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OLD SERIES—VOL. LXXVIII.
(Bffißtttlt & Sentinel.
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tPIttMI MHMUB, ACfilsT 9.
THIS ALII MSI DINIfIK.
The great banquet to the alumni of the
University of Georgia—to be given during
commencement week —may be regarded as
an accomplished fact.
From the best authority, we learn that
a!) the preparations for the feast arc ra
pidly progressing. Tho contract for the
dinner has been mado and the wines or- ,
dcred.l
From oar exchanger, we see that in
nearly every city tho alumni of our Uni
versity are remembering Alma Mater.
Clubs arc being formed, tbc members of!
whiflh alt pfA to afiend tho dinnor
In our own oily there must be a large
number of graduates of this institution, i
Will they not meet and organize, as in
Macoo, Atlanta, Rome acd Columbus?
THK HARTFORD CONVENTION.
A proposition now before the Ljgisla
tnre of Connecticu*, to make Hartford
the permanent scat of Government, and
to build a Capitol, ,in that beautiful city,
provokes rcminibcence. The present
Capitol has been made famous as the
place in which sat tho first Convention of
States which contemplated a dissclution
oftbeUoion. This was long anterior to
the time in which this idea took root in
the South.
The Hartford Convention was an as
semblage of delegates from the six New
England States, which met at Hartford,
Connecticut, December 15th, 1814. The
grievance which provoked this assem
blage was tho war between tho United
States and Great Britain, growing out of
the Impressment and Right of Search
exorcised by the latter power upon the
high seas. This Convention originated
with Massachusetts. In February, 1814, a
oommittce of tho Legislature of Massa
chusetts made a report on National ptib
lio affair", jn which it was averred that
the Constitution of the United States had
been violated, and suggested the appoint
ment of delegates, to meet such as might
bo appoiuted by tho Legislatures of other
States, “for the purpose of deyieing
proper measures to procure the united
efforts of the Commercial States to
obtnin such amendments or explanations
of the Constitution as will secure
them from future evils.” This is the
earliest attempt to array States against
eaoh ether of differing interests—the com
mercial against tho agricultural; and al
though, politically, do special result ap
peared from the Convention which follow
ed, this pointed to a combination of com
mercial iotcrosts of tho East particularly,
and led to the combination and effective
use of political power ; held and directed
its use specifically to the furtherance of
the interests of tho “commercial State?.”
Tho six Now England States wero repre
sented by’ twelve out of twenty-six Sena
tors of tho Uoited States. Whether the
political divisors be Republican or Feder
al, Democratic or Whig, or Radical Re
publican or Conservative Democratic, bo
in tho ascendant, tho commercial interests
have been the chief objeots of “loyal” le
gislation.
In Ootobor, of the same year, another
oommittce of the Legislature of Massa
chusetts, of which Harrison Gray Otis
was tho chairman, reported that in the
position in which the State then stood, no
ohoico was loft her between submission to
the enemy, Great Britain, and the appro
priation to hor own defense those rovenucs
from her pcoplo which the General Gov
ernment had thought proper to expend
elsewhore.
Tho secrets of this Convention have
never been fully disclosed. Tho Conven
tion sat with olosed door?, and thereby
excluded the possibility of aoy other than
the Hicagro reports subsequently published.
It does not appear that actual and im
mediate secession was contemplated. But
there is little doubt but that submissive
to tho enciuy, or tho independent Republic
of New England, were the alternatives
which weighed upon tho minds of the
people, the Legislatures and their repre
sentatives in tho Hartford Convention.
Tho Convention remained in session to
the sth of January, 1815, tho composition
of tho assembly being as follows: From
Massachusetts, 9 delegates; from Con
necticut, 7; Rhode Island, 4 ; New Hamp
shire, 2; Vermont, 1, The occasion of
the gathering was this: that the New
England States deemed themselves hardly
used during tho war of 1814 by tho form,
or as some insist the fact, of a draft law
of tho Fedor’al Government, and in com
pliance with a call from Massachusetts for
a convention to protest against the same
appointed delegates. George Caret, of
Massachusetts, was elected President, and
Theodore Dwight appointed Scorctory.
The sessions of the Convention were held
with closed doors, so that its proceedings
were never known beyond the report and
a very meagre journal put forth. This re
port is ic. four resolutions, which may be
thus syr.opsized : First, denouncing mili
tary drafts or conscription by the Federal
Government; second, applying to said
government for leave for the New Eog
land States to defend themselves by State
action ; third, recommending the Legis
latures of the several New England
States to authorize the Governors
thereof, respectively, to put their
militia in fighting trim ; and, fourth,
calling on tho other States to unite
with those represented in the Con
vention to demand the adoption of six
amendments to tho Federal Constitution.
The first of these proposed changes was to
exclude slaves from the basis of tho repre
sentation ; tho second, to require a two
thirds vote of each house in Congress to
admit new States, a provision which, it is
curious to remark, was incorporated in the
Confederate constitution ; third, no em
bargo for more than sixty days ; fourth,
no interdiction of commerce with foreign
nations without a two-thirds vote in cither
house ; fifth, to require a like twe-thirds
voje to declare war; and sixth, that the
Presidency should be for but one term on
ly—another provision inserted in the Con
federate Constitution—and that no State
furnish the President two terms in succes
sion.
GBKKLKI’S DISTRESS.
Horace Greeley makes the fallowing
earnest appeal to his Southern supporters
and allies : “Republicans of the South I
you have a desperate struggle just ahead,
and you cannot win unless you send these
villains to the rear. You cannot on
their modesty or sense of decency ; they
will push themselves forward into the
most conspicuous posts, no matter at what
peril and misohief to your cause, unless
you say, ‘Go back, thieves!’ You cannot
afford to be delicate with men who do not
know what delicacy means. Unless you
show by your acts that you detest pecula
tors and scorn to De led by them, you will
be beaten, and will deserve to be. You
pan put these fellows where they belong if
j yon try; and you must try. Their es
; frontery will desert them whenever they
! see that you not only loathe rascality, but
; do not hesitate to show your loathing. As
| yon hope to be respected, confided iD, tri
j umpbant, vindicate your own integrity by
branding the thieves who would make
merchandise of your party’s good name !”
Now this appeal is sound in morals, acd
jusrly estimates the difficulties of the situ
ation. But if Horace’s entreaty is made
| the governing policy, in the name of the
i High Priests, what is to become of the
I Radical party? The rank and file of the
j Southern Radical party is made up of seal-
I awags and carget-baggers.. The carpct
| baggers inaugurated the “reconstructed”
Governments, and educated to “loyalty”
the scalawag?. The scalawags were poor,
uneducated, ignorant creatures; but pos
sessing great natural gif.e.have outstripped
their teachers ; acd now, as experts, they
can adroitly pccket a school fund, or even
appropriate a earpet-b3gger’s carpet-bag,
so deftly and so securely, as to defy law,
loyalty and the Administration, cither in
contest or in friendly competition. Gen
ius will show itself, Mr. Greeley. We have
some four year olds that we will back
against New York, or Boston and Ben
Butler, in ar.y fiield. Bat yon are ruin
ning your party, Mr- GrocW. hy “voidu ,
back” on your friends. Your appeal, if
heeded, will drive even the sanctimonious
appearance of respectability and patriot
ism from your rank?.
CADET ENGINEERS WANTED AT IDE
NAVAL ACADEMi.
