The press and standard. [volume] (Walterboro, S.C.) 1890-current, July 10, 1907, Image 1
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VOU XXIX.
WALTERBORO. S. C. JULY
lo, 1907.
NO.
PENSION CASE
HAS ENDED
H. A. FRANaS ACQUITTED 'kuSTEES APPOINTED.
Indicted for th? Murder
Lu:iut Cro»by.
of
Indictment Against Four Col
ton Men Squashed.
boaTl of pensioners, the solicitor
and the defendants. They agreed*
that the State, through its legally ^
constituted officers, had accepted the
payment of this money, and that the
case, because of this agreement had The foil >wing cases have been dis-
been nol pressed, and that 0 f ^inee last report:
it would In* acting in bad faith to John Brabham, larceny of livc| bv
again bring suit, after the defend-; stock pleaded guilty and was given
ants had complied with the require- nine months on the chain gang.
AMOUNT TAKEN RESTORED
James McCormick, malicious
chief, was tried in his absence
Tbit Cam wai Well Known, Tbe De
fendant* Being Charged with Get
ting Part of Confederate
Pension Fond.
ments of the State as expressed
through its legally constituted offi
cers. This plea, with some changes: foumJ The judge raised a
agreed to by the counsel for both • 3^^ sentenced,
sides, was argued by Mr Gruber and Ri c h a rd Gregory, malicious mis-
Sohcitor Jervey, who briefly recited , chief ami was sentenced to three
years on the chain gang.
Ramsey Simmons and Tom Robin-
the history of the case,
Judge Gary then rendered his de
cision. sustaining the plea and dis
missing the case. He said he did
not believe from a strictly legal
point of vieV that he would be jus-
son. burg airy and larceny, five years
on the chain gang.
Henry Spencer, murder; found
guilty, sentenced to five years on the
At the morning session of court
SSteto"waJted tiM in t *» «"»“• but chain Spencer was tricKl for
attention .nd much interert h M ^ * U . U J 0 TX ,,‘ S J«*- >»«>• ^mediately
been shown in the conclusion It ^ defendant8 then prosecute after the killing he fled to Florida,
1 them and that he would, take this w here he was captured last fall and
view of the case. The following are brought back to Walterboro by
Deputy Sheriff Harter. His plea
was generally known that it would
be called for trial, and in conse
quence the court room was crowded.
The decision of the court dismissing
tbe case seems to meet with com
mendation on the ground that the
State, through its legally constitu
ted officers, had agreed upon a set
tlement, and had, therefore, no
right to again bring an indictment
against tne defendants.
A short history of the case will not
be uninteresting. The defendants
were G. J. Vann, Henry J. DuBots,
C. W. Ulmer and P. M. Yarn, and
the indictment alleges that in Janu
ary, 1901, they conspired together to
obtain from E. R. McTeer, then
dark of court, a sum of money from
the pension fund of the county,
through forgery and false preten
sions, that is, forging the names of
persons not living and obtaining
pensions for them. They succeeded
fn obtaining in this manner the sum
of 1428.68. This fraud was not dis
covered till the early part of the
year 1905, when Capt. H. D. Pad-
gettj who had succeeded Cleric of
Court McTeer in office, was paying
out the pension funds for that year.
He reported this fact of the alleged
fraud to the solicitor, St. Julien
Jervey, who prefermTbills of indict
ment at the July term of court in
1905. The grand jury returned true
bilh against the defendants above
named. The case was continued at
the fall term of court, 1905, on ac
count of the illness of one of the
defendants.
At the spring term of court, 1906,
the solicitor received a letter from
the county board of pensioners, re
questing him to enteral nolle prose
qui, for the reason that the defend
ants had paid back the full sum of
1423.68, and that they believed it
would be for the best interests of
the county and all concerned if the
solicitor would consent to nolle
proese the case.. This he agreed to
his concluding words, which ex
press the general opinion of those
present: ‘The compromise of these
cases does not meet with my ap
proval even though I grant this mo
tion, because the effort to rob an
old Conderate soldier of the little
pittance the State gives him ought
to have met with more serious and
severe condemnation and punish
ment than is represented by the
amount of money which tbe defend
ants paid to the State.”
