Summarily
Killed.
SIMON COOPER CAPTURED
AND PUT TO DEATH?
SHOT FIRST, THEN HANG?
ED AND RIDDLED
WITH BULLETS.
A Puller Account/ of the
Magnolia Murder.
SUMTER, Jae.. 7.-The srqupl to tbe riot
and murder at Lyocbburg OD January 1 was
enacted this morning just after daylight, and
it proved to be tbe most bloody a?d bombie
morder ever perpetrated in this sectioo of the
State. Simon Cooper, the Degro who killed
another negro at an Emancipatioo celebra?
tion on January 1, and after wounding five
others terrorized the whole to wo for several
boors, bas adde *o bis list of victims two
white mee, a wl_ vcr o ma o and a negro man,
whom he batchered this morning with the
most fiendish craetty. Sioce the Emancipa?
tioo Day murder aod riot he hus bpen run?
ning arouud tb? country armed to the teeth
and threatening to put to dpatb auyone who
woold attempt to arrest bim. He bas been
seen at May espille and io other neighbor?
hoods is this?eounty, but no attempt bas been
made to arrest bim.
A BLOODY DAY'S WORK.
Yesterday moro i og Cooper went to Flor?
ence, it is said, aod purchased a Winchester
rifle aod one hundred cartridges. Whether
he purchased the rifle and cartridges in Flor?
ence or not he certainly had them io bis pos?
session when be reappeared in Lynchburg
last night. He came back, be said, to get a
mulatto girl whom be wanted to marry and
carry off with him. Going to the tfbuse of
tbe girl's parents he ordered her to get her
clothes and come with bim. The girl wa9 ter?
rified, but pretending to comply weat into the
shed room of the house and theo ran for ber
life. He forced another mulatto girl at the
point of bis oistol to accoapaoy bim wheo
be left the town, goiog io tbe direction of
Shiloh
Tbe white people of tbe place bad in the
meantime becoa e aroused, aod fearing that
Cooper would attempt to put into execution
his threats to kill several of the whi e citi?
zens aod to boro the place they armed them?
selves aod squads were posted on several
roads where it was thought Cooper might
pass. Cooper encountered one ?quad later io
the night, ?nd several shots were" exchanged
without effect, and be then took to the
woods Just about daylight Cooper went to
tbe boose of a respectable oegto named Boyle
and, drawing bis pistol, rx a Se bim bring out
bis horse. Cooper moaoted the boree and
took Boyle's SOD, a boy 16 years old, behind
him for tbe purpose of bringing the horse
back wheo be got borne He tbeo rode off in
the directiou of Mayesville. Cooper told
Boyle that he proposed to kill every persoo,
white or black, who crossed bis road, and
tbat to-eight be intended to return to Lyocb?
burg aod kill severa! men, whom be named,
and boro tbe towo. From Boyle's he went
to the house of Mr. S. Wesley Wilson, a
short distance down the road, where he kill?
ed S. Wesley Wilson, shooting bim three
times, Mr. B. ?. Wilson, the aged aod feeble
father of S. W. Wilson, whom be shot
three times through tbe chest, eith?
er wound having* been sufficient to
cause death. Mr. Wilson's young
wife be forced to go to the lot in her night
clothes and barefooted,' get her dead bus
band's rjuggy from tbe baro and hitch it to
the horse he bad forcibly borrowed from
Thos Boyle. He took her back into the
bouse aod tbeo murdered her by shooting her
io tbe back of the bead, jost at toe base of
tbe brain. Coming out into the yard, which
is very oear the road, be met Preston Smith,
a negro, who happened to J>e passing along
the road, and immediately attacked bim.
He ioflicted two horrible wooods on his
neck, one oo either side, with a Bowie kDlfe,
and tbeo beat bim with a heavy stick Not
satisfied with this he went to the wood pile
for aD axe, which he buried to the helve in
Smith's bead as be lay outstretched oa tbe
ground, bis head already almost severed from
bis body by the Bowie knife slashes. He
then fired several times with his rifle at a
white mao named J W. Baker, who was in
bis front yard about four or five buodred
yards distant, and bad witnessed the killing
of Smitb, and bad seen Mrs. Wilson while
Cooper forced her to hitch the horse to the
buggy. Sam Lowry, a negro living near by,
also witnessed the murder of Smith and
beard tbe pistol shots in the house while
Cooper was butchering the two men and the
woman."? Cooper took tbe Boyle boy ia the
buggy and went in the direction of Mayes?
ville.
THE COUNTY ALARMED.
Lowry sent bis son to Lyocbburg, about
three miles distant/ and the community was
immediately aroused. Whites and negroes
armed themselves and sent out io pursuit.