The Navy Department wants thirty in
telligent young men—mechanics preferred
—between tho ageß of eighteen and twen
ty-two year?, to go to tbc Naval Academy
at Annapolis as Cadet Engineers, to fit
themselves for service in tho United States
Navy. Their pay while at the Academy
is five hundred dollars a year and their
board- Their position is the same as that
of the senior class of Midshipmen. After
two years’ preparation, they are graduated
as Assistant Engineers in the navy, and
then receive the pay, &e., of that class of
offisere. During their tuition at Annapolis
they are taught draughting, mathematics,
philosophy, and tho science of steam en
gineering. The following are the scho
lastic acquirements for applicants :
Arithmetic; the candidate will bo ex
amined in numeration and the addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division of
whole numbers, and the vulgar and deci
mal fractions; in ieduction; in propor
tion or rule of three, direct aDd inverse;
extraction of square and cube roots ; in
Algebra (Bourdon’s), through equations
of the first degreo ; in Geometry (Davies’
Legendre), through tho plane figures ;
Rudimentary Natural Philosophy ; Read
ing ; he must read olearly and intelligibly
from any English narrative work, as,
for example, Brancroft’s History of
the United States; in Writing and
Spelling; he must write from dictation, in
a legible hand, and spell with correctness,
both orally and in writing; in English
Grammar and English composition he will
be examined as to the parts of speech, the
rules connected therewith, and the ele
mentary construction of sentences, and he
will be required to write such original
paragraphs as will show that he has a
proper knowledge of the subject. The
candidate will be required to exhibit a fair
degree of proficiency in pencil sketching,
and to produce satisfactory evidence of
mechanical aptitude. Candidates who
possess greater skill and experience in the
practical knowledge of machinery, other
qualifications being equal, shall have pre
cedence for admission. Applications
should be made to the Secretary of the
Navy.
Strange to say, remarks the Philadelphia
Ledger, that, with all the desires of you.ig
men to secure professional employment,
there is difficulty in filling up these thirty
vacanaies in the Naval Academy class of
cadet engineers. The comment of the
Ledger appears to us as the strangest fact
of the two. A good mechanic, possessed
of the attainments required to pass mus
ter, can certainly make more than five
hundred dollars a year, has before him a
better prospect than that presented by
the service of the United States Navy.
Tub Division of Texas.— ln Texas this
fall, the people will be called upon to vote
upon the proposition to divide the State
into three parts. The Legislature, at its
last session, passed an act submitting the
question to a vote, in which the names of
the three States are Eastern, Middle and
Western Texas. Eastern Texas lies east
of the Trinity river, Middle Texas extends
from the Trinity river to the Colorado
river, and Western Texas lies west of the
Colorado. Os these, the first is much the
most populous, having over 346,000 inhab
itants, Middle Texas ranking next. But
the least populous has over 200,000, the
entire State as it now stands having 800,000
inhabitants. A division of Texas into sev
eral distinct States was provided for by
the treaty of annexation. The Radicals
usually favor the division, claiming that
at least one of the States created must fall
to their lot, which will give them two ad
ditional Senators at Washington.
Butler Appreciated.— The Rev. Theo
dore Tilton, in his Golden Age, mentions
that Butler has announced himself to be
a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts,
and, alter speaking ot him'in high terms,
says : “But we only wish New York could
have him as Governor for a couple of
years. We believe that in one term he
would make life and property as safe in
this city as it is in the Fejee Islands, and
render an intelligent American citizen al
most as respectable and influential as an
ignorant, whisky-drinking, ballot-stuffing,
head-breaking foreigner. It is too bad he
lives in a State which has such a surfeit
of great men that he is not wanted nor
half appreciated.” But Theodore is de
nied this gift. Butler says he intends to
rule and reform Massachusetts, and has
Announced himself as the Republican can
didate for Governor of the Old Cradle ol
Liberty—to do what you please, if you
have the power.
Americans in the Egyptian Army.—
Gen. W. W. Loring is a Brigadier-General
commanding a division, and is command
ant of the city of Alexandria ; Gen. C. P.
Stone is chief of the staff of the general
army, with the rank of Brigadier-General;
Gen. T. P. Motte is chief of the staff of
the Viceroy’s personal staff, with the rank
of Major-General; Gen. Libby is chief of
artillery, with the rank of Brigadier-Gen
eral ; Col. Sparrow Purdy, of California,
is Colonel of engineers; Col. Thomas
lihett, of Scutli Carolina, is chief of ord
nance, and is cow building large powder
works at Cairo: Mr. McCornb Mason is a
Major m the artillery; and besides these
officers, General Reynolds and his son,
Col. Frank Reynolds, hold commissions
under the Kedive ; also, Col. James M.
Morgan, of South Carolina, now on leave
! in New York, who is Captain on the staff',
with the rank of Lientenant-Oolonel.
Immigration to Gkohgia.— The Secre
tary of the German and Swedish Immigra
tion Aid Society, in Savannah, Ga., gives
notice that European immigrants can
now be brought directly to the port of Sa
vannah at $35 each, gold, passage money.
He adds that the new steamship line, the
Baltic Lloyd, will be induced to send one
of its steamers to Savannah, provided a
sufficient number of passengers are se
cured.
TIIE KENIUCKT UNIVERSITY.
While Georgians are in vain frittering
away their effort unwisely, in attempting
to mul iply colleges or in sustaining
poverty-stricken Universities, containing
a platoon or two of students aod half a
score or more cf badly paid Professors,
Kentucky marches boluly in another and
better direction. The Kentucky and tbe
Old Transylvania Universities have been
consolidated and reformed into anew
“ Kentucky University,” consisting of five
colleges, dedicated to arts and science?, law,
theology, commerce, manafaetures and
agriculture. The beautiful old home of
Henry Clay, Ashland, near Lexington,
ar.d “ Woodlands,” an adjoining estate,
comprising, in all, 433 acres of the cream
of the blue grass land?, has been secured
as the site. The public lands, granted by
Congress to Kentucky, have beeD assign
ed as an endowment for the University.
The Legislature ha3 supplemented this
donation by an appropriation, and the
citizens of Kentucky have come forward
liberally in aid cl tbc tame laudable cause.
The fruit of such wisdom is being enjoyed.
The last term of the University closed
with nearly seven hundred students in at
tendance.
Msssis ippi also, Radical and Democrat,
| is alive to the importance of training her
youth at home instead of allowing them
to stray into different latitudes in search
oflcair.icg. More than a million of dol
lars has been secured from public and
private sources for the endowment of the
University of Mississippi, and soon there
will be teachers from among her own sons
in every county in that State.
Will we ever have an University in
Georgia ? Or must we look to the bene
volence of the outside world for such
blessings ?
TUE SOUTHERN STATES HAVE NO
RIGHTS THAT CONGRESS IS BOUND
TO RESPECT.
On the 16th of July Attornoy General
Akerman delivered at Weldon, North
Carolina, a speech to a Republican Con
vention. For more than two hours, we
are told, Mr. Akerman “retained the
undivided attention of the audience, con
sisting,” according to the report of the
correspondent of the New York Tribune,
‘of negroes, and representing a large
portion of tho State.” This speech was
not unexpected. Mr. Akerman’s intended
mission to North Carolina was announced
long before tho Attorney General left
Washington— to “expound the principles
of Republicanism” to the benighted Radi
cals of North Carolina. Tho speech,
therefore, must have been deliberately
prepared, and perhaps submitted to his
official superiors and co-adjutors. Its
teachings, therefore, come to us with all
the authority of the Administration.
Just now the good people of North
Carolina propose the lawful assemblage
of a convention, with a view to remodel the
constitution of tho State—particularly
that portion of the organic law upon which
is founded the present judiciary system.
