Newspaper Page Text
VOL. X L I V
NAN HERALD & ADVERTISER
NEWNAN, GA., FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 7, 1909.
NO. 51.
BAGGING AND TIES
Before you buy your Bagging and Ties we want
to make you some prices, as we had the foresight to
buy before the advance. We also have the best duck
cotton Pick Sacks at 25c. each.
We have just received a car-load of Shorts, Bran,
:and Bran and Shorts mixed, on which we can make
you some very close prices. We also carry the best
feed Cotton Seed Meal for your cow. We have, too,
•a quantity of the best Georgia Rye.
“Merry Widow” Tobacco is the finest on earth
for the price. Just received 1,000 lbs., and must sell
it at once ; so, while it lasts, we will continue to sell
at 10c. plug, or a 10-lb. box for $3.25.
Don’t forget that we sell the famous “Stronger
Than the Law” Shoes—the only water-proof shoe on
the market. Every pair guaranteed, and we are still
selling them at the old price.
You can get the genuine Jeans Pants from us—
.the kind your mother used to make—(“Gold Medal”
label.)
Come to see us and let us figure with you on
anything you may need.
T. G. Farmer & Sons Co.
19 Court Square : : 6 and 8 W. Washington
Telephone 147
*
«g»
♦ September*
Finds us with our preparations for the Fall trade
complete and ready for business. Our Falljand
Winter goods are now here, and we are showing the
largest stock of
Dry Goods, Clothing, Dress
*8* Goods, Shoes, Hats, Etc.,
That we have ever carried. Have just received a
lot of Children’s Ready-made Dresses—sizes from 6
to 14.
Make up your mind now to wear one of our suits’
this season. We handle the celebrated “KAN’T-
BE-BEAT” line. They have always been noted for
their perfect-fitting and wearing qualities, and the
moderate price. We are showing some pretty pat
terns in this clothing, and our line for 1909 is big
ger, better and brighter than ever. Our stock of
odd Trousers is also complete—prices $2 to $5—and
at every price named we offer the very best values.
We have several misses’and ladies’ Coat Suits (
that we will sell at lower prices than you will find
elsewhere.
We invite comparison, and ask for business only
on the merits of our merchandise.
I 1
H. C. ARNALL MDSE. CO.
AUTUMN.
Tis nil n myth that Autumn grieves,
For watch the rain amid the leaves;
With silver fingers dimly seen
It makes each one a tambourine,
And swings and leaps with elfin mirth
To kiss the brow of mother earth;
Or, laughing ’mid the trembling grass.
It nods a greeting as you pass.
Oh, hear the rain among the leaves—
’Tis all a myth that Autumn griuves!
’Tis all a myth that Autumn grieves.
For list the wind among the sheaves;
Far sweeter than the breath of May
Or storied scents of old Cathay,
It blends the perfumes rare and good
Of spicy pine and hickory wood;
And with a voice as gay as rhyme
It prates of rifled mint and thyme.
Oh, scent the wind among the sheaves—
’Tis all a myth that Autumn grieves!
'Tis all a myth that Autumn grieves;
Behold the wondrous web she weaves!
By viewless hands her thread is spun
Of evening vapors shyly won.
Across the grass from side to side
A myriad unseen shuttles glide
Throughout the night, till on the height
Aurora leads the laggard light.
Behold the wondrous web she weaves—
’Tis all a myth that Autumn grieves!
—[Samuel Minturn Peck.
A CHRISTMAS TRAGEDY
FORTY-THREE YEARS AGO
Newberry (S. C.) Observer. 31st ult.
Mr. and Mrs. Elisha C. Cureton left
Newberry yesterday. Their home is
at Moreland, Ga. Mrs. Cureton is a
daughter of Mr. James B. Reagin, of
Newberry. Mr. Cureton himself once
lived in this county. He has many
relatives and friends here, who have
known and respected him for many
years. Strangers may have noticed a
clean-shaven, handsome man of middle
life, of a cheerful and intellectual face,
propelling himself along the sidewalks
in a wheel-chair. That was Mr. E. C.
