The Washington times., 1923-04-08
JURY TOPROBE
j. MOB SLAYINGS
j IN TENNESSEE.
Mer Rouge Hearings RiVaIed in
Black Hood Slaughter of
Father and Son in Prison
RESULT OF FAMILY FEUD
Pair Were Held in Killing of
Two Male Relatives When
Band RiddIed Their Bodies
Copyright, 1920

copyright, 1881
CAMDEN, Tenn, April T.
Bench warrants for a dozen to
sixteen men, alleged members of
the hooded band that overpowered
the sheriff, forced entrance to the
Camden Jail and slaughtered Ed
Harley, fifty, a prosperous farm
er, and his son, George, twenty
two, the night of last October 10,
are believed to be imminent.
Revelations that may rival in
thrills the sensational denouement
at Mer Rouge, with a prototype OF
"Old Skip" as the central figure,
are impending.
KNOWS GUILTY MEN.
]. Ben Fuqua. appointed as spe-
ciaI prosecutor in the murders, who
was a chief factor in bringing to
justice few years ago the band Of
might riders that terrorized
Humphreys county, knows the
identity Of every man who partici-
pated in the Jail raid.
He has obtained evidence suffi.
cient, he indicated. to send every
member of the mob to the electric
chair.
not realize that the case has been
taken out Of the hands of the Ben
ton county authorities, but such
Is true. Not only that. but a hand
picked special grand jury is on the
job-a jury in which Judge Elkins
and Prosecutor Fuqua have express
ed confidence.
CITIZENS SILENT.
Everybody knows, but nobody
Wnl tell. That is the manner in
which the situation in Benton
county is depicted.
Fear, terror, anxiety combine to
intimidate the citizens.
The hooded marauders have talked
too much and to the wrong people,
and once q secret begins to leak-it
leaks fast.
"A strange phase of the situation
1t Camden is that no outside news
paper has been able to obtain any
information from its correspondent
In the capital of Benton county.
It was with great difficulty that
daily newspapers obtained details of
the mob the morning after the
brutal affair at the Jail.
In Camden they will tell you of
the recent death of Wash" Brig
ance, an old citizen who, IN his
delirium, screamed out in terror:
Take them away! Those black
hooded men are going to mob me!
They're slipping up behind me"'
One witness who testified before
the special grand jury later signed
an affidavit before Special Prose
cutor Fuqua. He said:
"I was afraid to tell that jury
what I know. There was one man
there who looked to me like
friend of the mob leader. was
afraid he'd tell 1t and I would be
killed"
He has since told all he knew and
his affidavit will be. produced when
the mob members are brought to
trial.
STORY OF STAYING.
John Hartley and his son. Com
nnie were shot down in February,
1921, by Hartley and his son,
George.
Connie was slain, riddled with
lead. His father. John, was wound
ed desperately. He fingered for
weeks, and only a rugged constitu
Of the shadows.
and Vuid, and a half-breed. Will
Conley, were arrested. The arrests
were made by Sheriff J. L. Smiths
deputies from Humphreys county,
and the prisoners were taken to the
Jail at Waverly for safe keeping.
About midnight, October 10,
Sheriff Flowers, who was sleeping
in the residence part of the Jail,
was aroused by knocks on a side
door. He was alone, except for
the presence of his wife, Mrs. Eva
Flowers.
"A tall man, masked, caught me
by the throat" the sheriff testified
before the grand jury. There were
about twenty-five hooded men with
him. They said:
1--WE came after the Hartleys.
Lily Green; give us the keys, quick
81 told them 1 didn't have the
keys.
RIDDLED WITH BULLETS.
1.-THE leader reached up over the
door above my head, and got the
keys. The mob swarmed into JAIL
My wife began to scream and
started out on the porch. She saw
the masked men and came back
into the house, although they didn't
attempt to bother her."
The battle inside the Jail when
the E4aob seized Ed Hartley and his
son, George, was desperate and to
the death. Eds eye was almost
gOuged out, an arm broken and his
body bleeding from a score Of
wounds. His clothes were torn off
his body in the hand-to-hand fight.