This action is espec'ally obnoxious to
certain “loyal Radical leader?,” who
strive to make it appear that the black
population is greatly incensed at the pro
posed modification. This may seem strange
and ridiculous to such as arc familiar with
Africa’s attainments in constitutional
learning and legal lore ; but, strange and
as ridiculous as it may appear, such is the
fact. But still more strange, is tho degree
of solicitude evinced by tho Administra
tion for this virtuous indignation, and
the active sympathy displayed, which is
so great as to cause one of the highest
functionaries of the Government to be
sent down to enlighten the virtuous but
benighted people of North Carolina. In this
missionary effort of the Atttorney General
he takes especial pains to warn the
people of North Carolina of the serious
consequences which might result from an
illegal attempt to overthrow tho present
State Government. Now, we would ask,
if the people of North Carolina havonot
the right to amend their State Constitu
tion? Wbat would be a legal attempt to
overthrow the present State Government,
where, since North Carolina became
Republican in form—and since the suc
cessful illegal overthrow of the Federal
Constitution—does the administration find
pretext for this sort of semi-official inter
ference in matters purely domestic? Are
State Constitutions once imposed by
Radical power never to bo modified or
remodeled, unless by permission of the
ruling administration and a dominant
majority in both Houses of Congress ? Is
this Republicanism ? Is it that the peo
ple of tho Southern States will have to
petition to Congress, and a ruling admin
istration, before they can exercise the
right of modifying their State Govern
ment, and State Constitutions ? Is the doc
trine to apply to the Southern States only,
or is it to apply to all the States in the
Union?
In speaking of the probable course
of the United States Government, in
case of a collision between any new gov
ernment that may bo set up and the pre
sent one, the Attorney General said:
“I have been asked, in case the pro
posed convention should assemble and
provide anew government for the State,
and the present government should refuse
to be displaced, and a collision should
arise between the two, which one would
the Government of the United States
maintain? I cannot answer. I cannot
undertake to say what will be the mind
of Congress or of the President in that
unhappy emergency. I will remind you,
however, that the Supreme Court of the
United States has pronounced, through
the mouth of Taney, that *it rests with
Congress to decide what government
is the established one in a State.’
(Luthe: agt. Borden, 7 Howard, 42.) And
I will express the opinion that Congress,
having provided in 1567 for a lawful gov
ernment in North Carolina, through the
action of her own people; haviog after
ward approved the constitution which her
people ratified by a large majority ; hav
ing recognized the credentials of that gov
ernment, in admitting members from
North Carolina to scats, will not suffer
that government to be overturned in 1871,
except by proceeding? that are well foun
ded in law. I will also remind you that
the same Court has pronounced in the
same case, that when a call is made on the
President to protect a State against
domestic violence, growing out of such a
collusion, it is his duty, under the law
■ which Congress has made, to determine
which party is the lawful government,
and which party is insurgent, and, it is
my opinion, that the present National
Executive, finding two sc-ealled govern
ments in the field, would upheld that one
of them which Congress had recognized,
unless he found that it has been lawfully
superseded by the other.”
Mr. Akerman’s argument is a menace
in the cautious form of inuendo. Never
theless, if the statement is worthy to be
regarded at ail, it mast receive all of its
foice from the idea which is made prom
inent, and this is, that the present consti
tutions of the Southern States, having
been authorized and approved by Con
gress, they cannot be modified except by
the consent of Congress, and that, in case
of conflicting claims, the Administration
will only recognise that government which
claims to exist under a constitution ap
proved by Congress. This, we take it, is
the latest Republican new departure. The
next, we presume, will be the total aboli
tion of State lines,
AUGUSTA. GA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 2,1871.
better from Atlanta.
Atlanta, Ga., July 21st, IS7I
- Chronicle <£ Sentinel:
Since my last letter to you, and as prom
ised in that, I have been very busy com
piling, from the records in the Treasurer’s
office, a consolidated statement of Bullock s
extravagance, which is given below. In
the appropriation acts of 1863, 1869 and
1870 are contained sections (in 1868, sec.
7th, in 1869, sec. 231, and in 1870, sec.
20th), the provisions of which are as
follows : That in all cases where the Gen
eral Assembly directs the performance of
any service or labor, for which no provis
ion is made for compensation, the Gov
ernor is authorized to draw his warrant
! upon the Treasurer for such sum or sums
| as in his judgment may be a just enmpen
' sation. The appropriation acts, for some
j years previous, contained the same pro
visions ; yet, so far as I can find from the
records in tbe Treasurer’s office, the sum
total of amounts drawn on said appro
priation, during Governor Jenkins’ whole
administration, was only seventeen thousand
three hundred and two dollars six'y-four
cents (117,302 64), and that was for an
unusual and extraordinary purpose, viz :
“For transportation, subsistence, &3.,
chain-gang, Georgia Penitentiary while
Bullock’s expenditures, under said pro
visions of the appropriation acts, since he
has been Governor, amounts to the enor
mous sum of J?OUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY-
TWO THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND
SEVENTY-NINE DOLLARS AND THIRTY FIVE
CENTS ($432,979 35), being more than
TWENTY-FIVE TIMES GREATER THAN THE
AMOUNT EXPENDED BY GOVERNOR JEN
KINS, UNDER THE SAME AUTHORITY ; and
not one dollar of this enormous sum was
expended similarly to that expended by
Governor Jenleins, for the reason that the
Penitentiary chain-gang is not now any
expense to the State , they having been
leased to a company oj railroad contrac
tors. Now let us see for what this
extraordinary amount was paid out.
Bullock has paid sixty thousand
one hundred dollars ($60,100) for
large rewards offered for the arrest of
criminals, his rewards ranging in amount
from SIOO to $7,000. Governor Jenkins’
rewards for escaped criminals never ex
ceeded S2OO each, and thero were only a
very few of them. Bullock has paid for
lawyer’s fees forty thousand five hundred
and fifty dollars ($40,550), over four thou
sand dollars of which has been paid to his
uncle, “Judge” (?) R. H. Brown, since the
9th of May, 1870. Judge (?) Brown has
not had any other practice that I know or
can hear ot since he came to this country.
Bullock has paid for extra clerks in Ex
ecutive Department, all unauthorized,
over twenty-six thousand dollars. Gov.
Jenkins had no extra clerks. I could go
on and enumerate similar statements of
monies paid out under these sections,
where Gov- Jenkins paid none, and yet
this public robber has the barefaced as
surance to attempt a comparison of his
administration with that of Gov. Jenkins.
Gov. Jenkins must pardon me for thus
associating his name, as it is humiliating
that tho pure and great should be brought
iD comparison with such an adventurous
plunderer.
Bullock’s other large expenditures have
been as follows—not, however, out of those
appropriations previously mentioned :
For advertising his proclama
tions in the various news
papers throughout the State.s9B,39o 50
Public printing, and printing
done,for State House officers. 54,411 20
“Incidental expenses of Ex
ecutive Department” 24,800 00
But I must stop ou financial matters ;
what I have written will give your readers
an idea of what our (?) Governor is doing
with their money.
Bullock, in his letter to the Ku-fklux
Committee, states that his “pecuniary in
terests would have been greatly increased
had I (he) never consented to carry out
the Congressional policy of reconstruc
tion.”
If we are to take the tax digest and
income returns as evidence of “ pecuniary
interest,” Bullock never had any; for up
to last year, he had never paid any tax —
State, County, or City—in Georgia, except
an execution for double poll tar and costs.
Now he revels in wealth like Cicesus.
Whence this change?
He further states in said letter : “I re
signed the position of President of the
Macon and Augusta Railroad Company to
accept tho office I now hold.” The truth
of that affair, as is well known in Augus
ta, is this. Bullock was anxious to get
said position, and represented to the stock
holders and directors cf the road, that if
they would elect him President, his posi
tion as Express Superintendent would en
able him to make superior financial ar
rangements for the road in raising funds
in New York. Ho was elected, made the
effort to raise the money, and totally fail
ed to raise the first dollar. This is why
he “resigned.” More anon.
Truth
Letter from Wilkes.
