Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1938-07-28

lumbus as it is proper to be writ
ten at this time. Some day, if
live long enough, I think I shall
| write book, entitled, like one writ
| ten by the famous English author
Now 1t Can Be Told" and clear
| up definitely certain matters that
| today, are more or less a mystery
| to 999 out of every 1000 persons.
The data upon which / base this
article can not be disputed, as
have assurances from authentic
sources as to its accuracy.
Several histories give more Oh
less detailed accounts of Morgan
and his raid and captivity and i'm
| prisonment. Our own DR.. Robert
son gives an account in his history
| of Morgan county, on pages 227 to
235.
After his capture he was taken
to the penitentiary at Columbus
| and there shall start my story OF
his escape.
Passing over lot>of unimport-
ant details about his daily life
there, and the other prisoners of
war kept there, owing to space be-
ing limited, / shall give the facts
with as little depression as possible.
They were confined in cells in the
old prison, and their beds were
small iron cots, fastened to the
walls with hinges. They could be
hooked up or allowed to stand on
the floor, and to prevent any sus.
picion, for several days before any
work was done on the attempted es-
%
made it a rule to have them down
and to sit near the door and read.
Captain Hines was to superintend
the job, while General Morgan kept
watch on the sentinel, whose duty
it was to come around several times
a day and see if things We're going
all right and keep a check on the
activities of the prisoners.
They had been at the preparation
for several days when the guard
came on them without warning and
one of them, Hockersmith by name,
was under the floor, working away.
The guard missed him and asked
"Where is Hockersmith? Morgan
replied that he was in his room,
and little sick, and to divert the
attention Of the guard Morgan pull
ed from his pocket paper and
handed it to the guard and said to
him, "Here is memorial I have
prepared to send to Washington.
what do you think of it?
1t was known to Morgan that the
guard could not read and Morgan
had prepared for just such an emer-
gency. The guard felt f1attered and
also did not want to admit he could
not read, so he took the paper,
studied it for while and then
handed it back to Morgan, saying
he thought it was about the right
way to go at the matter.
In the meanwhile Hockersmith
had been signaled and now came
out saying he did not feel very we'll.
The matter of watching for the
guards was the hardest part of their
work, as they came at irregular
times during the day, and at night
looked in each cell every two hours.
and sometimes made surprise trips
after the regular inspection rounds
had been made. The guards wore
the new rubber soled shoes and
making no noise forced the men on
the JOD 10 De ever Oh tu0 dloFL.
Morgan wrote that he broke up
coal into small pieces and scatter
ed it about the corridor so in walk
ing on it the guard would make a
noise and so make the man who
was on watch aware of the ap-
proach of the guard.
Toward the latter part Of Oc-
tober they were ready to get to
work All were busy. Some made
rome ladder by tearing I'm he'd