The roads were scoured in every direction for
miles oo horseback, in buggips aodf co foot.
The sheriff of Sumter was notified, and
posses dispatched from that "place. Every
crossroads in thi3section of the county bas
been guarded all day by determined bands of
men. A large posse from Timmonsvilie has
joined in the pursuit, but so far as can ne as?
certained Cooper is still at large.
PURSUIT OF THE DESPERADO.
Your correspondent left Sumter this morn?
ing at ll o'clock on the special train secured
by Sheriff Pierson to trausport hts posse to
Lynchburg. At Mayesville the train wt:s
met by Mr. Joe Clark, one of the pos3e from
Lyochburg. He had followed Cooper to
withio eight miles of Sumter, two miles be?
yond Mayesviile, and bad then been forced
to turn back hy bis horse giving out. A
part of'the posse was put off, and obtaining
horses set oat io pursuit of Cooper. Other
messengers were sent to St. Charles and Os
wego to call out the people to he on the look?
out for Cooper. Sheriff Pierson and the re?
mainder of his posse retorced on the special
to Sumter for the purpose of sending out
other posses to Barron nd Cooper if possible.
Your correspondent, in company with
Coroner A. D. Moses, and h 19 constable, W.
H. Commander, went ten miles across the
country to the scene of the tragedy
THE SCENE OF THE TRAGEDY.
Arriving there a more grewsome and
bloody spectacle was rever beheld. ?o the
road, immediately io front of the house lay
I Preston Smith, colored, covered with blood,
. with an axe still sticking in the back of his
head, just as if it had been a block of wood.
Entering the house, which was a small two
room frame cottage, with a hallway between,
a more horrible spectacle was disclosed.
"Lying on t^e floor, weltering in Mood, was
the half clad form of a venerable old man.
His face was bloody from a gash across one
temple and eye, and his loog, grey beard
was clotted with gore, as was his entire shirt
front. This was Mr. B. E Wilson, aged 76
years. On the floor of the left hand room
was the bloody fora* of* Mr. S. Wesley Wil?
son. A pool of blood extended from be?
neath his head across the room. The back
of his head was split open, as with an axe,
and lhere were two builet holes in the side of
tl* bead and one through bis right band.
0ce cheek was burned and powder marked.
Just in front of the fireplace, in the other
room, in a scant white nightgown Uj the
body of Mrs. Wesley \Vi!s)o, a handsome
young woman of 20 or 22 years Her face
was pillowed 00 one arm, which rested in a
pool ot blood that still oozed from her
mouth and the wound in the back of her
b?ad. Her luxuriant brown hair was satu?
rated with her blood. Her bare feet were
soiled from contact with the frosty grouod,
wheo she had gone tn the lot to hitch up the
horse for her fiendish murderer. The house
waa turned topsy-turvey, and on the floor
were seen a number of expty rifle and pis?
tol cartridges, showing that Cooper bad
taken the precaution to reload after complet?
ing his murderous work.
THE INQUEST.
The coroner empannelied a jury ?nd exam?
ined J. W. Baker, white, Sam Lowry and
one other negro, wbo was in the vicinity
when the four murders were committed.
Dr. E. F. Darby made an examination of the
bodies and submitted a written statement,
that simply described the nature of the
wounds, and declartd that tbe dead came to
their da-itb from said wounds. The verdict
in each case was tbat the deceased came to
their death from wounds inflicted hy Simon
Cooper with murderous intern.
This is the story of thc most fiendish mur?
der in the history of Sumter County. The
murder is one of the most brutal and blood?
thirsty on record, and the people of the State
should use every effort to briog bim to
justice.
THE MURDERED DESCRIBED.
Simon Cooper is a ginger-cake colored ne?
gro, about 5 feet 9 or 10 inches in height, 25
to 30 years old, broad shoulders, bas small
mustache, two gold fiilling in front teeth,
toes of one foot were burned off when a
child ; wheo last seen wore light grey suit ;
bis movements are quick and nervous ; bas a
wound on buck cf neck and bead, received
in the riot on Emancipation Day; may have
other wounds on his person.
LAST HEARD OF COOPER.
Isaac Boyle, tbe boy who was with Cooper
when the killing was done, and drove bim
toward Sumter, was captured near May es
ville this afternoon. He says tbat Cooper
came within three miles ot this place, left the
buggy, gave bim five dollars and told bim to
go borne. The boy says also that Cooper
boasted ot ravishing Mrs. Wilson before
blowing her brains out. Cooper is said to
have been seen in Mayesville after 6 o'clock
to-night, and went in the direction of Lynch?
burg.
F om the Daily Item, Jan. 8.