Washington. Wilkes Cos., Ga., 1
Joly 24th, 1871. j
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel:
Gentlemen— ln your issue of the 21st
instant, there appears a communication
written by one “5.,” from this place,
which professes to give the history of the
case of the State vs. Willis Beckwith,
charged with murder committed in War
ren county, and removed by the Judge of
the Superior Court to this county for trial,
and tried here last week. The statement
of the testimony introduced, in thejease as
appears in the above communication, is so
entirely at variance with the testimony as
delivered in Court, and as now appears of
record in the Clerk’s office of Wilkes Su
perior Court, that we have thought prop
er to write you another communication,
giving you the true history of the above
mentioned case.
Judging alone from the facts as given
by “5.,” an intelligent reader would be
puzzled to discern how it was pos
sible for Beckwith to be cleared of
the crime charged (to wit: mur
der), or at fartherest, of manslaughter.
The trouble is, that the State did not
make out such a case against Beckwith
as “S.” in his communication, state?. The
testimony in the ease was that a party of
men, some of whom were disguised, about
six in all, came to the plantation of Mil
ieu, in Warren countj, the night the
killing took place ; that three of them en
tered a house, in which a Dumber of
negroes were singing, and shot three times
into the roof of the house ; that all the
negroes but one ran out, be, the three
men caught, looked into his face and told
him to go about his business ; that Isaac
Lynn, the negro killed, was not in this
house but in his own house, some little ins
tance off; that as the negroes ran out of
the house, where they were singing, they
made a great noise and some of them ran
by Isaac’s house, who said, “Who is that
out there, and what is the matter?”
Isaac was then seen to leave his house
and advance on two men standing some
fifteen steps from the door of his house,
out in the yard ; when up close to these
two men, Isaac was shot, from which
wounds he died ; that an axe, with blood
on the handle, was found fifteen minutes
after the killing, sitting in Isaac’s door
way. Three witnesses—B, F. Wynn, B.
T. Crenshaw, and B. W. Crenshaw—
testified to a ctnfession made to them by
Beckwith, which was the only testimony
that connected Beckwith with the killing.
This confession was as follows: That
Beckwith was standing in the yard, some
hlteen or twenty steps from the door of a
negro house, when a negro came out of
this house, rushing on him with an axe in
his hand ; that he called to him to stop ;
the negro continuing to advance, he shot
him, and brought him to his knees; the
negro, with the axe still in his hands, after
being thus shot down, got up and con
tinued to advance on him, when he fired
again and the negro fell. The two_ Cren
shaws, in their statement of the confession,
said that it was Sam Beckwith, a brother
ot the defendant, upon whom the assault
was made, and op the cross-examination
one of them, B-W. Crenshaw, said that
Willis Beckwith might have told him that
it was upon him (Willis) and Tom, too,
that the assault was made.
B. T. Crenshaw did not recollect wheth
er such a statement was made to him or
not. It was also in evidence that
the night the killing took place it was
quite dark, so that a gun or pistol or axe
could not be seen fifteen cr twenty steps
distant. The State introduced no testi-
mony to show for what purpose the dis
guised men visited the plantation, the
night the killirg took pl»ee, or to show
that any provocation was given to Isaac for
his assault with the axe on tbe two men
who killed him. Under this statement
of the facts, which is substantially as thev
appear of record, a verdict of “ not guil
ty” doe? cot seem to be so strange as un
der the facts giveD by “S.” To any one
who is acquainted with t%e rule 9 of evi
dence in criminal cases, it is manifest that
a verdtot of “ not guilty,” under the above
facts, is tbe only one that a jury could
possibly find.
As for being Ku-Klux, the testimony
showed there were but three, and they the 1
three witnesses, B. F. Wynn, B. T. and
B. W. Crenshaw. They all swore that
they had belonged to an organization
which required them to take an obligation
“not to tell on one another.” None cf
the testimony showed that Beckwith be
longed to this organ zatioc, or had taken
a similar oath or obligation.
In addition to the ease above men
tioned, there was another. The State xs.
Thomas Beckwith, charged with robbing
a negro, similar to tbe first, in this, both
of them being cases started by Chap
Norris and the military during the time
Warren and other surrounding counties
were under martial law, and both defend
ants being, for a long period of time, kept
in close military confinement. After the
case against Willis Beckvith was disposed
of, the State would ntft press the one
vs. Thomas Beckwith; its strong case
proving to be such a very weak one, its
weak case®*. Thomas Beckwith, was con
tinued under the general impression it
would never be called again
We have thus trespassed upon your
columns in order to set right beforo the
public the facts connects! with the Beck
with case. The verdict of ,“ not guilty,'"
under the facts , as givrn by your corres
pondent “ 5.,” being somewhat discredit
able to tbe Court and jury which tried the
case, and to the good name which our
county has always mantained by giving
even-handed justice to all men, whether
they be white or black, Ku-Klux or not.
Yours, truly, Oi-D Wilkes.
Letter from Atlanta.
The Crops—Atlanta Progress—Her News
papers —The Public School System
Approaching University Commence
ment —The Newspapers , People and
C fileges—Bishop Pierce Delivers His
Ablest Discourse, etc., etc.
Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 1871.
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel :
The section of country which lies be
tween Montgomery and this city is suffer
ing for rain. Along the line of the railroad
the crop prospects are not very promising.
In the interior, the chances are better.
Tho area ol land planted in cereals is
areally in excess of that of last year.
Hogs and stock generally seem to be on
the increase. This species of property
suffers less now than formerly from the
depredations of vagrants.
Atlanta continues her ferward move
ment. Houses are going up on every
band. Two magnificent houses of wor
ship (Methodist, South) are in process of
erection. Hills are being dug down to
give place to residences, and broken streets
are gradually assuming a certain dogree of
regularity. There is a vast deal of energy
among the inhabitant?. The fact is, so
much ha 9 been said (oft times ironically
and in derision) of the activity of the citi
zens, that they have become to regard
themselves as possessing ten-fold more
energy than any other community in the
State. Faith is half the battle—hence the
Atlantese are winning.
As to her newspaper fraternity, I may
safely assert that it cannot bo surpassed in
enterprise and courtesy. The newspapers
are piquaDtly paragraphy, and tho local
items are given in a brief but comprehen
sive style.
Persons who denominate Atlanta a pa
per city mistake their calculations. It is
true that in some of tho many buildings
erected, and in process of construction,
there is considerable of the shoddy, but
this arieep, I think, nioro from a miscon
ception of what economy is than from aDy
other cause. Economy does not signify
cheapness, but a vigorous use of money-
The number of staunch and handsome
structures which grace the city reveal At
lanta in her true light.
It is a matter of universal regret, by the
citizens of Atlanta, that the public school
work has been so iong retarded. There is
still an unpleasant amount of dilly-dally
ing, wherefore I cannot definitely declare.
The people are strongly and uncompro
misingly in favor of the graded public
school system, and demand its speedy in
auguration. The newspapers have man
fully supported tbe enterprise, but there
appears to be some portion of the ma
chinery out of gear—tho sinews have not
come into possession of the school-board,
singularly well composed. The City Coun
cil voted to build three frame buildings, to
accommodate each four hundred children.
The opinion obtains that if any houses are
built for school purposes they should be of
briek, and should be so constructed as to
prove ornaments to the city. The whole
matter will work out right, I doubt not.
The people feel the need of the school sys
tem ; they will make others appreciate and
respond to those feelings—the sooner the
better.
The approaching commencement at
Athens is looked forward to as full of
promise. The Alumni dioner, etc., etc.,
will offer countless items of rare merit to
enterprising news-men. I doubt not the
Chronicle & Sentinel will have a repre
sentative there, to furnish, daily, full re
ports of the exercises.
Apropos, let me say that I am persuaded
that, if our college exercises were more
fully reported, and the history and stand
ing of the institutions themselves better
known, they would be even more liberally
supported than they are. The time is at
hand for us to have done with sending our
youth out of the State to be educated. Let
us educate the people ourselves, thus pre
serving and inculcating sentiments of self
resnect, State pride, and State progrese.