Cureton, of Moreland, Ga., out here on
a visit with his wife to her father’s
family. Mr. Cureton, though a man of
affairs and the head of a large and
prosperous business, has not walked a
step in forty-three years.
Mr. Cureton’s father was James
Cureton, a native of this county. His
mother was a Schumpert. In 1889 they
moved, with the Youngs and Carmi-
cals, to Coweta county, Georgia. In
1862 he moved back to his Newberry
county home, retaining ownership of
his Georgia farm.
On the night of December 25, 1865,
a party of thirty or forty negroes went
out from the town of Newberry, armed
with rifles and muskets, shotguns and
pistols. At that time the negroes had
been free less than a year. There was
no civil law in South Carolina, and the
administration of justice was in the
hands of Yankee garrisons. The garri
son stationed at Newberry was com
posed of as thorough a gang of scoun
drels as ever wore white skins. They
had undoubtedly filled the negroes’
minds with the notion of killing off the
white men and taking possession of the
country, as some of the negroes after
wards confessed, and had supplied them
with guns and ammunition, with the
admonition to “return them before
daylight.’’
Between 9 and 9 :R0 this gang of ne
groes, without any warning and fof no
provocation on earth, broke into the
home <,f Mr. James Cureton, 8 miles
from Newberry, the crashing of the
front door being the lirst intimation
the family had of danger. It was a
large two-story dwelling. Downstairs
in one room were Mr. and Mrs. Cure-
ton, and on a “trundle” bed their two
little girls. The fire had not burned
out and there was a flickering light on
the hearth. Outside the moon was
shining brightly from the clear, cold
sky. In the upstairs rooms were their
daughter, Mrs. Harris, the young wid
ow of a Confederate soldier; their son-
in-law and daughter, Mr. arid Mrs.
George Broom, who had been married
six months, and their 18-year-old son,
E. C. The elder son, Fred, wno had
been a member of the “Boy Volun
teers,” Go. A of the 4th Batallion, had
been sent by his father to their former
home in Coweta county, Georgia.
When the front door crashed in and
the noisy, half-drunken fiends rushed
in Mr. Cureton leaped out of bed, and
was fired upon by several of the party.
An ounce ball from an army rifle
pierced his right lung and went clean
through his body. He dropped down on
a chair and fell over on the bed. Mrs.
Cureton caught up the two girls from
the “trundle” bed and rushed upstairs
with them. The negroes continued to
shoot and to yell like demons, demand
ing, “Where is George Broom?” The
wife and children had gathered at the
head of the stairs, where Mr. Broom
stood with a five-barrel pistol, deter
mined to get as many of them as he
could if they attempted to climb the
stairway. Rushing from the yard into
the house and then into the yard again
the negroes behaved like fiends incar
nate; but none attempted to go up
stairs.
Meantime the 13-year-old son, unob
served by the others, slipped down the
stairway and, going to his father’s
room, picked up a double-barrel shot
gun that stood in a corner and was
turning with it when a negro raised his
army rifle and fired at him. He felt a
stinging sensation behind the shoulder,
and fell over on the floor; the ounce
ball had ploughed its way through the
spinal column. He thought he had re
ceived his dentil wound, hut felt no
pain—and never afterwards felt any
pain from the wound.
At the earnest entreaties of the wo
men Mr. Broom consented to go for
help; for the negroes had shouted up
the stairs that, if he didn’t come down
they would set fire to the house. He
went to a back window, got on the roof
of a shed-room, and reaching the edge
leaped from the roof, passing right
over the heads of two or three nergoes
who were standing under the eaves.
He struck the ground running. As soon
as they had recovered from their sur
prise they lired several shots at him
and started in pursuit, hut could not
overtake him. Mrs. Broom missed hot
little brother, and in desperation went
down to her father’s room, where some
of the negroes still were. She stood in
the door leading into an adjoining room
and while there saw three negroes,
who were at another door, poke their
guns through the crack of the door and
fire at her father, who was sitting on
a chair with his body fallen on the bed,
and partly concealed by the open door.
He uttered no sound, and she supposed
—as they had all supposed since the
shooting lirst began—that lie was dead.
While she stood there searching the
room with her eyes for her brother she
heard him call her. She went to him.
