The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-06

.
From the Atlanta Constitution.
PRYoR's STATION, Ca. Jan. 29.-Six men
have boon slain by John T. Pryor of this place
TO avongo the murder OF his father. He has
mover been arrested, nor suffered any penalty
for his half dozen manslaughters. HI trav-
cllcd through Texas and Arkansas in search of
ono Of the murdcrers of his father.
The Pryor family. with q large number Of
slaves and broad acres of productive land. be-
came wealthy, and at the time OF the firing on
Fort Sumter counted their possessions way np
in the hundred thousands. H.. NJ. Pryor, father
OF tho avenging son, was a strong sympathizcr
with tho Union. He believed the slavery ques-
tion ought TO have been settled without war.
John T. Pryor went to tho war with n Georgia
cavalry company, but after n few months re-
turned hcmc, having hired n substitute. He
says no eaw there was no hope of the Confod.
crate States winning.
In Georgia n reign Of terror and lawlcssncss
followed Sherman's march 10 tho sea, De-
spite the fact that Col. Pryor was such n strong
Union sympathizer, the soldiers of Sherman
burned his barns and warehouses, in which
were stored 36J bales of cotton, besides help
Ing themselves to all corn, provisions, hogs,
and cattle. they wished. Cotton was then
worth 1920 per pound. Just after the war
Col. John Pryor sold forty bales he had for so
~S'fS =" lSNhes vi " W" " lp.pO Dc Iob
bling and plundcring by marauding bands be.
came 80 great after Sherman passed on that
Gov. Brown was prevailed upon TO appoint a
home militia for protection in various parts of
Georgia. H.. M. Pryor was appointed Captain
for the Cedartown district. These dcpreda-
lions were generally committed, it is said, by
Gatewood and Colquitt's scouts. These were
illegal Confederate scouts appointed by the
men whose name they bore. They carried on a
guerrilla warfare. They killed all the strag.
glers behind Sherman, but at the same time
felt no computations about helping themselves
to whatever they wanted ut Southern houses.
They were cordially hated by the people of both
sides for their sneaking methods and high
handed deeds. There is no record of how
many wealthy Southern people they hanged or
killed. but some despcradocs under the mask
Of scouts hanged Judge Burrcll near Rome and
got his money; killed Mr.. Omberg. and a viii
lain named Phillips, who will hereafter appear
conspicuously. got his watch; Mr.. Allgood.
the owner of Trion factory, was hanged and left
for dead because he would not tell where his
money was hidden; Mr.. Cohen, a wealthy
miller and merchant, was hanged until life was
place where several thousand dollars =" We're dug
up. All the above victims were among the
leading men of north Georgia. This brings
this true history down to the time OF the Pryor
tragedy. and 1t is best to let John I. Pryor tell
about it in his own words.
1 lhc uppOlIltlltlU VI Uy lulUCT, 4, NJ
Pryor, as Captain OF the homo militia in tho
Ctedartown district, we began active measures
Zone day on the road between Pry ors station
and Cave Spring VIC came upon II band of five of
the so;called scouts. whom we had been pursu-
ing. The desperadoes were armed TO the teeth,
but my father and l and the others of the party
got the drop on them and ordered them to ride
did SO except one. who was riding u snowy calico
or pieb4ld horse; His name, aftcrward learned,
was "Ducky' Ward, and that he was from
Texas. had covered him with my rifle Al
the last man was riding up to surrender. Ward.
who could ride like n cowboy, threw himself on
the side of his horse and started off in IA gallon.
In a few moments ! sent n rifle ball after him,
and we know 1t did its work, as we saw the dust
with our pris oners for Cedartown a man came
down the road leading Wards horse and said
up the road. After a few days lays in IT the Gedar,
town jail our prisoners were sent to Newman 10
the military prison. but within two weeks had
They threatened to kill my father for having
them arrested, and a fellow named Phillips was
I'm a%rrcsting these desperadoes we often ran
great risks. Colquitt, the loader of the Colquitt
scouts. was in CeGartown shortly after this and
his men were terrorizing everybody. was de.
tailed to arrest Col1uitt and went in search of
him one night with another officer. We found
store in Ccdartown. When we aroused him he
was very uuarrelsome and cursed loudly. We
to shoot US saw | had not a moment to lose.
sent a bullet through, his heart. An the poo,
PIE Sulu IL WuS " ROOu radiance. 1 nave now |
told you Of the killing of Two men.
ut was on April i, 1865, shortly before the
ASSASSINATION OF Lincoln, That my father was
rested. Phillips drew his pistol and deliberately
killed my, father. shooting him at close range
ticepcS criminis were two men named Mont
gomcry and Bishop and a young follow. whose
CURED about 10 o'clock in the morning. but /
did not hear of 1t until about noon, as ] was out
hunting. As quickly as possible had my horse
and rode IN fhn appnn nf tha p,tp1nr
! learned all | could as to the murderers. and
leaving the body to be cared for by one Of my
killing the guilty men,. However, / was
unable to get any trace Of them and returned to
panied by a faithful negro and several friends.
all on horseback, ! started. out again. Wa
were rewarded by striking a hot trail. At the
they had been robbed by the prowling scouts.
One Of the Wheeler boys joined us in the pur:
TreadNay's and found he himself had been
driven out Of the house by outlaws. Mrs. Tread
She told of the ~outragcs they had committed.
s may vt, tde n good !bd Lord ,a help p, you gu to catch them,
prayed for The deliveranee Of tho bandits into
our hands. am a sort of an infidel. but l be.
lievS that old woman's PRAYER helped me to
I'VE rode on.rupidly across the Alabama line
to L2diga, for which point VIC thought they
them. Bafiied. but never dcspairing, / rodo
three miles to Cross Plains, a point lower down.
lore Couiu Inu no Z Tue. on my return to La
Olga IL occurred to me that there was a certain
road leading. out of the town on which there
a schoolhouse, and riding there / asked the
teachers permission to question the boys. 1t
was given, and to my delight ] was given a
good description and found the men had
passed there; We were Joined by a young man
at Ladiga with IL fresh horse, and as mine was
very spirited, we rode ahead of the others by a
mile or two. i soon could tell we were not very
lar behind tho gang. as the tracks of their
horses were fresh. l rode even faster. hoping
to catch sigh; of the rascals. 1t was between
and IL o'clock when, Just beyond Coloma,
Ala l rode mp in front OF the Widow Lanes
house and saw two men sitting under some trees
and three horses tied near by. I remember
the pink and white blossoms of tho peach trees
and the house. situated AS il was at the foot OF
the Wiseman Mountains made II most inviting
place. The men, | think, saw me about the
time ! saw them and both sides were
surprised. One of them made a
movement to reach for his gun. I jumped off
my horse in n single bound. cooking my double
shotgun and fired before he raised his,
'One Of the men fell over riddled with buck:
shot, while the other ran around the house. |
ircw my, pistol and ran after him, but just
around tho corner came upon his dead body
where he fell. A girl about 10 years old came
-unning TO the door and raid. i am SO glad you