The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-06-10
STORY IF CAMPBELL AND OLIVER RETOLD Were Leaders of a Tory Band
 at Florence WERE SUNDAY SCHOOL BOYS Tragic Torture and Death of John Will son Which Led to tho Capture
 of the Heartless
 Criminals.
VERB SUNDAY SCHOOL BOYS
BY w. M. BUNTING.

Ilon QurlnB anu lKnlneQlaholy hIler Iue civil war were inflicted by the tories, WHO professed to sympathize with the union cause but in reality used this only as q prstext for robbery and the mur- der of defenseless men, women and chill dren. Scarcely night passed but the darkness concealed some murder and no man, especially if he possessed anything to tempt the cupidity of the robbers. but felt when he went to sleep that he might not live to see the morning light.
 1ne leaders in this pirate band were John Campbell and Charlie Oliver, two young men who had grown up in Flor ence and attended the city schools and the First Presbyterian Sunday school. The mother of Campbell was a widow of re- fnement and education and woman of great piety who maintained herself and her children by keeping a tavern on Court street on the spot where a large dry goods house now stands 1t being the only hotel In the town at that time. Oliver's vicious tendencies were inherited from parents of low origin who were professed tories.
 One of the most revolting crimes ever committed and the one that hastened the capture and execution of Campbell and Oliver was the murder of John Wilson. an aged man of ninety, at his home six miles east of Florence where St. Florian now stands.
 MT. Wilson was native Virginian. and a gentleman of the old school. His wife and only child had died many years previously and he was living with liar very Wilson, a nephew and Turner Eos ter, young grandson, IT years of age. Mir Wilson had just sold his large cot ton crop and for safe keeping his eldest grandson who was then away from home, had taken the money to spot near the Tennessee river and buried It.
 One night in the fall of 1884 the Will son house was entered by a band of tories headed by Campbell and Oliver and with terrible threats and impreca- tions the old man was ordered to give up his money What little there was in the house was readily turned over to them and MT. Wilson explained that the bulk of the money had been buried by his absent grandson. He tried to tell them as best he knew where the money could be found, but the party sent to search for 1t returned empty handed and this greatly infiamed them.
 "Old man. are you ready to give us the money?' they demanded and pro- ceeded to make ready for the execution of their threats.
 MT. Wilson had, through the long years of his life, kept his plantation books and stacked up against the wall in his room were piles of ledgers half way to the 1 ceiling. These the tories cut up with their knives till they had made large l pile on the hearth, then laying him upon l 1t and covering him over with more paper they set fire to it and slowly roast ed him to death. As the flames con stunned him the poor old man begged piteously for water which Harvey Will son, his nephew. brought him in a gourd from a bucket on the back porch. No sooner had he placed 1t to the lips of the dying man than a ball from one of the tories muskets entered his heart and his lifeless body fell across that of the old man. Unable to endure the sight of his grandfather's sufferings Turner Eos ter brought another dipper of water say ing, "1 will give my grandfather water if it costs me my life" But again the dip per had no sooner reached the lips of his grandfather than he was shot by the tories and fell over apparently dead, The boy was acquainted with all the parties. who had been his neighbors all his life, and 1t was necessary to their safety that he should not live to dis close their identity. They kicked him about with their heavy boots to make sure he was dead and though he was l. and by some fortunate chance the tories did not shoot again. Meanwhile the over seer,in his room at some distance from the house had been awakened by the shooting; had started in to learn the cause and meeting the band in the wall, as they left the house, had been shot to death.
 Not until the next morning was the awful crime discovered, and then the news spread with incredible rapidity to all parts of the community, causing such consterpation as had no other event in the four preceding years. Death in bat tie VAS nothing to the horrible tortures to which a man might be subjected any hour of the day or night so long as the Campbells and Olvers were allowed to roam the country at will and at A meeting of the citizens 1t was decided to invoke the aid of the union army to sup press them.
 Meanwhile Gov. R. M. Patton whom MT. Wilson had named as executor of his will had had the wounded boy re- moved to the home of his aunt, Mrs. McCallister, at the head of Pine street and that night, learning that he was not dead the tories had surrounded the house demanding that he be turned over to them and upon finding the house bar ricaded and t4eir demand refused. had shot into the house, broken all the win dows and would have forced an entrance into the house but were prevented by the nasty calling out of the militia,
 As soon as the citizens request for aid was received Captain Defoe, a for mer Fsorentine who had joined the union army, was sent to the town with in- structions to kill every tory he could lay hands on, without trial, and by means or clever startegem he soon succeeded in capturing Campbell and Oliver. The Olivers lived in a house at the foot of Mobile street with a dense thicket as background. Captain Defoe and a squad of his men called at the Oliver house and when the old woman came to the door asked her if her son was at home.
 What do you want with my son?" she said
 ''To go on scouting expedition" 'I will call him"
 She went to the back of the house and blew blast on horn and in a few minutes Charlie Oliver came up from the thicket. He was greeted very cordiallv by Captain Defoe who asked where Campbell was, at the same time explain ing to him that he wanted them to eo on scouting expedition.
 Oliver disappeared into the thicket and soon returned with Campbell. when Can tain Defoe ordered his men to arrest them and they were told that they were to be executed immediately. He gave then, their choice whether they should be hung or shot and they both chose the latter