The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-29

cd, hghtlng with bowie knives, their leit hanus
some time afterward Reed became involved
In n difficulty with the Alstons.. An article
Of tie Call faction, dynonded the name OF the
Gen. Reed, who was the leader Of the opposite
faction: Ho at once challenged Gen. Reed,
Elected { d"e Wc mse! "9sF wTs " "'r a fSyorito With the
Aistons.. Col. Aston was attended by, MIR;
Col. .Alston's gun exploded, being hair trg-
gered the contents were discharged into tho
T fFs;h, S aSa co., HeG Hii.t Sim% drSSpp %i'5 dead "SS''O'ra''0"'
Ills sister, u most spirited woman; was almost
cured the lead that had Killed him, and with
her own lands moulded y into bullets and sent
item :" her brother, Willis Als,on. ana IN n.
brother. She wrote that he had been muir
dered, and the Alstons adhered to thi, belief,
meeting was u fair one. tien, Reed using only
his Just right in firing after the explosion of
willis Aston would seek revenge for his broth.
made ono Of ali their quarrels. The first meet
Ing between Aston and Reed was dramatic;
Speaker. lie was a young man of exceptional
power and popularity. and his life promised TO
his friends to the usual legislative supper, and
the banquet was in progress; and every thihE
S STe. m mSEsi'y in ana swinging Wing; c" COAX and wi. With i'T q
slouch hat drawn oyer his face. stalled thromgh
1 made SF FST t& HS2 head w Of the isb & wS %Sct 'sS Gs str1 R I
was sitting. Instantly cries Of "Alstoni'"Al-
ston" ran down the table: A these cries the
nized. Reed rose from his seat, and, whipping
u pistol out Of his pocket, lcvelled it az his as.
his upliftcd hand, carrying away two fingers.
This did not stop him, but, brandfshing q bowie
had been parted Reed was pretty severely cut
and Aston wounded. again. Aston was taken
from the room and for several months nothing
more was heard of the matter. One day Gen.
Reed was walking down, the streets OF ITALIA,
contents Of one barrel OF a shotgun were poured
into MS Iett shoulder. and as ne turned 70 front
lis % fsii' ana t died pf insta lS nS went into his ''"F''
Willis Aston went to Texas. where he lived
for some time. He settled near Brazoria: There
other, pursued the matter of the Reed killing
and used remarks derogatory to Aston. Aston
hearing Of 1t, wrote the remarks down. and;
meeting stewart on, the prairie one day. asked
him whether or not he was responsible for those
while pretending to read it. put his hand in his
holsters and drew. his pistol. He jumped of
into him. A desperate light ensued. in which
Aston was shot twice and his stomach SO cut
that his bowels protruded. He killed stewart,
however, pouring "A load of b~uckshot into him
after he wa, prone upon the earth. lie was
taken to iail almost dead.
lie was IA famous fiddler. and, procuring a fid.
die, sat there playing the old tunes Of his boy
III, cell and had a coli Of rope around his body;
suddenly a mob assaulted the jail. 0verpowered
t RTs, Sheriff f. E Mos g in the to d ,%s i, snd a SeiTf fIdd TSiii
up to the very instant he was. seized, his. daunt-
I Mss , lnSS lGok kin , fY SInn G9 h ,hs sss ends twis,e me
in the street, he was thrown to the ground;
bullets were poured into his body:
Thus died the last Of the 'Halifax, Alstons."
:aSe of men. ,Gideon,. Who was killed by Peiat,
was always cited as the handsoinest youngster
Of his day. IT may be said here that the Young
Ca~tilian who killed him was put into the navy
rs a midshipmanr, and wa drowned in the Med
dertul strength: He once shouldered a load Of
500 pounds dead weight, and 'arriel y through
stormy one. His f.ud with the Ingrams. IA
strong and powerful family; was the sensH-
w s!"H OF ca "g4eff'1 his ioF ys sne ' Win ~ ni iast aud escaped C @l
the whole difficulty with, only one finger shot
n%ay, Of Tbs Arh isu Ma MsS 9n n"8 1as sold HpG iarsd sse
The authors were never discovered. or they
troubles. The manuscript was discovered one
m9rning in the yard q " fearless wWi i wh9
<, friend Of the iIato Col; Bob Aston said;
with all tho .chivalry,, fearlessnes;,. and hot
headcdncss of his race, he dreaded above every
was not fear. for an Aston does not know
what fear is. lie was as brave a man as ever
lived. In the army, as one Of Morgants lieu.
tenants, he, was one Of the most reckless and
daring Of them all, He once Zee act%nll ~, had Mi,H a
| biscuit SnDt from between HIS ltttl, Dut WIN
a laugh he continued his breakfast. lie said
to me: l. have a boy who is a hot.headed fel;
iin in mine hi"S many y' a time nSt and knelt by his bedside
and prayed to God that | might hequeath him
q legacy of peace and a Quiet death II was
break the old tradition that an Aston must
boy of lis to die a few years later the death of
When he was going to the field to meet Capt.
going to take the night train. Suddenly he
turned to a dark wall, AMI. leaning his head
spare him the death that his people had died,
ind ALLOW hin to live in peace, Il Hs 81 never nr i
him. 1t made him gloomy to talk Of it, but
to his friends he would. say that he knew II
il even ~ lad ' a sunssr It that a certain man
was going to kin him., There had never been
a aaia, 'F HTha, n mhM IS my lS'i fnte out A AES man si~ %ss
his friend and never became anything else,
DESPITE these gloomy thoughts, Aston was g
joined the Church he still adhered to his be
lief: 1T Is "A peacemaker" he said s.oo,
above, the state law, there never WAS so 'uiet
and dcrorous a community. In Charleston
SS"Tss and sI' the VII riIes "o Of the G ""ries Oh Go"ri5r
Tor nearly twenty:nyc, years d" not show the
similar epitlct n single time. There were no
street lights or rows, and no REPRESENTATIONS. \
even towards brave men. He used to tell OF n
Inroltna Judge whG, having two men before
IlNn Tor tTNlllg 10 lISHI Il lucl, shUl' tllIlt
men, it will take me an hour to write out these
warrants. In the mean time there is a steamer
at my wharf which can take YOU out OF my
Jurisdiction. So that You could complete your
work before | could hold YOU" Col. Aston
never fought II duel himself, though he Issued
and accepted n great many Challenges. Tho
conservative spirit of these latter days always
settles these matters without the exchange of
shots. While Aston would have died before
he would have submitted 10. IA dishonornhlo
CUnurOmise, much was required 10 carry
MIN into an affair Of honor. He shrank with
horror from such 4 test. His whole lie was
O~ver,lalnwed 10y the memory of his ancestors
and their bloody ends. lie WINS a recognized
authority on matters u the code. and was mSu
ally called into ali prominent affairs. While
he was tenacious of the honor OF his princinlcs.
he never stiCklol for teChnica!ittcs and uSu-
ally succeeded in adjusting the difficulties.
Aston had been engaged In many personal
enc0ln Lrrs, out never had been seriously hurt:
1t was harder for hin to take an iusinuation Of
insult than for almost any one else; hut he Al
ways rcplrsscd his anger, and, II possible,
avoided trouble. lie was n fine talkcr. II genial
gentleman, of winning address. and those quail
ties saved him from many difficulties that his
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