The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-08-18
Murrell's Gang.

The "Jcsse James" Of the Missis-
sippi and Missouri Rivers in the days
when steamboating fourished was a
fellow named Murrcll. His confcdcr-
ates were known as "Murrell' Gang"
This gang vas composed of outlaws,
pirates, escaped convicts and desper-
ate highwaymen from all parts of the
world. The country was sparscly set
tied, rendering arrest difficult, and the
boundlcss prairies of the West and
impcnctrable cancbrakcs of the South
made the Mississippi Valley a veri.a-
BILE Elysian field for the successful
operation Of outlaw bands.
Murrcll, the chief Of Murrell's
Gang, took pattern after Mike Fink,
Sam Gritty and "Colonel Plug and
his dc%predations were as terrible and
%far-reaching as any Of the pioneers of
his profession.
Mark Twain, in his "Lifc on the
! Mississippi" calls him a Wholesale
rascal, to distinguish him from Jesse
James retail rascally deeds. "What
are James and his half dozen vulgar
rascals, compared to this stately old
criminal, with his sermons, his medi-
tated Instructions and city captures
and his majestic following of ten
hundred men, worn to do his evil
will?"
Murrell seems to have been a most
dexterous as we'll as a consummate
villain. When he travelled his
disguise was that of an itinerant
preacher, and it is said that his dis
courses were very soul-stirring, and so
interesting to hearers that they forgot
to look after their horses, which were
carried away by his confedcrates while
he was preaching. But Murrell's
most lucrative occupation was stealing
slaves, to sell them in another quar-
ter. He had a peculiar way Of man
aging that part Of his business. One
Of his men would tell a negro, for in
stance, to run away from his master
and allow him to sell him to another,
whereby he could secure half the mon
cy paid for him. Then the negro was
advised to run away the second time,
return to the gang, and be sent to a
free State by them, where he would
be safe. Many poor wretches COM
piled with this request, hoping to OBJ
tain money and freedom. They would
be sold in this manner three or four
times, until the Murrells had realized
So, 900 or 81, 900 from the repeated
sale of one man. After this, for fear
of detection, the method would be to
get rid of the only witness against
them, which was the negro himself.
! He was murdered and then his
body was thrown into the Mississippi
River.
The general rendezvous of this gang
was on the Arkansas side of the river,
where they concealed their negroes in
the morasses and cancbrakes: Though
it was we'll known that Murrell was at
the head Of this gang Of outlaws, it
was difficult to obtains proof against
him. A young man named Stewart
finally gained his confidence, turned
traitor and exposed the whole concern,
bringing home sufficient evidence
against Murrell to send him to the
penitentiary for IA years.
1t was found that a good many men
who bore respectable names in the Sec
tions in which they lived were con-
nected with Murrell's gang, and every
effort was made to discredit Stewart S
statements. He vas obliged to
leave the Southern States in conse-
qucnce.
One of the most daring deeds of the
notorious outlaw was the rebellion he
melted in New Orleans, bis object be-
ing to raise the blacks against the
whites, taking possession Of the city
in the melee and plumber it at leisure.
The story is told by Captain E. w.
Gould, one of the oldest river cap
tains, now living in New York. Cap
tain Gould collected it from accounts
furnished by the man Stewart, who
vouched for its CORE ctness and declar,
ed that it was told him by Murrell him
self at the time he a in his conf,
dcnce.
II collected all my friends about