
ers' anu were to all intentS and pur-
poses good citizens. a year ago. how
ever, trouble began. The county is A
prohibition one, but one day sign was
displayed on tree in the village that
whisky could be secured on GER
Tain nights during the week by
applying at a certain store. Custom
efs We're plentiful. When they entered
tue store they were met by masked
men, who would deal out to them
WHISKY IN such quantities as desired.
NO questions were asked by either
party, and then the buyer was warned
under penalty of death TO say nothing
Oh The business methods followed Inv
the dealers. This violation Of the law
went on for some time, ana the selling
OF whisky led to
The Crimes
peing committed. The best citizensey-
pressed themselves, and several were
threatened with death if they ATTEMPTED
10 take any action. Finally .Iohn
"A. Hare had his barn, stables
ana house burned, and on his 90
ing INTO the yard to fight The
hahieS lie was shot at. Joseph Ander-
son was another victim. He was shot
down while walking through his field.
ana died instantly. His assassin was
never arrested, although it was well
known who committed the deed. A
lew months later thrifty old negro.
ana the only one in MeachImbet at the
time, was killed while at work al his
mill.
AT this time the clan was widening
ana taking in more new men. Terror
existed among all, and men Joined the
gang through fear and to protect them
selves. In December last Ernest Me
QuOrdale's death followed. This. cow
ardly assassination, occurring as it did
on christmas night, in the presence of
the unfortunate victims family, worked
up the entire community, and
His Assassin
was finally located. The evidence was
complete, aud OH Monday afternoon LAST
the murderer met his ddath. He was
man named James. the leader of the
MeachamlteS, and an Acknowledged
outlaw i'll the community. The posse
located James near Cofreeville Monday
afternoon at O'Clock. He had been out
attending meeting of the clan
and was on the way back.
and IN the act of entering
his gate. when four men who were sta.
toned at nearby points of vantage
fired upon him with four Winchesters.
Every bullet took effect and James fell
IN his tracks. His body was carried into
the house by his family, and next morn
ing the remains were inferred in the
little cemetery of the town. James leaves
a widow and several children. Kirk
James and others Of the gang are said
to have met their death at the SANS
time. Among the other acts of lawiess.
ness committed by the gang were the
distilling of illicit whisky and the coun-
terfeitIng Of money. Since the killing
OF McQu0rdale they have also added
Two more crimes to their category.
About a month ago negro named Will
lis House was shot down while at
work III the field near CotTeevilIe for an
alleged insult to white woman. Two
weeks ago the alarm was given in Mea-
chimbet that negro had attempted to
outrage white woman. A posse was
formed, and all the negros IN the beat
were brought before the woman, who
failed to identify the
Guilty Person.
Sam House, a brother of Willis House.
was one of the men brought forward,
and he was identified, but proved an
alibi by two prominent men and was
released. About two hours before day.
light the next morning. House was
called to his door and shot dead by two
unknown mel. Subsequent develop
ments went to show that there was no
attempt to outrage the woman, but
the affair was rnSe to get a chance to
dispose of House. who had related to
certain parties that lie knew who had
killed his brother. Willis House. Then
followed The trouble at Thomasvlle, the
mechanics threatening 10 clean out
the whole town on account of one of
their number who stole pair of shoes
being discovered. The last outbreak OIL
the part of the outlaws caused the
law-abiding citizens of all surrounding
counties to come together and agree
that the gang shall be stamped out.
Later-Tooch BedsOe. one of the
Meacham gang. was captured tonight
after hard chase by the posse. He
confessed that Bob Burke killed John
Anderson and snOt down Willis House,
and that James. the leader of the gang,
killed Ernest Quordale for large sum
of money. and that James Gordon killed
Lem House, also that Capt. Forsque has
been marked as the next victim.
The posse riddled Bedsoe with but
let's. The dead of the gang are: Lew
James, Bedsoe and Kirk James. Other
members of the gang are located in the
swamps. and the posse proposes to kill
them all by Tomorrow night. One man.
Sandy Norris. who was taken today, wa.
in so pitiabe condition that the posse
turned him over to the sheriff instead Of
shooting him.
The Greedy Baker.
Steep Brook Bazoo.