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

ticks and twisting them into strips
Another was making a bowie knit
and another was twisting up towels
To divert suspicion from themselye
they secured the material will
which they worked from other part
of the prison as far from where the.
were as possible.
They were able to get under tn,
floor to start to bore through tn,
walls. These We're built OF brick
stone and cement and were plent,
hard. They worked hard at it ane
at last had a hole nine inches deer
through the wall and were figuring
on just when they would ge
through when brick fell out a1G
exposed the opening
This was something they had moi
figured on and they were much
worried about it until the hole was
enlarged and one got through and
found they were in a sort of an ali
chamber which extended the length
of the cell.
This was much in their favor, as
before they had to carry out each
day what dirt they made by digging
and dispose of it somewhere in the
yard, and there was always the pos
sibility of new or extra dirt being
noticed by guard, now they could
leave it where it was and work
longer and harder as they had more
space in which to work.
From a plan they had they figur-
ed they should dig at nearly right
angles to the hole started, and did
so, only to find they had run into
the foundation and it was made of
granite blocks, against which their
tools made but little impression.
However, after working 23 days
they broke through and hit soil,
having drilled through six feet of
granite.
A tunnel was then started, and,
not knowing how deep they were
under ground, they had to be very
careful lest it break and cave in.
On the morning of the 26th of No
vember, they felt the dirt crumble
and saw light from above and knew
they We're through. They fixed 10
p. m. the next night to make the
dash for liberty
Each moment that interviewed
was filled with anxiety. Morgan
writes that each round of the guard
left them weak from fear lest their
attempt had been discovered. He
said he prayed for rain, but the
morning of the 9th was clear, but
towards night clouds gathered and
hn IN,
would lessen the chance of detec-
tion and the guards would not be
SO watchful.
One of those surprising incidents
occurred. While Morgan and the
men were standing around waiting
and their minds filled with their
rlan of escape, guard entered
with a letter for Morgan. 1t had
been opened, of course, in the Of
fee, but when he opened it he
found it was from a woman in Ken
lucky, whom he knew, and the let
ter commenced as follows: My
Dear General, / feel certain you are
going to try to escape, but for your
sake, dear general, don't try it. You
will only be taken prisoner again
and made to suffer more than you
do now...." and SO on. The letter
, ,eferred to his kindness to the poor
when he lived in lexington; it ex-
horted him to put his trust in God
and await better time.
This threw them all into a Pc
culiar state of mind. What could
be the meaning Of this letter? No
one outside the walls had been in
touch with any of them and so no
one knew of what they had done to
make their escape. Yet, just on
here comes the letter telling him
'not to try it," Morgan wrote he
did not know what to do. He
knew the letter had been read by
the warden, General Mason, and
ether officials. Was there a "leak"
and even if the warden
was not aware of any plan to es-
cape would he not watch them more
closely for time? Morgan writes
they talked it over and all agreed
the situation was desperate; their
fate could not be much worse and
so they decided to go on with the
plan.
1t was now necessary for John H.
Morgan to change cells with Col.
Dick Morgan AS the hour for lock-
up neared they changed coats and
stood at the cell doors facing in,
pretending to be busy making up
their beds AS the turnkey came
along they stepped inside the cells
and pulled the doors shut. The
hours of dark passed SO slowly. The
guard made his round and they
waited to see if he was going to
slip back to check up on them
Then the signal was given and each
stuffed something in his bed to
make it look like someone lying
there and then slipped into the air
chamber.
They came to the end of the tun-
mel and Morgan struck match to
see if all were present. 1t was a
scene never to be forgotten. There
crouched seven brave men who
were resolved to be free. They
were armed with knives made from
case knives. They had all to win
end but little to lose. But suppose,
on emerging, one of the dogs should
scent them? Well--they could but
die. Fortunately-even providen-
tially-the night had grown dark
and rainy and the dogs were all in
their little houses. When they came
out of the tunnel they ran for the
inner wall and with their rope lad
ders were soon over it and then
came next to the outer wall Cap
tain Taylor, nephew of old Zack
Taylor, the strongest man in the
crowd, was first helped to the top
of the wall. There he found a rope
extending along the WALL but sus-
pecting it might be connected to a
guards room, which was correct.
/ l. l.