WEDNESDAY, JiN. 13, 1897.
The Sumter Watchman was founded
in 1850 and the True Southron in 1866.
The Watchman and Southron now has
the combined circulation and influence
of both of the old papers, and is mani?
festly the best advertising medium in
Sumter. *
MASS MEETING CEN?
SURE.
"The candid opinion of the writer, after
several boars deliberation, is that the killing
of Cooper under the circumstances, wa9 uo
jastiSable, and outrageons. It is a blot on
the fair fame of Sumter County, within whose
borders a ly oohing oever before occurred.
Of course Cooper was a fiend, a devil in?
carnate, with a tigerish lust for blood, a rav?
isher of female virtue, and richly merited
death, but be should have been ?eft for the
law to deal with. His guilt was unquestion?
ed; be was io the bands of nearly a hundred
armed men, making bis escape impossible,
and that be would have been legally banged
was as sure as fate."
The above paragraphs, which ap?
peared in this paper on Friday, gives,
/ in a nut shell, the deliberate opinion of
the editor of this paper ; and the
longer' he coosiders the matter the
clearer and stronger becomes his convic?
tion that be was justifiable io condemn?
ing the manner in which Cooper was
killed. This opinion was not formed
from evidence obtained at second band
and at long range, for he was an
eye-witness when Cooper was shot
down at Jake Dargan 's house. In fact
he was within three feet of Cooper
when be was shot.
If any one io the party bad reason to
feel outraged and inflamed against this
fiendish murderer, we had, for we were
resb from the scene of the murder of
Jolson family, and that scene in
Nfl-sickening, bloody horror was
Fresh in our mind At the moment
that Cooper came out of the boase the
impulse to shoot bim down was strong
witbio ns, but fro LI tb at moment to
this we have never ceased to be thank?
ful that impulse did not gain the mas?
tery, for^ had we shot Cooper as he
; stood surrounded by a crowd of men,
I hinds above his head, cursing and
Jt blaspheming bis captors though he was,
we could never have felt other than as a
murderer in our own mind,-in the eyes of
(redland in the eyes of all law-abiding
aqd right thinking men.
In order that there shall be no mis
understanding or misconception of the
matter, we will review the career of
Trooper frti-n bis first crime and de Since
of the law at alaguclia on Friday, Jan?
uary 1st, and his bold and unopposed
return to that community at intervals
j during the following week, to the murder
- o^tbe Wiisoo family and bis subse?
quent capture and killing near this
city.
His career in and around Magnolia
is related by the Magnolia correspond?
ent of the Columbia Register as fol
[agoolia. S. C, Jan 4.-On last
at Magnolia, a small town
?ynche's River, located on the
igton, Columbia and Augusta
Sumter County, Simon Coop
id, created a row, shot a
number of colored persons, discharg?
ing bis pistol He reloaded, shot
and killed Grant Davis colored
He then shot into a respectable white
widow lady'sjiouse. Alter iii? fght
kwas over, there were six colored
>erson8 wounded, several severely il
>t fatally. It seems that Cooper ie
ided his pistol twice and shot about
teen times. He * then went about
miles and deliberately took from
a colored man's house a double bar?
relled shotgun ile returned to
Magnolia, terrorized the people of
the town, defied arrest, captured
the town, made every mer?
chant in town but one shut
up shop and seek safety under
theil counters and go out their back
doors He was monarch_ of all he
surveyed, held up the East bound
passenger train, kept passengers from
leaving the town, and then quietly
walked about unmolested and is now
at large. He has been reported to
be within a few miles of Magnolia
every day and so far no attempt has
been made to arrest bim Some of j
the citizens still look pale. What a
shame !
Comment is unnecessary A Mag?
nolia man tells the story and tell* it
weil ; and in the telling makes it as
plain as daylight that Cooper was re?
cognized by the people of that commun?
ity as a desperate and defiant outlaw,
who did not he3itate at any crime. Yet
after this record, they say io their reso?
lutions censuring the Item and the Cc-,
iumbia State:
"Our citizens forebore to act precip?
itately on the first provocation, waiting
for the law to take its course and suffer?
ing as a consequence the murder of a
whole family, the shocking details of
which have been only partially por?
trayed by the press."
