The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-03-17
POLITICS IN KENTUCKY


and would have lynched young Wickliffe
had it mot been for the pleadings of a
minister, who begged them to allow the
law to take it's course. The mob left
and Wickliffe, after securing the best
lawyers i'm the land, including Henry
Clay, who was a strong political oppon-
ent OF the Wickliffes, succeeded in getting
clear. - -
Another editor vas found for Benefits
paper i'm the person of little man
named Denton. He never flinched FROM
what he thought was his duty, and he
believed his duty was toattaclx the Wick
litfe's on every occasion. He Hot only as
sailed young Wlckliffe and called him
murderer, hut he also attacked the
father and said tsat he was everything
but what he pretended to be, a gentle
man. Young Wickliffe could not stand
this and he promptly challenged Denton
to a duel. Being the challenged party
Denton said he wanted shotguns at five
steps. The second ent by Wickliffe was
horror-stricken at this and exclaimed:
"Why, that would be murder!'
Eyes, and it would be murder for Char
ley Wickliffe to shoot at me at twenty
steps with pistol, for I am so near
sighted that I cannot see man over five
steps away
After much parleying it was finally de-
cided that the men should fight with
rifles at twenty yards. The spring races
were then going on in Lexington, and on
the morning young Wickliffe started to
go to the place of rendezvous, a friend
accosted him, and asked him where he
was going at that time of the morning,
remarking that it was too early to be
going to the races. Wickliffe laughingly
replied:
"Oh, I am just going out here in the
country to kill near-sighted scoundrel
I'll be- be back in time for the races
He drove on, and within less than an
hour he was a corpse The two men were
attended by their seconds and two sur
geons They were PLACED at the prCI."r
distance apart and a loaded rifle was
given to each. At the word both fired,
but Dentons gun cracked an instant be-,
fore Wickliffe's, and the bullet struck
Wickliffe's heart, killing him instantly
Denton escaped unhurt. He was acquit-
ted at the examining trial, but being Of
a deeply sympathetic nature the ordeal
through which he had passed caused him
to lose his reason, and he was taken to
the Eastern Kentucky lunatic asylum
few months later.
During the Civil war there were many
killings, as Kentucky was about evenly
divided between Confederate and Union
SympathiZers. :
From 1867 until 1872 there were MANY
other political killings in Kentucky They
were mostly done by the young men who
were not old enough to go into the war;:
but who had imbibed the spirit of law
lessness from the conditions which OBJ
tanned during the latter years of the
struggle. These young men banded them
selves together in Ku-Klux-Klans, as
they were called, and visited their wrath
on political opponents. These Klans be-
longed to both parties, and the Repub-
lican K1ans were as vindictive and as
bloodthirsty as the Democratic They
hanged and shot many victims and
whipped many more v
Prior to the Civil war Cassius M. Clay
ha several political fights besides his
duel with young Wickliffe.' He was
preaching new political doctrine. He
wanted constitutional emancipation of the
slaves. This was very distasteful to the
average Kentuckian, as about every man
in the state who was able to do so owned
negroes. Thus 1t was that when Clay
was making a speech near his home at a
little place called Foxtown, in Madison
county, a number of DULLES in the neigh
borhood attempted to interrupt him. He
paid little attention to them at first but
finally got angry and told them what he
thought of them. Thereupon ten or a
dozen of the fellows attacked Clay. He
was powerful physically as we'll as men
tally, and he fought the entire crowd. He
used his fists, as he had no weapon.
Finally one Of the men drew a large
bowie knife and Clay saw that unless he
disarmed him he would be killed. He
grabbed the blade of the knife in his left
hand and with his right tried to pry
open the clinched fist Of the holder of
the weapon. He succeeded but just then
81 Turner ran in and cut him in the right
side with bowie knife But now Clay
was armed. and he went at Turner, who
was soon lying on the ground with
mortal wound. Clay was also badly cut,
and it was six months before he was able
to go out. Turner died the next day {.
In the year following Clay was speak
ing at RusselTs Cave, in Fayette county.
He was making a plea for the abolition
of slavery by constitutional means. The
opposition to Clay had sent down South
and secured a noted gambler and fighter,
Sam Brown, who was known all over the
lower Mississippi region as one Of the
best pistol shots in the country. He was
present together with party of fighting
men the slavery party had hired to at
tend him. When Clay had got well into
his speech and was growing eloquent
over the curse of slavery one of Browns
comrades interrupted him, and Clay
made some rough rejoinder, and the fight
began. Brown drew pistol and shot
at Clay, who was not more than twenty
feet from him. The bullet struck the
scabbard of Clay's bowie knife and
glanced off. But the shock was SO great
that Clay thought he was shot, and he
drew his knife and began slashing
Brown. In telling of the fight Clay said:
II thought I had received my death
wound from Brown I felt the bullet
from his pistol strike me tremendou;
blow in the breast, and believed I had
only little while to i've I did not
know but what he had another pistol,
and I drew my knife, determined to sell
what little life had as dearly as posi-
BILE I was held back by his friends and
could not get close enough to him to stab
him as wanted to do, so had to hack
at him. My arm was long and reached
his face the first stroke and laid open
his nose. The next lick I cut off his ear.
The next I cut one eye out, and then
I cut at him as fast as could WELD
the heavy knife. When I had made his
face look like piece of raw beef his
friends grabbed him and threw him over
the fence and my few friends carried me
to a nearby house, where an examination
of my supposed wound was made. 1t
was discovered that the bullet from