The Bamberg herald. (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, April 10, 1913, Page 2, Image 2
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NAPOLEON OF B
AT LAS
How Great Conspiracy
Brought to Naught,
of His Mai
Organized banditry doesn't flour-!
isli under our contemporary conditions
in the United States. Sporadic
crimes such as those of the train
robber, of the so-called Black Hand,
and the lone highwayman are pregnant
enough to occupy a considerable
portion of the newspapers as they
are in all civilized communities. But
we must look back to a much earlier
period to find a chronicle of an attempt
to bring together in a widely
extended conspiracy under a single
head, all the forces of evil which
festered over ">0,000 square miles of
sparsely settled territory.
The field of this satanie campaign
extended from Cairo. 111., to the .Mississippi
delta and cut the width of a
bread swath through a half score of
slave states. Wholesale and retail
robbery, counterfeiting, land swindling.
negro stealing and selling,
blackmailing and even murder and
assassination, all played their part in
theis vast campaign of crime.
John Murrell, the apostle and leader
of this infernal cult, the would-be
Napoleon of chaos and crime in the
Mississippi valley, the organizer of a
desperate clan of some twelve hundred
miscreants, taught his followers
that it was the safest way in most
cases to kill the victim, unless there
was some obvious reason to tne contrary.
His organized money-getting
schemes through robbery and web of
affiliated crimes, which had extended
over a period of ten preliminary
years, gave him the means of gratifying
the basest forms of lust and riotous
living. These he indulged in to
a swinish extent at New Orleans, {
Charleston and other southern cities I
at periodical times. His appearance l
of wealth, his fine clothes, his lav- j
ish extravagance, and a certain dashing
vivacity, which he could assume
at will, gave him the entree even into
the society of the wilder young men
of fashion, against whom his inner j
spirit gnashed its teeth in the thought
that he would some day cut their
throats.
y
e are overstock*
other goods, th
mberg County t
>ods Are To Be
Hill Buggies, w<
member we ha\
chen and comfo
H tfTHMBfttHPHflHWB
/ BE
fcM j . 8g
AN HITS
;f ROUNDED UP J
I
of John Murrell Was !
?History of a Few
ny Crimes.
j
But such use of wealth was entire- j
lv subordinate to the zeal with which
he purchased arms?rifles, pistols,
pikes and knives?and cached them
at numerous convenient places. The !
time of the uprising he had fixed for
Christmas night, 1835.
About eighteen months before this j
expected climax, an interesting en- j
counter occurred in the woods of Mad- j
* ~ ^ ACOOA in TITViQ t 1
1SU11 VJUUIlL,), V>csi X CIUIOOO^U, ixx If XAUI. ;
was then known as the Choctaw Pur- j
chase.
Virgil Stewart, a young Georgian, I
had come into a small inheritance j
from his father a year before and had i
!
then concluded to invest in the virgin j
lands of that newly opened tract. He :
had made his entry, paid the fee, and
alter keeping the store of one Clanton,
a probate judge, for a while, had
returned to Georgia to complete the
purchase and take residence.
Stewart was out riding one evening
in tl^e early dusk when he overtook a
striking figure mounted on a fine
hunter, which he sat with the ease of
a finished horseman. The stranger a
man of erect spare figure, had a peculiar
face which at once riveted
Stewart's attention. The eyes, of a
cold, piercing gray, were set close together
under beetling brows, and the j
mouth had curving lips, which in j
their curves carried a suggestion of '
cruelty. Otherwise the features were j
crr\r\A ot~i flia monnor wnc norfoi^t r>f !
O.HU. LUKs XaiU.XAJ.AV/A .t J^v/**.x/^v W-.
its sort, as he accosted Stewart with ,
well-bred ease and resonant voice of j
cue accustomed to public speaking:
"Good evening sir, I hope that you !
are enjoyin' your ride in the twilight j
gloaming. There is somethingdelight- j
ful at this hour in the woods. Nature j
declares the glory of God"?partly
shutting his eyes with an air of pen- j
sive enthusiasm?"but this meetin' of j
dnv and dark anions: the three-Dillars i
always makes me think of a great J
church made without hands."
Stewart stared at the salutation, !
which he politely returned, and for a
moment fancied the stranger an itinerant
minister of the better class. But
! he thought it odd that a gospeler |
ed on Farm Imp
C __
tererore we are
he Greatest Pro
> Sold AT ANI
r| Avery's
to $3.5(
ere $75, now $(
re a great many
?rts in the house
EHRHAR
should ride a throughbred hunter and
carry heavy pistols in his holsters,
+ in V*io onrl d C Ck TkT pH.
a i\ II i Ill UlO uuu wc
off shot gun on his pommel. Yet almost
all white men were wont to ride
armed then in that country and there
was nothing suspicious in the fact, except
the pious twang of the overture.
