The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-02-27
oUlrrREIL THE aUrRnrEnA.
A Bf~Issourian's Theory of His Career Com
,tradicted by Richard J. Hinton.


To THE EDITOR OF The sUS-Sir: It would
be dlfloult for me to tell the amount OF time
have consumed during the last thirty-ave
years In exposing the untruths told about one
Of the most unmitiRated men OF evil that.ever
Observation-Disclosures William Quantrill THAT IL
the proper spelling OF the name). the Missouri
guerrilla. OF all these tales. for pure. unadul-
terated Misrepresentation. the story told by an
old Missourian In THE Sun. Feb. 10. Is the
most notable. This Missourian does his best,
or worst. to make Quantrill n hero, In the
border ruflan style. But he was not that. He
was simply on unmitiRated, causeless ma
rauder. thief and assassin. with the despera-
dos courage-that's all there is OF IL.
IL is said with truth that "they"-the Guam
trill gang" shot and hanged and harrled and
burned over four States" That's exsct-they
did IL. Ono OF the States was Kansas-a Union
State to the core; tho others were Missouri.
All ASrs9Nn os,. and nda Kss 6t9S St tEo diSlded between SS n
ference Z, QqSntrli where he DR he, ala his murder.
fought for the stars and bars" but mot
P fSS% ! Sf'S and sssro slG9e Of y Var sF' w S6SiEisSG maSS
the murderer q Lieutenant-C Colonel in a reei;
matt 81 hoR Rs a see 54Grf tEst the Th Son II q smS,,
Price drove him out q, their lines. The .arst
BlHnt's escort near Baxter's Spring, kan; -,
My special excuse for writing now is the fol-
lowing. among other statements, OF the Mis-.
sour!ap story teller. made when he starts out
trell, aquiet. unassuming country schoolmaster
OF literary taste. developed into q red-handed
monster" &c. Our Missouri friends. having
actions psSo rsi from f R5Si' 70 oi 40 O sions the n 'h Iine G and
over the border Of Kansas. have been kept busy
AEnr alma In rpi n . ~ uhnus That m ttrnItNl-
terated tlend had some justilable motive for
his villainies because OF wrong done to him by
grain OF truth in any such yarn. and in saying
s ! I am nj, by gf NO fb means KRsss ssekk Ling x to sh Ssca ho%
said by this MissouriGn that Qnantrill, WAS
Kansas. and that this brother sent for the COM
ing guerrilla in 1855 TO 60 with him to Cali
q this is as true as the. yarn that the Dor;
der butcher was ever = "schoolmaster" and
as to Quantrill and Kansas. The fellow cam
Of a South Maryland family, who were mainly,
@ Wy the o Tay c;f 29 hf the eo Hai9a f iiSes d IN %Ss ths SiDil
and holds some small Government place. The
guerrilla was, however born at Canal Dover.
was u schoolmaster and possessed literary
tastes. The son came first to Kansas when
himself out toa man in Paola., which was the
seat OF the United States Land ONCE. to do a
JUD Ol perjury. NO one was allowed 10 DlO nj
around this little houses we're put together and
placed on wheels. 4 man occupied one Of
these houses on one lot, swore in his title and
then went to another lot and did the same
thing again. How, many oaths the boy took l
ono OF several men that the special correspond
ents OF that period out there, Of whom was
Young .Quantrill always bore me a deadly
grudge for that and other matters Of exposure.
swea RIM M tried t to cheat tn the R Boy BY G not tnp paying !fiss
him. The boy drove off a yoke Of oxen. but
was Gfa np t Land Snd taken nSSTn back Hnt to U RfS9la; w he Ha he
he was not seen in Kansas again till the sum
I learned at Salt Lake City that he joined as
teamster or rider the military expedition un-
der Albert Sidney Johnston. sent by President
sion. In 1850 there was a man known as
Charles sam 1iss Hart Hart empI9ys e as 2 clerk by the Mis-,
the. Delaware.Crossing on the Kansas River.
h2lf way bstwGSn it's mouth and the tow,
s ssS u SJt + I,ssipi!as f%FFitlSs slaxss cut q Kansas
western Iowa to the .fuRitlves, Sometimes they
y%entmred over the line into Missouri to facili;
there was in Missouri an active gang Of kid
nappers. who were continually entering Kan
sns and stealing colored men and women who
regular in my residence at Lawrence. as l was
constantly on the move in my NEWSPAPER work;
itl. Nv llcIt L Il lt'l atlutllttu
with the doings Of the underground railroad
men. On one Of these occasions i was decided
bcrrsi Of the t Il i9 II gang a quo We Ns"dT drove one
out OF Lawrence. and discovered another who
Of 55ys a ,R RHs[ saSposed to i've WEE a got b e2t 9n th Sr trstl
suspicion, But he got away; He had pre-
tended to be a Boston printer who went with me
to Kansas from Massachusetts early In 1856. As
that Charles Hart was then living Ii New York.
was a fraud. The mater was Dropped, how
ever and It was not until after John Brown
Barclay ttoppo &c had gone as1 to Kansas 81 to i've.
that heard any more about Hart CoppoG
Eng fb a c sn III y, hnd II Fo Is, 70 K ksns9 ty from !, low " land and
Lawrence, The Coppocs were trapped into en-:
tering JACKSON county. No. for the purpose Of
was 70 be sold. His wife was a fugitive. and
vas then a servant in LAWRENCE and the boys
how Barclay Coppoc escaped, to be- killed. as a
solder tka a Early Z in the sn war By MissoqEi EneE5TiI Las
his cousin and another young man were trapped
End sh9 4ot to n dsasa . A. the For farm tHg a,, to which hhl
Kansas kSlH 81 tro oga' the East sRo shortly RtaTf; after 4f the XIII IL
ing, and had the whole story told me;
headquarters. He won the eonfdenrcs Of the
anti-slevery men and planned the ambuscade,
OF Hart was obteinedlsomehow, aud from til
Paola and the Quartermaster's teamster at sait
Quantrill.
All the rest Of the story about Lanes Jay
hawkers and ,Quantrills brothers death Is an
unadulterated falsehood. Lane never had any
regiment. Hart was never a Lieutenant: his
brother was not shot: never heard Of his hay
est reason for hating the Free-State people.
and he was without n motive other than the
unadulterated spirit of a desperate and as
sassin. Richard J. HINTOS.
Author Of John Brown and His Men"
BROOKLYN, Feb. 81.