Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-03-23
Daylight in the warehouse re.

covered the floor, and the walls were
indented with bullets from Win.
ohesters and other arms. Wives
and children Of the negroes, to whom
the news of the tragedy had spread
on rapid wings, knelt by the bodies
of their dead and endeavored to con.
sole the wounded. The cries Of the
negro families filed the room and
sent a shook through the hearers.
..> JURY OF. INQUEST. 1,
DoG.ors bent over the wounded
and administered to their wants al
intervals until noon, when friends Of
the injured came and removed them
to their homes. Tho dead, whose
bodies were horribly mangled, re.
mained where they were until
shortly after noon, when a coroner'f
jury was empanelled. In the alb.
ssnoe of Coroner Dunlap Justice OF
the Peace Cummings summoned the
jury and conducted the inquest
Clem Watts, one of the negroes,
who miraoulously escaped being
shot, was the first witness.
He said:
81 was at the warehouse and O
crowd of masked men, about twenty,
came. They ordered the guard to
throw up their hands. They made
them leave the guard room. The
leader then ordered his men to fire
on the prisoners, first counting one,
two, three. The men afterwards
loaded and fired again."
Guard Baker testified that the mob
filled the room and the guards were
forced to the wall.
"The leader of the mob gave a
count and the shooting began. They
had pistols, shotguns and Winches-
ter rifles. They did not stay over
five minutes. | do not know which
way they came or went when they
left"
J.J. Connor, the guard examined,
said: "I was guarding the prisoners.
About 1 o'clock q crowd of masked
men ca,ne in the room by forcing
the door open and moved the guards
back. The prisoners were CON-
manded TO line up and then the
order to fire was given, which was
obeyed. They shot and reloaded
and shot the second time. The
room was filled with the masked
men. / do not know the number"
The jury then rendered q verdict,
which reads:
awe, tho coroner's jury, empan-
elled in the cases Of the deaths OF
Harrison Hudson, William Cotton,
Jr., Ed. Brown and Henry Bingham,
find that they came to their death
from gunshot or pistol shot wounds
from n crowd of masked mon to the
jury unknown, a little after mid
night, or on the morning of the 10th
of March. j. II. BULLARD,
"Foreman."
CAUSE OF THE LYNCHING.
The town has been visited by two
incendiary fires since February 1,
and tho citizens have been afraid to
rebuild, owing to oft-repeated
threats of the negroes that they
would do the same thing again. The
county authorities have been active
in their efforts to apprehend the in
cendiaries, and yesterday arrested
the nine negroes above mentioned.
William Cotton had confessed to
DR.. II. J.. Johnson that he and eight
companions had conspired to burn
the town and loot the stores. The
burning part OF the programme was
successfully carried out, but the fire
spread 80 rapidly and the buildings
went up in flames 80 fast that they
were unable to obtain anything from
the stores. DR.. johnson got tho
names of the eight accomplioes from
Cotton and on this evidence the war;
rants were sworn out.
Gov. Gambler has issued a procla-
nation offering reward of $500 for
the apprehension and delivery of the
first member of the unknown mob,
and a further reward of 800 for
each additional person so implicated,
with evidence sufficient to convict.
This is'the largest reward the law
allows.
[The latest dispatches from Pal
metto say that all is quiet and no
farther trouble is expeoted.1
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