Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1894-05-11
EIGHT lives FOR ONE.
TERRIBLE RETRIBUTI0N FOR
LOUISIANA MURDER.

Four More Men Lynched for the
Boyce Assassination In Madison
Parish-Long Hunt for the Muir
derers in the Swamps-Sherins
Posse Overpowered.
-Four more OF the colored men who were
connected with the murder OF J. B. Boyce in
Madison Parish, Louisiana, were captured
by the Sheriff's rcsss and, as was expected,
were lynched soon afterward. This murder
has already resulted in nine deaths. that
of Boyce, the white overseer who
was first killed, and eight colored men who
have been killed in retaliation. Harris Will
Jams was shot, and Tom Claxton, Dave Haw-
kins, Sam Slaughter, Shell Claxton, Pomp
Claxton, Scott Harvey, and Tony Mccoy
were lynched on Sunday night, and the
other four Immediately after their capture as
related.
The killing of Boyce occurred a week be-
fore and ever since then the posse had been
hunting for the colored men who were sup
posed to have taken part in the affair. The
posse was composed of 200 white men, half
the total number Of white men In MadisoR
Parish, where the colored people are twelve
to one. The whites split up in
10 half dozen parties and
secured the entire country. The murderers
were supposed to have taken refuge In the
triangle swamp between Milliken's Bend and
Omega and the river. All three places were
watched, particularly the river, to prevent
them from escaping into Mississippi. Blood
hounds were obtained to track the men, but
the scent was cold. After several days hunt,
the Sheriff dismissed most of his posse,
but fifty men remained On duty. However,
the scent was taken up by the dogs, and 1t
was evident that the pursued men had been
cornered in Buckhorn woods, compare
,oo1I ho wifi COLL 1 or
renforcements, and 200 men responded.
The gang were found In a cabin between
the woods and river. They had made ar
rangements with a colored man to take
them across the river, and would have sue
ceeded in escaping to Mississippi if 1t had
not been for the prompt action of the posse
The posse surrounded the house and
called for the owner to come out. He
played deaf and would not answer
and he was told if he did not come out and
surrender the men the officers would fire on
the house. He still refused to answer, and a
volley was fired in the roof of the cabin. The
owner came out and said the fugitives were
nor there, and that he did not know where
they were.
The posse then searched the premises and
in the loft of a small crib in the yard four OF
the fugitives we're found huddled together
Pomp Claxton, Shell Claxton, Scott Harvey
and Tony Mccoy. They were arrested, and
Sheriff McCleland deputized twelve of the
posse to take them to Tallulah. The cap
tured men were without guns, having
thrown them away in their flight when
pursued by the bloodhounds. They scat
tered, and only came together when they
were caught.
AS the Sheriff's deputies, with the prison.
ers, got near Milliken's Bend an effort was
made by a crowd to take them away. but the
deputies resisted and got as far as the
Sherry place, about two miles from Tallulah.
when a crowd of about two hundred men
met them and oyerpowered the officers and
took the four murderers to the Crescent
place, where the four men were hanged on
a tree about one hundred feet from the place
where they killed Boyce.
The executions were conducted very
quietly, the people living in the vicinity
knowing nothing about them until next
morning, when they we're surprised to find
the bodies Of the four men hanging there.
There were twenty-six colored men in all
on the Crescent plantation who were sus-
pected of completely with tie killing of
Boyce. Eight have been killed, one is at
large, and seventeen are prisoners in the
parish Jail.