He told her he was wounded and could
not walk, and asked her to take him
out of the room. She gathered him un
der the arms and, half toting and half
dragging, was carrying him from the
room, when a negro, with his army ri
fle, lired at her, the ball passing so
close to her head that the concussion
knocked her to the floor. When she
came to herself her mother was there,
and, one taking the lad by his body,
the other by his knees, they carried
him upstairs to his bed.
The negroes left soon after that, and
when the wife and daughters came
down stairs, expecting of course to find
the husband and father dead, they saw
a most pathetic sight. Ilia nightshirt
was on fire and his breast severely
burned, and he was bending over with
his hand to the floor dipping up his
own blood with which he was trying to
extinguish the fire, which was burning
his shirt, and also the blaze chat had
spread to the bedclothes. All the time,
lie told afterwards, he was perfectly
donscious, but made no noise, hoping
that when the nergoos thought he was
dead they would go away.
George Broom, when ho left the
house, went first to Mr. Jacob Long's
about a mile away, and thence to Mr.
Ellis Schumpert’s, and thence to Mr.
George Schumpert’s, where the young
people of the neighborhood were gath
ered at a party. When he returned
with assistance it was near 2 o’clock.
The white men gathered rapidly. Phy
sicians at Newberry and Prosperity
were sent for. They found that, be
sides the wound In the lung, through
which the air rushed at every breath,
Mr. Cureton had received a heavy
charge of buckshot in his side or hip.
The doctors thought it was no use to
dress his wounds; that he must die
very soon; but Dr. McFall insisted,
and his wounds were dressed. Strange
to say, the wound through the lung
began to heal at once, and he would
have recovered but for the wound in
the Hide, which proved fatal, death oc
curring five weeks later, Jan. 29, 1866.
When the white men of the neighbor
hood had gathered at the Cureton
home, in response to the alarm given
by George Brooin, and the doctors had
been sent for, search was begun at
once for the guilty nergoes. By the
early morning several had been caught,
and, their liquor having died down and
being separated from their leaders,
their courage failed them, and, in the
presence of the justly infuriated
whites, they were seized with abject
terror, and began to confess and to re
veal the names of their accomplices in
crime. The leader was a negro preach
er who had belonged to Mr. Jacob
Long. There were several others of
the immediate neighorhood, though
most of them had come from about the
town of Newberry. One of them was a
young negro named Dave Harris, who
had been given to Mrs. Harris by her
father-in-law. He was a sort of pet of
the family, when a slave, and after
wards; was very fond of the young
Cureton children and they of him. That
very Christmas morning Dave had
come up to the "big house” and called
out “ ‘Christmas gif,’ Mars James,”
and received his gift. He then told
Mr. Cureton that he was going to town
that day, and asked if he eould do any
thing for him before he should go. Mr.
Cureton told him to catch and saddle
his horse for him and hitch him at the
gate, and he did so. That night, in the
midst of the pandemonium, even the
children recognized Dave’s voice as,
inflamed with liquor, he joined in the
maledictions and curses against the
white people. Not one of them had
a grievance of any kind against Mr.
Cureton, who was a good, kind man.
Either of their own design or instigated
by the Yankee garrison they said the
latter they had set out to murder all
the men in that neighborhood and to
take possession. Their plan was, after
killing Mr. Cureton and Mr. Broom, to
proceed to the homes of Mr. Jacob
Long, Mr. Elisha Schumpert, Capt.
Matthew Hall, Col. William Lester,
and others, and to kill all the white
men there; and they would have done
so hut that they knew Mr. Broom had
given them warning.
Mr. Cureton recognized several of
the party, and so had Mr. and Mrs.
Broom.
After twelve or thirteen of the mur
derous band had been caught by the
white men of the community the ques
tion came up as to what should he done
with them. The younger men were
for putting them out of the way with
out other formality of the law than
their own verdict of their guilt; hut
the older men begged them to wait.
