Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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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. -Medical Recorder. Electric Bitters. Electric Bitters 13 a medicine suited for any season, but perhaps more generally needed, when the languid exhausted feeling prevailsa when the liver is torpid and sluggish and the need of a tonic and alterative is felt. A prompt use of this medicine has often averted long and perhaps fatal bilious fevers. No medi? cine will act more surely in counteracting and freeing the system from malarial poison. Head che, Indigestion, Constipation, Dizziness yield to Electric Bitters. 50c. and $1.00 per bottle at J. F.W. DeLorrae's Drug Store. 1 Chamberlain's Eye and Skin Ointment Is unequalled for Eczema, Tetter, Salt Rheum, Scald Head. Sore Nipples, Chapped Hands, Itching Pi?es, Burns, Frost Bites, Chronic Sore Eyes and Granulated Eye Lids For sale by druggists at 25 cents per bor. TO HOKSETOWNEBS. For putting a horse in a fine healthy con? dition try Dr. Cadf's Condition Powders. They tone up the system, aid digestion, cure loss of appetite, relieve constipation, correct kidney disorders and destroy worms, giving new life to an old or over-worked horse. 25 cents per package. For sale by druggists. For sale in Sumter, by Dr. A. J China. Cough-cure, the most prompt and effective remedy for diseases ol* the throat and lungs, is Ayer's Cherry rectoral. As an emergency medi? cine, for the cure of Croup, Sore Throat, Lung Fever and Whooping Cough, 1J1 Cherry Pectoral cannot be equaled. E. M. BEA-wt EY, D. D. Dis. Sec. of the American Bap? tist Publishing Society. Petersburg, Va., endorses it, as a cure for violent colds, bronchitis, etc. Dr. Brawler also adds: To all ministers suffering from throat troubles, I recommend Awarded "Medal at "World's Fair. AVER'S PILLS Cure Liver ?nd Stomach Troubles Money to l^eiid ~\N IMPROVED Farming Lands at 7 per J cent, interest per annum Apply to LEE k MOISE, Attorneys. Nov. ll-3m. Sumter. S. C. fr .-...-0 . on of . yoar; J.ANO '.li C53 - * J v Voil W. L. Doug?as (f~? m^k $1-00 SHOE *3J Jtlfe . ? i BZCT HT THE WORLD. jfv^S JtfpK ~ $5.00 SHOE FOE $3.00. ^^^^fei . ^%yfi k \ It is sty?i?rif durable and perfect-fitting, qualifier jP^fcS'-'- .//;-w?\ 4 absolutely necessary to make a finished shoe? 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