The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-10-30
IA RAIN OF BULLETS
NEGRO DEFIED CONsTABLEs POSSE
AT CAMP MEETING NEAR
BULLTOWN, LA.
STARTED A BLOODY BATTLE
Nine Negroes known to Be Dead
One White Man Dead and
Another Is Fatally
Wounded.

a trail of blood upon the Pearl river val
ley.
One white man is dead, another is now
dying with a bullet hole through his
stomach, and third white man is badly
wounded
Nine negroes were killed in the bloody
affray-five men, three women and one
small child. A dozen or more negroes
escaped to the woods or swamps with
wounds that are believed to be certain
death in the brush away from medical
care. Many are perforated with lead
The Dead, White
JOSEPH SEAL, son of Willis Seal.
aged thirty-two, residence at Varnado,
Wounded White
Charles Thomas Elliott, aged twenty
six, fatally wounded, now dying, resi-
dence Varnado, La.
Edward Thompson. aged forty-fiye, shot
through thigh and f1eshy portion of Leg
residence Varnado
Dead, Colored-
REV. ALEXANDER CONN Oily, aged
fifty, pastor Duncan chapel.
MARY DAVIS, aged thirty, his daugh-
CREAR LOTT, aged forty-six.
JULIA PETERS. his daughter, aged
MELTON PETERS, her child, aged
four.
AMY TONY, aged seventy-five, mother
1n-IaW OF Cr6ar LOTT.
LEWIS DUNCAN, aged eighteen, liv-
ing in Poplarville
THOMAS PARKER, aged twenty-four
KID BEVERLY, aged eighteen, a tur-
pentfne worker.
No one is able to estimate the num-
Ter of wounded negroes who escaped the
carnage behind the church. They scat
tered to the tour winds Some are known
to have been shot but they have not
been found
The fierce conflict ragged for half an
hour. Those at distance say the firing
sounded like a pitched battle between
troops.
Negroes had come to the camp meeting
from 200 miles, all up and down the val
ley. Elder Stephen Duncan, of New Or
leans, for whom the chapel was named,
was present.
On last Thursday, the meeting opened
with several hundred negroes encamped
around the church in tents and rudely
constructed shanties. It was to continue
one week. There they ate and slept and
held services in the chapel.
One day previous to the camp meeting
the negro, Bill Morris, had been burned
at the stake near Balltown for an assault
on Mrs. J. ]. Ball. Public excitement
was at high pitch.
Under those conditions the negroes
gathered at Live Oak There was trouble
over a license and Crear Lofts tent be-
came the center of contention. Some
trouble occurred Saturday evening, but
no bloodshed. 1t came up again Sunday
afternoon when Constable Boon and a
posse rode up to Lofts tent with war
rant.
Lott came out and is reported to have
shouted with an oath: Zone niger has
been burned but a white man
will be next" Wade Walker, one of
the constable's posse, was struck over
the head with a Winchester, and then
the. slaughter began. The blacks fed
from the frail wooden church, for it was
no shelter from the rain of bullets. Lott
retired into his tent. shooting and fight
ing. Joe Seal received his death wound.
A torrent of lead was sent whizzing
through the tent and through the church,
while the negroes fled.
Preacher Connolly was shot while
standing in his yard. His daughter fell
just inside the house. The other negroes
around Lofts place kept up a steady rain
of bullets. 1t was death and blood and
the shrieks of the wounded and dying
was heard on every side.
Lofts old mother-tn-1aw, his TWO
daughters and the little boy fell in a
heap inside the shelter.
Sophie Lott saved her life concealing
herself behind the stove. Then she
escaped and the men did not harm her.
They were after Crear Lott He was
barricaded and the next move was to fire
the place, which they did. When the fire
forced him from under cover he appeared
in the doorway and twenty rifle balls
went crashing through him. He fell in
heap, head foremost on the ground.
Parker and Beverly, both blacks, fell
with him.
Washington parish has never seen such
a slaughter. Joe Seal and Charles Elliott
and Edward Thompson, the wounded
whites, were carried away to the home
of F. P. Sones, about three-quarters of
mile, through the pine woods, which was
hastily converted into a hospital. There
Seal died yesterday He was buried this
afternoon from his home in Varanan, six
miles away, and there, in the Sones
emergency hospital, Elliott now lies dy-
ing.
For twenty-four hours it looked like
general uprising to wipe out the black
race in Washington parish. The news
spread like wildfire, and over LOCO armed
men had reached the scene of the battle.
They came for miles and miles, some
from as far as Monticello.
Sheriff Norman H. Simmons and J. K.
johnson, clerk of the court of the par
ish arrived from Franklin yesterday
morning, and the feeling subsidized.
Gov. Longino, of Mississippi and Gov.
Heard of Louisiana, were notified and
the replies came that troops would De
hurried to the scene
Yesterday afternoon the nine negroes,
who were left in a heap where they died,
were piled into three unmarked graves,
dug near the charred remains of Lofts
tent house. There was no ceremony. The
minister and his daughter filled one OF
the holes, two men and child another,
the men a third. AT the same time
prominent citizens held a conference
which was attended by Sheriff Simmons,
and a message was sent to the negroes.
do you want any more?" was the
query.
mo- came the reply
This had a quieting effect, and peace
again reigned.
The negroes left the country. They car
ried all the personal effects possible. All
who could rode on horseback and In bug
gies, and those who could not ride took
to the woods afoot Those who were a
little holder lined the roads, getting out
of the community.
The Picayune correspondent left the
scene of the battle this afternoon, and
all was quiet. The negroes are cowed,
are badly scared, and the whites believe
there will be no further trouble