Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1910-01-27

accepted the offer and in
1866 they reached east
Iexas and settled in Rusk county near Hen.
dersoh' 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 rebellious bitterness on
the other, with general lawlessness in the
black settlements. The military dominated
the towns and there We're continuous misun-
derstandings 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 NIcDonalds was muir
dered by negroes, who, being arrested con-
fessed the killing, stating that they had mis-
taken Greene for a mue-buyer supposed to
have 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-blooded in 'siXty-eight and the stua-
ton was not one to develop moral principles
When, therefore, a 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
whole, and the relatives of Col. Greene in par
ticular, resented this occupation Charley
Greene, a brother of the murdered man in
company with Bill Jess, presently got into
trouble with some soldiers who were deporting
themselves a manner considered offensive
and the result was a 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. lie
refused to heed his companions advice to
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
i'll an instant later his arms were pinioned and
he was a prisoner. The doors swung to- then,
and Bill Jess stood outside, wondering whether
to oh To h.,
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 otered about his
home premises and with these he had many
collisions, usually coming off victorious
Still, he was laying up trouble for himself,
for Greene's courtmartial was coming off and
Bill Jess who went over to see 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 a 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 look at the men who
were to prosecute him for aiding in the crime
of treason. Nor was 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 halfclosed 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 a plea in behalf of the boy whose
father had died at Cornth and whose mother
and sister relied him to-day for protection
that only verdict remained in the minds
of his hearers when he closed. Bill Jess was
acquitted, but his relative, Charley Greene,
WIS less fortunate lie remained in a north.