The commencement exercises at Emory
College were of a decidedly interesting
nature. The memorial sermon by Bishop
Pierce, in remembrance of the late Bishop
Andrew, is pronounced to have been the
crowning effort of that distinguished
divine’s; life. Every person expected to
hear something surpasssingly grand and
appropriate, but the confession was, after
the delivery of the discourse, that their
most sanguine hopes had been more than
doubly realized. Loraine,
1 communicated.]
Northeastern Railroad.
Editors Chronicle & Sentinel:
The Board of Directors of the North
eastern Railroad Company met in Athens
on the 20th inst. Wm. W. Thomas was
elected Chief Engineer, and instructed to
organize a corps asd proceed with his
work as early as practicable.
The following preamble and resolution
was passed by the Board:
With a view to answer the inquiries of
all persons interested in the Northeastern
Railroad, and to express the opinion of
this Board with reforepcs to the gauge to
be used in its construction, as well as the
point of intersection with the Blue Ridge
Railroad, it is
Resolved, That the road be built with
the usual wide gauge, to correspond with
the roads with which it is to run in con
nection, and beginning at a point to be
designated in the town of Athens shall
run by the best and most practicable route
via or near Clarkesvillc, in Habersham
county, to the town of Clayton, in Rabun
countv, or some other point near Clayton,
to icteresect with the Blue Ridge Road,
agreeable with the provisions of charter of
the said Northeastern Railroad.
A business committee was appointed,
consisting of Messrs. Moss, Cobb and
Thurmond, to co-operate with the Presi
dent. M.
Paris, July 26, evening —The Pope
publishes a long letter, congratulating
Gnibert upon his elevation to the Arch
bishopric of Paris.
London, July 26, evening.—ln the
Goodwood stakes, fburteen started. Tar
aban was first, Lady Hzngerford's colt
second, and Cladius third. Fordham rode
the winner. The odds agiinst him were
fifteen to one.
The Madrid Cabinet finally formed un
der the lead of Zorilla. All the Ministers
belong to the Progressist party, and will
follow the policy inaugurated in the Sep
tember revolution.
Alabama Agricultural and Me
chanical Association.— We have re
ceived the premium list of this Associa
tion for 1871. Twenty thousand dollars
will be awarded in premiams. The Fair
of 1871 will be held at Pickett Springs
Park, Montgomery, Ala., beginning Tues
day, October 16, and closing October 20;
Awful Tragedy.
Sickening and Heart-Rending Scene.
lhe Savannah News says that tho most
awful and appalling tragedy that has
stirred the hearts ct any community in
this section for mauy a year, if ever be
fore, occurred in Effingham county, about
two mile? above station No. 3J, on the
Central Railroad, about 3 o’clock Monday
morning.
Mrs. Ash, the wife of John H. Ash,
formerly of Savannah, killed her three
little children and afterwards committed
suicide by administering a sufficient quan
tity cf strychnine to produce almost in
stantaneous death.
It appears from what we could learn
from a gentleman who was an eye witness
to the horrifying scene, that Mrs. Ash,
formerly Miss Laura Dasher, ot Effing
ham county, has tor a short time past
been slightly deranged, at least she was
suspected of being in this condition from
certain singular appearances and conduct
noticeable to those nearest her and in
most continuous association with her.
However, nothing serious was appre
hended, except that her husband felt a
little anxious about her, and communi
cated with her brothers on the subject.
This was all. No more serious apprehen
sions was felt, although her husband con
tinued to keep a strict watch over her
conduct. A short time previous he had
purchased a small bottle of strychnine for
the purpose of destroying the rats and
dogs that were rapidly killing off their poul
try. This he secreted in the night time, tak
ing the precaution to lock it up in an old
bureau drawer, hiding the key in a place
least likely to be discovered by his wife,
no other person in the house knowing of
the hiding place.
Sunday night all went to bed as usual,
though before retiring Mrs. Ash sat down
and wrote a long letter, to whom we could
not ascertain ; her husband read the let
ter, but did not suspect anything, although
it contained an account of her feelings to
wards certain members ot her family, with
whom there was some unpleasantness.
Mr. Ash took all three of the children in
bed with himself and his wife. Mr. George
Patterson, a friend and relative of Mrs.
Ash’s, occupied an adjoining room.
About 3 o’clock Monday morning, he
and Mr. Ash were aroused by the cries of
two of the children, and entering the
room found Mrs. Ash in the act of taking
a spoon from the mouth of the oldest
child, a little girl, who had struggled and
resisted until her cries awoke her father
and his friend, both of whom feeling
alarmed, asked her what she was doing.
She replied, “ only giving the children a
little powder, and I am afraid that I have
not given them enough.” They begged
and entreated her to tell them what she
had given them—Mr. Ash tasting the pow
der which he discovered on the mouth of
one of the children, discovered that it was
quite bitter. She finally took him to the
bureau drawer and showed him the bottle
of strychnine from which she had dosed
herself first, and then each one of her
three little ones. It was but a short time
after this before the mother, a young wo
man about twenty-five years old, and her
three interesting little children, two girls
and one boy, were lying stiff and cold in
the arms of death. Dying in rapid suc
cession, one after the other, the mother,
although the first to take the poison, lived
to see her children all die, and then fol
lowed them herself. It is said the strug
gles of the poor little creatures were aw
ful, the oldest falling backwards, was
drawn together in such a manner that her
head and feet nearly touched each other.
The afflicted father held his little ones and
his wife in his arms till they breathed
their last.
The time was too short fnm the discov
ery of the deed to procure any aid, al
though a physician was immediately sent
for. He arrived in time to save the father,
who, in his efforts to discover what the
drug was, had swallowed enough to ren
der liis condition dangerous. Mr. Patter
son came to Savannah Monday afternoon
to procure coffins to bury the dead, and
as soon as he returns an inquest will be
held previous to the interment.
New Publications.
Caii Julii Ccesaris Commmtarii De
Bello Galhco : By George Stuart,
A. M., Prof of the Latin Language in
the Central High School, Philadelphia.
Eldridge& Brother, Philadelphia ; Pub
lishers’ price, $1 25.
Six Books of the jEneid of Virgil: By
Thomas Chase, A. M., Professor of
Philology in Harrerford College. Eld
ridge & Brother, Philadelphia; Pub-
lisher’s Price, $1 25.
Select Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero:
By George Stuart, A- M. Eldridge &
Brother, Publishers, Philadelphia; price,
$1 25.
The Worhs of Horace: By Thomas
Chase, A. M. Eidridge & Brother,
Publishers; price $1 50.
C. Sallusti Urispi Catiline et Jugurtha :
By George Stuart, A. M. Eidridge &
Brother, Publishers; price, $1 25.
We acknowledge the receipt; of copies
of the above mentioned school-books, rep
resenting a series designed as Model Text
Books for schools, academies and colleges,
and entitled Chase & Stuart’s Classical
Series. The series has not yet been made
complete. Editions of other classical
works are to follow.
Since the close of the war we have re
ceived a large number of school books,
with the understanding that a favorable
notice from the editor “ should be the
quid pro quo" to the author or publisher.
“ The compliments of the author or pub
lisher,” implied, reciprocally, compliments
to the author or publisher. While teach
ing as an art has made wonderful progress,
and books, as the instruments, havo been
greatly perfected, and while, also, it should
be confessed that, for the most part, the
inferior of ‘‘the latest editions” are supe
rior to the earlier, it is too often the case
that the chief merit of very many text
books is that which has made famous Pe
ter Pindar’s razors, and their real de
sign, a speculation,in which the profits are
divided between the author, publisher,
trader and teacher—the publisher taking
the lion’s share.
