Gainesville daily sun. (Gainesville, Fla.) 190?-1938, 1909-10-18
ENTIRE FAMILY ARE
KILLED FOR MONEY
AMOUNT ESTIMATED TO BE BE-
TWEEN $1,000 AND 10000
Was one Of the BEST colored Families
In the County and Liked BY
All Glasses.
rrom saturday's DAILY sun:

From Saturdays Daily Sun:
News was received in Gainesville
on Friday OF most horrible murder
and robbery in Columbia county. near
Fort White, and only short, distance
between the dividing line OF this and
the former county.
From parties who arrived from
Fort White 1t was learned that an
entire family were killed, supposedly
ali OF the eye-witnesses to the affair,
and the money taken from the home
OF the murdered people after The deed
was committed.
The killing occurred on what 10
known in that section az the old Her
long place, but what 10 now called the
Myers plantation, and as near as pos
sible the facts are about as follows
During late in the evening on Tuesday
a white man whose name was Cox
called in front Of the place and en-
gagged I'm conversation with Sailor, the
sonIn.law Of the murdered man, and
the two men walked up the road aud
disappeared from sight when the re-
port OF gun was heard. and the next
day the man, Sailor, was found lying
IN the road dead from the effects Of
pistol shot
Following this shot the same man,
Cox, so witnesses stated. was seen
20 go back 20 the house and when
within a few feet of Calvin Banks,
who was on his porch, he fired upon
him, afterwards killing his wife. who
was In the kitchen Just about fifteen
feet from where the husband lay, and
who had previously saw the occur
renee but was too frightened to move
or give alarm.
After killing all three Of the parties
COX walked into the home OF the ne
gro and took hls satchel, Nnich was
filed with money, Il being yarIousl'
estimated that the amoupt was any
where from $4,000 to $4,000,
A coroner's Jury was lmpanele'
and held an investigation of the mat
ter and the man Cox was taken 4
Lake City, where he was released un
der q bond Of $500 and is now at bh
erty.
Banks was an aged darkey OF Oh
ante.beilum days and had been res
dent Of that section for large nun
Der OF years. being universally like
by the white and black people aillS
al over the county, lie had by hi
hard work managed TO acoumalat
a considerable sum Of money farmiui
which always paid him well, and b
managed to sell large number
boot cattle each year. this alway
bringing him $500 or over. The gel
eral impression Is that the negro muI
have had not less than $4,000 or siS
900 at the time OF his murder.
AZ the trial the evidence was In su
stance related as above by two OF q
grandchildren who claimed 10 ha'
witnessed the entire occurrence Al
II has caused great excitement In q
town OF Fort White where the n
groes we're best known. The viii
people seem to take a great lntere
IN the matter and they are pore The
oughly aroused over Il than the cole
cd people. for this crime happens
just about one year from the I'm
when the Tolen brothers were m'
dered and robbed on the same pla'
The Tolens were wellto-do white y
pie and among the oldest settlers
that county. and had amassed cons
cradle money. which was kept In I
home the same as the old darkey h
hla
When the negro. sailor was tou
the next day the hogs had devour
part Of his head. where Il had b.
beaten BY kno, after the shooti'
and the whole murdered trio lay j.
a. they had been left for seve
hours before tho alarm was ma
spread 10 The surrounding country