"My host, who lives about ten miles
from hvar, is out of venison, and so I
thought God would send me a chance
for a buck. I don't believe in slayin'
the beasts of the field wantonly, but
they were created for the use of man,
we are taught in the Holy Scripture.
Do you reside in this district, sir?"
"Probably I shall," answered Stewart,
"as I have recently bought land
here, and am on the outlook now for
some likely slaves, i may nave to run
down to New Orleans to get them,
though it is a costly trip, for a good
lot of them have disappeared from
here of late?run away or stolen.
That's a fine horse you're riding."
"Yes," said the other with a sinister
twinkling in the eye which Stewart's
keen observation noted, "I'm a
good judge of a hoss, or of the sons
of Ham whom God made for service.
I trust, sir, you will find a nag as
good, and all the black boys you need.
I shall be hereabouts for tkenextfortnight,
and then I shall obey the command
of God to call sinners to repentence
at the campmeetin' over in Shelby
county, up .Memphis way. Pardon
me, sir, but I took an instant likin'
for you and I hope we shall get further
acquainted, i ride in these wood
every evenin'. Good-by till we meet
again."
He doffed his hat with great punctilio
and spurred his horse through
by a byroad in the darkling woods.
Neither had mentioned his name to
the other.
A few days later he again crossed
the stranger not far from the scene of
the first meeting, and the latter greeted
him with an air of unmistakable
pleasure.
"I have thought a good deal about
you. sir. since I met you the other
night. I reckon we're kindred spirits
somehow, for I know human nature
pretty well and rarely make a mistake,"
with an air of great compla
cency. "I thought,I'd like to have a
long powwow, for I'm a lonely man,
though I know many people. I am
unexpectedly called away to-morrow
evening. Pray, sir, come and spend
the night with me at the Corners.
My host of the tavern has fine old
I 'apple, and a orace or wna aucKs
.fit for a king for for?" stopping
dements and des
going to offer J
fit Sharing Sale i
) BELOW COS'
Harrows that w
). Rock Hill Su
59.
things for the 1<
!. This sale begi
its Until Satu
irdw
DT, S. C.
| with lips pursed into an enigmatic
; smile. <
j Stewart gladly assented, and they 1
I rode together a few miles farther to j
the Corners, which consisted of a log ;
tavern, a ramshackle store and a rude
blacksmith shop. ]
Alter supper uuuer a, uu^c gum j
I tree, and with a tongue well loosen- ]
ed by frequent libations of apple tod- s
dy, the man of mystery began to unbosom
himself. i
"You are a speculator, Hues, and t
so am I, though not perhaps in the t
same line. The world has treated i
i me badly and you, too, I reckon, if I <.
read you aright. See the swarms of I
the rich, whose claws are fastened s
on all the good things of life, the s
best to eat, the best to drink, the
finest of clothes to wear. The world 1
has nothin' too. good for 'em, and ?
they get it without turnin' their j 1
hands over. Under the law they've j ?
got the top cyards, and. by ?, they ' <
rook the game! After all it's the j <
law of cunnin' and of the strong !
hand at the bottom." t
The young man had listened with- i
out a word, with the same feling that 1
a hidden spectator would have at ?
| watching cannibals at their ghastly ^
j banquet. He had had time enough to i
j make -up his mind, and he nerved 1
J himself to see the thing through. i
"Sir," he said, extending his hand, i
"I don't know who you are, but put
it right there! What you've said has t
sounded a hidden chord. I feel you're 1
exactly right, sir, and that we ought 1
to get even with our oppressors in t
any way we can. You reckoned c
straight when you saw in me a con- i
genial spirit." t
So they parted for the night, leav- t
ing one of them little chance for j ?
sleep in the thoughts that swept 1
over him. Why had this man taken i
him into his confidence, baring the i
hideous contents of his soul to a;:
stranger at the second meeting, when i
commonplace prudence would die- i
tate great care in trusting one who 1
was not even as yet sworu a prosei
lyte. c
The next morning as they rode p
through the woods, talking of indif- j i
ferent matters. Stewart was accosted 1
with the sudden interjection. "I am 1
John Murrell!" accompanied by a 1
look of piercing question. t
"I suspected so last night," was (
the answer, "and was rejoiced to t
know a man of my own kidney."
A handclasp seemed to relieve the '<
other'9 mind of any paseing doubt, 1
and Murrell said bluntly:
. \
. UlIU
ire to make roo
to the farmers
n its history. I
T.
ere from $3 to
trues uiai were
idies also, for h
ins
rday, April
are
"I need a lieutenant, a man of grit,
Df brains an' resources. Will you be
:hat man, Hues? I picked you out by
in unfailin' instinct, instantly I saw
you."