The attorneys for the defendants
were Howell t Gruber, J. G. Pad
gett, J. S. Griffin and J. M. Walker.
The solicitor was alone.
The court is now engaged in the
trial of H. A. Francis indicted for
murder.—News and Courier of July
5th.
Walker;
CAPT. G. W. RAYSOR DEAD
was self defense. J. ]
Esq., represented him.
Friday was taken up for the pen
sion fraud case and the trial of H. A.
Francis, indicted for the murder of
Lucius Crosby, January 26, 1906.
His plea was self defence, was well
sustained by the testimony. The
jdry after being out some time re
turned the verdict, not guilty.
The story told by the defendant
and substantiated by other witness
es is to the effect that Crosby had
gone to Francis* market in the af
ternoon and had bargained for two
hearts from the boy in charge. He
returned about dusk to get his
hearts. The boy had made him the
price of 5 cents each, which Francis
claimed was a mistake; that the price
for them was 10 cents. He compro
mised, however, by letting Croeby
have two for 15 cents. Crosby was
under the influence of whiskey and
! began cursing Francis. Francis or-
I dered him to hush and get out of
the his market. Crosby refused and
Francis shoved him out. Crosby
came back with his arm raised in
striking attitude, as if he intended
to cut Francis with a knife. Francis
grrbbed the steel on which he
sharpened his knives from the coun
ter and struck Crosby on the head.
A policemen coming up Francis or
dered him to take Crosby away,
which he did, carrying him to Dr.
W. B. Ackerman’s office, who dress
ed his wound. Crosby was then al-
The grand jury a few days i ater !& Supply Company,
handed in a presentment that was
quite sensational. They presented
tile solicitor and every member of
the county board of education for
agreeing to settl? ^is case, and re
presented every fondant. The
solicitor did not n.«k » <n‘ any new
bills at that time.
Subsequently to th s : - Comp-
trollor called Solicitor J*., wy to Co
lumbia and by his advice, the solici
tor again in June, 1906, handed the
grand jury new indictments and i ^
they returned true bills
Succumbs to an Attack of Heart
Failure.
' ->•
Capt. G. W. Raysor, one of
most prominent men of this commu
nity, died at his home here last
Thursday afternoon of heart failure.
He had apparently been in good
health and spirits during the day
and at about four o’clock in the af
ternoon went to his room for the
purpose of taking a nap and he was
found at seven o’clock sitting in the
chair with one shoe in his hand.
While dressing the stroke came. Mrs
Raysor died just three weeks ago to
the day of his death, and it was; lowed to go to his home. He died
thought grief for his wife had some- the next day. The autopsy showed
thing to do with his own demise., that his skull had been fractured
Capt. Raysor was 76 years of age an d a clot of bWd formed on his
and retired from business several j brain, causing his death,
years ago. He was partner in * the
old lumber firm of Stokes & Raysor
and at the time of his death was a
director in the Farmers & Mer-
j chants Bank, Walterboro Cotton Oil
J Company and Cummings Iron Works; Gruber and J
Capt. Raysor’s
death came as a great shock to his
many friends. He had just complet-
1 ed preparations for taking a sumrm r In the report last week of court
trip, believing that a change would proceedings, an unintentional error
on
The following attorneys have been
engaged in this case: Solicitor Jer
vey, assisted by J. S. Griffin, ap
peared for the State. The defend
ants were represented by Howell &
G. Padgett.
S, /
■—
A Correction.
Names of those Who will Serve
in the Various Dist icts.
The following trustees for the va j
rious school lUstricts were appointed
the County Board at it* meeting
Tuesday, July J, lint. The Board !
has considered these appointments
carefully and would urge those ap
pointed to do all iu their power to
make their schools a success and to t
advance the interests of education :
District No 1, Dry Branch.—C A i
Walker, J W Crosby, Robt Bennett.
District No ‘J, Rum Gulley.—X G
Connelly, John Kickelighter, Geo
Walling.
District No 3,Williams.—J J Pad
gett, Joseph Garris, Joseph Ramsey.
