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THE CHEROKEE ADVANCE, CANTON. GEORGIA.
McCoramiefll Writes of
Early Hanging Here
(By I). I). McConnell in Vernon [we spent the night drank a cup
(Texas,) Call) full of coffee and had become
rigid with spasms. The Jimson
In the year 1863, we witness- jseed got into the coffee that
ed the trial of a negro named 1 morning through mistake; the
Sam Steele, at Canton, Ga., [old lady who made the coffee
charged with poisoning the,that morning had set the cup
family of his master, James with the ground coffee by the
Steele, by use of Jimson weed i side of a cup of Jimson seed,
seed, administered in coffee | which she had gathered to use
the family drank at the morn- for poultices for rheumatism
ing meal.
They recovered from the ef
fects of the poisoning, but the
negro, then a slave, was tried
in the circuit court under the
laws then existing in the Con
federate States and we later on
in that year saw him hung for
this offense near the town
Canton, Ga.
Substitutes were then in gen
eral use for coffee and it was
not very difficult to place
and got this cup and emptied
into the coffee pot.
We have never heard of a
death from taking Jimson seed,
but we believe if taken in a
large quantity would produce
death ; at least that was the de
cision of the court and .jury in
of the trial of the case of Sam
Steele, as a slave in 1863, at
Canton, Ga.
There are many native plants
that grow right here in Vernon
ground Jimson weed seed in the ithat the people in general don’t
coffee to be drank. Parched j know about. Polk root is con-
wheat, rye, ochra, goobers and jsidered by some people as pois-
many other things were then onous, yet in the spring of the
used as a substitute for coffee,
as real coffee could not be had
during those war times.
Under the laws of Georgia
prior to 1966, negroes were
chattels and the property of
slave owners and the courts did
not try them for any offense
save where the criminal stat
utes provided for the infliction
of death for the punishment of
the offense committed, con.se-
quently there were no negroes
in the jails or penitentiary of
Georgia prior to 1866. The ad
ministering of poison with the
intent to kill a white person or
persons by a negro was one of
the offenses that called for cap
ital punishment of a negro up
on conviction.
We, as a very small boy,
witnessed the trial of this negro
Sam Steele, and heard the evi
dence in the case
year many families mix it with
turnips and spring greens and
cook it for table use. We know
of a large Polk stalk growing
beside of Sink’s Studio here in
Vernon. The Mexican buck
eye, we consider very poison
ous, if eaten, yet back in the
old states it is used by moon
shiners in giving their liquor a
sparkling appearance. The
whiskey is dripped through
beaten buckeye balls as it
comes from the moonshine dis
tillery.
SKETCH OF PROF. CM
Morning and Evening
By Bob Taylor
7
SAW the morning, with purple quiver and burnish
ed brow, stand tiptoe on the horizon, and shoot
beams at the vanishing darkness of night, then
reach up and gather the stars and hide them in her bos
om, and then bend down and tickle the slumbering
world with straws of light till it woke with laughter and
with song. ^A thousand bugle calls from the rosy fires
of the east heralded her coming; a thousand smiling
meadows kissed her garments as she passed and ten
thousand laughing gardens unfurled their flower-flags
to greet her. The heart of the deep forest throbbed a
tribute of birdsong, and the bright waters rippled a
melody of welcome. Young life and love, radient with
hope and sparkiing wdth dewdrops of exhaultant joy,
came hand in hand, tripping and dancing in her shining
train, and I wish that the heaven of morning might last
forever.
I saw the evening hang her silver crescent on the sky
and rival the splendor of the dawn with the glory of the
twdlight. 1 saw her wrap Ihe shadows around her, and
with a lullaby on her lips, rock the weary world to rest;
then I saw her with her dipper full of dewdrops and her
basket full of dreams, slip back to the horizon of the
morning and steal the stars again. The gardens fruled
their 1 lag-flowers and the meadows fell asleep; the song
of the forest melted into silence and melancholy waters
whispered a pensive goodnight to the drowsy birds and
sleepy hollows. Life and love, with the halo parting
day upon her brows and the twilight tangled in her hair,
walked arm and arm among the gathering shadows and
wove all the sweet memories of the morning into their
happy evening that might never end.
Thus life steals us from the dust. We wake to think
pnd sleep to dream. We love and laugh and weep and
sing and sigh until death steals us back to dust again.
IB GETS PROMINENT YOUNG
CHEROKEE AT FESTIVAL
Atlanta, Nov. 3.— (Special)
—Cherokee County will over
look the most valuable oppor
tunity of the year for advertis
ing its industries and resources,
unless it has representation in
the Agricultural Day parade
and exhibition in ‘ Atlanta,
Thursday, November 18. This
is the view expressed by the di
rectors of the Georgia Harvest
Festival Association, including
prominent citizens from every
section of the state.
