The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-01
SANKEY IS FINED
AGED NEGRO WHO WAS INDICTED
 2D YEARS AGO.
Pleads Guilty to Assault to Murder and Pays gI0 For Youthful Endiscre-
 tiOnp-~Other Court News.

After evading an indictment mado against him for assault to murder al- most thirty years ago. Will Sankey. an old negro, yesterday pleaded gull ty to the charge before Judge William H. Thomas, in the criminal division of the City Court. He was fined $l0, and upon it's payment was permitted to so free.
 There is an interesting history at- tached to the trial of the aged prison CT. Of all the persons whose names appeared in connection with the crime when 1t was committed. Sankey IS the only one who appeared in court yes- terday. The other witnesses, the of- ficials who were in office when the in- dlctment was first found--all are dead or have moved away and could not De found for the trial. Sankey alone Of
 the persons who remember the ease,
 was on hand.
 In the early part of 1876 sankey be- came involved in an altereation with another negro, Ben Walker, seriously iniuring him. After the struggle, he
 fed, and for moro than twenty-nine
 years his whereabouts was mystery
 Id the officials of half dozen States. A grand jury. the foremsp of which
 was A. S. Gerald. since Chief of Mont
 gomery police for twenty seven years
 made out an indictment against Sam Vs --~N""T
 appeared on the docket at every ses' sion of the Criminal Court of the city
 of Montgomery.
 when Sankey f1ed, a search was at once instituted for him. Officers in all
 the surrounding States were notihed
 he had disappeared. and were asked to look out for him. Sankey. however. went but a little way from his old haunts, and settled in Butler county where he cleared little farm, and for years has been regarded by the resi- dents of that section as a model Tor other negroes to follow.
 But for a strange chance he might have lived and died on his farm with | out detection. Recently, however, in-
 formation came to the law omcers Q. his whereabouts, and he was brought | to Montgomery to answer to the charge
 made out against him three decades | ago. Yesterday, an old man, witn | white crinkly hair, he aoknoWledBeq his guilt. The court was lenlents ana | a fine of &10 was considered nt pun ishment
 fare so well. Charged with murder in the second degree. for the killing os Lawrence Vandiver. another negro sew
 eral months ago, Will Sankey pleaaeu guilty to manslaughter in the hrst
 degree. The jury fixed the punishment
 at four years in the penitentiary.
 The case of Herman Parker ana
 William Dunnivan, charged with Vio" Iatiou of the revenue laws. was post poned to March 2s. by the consent or
 both parties. Alex Austin, under two indictments
 for carrying concealed pistols ana ons of trespass after warning, pieadea ms
 homer. stating that his name Is Aus" fin. and not Aston. He was held peho- ing new indictments by the next grand jury. ro.A,,..n, ana Lem Williams, the former of wnich is charged with forgery. and the tat- ter with perjury, were continued, wnlle !, l those against Phil Watson charge ei | with removing mortgaged property anu R. D. Wilson, charged with grand Tar ceny, were nolle pressed ,-.
 Ben Harrison, charged with resist inc an officer, secured postponement of his trial until March 2S. |, Former Jeopardy was the plea of J. B. ( .derson, charged with receiving stolen property. He argued that the
 case was under the jurisdieton or ens recorders court, in which he had been
 n~sviously tried. The court recognize ed the plea.
 The docket for today follows:
 John Henderson, violation of con- tract: Oliver Jones, violation or con- tract; Aaron Johnson. petit larceny; Julia Love, grand larceny; Frank Ro- chelIe. assault to murder; Buck g1b. g1b in. carrying concealed pistol; Tom
 Burrows. assault to murder; Chestef Davis. Ed Davis and Isham Warren netit larceny; Tom Burrows, Kane Ed
 wards. George Bray and Thad Welsh arfrav: Jim Scott. carrying concealed nistols; Sam Warren, two charges oi
 yioiatfou of the prohibition laws, and Asa Barber and Frank Barber, viola ] tinr nf the raYenMe laws.