District No 4, Strickland.—F Pad
gett, Jas M Strickland, J E Strick
land.
District No 5,'Smoaks.—J B Pad
gett, J L Smoak, H F Strickland.
District No 6, Broxton—F M
Polk, Sr, Aaron Hentz, J M Dopson.
District No 7, Little Swamp.—J
M Miley, B B Goodwin, J R Linder.
District No 8, Edisto.—Dr J B
Connor, J R Williams, E Minos.
District No 9, Sheridan.—Joseph
Bridge,Willie Ackerman,Joel Reeves*
District No 10, Verdier.—B W
Goodwin, C E Francis, J O Boats.
District No IT, Bells.—J D Had*
sob* Henry Benton, J M Benton.
Distnot No |2, Collins.—Steve
Warren, B B Platt, A fi Martin.
District No 18, Glover.—J H
Dodd, W R Hiott, T M Beeves.
District No 14, Heyward.—Kli
Smith, J W Blocker, Watty Cum-
mingf.
District No 15, Ad&ms Run.—D
W Mellard, J R Fox, J J Martin.
District No 16, Frsser.—J M Pad
gett. Joshua Garvin, W R Reynolds.
District No 17, Green Pond—J S
Hickman, H M Tuten, T P Johnson.
District No 18, Blake—S A Mar
vin, R F Huggins, J S Welch.
District No 20, Buckbead—O P
Crosby, E D Herndon,Asbury Jones.
District No 21, Weimer—J H
Yarn, J J Folk, J D Muller. ■*
District No 21, Cottageville—H L
Ackerman, E M Redman, Atticus
You mans.
District No 24, lioraepen—S J
Hiers, Jos Langdale, Benj Faster 1 in.
District No 25, Bells—Culbert
Crosby, Capp Copeland, G. P. Jen
nings. .
District No 26, Rnffin—Hampton
Dravdy, R 1) Carter, B B Crosby.
District No 27, Heyward—Walter
Farrel, W C Hitter, Geo Copeland.
District No 28, Ashton—J S Jones,
John J Miley, Joe Thornes.
District No 29, Folks—O P Folk,
J W Vara, J H Fender.
District No 30, Lodge—H W Car
ter, L Johnson Jones, Frank Sfan>*»y.
District No 31, H1I1—Ifevid GvhI-
ley. Geo Crosby, Brook Kinard.
GRAND JURY
PRESENTMENT
Calls Attention to Conditions
which Need Attention.
phono people euttjng trees in the
road.
We have api>nintod the following
.members from among our body it’hq,
will make their repoi t* to the Grand
’ Jury as a body and tame will bo pro- _
NOTHING SENSATIONAL.
Special Mention of Bad Road* in Differ*
•nt Part* of County.—Roof of Jail
in Bad Shapo and Should
bo Ropairad.
be beneficial to nis depressed condi
tion, since the death of his wife.
Capt Raysor is survived by two
brothers and two sisters: Messrs
Henry Raysor, of Allendale; Lee
Raysor of Florida; Mrs Benjamin
Risher of Round and Mrs Laurence
Wolfe, of Chattanooga, Tenn., also
daughter, Mrs C. H.
At the Ko * er * °* Columbia-
fall tenn the case was again contin
ued on account of the illness of one
of counsel. No court was held in
March this year, owing to a defect
In tiie drawing of the jury.<i
When the case was called this
morning W. B. Gruber, of counsel
for the defence, made a motion to,
quash the indictment on the ground
that it was not specific enough in,
* detail. V
Judge Gary held that the indict-
ment was sufficient enough, charg
ing general conspiracy, fraudulently
to obtain public funds.
1 Tbe .defendants were then ar
raigned and G. J. Yarn pleaded not
guilty, and counsel for defendants
entered a special plea in bar, setting
~ o«t the facts of the compromise
the county
To Hon. Erne.st Gary, Presiding
Judge, July Term, 1907.
The Grand Jury for Colleton Coun
ty make this their presentment.
They have passed upon all bills of
indictment handed them by the
solicitor and their findings upon the
same are endorsed thereon.
