The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1894-04-10
A RECKLESS FELLOW
Was Ben Jordon, the Brom bones of Fal
min County.

Was Ben Jordon, the Hrom- bones of Fan
min County
Thirteen months of hard labor in the Ohio
penitentiary.
That the sentence placed Thursday
upon j. i. Hunter, the old man who
found guilty some days ago of fraud in the
pension business
Hunter received his sentence calmly, and
no one could tell that he was in the least
affected by the gruesome prospect of con-
Vlct stripes and prison walls. lie Will III
all probability be the oldest man in the peni-
tertiary, as his years reach over the three
score and ten notch. In view OF his
IRENE age Judge Newman made the mini
mum punishment fit the crime
Hunter comes from Fannn county, and
has for many years been prominent char
acter in that part of the country. AS Il
school teacher he admired for his wis
dom and respected on account of his age.
Politically he was a leader and conducted
strong fights against the democratic party.
A near neighbor of his was Mrs. Betty
Hughes. octogenarian, highly respected
and well known i'll that section. Some
times these old people would get to-
Upon one occasion Hunter proposed that
he might be able to secure q pension for
Mrs. Hughes, her husband had been Il
union soldier. Thus through him she made
SION amounting to about II sssSo Hun ptn
who had the thing in charge, however,
turned over to the old lady only HOO, tell
ing her that was the whole amount Soon
after the fraud was discovered and Hunter
was arrested.
n.n Jordnn's Vendetta.
Connected with the killing of Mrs.
Hughes's husband is one of the strangest
stories of the civil war. In Fannin county
there lived and fourlshed a fellow famed
far and wide as Dare Devil Ben" He
was the Brombones of the community and
his exploits extended all over north Geor-
which boosted OF its Bourbon blood and
rich in the possession OF worldly goods, he
was the leading spirit in crowd of joviaI-
hearted fellows VINO lived only for fun and
frollc
Whe the tocsin of war first sounded Ben
JORDAN responded speedily. Organizing
company at once, he FASTENED to the scene
of conflict. In the battles throughout Nir-
ginia there We're no Drawer spirits than
Ben Jordans men. Several times he fell
wounded, lighting in the thick Of the fray.
His many deeds of reckless daring won the
admiration of all the Officers and his UNI
shrinking ValOr endeared him to the hearts
of the men. one day shortly after the bat
tie of Gettysburg he received IL letter noti-
flying him of his mothers death and telling
how his home had been burned. Jordan
Immediately made Application for a leave of
absence This, however, could not be OBJ
tanned, as the order revoking all leaves
of absence and refusing thereafter all fur
loughs had just before been issued: Then,
according to the tale told by an old Fan
min county citizen. Jordan, with his char
acterstic boldness, went before General
Longstreet
heard of the death OF his mother and the
burning of his home and asked a leave
sympathized with him, but the orders must
be Obeyed no matter what the circum-
stances We're, and he was forced to refuse
the request. Jordan bowed and left the
tent 1'ne next morning he was missing.
Some tine after he turned up near his old
home in Eannin county to find things even
worse than reported. Nothing remained
except the land upon which the runs OF
his ancestral mansion were standing.
Driven to desperation he SWore revenge.
From his sister he got the names OF the
twenty-five men, who, it was said, Sympa-
thiZing with the union side after seeing the
inevitable result of the war, began to
commit deeds of violence in their neighbor-
hood. 1t this gang which burned Jor-
dams house. He did not return to Viz
gnia. When the surrender made and
peace declared all of his old companions
came home. To several of them he related
his tale. They SWore to stand by him
and the vendetta formed. Upon a BIZ
BILE each took solemn oath to kill all of
the men whose names were on the list.
How we'll they succeeded any of the old
people UP in Fannin can tell you. AS each
man was killed. Jordan would check his
name off the list. In some mysterious way
the vendetta was divulged. Jordan disap-
peared, and since then has never been
heard from. Among the names on the list
of those who were murdered was that of
Dallas Hughes the husband of Mrs. Betty
Hughes. whose pension old man Hunter
will suffer for.