Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-25
Graphic Story Of the Brutal Murder
of Captain Benjamin Revsl.
VERDICT OF HHE CORONER'S JURY
Benjamin johnson, Who Committed
the Crime, Still at Large.
THE VICTIMS SON MISSING
pecial Dispatch From STAFF Correspondent.


The colored man, Benjamin johnson, who
murdered Capt. Benjamin Revel on the
schooner John A. Dixon Sunday night, is
still at large, while the two witnesses,
Stevens and Bailey Young, colored men.
are In Jail at Port Tobacco. They were
lodged In Jail last night after an inquest
was held over the body by Magistrate Bur-
CESS. These two young men were the only
witnesses to the brutal crime, and while
1t was at first thought they were impli-
Gated in the killing, the authorities are now
confident that they had no hand in the af-
fair. and that they told the truth at the
coroner's inquest They are about twenty
years old. and ignorant, and are hardly
able to concoct any kind of story Ac-
ccrding to their testimony the three men
shipped with Capt Revel at Norfolk and
were going to Washington with the cargo
of lumber for Frank Libbey & Co. One of
them is from North Carolina and the other
belongs in Virginia. Sunday night, when
the schooner was off Cedar Point light
house. the man johnson was at the wheel.
and the captain complained that he did
not understand the business.
The Fatal Quarrel.
This angered the colored man. who then
deserted the wheel and went forward.
Capt. Revel then ordered him to haul in
the glib. but the negro, in an impolite man
ner. declared that he would not touch the
sail. Yes. you will take it in," the cap
tain told him. mo. won't" replied John
son. Before coming to blows, the captain
left the forward deck and went to the
cabin. When he returned he had his pistol
In his hand, and repeated the order about
the jib. johnson became defiant. and when
he saw the pistol he picked up large
club used on the boat and dealt the cap
tain severe blow across the face. crushing
his left jaw.
Determined to Kill Him.
When the captain had been knocked
senseless Johnson said to him, "D-n you,
I am going to kill you,' and dealt him two
more blows. By this time the other hands
on the boat realized the seriousness of the
affair, and went to the assistance of the
dying man. They washed the blood from
his face and bathed his head, but could do
him no good, for he was undoubtedly dead
when they reached him.. While they were
thus ell gagged johnson got In the yawlboat
and disappeared. That was about o'clock.
and nothing was known of his disappear
ance for more than an hour. and as yet no
one knows in what direction he went 1t is
thought, however, that he made his way
In the direction of Washington, as 1t is
known that he had friends there. The sails
of the CT aft had been lowered, and the two
young men left on the boat did not know
enough to go ashore. They spent night
of ter1o or on the boat with the corpse, and
would probably still be drifting had not
the captain Of the Sue discovered what had
happened and toWed the schooner to River
side.
The Verdict of the Jury.
As soon as the shore was reached, Post
master R. L. Adams took charge of the
and Magistrate Burgess put
Stevens and Bailey under arrest, and held
them until the inquest was held yesterday
afternoon. The jury. composed of seven
TO ND five with Pnha
foreman, heard the testimony on
the schooner, where the body was covered
with one of the boats sails, and after
the Evidence returned d, the follow.
]. A. H. Dixon, off Cedar Point in Charles
county, Maryland, a certain Johnson (col-
ored) feloniously, voluntarily and of malice
hit with a club or handspike
or the head, inflicting a mortal wound by
in the skull, of which.sai mortal
wound Benjamin F. Revel then and there
instantly died"
Bringing the Body to Washinston.
Soon after the verdict was rendered
Magistrate Burgess sent Stevens and
Bailey to Port Tobacco, and gave Sheriff
AL. Britain what information he had about
the, escaped murderer. Last night Under
taker Fry Of Baltimore, Horace Johnson.
of Libbey & Company,
reached Riverside. The former was looking
after the body of the murdered captain,
while Mr.. Miller was looking after his lum-
ber. The party spent almost the entire
night in finding the coroner, and getting
the necessary papers, and will probably
reach Washington with the body this after
r oon. The schooner, which Is owned by
Baltimore people, is partly under water.
Capt. Benjamin F. Revel was about forty
seven years old, and had been waterman
since his boyhood days.
He was well known on the river, in the
summer carrying cargoes of lumber and
in the winter looking after the oyster
trade. While he was perhaps better known
in Baltimore than at any other shipping
point, he was well known in Washing
ton. He was an even tempered man, and
was never known to have figured in quar-
rels. Among the lumber men he was
general favorite, and was preferred to al
most any other captain. He was resi-
dent of Baltimore, and lived at No. 2OO6
Fairmount avenue, where his wife and two
children, a son and daughter, reside. His
daughter Pearl, who is about nineteen
years old, is a public school teacher in the
monumental city. having passed a success
full examination last year. His only son.
Howard, is not yet old enough to work. and
the daughter is now the sole support of the
widowed mother and brother He left his
home in Baltimore Friday, September 13,
and Thursday last a letter from him was
received by his family stating that If a
crew could be secured he would sail for
Somerset county, Md, and has been a
sailor during his entire life. He married
Miss Clara Poulson of Accomac county,
Va. The schooner Dixon was built in Dor
chester county, Md, in 1853. T. H. B.