Prior to the receipt of the copies of the
above mentioned series, Mr. Stuart’s school
edition of Caesar’s Commentaries impressed
us as being a work of merit—the work of
a teacher who understands the difficulties
attending the duty of his profession, and
the demand of this day and generation.
The Polytechnic System in Education
grows day by day in public favor. Publio
opinion demands that the study of the
classics shall be greatly abridged, if not
abolished. A curriculum, chiefly marked
by classical studies, covering the period
from boyhood to manhood, is considered
as involving a waste of that time which
should be devoted to science or the prac
tical affairs of life, and if tolerated is held
in about the same esteem as the pro
gressive farmer would hold McCormick’s
reaper, as compared with the Dutch
scythe, or the primitive reap hook. We
must gather more in shorter time ; and
this work facilitates this process. In a
succinct, convenient book form, accompany
ing the text, the student commands a
lexicon and explanatory notes, to give “the
willing and industrious student that
amount and kind of assistance which are
really necessary to render his study prof
itable ; to remove difficulties greater than
his strength ; and to afford or direct him
i to the sources of such information as may
be necessary to a thorough understanding
of the author.”
We take pleasure in directing the atten
tion of professional teachers to this mer
itorious series.
Havana, July 26, noon.—Alvarez and
Merandez, Cuban emissarists recently cap
tured, have been executed. Felix Au
guste Bayes, companion of Cavada, has
also been executed,
Tragedy in Dougherty County.—
From the Albany News we learn that on
Tuesday last a most horrible tragedy and
murder occurred on Mr. B. H. Hill’s
“ Mud CreeklV plantation, in that county,
in which Mr- Rush, the manager, aud
Paul Butler, a freedmaa working on the
place, were the parlies, and both killed.
On last Monday there was a difficulty be
tween the parties, in which the negro
cursed the white man, and the latter
struck him. On Tuesday morning, when
the negroes were on their way to the field,
some of them came up with Paul Butler,
who had his gua on his shoulder. He
informed them it was his intention to kill
Mr. Rush as soon as he came out to the
field. His friends argued tho matter with
him, r.nd begged him to put his gun away
and go to work. He refused to bo gov
erned by their advice, and persisting in
his murderous purpose, swore ho would
kill Mr. R. at first sight. All hands then
went to work except Paul, his brother
Ben, his relative, Ben Wade, and his
friend, Moses Holt—the latter three Dot
being accounted for at that time. Paul
stationed himself a short distance from
tho laborers. Mr. Rush rode up, and
Paul advanced towards him, and addressed
him with : “G —d d—n you, you rhet at
me yesterday for nothing, and I’m ready
to shoot with you,” whereupon, Mr.
Rush replied : “ Don’t come any nearer
me, stand back.” Paul then said, “You
stand back.” Mr. 11. then attempted to
draw his pistol, and while in the act, Paul
levelled his gun and fired, placing forty
eight deadly missiles in the breast, abdo
men, neck and head of his victim—killing
him instantly. Paul then ran to his mule,
tied in the woods hard by, mounted it,
with gun in hand, and mado off towards
the “Hobbs Place,” another one of Mr.
Hill’s plantations, followed by tho three
missing negroes, Ben Butler, Ben Wade
and Moses Holt, and perhaps some oth
ers.
At a gate opening into the Hobbs plan
tation they found the dead body of Paul
lying on one side of the gate and gun on
the other. The top of his head was blown
off and his face burned with powder
showing unmistakably that he had come
to his death by tho accidental discharge
of the remaining barrol while goiug
through the gate on tho mule.
The testimony satisfied the jury that
Ben Butler, Ben Wade and Moses Hall
were accessories, and Deputy Sheriff
Brown being present with a posse, pro
ceeded at once to arrest all three of them,
and they are now in jail awaiting examina
tion.
Cultivation of Tea in the South.—
It is now nearly twenty-fivo years ago
that a Mr. Junius Smith, of South Caro
lina, attempted the cultivation of tea in
this country, and ever since that time it
has been grown with moderate success in
various parts of the South. A gentleman
in Wilmington, North Carolina, has suc
cessfully raised plauts and cured tea,
which, ho claims, cannot ho excelled in
flavor by the imported article. Ho ob
tained tho plants from tho Agricultural
Bureau of the Patent Office, previous to
the war, and their number has increased
every year, the later plants being fully
equal in every respect to those first grown.
Successful experiments have also recently
been made in South Carolina, Tennessee
and California, aDd the climate of several
other sections of the United States is un
doubtedly well adapted to this plant.
California especially seems to possess pe
culiar advantages in this respect, and tea
culture has already commenced among
the Chinese who have settled there, and
with the most encouraging results. A
California writer, who has taken consid
erate pains to investigate tho subject,
and has mado the experiment himself,
says that the location best adapted to the
growth of the tea plant is found to be
high, rolling land, cold enough to have
some winter frost. “Our hills,” he says,
“ aro exactly suited to them. The plants
are very hardy, and a sufficient number
has been planted to give satisfactory evi
dence that they will thrive, and it is be
lieved that their culture will eventually
provo as successful hero as on the foot hills
of the snowy Himalayas of Northwestern
India, where tbe home production has
now completely superseded all importa
tions from Chioa.”
Shipping Fuuix.~Numerou3 letters
from commission merchants in tho largo
citie3 have been received in the peach
raising districts, advising farmers to be
more careful in picking and shipping
fruit. The letters urge that fruit should
be allowed tt> attain its full growth, but
should be gathered before it gets soft*
As an instance of the results of careless
ness, it is stated that one hundred boxes
of peaches were recently sold in New
York for only one dollar a box, whilo
freight, commission and cartage amounted
to ninety-one cents, thus leaving only nine
cents to the grower. Oae-half of the lot,
it is said, were fine peaches, and if they
had been carefully selected out and shipped
by themselves, would have brought three
dollars a box. One-fourth of the lot were
soft and crushed, and the remainder were
hard and unripe. It is not always re
membered that the freight on tho com
monest kinds of peaches is the same as
that on the best and most delicious fruit.
The quality and not the quantity of the
the fruit is the point to which the atten
tion of the shipper should bo directed,
and although choice peaches cost more
trouble and care, yet they in the end fully,
repay the labors of the grower.
Escaped.—-A few days ago we gave
an account of tho trial of James Oxford,
for murder, in Sandcrsvillc and his con
viction. He was sentenced to be hung on
the first of September, and that until that
time should arrive, was sent to Milledgc*
villc to be imprisoned in the Penitentiary
for safe keeping. On yesterday it was re
ported in Augusta that he had succeeded
in making his escape. He is said to have
gotten awav Monday night. Wo could
hear of none of the particulars of the af
fair.
Since writing the above the following
particulars of the affair were found in a
letter from Milledgeville to the Telegraph
& Messenger:
Milledgeville, Ga., July 24, 1871.
Editors Teh graph & Messenger: Our
unusually quiet city wa3 the scene on
Saturday night last of what will doubtless
be characterized as a Ku-Klux outrage.
James Oxford, recently convicted of mur
der in tho Sandersvillc Superior Court,
was confined in our Miilcdgcville jail for
safe keeping- A little before midnight on
the 22J, our Sheriff, Mr. Arnold, found
the jail surrounded by a large number of
armed and disguised men, who demanded
the keys of the prison and proceeded to take
them. Opening the cell in which Oxford
was confined, they carried away the prison
er and set him at liberty. Wo arc inform
ed that some of the liberators avowed that
they were liberating Oxford (a white maD.
under sentence of death for killing a negro)
because the Governor of Georgia (as they
alleged) was in the habit cf pardoning
negroes for crimes committed by them-
We Lave, here, no other news of interest.
Oconee.
