The Savannah morning news., 1900-09-17
HELD FOR MURDER
CoRONER's JURY SAYS BRATToNS
KILLED ~. a. BROwN.
RoCKHILL'S STRANGE CRIME.
MYSTERY ABOIT MOTIVE ron 1T
STILL UNRAVELLED.

nrown and John =. Bratton Had n
DiflcuItS a rev Days AEo-Hamor
That There u Woman la the
cancellations Held ON the Testi-
mony OF Their Dri,er-AiI Parties
90 the I<iliing We're Prominent and
MeII-known.
Columbia. s c. Sept is-To-day. at
Rockhin 5. g.. the coroners jury found
chat Harry a. Brown had been shot to
death by Paul r. Brat,on aud tha, the
latter's brother John $. Bruiton. was ac-
cessory
The evidence showed that the Brattons
drove 20 Rockhnl from Yorkvllle. nftecn
miles Friday night. and made diligcnt
search FOR brown They were armed
AZ ] O'Clock their cnrrlage stopped
near Browns home one Of ihc Brat
tons knocked at the door He was re-
ceived hy Browns fathcr-in-Iaw. J. w
Neil. when the latter went TO call
Brown. Hratton slipped In behind him and
hrSd twice around him into the room
where Brown and his wife were sleeping
The hrst shot proved fabi
few hours later. Necl was rivet-
ed with asio1ishmcnt Brown lid
not see his assaiiant. but stated be-
| fore death that % was either "Amry
Crockett. Gaie. or Braton himse e." mean
iug John $. Rrat,on. He was evidently
expecting an encounter with some OF them.
Later when asked n Paul Brnttou was
the man. he made a sign presumed to in-
| ticatc the affirmative.
The Brntton- Arrested.
The Brattons after the shooting drove
hurrledly back to Yorkville They have
been arrested on th' warrant Of the cor
oner as has the negro driver. VIII Caid-
well. who tesuned that John & Rrat,on
said In tho carriage that he had shot
/ Brown
The finding Of tho jury IN the face OF
this evidence Was a surprise Before his
death Brown said he had been shot by one
Of the Brauons. when the men drove
into town they stopped At the hotel and
afterwards inquired Of policeman for a.
rections TO the Brown house There are
only rumors as to the motive for the kill
ina and they involve a young woman No
evidens@ as 70 the motive was produced
a, the trial. hut IL is known that John
= Bratton ana Brown had q dificuliy a
few days ago, Il being stated that Brown
had wronged Brat,on
! Crockett 10 whom Brown referred in
his ante-mortem statement. is q brother
in-law Of John s. Bratton and also OF
Gale.
Were Prominent People.
The Brattons are ncphews OF the late
/ Or. j., Rufus Bratton. celebrated Confed-
/ crate surgeon. Tor whose capture the
/ United States government offered fabu-
lous sum. he being the grand cyclops -
the kuklux organization who terrorlzed
tho negroes into submission TO white gov
ernment lie was Kidnapped In Canada by
United States detectives. and brought to
this country. but England protested aud
he was returned TO Canada TO avert war
with England
/ one OF Browns brothers is on the Lon
| don Graphic. another is artist on Black
and White. The murdered man stood high
| In his community.
/ No family IN Upper Carolina has a long
er pedigree and more connections Of infu-
ence than the Brattons. The brothers will
have nothing 90 say. Three lawyers have
been retained and tomorrow an effort
/ will be made 10 get them out Of Jail on
] habeaF corpus proceedinrF