The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-22
BAD ROwSEY FAMILY GONE
SIX OF mi SEVEN BOYs WERE WE'LL
KNOWN KENTUCKY BAD MEN.

DANyILLE. KY, Jan. S.-The passing OF John
Rowsoy. who died at his home. i've miles
from Danvllle, one night last week. closed tho
final chapter In a remarkable family history OF
dark and bloody deeds. John Rowsey was ono
OF the seven boys Of old Jordon Rowsey. and
was the only one OF the seven who did not die
with his boots on" The careers Of the other
six wee filled with daring deeds OF Gutlawry
and some extraordinary displays OF reckless
bravado. running from the hating OF q freight
train by n single horse man to the barring of q
breast to the carbine Of an unfair foe.
The six bad" 1,owscy boys were jasper.
Thomas. Smith. Arch. Cam and Gage"
Their father. Jordon Rowsey. was not a dan
Rerous man. generally speaking. but an un-
pleasant adversary when aroused. He was
small In stature and wiry. and was never known
to carry a weapon, depending. when occa-
sion demanded. upon his hitting and biting
qualities. He had many %quarrels and fist
and skull' encounters. but so far as known
never killed hs man."
Jasper was the first of the boys to gain noto-
riety. He became a terror 10 his neighborhood
when quite a youth. He would get drunk.
shoot into houses. and now and then. just for
amusement. fire upon persons travelling
through the community. secreting himself in
the hills overlooking the roads. The family
lived in the Knobs" several miles back Of
Milledgeville, n village about twelve miles
south Of Danville. Ono day Jasper shot and
hit Squire John Hughes. a highly respected
citizen of the community, but the bullet struck
n silver dollar in tho Squire's pocket and he
escaped injury. Rowsey said that he was
shooting at another man. Later. In one Of his
FRANKS, no shot and wounded q man named
Oldham. This occurred before the civil war,
Jasper progressed in his desperate doings and
was finally arrested and taken to the Stanford
Jail. A few nights after this a mob visited the
prison. took Jasper from the not unwilling
jailer and swung his body from a neighborlnG
limb, just on account Of general cussedness."
The second to die was Thomas. and his death
was tragic. He fell before the cnrbine of Tom
Akin. Akin was n Federal soldier. returning
home before the close OF the war. Tom Row.
sey one day went to Milledgeville, loaded UP
on mean whiskey. bullied Akin. and ran him
out Of town at the point Of n rifle. The next
day was Sunday. At about 10 o'clock that
morning Tom RowSey. then sober, was stand
ing upon the porch of a store. in the second
story of which a Sabbath school was in session.
While standing there Tom Akin walked up
with n carbine in his hand and exclaimed:
who says I've got to leave town."
Rowsey saw what Akin was up to. and said to
HIM:
You've got the drop on me. II you've got
anything against me, shoot"
With this he reached up and pulled open his
SIllTt, ~ ludJ MS DltuSL tldut IL Vi ket. hkln
| took deliberate aim with his carbine and fired.
Rowsey dropped in his tracks. shot through
the heart. SO great was the feeling against the
Rowseys that Akin was not arrested for his
deed.
This cold blooded act by Akin and the appar-
ent sanction OF it by the people Of the COM
munity enraged the remaining member OF
the Rowsey family and their friends. and they
began a reign OF terror which for years kept the
mood paonIo nf Waut Iipnplp am In a onp-
slant state of fear and excitement. They took
n special delight In harassing the Akin family
and their sympathizers. shooting into their
houses. firing into them from ambush. &c. I'M
uron the highway after dark. This state OF ar
fairs finally illuminated in one Of the most ter
One Saturday morning IN the summer OF 1865
Smith Rowsey secteted himself In a barn near
hs father came from the front door Of their
house and took seats side, by side upon the
Rowsey fired upon them from his hiding place.
making q most singular shot: The bullet first
the brain; penetrating the flesh and barely
grazing the vertebrH; PASSING on. it went
e enteTeSd tho he doc! oorp %s1n Both %fGN m s'no re sa% snsn
but decided that such n shot could not be
That same morning the Rowseys were I'm
town pretty thick, and one Glenn, a sympa-
thlsebP n fs2t n 'nt1 sGS m mGussd Of q s MaTt daa RISsel.
A general, attack was expected. and Russell
Summonei some fifteen OF his friends to his
night. Tn" Rowseys looked upon this as a
challenge and they. too. prepared for war.
was sunday. About ! o'ci loci. W WRiIe Several Mniie Of
the Russell party we're on the back porch wash
ing their faces, they were fired upon from an
old blacksmith shop some distance, away. They
hastily reantered, the house and the battle be
cellar and the men shot ut their foes from the
There were two crowds Of the Rowseys. ono
occupying the blacksmith shop and the other
stationed in the secont story of an old mill.
the Russell house between them. Bullets from
the Russell home and many narrow escapes
nauste1 and the fighting ceased il was found
that four Of the Rowsey following had received
iess Injured. The Russell party escaped israi
hurts. None Of the Rowsey boys was killed in
through and through, A silk handkerchief
was run through t Ms Lody 70 permit IN the escape
a bad man later in life,
It was not long after this until Smith Rowsey
amused Himself BY shooting at people from the
high knobs. One day n small company Of ,
s@its ar IN 'n Upon sIv the WAR f Tss p %@bnsh by T fRa
soldiers. thinking they had encountered n de-
tH chine T 81 sh arp ,noa smi f%Ghat sng bd into 6po the
bly, thinking they were after him, showed fight.
and c Was shot nUS tsdi down witho Ta" kim 70 m "a soSId iiIgs
He dieG game. however. with a revolver in each
After tho close Of the war. when law and
orier again assumed definite shape. the county
officials made determined efforts to crush out
the raiding bands OF hcspeTldoes. and matters
auleted down somewhat. The Rowseys then
satisfied themselves by getting drunk siRsly
now and then and taking" a town by them ,
selves. Arch. Cam and Gage OF the old fight
ing stock remained. Arrh one day rode his
horse down the Louisville and Nashville Rail-
road track, in the wake of an u !vancing freight
train, which was heavy and going slowly. Stop
ping his animal aud drawing two revolvers. he
pointed them at the cab on the locomotive and
yelled to the engineer 20 halE. There was moth.
con versution during which the engineer and
Fireman were invited to drink out OF the Rowsey
The Rowseys did not contine their operations
TO M~illedgeville, but ,attempted to ,tcrr9rize
rest. rode through the streets at breakneck
speed. yelling. firing their pistols. &c. O4eday
Cam came to Danyille and got on n tear" but,
much TO his surprise, was arrested by "Hnck"
Harness; a printer He had declared that he
rest Harness asked the Marshal to summon
him TO arrest tho despernd0. The Marshal