Columbia, Miss., Nov.3.—
Jack Hughes, 30 years old.
member of a prominent family
of Washington Parish, Louisi
ana, adjoining this county, was
taken from the county jail here
by a party of masked men and
hanged to a tree a short dis
tance outside the city limits.
Hughes was under arrest in con
nection with the murder of
Larue Holloway, a well-known
young man of this place, who
was killed near here on the
night of October 21.
Awakened by Masked Men
Otho Fortenberry, the jailer,
who occupied quarters on the
second floor, was awakened
The directors call attention —
to the fact that the expense is by three masked men, who, aft
comparatively small and that lei' forcing him to give up the
no enterprising county can af-'key to the cell occupied by
WILSON ISSUES HMG PROCLAMATION
The October number of
“School and Home,” published
in Atlanta, has the following to
As the par-! s uy of Prof. M. C. Gay, an old
ties recovered from the effects [Cherokee boy who has made
of the poisoning with Jimson [good and who has a large num-
weed seed, the question to be ber of friends over this section,
decided by the court and jury, nil of whom are watching his
was Jimson weed a deadly
poison if administered and
drank as coffee. The State
proved without any difficulty
by the negro cook and others
that Sam Steele placed ground
Jimson weed in the coffee
career with interest:
PRINCIPAL M. C. GAY.
On front cover is adorned
this month by a photo of Prof.
M. C. Gay, Principal of the
Ninth District Agricultural
High School at Clarksville, Ga.
which was drank by the Steele I They say a new spaper cut is the
family that morning, which | “unkindest cut of all.” The
produced blindness and drunk- j photo we used was inadequate
ness anti rendered the victims innd the biographical sketch
to crazyness for about twenty- [herewith is inadequate to the
four hours after drinking the [proper presentation of this fine
coffee that contained the Jim- u< ?9”thc;rn gentieman to our
President Wilson has design
ated Thursday, Nov. 25th, as
Thanksgiving day, «n the follow
ing proclamation:
It has long been the honored
custom of our people to turn in
the fruitful autumn of the year
States of America, do hereby
designate Thursday, November
25 next, as a day of thanksgiv
ing and prayer, and invite the
people throughout the land to
cease from their several occu
pations and in their several
A , pi T, e ?- n A ‘ hi,nk »K lvin K ‘° homes or places of worship ren-
Almighty God for His many der thanks to Almi M G p od
blessings and mercies to us as a | In witneas where * f \ havc
nation. Ihe year that is now ihereunto set my hand and eaus-
drawing to a close since we last | ed the seal of the United statca
observed our day of national to be fixed . Done at the city
thanksgiving has been, while of Washington October 28 in
» r*aL d w P .'i n or becau ^ °f the year of our Lordone thou",
the m ghty forces of war and o1 aru j n j ne hundred and fifteen
changes which have disturbed
and of the independence of the
lord to stay out. An attractive
float can be prepared for $20
or $25, and the counties can
put as much more into it as
they wish.
Counties all over the state
are planning to make splendid
showing on this occasion. B. A.
Taylor, of Dalton, who was
here this week, stated that
Whitfield county is now build
ing three magnificent floats ill
ustrative of its many industries.
The first prize for distinctly ag
ricultural floats is $1,000 in
gold, and other prizes include
valuable agricultural imple
ments of all kinds.
In many counties the women
are planning to have their own
representatives in this parade.
Mrs. J. F. Hunt, of Cartersville,
chairman of the woman’s com
mittee, is now’ getting up a mag
nificent float from that county.
Gordon County women are also
engaged in preparing a float re
presentative of their efforts. In
dications are there will be fifty
floats prepared by Georgia
women in the parade, exhibit
ing all kinds of domestic and
household work, for which
many valuable prizes have
been offered.
The floats in the parade will
be judged as follows: Fifty
points for the best artistic ef
fect, 25 points for the best vari
Hughes, bound him to his bed
The lynchers worked quietly,
Fortenberry told the sheriff,
forcing Hughes to put on his
clothes and leaving the build
ing without awakening two pris
oners in adjoining cells. Forten
berry said the corridor was
crowded with masked men and
that through a window he saw
seven automobiles parked in
front of the jail.
The jailer, who was found
and released by a boarder in
Fortenberry’s household, sever
al hours later, reported to the
sheriff and district attorney,
and posses immediately began
a search for the prisoner and
his abductors.