Owing to the fact that this is the
first term of court this year at
which we have served, <no court be
ing held at the spring term on ac
count of some irregularity in the
drawing of the jury) w* have not
had an opportunity of doing much
in the discharge of our duty except
passing upon the bills of indictment
handed us. But we have had an
opportunity of examining the jail
and other public buildings near the
court house and desire to report
that the jail is in an almost uninhabit
able condition. We were present at
the jail during a rain this week and
saw for ourselves the condition of
things. The rain comes right
through the top to the story occu
pied by the prisoners and from
there to the lower story occupied by
the sheriff. We feel that it is our
duty at this time to present this
building and urge that the neces
sary steps be taken in the premises.
We find quite a number of prisoners
in jail, all of whom appear to be
wejl taken care of by the sheriff,
each so expressing himself, except
one who appears to be sick and com
plains of a lack of medical attention.
We recommend to the sheriff that
that this prisoner, Frank McMillan
by name, be given the medical at
tention which he seems to need. As
to the court house and other public
buildings which we have seen, they
■are in a fairly good condion, but it
does seem to us that better accomo
dations should be provided for the
judge and jurors. We desire to call
the attention of the supervisor to
the fact that it has been reported to
us that the guards of the chain gang
are too lenient with the prisoners,
going to the extent of allowing some
of the convicts to visit their homes
at night. This should not be done. |
We also desire to express our dis-;
satisfaction at the court house being 1
used by the public for the purpose
of having entertainments, concerts, 1
etc., and recommend that this be
;.ot allowed in the future.
We wish to express our very great
was committed, which we take District No 32, Bethlehem—ReT dissatisfaction with the carelessness
pleasure in correcting in this issue. 8 W Ackerman, C 1* Tumbleston, A and negligence on the part of Jury
0 Hiott. ' ~ Commissioners in the drawing of the
District No 3a, Welch Creek—G jury for the spring term of court of
W Garris, Ja* A Padgett, Rev E this year, a mistake in the drawing
sen tod at the next term of court:
iCommittee on 1 ublic Offices: the
foreman, J. Y. I^ach, with B. It
1 Griffin, C. A. Eckhardt and J. .1
1 Folk. Committee on Chain Gang:
T. R. Risher, J. M.‘Crosby and L. H.
Smith. Committee on Poor Farm:
W. H. Hiers, F. M. Polk, Jr. and I.
J. Martin.
We recommend that ouf expert,
J. M. Walker, Esq., be paid a fee of
fifty dollars for his services per year.
In conclusion we desire ,to express
our sincere appreciation to your
Honor for the clear and able manner
in which you have instructed us, an!
to the solicitor and court officers for
the aid rendered us in the discharge
of-our duties. *
Respectfully submitted,
J. Y. BEACH,
Foreman
Walterboro, July 5,1907.
X
WALTERBORO^ SOLDIERS
i
Company K, Third
Left Here Friday.
Company K, 3rd regiment, Sonth
Carolina, left Friday morning at 7:i§
o’clock for Sallivan’a Island, where
they will be on encampment for tea
days. Capt. £. L. Fiabbnrne was ia
command. The following momfeem
of the company are taking part ia
the encampment:
orncua.
Capt Edward L. Fiehbnrne,
1st Lient Irving M. Fishburoe,
2nd Lient Edgar T. Hiers.
8BRAXANT8.
1st Sergeant Edward H Moore,
M
Willie H Padgett,
Sherwood G Price,
Laurence L Hiott,
W G Byrne,
Washington A Carkr
CORPORALS.
1st Corporal Baynard J Acker***
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Q.M
<4
44
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
*4
• 13
It
Capt. Raysor had a brilliant war
record, being Captain of Company
G, 5th, S. C. Cavalry, the position td
which he was promoted near the
close of the war. In business He
was scrupulously honest and fair in
his dealings with others, and had
amassed considerable property. He
was a consistent member of the
Methodist church and the Masons,
and was buried with Masonic honors
at Live Oak Cemetery. ^..
- Funeral services were held at the
Methodist church Saturday morning
at 10 o'clock conducted by Rev. J.
