Newspaper Page Text
Rev. George B. Culpepper of Ft. Valley
Relates Interesting and Thrilling Events
Which Occurred One Hundred Year Ago
(Continued from last week)
Thurmond, in his hilarious
state after several more drinks of
the good whiskey, of the good old
days, when whiskey was pure, drew
from hig pocket a wallet and in the
presence of Wilson O'Daniel, Mrs.
Peddy, Mrs. Peddy’s granddaugh
ters and Albert Murdock, counted
out FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS of
Monroe Railroad money.
About ten o’clock Murdock sud
denly arose from his chair and.
much to the surprise of-everyone,
declared his intention of going on
to his destination that night. Thur
mond protested, and was joined in
the protest by O’Daniel and Mrs.
Peddy. They had already paid for
their nights lodging, it was a long
dark drive to Knowlton’s Mills;
they could rest where they were
and go On early next morning. But
Murdock wes insistent; and the
dorses were called for and harnes
sed, and about fifteen minutes to
eleven o’clock the two men drove
away from Peddy’s Tavern in the
direction of Knowlton’s Mills. As
they were leaving Thurmond shout
ed back and said: “Mrs. O’Daniei
I will be back here day after to
morrow night to spend the night
with you.’’ O’Daniel bade him to
keep his promise, and Jhe travelers
rode away.
About a mile from the Tavern
the road bends sharply to the
left hand. In this bend, and jusi
oelow the road on the north side
there was a branch of good water
Along the course of the branch,
formed by this spring, was a heavy
growth of bushes and briars on
(he westward side; but on the east
ward side there was a small cler-
ing in which had been built a
little storage house, only a few
steps from the road. It was a
strange thing to do, bui here, near
(his spring, and in a few feet of
this little house, Murdock and
Thurmond, only a mile from
Poddy’s Tavern, and just a few
minutes aftr leaving that place,
stopped and made camp for the
night.
In the small grove of pines about
one hurired yards to the northeast
of the camp, lived Higdon Corley,
a chair and couch invalid, with
his w'ife, Talitha. About a quarter
past eleven that night, April the
14th, 1844, there was a call from
her gate and Mrs. Corley, not
having retired, answered the call,
and was asked for a loan of a ves
sel in which to carry water at the
camp. It was night and she heques-
ted the man to come to the door
and get the vessel. He did so, but
she could not see his features -
only his hand being visible in the
light from the fire shining out
through the door. She heard noth
ing more that night except such
noises as would ordinarily be made
by campers preparing for the
night. But there was a witness to
what went on in that camp, from
the time the campers turned from
the road, until after the hour of
midnight; but whose identity was
not known until he revealed it log
years later.
CHAPTER III
One morning early in April,
eighteen hundred and forty-four,
the plantation bell, on one of the
large rice farms, down on the coast
in Georgia, set up a loud ringing.
This was an alarm, rung at this
time with such force, andfor so
long a time! This morning it an
nounced that one of the slaves had
failed to answer to roll call, and
investigation proved that. he had
run away some time within the
past forty-eight hours while the
overseer was sick, The bell was
used by the overser to wake the
slaves in the morning, start them
out to work for the day, call them
in at the dinner hours, send them
back to work at noon and bring
them in at night. When there was
any cause of alarm the bell made
it known by loud and long and
rapid ringing. On this particulai
morning there was great excite
ment among the white people •
the owner and the overseer and
his family - sometimes called the
“slave driver". The slaves seemed
anxious to begin the pursuit of the
fugitive. In the slaves this show
of interest was entirely pretense,
for they were glad he was gone,
and really hoped that he would
not be caught, for the “slave driv
er” on this particular plantation
was very cruel, often beat the
slaves unmercifully, and made
them go hungry as punishment for
any lapse of duty or neglect to
carry out his extreme orders. Many
times their plight was most piti
able. Where a large number was
worked the overseer kept a roll.
This roll was called night and
morning for the purpose of keep
ing up with the negroes. When the
roll was called this particular April
morning on the old rice farm, down
near Darien in Georgia, “Tony”
Williams failed to answer to his
name. “Where is Tony?” Shouted
the angry overseer. No one knew!
Threats of punishment by beating
and starving failed to open the lips
of any of Tony’s loyal fellow-
slaves. They knew nothing of w'hen
he left, or in what direction he
went! But he was gone! Search
did not reveal any clues, for he
left no trace; nor had he taken any
articles of clothing from his humble
cabin, except the clothes he was
wearing.