The Story of the Capture and
Killing of Simon Cooper, the
Desperado and Murderer.
The above report sent The News and Cou?
rier last night covers the outlines of the Mag?
nolia tragedy as fully as necessary. It is an
occurrence eo horrible and so deplorable that
the details cannot do more than further
torture the minds and hearts of all'people in
whose bre-.8ts the ' well-sorings of human
sympathy and compassion "nave not dried op ;
a detailed account could do 00 more than
further inflame the passions of a people al?
ready outraged beyond the point of calm con?
sideration. The picture that the Wiison cot?
tage presented yesterday morning wheo
the. writer reached the scene was
One that no mao not afflicted
with a morbid appetite for the bloody and
tragic would ever care to see, and having
once beheld it would strive to blot its remem?
brance frcm the pages of memory forever.
It was the setting of a staue where a carnival
of murder, lust and fiendish cruelty bad
been played to the finish by a d?-vil in human
form.
Venerable old age lay dead at the entrance
of what had bet-n a hospitable Christian
household. On the one hand upon the floor
of his bedroom lay the sturdy head of the
house^bloi/dy from pistol wounds in head,
face and hands, and his head cleft wi'h an
axe ; in the opposite room lay his wife, and
blood was everywhere. The negro lay by the
roadside.
THE CHASE.
Last night posses were kept on the watch
in the vicinity of this city, at Mayesville and
at Magnolia. All of the men were under arms
for they feared ihst Cooper might dare to
make good h.s threat to return and kill the
men who had taken the lead in pursuiDg
him. As it was thought possible that he
might go to the house of John Dargan, his
half brother, atout five miles from
this city on the Stateburg road, a guard
was statioot there. But he did not make
appearance. About 2.30 o'clock this
LOCATED AND SURROUNDED.
morniDg Mr. Burkett, who lives near Vobn
Dargan, was awakened by Jaka Dargan, a ri
specuble colored firmer and an uncle <
Simon Cooper. Dargan informed Mr. Bu
bett that Cooper was at his house asleep an
bad given him (Jake Dargan) five dollars t
I come to Sumter as soon HS dayiigbt to ot
i t'.io a supply of ammunition. Dargan toi
Mr. Burkett to send some one to town At one
for men to come and take Cooper. A mes
senger waa dispatched immediately and bi
fore day light the bouse was surrounded b
ten orfifteen men. Cooper was on guard an
at the first attempt to approach the hons
opened fire with his Winchester through a
improvised port hole between the logs Al
of Jake Dargan's family had meanwhile fle<
from the house leaving Cooper in possession
SHOOTING AT LONG RANGE.
The men on guard sent to town for re-en
forcements and more ammunition, and befor
ten o'clock there was a crowd o
fifty or more men, armed with rifle
and shot guns, poste'd iu the wood
in front of the house aod behind neighbor
?Dg negro houses. None were nearer thai
two hundred and fifty to three hundred yard
from the hoo3e, as none cared to ventur
across the open field thar separated them fron
tbe stables and small outbuildings surround
ing the bouse ?D which Cooper was entrench
el Cooper kept up a sharp fire in the direc
tion of the different members of the pessee
who returned it in hope of reaching him bj
shooting between the logs After a timi
a few men circled around and approached tbi
house under cover of the sm*!l buildings ant
opened fire on the windows, the shutters o
which were sooo riddled. The crowd closec
io on all sides then, and after shoot
ing through the house a few time!
CALLING FOR A PARLEY.
Cooper began calling out for soire one tc
come to the door as be wanted to talk to him
He evidently saw Mr. C W. Stansill through,
the crack9 between the logs for he called tc
him by name a?king bim to come to the dooi
.Mr. Stancill refused to do so and t->ld Coopei
to come out and give up. Cooper asked if h(
would be killed, rle was told to leave his
rifle and pistols in tbe boase, take off bis
coat and vest and come out with bis bands
over his he?d aod he would not be harmed
He first refused with the most fearful oaths
to take off his clothes, declaring be would
rather die and go hell than do it. He kept
up a torrent of p tty, and threats, but
fiaoally agreed to f out after he was told
ALLOWED FIVE MINUTES,
that he would be allowed five minutes io
which to sonender, and that unless he did
so the bouse would be blown up. One dyna?
mite cartridge was exploded under tbe corner
of the house without doing material injury.
HE SURRENDERED.
Cooper came out of the back dooY, hands
above his bead and without his rifle. He
was at once surrounded and several men be?
gan to look for a rope witb which to tie bim.
Cooper made two or three attempts to drop
bis hands, but each time was ordered to bold
them up unless be wanted to be killed.
