The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1903-07-03
DRIVERS
ARE JAILED
Two Alabamians Get a Year Each
For Peonage.
BOTH HAD PLEADED GUILTY
No shore Trials WIN BE Held Untn
JuIy 6, When Charges Of Whip-
ping Negroes TO Death
VIII he Heard.

OHltfu cthteS court George ID. Cosby
and Barancas +. Cosby, farmers Of
Tallapoosa county, pleaded guilty to
the charge Of peonage and were SEN
fenced to serve one year and a day in
the Atlanta penitentary.
There viii be no more peonage trials
till July 6. Then, besides peonage,
there will be charges Of whipping
poems to death TO hear. SO strong are
the government cases that more pleas
Of guilty on the. charges Of peonage and
conspiracy are expected.
Under Alabama law pleas Of guilty
are received and acted upon before any
Of the details Of the case come out in
court.
The United States district attorney
has filed with the clerk Of the court
statement OF what he had intended
to prove against the men just sen
fenced. According TO that paper, the
government Is prepared to prove that
Lum johnson, ella Johnson, Rina
Scott, Ann Scott and one or two other
negroes were arrested for harboring a
runaway; that they We're carried be-
fore ]. NJ. Kennedy, justice Of the
peace on the plantation Of one Pace:
that Kennedy was paid employee
OF Pace; that these negroes were ar
rested because the Cosbys and Pace,
who pleaded guilty last week, wanted
them as hands that there was an I'M
Outstanding that the Cosbys Were to
get some De them and Pace was to get
the others; that the justice was In
structed not to place these cases on his
docket; that they were not actually
fined; that no costs were actually paid
to court; that the prisoners were made
to believe, however, that fines and
costs had been paid by the Cosbys and
Pace, and that they were made to sign
contracts with the Cosbys and Pace for
their labor, after which they were car
rled to the farms, where they were
worked under guard, locked up at
night and beaten in a most cruel man
ner: that Lum Johnson was one of
these negroes; that when his time was
nearly up he was rearrested, charged
with stealing potatoes; that he was
tried before James Newall a justice in
Dadeville, where Mr.. Cosby, pretending
to be the friend Of Lum Johnson. al
yised him 70 plead guilty, and he was
fined SIS although he was not guilty:
that thereupon said johnson, because
Cosby md paid the supposed fine, en-
gagged to work It out; was carried downs
to George d. Cosby's farm; that Cos
By owned dogs that would catch ne
groes If they attempted to run away.
Cases Never DocISeted.
The paper also states that Justice ].
NJ. Kennedy tried some thirty or more
cases. where he has turned the affida-
wits over to the United States attorneys
office, cases which were not placed
upon his docket: that there were many
more of these cases that did not 20
upon his docket. but the papers were
stolen or abstracted from the pocket Of
Justice Kennedy while he was asleep
IN room where the Cosbys We're
that the atidavits now III the posses
sion OF the government reveal that
these transactions have been going on
for several years IN a number Of cases;
that on account Of the loss Of other pa
pers It cannot be estimated how many |
negroes were held, tried IN this way;
that ". D. Cosby was a justice Of the
peace in the eastern district Of beat 0. |
Tallapoosa county; that it was the I'M
Outstanding that the negroes Pace
wanted were to be tried before said |
Cosby, while those the Cosbys wanted I
were TO be tried before said Kennedy; /
that the charges against the negroes
were usually fictitious.
In the case OF peonage upon the body /
OF Pike Swanson the government was
to prove that this man made
Il contract ~ hire with b. r. Cosby for
wages after he was drunk. In two
weeks he was arrested for drunken
ness, sentenced and when his time was
about up lie was arrested, carried by
George and b. II. Cosby before j. M.
Kennedy on PAGES farm on a false afIi-
dayit, where he was forced to sign
contract for fourteen months work.
There was an understanding when this
man was carried before this Justice OF
the peace that there should be no real
trial, that the affidavit should not be
doeketed in the regular way, The afB
davit was not placed upon the docket,
no fine was paid for the negro and no
costs were paid TO the Justice. 1t was
a fictitious trial, a mock trial, for the
purpose Of securing the labor of this
man. The negro was whipped, worked
under guards and kept locked up at
night
d Large Kansas Flood Loss