The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1921-01-20

his unkindly fate III silence. Both
male and female slaves were stol-
en- by the gang. The stealing of
horses and mules and cattle was
also a lucrative business to them.
The vice president Of the clan
was q young Irishman, Charles
McGrath, who, like most Of the
SONS of Erin, possessed o fine
sense Of humor. On one Of the
trips of COpeland, Wages and Nc
Grath to Louisiana to get some
slaves they concluded they could
make better progress among the
people if. one of them would rep
resent himself as a minister. This
duty was assigned to the young
Irishman, and for two days the
trio spent their time chiefly in
drilling the newly-made preacher,
as Copeland expresses it in his
confession, ION how to pray and
sing and give that long Methodist
groan and amen" The three a.
greed to the town Of Natchitoches
as "a place of rendezvous, Nc
Grath having first gone there and
introduced himself as a Metho-
dist minister. When Copeland and
Wages entered the town they OBJ
served placards posted at the
street corners announcing that
REV. Mr.. McGrath of Charleston,
S. G., will preach at the Methodist
church this evening at half-past
seven" The Services" were at
tended by the minister's" two
friends who joined in the singing.
REV. McGrath" used for his text
some verses from the 18th chap
ter of Mark, and wound up rather
eloquent discourse by exhorting
all present to turn from evil ways.
Inviting everyone who desired to
be prayed for to come forward or
to kneel down, he soon had the en-
tire congregation kneeling, and
having prayed for them all anoth-
er song was sung and the "rever-
end" gentleman dismissed his
pleased hearers. He let s'the
brethren" know, in reply to inquir-
les from them, that his finances
were limited, as the finances of
ministers usually are, and the
next day he received from those
who had been present at his ser
vices suit of clothes, new sad
die, new saddlebags and $50 in
cash. At a later date McGrath
was prominent as a preacher at a
camp meeting in Texas. In the di-
vision of the spoils procured by
their thieving "a disagreement a.
rose between Wages and McGrath
because the latter contended that
he ought not to be required to di-
vide the money he had received
for his ministerial work. But
Wages insisted that "the religious
money" must be put into the divis-
ion, and this was done.
The clan did not confne it's
crimes to stealing and arson.
Copeland tells of several murders
committed, Of the poisoning of an
Overseer in Texas, f the shooting
of two Mexicans in the same state
while they were sleeping, of the
killing of a trader named O'Con-
nor and the throwing of his body,
well weighted, down into the Miss
issippi river; Of the killing, at va
| rious times, of seven members of
the clan who were suspected of
being traitors, one Of whom was
disposed of by putting a rope a
round his neck and twisting it,
thereby squeezing the breath out
of him. He relates also the story
of the killing of Harvey, for which
he was executed, and while ad-
hitting his presence at the time
Of this murder, denies that he fired
the shot that ended Harvey's life,
The members of the clan num-
bered 60 in all. The names were
given by Copeland In his confess
ion, and are published in DR..
Pitts book. The places Of resi-
dence of these members were in
Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama
and Texas. Many. Of them were
highly respected citizens in their
communities. There were bitter
and emphatic denials by most OF
the persons named by Copeland as
belonging to the clan, and, OF
course, there is no way by which
we can know absolutely whether
the statements of Copeland OF