The Newberry herald. (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, June 06, 1877, Image 1
A Family Companion, Devoted to Literature, Miscellany, News, Agriculture, Markets, &c.
Vol. XIII. WEDNESDAY MORNING, JUNE 6, 1877. No. 23.
T H3E HERALD
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At Newberry, S. C.
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scription.
THE OPENING SPEECH OF
JAMlES ALDRICH, ESQ.. IN
THE ELLENTON CASE.
May it please the Court-Gentlenien
of the Jury :
We who have been engaged as
attorneys for the defence have ob
served with pleasure the scrupulous
and exact attention which you have
paid to the details of this case. 'We
have observed with much gratifica
tion that whenever your minds were
not clear upon any point you have
not hesitated yourselves to ask
questions of the witness, and that
you have manifested so intelligent
an interest in and so deep a per
ception of the importance of the
matter before you. To your Hon
ors also we are .ratefi4 for your
conduct in the case.
mourned over by its friends. We
will show von that men in that
county, oppressed and ruined as
they were, had nothing to rely upon
but the influence of their own good
characters, to protect them from
outrage and wrong. We will go
still further, and show you that the
political teachers of these colored
people, in the light of day, and up
on the rostrum, inculcated doctrines
into their ignorant minds, such as
cannot be equalled by any ever pre
viously recorded in the long annals
of wickedness and deceit.
Near Rouse's Bridge, this was
particularly the case. There the
colored people were thickly settled,
and the white population were
scant and scattered. That place
was a favorite ground for these
apostles of the- devil to sow their
seeds of discord and strife. There
they taught their horrible doctrines,
and spoke out their slanders, and
put them into the minds of igno
rant men to flourish forth into ra
pine and political persecution.
Their doctrines were believed and
followed not only by the ignoront
and lowly, but by some among
them whose education and oppor
tunities should have fitted them to
repudiate them.
As early as last May and June,
after abusing and cursing white
men in the neighborhood by name
from the stump, some of these
speakers pointed with pride to the
guns among the audience, and said
that with those brave men, and
those guns, they would carry this
election anyhow. Bear in mind
that this was before the Democrat
ic party had been aroused ; it was
while the compromise party was'
still in power, and while a majority
of our leading and most respecta
ble citizens were supporters of
Gov. Chamberlain. . As early as
that time such expressions as these
were made use of by the speakers:
"The time is coming when all this
contention will be over. When that
time comes if any one of you sees
a white man on a horse, and wants
the horse, you can makg the white
man get off and give you the horse.
What you will do with the white
man I needn't say." That language
was frequently used, and sometimes
even worse was employed occasion-!
ally.
.We will prove that later on, after
numerous speeches of similar cha
racter had fired the hearts of these
unfortunate people, ammunition
and guns were sent down ; we will
show that they were continually
drilled and marched and counter
marched to the tap of the drum
and the military command. These
militia companies kept that portlon
of the county in the semblance of
an army encamped' by their con
stant appearance under arms:; we
will go further ; we will prove that
guns and ammunition were sent to
the neighborhood of Rouse's Bridge;
we will prove that the white people,
and all the Democrats were fully!
cognizant of all these facts, and
yet maintained their peaceable at
titude ; we will prove that the do,c
tine taught by every DemocraLie
speaker, urged from every stump,
and impressed upon every man,
was the doctrine of peace and quiet
and good will ; the subject was dis
cussed at every convention and
every meeting, and it was pro
claimed throughout the land that
the very salvation of the State de
pended upon the adoption and
maintenance of a peaceful policy.
You, gentlemen, all know of the
circumstances surrounding that
case. You all know that this party
was moving heaven and earth to
obtain United States soldiers to be
present at the election, and to ob
tain, what wa worse, the presence
of a United States Deputy Marshal
at every cross road. It was worse,
because I think of all the ridiculous
and trying objects on earth, one of
these little cross-roads Marshal is
the most so.
We will show you that they did
get these Marshals and soldiers,
and we will show you the work
they put them to. We will now
come down nearer to the period of
the disturbance. The neighborhood
in which this trouble occurred, was
to undisturbed serenity. IR lay al
most in sight of the graves of men
jwho had taaght doctrines of noble
forbearance and sound virtue. It
was near a spot hallowed to the
people, and was calm and undis
turbed by turmoil or contentions.
In this neighborhood, on the
15th of September, 1876, while a
respectable lady, surrounded by
her children, was attending quietly
to her domestic duties, and while
her husband, a poor man, was toil
ing in his field, compelling from
the ground food for them, two men,
influenced by some passion, or with
desire unholy entered the house.