Forbearance indeed ! Read again
what the correspondent of the Reg:
said.
The maes meeting should have ac
one more paragraph to their resoluti
They should have denied in exp
terms the report that they intec
burning the mangled remains
Cooper bad the body been sent to ?i
i nolia. They should have made haet
clear themselves of the imputation I
they proposed committing that crowe
! aot of savagery. We do uot yet fi
believe the report, and would hail v
pleasure a denial by the people
Magnolia.
By a strange fatality the edi
of the Item is able to spi
from personal knowledge of nea
every stage of the series of tragedi
On the night of January 1st he i
on his way to Florence and pasi
through Magnolia. As the train st
ped at the depot he heard some c
cursing io a loud voice and tbreateni
to shoot any one who got on the tra
Putting his bead out of the window
negro with a gun io bis hand was se
by the side of the train, while a oro
of terrified negroes were fleeing
every direction, ^his mau, who v
Simon Cooper, crossed the train on t
platform between the first and seco
class coaches and stood on the der.
platform until the train left. Frc
several gentlemen who boarded t
train the facts of the row, the killing
Grant Davis and the wounding of fi
others, were ascertained.
The inquiry, "Why was Cooper n
arrested ?" was met with the stateme
that it was a negro row, and as he w
not molesting the white people tl
white poople would have uotbiog to <
with it.
The following Wednesday night w
the first time that the white people
Magnolia and Lynchburg made at
effort to capture Cooper, and citrons
the community informed the writer th
this effort was made because Cooper ha
threatened to kill several white men <
the place. The names of our io fora
ants cao be given, if desired by auy <
our readers And in addition to thi
Capt. D. E Keels, whose name ap
pears first amoog those who sigoed tb
resolutions of censure, told the write
at Magnolia,on Thursday night last, th a
he bad done bis duty, but could not ge
a sufficient number of men to back hie
up. He made .similar statements o:
the streets of this city ia the pres
euee of reliable citizens during Thurs
day afternoon'. These statements ar
given for the purpose of showing th
inconsistency and unjustness of th*
censure directed against The Item and
the Columbia State when coming froa
the people of Magnolia The oum
erous other inconsistencies in the Mag
nolia resolutions are apparent and wil
be discovered by our readers.
When the news of the murder of th?
Wilson family reached Magnolia ear 1 ^
Thursday morning, the people, white
and colored alike, at last became thor
ougly aroused and every effort was
made to capture Cooper. They did
their duty like men and brsve met),
The oouotry was scoured in every di
rectioo, and one posse tracked bim tc
the limits of this city, but lost, him
where he left the buggy and concealed
himself in Turkey Creek Swamp.
Now, to return to the capture and
killing of Cooper All are familiar
witb the facts concerning how he
sought refuge in the house of his uncle,
Jake Dargan, how Dargan informed
Mr. W. S. Burker, of Cooper's where?
abouts, bow a messenger was sent to
Sumter for a pospe, how Deputy Sheriff
Gaillard and Messrs. Joe F. Turbeville,
Rees McCowo, F. E Floyd, E. S.
LaCoste, Tom DuBoec, Geo. P. McKa
geo, Jr., W. S. Burkett, C. L Rhame
and Jake Dargan, surrounded tbe house
an hour before daylight and kept guard
until the larger posse arrived oetweeo
9 and 10 o'clock. The bouse was
approached from the rear and one
end, under cover of the surround?
ing oat-building!-', until one crowd was
within thirty or forty feet, and the other
not more than seventy-five or an hun?
dred feet. The house waa riddled with
bullets and Cooper was commanded to
come out. While the parley was in
progress a dynamite cartridge was
plaoed on the gill at one end of the
housu and fired. Cooper was told by
Mr. C W. S?an8?l that if he would
come out naked he would not be killed
He refused to do so but finally agreed
to take off his coat and vest, leavre
bis weapons and come out with his
hands up. The parley was in progress
several minutes and a part of the crowd
objected to permitting Cooper to sur?
render, as they thought be had at last
been placed in a position where he could
eithei be killed in the house or foroed
out by setting it- on fire or blowing it
up with dynamite. Mr Stansill insist
ing oo permitting Cooper to surrend
if be could be induced to do f
Sbootiog through the house was sto
ped and Mr. Stansill took some
those who objected to the surrend
aside aod endeavored to persuade the
to agree. Ia tbe meanwhile, Mr. Sa
Chandler, who was with Mr. Stansil
crowd io the rear of the house conti
ued the parley with Cooper and to
him to come out. Cooper came out
the back door and was met at the s!ej
by Mr. T. W. Lee and Mr Joho ?
