The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-08-23
RESULT OF A FEUD
Father and Two Sons in
Georgia to Hang for
Murder.

mefClesS ana Qeduiy almost beyond
belief. Is soon to have terrible Sc
quel on the gallows and in the convict
camp.
j G. Rawlings, rich and retired
minister. Milton and Jesse. his sons,
and Alfred Moore, a negro accompllce.
have been sentenced to suffer the
death penalty for murder, in septem-
Der.
Leonard Rawlings. anoher son of ].
G. Rawlings, and w. P. Turner, ne.
gro preacher, have been sentenced to
life imprisonment. Under the leasing
system prevailing in Georgia this
means lingering death in the convict
camps
These men were convicted for the
murder Of two little children. Bob and
Annie Carter in an attempt to exter.
inmate the family Of w. L. Carter The
latter is also a retired minister and
well to do.
Carter and Rawlings had been pow
erful revival preachers IN the Metho-
dist fold Abtut 20 years ago they
married into wealthy families in this
section and settled on adjoining plan
tations. The Rawlings family com.
prises thee boys and two girls Carter
had one son and three daughters.
Trouble began three or four years
ago when Carter criticised Rawlings
method Of rearing hi schildren. Re
petition Of this criticism irritated Raw.
lings and he served notice on Carter
that there must be an end to the talk
Carter laughed at the warning.
The children took up the quarrel,
When they met there was an exchange
of taunts and abuse Often they
fought a love match between the old
est children of the two families was
terminated A few months ago the
Rawlings hoys stripped little Bob Car
ter. soused him in a creek until he was
half drowned and withheld his cloth
ing While mosquitoes stung the boy
That brought matters to fighting
pitch
A minister sought to restore har-
mony. Carter was willing. Rawlings |
rejected the overture and. so the
preacher saiT vowed that he would
crawl on his belly for miles to XIII |
Carter and his brood"
A few evenings later cattle in Car
ter's barn made a great rumpus Bob |
and Annie, two Of the children, ran /
out to learn the cause of the trouble. I
Carter had reached the porch when he
saw the two children shot down by I
men armed with shot guns suspecting |
that it was but the forerunner Of the /
murder of the entire family, he ran |
into the house and barred the doors. |
The children had not been killed out. |
right Annie screamed for help The |
sulled her cries by grind /
ing their heels into her face and K elk
ing her unit her ribs were broken I
Her brother. mortally wounded, crawl |
ed almost to the house. His life was
spared that with his piteous appeals /
fir help, he might serve as bait to lure .
the parents from the house The saw
ages hid in the shadows with leveled
guns awaiting an attempt to rescue the /
sufferer The boy suffered terribly /
from pain and later tortured by thirst.
Carter and his wife know that sure |
death awaited them if they ventured !
out They We're helpless, and SO re
mained in the house while for six
long hours the cries Of the dying boy
assailed their ears
All night long the murderers besieg
ed the house They fired many shots, I
with the blind hope of striking the
occupants. Late at night they grew
desperate and attempted to FIRE the
building. Carer drove them away with I
charges from a shotgun. Just before
daylight the men disappeared.
Mrs. CareTs hair turned white in /
the night. The surviving children 4
were for days nervous wrecks.
On the strength of a statement made !
by Moore, the negro. the crime was /
charged against Rawl ngs, and his
sons. Moore and Turner Rawlings was
IN another town on the night Of the
nurder but was arrested ON Moore's
claim that ne had plotted the crime,
Moore sad the instructions were 10
KIN every member Of the family and
burn the house &c claimed to have
been paid slO0 ana that ne and Turner
were given permission TO keep all the
money that might be found in the
building
They were tried. with the result that
four were sentenced to the gallows and
two TO life imprisonment All the
prisoners except Moore declare their
innocence, and are work ng hard to se-
cure a reversal OF judgment.
The stngiest Man.