The young man agreed, and two
aours later they parted, arranging a
rendezvous for two weeks later, as
Murreli was compelled to go away on
--11 - r- -L
sOIlie Ca.ll U1 ins liciaiiuua num.
Stewart met the bandit chief, and
is they rode west Murrell told him
:hat they were on the way to one of
:he principal headquarters of the clan
vhich was on an island in a Mississippi
bayou, just across the river
from Memphis. He would meet
>ome of the principal men and be
;worn into the band.
They found themselves on the j
Danks of the Mississippi, at that time J
itormlr.shed; at dusk, but the rowDoat
on which Murrell relied was
jone. So they applied for hospitality
it the house of a planter named
^Viamninn Hp looked askance at
UliUUlJ^I VU. *
\iurrelll when the latter requested j
;he loan of a skiff on which to cro&3.
Stewart at once appraised him as an
lonest man and not one of the many
secret confederates of the robber
?ang. Champion felt a note slipped !
nto his hand as the twain parted;
rom him next morning, read warn-1
ng in Stewart's eyes, saw a finger J
nbtioned to his lips.
The island rendezvous was a sinis- I
er-looking place set in a little river- j
bend that somewhat concealed it.
fringed with cane-brake and mangrove
swamp, a narrow passage of
dear water led up to higher ground
n the center, though that, too, was
imbushed by dense forest growth, a
iting home of secret crime and conspiracy.
Five miles away on the Arkansas
side was the nearest settlenent
and a very small one at that. A
rreat squat one-story log house with
several outbuildings, a number of
*ude shacks on the edge of the ciearng.
where Stewart saw a score of
jlacks, crowned the little hill.
All day long small parties arrived
it the island. To these "Adam Hues"
vas introduced as a new and trusted
ecruit, until about fifty were assembled,
a few of whom would never
lave been suspected of other than a
'eputable life. These were some of
;he principal members of the "Grand
Council," and this was the night of
;he regular quarterly meeting.
During the day Stewart witnessed
in episode that gave a fresh touch to
lis horror at Murrell and his plans.
The negroes assembled there were
.... . .
y
m |p
of
ui |
it* P* it* n SIM
$o, now
$125, now p
er I
26th |
awaiting the coming of the flathoat
that was to ship them to the NeW Orleans
market, but one of them had become
so suspicious as to instigate
c TJirvi Mn rrnll ho.
IVitl' 1X1 LUC Utacis. JLJ.1JU1. 1UUI>?U
guiled away on the pretense of catching
fish for supper, and having led }
him to a remote place by the riverside,
buried a bowie knife in his back
and flung the bleeding corpse into the
bayou to be taken care of by the 9
river cats.
Stewart saw this through the manr
groves, and half an hour later met
Murrell, whose face was smiling and
unconcerned as ever. <
The council was held in the evening
in the log house. We can imagine the
scene, though Stewart describes it ^
with prosaic simplicity and directness.
The great, rude barn-like place,
lighted by the smoky glare of' pine
knots; the long table strewn with I
jugs of whiskey and apple-jack; the
raucous clamor of nightbirds, innumerable
insects and wild animals in { t
the encircling jungle; the blasphemy,
obscene stories and anecdotes of per- ^ 4
sonal crimes that punctuated the dusiness;
the terrible presentiment of
tilings to come; the dank and rotten
odors of the swamp mingling with*
those ofperspiring and filthy ruffians,
and the pungent gases of the flaming
torches?so we, can fancy the scene.
Yet business was transacted with ^
some order, and Murrell, the leading
spirit, drank nothing lest he should
lose his ascendancy over these rude ' ^ t
and violent spirits. Reports were '
read from local centers as to the progress
of the slave-uprising conspiracy.
Figures were given for the three
months past as to the various moneymaking
crimes which had been committed
in some five'states. Plans
were discussed for perfecting the
/
methods of propaganda among the
hosts of negroes on the plantations.
The last business done was the formal
initiation of "Hues" as a memberol
the gang and as a Grand Councilor,
Stewart made his plunge boldly;
his speech, as he himself set it down,
began in these words:
"My youth and inexperience must
plead the cause of any deficiency I *
may betray before this worthy and
enlightened congregation. I am better
qualified to acquiesce in the plans
and measures of others than to advance
anything of my own. I have
ieceived all my ideas from our honorable
dictator. I should feel guilty
of presumption were I to offer any
amendments to his present deep and * ?
(Continued on page 7, column 3)