Oxford, The lollowing account of
the escaping of .James Oxford is taken
from the Milledgeville Federal Union:
James Oxford, who was found guilty of
murder, at the late session of Wasbington
Superior Court, and sentenced to be hung
in September next, was brought to this
city for safe keeping last week. Oj Sat
urday night, about midnight, a party of
disguised men, variously estimated at lrom
25 to 80, visited the jail, demanded the
key from the sheriff and released the pris
oner. The party were on horseback, and
came, it is supposed, from adjoining
counties. Our citizens were general
ly asleep and knew nothing of the
matter until next morning. A few
persons heard them pass along the streets,
but we have seen no one wbo can give any
correct information of the number or ap
pearance of the party. This is their first
appearance in this city, and we trust will
be their last. Our people have no sympa
thy with any set of men who seek forcibly
to prevent the execution of the laws of the
land.
NEW SERIES—VOL. XXIV. NO. 31.
Decisions or the Supreme Court or
ticorgla.
Delivered at Atlanta, Tuesday, July 18,
1871.
[reported expressly for the consti
tution, BY N. J. HAMMOND, SUPREME
COURT REPORTER.J
Rust, Johnson & Cos., et al., vs. Rebecca
Billingslea, etal. —Milton Creighton, et
al., vs. John R. Jones, et al. Equity,
from Dougherty.
Warner, J.
This was a bill filed by the Administra
tor of Billingslea for directions as to the
payment of the debts of his intestate out
of the assets in his hands (the estate be
ing insolvent), including the widow’s
riglit to dower, homestead, &c. Held,
that the necessary expenses of the admin
istration, including the provision allowed
for the support of the family of the intes
tate, be paid out of tbe general funds of
the estate. Held, also, that the decree of
the Court below in favor of Milton Creigh
ton, trustee, &c., bo affirmed as to the
amount, thereof, and being a debt due by
tbe intestate, as trustee, is to be paid next
after the expenses of administration and
tbe year’s support of the intestate’s family.
It appears from the record that on 11th
October, 1806, the intestate, Billingslea,
and Vason, jointly purchased from Jonea
the Mott and Clayton plantations, gave
their joint notes therefor, Jones making a
deed to them jointly for the land, aud
they, at, the same time, jointly executed a
mortgage to Jones on the land to secure
the payment of the notes given for the
purchase money thereof. Tho purchasers
of the land occupied it jointly for one
year, then Vason relinquished his interest
in it to the intestate, who occupied and
cultivated the same to tho time of his
death on his own account. Jones was no
party to the contract between Yason and
Billingslea.
Held, That tho secs in of the intestate of
the land embraced in the Mott and Clay
ton plantations was sufficient in law,
under the provisions of the revised Code
of this State, to entitle his widow to
dower therein ; that, a mortgage in this
State is only a security for a debt, and
passes no title ; that the mortgage on the
land was a lien created by the parties
making it, which cannot defeat the
widow’s right to dower ; that inasmuch
as the mortgage lien on the undivided
half of Mott and Clayton plantations was
not created by the intestate as the husband
of the widow, hut by Vason, who subse
quently conveyed the laud to tho intestate
with the incumbrance of the mortgage,
the widow, beforo she can opjoy her
dower in the undivided half of the land
conveyed to her husband by Vason, with
tiie incumbrance to Jones’ mortgage,
must first discharge that incumbrance
created by Vason of Jones, the same not
beiDg a lien created by her husband but a
lien which existed on the land at the time
the husband acquired his title thereto
from Vason. It is also disclosed by the
record that on January 31, 18G8, Billings
lea, the intestate, drew his draft in favor
of Thontm Ilill. for the sum of $4,322 29,
payable 15th November next, after date,
upon Messrs. R st, Johnson & Cos., Albany,
and to secure the payment of that draft,
the intestate, on the same day, exeouted
his mortgage deed to Hill for his undi
vided half interest in the tract of land,
known as the Hill plantation, the sum
specified in the draft being tho amount
due Hill by the intestate for his share of
the original purchase money for the Bill
plantation. This draft was accepted by
Messrs. Rust, Johnson & Cos., for the ac
commodation of the drawer, and paid by
them as such accommodation acceptors,
they having no funds of the intestate
drawer in their hands at the time of their
acceptance of tlie draft.
It also appears irorn the record, that
Rust, Johnson & Cos. refused to accept tbe
draft of the intestate, unless the mortgage
was made, and that it was agreed that tho
mortgago should be transferred to them
on payment of tho draft by them. Tho
draft was paid at maturity, and the mort
gage was transferred to them on tho 25th
of November, 1868:
Held, That, under the general rule, ap
pliablo t.n tho payment ot tho dobfc by aa
eomuiodation aoceptors, or securities, they
would have been entitled to tho transfer
of the mortgage; most certainly they
wero entitled to such transfer under the
special agreement of the parties, as shown
by the record, and were entitled to the
samo specific lien on the Hill plantation, or
the proceeds of the sale thereof, as the
original mortgage, and to have the same
paid, according to tho priority of its lien
upon that specific properly included in tho
mortgage.
Held, also, That the widow of tho in
testate was not entitled to a homestead
and personal exemption out of his proper
ty iu addition to hor dower and provision
for her year’s support.
Held, further, That tho factor’s lien of
Rust, Johnson & Cos. was not entitled to
priority of payment out of tho proceeds
of the crops made on the Mott and Clay
ton plantations in the years 1868 and 1869,
on the statement of facts disclosed in the
record.
Held, also, That overseers, unless they
are employed as common day laborers, and
work as such on the plantation, aro not
entitled to priority of lien for the payment
of their wages under tho Act of 1869.
Let the judgment and decree of tho
Court below be reversed, and a dcorco bo
rendered in cons ormity with the judgment
of this Court on the questions made in the
bill of exceptions as set forth in tho reoord.
Judgment reversed.’
Lociirane, C. J., dissenting.
For reasons given in the caso of Slaugh
ter vs. Culpepper, I dissent from so much
of the judgment in these cases as gives to
the widow of Francis A. Billingslea, dower
in his interest in tho lands purchased of
Jones, and upon which, simultaneoujly
with the deed, and as a part of tho same
transaction, a mortgage was executed for
the purchase money so far as such right
of dower is preferred by tho judgment to
the claim of the vendor undor the facts in
the case.
Lyon, DeGraffenreid & Irvin, Vason &
Davis, for Bust, Johnson & Cos., et al.
Hines & Hobb -, D. H. Pope, Wright &
Warren; W. E. Snrith, C. B. Wootten, for
Mrs. Billing-ilea, et al.
Wm. E- Smith for Creighton, trustee.
M. J. Slaughter vs. J. D. Culpepper, et.
al. Application for Dower, from Mitch
ell county.
McKay, J.
Under sections 1753 and 1759 of tho
Revised Code of this State, which pro
vide that a widow is entitled to dower in
all lands of which her husband died, seized
and possessed, and that no lein created by
the husband during his life shall in any
manner interfere with the sanje, a mort
gage made by the husband, for the pur
chase money, cotcmposaneously with the
deed to him by the vender, passing as it
does “no title” and being only a lien
orcstod by the husband, is ao bar to her
right of dower, nor is her dower subject
to the same.
A widow is, in this Stato, entitled to
dower in lands: bargained by the husband,
in his lifetime to a third person, the pur
chase money remaining unpaid and the
title to the land being retained by the
husband in himself until his death.
J udgment reversed.
Lochrane, J., dissenting.