Failing to get any information
from the negroes, the overseer
hastened to call in his “track dogs”
or “nigger dogs” as they were often
called. Almost every plantation
owned what was called a pack of
these dogs. He called as many of
his white neighbors ashe could get
to assist him, and the chase of the
fugitive was hastily planned. The (
most trusty of the slaves were sent
to the nearby, farms and villiages
to let it be known that the negro,
Tony, had run away. TheSe cour
iers, of course, lost as much time
as they possibly could in order to
give Tony as good a start as pos-1
sible. One of them fell into a creek I
and was almost drowned! Another I
one was thrown from his mule and i
had several cuts and severe bruises
to prove it! Still another one was
taken up by the “patterole”, on the
suspicion that he himself was a
“runaway”; Still another one jam
med an iron spike into his foot and
had to hobble and crawl back home
wdthout giving any notice. He had
the knees of his trousers worn out
to show' how far he had crawled,
and an awful sore foot to show' the
effects of the spike. It took him
hours to make his way back to re
port. This particular courier had
oeen sent in the direction taken by
Tony, so his failure to report the
“runaway to the farms up the rivet
gave Tony the best possible chance
he needed to make good his escape.
The crowd of pursuers gathered and
amid much barking of dogs; stamp
ing of horses and shouting and
gwearing of men. they made ready
to pursue the fleeing negro; and
woe to Tony if they overtook him!
These i n f u r i a ted “slave-drivers”
and vicious dogs would leave his
beaten and mangled body to serve
as a warning to other slaves who
might be thinking of making an
effort to escape.
But Tony had nearly thirty-six
hours start, and he had made good
use of his advantage. A skillful use
of red pepper in his shoes had
so confused the dogs that they
could not with any degree of speed
or accuracy, follow the trail he left.
Also he made a point to follow the
course of any stream he encounter
ed, by w'ading mile after mile in
the water. If a large stream was
encountered he would swim across
and down, often using a log or
plank to assist him. After a day
and night spent in vain effort to
track Tony, the overseer called off
the man-hunt and proceeded to ad
vertise the escape, giving descrip
tion and offering substantial re
ward for the capture and return of
Tony to the owner, or overseer.
In the meantime Tony was mak
ing his way as rapidly as possible
toward the North. He had to use
extreme caution lest he be taken
up by the patrols along the route
be had taken. He was greatly as
sisted in his efforts by the fact that
at that time most of the territory
he passed through was unbroken
forest—only here and there was a
village or a settlement. His shoes
were soon worn off his feet and his
clothing, poor at best, reduced to
rags. For food he had to depend
on the winter turnip patches; some
white man’s potato-hill; some corn
he stole from a crib or barn; or
some cold food from a friendly
kitchen cook. This food he would
eat raw, or maybe parch the corn
and roast the potatoes and tur
nips at some burning log-heap, or
newground stump fire. He suffered
from cold and could only warm
himself, as chance offered, where
logs were geing burned for the
spring clearing, or in some warm
chimney corner in the dead of
night. But he was on his way to
LIBERTY! He could afford to suffer
and endure.
Thus, reduced in flesh; ragged
and hungry, he came, on the night
of April fourteenth, eighteen hund
red and forty-four, to Peddy’s on
Flint River in Talbot County,
Georgia.
No one saw the sulking figure, or
heard the stealthy steps of the run
away as he stole on the back ver
anda which ran along by the side
of the kitchen as well as by the
parlor window of Peddy’s Tavern,
peerd in and saw Thurmond as he
counted the money in the presence
of Wilson O’Daniel, Mrs. Peddy and
Albert Murdock. But that money, if
he had it, would help him to escape
to the North and freedom! He had
traveled far; had hidden in swamps
and outhouses; and was dirty and
hungry and cold. Most of his tra
veling he had done at night. So far,
by fording creeks and swimming
rivers; by traversing dangerous
swamps, he had managed to elude
the “patterole” and the “nigger
dogs”, but he dared not show him
self in a strange land. What food
he ate he had to find or steel. For
warmth he had to make out with
burning log-heaps and stumps
where farmers were clearing the
ground. He dared not trust even the
members of his own race, lest his
presence be betrayed, and he re
turned to bondage worse than
death.
No wonder he watched that
money with greedy eyes! And as
he watched he planned, in his slow
brain, how he would steal into the
house while the people slept, and
take what would help him on to
where he would be free. But sud
denly, while he watched and plan
ned, one of the men arose and said
he was going on to travel that
night. Tony knew nothing of the
surrounding country; nor did he
know in which direction lay Know-
lton’s Mills; but he did know that
he was in danger of being discov
ered; so he took to his heels; and,
unknowlingly, fled in the direction
which the travelers took a short
time later. He soon came to the
little spring by the roadside, and
seeing the empty out-house, he
crept in and lay down on a pile
of loose straw to rest, and regret
the fact that he could not get that
money.