These two stalwart men savagely
attacked the helpless, weak woman
and her child, and with inhuman
ferocity struck them down, without
a shadow of provocation, leaving
the boy nearly dead. This lady,
inspired with heroic courage born
f her Heaven-given maternal in
stincts, and with that fortitude of
ten granted by the Creator to the
weak in their hour of trial, in her
Jesperation takes down her has
band's gun and faces the two inhu
man brutes.
These men, whose dastardly in
entions were thus frustrated by
the lofty courage of the mother de
ending her children, turned and
fed to the voods, hoping to escape
the consequences of their act, and
go unpunished, because they knew
the weakness of the law against
them. The poor terrified woman
sends off for her natural protectors
and comforters, her husband, father.
brothers and neighbors. They
ome, as they had the right to do,
and as their manhood impelled them
to do. Gentlemen of the jury,
would you not think a man who
refused to answer a call like that a
dastard and a villain ? I know you
would. I cannot but think that
there is not a man among you who
would not hasten to answer that
appeal. Any man's honor, his man
hood, his very humanity, would
carry him on fleet feet to rescue a
woman assaulted within her own
threshold. How much more would
he do so when that woman is the
wife of his bosom, his daughter, or
his sister ? The man who would
stand~ back an instant under such
circumstances would be unworthy
of life, unworthy of light, unworthy
of liberty. He would be a dastard,
a potroon, a man of whom I could
not, and you could not, find terms
fitting to express our contempt and
loathing. Yet, gentlemen, the hon
orable and learned District Attor
ney characterizes the men who an
swered this call as "conspirators.'
The husband, who hurried to the
protection of his wife, children and
fireside ; the aged father, who'came
to comfort and help his daughter;
her brothers and brothers-in law,
who came to her in her hour of sore
need ; tllese men conspirators ? II
that is what the learned attorney
calls a conspiracy, I thank God
there are many, many, willing con
spirators in South Carolina.
Or are they murderers ? The
learned District Attorney calls thern
so. He relishes intensely the wordE
"murders" and "murderers." H<
rolled them unctiously overhi
tongue before you were allowed the
least insight into this case, and haE
smacked his lips over them evei
since. He has delighted in stig.
matizing these men time and agair
as "murderers." I ask you if gre
were murders there ?2 Peter6VWil
lims was captured and broughi
back to the house quietly and un
hurt. He was recognized by the
lady and child, and by his confes
sions, established his complicity it
the crime. WVe will show that whet
Peter WVilliams was brought bacd
there, in thc presence of the enragei
father and husband, citizens step
ped between them to protect thE
criminal from the light revenge o:
the almost frantic man. WVilliams
turned and fled, and was fired upoi
to prevent his escape. MVe wviL
prove, by the testimony of an ex
pert, that he died more from th<
effect of his own imprudence, in ex
posing himself to the weather tot
early, than from the direct effect:
of the wounds. LSensation.]
These men, like good, peaceabl<
and law-abiding citizens, sent t<
Charles Griffin, a colored man ani
a Reubican Trial Justice, and ob
a:aav.arrant for the arrest o
Frederick Pope and Peter WVilliams
and ifat he selected Angus P
nown, an old ighly resnectabl<
and prominent citizen, noted for his
coolness, courage and law-abiding
character as his deputy, to uphold
the weakened arm of the law. This
man had been honored with office
by both white and colored citizens,
and was intrusted with this duty
on account of his pre-eminent fit
ness in every respect.
We will track up Frederick Pope
towards Rouse's Bridge where he
roused the colored people. We
will show that Mr. Brown started
in pursuit of him, as he was bound
to do, with a small posse, accom
panied by a constable. We will
show that colored citizens started
in the pursuit eagerly and willing
ly as if anxious to vindicate the
good name of their race, and that
subsequently under the operation
of some mysterious influence, they
dropped out. We will show that
when they reached Rouse's Bridge,
no gun had been fired, no violence
committed. The little posse of
white men stood surrounding the
constable, while the body of ne.
groes stood near crying aloud for
"vengeance 1" vengeance for the
blood of Peter Williams. It was
horribly significant and appropri
ate, that on the very spot conse
crated to political hatred by the
party leaders, this cry should arise.
Notwithstanding this, Mr. Brown
goes up in a quiet, peaceable man
ner. We will prove in proper time,
the true effect and meaning of the
compact of peace then and there
made. The colored men pledged
their words that Frederick Pope
was not there, and the whites start
ed for their homes, separating in
various directions. We will prove
that the colored men still remained
in a body at Rouse's Bridge, and
that they were then assembled in
armed bands at Union Bridge and
other places along the highways.
