The sun., 1898-01-16
ROGER B. TANEY'S FATHER.
=, ALMOST FoR9OTTEN TRAqEDr
or A CENTURE AGO.

rz,racr Committed by Chier yustiee
..,.,,. Father In n Rit OF JeAispsy-Trnits
:. an. son That suGacst tho Fathers momi-
.,,,I umpuise-A story OF Ola n1arylssd.
p,-rxyyT RIVER, Md. Jan. 14.-This river
- no visited only from Baltimore and by
....mhoat, I went 20 bed on the Westmore-
- comfortably and awoko at Benedict, tho
-. go N operations against Washington city 5y
go army In 1914. Near Benedict, wilkes
eoo,h arst appeared in Maryland, October,
,eei nj the house Of a DIR. Queen, making II for
second time q base Of operations against
1o.b,ngton. A little below was born Chief
5rstice Tanoy James Wilkinson. the doughty
General. who was in the pay of Spain for years,
cas- born near Benedict. Here was transferred
~ the steamer st. Mary's, to return down tho
pstuxent, while tho Wcstmoreland went on up.
A Col sothoron OF Benedict had murdered
,tr,on officer in tho war for recruiting among
~. slaves, After tho war, when his crime
,ootod less heroic. sothoron had related that
T,chael Taney, the Chief Justices father, also
..n,dered man. Taney's Dred Scott docision
h.d been sothoron's self justification. He re-
i.ted the homicide to Judge Frederick Stone
among others, who forgot most of the details.
s,one told me that Sothoron said that Michael
Fancy was n man of deadly passions and had
tied a white man in his (Taney's) house and
narrowed 81 900 from another person and fiod,
and never returned tho money and neyer ap-
r,ared any more The occasion Of the erimo
vas either unrelated or aforementioned.
As Chief Justice Alvey Of the Court Of Ap-
,cals of the District Of Columbia came from st.
Mary's county, 1 inquired Of him II he had ever
h.srd of any such crime. Alvey said he thought
tbe story related to Michael Taney's killing
sl,vc. I again referred tho matter to Judge
Stone, who said
NO, It was a white man, not oolored man,
for Taney fed"
Next questioned Judge J. Parran Crane Of
Town Point, Patuxent, Colonel of the Second
Maryland, in the Confederate Army. He said
there was such q murder and he had heard tho
old people of Calvert county talk about It,
but he could not remember the particulars.
Certain paroxysms Of desperation in ROGER
Taney's political acts caused mo to examine his
biography closely. thought could detect in
the wrecker of the United States Bank and tho
eratultous expounder OF immemorial and there
fore unacceptable slavery nature working
under something like homicidal impulse. My
chase Of his fathers homicide would have been
Intellectual in the newsless newspapers of 1900
1872 but for an accidental consultation Of an
obscure local book.
In James Hungerford's ''Old Plantation"
Patuxent sketches, published 1859, is what is
probably an account of the murder by Justice
Taneys father. The latter is called "Aylmer
Tiernay," a fair paraphrase Of Michael Taney.
He was "a widower of about flfty," whose at
tentions to a young lady were divided by Q
young man 26 years old. '1There were outh,
good looks, and cheerful manners on one side,
on the other age, homeliness, and a gloomy
bearing, and so tho bachelor was preferred to
the widower."
"One summer day q party was held ct Tier
nay IS house, and the young lady displayed her
partiality for McGregor. Tho company con-
cluded to go to the cool waterside. Old Mr..
Tiernay asked McGregor to stay q while, as he
had something particular to say to him. His
manner was so smiling that when he made tho
request no ono suspected any wrong was In
tended.
After q long time the party wondered where
Tiernay and McGregor could be. Suddenly O
servant came running to tell them that the body
of young McGregor lay dead in tho garden at
the Poplars and that Tiernsy had ridden away
on his feetest horse. Bruce McGregor' had
been stabbed to the heart and must have died
1.-TWO brothers of tho victim pursued Tier
nay, but he was never seen alive again. About
q year afterward his body was brought to tho
county and quietly inferred in the family bur-
ial ground. He had hidden himself in q re-
tired part OF Virginia, and had died there with
no one to attend his hours Of sickness but an
old negro man. his body servant, who had
learned the way to his masters retreat, It is
thought, through letter. The grave was
opened by the brothers of the murdered lover to
assure Themselves that the funeral had not been
a mere pretence to put q stop to their search
after the murderer. The young lady married
another young gentleman.
What has become Of the Tiernay familyl
There is no one Of that name now 1882 living
in the county" Mr.. Hungerford goes on:
''rhey sold out their property after their IA
TIERS death and two Of them left the county.
The youngest, DR.. Tiernay, who remained, died
without issue. The eldest brother removed to
the far Southwest. The second brother, now
us59l very aged man, occupies one of the
highest judicial positions in the country. He is
now, am told, as remarkable for self-control
and gentleness of manner as he was In his
younger days for high temper and haughtiness."
Upon the next place above the Poplars. called
Crow Island. planter of cruel nature turned
MS overseer's family out in the snow, refusing
70 lot his slaves receive their little children. All
became sick, and one died. The overseer with
rine met Mr.. Harold" in field and mortally
wounded him. and the planter died in his own
mont parlor. leaving bloody stains on the floor.
lne overseer was not even tried. The Gov
efnor gave him nolle prosequi.
llernay's family, continues Hungerford, oon-
s'sted OF himself, an old maid sister who
Kept house for him. and his three grown-up
sons The family name was one of the Oldest
IN The state the father and sons were, as their
ancestors had been, as far back as tradition
records, remarkable for sternness and strength
ot character, as well as for violent passions
ana haughtiness Of demeanor.
Inc McGregors were beloved, while tho Tier
nays were feared. AS these were the two most
mhuential families in the hundred, and were
moreover. always opposed in politics, n ira
Si'iohai Jealousy always existed between them.
ie' the families had always been upon visiting
terms. This state OF truce was due to the
siniaple character Of the McGregors. their can
u'u oemeanor toward their neighbors their
.afeiul avoidance of committing or speaking
any wrong of them. and also their never taking
Any ohence unless assured that 1t was meant
sueh is picture OF the crime OF Chief JUS
ace iah"y's father related by an indulgent pro-
slavery contemporary.