Body Swinging to a Tree
A short distance outside the
city a posse found a new felt
hat, with a rope tied around
the crown, lying in the middle
of the road, one end of the rope
stretching across the highway
and down a cowpath. A few
yards farther on, Hughes’ body
was found swinging from a tree
According to the authorities,
persons who witnessed the kill
ing of Holloway in a Iqmber
camp near here, said that
Hughes shot the young man in
the back without provocation.
Holloway at the time, it was
said, was engaged in a fight
with another person, while
son \yeed seed.
Judge Rice, an eminent law
yer, presided at this trial and
the question of Jimson weed
seed being fatally poison, if
drank or eaten by any person [value oi the University’s work
was fully gone into in the trial th an 1° sa .v, “It is to be measur-
readers. Chancellor Barrow,
in an address at Clayton on the
work of the University of Geor
gia, could find no better way
to express his estimate of the
illy gone
of this negro, Sam Steele. He
was found guilty by a white
jury and hanged by the sheriff
of Cherokee county for the of
fense.
ed by the men it turns out. It
turns out such men as M. C.
Gay.”
Milton C. Gay was born in
[Cherokee county, Ga., 1884. He
This was the second legal | was educated in public schools
hanging we had ever witness- °i hi 8 home county, and was
ed. The first, as we have told [graduated at the North Geor-
in a previous article, was thejg‘ a Agricultural College, Dah-
legal hanging of Lingo, near Jonega, 1908, with Ph. B. de-
Kennesaw mountain. ^ree.J. then served as princi-
Jimson weed, we learned .L ,al W interville High School
from 1908 to 1910. He entered
the Georgia State College of
Agriculture in 1910, taking Ag-
'riculture exclusively for A
■from listening at this trial, gets
name from Jamestown, the
first English settlement in Vir- (
ginia. The settlers there C60k-p , , . . - , .
"€d some of the seed and those | whole year, missing only Chrint
mas day, and completing work
for the B. S. A. degree by the
fall of 1911. He then entered
the Graduate School, taking
both major and minor studies
in Agriculture, after which he
took a position as District
Agent in Corn Club work, Feb-
ruary, 1912.
He accepted tire
that ate them were temporarily
blind and crazy drunk for some
time afterwards. The weed
was afterwards called Jimson
the short pronunciation for
Jamestown, its place of first
discovery as poisonous.
Now some one may rise and
want to know how it is we re
collect so much about a court
proceeding as far back as 1863
Well, a few years afterwards
we had saved up some money
and had made arrangements to
attend school at Pine Log, Ga.
We had just began on the term
when my room-mate and my
self accepted an invitation to
spend the night with some of
our class-mates and next morn
ing we drank some coffee for
breakfast, but as it did not taste
NOTICE.
at the office of Ordinary Sat
terfield.
principal-
ship of the Ninth District Agri
cultural School, June, 1912,
which position he still holds.
This last institution has been
brought to a high degree of ef
ficiency under his manage
ment.
Prof. Gay secured the Joint
County Institute for the Ninth
District last summer and took
care of it in splendid style for
T
,t\vo weeks. This was one of
good, only drank about a half [the most successful meetings
a cupfull. My room-mate did [tor teachers of the year. His
not drink any cotiee that morn- last and possibly the most sue-.
ing. We started back to school [cessful venture is the School for land clearer preceptions of the
that morning from the neigh- Grown-Ups, operated for two'essential welfare of the nation,
bor boarding place in the coun- [weeks at Clarksville. In this
try. We remarked to our class- school he has demonstrated
mate as we walked on the way [that grown-ups may be induced
a. i i a-u.,,. —- to go to school and trained to
remarkable attainments in a
short time.
blessintr for'us * yC " of 8pecial ; United St,.to., of America the
I i .» , (one hundred and fiftieth. By
Another year of peace* has the president, Woodrow Wil-
been vouchsafed us; another son, Robert Lansing, secretary
year in which not only to take of state,
thought of our duty to ourselves J
and to mankind but also to ad-j
just ourselves to the Many re
sponsibilities thrust upon us by [ All Justices of the Peace and 1
a war which has involved al-i Notaries Public can secure the 1
most the whole of Europe. We 1
have been able to assert our
rights and the rights of man
kind without breach of friend-
diip with the great nations
with whom we have had to deal
and while we have asserted our
rights, we have been able also
to perform duties and exercise
privileges of succor and help
fulness which should serve to
demonstrate our desire to make
the offices of friendship the
means of truly disinterested
unselfish service.
Our ability to serve aM who
could avail themselves of our
services in the midst of crises
has been increased, by a grac
ious providence, by more and
more abundant crops; our am
ple financial resources have en
abled us to steady the markets
of the world and facilitate nec
essary movement of commrece
which the war otherwise might
have rendered impossible; and
our people have come more and
more to a sober realization of
the part they have been called
upon to play in a time when all
the world is shaken by unparal
leled distresses and disasters.