In the quiet hush of the Sabbath
twilight, when the stars were com
ing. out one by one in the sky above
them, the white men were riding
slowly home to rest, wearied with
their day's work, expecting no trou
ble, fearing nothing, and with no
thoughts but those of peace in their
minds. It was at that time that
Mr. Williams, a most respectable
and orderly citizen, was shot to
death in the road. In all the mur
ders which the learned District
Attorney delighted to tell about, is
there a word about who murdered
poor Williams ? Is there a kind
word of him, or any tribute, ever
so poor and small, to his memory ?
No ; the gentleman turns his sen
sitive face away from him, and pur
sues the even tenor of his way
seeking for other murders.
While the reports of the guns
niflg air, another white man was
being hurled from time to eternity.
Several of our most respectable cit
izens were fired on at various
points, and seven or eight were
more or less severely shot, besides
those stretched out upon the roads,
with the earth drinking their life
blood, and their white faces turned
to the evening sky, hid from them
by the deep shadows of the trees,
behind which their assassins had
crouched.
These negro leaders had assem
bled their clans. Through the
deathlike stillness of the night the
long roll was heard beating in the
dark recesses of the swamp. The
silence of the woods was gone, and
they re-echoed the sounds of prepa
ration for strife and riot in the
morning. The whites in that sec
tion were, as I have said, few~ and
scattered. Rouse's Bridge was the
very stronghold of the Republican
party. Colored men deprecated the
acts of their comrades that night,
and hale men among them wept
bitter tears of mortification and
sorrow for their acts that night
when they were told them.
These scattering hands were, as
I told you, fired upon. Those who
were able to do so ran, and escaped.
Throughout that Sunday night, the
cries of white men, women and
children, flying from their homes
for shelter and safety were heard,
while the lurid fires of burning
.barns, mills and gin houses blazed
against the southern sky and in
crased the terror of the fugitives.
The women and children hurried
to Mr. Myers' house. White wo
menand1 children were brought
there for safety, as-has been proved
by witnesses on that stand. These
few white men could not compete
for an instant with their assailants.
Warrants or no warrants they could
not do it, because there was no law
to enforce warrants. They sent
for Captain Brown' and his posse
to Mr. Myers' house. He was
there early Monday morning, as has
beem already proved. The messen
gers were sent in every direction
imploring aid and succor. They
reached the sleeping town of Aiken
late on Sunday night, and sum
moned Capt. Croft to the assistance
of the sorely beset people at Rouse's
Bridge, in the darkness and confu
sion and terror of the night. Would
you have him stay at home? Had
he done so, a wail would have gone
up, and he would have been visited
with an anathema, as a miscreant
and coward, who stayed away while
wife, children, friends, home and
property were at the mercy of a
mob. He gathered his men to go
to the scene.
On Monday morning the colored
people were beating their drums
and marching on the roads, and the
train was wrecked. These men
from Aiken visited the scene of the
wreck. Along the line the country
was ringing with reports of these
disturbances. Mr. Wood. buried in
cotton seed to keep him from the
murderous bands of the colored
men; Mr. Miller forced to be hid
away for the same reason; Mr. Sol
omons forced to beg to have his
property spared by them. Their
constant cry for "blood !" "blood !"
sounding through the country.
These were the facts that greeted
the men from Aiken on their ar
rival. They started for Rouse's
Bridge, while the colored men,
armed, with drum beating, started
from Rouse's Bridge to Ellenton ;
it was the mysterious workings of
the mercy of an all wise God alone
that ordained that the parties
should pass on diverse roads ; had
they met that morning, Heaven
knows what scene would have been
enacted ; there would have been a
stubborn fight ; the whites would
have been fighting for everything
they held dear and sacred ; they
would have fought as long as a
shot could be fired ; but they might
have been conquered ; I am glad
the parties took different routes ;
as they passed each other, the fates
hung in the balance.
Throughout the whole of this
subsequent period, the colored peo
ple were in the advance. By their
own testimony they were in Ellen
ton beating the drum and drilling.
As their testimony goes to show,
the whole town was taking refuge
in garrets and on roofs ; the stores
were c]os~ed, windows were torn
out, and gun muzzles thrust in.
Houses were searched, and cries of
Lewis or blood rang out as the
mob rushed to and fro, seeking
their victim or victims.