Scarcely had he concealed him
self when he heard the appreoch of
a vehicle. He supposed it would
pass, and was astonished, and
frightened, when it turned and
came to a stop only a few yards
from where he lay. Peeping through
a crack he saw that preparations
were being made for a camp. He
saw Murdock start a fire, and then
go and lift, and partially drag, an
other man to the blaze. It was easy
to see that this other men was
drunk, and practically helpless.
This, no doubt, was the reason why
Murdock had decided not to con
tinue on his journey, for he had no
desire to haul a drunk man that
long ride, over a route he was un
acquainted with in the dark.
Having placed Thurmond by the
fire, Murdock gave his attention to
preparing a camp. He unharnessed
the horses and fastened them, by
halters, to some saplings; and re
marked to himself that he would
go up to that house where he saw
a light and borrow some sort of
vessel to carry water from the
spring to the camp. The Negro
heard and saw all this; and as
soon as Murdock was lost in the
darkness, he made up his mind to
get the money from the drunk man
before the other one could get
back. He acted at once and in haste.
Thurmond was almost in an un
conscious state; was too drunk to
offer oposition, so the Negro rushed
out, seized the hatchet with which
Murdock had split the kindling for
the fire, dealt the blow which killed
Thurmond, took the wallet from his
pocket, and disappeared in the
darkness of the night; and again
took the direction from which he
had just come, reached the river,
swam across, and was again on his
( way to liberty.
1 Chapter IV
j When Murdock returned to his
camp, carrying the vessel which
he had borrowed from Mrs. Corley,
he was horrified at what he found.
Here was his fellow-traveler, whom
he had left only a few minutes be
fore, asleep, now dead—murdered!
The whole world of disaster came
tumbling about his ears! No won-
i der! - It took him but a minute to
1 realize his awful situation. No use
to attempt to arouse the community
at that time of night, and tell them,
what they would deem;' and in
credible tale. Scarce an hour had
passed since he had declared, in the
presence of several people, that he
was going to Knowlton’s Mills that
night; and here, in less than a mile
of the place where he made that
statement, in less than an hour’s
time, he found himself, with his
fellow-traveler, and that fellow-
traveler dead—murdered! There
was no way for him to establish
his innocence. Who would believe
him? Some one had killed Thur
mond while he was gone to borrow
the vessel to carry the water; but
there was no way to prove that
he did not do it; nor was there any
way to prove who did do it. In
such a crisis as this who would not
have become confused? There was
not a ray of light to show him how
to extricate himself from the gulf
of disaster into which he had been
i plunged; from this w r eb which grim
fate had thrown over him, he was
! pow'erless to free himself. He would,
| therefore, bury the dead man, go on
and wait what he was sure would
overtake him—pursuit and arrest
1 for murder.
Thurmond was ^ heavy man and
j Murdock, who was small, had to
drag the body some distance down
the branch to where a small log
I lay partially imbedded, over behind
| w'hich he dug a shallow grave with
! the hatchet that had killed Thur
mond, rolled the body over on his
face, and lightly covered it with
1 dirt and leaves. In his effort to
handle the body he came in contact
with the little wooden pail he had
borrowed, and that became a link
in the chain of evidence which was
I geing forged against him; for when
Mrs. Corley saw her vessel over in
side the yard next morning, and
went to get it, she saw the blood;
and this led to an immediate in
vestigation which disclosed that a
tragedy had been enacted, almost
.at her door, while she slept.
I In order to make a place for
Thurmond’s body, Murdock had to
cut down a small bush. Some ol
the dirt was left in the eye of the
hatchet as Murdock scooped out
the grave. Both a gap in the blade
of the hatched and the dirt in the
eye of the hatchet were used as
evidence against him.
| In his efforts to get Thurmond
buried the straps on his pants got
muddy and bloody. These straps
he cut off and left where he wash
ed his hands. The trousers also
were soiled; and these were found .
in the bogg when he was arrested.
Both the straps and the trousers
were used as additional evidence
against this man—a stranger in a I
strange land.
The night was far spent and in
horror Murdock waited for daylight 1
to come, so that he might resume
his journey and await what fate |
might have in store for him. When i
it was light enough to see, he re- ’
turned the pail to Mrs. Corley’s
yard, returned to camp and hitch- j
ed the bay horse to the buggy; and !
leading the gray he went on to !