They consented to wait until they could
send to town and consult with the offi
cers of the garrison. The officers were
induced to go out to the scene of the
crime, where they might see the evi
dences of the fiendish work the father
fearfully wounded with guns and his
head hacked witli an old sabre, one of
the ears being cut almost from his
head; the lad desperately wounded;
the doors broken down, the window-
panes shattered, and the many bullet-
holes in the walls of the house. They
went and saw, and expressed horror at
the deed, and promised that if the ne
groes—whom the men had hidden away
to await the decision—were committed
to jail they would see that justice
should be strictly and speedily adminis
tered and punishment meted out to the
guilty. Acting upon this promise, the
lives of the negroes were spared and
they were brought to Newberry and
committed to jail.
So, on the promise of the officers of
the Yankee garrison that the negroes
would be brought speedily to trial and
would have strict justice meted out to
the guilty, the white men brought the
negroes to the county jail.
Mr. James Cureton, before his death,
knowing the horrible associations that
would linger around the old home, ad
vised his family that, as soon as his af
fairs could be settled up, they should
return to Coweta county, Ga., and
make their home there. In March they
were ready to go; but the negroes had
not yet been brought to trial. All the
family except Mr. and Mrs. George
Broorh left Newberry county that
month for Georgia. Mr. and Mrs.
Broom had recognized several of the
negroes on Christmas night, and they
remained in the county in order to tes
tify again&t them, the garrison promis
ing that the trial would soon come on.
In April the Yankee officers an
nounced that it was necessary to carry
the accused to “headquarters” in Co
lumbia for trial; t.hat the trial would
come olf at an early date, and that Mr.
and Mrs. Broom would lie notified when
to appear in Columbia as witnesses.
They waited until some time in tKe
month of April, and then learned that
the negroes, every one, had been
turned loose without any form of trial
whatever. Most of them left the coun
try, fearing to return. The leader,
Rev. William Long, who had belonged
to Mr. Jacob Long, father of Mr. G.
F. Long, disappeared entirely—going
North, no doubt. Lewis, a negro that
had ([belonged to Mr. G. F. Long, re
mained in Columbia, or near there, and
Mr. Long saw him some years after
wards in that city, and subsequently
received a letter from him asking him
for financial help—- which, of course, he
did not get. Lang Singley, who had
belonged to Mr. Jacob Long, returned
after a time to the neighborhood, and
on the night of November 6, 1908, was
shot and killed by Lou Singley, his
daughter-in-law, who was convicted of
manslaughter and sentenced to two
years in the penitentiary.
There was at least one of the gang
that met hiH reward, though it is a pity
that he could not have been hanged
three times to pay for the three lives
that he had, by his own confesion, ta
ken -one very close upon the other.
His fate is best told by his own confes
sion, which follows;
CONFESSION OF LONDON JONES, FREED-
MAN.
Rev. Samuel Leard in Chester (S. C.) Standard,
1866.
In giving the following confession of
the above-named notorious robber and
murderer, it is necessary that I should
state that I have given the facts as
nearly as I can. in his own words, and
that I assume no responsibility as to
the truthfulness of his statements.
They were made to me voluntarily on
his part, and with the knowledge that
it was my intention to make them pub
lic. He says:
“I was born in Newberry district,
S. G, and am now about twenty-two
years of age. I have no children. I
formerly belonged to Mr. Lambert
Jones, of Newberry district. I knew
Belton Cline from a boy, and regard
him as wanting in good sense. I joined
the Methodist church, South, some
years ago, under the ministry of the
Rev. .1. R. Piokett, hut being hired out
to persons who treated me roughly, 1
soon lost all religious concern and be
came reckless, in 1861 i went into
the army with my young master and
remained with him until the close of
the war. About the 1st of April I
moved to Columbia. But before that,
on the Monday night before last. Christ
mas, I helped to kill .James Cureton.
Mv gun was near his body when I
fired. He died a few days afterwards,
and if it was buckshot that killed him,
then l am the man that killed him, for
my gun was loaded with buckshot. We
went into the house after George
Broom, who had married Cureton’s
daughter, intending to shoot him, hut
he got away. We did not intend to rob
the house, or insult the females.