L. Daniel, and Rev. F. O. S. Curtis
Instead of true bills being found
against the following, the grand
jury returned no bill:
James Colson, assualt and battery
with intent to kill and carrying com
cealed weapons.
Eli ^ Benton and Lillie Nettles,
adultery.
Sam Black and Andrew Lawton,
house breaking and larceny.
A Large One
Editor Press and Standard;—J
W Martin killed on the 6th of
July an alligator, in Little Sal-
kehatchie Swamp known as the
Old Gum Lake. The alligator
measured 20 feet, 4 inches long;
5 feet, f or inches round, hi»
hind legs 2 feet and 4 inches
long. We hauled him out on the
public road and was viewed by
fifty people or more.
Married: J. Washington Lyons
and Mim Leila Herndon, both of
Smoak*. Sunday afternoon, July?,
by J. S. Padgett, notary public.
u
One thing about real modesty is
the way it doesn’t feel called upon to
blush when there is no occasion for
ft.
Craven.
District No 34, Ball—S W Weeks,
A V Kickenbaker, Jack Kinsey.
District No 35, St John—J L
Fender, A E Williams, ▲ T Utsey.
District No 36, Yonng* Island—E
L Commins, I R Wilson, J W Smoak
District No 37, Jonesville—T S
Jones, W A White, Whitefieid Block
er.
Distnot No 38. Raysors—J E Hud
son, Ben Crosby, T N Carter.
District No 39, Cedar Branch—Jno
Connelly, Tobe Brabham, R L Jones.
District - No 40, 1 Bethel—Frank
Bryan, J A Breland, D B Breland.
District No 41, Oak Grove—I Y
Beach, 4 olumbus Avant, R M Fen
der.
District No 42, Doctors Creek—B
G Sanders, A B Onasserean, B R
fi ^
District No 43, Snider—W _
Brant, J B Kinard, J W Yam.
of the same having beerT made by
the said commissioners which cost
the county several hundred dollars
Rennie J Andemou.
Err it T Hiott,
Charlie T Reeves,
Joe C Koger.
PRIVATES.
Asberry M Adderson,
Eugene H Ackerman,
Ashley M Anderson,
Carrol J Butler,
George F Brant,
Ambrose M Bootle,
Meek Bootle,
Ben F Bailey,
Henry Cummings,
Frank Cummings, r
Cornel G Crosby,
John M Campbell,
Emery C Carter.
Edgar Durant,
John P Griffin,
Bartow U Graves,
Loyless Hiott,
Harvey Hill,
Clarenoe L Hiott,
Harry Hiott,
Paul Herndon,
John C Herdon,
Leonard M Jordan,
Broad ns G Kinsey,
Jefferson H Koger,
James W Koger,
on accounnt of no court being Held Judge B O’Bryan,
at that time.
We «9dl the attention of the super
visor to the bad condition of the fol
lowing public roads and recommend
that the same be given attention at
oHce: road from Island ton :<> .vdi-
ton; road from Stephens Cross Loads
to Carters Ford., same being a rural
free delivery route and almost im
passable, both of said roads being in
Btroxton township. -1 Also road from
Little Swamp church to the widow
Myers. Also road between Mr. J.
Z. Harrison’s to Mr. 0. H. Barnes as
being too narrow. Also the road
running through Mr. O. H. Barnes’
place is kept very rough by being
constantly plowed up. We further
wish to my with reference to roads
that the pubU^ road leading from
Walterboro to Brils is being obstruc
ted by telephone poles and by the
Ilenry'K Perry,
Henry W Stan till.
Dsn Zeigler, °
W H Drswdy,
J C Drswdy,
E M Hiott,
Martin Jacques.
1 *
Petition for New County 1 lactic*-
Columbia, July 8.—Specisi::
Htcea
ition from Branchvi
Frank W.
egatio
of Me
C. Hiott, J. M. Tucker and Hraa^K
Jennings, called on the Govemnr fe
ll ay and filed with him the
for an election on the
a new county from portions
angeburg, Colleton and Don
of which the county seat ia
Branchville. Tbe Governor
the papers to tne Attorney^
to determine wn
quirementa had
—The News and <
t-*
-WV vV, ■