Knowhon’s Mills. No use to think I
of flight, or attempt to escape. The !
web of fate was being woven about
him. There were only two people I
in the world who would believe j
him innocent—his old mother up j
North and his sweetheart down
South. He would die rather than
trouble either of them; and this
he did so far as his mother was
concerned—she never knew his
fate. Murdock drove on to Knowl- t
ton’s Mills, leading the grey horse, i
with a blanket girted over him; and j
arrived there about seven o'clock.
After breakfast he went down to
the barn to look after the horses,
after telling Knowlton that he
would like to sell one of the horses ,
—no matter which one.
This was on the morning of April
the fifteenth, eighteen hundred and
forty-four. But back yonder where
he had camped, there was great 1
excitement; and an enormous
crowd had gathered from all the
surrounding community; for a dead
man had been found at the camp— )
evidently murdered.
Items of apparently small mo- I
menl lead often, to important dis- j
closures. When Mrs. Corley found !
blood on the little wooden tub, she
immediately suspected the campers
had killed a setting hen, that was
about due to hatch, down at the |
little house near the spring. She 1
hurried down there to look after ,
her hen, and found considerable i
disorder around the camp. Follow- 1
ing the trail where the body of the
dead man had been dragged, sue j
came to where something had been
buried. She at once went back and
told her husband; and he said: “It
is more than probable the campers
have killed one or more of neignbor !
McGuire’s hogs that use around
the spring. You had better go tell i
him, and let him come and inves- I
tigate before they get too far a- I
waw.” She went and Mr. McGuire 1
took a hoe and came back with her |
to the camp, followed the trail
| down to the log and commenced to
uncover the contents of the grave,
no matter what it might be. At the
second stroke of the hoe he struck
a suspender button on the dead
man's pants. He ^topped and said:
| “1 cannot go farther, There is a
'dead man here.” Just then a neigh
bor of the Corley’s and MCGuires
came along and upon being told
what was found he said: “Why, I
saw the scoundrel when he drove
off from this camp just before sun
rise, and I can follow him, for the
back wheel of the buggy does not
track the front wheel very well.
We’ll go after him.” The news had
spread like wild fire, and by this
time Wilson O’Daniel and Mrs. Pen
elope Peddy were on the scene and
told that the travelers were headed 1
lor Knowlton’s Mills, or possibly
further south. An officer was se-
• cured, a posse was formed, and
! went in pursuit of Murdock with
John Dean, the man who saw him
drive off from the camp leading the
1 grey horse and driving the bay. Un
til the body of the dead man was
cleansed it was thought that the
young man had been murdered, for
the red dirt in his hair made it
look auborn, but it was tire old man
who had been killed, and the young
man was being pursued for the
: crime.
Upon arriving at the Mills Dean
: left the officer and posse at the
1 mill while he went up to Knowl
ton s house to see if Murdock was
rally there. When asked if there
was a traveler there, Knowlton said
that a millwright, whom he had
employed by correspondence, had
1 arrived there that morning early.
Dean then told Knowlton that a
murder had been committed back
near the river the night before, and i
that they had every reason to be- ]
lieve that the man he called Mur
dock was the murderer. Knowlton j
J v/as astonished beyond measure, j
and readily agreed to lend every!
assistance possible. “Where is the,
man?” asked Dean. “He went down I
to the barn after he ate breakfast
to look after his horses,” said
l Knowlton.
j “Well,” said Dean, “how shall I
' approach him without arousing his
J suspicion ” |
| "On arriving here he said he 1
would like to sell one of his
horses, ’ was Knowlton’s reply. 1
“You might ask him about selling
! one of his horses.” I
| That was agreed upon, and Dean
! walked down to the barn, where :
he found Murdock rubbing down
his grey horse. He was standing |
with his face to the door, when
; Dean walked up and spoke to him,
without a trace of nervousness.
“I understand from Mr. Knowlton,
that you have a horse for sale, and
I am in the market for a good
horse.” j
| "I will sell you as good a horse'
as I ever saw,” said Murdock.
(To Be Continued)
S
IMPROVED
UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
UNDAyI
chool ILesson
By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. D. D.
Of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
Lesson for May 19
Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se
lected and copyrighted by International
Council of Religious Education, used by
permission.
Cook Guilty;
Gets 18 Yews
A FRIEND WHO LEARNED
TO RELIEVE
7. 8. 10; 20:
LF.SSON TEXT—John 11
24-29.
MEMORY SELECTION — Blessed ar*
they that have not seen, and y.et hava
believed.—John 20:29.
Doubt and faith—both seem to
come to the hearts and minds of
men. Yet they are directly contra
dictory to one another and cannot
exist together. To believe is to
drive out doubt, and when doubt
comes in, faith loses its grip.
