Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-01-29
SENSATIONAL JAIL DELIVERY

Tnere was SOIucWHdt ocHodtiohol'
and decidedly mysterious delivery at
the York county Jail, yesterday after
noon, as the result Of which four
white men, J. r. Wyatt, Sam Harper
s. !. Rush and Jesse Wellman, all
charged with burglary. got their lib
erty. Rush and Wellman were re-
captured within an hour after their
escape; but up to the time The En-
quirer went to press, shortly after
noon today, Wyatt and Harper were
still at large.
The first news of the delivery de-
veloped at about o'clock, when Dan
Davis, an old negro employed at the
Jail, ran up town and told Sheriff
Brown that he had seen two prisoners,
Rush and Wellman, running away to-
wards a nearby patch Of woods. The
sheriff Immediately sent messengers
after all the local officers within reach
and hurried to the Jail to investigate
the situation.
Upon reaching the Jail and running
up stairs, the sheriff found the door
Of the prison ajar and the inner door
to the Jail broken and the door to the
corridor between the steel cages closed,
but unlocked. Pushing on inside to
the cell Of Tom Nolan, the alleged
quietly reading a magazine. Nolan
was the sole occupant Of the white
department Of the Jail, but all the ne
gro prisoners were still securely lock-
ed in their cells on their side Of the
corridor.
Upon inquiry, Nolan explained the
situation. He said that the four white
men had broken Jail, Wyatt and Har-
per about an hour before, and Rush
and Wellman about fifteen or twenty
minutes later. They had found the
door to the steel prison open, he said,
and had managed to get the other
doors open themselves. Beyond this
he was unable to give any satisfactory
information.
BY this time Deputy Sheriff Quinn,
Chief Of Police Love, r. L. Wilker-
son, Billy Rogers, T. D. Turner. w. s.
Peters and others had arrived, and
pursuit was started at once, some Of
the officers going on horseback and
some on foot. All the facts and cir
cumstances available indicated that
the fugitives, certainly the last two,
direction. and the pursuit naturally
proceed ed accordingly.
Within ten or fifteen nIAnutes after
the start, Deputy Sheriff Quinn and
others ran upon a man on the hill
at the Ross graveyard on the Sutton
Spring road about a mile and a half
west Of town. and called upon him to
halt. He failed to heed the order; but
when a shot was fired past him, he
promptly threw up his hands and
stood at attention. This was Jesse
Wellman. About the same time or
probably a little later, Mr.. r. L. Will
kerson met a man coming toward him
in the Liberia section. The man ask
ed Mr.. Wilkerson, Are you looking
for escaDed prisoners?" Mr.. Wilker-
son, who had already sized up his
man, replied Yes" and the fellow
admitted his identity and asked to get
on the horse behind the officer. This
man was Rush.
Just how the delivery was effected
is not certainly known: but according
to Nolan, Wellman, Rush and negro
prisoner, Deputy Sheriff Quinn mad
vertently left the door unlocked after
the noon feeding. Deputy Quinn Is
inclined to think that this was impos-
sible, or at least very improbable; but
Is unable to account for the mishap
otherwise, as all seem to think that
that It was simply out Of the question
for anybody to have opened the door
to the steel prison from the inside,
even with a key.
1t Is agreed by all the prisoners
that Wyatt was the first man to get
the corridor door. They say
the door gave way while he was lean
ing against it, and taking the cue from
that he got busy. There are two 9th.
er doors, one of iron lattice work, and
the other of heavy timber studded
with nails. Wyatt secured piece OF
steel spring from his 6ed and with
this managed to rush out the open
padlocks and throw back the sliding
bolt on this door. Then with the help
Of Harper he picked the locks Of the
outer door, and soon had a way to
liberty.
AS soon as the doors were open.
Wyatt and Harper informed their fel-
low prisoners and invited them to