All this reached the ears of the
white men, and they hurried on to
Ellenton. They took the road that
crosses the run at Union Bridge,
where a fight had occurred. These
white men were fired upon first,
and a colored man was killed. Ash
by, Bush and Crossland were shot
there also, by colored men. The
captain of the colored company has
testified that he wrested Mr. Ash
by's gun from a colored man and
returned it. When the white men
had been turned back from going
to their homes, the colored men
stood on the bridge, infuriated by
the death of Basil Bryant, and call
ing for vengeance.
The first shot in that fight was
fired, so one of the witnesses for
the prosecution testified, "upon the
hill" on the colored side. Then
there were shots on both sides, and
Basil Bryant fell at the foot of the
bridge. Because the friends of
Ashley, Bush and Crossland rejoice
today, and the friends of Basil
Bryant mourn him, are the whites
to be cursed and the colored men
blessedl?
Both sides fired the best they
could. T'll prove to you that Sher
if Jordan and a posse were within
a few miles of these men. White
men had sent to him to come and
use his influence to stop the dis
turbance. He sent back word that
h could not do much individually,
bnt would get soldies Monday
evening the white men, while in
full pursuit of the negroes, turned
back to go to Ellenton, and they
stayed there all night waiting.
Rouse's Bridge was all this time
like an armed camp, the swamps
around it alive with armed colored
men. No news was received of the
coming of the soldiers. The whites
pushed on again Tuesday to the
bridge, having waited the night
through for tidings of the troops.
The District Attorney has exer
cised his ingenuity to prove .that
the colored men were surrounded.
I will prove to you that they were
not, but that they could easily and
safely have left that swamp by
either of three ways. That Tuesday
morning the colored men fired the
first guns and not the white men.
When the soldiers came, the whites
spoke the first words of peace to
them.
FOR THE HERALD.
BROADBRIM'S NEW YORK
LETTER.
No. 19.
THE 'CARNIVAL--JACX SHEPPARD AND
ELUESKIN AGAIN-OLD FAGIN RE.
VIVED-ANOTHER PIOUS ROBBER
-SUICIDE OF A COMMERCIAL
TRAVELER--COL. KANE'S
COACH-PRESIDENT
HAYES IN NEW
YORK.
I have no doubt that the time
may come when it will be profita
ble to cultivate pine-apples on Cape
Cod ; when, by persistent effort and
continued association the exquisite
aroma of Limburger cheese may
become to the Anglo-Saxon nos
tril a perfume sweeter than the
Rose of Sharon or the Lily of the
Valley ; when a statue of Tweed
shall be erected in Central Park,
and underneath inscribed "RMagna
est veritas et prevalebit." All this
within the ratge of possibility ; but
even when this shall come to pass,
I doubt if the Carnival can be as
similated to the uncongenial lati
tude of New York. The expecta
tion of the nearly three millions of
people in and about the city of
New York had been raised to fever
heat for several weeks at the
thoughts of having a Carnival.
All sorts of advertising dodges
have been urged upon our mercan
tile houses by smooth-tongued gen
tlemen, who were going 'to make
the fortune of every man who would
favor them with a two-dollar-and
a-half advertisement. Gigantic
schemes for our improvement and
enlightenment were set on foot,
and all of them were going to cul
minate on the eventful day of the
Carnival.
On Monday the people began to
pour into the town ; our country
cousins, who never fail to visit us
when anything is going on, did not
forget us on this occasion. Bless
their dear faces, I love to see them
come, for I know that after they
have stopped with me two or three
weeks, and invited all their country
friends who happen to be in town
to call and see them-I may expect
a pillow-case full of dried apples in
requital, the express on which is
never less than a dollar-and-a-quar
ter, and the apples, if purchased at
the corner grocery, would cost me
about seventy-five cents.
Well, as I said, they came, thous
ands upon thousands of them, and
by eleven o'clock on the morning
of the Carnival there was scarcely
standing room on Broadway. The
police worked like beavers, and so
did the pickpockets; it was hard to
tell which was the more industri
ous. The Battery, where the King
of the Carnival was expected to ar
rive, was literally black with peo
ple, and the side streets leading to
Broadway were densely crowded
with lager-beer wagons, butchers'
carts, and every other kind of ve
hicle. Pond's Extract was mixed
with Pleasant Valley Champagne
and Tarrant's Seltzer Aperient;
Occidental Soap leaned lovingly
against Tar Heel's preparation for
the Liver, and anti-bilious pills
sustained by the latest patent light
ning-rod loomed grandly up among
the throng like Ajax defying the
buning bolts of Jove. It was a
gre day for lager-beer and whis
key ; in fact% casual observer would
have come to the conclusion that
th carnial was principally got up
in the interest of these two institu
tions.
