The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1913-05-09
Recollections of a Long Life
By Col D. A, Dickert
No. 6. The Killing of Lemuel Lane.
By Col. D. A. Dickert

and singleness Of purpose, than did
John Lane follow on the trail of his
fathers assassins, he and his family
defraying all expense, which amounted
to several thousand dollars.
!. On the second morning after the rob-
berry three negroes we're arrested in
Columbia and when they failed to stop
when ordered. we're fred upon by
Scott Pope and his brother-in-law,
killing John Counts, the other two,
Lon Jones and Burr sondley, made
their escape. Counts had in a pillow
slip with Mrs. Lanes name engraved
upon it $4,000 in gold and silver.
We will see now how relentlessly
fate followed the bandits. Hilliard
Dawkins was arrested on suspicion,
first by his failure to tie up the dogs,
and his familiarity with the places of
concealment of Mr.. Lanes money.
After a long time he confessed impli-
eating the others whom he knew.
John Lane got the postmaster in
Newberry to watch out for letters
coming to relatives of these negroes,
now absent. The first to be caught
through the mails was Lon Jones, who
wrote from Vicksburg, Miss, to his
mother to meet him there. John Lane
and friend preceded her and had her
son handcuffed on the front seat of
the coach when the mother entered
the train at Jackson. On seeing her
son handcuffed and in the hands of
officers, the shock was so great she
fell dead upon the platform.
News came from Petersburg, Va,
that a gay yellow lathario, was blow
ing gold and silver in an amazing
manner in that city and was said to
be espoused of damsel of equal tint.
Now here fate played the negro Thorn
as false. John Lane was to meet a
friend on the cars on a certain day
and go to Petersburg. JEFF Lane, the
little brother, brought him to Pomaria,
lust as the train was already in sight,
on which was his friend. JEFF saw q
negro sitting off some distance and
said to his brother, There is the ne
gro that stood guard at the corner OF
the house the night of the robbery"
The writer of this, by the merest
chance, was at Pomaria on that day.
John lane could do nothing at that
time, so he told JEFF to do whatever
he could. In less than five minutes
the. negro was tied and confessed his
part in the crime and was afterwards
sentenced to be hung. John Lane, af-
ter some exciting adventures, ran his
man down, which turned out to be Belt
Cline,
Next came a clue to Burr Sondley
in Charleston. He was caught and
brought back. In fact, all who were
known to be implicated were round
ed up in less than six months. The
authorities at Chester had first call
upon Belt Cline and Lon Jones for
the killing of Mr.. Walker and they,
with several others were hung. in
Chester. Hilliard Dawkins and Burr
sondley were hung over near the rail-
road. The others in jail under SEN
tence of death, made their escape and
were never heard of again.
What became of all the money?
That was question everybody asked
but none could answer. Belt Cline
had $500 worth of silks in his trunk,
for his fancee, although he had a wife
in Newberry. John Lane got that.
With the exception of the $4,000 found
on the person of Counts and the silk
from Cline, nothing was ever heard of
the other $4,000.
Some of the condemned negroes told
of hiding their share in some pines
near Mr.. Lanes. The pine thickets
were raked over and reraked. Some
of the robbers being with the search
ers, indicating where they thought
they had hid the money. But all in
vain. Rumor had it at that time a
great lot of the money was given to
lawyers by suspects to be turned loose
or to be cleared on the trial. Others
had it the jailor got big lot of it
for allowing the criminals to escape.
But this was all rumor and theories.
One fact remains, however, that some
ooo oo4 q oort af fIp money whose