The extraordinary circum
stances of such a time have done
much to quicken our national
consciousness and deepen and
confirm our confidence in the
principles of peace and free
dom by which we have always
sought to be guided. Out of
darkness and perplexities have
come firmer counsels of policy
to school that we were going
blind and he had to lead us to
our boarding place at Fine Log.
We could not see nor never
knew' anything until that night.
The old gentieman at the place
Enter the Contest NOW.
'We have prospered while oth
er people were at war, but our
prosperity has been vouchsafed
us, I believe, only that w T e
might the better perform the
functions which war rendered
it possible for them to perform.
Now, therefore, I, Woodrow
Wilson, president of the United
WOMAN REFUSES
OPERATION
Tells How She Was Saved
by Taking Lydia E. Pink-
ham’s Vegetable
Compound.
Louiaville, Ky.—“ I think if more auf-
fering women would take Lydia E.
Pinkham’e Vegeta-
m ble Compound they
| would enjoy better
^.health. I suffered
from a female trou
ble, and the doctors
decided I had a
tumorous growth
and would have to
be operated upon,
but I refused as 1 do
not believe in opera*
tions. I had fainting spells, bloated,
and could hardly stand the pain in my
left side. My husband insisted that I
try Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable
Compound, and I am sc. thankful I did,
for I am now a well woman. I sleep
better, do all my housework and take
long walks. I never fail to praise Lydia
E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound for
my good health.’’—Mrs. J. M. Resch,
1300 West Broadway, Louisville, Ky.
Since we guarantee that all testimo
nials which we publish are genuine, is it
not fair to suppose that if I.ydia E.
Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound has the
virtue to help these women it will help
any other woman who is sulfering in a
like manner ?
If you are ill do not drag along until
an operation is necessary, but at once
take Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable
Compound.
Write to Lydia E. Pinkliam
Medicine Co., (confidential) Lynn,
Mass. Your letter wil be opened,
read and answered by a woman
and field in strict confidence.
Z'lllU 25 pointeforthe Hughes was an on-looker
Thedetails of the parade are ’ iMV'.SI . “ m “‘ i
in of the Ad Men’s Club ^Took him in'"
the end tkttshaU In'dl'tinct" “^ f ellvered him to »
ly a Georgia affair representa- TT ’ „ , . , ,
five of the whole state. It is' \ Iu P T es formerly resided at
felt that it is an opportunity for * sa , ’ f' a '» but came here sev-
Cherokee County which it can- ® ra months ago to accept a
not afford to overlook. loremanship with a lumber
concern.
None Equal to Chamberlain’s At Hands of Unknown Persons.
j A coroner s jury, which view-
, /r , , ed the body, returned a verdict
I Imve tried most all of the that Hughes had met his death
cough cures and find that there a t the hands of a person, or
is none that equal Chamber- persons, unknown. An exami-
lain’s Cough Remedy. It has nation indicated that he had
never failed to give me prompt strangled to death, as his neck
relief, writes W. V. Harner, was not broken, physicians tes-
Montpelier, Ind. When you tified.
have a cold give this remedy a! „ ,,
a ri S Dlen n d d id 8 'mediXTta "ob* k «H»*'°* Hpll '’ w U “>» author!
LinabYe everywhere ' ° b ' ‘if 8 ’ ‘rouble because of
tamable e\e > . the excitement here, guarded
Read particulars about the
Advance Contest elsewhere.
Let us send you the Advance.
the jail, but recently relaxed
their vigilance. District Attor
ney Hall announced that the
grand jury would be requested
to investigate the lynching.
8
Saved Girl’s Life
“I want to tell you what wonderful benefit I have re
ceived from the use of Thedford’s Black-D/aught,” writes
Mrs. Sylvania Woods, of Clifton Mills, Ky.
“It certainly has no equal for la grippe, bad colds,
liver and stomach troubles. 1 firmly believe Black-Draught
saved my little girl's life. When she had the measles,
they went in on her, but one good dose of Thedford’s
Black-Draught made them break out, and she has had no
more trouble. 1 shall never be without
Slack-Draught
m
&
©
in my home.” For constipation, indigestion, headache, dizzi
ness, malaria, chills and fever, biliousness, and all similar
ailments, Thedford’s Black-Draught has proved itself a safe,
reliable, gentle and valuable remedy.
If you suffer from any of these complaints, try Black-
Draught It is a medicine of known merit Seventy-five
years of splendid success proves its value. Good for
young and old. For sale everywhere. Price 25 cents. ^
#
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