Thomas, and his experience fol
lowing the resurrection of our Lord,
presents a lesson on what a man
can do to meet honest doubt and
how such a man can come out. into
the sunshine of faith.
We find in Thomas, first, an ex
pression of
I. Fearless Loyalty (John 11:7. 8,
16).
Unafraid of the threats of men,
Jesus was about to go once more
into Judea. On his last two visits
there, the Jews had sought to kill
him, namely, at the feast of taber
nacles (John 8:59) and at the feast
of dedication (John 10:G1).
He was not one to draw back for
the fear of men when the Father’s
will led him forward in his service
to humanity. Lazarus was,dead,
and Mary and Martha needed him
and he was going to them.
Then came a fine expression of
the loyalty of Thomas. If his Lord
was going to face death, he was will
ing to go along and die with him.
Let us recognize that here was a
man of real courage, willing to show
his loyalty even by giving his life.
There is something fine about
that attitude, and something which
shows us that when this man later
expressed doubt, it was not the
silly and shallow unbelief of a
trifler. This man loved the Lord and
served him, and yet he failed him.
When we think we are strong, we
had better watch out lest we fail.
Let us be clear and triumphant in
our declarat.on of loyalty to Christ,
both by word and by life. And then
let us set a double guard against
the enemy of our souls.
Thomas next appears in
II. Faithless Failure (John 16:24,
25).
He had been willing to die for his
Lord, or with him, but now the Lord
had been taken by wicked hands and
crucified. He and the disciples
were alone to face a hostile world;
at least so it seemed to them.
The awful day of crucifixion
preyed heavily upon the mind of
Thomas. That is evident from verse
25. He had been thinking of those
awful bleeding wounds, and had for
gotten about the promises of resur
rection.
Jesus died, and that is a precious
truth; but one must not stop there,
for a dead Saviour is no Saviour
at all. Thomas got sidetracked in
his thinking. Let us not make the
same mistake.
Another reason for his failure
was that he did not go to the meet
ing of his brethren. Perhaps he
did not feel like going, and did not
think it was any use to go. Ah,
but that’s just the time one needs
the fellowship of other believers. Go,
and you will meet the Lord!
The Lord was there and Thomas
missed him. We, too, will miss the
Lord and his blessing if we stay
away from his house and the meet
ing of his people.
Having gone thus far in discour
aged unbelief, it was easy for
Thomas to take the next step and
demand physical proof of the resur
rection. His despondency had now
reached the place of making unrea
sonable demands and of discredit
ing the witness of others.
We are glad that we can close
our study on the note of renewed
faith and of
III. Full Confession (John 16:26-
29).
Note that the Lord was ready
fully to meet the demands of Thom
as, even though they were on the
unreasonable side. That was un
doubtedly because he knew the es
sential fineness and trueness of
Thomas.
His doubts were unfortunate and
entirely unnecessary, but they were
genuine. No real doubter will ever
remain one long, for if he brings a
genuine doubt to the Lord, he will
find it fully met. It is the triflers,
those who use their doubts to hide
their sins, and those who are un
willing to bring their dark thoughts
into the light of the presence of
Jesus, who go on doubting year aft
er year.
Notice the comment of Jesus fol
lowing the glad and complete con
fession of faith by Thomas. It is a
good thing to believe because one
has seen and been convinced. That
is proper and blessed.
But the real fullness of blessing
comes to the one who can rise to
faith in Christ because of his word,
quite apart from the visible or tan
gible evidence. This is real Chris
tian faith which declares Christ to
be our Lord and our God, the one
whom having not seen, we love (I
Pet. 1:8).
Perry May 9—Canvicted of raping
an 8-year-old girl while she was a
visitor in his house, Thomas H.
Cook, 38-year-old Warner Robins
man was sentenced Thursday to
serve 18 to 20 years in the state
penitentiary.
A recommendation of mercy in
the jury's verdict required a peni
tentiary sentence in what is other
wise a capital offense. ,
The verdict was returned at 3
p. m. today. The jury was given
the case at 8 p. m yesterday.
Judge Mallory Atkinson pro
nounced the sentence.
Cook’s attorney’s, Grady Gil-
llon if Macon and A. M. (Phil)
Anderson of Perry, indicated that
a motion for a new trial would be
filed, but it had not been received
when the clerk’s office closed this
afternoon.
Cook was charged with assault
ing taking the child into his bed
when she came to his home March
8 to spend the night with Cook's
15Vear-old daughter. Cook denied
the charge. His daughter testified
that the child slept with her and
was not disturbed and Cook’s
mother testified she spent that
night at the home and heard noth
ing to indicate the assault had—’
taken place.
The ennd was hospitalized for
several days after the alleged at
tack.
Move