The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-22
TALES OF TORIES OF NORTH ALABAMA
Continued from Page Eleven.)

his gang were responsible for more than
 score of murders and Clark himself
 was credited with some of the worst of
 them. On one occasion he took dime
 from on string on little chiids neck
 and cruelty murdered the girl when she
 cried. It ts said that once after he had
 mortally wounded a man he shot him
 again while his daughter was holding
 his head. It is also said that he cut out
 the tongues of his victims. Ills custom
 was to have his meals prepared at farm
 houses at the point of pistol
 one was was shot by the Federal army at
 Pulaski Tenn. while another was hit In
 the head with a rock and killed in Wayne
 County. Tennessee. All were notorious
 criminals. The story of Clarks death
 will be told later in this story.
 In all the annals of crime there is per-
 haps no more striking instance of justice
 overtaking associates in evil than in the
 story of another band of tories in this
 section. In the western part of Lauder
 dale County Alabama, and near Savan-
 nah and that section of Tennessee bor-
 dering this County were some bush
 whackers who were guilty of an especial
 Mir Emerson near the Tennessee River
 they tied him to tree in rough weather
 and gave him severe horse whipping
 from which exposure he contracted pncu-
 monia. MT. Emerson became critically
 i'll and sent for his son John.. who was
 passed away John Emerson determined
 to avenge his death by taking the life of
 every one of those. who had brought
 about his fathers death. He secured a
 work He was quiet, fearless man who
 regarded 1t as his solemn duty to carry
 out his purpose. and he never swerved
 from his determination until he had sent
 the very last one of the band to meet a
 jr st God to answer to the crime against
 the aged MT. Emerson. The number of
 tories meeting death as result or MT
 Emerson's VOW was as many as nf- ss ssen msns snS is said thirty Ry siTs 's auss ss performed, after the war Mir. Emers ,n again became a peaceable citizen and all ways had a good reputation as clever mind failed him and he is now but wreck of the man who dealt summary vengeanTe upon so many tra lsgressors.
 After the return home of the Confed- crate troops Tom Clark went to Jackson County. Ala. where he was captured in 1872 and brought to Florence. Several pn- successful attempts were made to take him from jail. The excitement over Clark's capture had scarcely quieted down when the minds of everyone were thrilled by reports of remarkable series of rob- berries From Mu..freesboro, Lebanon, Winchester, Pulaski. Columbia and many places in Tennessee came the stories. and the two robbers finally reached Decatur and Athens. Ala. They would enter town at night. break into houses ana steal money and valuable Jewelry ana De out of town by daybreak. Word was sent from Athens of their expected arrival in Florence and preparations were made to afford protection. Among the leadlng clti- zens who armed themselves was James Hancock, who displayed big army pistol on the streets and said the robbers would not enter his house. The following morn ing it was discovered that Mir. Hancock's gold watch and his wife's jewelry were missing and that valuable gold watch had been taken from Capt R. T. Simp- son. Even the county jail had been enter ed and the pantry robbed to furnish midnight meal. A conference was held and Messrs. w. E. Blair. w. R. Barks, w B. Warson and William Joiner. the the thieves who travelled in buggy and had gone west before daylight. About sixteen miles from Florence at the old Pettipool place near Gravelly Springs. Blair discovered the robbers, who had stopped in an orchard to eat their din- ner. They were rather defiant. but offer ed no resistance to a search being made MT. Blair examined the buggy and after a long search was almost ready to give uP' when he saw a pin sticking from the lin ing in the top of the buggy. and hidden pocket was then found containing nu- merous gold watches and jewelry. The robbers were relieved of their money; they had little to say but later remarked that Blair and Barks looked like hign- waymen. The robbers claimed to be ma chinists who were ,n their way to Mem phis. tool and saws with which they could open any lock were in their pos session. Their pistols were not formid- able, as they depended more on breaking out of jail than doing personal violence to any one.
 Late in the evening the -four Vii liams' arrived in Florence with their prisoners. and were met by hundreds or I eople, some from Athens ard near by towns who were interested in the effort to capture the robbers The two men were lodged in jail and the discovery of the many watches aroused excitement to high pitch over such wholesale robbery.
 Thieving and plundering having been carried on to such an unbearable degree during the period just succeeding the war, the minds of the people were not in a condition to tolerate nor show mercy to criminals, and public sentiment soon de- termined to mete out justice without de- lay The horrible deeds of Tom Clark were still fresh in the minds of the people and 1t was decided to deal with him iike- wise. The keys to the jail were secured and the three notorious criminals taken out. Clark had been chained to the floor and the chain was wrenched apart. ieav- ing three links upon his body. The pro- cession went up Court Street to the Ma sonic Hall where was a convenient tree; The two robbers were as cheerful as df going to picnic, but Clark was the per of terror and prayed every The robbers tried to persuade the crowd that they were not deserving or hanging, but at the last accepted the inevitable very bravely. When the rope was passed about his neck Clark asked for one more chance to pray and met death a cOwardly wretch. One Of the rob bers broke and ran, but was shot and brought back The last of the three men asked to be allowed to go up the street for drink of water. When the well was reached he declined water and said he was merely looking for an oppor- tunity to escape He thanked his cap tors for granting this last request and calmly met his fate. The two robbers never gave their names. but were thought to be Dudley and Rogers, two men who had twice escaped from jail, in Win chester. Ind, the latter time nearly kill ing the jailer. The larger man of the two wore a massive pair of cuff buttons. on which was M. D." and on his watch man had "r. R." written in India ink on his wrist and his right hand was from a gunshot wound. From the description sent out after the hang ing the Indiana jailer, felt satisfied that they were Dudley and Rogers. who had but short time before the hang ing at Florence and were traced through and Tennessee. being headed towards Alabama. They had escaped from every jail where they had been and at many places in Tennessee and Alabama had committed very clev CT robberies. After the report reached other places that the robbers had been captured and hanged at Florence the citizens were deluged with letters of inquiry about the stolen jewelry, and many gold watches and valuable jewelry were restored to thei. owners. Tom Clark and Dudley and Rogers werei buried near Florence. Of the -four Williams who captured the robbers Barks and Ioiner are still living