“Belton Cline brought Morris to me
in Columbia, and through their persua
sion 1 agreed to go to Chester to rob
Mr. A. 1). Walker. This was on Friday
night before the murder of Mr. Walk
er. 1 never saw Morris until that
night. It was not our intention to kill
Mr. Walker, hut only to rob him. We
came on Sunday night on the train
from Columbia. Morris gave us whis
key, hut I was not drunk I knew all 1
was doing perfectly well, Morris laid
the plan, and we did just as we were
told to do. I jumped on Mr. Walker
first, while Belt ran after Mr. Estes.
He (Walker) turned suddenly around
and asked, ‘What do you mean?’ 1
threw him down and by that time Mor
ris and Belt both came. I then started
after Estes, and when I got. about a
hundred yards I heard a pistol lire. I
believe that Belton Cline shot Mr v
Walker, ns Morris was very angry
about his being killed and left us im
mediately. Bolt and 1 then went to
the house, and 1 shot the pistol into
the house for the purpose of scaring
Estes. We did not intend to kill Mrs.
Walker or Estes, as we easily could
have done so if we wished. I cut the
wardrobe with an axe. We got only
$6.85 in money, besides the watch and
clothing. As we came hack Belt ran
his hand in Mr. Walker’s pocket and
got out two dollars more. (This hap
pened on the night of the 22d of July.)
"On the following Wednesday we
went into the neighborhood of Mr.
Lane in Newberry, and watched for a
chance to murder and rob him until
Friday night, when we accomplished
it. There were six of us altogether.
(Mr. C. G. Clinton, in Chester, has
their names in an affidavit made by Lon
don on Friday morning just before his
execution.) We intended to murder Mr.
Lane, and then rob the house. Morris
waked him up in the yard where he
was sleeping, and by agreement made
beforehand, while Morris was talking to
him, 1 slipped around behind him and
struck him on the head with an axe.
The first blow killed him, but I hit him
the second time to make sure work of
it. Belt and I then went through the
house, hunting the money, the most of
which we gave to Morris, who put it
in a carpet-bag. We put. some into our
own pockets, and that was all wo ever
got. I had some $800, and afterwards
Belt gave me $100 more, in all $900. I
have not seen Morris since that night.
Belt and I went ■ to Petersburg. Va.,
where I spent the most of my money
gambling. ”
The above are the leading particulars
of the crime, as detailed by London to
me within a few days of his execution,
and we leave your readers to form
their own judgment as to their reliabil
ity. The circumstances connected with
his apprehension, trial and escape from
prison, and recapture, are all too well
known to need repetition Imre. Of one
subject alone in connection with the
prisoner we shall speak, and that is his
repentance, and the apparent change
in his moral character. Soon after sen
tence of death was passed upon him I
was sent for to visit him in the prison.
1 found him in distress of mind and
apparently very desirous of religious
instruction. He seemed to have an
imperfect hut real sorrow for the sins
of his past life. This I endeavored to
excite still more, and labored first of
all to show him the horrible nature of
the crimes he had committed. He con
fessed his ignorance of all religious ex
perience—that he did not know how to
pray—and that he was afraid to stand
in the presence of God with all his sins
resting upon him. 1 asked him if he
had not had misgivings of conscience
whilst pursuing his course of crime.
He replied that he had been reckless,
and did not (at that time) care what
might happen to him. But now he had
time to reflect and could not think of
the certain approach of death without
alarm. I knew the difficulty of the
task before me, and sought on the one
hand to encourage him to pray and
hope for pardon ; and on the other, not
to he in haste to conclude that God had
forgiven him. A large part of Friday
(the day of his execution) morning I
spent with him in his cell, and left him
an hour or so tiefore he was taken out,
with an humble hope that God had
been merciful even to so vile a sinner
as himself. He expressed great grati
tude for kindnesses shown him (luring
his imprisonment; begged the forgive
ness of all whom he had injured; sent
messages to his young master, mother,
wife and relatives; and with much ap
parent calmness and firmness went to
the place of execution.
Samuel Leard.
The Mr. Lane spoken of in the above
confession of London Jones was Mr.
Lemuel Lane, who was murdered at his
home in this county in 1866. One of
the murderers was hanged in this coun
ty. Mr. Lane was the father of Mr. J.
J. Lane and of the late John C. and
Wm. H. Lane, and the grandfather of
Messrs. Ernest and Olin Lane.