After waiting an hour beyond
the time for the arrival of the King
of the Carnival, a sleepy looking,
Dutchman came ashore from a lit
tle steamer which had brought his
Royal Highness from his lager-beer
brewery on Staten Island. An im
mense cannon, of that caliber
known as the pound-and-a-halfer,
was proudly drawn up for a salute ;
as the king stepped ashore, the ter
rified gunner touched off the pon
derous piece, and a boy who was
standing near the muzzle thought
some one had burst a paper bag.
The march up Broadway com
menced, but to describe it is be
yond my ken. A few reputable
business houses had been inveigled 1
into the arrangement, but when 1
they found the company they were
in they quickly dropped out of line.
The expressions of disgust were
constant and universal, and the
whole thing wound up in a regular
muddle. We were then promised
a splendid night parade. Night
came, and the crowds that block- 1
aded the streets simply beggar de
scription. All the avenues which
lead to Broadway were crowded
with a dense, living mass of people.
Such an utter and wretched failure
was never witnessed on any public
occasion in New York before. The
winding-up feature, a grand mas
querade at the Hippodrome, was
the crowning cap-slieaf of disgrace.
While many respectable people
were unwittingly entrapped into 1
this disreputable venture, it is also
true that it was made a public me
dium by a host of pickpockets,
roues and harlots, who dare not
show their faces at any respectable
theater or public entertainment in
the city. And so has ended one of
the most unmitigated swindles and
disgraceful frauds ever perpetrated
on our people ; and I trust we shall
Apt look upon its like again.
No fiction has ever painted a more
terrible picture than that which was
brought to light by the police of
Brooklyn last week. For months
past there have been a series of rob
beries perpetrated which seemed to
defy detection. Houses were entered
in open day, goods of all kinds were
suecessfully carried off, bedrooms were
robbed at night, and many a man in
Brooklyn has laid down to sleep, and
awaking in the morning has discov
ered that his coat and breeches had
vanished in the shadows of the night,
that his watch had been taken from1
under his pillow, and he was lucky if
he escaped with his shirt-collar and
his boots. Vacant houses were strip
ped of lead pipe and copper boilers; 1
these marauders seemed to have an
especial fascination for brass faucets,
while window-cords and sash-weights
were by no means considered unwoir
~thy game. The police were all afloat
[-some said it was the work of spir
its, and others said if it was it could
be no less a person than the old gen
tleman himself, the jobs were done
with such exquisite perfection. On
Monday last a little boy with a bag
on his back was stopped by an inquis
itive policeman. On examination it
was found -to contain lead pipe and
brass faucets. While he was exam
ining the bag a little girl ran up and
told him that some boys were in a va
cant house only a short distance away.
He called assistance, and the house
was surrounded, but the rest of them
escaped. They carried their youthful
prisoner to the station-house; he was
scarcely ten years old, but he was
nevertheless a full-fledged thief and
burglar. He was frightened at the
police, however, and confessed that he
was one of a gang of organized thieves -t
which has been executing most of t
these robberies and burglaries for the
last two years. The oldest of the gang
was not fourteen, and the youngest
only eight-this last-mentioned robber ~
being the worst of the gang ; he chews
tobacco, smokes a pipe, and swears
like a pirate. When only five years
old he broke into a candy store, rob
bed the till, and committed an offensec
which, if .he had been older, would
have sent him to State's prison for
twenty years. As it was, he was
committed to the reformatory, but it e
did him no good. Three brothers outt
of one family were members of the
gang. They have stolen in the last *
two years thousands arnd shousands of
dollars. Their plunder they disposed b~
of to an old German who kept a in
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JOB PRIA7I.W*
DONE WITH NEATNESS AND DISPATCH.
TERMS CASH.
5hop in one of the lower wards of the
-ity. He kept the boys stealing for
um, and threatened to give them up
o0 the police if they took their plunder
,o anybody else. In one case, for a lot of
~lothes,sealskin sacques,worth two hun
irLd dollars, and a lot of silver ware of
~qual value, he gave ibem a dollar and a
luarter. The little prisoner told the
'ames and haunts of the whole gang,
tnd in less than twenty-four hours all
)f them were in custody. A harder
,rowd never went into the prisoner's
lock ; their behavior shocked even the
iardened officers of the court, and they
ifforded one of the most splendid op.
)~ortunities for missionaries in search
At the heathen that we have had for
nany years.
Long Island affords another exem
Llification of "how sweet it is for
)rethren to dwell together in harmo
iy." The Congregational church at
.Torthville rejoiced in a pastor by the
iame of Wright, but his congregation
,bought there was something wrong