The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1899-03-22
GASSETT is GONE.
CLAY COUNTY PRISONER TAKEN
BACK TO Fl. GAINES JAIL.
He and His AccOmpliceS to Be Tried
This Week. False Reports Circu-
lated in Clay County About His
Confinement Here.

This Week. False Reports Circu-
lated in Clay County About His
Confinement Here.
j. A. Gassett, the man charged with
being the leader of the mob that assinat-
ed Alf Boynton and his wife near Ft.
Gaines, and who was brought TO the
Terrell county Jail for safe keeping, has
been taken back to the Fl Gaines Jail,
and with the several other parties &C
cused of being his accomplices will be
tried in Caly superior court now in ses'
| sion.
Although acknowledging the uniform
kindness of Sheriff Christie and Jaller
Slade, Gassett was much dissatisfied in
Dawson and is quoted by the Fit. Gaines
Sentinel as complaining of his quarters
| in the Jail here and as being glad to get
back among his friends. The Sentinel
saws:
"We talked with Mr.. Gassett on his
arrival here Sunday afternoon. He
seemed delighted with the change in bis
prison situation which placed him back
in Clay county among acquaintance
and friends. He was suffering from
cold, and his appearance Indicated that
| his confinement had not agreed with
| him. He says that while Sheriff Chris.
tie and his 1aiIer extended him every
kindness possible under the circum-
stances, fed him well, etc his situation
in the lawson Jail was most disagree
able one.
'Mr. Gassett and the other inmates
of the Jail are all cheerful and in good
! spirits, and seem as confident as ever of
being able to establish their Innocence,
awaiting impatiently the opportunity to
| do so.
cit has been reported throughout the
county that Mr.. Gassett was confined IN
| Jail IN Dawson in the same cell with a
lot of negrOes, and that he was subjected
to other unwarrante ed hardships. We have
letter from Sheriff Christie of Terrell
which he has felt called upon to write
| in order to set himself and Solicitor
Irwin right before the public. He states
| that the statement that Mr.. GaSsett was
confined in a cell with negroes is not
| true; Tat he was in cell to himself,
which, while adjoining cells containing
negroes, was the only one he had avail.
able for the safe keeping of prisoners
that he was fed from the jailer's table
and had other unusual kindness and at
| tentiOn shown him.
"Mr. Gassett himself states that the
sheriff and jailer of Terrell county
showed him every kindness possible un-
der the circumstances, and the only
complaint he has to make is that he was
taken from among his friends and &C
quaintances, thrown in Jail and sur
rounded by a lot of loathsome negroes,
and that owing to imperfect sanitary
construction of the Jail he was forced to
breathe an atmosphere that was almost
uubearable and seriously threatening to
| his health. He thinks this was a pun>
ishment that he, being presumed by law
an innocent man-aud in his own con.
science innocent in fact-did not de-
serve"
Sheriff Christie and Jailer Slade are
noted for the humane and considerable
manner in which they treat their pris-
oners, and the report about Mr.. Gassett' S
surroundings here were doubtless circu-
| lated by some of his friends in Clay
county for the purpose of creating sym
pathy tor him. The Jail proper is on
| the first floor, where all the cells are lo>
Gated, and he was kept in a cell that
white prisoners had always occupied
| before. There was no other part of the
Jail in which he could have been kept
with any assurance of safety.
The Jail is new one constructed on
modern plans, and it's sanitary arrange
ments are as perfect as it is possible to
make them. Sheriff Peterson Of Clay
county, when he came for the prisoner,
remarked about the cleanliness of the
Jail and its freedom from the bad odor
that characUenzes almost every prison.
Having occupied the position he had
in life Gassett naturally chated under
confinement, and 1t was not to be expect
ed that he would be pleased with bis
situation.