Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1910-04-27
ROBERT JONES: II? !:
The Man Who Killed The Thres
Pressleys Soon to be Free
Man Again, Having
Served Sentence

tiary on May 18th after a seFylcsFol
10 years of a sentence ofs25 years sss ~
four years of which were spent g
the Edgefeld county 'Jail. A tth' .la
state penitentiary the record sssh9N
that he killed three men. ~ ~
Yes, I will leave the penitenfia
ry on May lsth," said Bob Jones
yesterday, as he watched oyersthss
convicts at work on the state shog#
grounds, and when I am once moT
free man I am going back 4
Georgia and start life anew aiil
90 years of age, and have bsensr
prison since 1885. j am going &;
Richmond county, Georgia, and
settle near the little town of Hass
lem, where / intend to start3as !;
farmer and engage in the mereaa
tile business. l am a good trader
In 1885 Bob Jones, wloSiso ors
of the most picturesque prisonersSas
the .penitentiary, killed Edward
Presley and his TWO sons, EdsYar1
and Charles Presley, aftersa dis
pute over boundary line. HesYas
tried several times and was for -four
years confined in the Edgefieldsc coun=
ty jail awaiting the outcome of The
appeal to the supreme collrt In
1891 he was brought to the penl-
-tentiary, and it is said that:heShas
made good prisoner and forSthe
greater part of the time has been a
trusty. As the result of his good be
havior several months of his SEN
tence will be deducted. He has never
tried to escape and, it is said, has
always performed his work faitR
fully.
) When Bob Jones came tostlle
penitentiary he was physical giant.
with broad shoulders, erect body
and an athletic step. Now hisfhair
is snowy white. He feels keenly the
humiliation of being a conyictsand
VOWS that he will yet live doWnshis
past and makea a man. S
1T was back in 1885, hessaids
and Twas doing well. / had good
in little country store: g
was maxim Emo ney rigfd Il, and ifthel
troubl had not occurs 3 ssons:d
independ TENT MS ssisy;ie Il stat 8 u had,
always been good to the boys, bat
We .quarreled in "a field over a lilss.
and 4 killed three of them.
Il think that 1 will go overin.
Georgia just as soon as l leave the.
penitentiary," he continued, and
settle near the town of Harlem. l
am going to get married again and
l am going to be independent be
fore / die. Prison life has been hard,
and [ don't know how would have
stood it had it not been for the
kindness of the officials-they have
been good to me-"
He stated that he had been
"trusty" for the greater part of his.
prison life, with the exception of
two years, and that he had never
thought of escaping. Il was con.
victed, and Iknew that must serve
out my time," he said. i am only
55 years of age, and my hody is
not so weak and there is some hope
for me yet"
Jones drew on the ground With a
stick a plot of. the ground and gave
his explanation of the trouble. The
Pressleys wanted, to take about sew
en- acres of my land,' he declared,
and as l had always been SO
good to them, they did not believe
that would resent their threat to
kill me and l didn't shoot until one
of the boys advanced on me with an
open knife. 1 then shot him dead.
Inext had hand-to-hand encoun-
ter with the other boy and cut his
left arm off with my knife and then
cut three of his ribs in two and
severed his heart. The father then
shot at me, and / shot him in the
legs and the wound proved fatal. 1t
all seems like a dream to me-"
Il came to South Carolina from
Georgia over 30 years ago." said
Jones, and I think that it would
be best for me to leave the state
upon being freed"
Jones is man of intelligence
and has a shrewd eye and is very
observant. He gave q detailed ac-
count of the trials and finally ended
by saying. Its all over now, and /
am going to try and forget the past.
Twenty-Five years ago Bob Jones,
then a young man, went to the town
of Edgefeld and announced to the
sheriff of that county that he had
killed three of the best men in the
county. He surrendered and was
placed in jail.
The killing Of the older Edward
PRESLEY and his two sons. Edward
and Charles, was one of the most
sensational murders that has ever
occurred in the state. For four
wears the case was founht in the