Turning on those who ordered him to keep
bis hands op, be cursed them in the most
COURTED DEATH WITH THREATS AND
CURSES.
outrageous terms. One man said to him,
"Don't you curse me." Cooper ran to?
wards him, dropping his hands at the same
moment, saying: f,G-d d-d you - -
-I'll kill you" Just at tbe same mo?
ment he was shot io the head with a pistol,
and as he reeled another persoo shot him in
the side of tbe head with a shot gun which
was loaded with buckshot. He fell without
a groan. There was an indignant outcry
from a n AJO ri ty of the crowd against the
killing of an unarmed man. When Cooper
was searched, however, a pistol wa3 found in
one ptfeket of bis trousers and a razor in an?
other.
IQ a small satchel, which be wore slung
across bis shoulder, a quart of whiskey and
a few cartridges were found. In the house
was fouod hie rifle and a half bottle of whis?
key. On the floor were many empty car?
tridges, and the windows ?f the bouse were
riddled. On the outside the logs were filled
with rifle bullets. Cooper had protected
himself by keeping close to the large brick
fireplace and shooting through a small hole
between the logs just where they joined the
chimney.
Cooper did not die at once, so a wagon
was secured in which he was placed and the
crowd started with him to town, although it
was clearly evident that he could live but a
very short time.
HUNG AND SHOT.
When the crowd reached Green Swamp
bridge, the passion got control of a majority
of them and they took Cooper from the
wagon, dying though be was, put a plow
line around bis neck and hanged him to a
road side tree. Tbey then riddled bis body
with bullets and buckshot. After cutting
him down, they left his body by the road side.
Just after the enraged crowd had finished
the bloody, but not brave execution of
Cooper, Sheriff Pierson, who bad returned to
Sumter shortly before Cooper wa3 captured,
drove up, but it was too late to S ive the
quintuple murderer from hanging when in
tbe throes of death.
The capture and killing of Cooper was a
tragic and bloody ending of a series of
tragedies, but it was not devoid of humorous
features; for instance, the bringing out of
the old cannon from its seclusion and haul?
ing it out as far as St. James Church on the
road to the seat of war. It was the inten?
tion to open fire on the house with solid ?hot,
and after theartilery had made a breach on
the wall9 of the fort-garrisoned by one ne?
gro-the riflemen and shut-gunners and pis?
toleers would be better able to stand off nt
: ling range and shoot the garrison,
j Th" candid opinion of the writer, after sev
I eral hours deliberation, is that the kill;:ig
j of Cooper under the circumstar-c s, wa3 un.
justifiable, and outrngeous. It is a blot
on the fair fame of Snmter County,
within whose borders a lynching never before
I occurred
Of course Cooper was r. Send, a devi i in?
carnate with a tigerish inst for blood, a rav?
isher of female virtues, and richly merited
death, but he should have been left for the
law to deal with. His guilt was unquestion?
ed ; be was in ihe hands of nearly a hundred
armed men, making escape impossible, and
that he would have been legally hanged waa
as su re as fate.
His killing adds but another to the list of
horrors that have occurred in Sumter County
this week.
mm * i --
HOW MAN? BONES.
Row many bones in the human face ?
Fourteen when they are all in place.
How many bones in the human head ?
Eight, my child, as I've often said.
How many bones in the human ear ?
Three i.i each, and help to hear.
How many bones in the human spine?
Twenty-six, like a climbing vine.
How many bones in the hnraan chest?
Twenty-four ribs, and two of the rest.
How many bones i* the shoulder bind ?
Two in each, one before and behind.
How many bones in the bumin arm ?
In each one, two in each forearm.
How many bones in the human wrist ?
Eight in each, if none are missed.
How many bones in the palm of the hand ?
Five tn each, with many a band.
How many bones :n the fingers ten ?
Twenty-eight, and by joints tbey bend.
How m*oy bone- in the human hip ?
Ooe io each, like a dish they dip.
How many bones in the human thigh ?
One in each, and deep they lie.
How many bones in the human knees ?
One in each, the koee-pao, please.
How many bones in the ankle strong ?
Seven in each, out none are long.
How roany bones io the ball of the foot ?
Five in each, as the palm9 are put.
How many bones in the toes, half a scere ?
Twenty-eight, and there are no more.
And altogether, these many bone3 fix,
And then couot in the body two hundred
and six.
And then we have the human mouth,
Of upper and under thirty-two teeth. ?
And now and then have a bone I should
think,
That was in a joint, or to SH up a chink.
A 8P8amold bone, or a wormain, we call,
And now we may rest, for we've told them
all.
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to Electric Bitters. 50c. and $1.00 per bottle
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Chamberlain's Eye and Skin Ointment
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They tone up the system, aid digestion, cure
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