Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-01-03

DIGS ana from the marIporo iu6 10
|Lumberton, more than thirty miles, IT
lis the most thickly populated rnral
district have ever seen. Many ofthe
houses are large. two-story handsome
structures of eight and ten or more
rooms, while others are smaller and
still others are mere shacks Ueny
Croatan Indians are to be seen dong
the road in varying stages Of pr0sper-
ity, and most Of them at work, either
about their homes or on their farms,
'or travelling the roads in their wagons,
taking produce to market or brinf1ng
back furniture and other article btir-
chased from the towns OF Maxton and
Lumberton. $
The country through which we p4ss-
ed, now SO progressive and prosperous,
Is the same that was once the stamp
Ing ground Of Henry Berry Lowrie end
his notorious. but nevertheless famous
banl of outlaws. Henry Berry L6Urie
belonged to the tribe Of Croatan In
dams that is said to be descended from
Sir Walter Raleigh's lost Roanoke
colony.
I can very well remember nearing
members of my family talking about
Henry Berry Lowrie at the dining ta-
BILE and around the living room hre
when-I was child Of Z or 8 years, He
and his gang were headliners I'm the
newspapers in those days, and th ey.cut
as big figure throughout the Whole
country as did Jesse James, Bill p4lin,
Bob Dalton or any Of the rest OF them.
Lowrie robbed right and left. atta6 Ted
|courthouses and jails, carried away7he
safes Of sheriffs and other officials Ind
killed people who got in their way.
The state of North Carolina offer4 a
reward Of $4,000 for the body OF Hem
~ Berry Lowrie. dead or alive, and dal-
though other members of the eng
were taken and executed. nos one #as
ever able to claim the reward for the
outlaw chief himself.
/ Though as I have said, you see lots
of Indians while passing through lat
country at the rate of 35 of 40 niles
an hour, you see nothing suggestive Of
the old days. Maxton, about half way
between Bennettsyille and Lumberton.
then collection Of brothals. knowH as
"Scuffetown," and later as doe
Heel" is now quite handsome Hte
city, with brick stores. beautiful resi-
dences, a college building. that locks
las IL 1t might have cost 10000 or
more, paved streets. electric lights $nd
other, modern publics convenienees
Here Henry Berry Lowry was ling
over q period Of 1--WE or SIX years md
Lumberton, the county seat of Robeson
and the victim of numerous raids from
the gang, is now a city Of apparently
5000 or 5000 people, with nume>pus
private mansions, some Of which, are
as elegant and as imposing as ANYTHING
to be seen in Charlotte or Columbia.
The streets are paved, the sidewzlks
concreted, and everything has theRp
pearance Of affiuence surrounded by
well Satisfied sober security,
zssFhe main object ofscdr tfipte 80
berton was to make a call on Rev.
Baxter McLendon, who is conducting a
meeting there, Because Of the wealth
er, the big tent the evangelist uses at
other places would be uncomfortable,
and for the purposes of this meeting he
is using great brick warehouse, cap
able of seating not less than FIVE or six
thousand people. We dropped In on
an afternoon meeting when the con-
gregation was below 1000; but the
people in attendance said that the
crowds at the night meetings filed the
building to capacity, and that the In
terest was very great There were all
kinds Of people in attendance, tnclud+
ing the wealthiest and most represent
alive people of the town and surround
ing country as well as many croatans,
among them, no doubt, descendants Of
the Lowries.
But getting back to Henry Berry
Lowrie. Senator, McIaurin told me
why he was never captured. He killed
himself accidentally. 1t was on Feb
ruary 20, 1872. The gang had raided
Lumberton the night before and car
ried away the sheriffs safe,S containing
$40, 200 in cash. They made their way
down to the house Of Tom Lowrie,
near scuffetown, and began fixing
their firearms in preparation for a
pursuing party. While Henry Berry
was trying to draw q charge from his
shotgun the weapon slipped in his
hand in such a manner that the ham,
mer struck against the sill Of q corn
crib. The gun was discharged and the
load took off a good part of Henry
Berry's head. The surviving members
of the gang buried the body under the
corncrib for the night and later car
ried it off into the swamp for perma-
nent burial. 1t was not until years
afterward that the facts Of the occur
renee were made known, the members
of the gang having held their tongues
in the meantime to keep anybody from
being able to claim the $4,000 reward
offered by the state.
Along the whole fifty miles between
Bennettsville and Lumberton, there Is
now only one suitable place for q hold
up. with good chance for getaway.
This is at that same old Barness
H
bridge. The bridge crosses the Little
Pee Dee river in the midst Of a dense
swamp at the only crossing place for
good many miles in either direction.
It is said that the Lowrie gang used to
kill travellers at this bridge, weight
their bodies down with stones and
throw them into the river, never to be
seen again. =,
Bennettsville: has suffered terribly
from the influenza. I did not get the
exact figures, but was told that there
was not a family in the town that had
not lost either a member or a close
relative. And in passing through the