, 1907-08-20
SAYS
HE is DEAD
MAN WHO TAUGHT QUANTRELL
DECLARES LARAMIE STORY OF
GUERRILLA NOT TRUE.
That He Was In Love With the
Daughter OF Man Whom He After
wards kiIled-Report That He 10
Still Alive Also False.

in my opinion, William Clark Guam
trell is 10 living"
Thus spoke Alfred E.. Buffers. who
more than ffty-eight years age taught
a country school in Andrew county,
Missouri, says the Denver Post. Among
his pupils was Joseph Hart, later
known as William Clark Quantrell, the
guerrilla, so called
Recent reports that Quantrell is still
alive under the name OF John Sharp,
at Quatsino, on the northwest coast
of Vancouver island, have reached he
world. By the few of his generation
still living who knew him in the early
COS, this news is not credited. Mr..
Buffers, for one, thoroughly believes
that he il dead. Not that he thinks
Quantrell was killed in the war, but
that he was made away with shortly
after in a private quarrel.
Recruited for Army
"Quantrell could lever do long divis-
ion arithmetic. l would give him a
problem saiys Mr.. Buffers, land he
would become so %entangled that there
was absolutely no way u but begin
ming all over again. Still, Quantrell was
a brilliant speaker. Just prior to the
beginning of the war he vent over to
blackberry Ridge to make a speech,
and got ffty-two volunteers for the
war. This shows he was bright and
eloquent"
Laramie Report Denied
Mr.. Buffers belief that Quantrell
was not killed in the war, but after
ward in a row, is based on the in
formation he received from John N. Will
son, a Denverite, who also knew GUAM
trell personally. The report from
Laramie. Wyo., which the Republican
printed a few days ago, is entirely dis
credited by Mr.. Buffers for the reason
that he does moi think Quantrell ever
married. The Republican stated that
the raid in kentucky, when Quantrell
was reported to have been killed and
when his body was prepared for burial,
Mrs. Quantrell was notified. AS she
entered the room she exclaimed that
the face did not resemble that of her
husband. Coming out she avoided the
question as tt whether it were her hus.
band by the remark, We'll, Bill was
always a good husband" Later, it
was noticed, she did not attend the
funeral.
QuantrelI a Single Man
81 am sure all that is false" observ-
ed Mr.. Buffers, "for the reason that
Quantrell was not married before the
war. that he was busy fighting all
through the war, and because he was
killed Immediately afterward.
Further, Quantrell was in love with
one of the daughters of Harrison Burns,
a member of the school board appoint
ing me school teacher. Burns abhor-
red Quatrell and would not allow him
near the house.
Taken BY Surprise
"One night, Quantrell and his men
approached Burns house and knocked.
As was customary, Burns called out:
Who's there
They replied, 'Penic's men, Penic
was a union commander and Burns
was on the union side.
Burns opened the door and the men
entered. The moment they stepped
across the threshold Burns saw who
they were and discovered his mistake.
He was alone in the house with his
son-in-law, who had married another of
his daughters. l knew Henry well.
The moment they recognizedthe rebels
both reached for their pistols, which
were hanging o nthe wall. Quantrell
and his men shot them. Henry was
killed on the spot, the shot going
straight through his mouth. They left
Burns for dead, but he recovered and
although crippled, lived many years.
Later, a letter from Quantrell to his
mother was Intercepted which read:
We've killed Burns and Henry,
and they killed Breckenridge"