Barbour County index., 1910-01-19

1ered TO make home for - ~1A
her in the new land She Ky
accepted the offer and in
1866 they reached east
Texas and settled in Rusk county near Hem
oerson the county seat. Here the brother and
sister made an effort to retrieve their broken
fortunes, with moderate success
But though still boy in years, being not
more than 16 his youth came really to an end
now. 1t was the period of reconstruction in
the south-a time of obnoxious endorsements
on the one hand and rebelious bitterness on
the other, with general lawlessness in the
Dlack settlements. The military dominated
the towns an0 there were continuous misun-
derstandlngs between the still resentful con-
quered and the aggressive and sometimes inso-
lent conQuerors. Young Mcdonald, with the
memory of his hero father shot dead while
leading his regiment against these men in
blue. was in no frame of mind to submit to
any indignity, real or fancied at their hands
1t happened just at this time that one Col
Greene, relative of the McDonalds, was MUIR
dered by negroes, who, being arrested, con-
fessed the killing, stating that they had mis-
taken Greene for mule-buyer supposed to
nave large sum of money. The men were
lodged in Jail, but it was believed that under
the "carpet-bag" military law then prevailing
they would escape punishment. In later years
young Mcdonald was to become one of the
most strenuous defenders of official procedure
one of the bitterest opponents of lynch law
the state of Texas has ever known; but he
was hot-booded in 'sixty-eight and the situa-
ton was not one to develop moral principles
When, therefore, mob formed and took the
negroes out of Jail and hanged them there is
no record of Bill Jess having distinguished
himself in their defense, as he certainly would
have done in later years. Indeed, it is likely
that if he did not help pull rope that night
it was only because the rope was fully occu-
pied with other willing hands.
OF course the military descended on Hen
derson and set in to discipline it for this con-
certed lawlessness. The townspeople as a
whole, and the relatives of Col. Greene in par
ticular, resented this occupation. Charley
Greene, brother of the murdered man in
company with Bill Jess, presently got into
trouble with some soldiers who were deporting
themselves In manner considered offensive
and the result was running fight with the
military in the lead. The soldiers made for
their quarters in the courthouse. 1t would
have been proper to leave them alone then
to retire flushed with victory as the books
say, and satisfied But Greene could not rest
He persuaded Bill Jess to stay with him and
they rode up and down in front of the court
house. occasionally taking shot at the win
dows, to punctuate their challenge to warfare
Finally Greene decided that they could
charge the courthouse and capture it. He
prlmed himself with liquor for the onset and
abandon the campaign. The two ascended the
courthouse stairs at last with pistols cooked
Greene had one in each hand and with them
showed open the double doors at the head of
the stairs That was another mistake The
soldiers were laying for him" just inside and
in an instant later his arms were pinioned and
he was a prisoner The doors swung to. then,
and Bill Jess stood outside wondering whether
he ought to charge to the rescue, wait there
and be captured or retire in good order With
that gift of logic and rare presence of mind
which would one day make him famous he
decided to get out of there. No attempt was
made at the time to arrest young Mcdonald
though soldiers frequently loitered about his
home premises and with these he had many
collisions, usually coming off victorious
Still, he was laying up trouble for himself,
Tor Greene's court-martal was coming off and
Bill Jess, who went over to if he could be
OF any assistance, was promptly arrested while
nosing about the stockade and landed with his
reative on the inside This was serious mat
ter. The boy realized that as soon as the
gates closed behind him. He realized it still
more forcibly when a few days later he and
Greene were led into the courtroom for mill
tary trial and he took a look at the men who
were to prosecute him for aiding in the crime
of treason. Nor he reassured when one
of the lawyers present announced that he
would defend that boys case" For there
was nothing inspiring about this champions
appearance. His eyes were half-closed and he
had general air of sleepy Indifference which
did not disappear until it came his turn to
take part in the proceedings Then suddenly
the sleepy eyes became alive, the shaggy hair
was tossed back, the clay pipe was laid on the
table and Dave Culberson afterward known as
an eminent lawyer and Statesman, arose and
made such plea in behalf of the boy whose
father had died at Corinth and whose mother
and sister relied on him to-day for protection.
that only one verdict remained in the minds
of his hearers when he closed. Bill Jess was
acquitted, but his relative, Charley Greene.
was less fortunate. He remained in a north.