Barrett, who covered him wi'h pisto
and made bim keep his hands well c
above his bead. After he bad walked
least ten steps from the house and w?
surrounded on all sides by men wt
rushed up from ail sides, he was struc
over the head from behind with th
barrel of a rifle The blood ran dow
over bia face. Mr. Stansill, Mr VS
B. Boyle, Mr. B. D. Mitohell and sci
eral others took hold of bim and tb
satchel was removed from across b
shoulders. One or two men went t
look for a rope with which to tie hin
During this time Cooper, who wa
plainly druok, kept up a continus
cursing, and several times attempted t
lower his hands but never got tbet
down below the level of his shoulder
-as far as tbe writer could see from
distance of not more than three feet-a
Mr Boyle threatened to shoot him eac
time if he did not hold them up
When one of the crowd ordered Coope
to stop cursing be said, "
I'll kill you/' He was shot io the side o
the head, first with a pistol and then a
he reeled, in the side of the face, wit!
a shot gun.
Mr. Stansill, who had bis band ot
Cooper when he was shot, gave expr?s
sion to the feeling of many of th<
crowd when he exclaimed, as he turnee
away when Cooper fell: "My God! ]
thought I bad white men with me,"
When Cooper was searched, while
lying on the ground, a pistol was found
stuck dowo inside the front of hie
trousers. When he was shot dowo
oo one knew be had a pistol. Wheo
he was struck on the head with the rifle
barrel his bauds wre up above bit
head
When the crowd wanted to shoot him
while gasping on the 'ground, where he
feil, be was to all intents a dead man ;
when some of the crowd wanted to
shoot him at St James Church he was
to all intents a dead man ; wheo he
was dragged from the wagon, hanged
to a tree and riddled with bullets at
Green Swamp he was was to all intents
a dead mao.
This ts the story. Tbe public can
form its own conclusions from the facts.
We have related the facts as we wit?
nessed them up to the shooting at Dar
gao's house. Subsequent events have
been related as told to us by some of the
most reliable men in the community.
We condemn the manner in which
Cooper was killed, because to shoot him
down io that manner was breaking tbe
word of Mr. Stansill, who was chosen
leader of the crowd, and Mr. Chandler
and others, who promised that bo should
not be killed; because when shot he
was as far as tbe crowd knew, unarmed;
because he was in the hands of four or
five strong men, who oould have held
him securely had he attempted to draw
a weapon; because a trial and execu?
tion according to law would have been
a greater punishment and a more effec?
tive example to law breakers and would
have shown that the people of this
county were respecters of law, which
they were supposed to be attempting to
uphold when they went out to capture
Cooper; because the reckless shooting
in the midst of the crowd was perilous
to the .nen who were nearest Cooper
and the large crowd surrounding bim;
and because it was, in the circumstances,
unnecessary and from our point of view
wholly unjustifiable It is said in ex
tenuation of tbe mon who shot bim,
that they were on the other side of
the house and too far away to hear the
promise that had been made Cooper,
had not agreed to it, and shot him
down as soon as they came up. This
may be true,three or four minutes having
elapsed between the time Cooper came
from the house and the shooting.
We would gladly exonerate those
men of breaking the promise made by
Mr. Stansill and others, and would hate
to believe that they had deliberately
shot down an apparently unarmed man,
knowing that bc had been promised
protection.
There is no possible excuse for the
hanging and shooting at Green Swamp,
and wc shall not endeavor to find a
pretext for palliating the' butchery.
