The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-12-26
Authorities Utterly Pow
erIeSS to End Trouble.
Probably More Than Five
Hundred Armed Men.
The Trouble Begins in the Killing of
n Prominent Citizen-Every Cross
Road Guarded-TerrOr Rules Among
All CIasses-A Pitched Battle Seems
Probable.


| seven negroes have been taken in the
| last twenty-four hours in revenge for that
| Of one white man, and unless all signs
utterly fail many more lives are in jeop-
ardy. Two bodies Of determined men be
| tween 400 and 500 in all, every man
! being heavily armed and each body about
| equal in numerical strength to the other,
| separated by less than mile of country
| and liable to clash at any minute-that is
] the spectacle presented here in Brooks
county tonight. One body is made up Of
stern. determined white men, bent on re-
/ venge for the brutal murder Of one OF
! the best citizens Of this county, the other
/ is made up Of negroes, terror-stric6en and
! fearful lest they or their families be made
! the objects of the same fate as has al
| ready befallen seven of ,heir number, and
| ready to defend themselves from such fate
! as well as they may be able. What the
/ next twenty-four hours will bring forth
! the good Lord alone knows. That there
/ viii be an open clash seems very mucn
more than probable at this writing. The
/ authorities are powerless and practically
no efforts have yet been made TO bring
! about peace, save by the relatives OF the
| man whose murder is the cause Of it all.
|
| Brooks cOunty's most prosperous farmers
| and best citizens, was murdered by party
! Of negroes and il leaked out that the kill
! ing of Isom was a part OF plot TO Xii
| all the whites who were in the posse which
! q few weeks ago arrested Jesse Jef1retn Tor
| the killing of Mr.. T. MOulden. Isom was
| one of the most popular men in the coun-
! tv He lived ten miles north of here IN
! a part of the county where the negroes
| outnumbered the whites and the killing
1 1s.ul Of ffnrr emf
! i developed that the same gang Of negroes
1 had sworlT- t. XII other white men the
| white gathered together as If by one ac-
! cord and the work Of death and desTuc-
| ton began.
| OF the seven who are dead the names OF
! only four could be obtained this afternoon.
A reporter visited the scene late this
] evening. Every crOssrOad was found pick
| eted with sentinels and every man IN the
| county Is armed 10 the teeth When one
! Of these race eXcitements occur King Ter
| ror rules in the hearts of whites as well
! as blacks. and this IS such case. There
| are probably 500 men under arms, cover
| ing an area OF about five square miles.
( About mile and half from the nome
| Of the IsOmS were about 20O whites, all
| we'll armed and breathing all sorts Of ven
! geance a mile further was a crowd OF
| negroes of about the same size, armed
| with Winchester rifles, pistols, axes, CLUBS
| and every available weapon, waiting Tor
| trenched in and around a lot OF negro
! cabins in the midst Of a thin grove and
| the latest information IS that the whites
| are advancing on them from two sides.
| Sam Taylor. Eli Frazer, Sam Pike and
! Henry Sherard are four negroes known 20
| have been killed. 1t is understood that
! there were probably others. The county
| is comparatively sparsely settled and the
| facilities for securing information are very
| meager. Pike IS the negro who killed
| Isom. He has been in hiding near where
| the trouble has occurred and the authOri-
| ties here do not consider IL probable that
| he had been caught
| When the reporter left the scene there
] seemed every likelihood Of a pitched battle
| tonight. Capt. Z. TIIlman, father-in-law
! Of IsOm, was however doing everything in
his power to restrain the whites. He had
! sent hurried messengers all over the coun-
| ~, summoning to his aid conservative men
| in the hope that they would prevent fur
| ther bloodshed. Il will be impossible to
| know tonight how well they succeeded.
| Details of the killing Of the seven negroes
| are melgTe. Taylor, Frazer, Pike and
Sherard were together about sunset last
! night They were regarded as four Of the
| ringleaders of the conspiracy to kill and
burn. and were being especially sought for.
| A half dozen whites, one Of whom IS said
! 10 have been IsOm's brother-in-law came
| upon them suddenly and ordered them to
| submit to arrest. One of the negroes an
| swered with a shot that struck one Of the
| whites, and four blacks were shot down
| in their tracks. The other three We're
| caught, one at a time. Many Of IsOm's
| neighb0rs, who are in the crowd will not
! listen to any peaceful talk. They declare
that for the sake Of their wives and chill
| dren and for their own safety they must
! stamp out the gang that has sworn to
! murder, and tonight that spirit seems to
! be the predominant one. If the fight
! comes it will be a desperate one.
| The killing of IsOm occurred IN the pub
| lie road not far from his home, and the
circumstances attending it seem to throw
| doubt on the conspiracy theory. Mr. IsOm
! was here Thursday and while in town had
some words with Waverly Pike negro
living in his neighborhood. Apparently
for home. After arriving there he started
with Henry Timan, his brother-in-law, for
! Capt. Timan's home, about half mile
from IsOm's. They met four negroes, two
on horseback and two in wagons Pike
and West Mccall were on horseback; the
two Herring boys were in the wagon.
They came near riding over Isom, who
demonstrated. He said:
Look out: don't run over me- and
had stepped out of the way. Just then
Pike drew a pistol and without a word
fired. the bullet piercing Isom's heart.
Pike and Mccall fired three shots each at
the PROSTATE body of Isom and they broke
for their horses. Pike made his escape,
but Mccall and the Herrings were ar
rested and are in Jail