The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1902-10-02

! ] LEFT there. lie found their bodies
a'.uwaris by the buzzards lowering
over them.
The circumstances related by "Read-
er" as the caHse of The burning is an er-
or. This particular circumstance did
! happen Substantially as related by
''Reader" about two months before the
burning OF the house, but wa never re-
gasded by my father, OF any Of the fam.
lis. as being he cause. in The iemotesl
dsg,ee, Of The burning Of the house.
will give, as briefly as possible, his
tory OF the cause that led up to these
tragedies:
Captain Isaac Ross, my iather's ma
ternal grandfather, a gallant Revolu-
tiouary soldier who ,mmanded a
company under the famous Sumpter
iu many hald campaign against
the British Regulars and Tories MI
Ill he fell sorely wounded at the bat
tie Of the cowpens, came 10 Mississippi
from South Carolina in The early years
OF the last century, Il cannot recall the
exact dale.) and settled al Prospect
Hill, Jefferson county, where he accum
uls,rd large fortuue for The times aud
died IN January, 1896, leaving an estate
valued At about quarter Of million oi
dollars.
Captain Ross gave his slaves, about
$50 10 number, their freedom, and his
entire estate for their beuefl, some $Io,-
600 which he gave his grand daug lter,
AIRS. Adelaide Richardson Judge John
B. Colem ~, Mr.. Daniel Verlner, my
father aud two others cannot recall.
were named as executors. Und r the
provisions OF the will my father, his
grandson aud namesake, was to have
active control Of the estate at fixed
salary per annum aud, Of course, he was
allowed under the law a commission on
the gross receipts Of the estate.
Tbe will provided that these sla- il
they elected to do so, should be sent TO
Liberia under the direction Of the Amer
ican Colonization Society. They, Of
course, elected to 20 to Liberia, so this
gave the A. c. Society direct interest
in the estate.
II was not expected that the heirs Of
Captain Ross would quietly permit this
valuable estate to pass out Of their pos
session. so the will was contested 10
the bitter end and after Twelve years Of
litigation the highest court iu the state
sustained the validity of the will. Dur
ing this long litigation and strife the
slaves became restless as they knew
their Old Master bad given them their
freedom and bis estate. They could not
understand the delays Of the law aud
became insanely imbued with the idea
that my father, the acting executor, was
responsible for the delay. aud II they
could get rid OF him their longing 10 be
delivered from bondage and transported
to their native shores would be quickly
consummated. This alone was the cause
OF the burning Of the house and tue at
tempted murder of nv father aud fami-
lly. Some time after these tragedies
some Of the more intelligent slaves ad.
mitted this fact to my father, and told
him they had been told by some white
people that il they could get rid Of ms
father the provisions Of the will would
be carried out and they would be sent t.
Liberia at an early date. My father wal
charitable enough 10 believe that II an,
white person had told these things, thel
did not mean it in the literal sense, bu
10 get rid Of him by due process Of Law
as acting executor.
At the conclusion Of this celebrated
case. which, believe, is reported in tn
; oh Howard Report, these slaves wer
} sent 10 Liberia in IS4o think 2To Il
all. My father received letters from then
as late as 1861, on the eve Of our grea
F., civil war, but we have never heard from
{ them since. The last letters receives
! disclosed their pitiable condition. The
: appealed for help, and begged 10 hav
Y him send them some farming and me
/, chanical implements and clothing-e:
= pecially calico dresses. Their colon
!. cation in Liberia, judging from theii le
d lers, was an absolute failure.
' On closing the succession Of captai
o Ross's estate, several hundred thousan
" dollars passed through his hands, du
d ing these twelve years of litigation, Q
Is which he received commission. Fl
It this claim be was given the Prospei
d Hill plantation then consisting Of abol
y 5000 acres.
d On the very spot where the old hou'
x was burned he completed the preseI
ie house iu May, 1854, aud continued
!, live there until his death on Jan. Ioll
le 1901. This old hume IS now owned al
s occupied by my brother, B. r. Wade.
Is Respectfully,
10 THOMAS MAGRUDER WADE.
y Do Good-It Pays.
y A Chicago man has observed tn
"Good deeds are better than real esta
er daede-sotue OF The latter are WORTHLESS