The spirit that prompted the mob that
committed this bloody outrage against
hw and civilization was an out crop?
ping of the identical latent savage
: instinct, present in most men, that
possessed Simon Dooper himself wheo
he slaughtered those who crossed his
path. It was a lust for blood, nothiog
more nor less, and the most repulsive
feature of the tradegy was that the
impassioned mob let loose their savage
passions upon a helpless and dying
prisoner. It was tigerish, not human;
savagery, Dot civilizatioo; crime, D?t
respect nor the enforcement of law;
blind and irresponsible slaughter, not
justice
Simon Cooper merited death and
was sure to receive bis just deserts for
his fiendish crimes, but no ooe can suc?
cessfully show why lynching meted out
more ezact justice than he would have
received at the hands of a court of
justice &ni the legal hangman. And
this should have been his fate. The
State and society in general would have
been the better bad the law been per?
mitted to take its course, and we of
Sumter county would have oot ooly es
caped the odium that now attaches to
UP, but would have been an example of
law and order that would have had a
jastiog iofluence.
This is the opinion of the Daily
Item, sod although every community
in Sumter county and in every couoty
of the stare should hold mass meetiogs
aod pass resolutions of censure, we
shall adhere to our opiuion.
The resolutions of ceosure adopted
by mass meerings in Magnolia and
Mayesville are reproduced from The
State, copier not having been furbished
rbis paper by the secretaries of the
meetings We lay them before the
people of the Couoty of Sumter and
State of South Carolina, wb?> C?D judge
between them and us. There is also
a communication from Bisbopville cen?
suring our stand. Thc personal allu?
sions we can afford to pass unnoticed.
The people of Sumter know the editor
of th ts paper aod they koew where he
was wheo danger was present.
As we have said in a previous issue,
we regret to differ radically with our
friends, and it is with the keenest
regret that we have seen the names of
some of those whom we have for years
counted a? true friends signed to reso?
lutions of censure But if a candid
expression of an honest opinion shall
oause friends to censure us and turn
against us ir will have to be so. Our
opinion was formed deliberately, with
a full knowledge of the facts, and with
this to satisfy our own mind and con?
science, a'l tbs resolutions that may be
adopted will not cause worry-only
regret that we have not the support
of our fellow citizens in what we deem
a just cause.
The editor of The Watchman and
Southron and of The Daily Item, as
is well known, is the same man ; the
editorials in reference to the Simon
Cooper lynching, which appeared in
the latter paper, are reproduced
without change to day.
From Daily Item, Jan. 12.
Communications censuring the Item j
for its editorial condemnation of the
the lynching of Simon Cooper are j
presented elsawhere to-day. We pre- j
eeoted mir side of the case yesterday j
and hball dit>eu*s the matter no further
uri lens 9:1 me new argument is presented
against, the soundness of our conclu?
sions and the justness of the opinions
heretofore presented. The few words
of commendation received are appre
preoiated.
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THE
of I8?T,
Is now af hand and we are
better prepared to supply
the want? of our friends
than ever before.
We have been handling fertilizers very largely for 14 years, and
we believe we know how to buy and where to buy.
We will handle nothing but.
Standard Brands,
Unless forced to do so by illegitimate com?
petition.
Our leading brands for which we are
SOLE AGENTS
Wagener's High Grade.
High Grade Blood and Bone and Navassa.
In addition to these we handle.
Atlantic and Chicora,
Cotton Seed Meal, Genuine German Kainit and Acid
Phosphate.
As eaRh is quite an item to us in our business any person who is foi t??
nate enough to be able to pay cash for his fertilizer, will find it to his inter?
est to see us before buying To those who are not so fortunate we will
figure as close as the character of security they have to offer ' will admit.
We would advise our friends in making their calculations for the purchase
of fertilizers and other things, not to exceed five cents as a basis for the
price of their cotton as all indications point that way
OUR STOCK OF
Staple Groceries and Farming Utensils
For the Spring trade is very complete. We buy our
Meat direct from Western Packers
In car load lots. And our
Flour direct from the Mills,
And all brokerage and commissions that is paid by a great many of our
competitors we give tbe benefit of to our customers.
With best wishes for a prosperous new year and hoping we may be fav?
ored with a liberal share of your business. Very respectfully,
O'DONNELL & CO.
FOR THE JANUARY TRADE.
I
Meet
be Well Prepared to
;he Demands of the
January Trade.
Just Received.
One car load of fine Mules.
One car load of 1-horse Wagons.
To Arrive This Week.
Two car loads extra choice work
horses.
Sumter,'S. C., Dec 28, 18G6.