The National tribune., 1910-11-03
A Trio of Bad Men.


This trio consisted of one JEFF Davis
tno relation to the cx-President Of the
defunct Confederacy), 2 root-and- herb
quack doctor by the name of Arm
strong, who was brother-in-law to
JEFF Davis, and Joe Boydston, all rebel
deserters.
These men, altho they had been but
a short time in our new community,
seemed to have Il large circle Of friends
and acquaintance in the town and sur
rounding country, mostly of the rough
and lawless kind. They had never
been known to do an honest days work,
had no property and no visible means
of support were not gamblers yet now,
they nearly always had money to spend
and spent it freely.
Altho we were afraid to express our
suspicious to others, Gump, Willard and
/ talked these matters over, and from
our previous knowledge Of their un-
savory record we came to the concIu-
sion that these three renegade rebels
were surely connected in some way
with the robberies. murders and other
depredatIons that were becoming so
frequent OF late in our vicinity.
Besides these three Texans there
were number of other lawless charac-
tiers in the neighborhood, who soon be-
came more bold and defiant, fairly ter
lroriZlng the peaceable and law-abtd-
ing citizens; and If not actually in the
majority, these desperadoes at least
seemed to have the advantage of being
organized, and when one of them
CHANGED to gel into scrape there were
always host Of his friends ready to
swear him out of 1t.
Occasionally, at. first, one would be
arrested for some crime and taken to
Fort Scott, co miles north of us, where
was the nearest civil court; but his
friends invariably proved an "alibi,"
and ne would be turned loose to take
an assessin's revenge on those who
were instrumental in prosecuting him.
shooting and Robbery.
In one instance of this kind a gang of
these outlaws had shot and robbed an
old man named Lynch" who kept a
a recent letter from Albert willard ex-
PRESIDENT of the Vigilance Committee who
stiil lives in Baxter Springs Kan, says I am
mistaken in this mans name: that il was
right. and ] admit my error.
country store on NeoSho River ahout
20 miles west of EaXter Springs They
intended apparently to have killed
Lynch, and supposed they had done
so, but he lived long enough to describe
the robbers to some neighbors who
came to the store after the robbers
had gone. These neighbors gathered a
posse, followed and arrested the per-
petrators of the crime, and brought
them back into the presence of the
dying stcrekeepcr, who positively iden-
titled them, as he said:
Men. you need be in no doubt about
these being the men who robbed and
shot me. They are the guilty ones"
Then, pointing out two of the robbers.
he added: This one caught and held
me- to Keep me from reaching my gun,
while that one shot me-"
The prisoners were taken before a
civii court. but, in spite of the positive
identification of Mr.. Lynch, found plen-
~ OF accommodating witnesses to swear
that they had been a hundred miles
away from the store at the time the
crime was committed, and so were set
free.
There were many similar instances,
proving the impotency of the civil law
to deal with what we became satisfied
was an extensive and organized gang
OF robbers and murderers
AS l previously stated, while at Fort