I dissent from tho judgment of the
Court in this case, for the following legal
reasons; While I recognize dower as
favored by law, and fully appreciate tho
foroo of section 1753 of the Code declaring
the right of the wife in one-third of the
lands of which her husband dies seized
and possessed ; and section 1944, that a
mortgage in this State is only security for
a debt, and passes no title; and also sec
tion 1859, which deolares no lien oreated
by the husband in his life time shall in any
manner interfere with the right of dower,
yet I am of opinion, where the oontract
under whioh the laLd was bought em
braced the condition of a mortgage as tho
security of the purchase money, aod the
deed and mortgage were simultaneously
made and constituted in law one act, that
dower docs not attach as against the ven
dor for the purchase money. The rule
laid down in 21 Ga., 408, and tho reason
ing of tho Court, appear to me conclusive
of the question. Taking the whole
tiansaction together, it was a conditional
sale, and the title never did rest in the
mortgagor,except encumbered with the debt
to-wit: the purchase money. If the pur
chaser, after receiving the deed, had re
fused to execute the mortgage, the con
tract of purchase was incomplete and
would be rescinded; it took both instru
ments to consummate the agreement of
purchase. The liens which dower dis
places are liens.created, by the hnsb&nd on
ids lane 1 , but this land is not his under the
contract without paying for it. While
every consideration of public policy de
mands that the widow should be favored
in her rights of dower as to the estate of
her husband, I do not think she is entitled
to her dower in the property of another.
I am of opinion that the oontraot to bny
and secure the purchase money was one—
that both instruments were essential to its
perfection —and being simultaneously
made, had the effect, not of lien only, but
of a higher obligation, paramount to dow
er, in that it was the condition and terms of
the contract by which the land was ac
quired.
Hines & Hobbs, Vason & Davis, G. J.
Wright, for plaintiff in error.
Lyon, de Graffeureid & Irwin, for de
fendant.
John G. Tyus vs. L. G. Rust. Trovor,
from Dougherty.
Warner, J.
This wag an action brought by tho plain
tiff against the defendant, as a warehouse
man, to rcoover the value of fifty-two
bales of ootton, which the plaintiff alleges
were sold and converted by tho defendant,
oontrary to his instructions, and without
his authority. The evidence on this point
in tho caso was conflicting. Tho jury
found a verdict for the defendant, and tho
plaintiff made a motion for anew trial on
several grounds, which was overruled by
the Court, and the defendant excepted :
Held, That taking tho whclo charge 'of
the Court to tho jury as the defendant’s
liability under the law applicable to the
facts of the case, as disclosed by the record,
there was no error in that charge :
Held, further , That although there may
have been a preponderance of evidenoo on
the part of the plaintiff; still, it was a
question for the jury to determine ns to
the credibility and weight which they
would give to the evidence of the respec
tive witnesses sworn in the case, and
there being sufficient evidence to sustain
the verdict, this Court will not disturb it.
This is a Court alone for the correction of
legal errors, and it will not usurp tho
functions of the juries of the country, in
deciding upon the weight and credit to
which the testimony of witnesses sworn
on the trial are entitled to receive, in de
termining questions of faots, whore no
rule of law lias been violated, and this wo
have earnestly endeavored to impress on
the minds of parties, and their counsel, by
the repeated rulings of the Court.
Judgment affirmed.
Wm. E. Smith, H. Morgan, for plaintiff
in error.
Vason & Davis, R. F. Lyon, for defen
dant.
Tlie Trial of James Oxford.
[Correspondence of the Morning News.\
Sandersvii.lh, July 19, 1871.
Editor Morning News:
On last Monday morning, soon after the
opening of Court, the case of the State vs.
James Oxford, charged witli the offense of
murder (he having killed George Wash
ington, colored, in October, 1807), was
called, when it was ascertained that Ox
ford had no counsel present. His Honor
Judge Twiggs assigned Messrs. John N.
Gilmoro, Milo G. Hatch and 8. H. Jones
to defend the prisoner. The State was
represented by J. A. Robson, Esq., Solici
tor General pro tern,, and Messrs. Lang
made & Evans, all of tho local bar.
Owing to the absence of witnesses for
the defense, tho ease was continued until
Tuesday morning, when, at 9 a. m., it was
called again, and both parties announoing
themselves ready, the trial proceeded. A
jnry was impanneied without any trouble.
Two colored and four white witnesses
wore examined on tho part of the prosecu
tion, and two white witnesses on the part
of the defense. Able arguments woro
offered by counsel on both sides, especially
so on the part of the defense, wiio, without
the hope of fee or reward, labored assidu
ously to counteract the effect of the dam
aging evidence offered by the prosecution.
About midnight the jury retired to their
room, and after an abseuoo of fifteen
minutes, returned with a verdict of “Guilty
of murder.”
This morning, at 9 o’clock, Judgo Twiggs
passed sentenoe upon Oxford, to tho effeot
that he bo hung in Sandorsvilln, on Fri
day, September Ist, between tho hours of
9 o. m. and 5 p. m.
James Oxford is tho younger brother of
William Oxford, who was tried in this
Court last week, for the killing of a color
cd man in 1868, and who was sootcncod to
the ponitontii»»y for- ttrrrr- jnir-. Jrtotfr
brothers are young men. William is about
twenty-five, and Jameß twonty-two years
years of ago. Their mother, a younger
brothor, and throe married sisters, are liv
ing in this and the adjoining county of Jef
ferson. Their father, John Oxford, who
died threo or four years ago, was a black
smith by trado, and moved to this oounty
from Baldwin about thirteen years ago.
William served in the Confederate army
during tho war, and James in tho latter
part of 1864, until the surrender, attor
which they worked on farms for various
people in this oounty, whero they wero
considered hard working boys. But evil
ooudscl and drink, that bano of society,
got the mastory over them, and henoo
their downward oareon
Thore are indiotmonts pending against
James in Hancook county, for the murder
of the Superintendent of tho Sparta Fac
tory, in 1869, and for the murdor of a col
ored man in recently.
It will probably be recollected that about
a year ago James, while incarcerated in
jail at Sparta, on tho night previous to
t'ao day set for his trial, was released by
an armod crowd, who had effected forcible
entrance into the jail. Large rewards hav
ing been offered by Governor Bullook for
the apprehension and convioliori of both
the brothers, deteotives from Augusta got
upon their trail, and captured William in
Burke county, whero ho was at work under
tho name of Taylor, on a farm belonging
to his wife, whom he had recently mar
ried, though having a wife living in this
county. James was oapturod in Jofforson
county, under tho same name, while at
work in a steam saw mil). Ho has a wife
and child living thore. Both had been
carried to Augusta jail for safo keeping,
from whence they wore brought hero for
trial.
During their short confinement in jail
here the building was, by order of the
Court, guarded every night by a speoial
guard of twenty-four mco. After tbeir
oonviotion William was sent to tho Au
gusta jail again, to be confined there until
the guard from the penitentiary calls for
him. James was, this afternoon, sent to
the jail at Macon, thero to bo oonfioed
until the day set for his execution.
It is hoped, by all tho good citizous of
Washington county, that with tho trial
and conviotion of theso parties, lawless
ness within her borders may have come to
an end.
Arrest op the Silver Bluff Mur
derers. The Barnwell Journal says
that Owon S. W. Smith, the ring leader
in tho Silver Bluff tragedy, was delivered
up by tho Georgia authorities to Chief
Constablo Hubbard a week ago, and was
carried on with Rev. Peter Alien, another
of tho offenders, arrested by Trial J ustioe
Hayne, to Barnwell on Saturday, and
lodged in the jail at that place. Soon after
Smith and Allen had been carried off,
three of the women engaged also in tbe
difficulty (it being proved on the examina
tion that, threatening to assist iu killing
the parties they were in search of, they
had accompanied tho crowd to tho scone
of conflict with axes in their hands, one of
them breaking down tho baok door), wero
brought in on a warrant issued against
them by Justice Hayne. A number of
colored persons, supposing that these threo
women, whose names are Molly Ilurlong,
Savannah House and Ellen Miller, wore
only witnesses, wero very indignant that
Justioc Hayne would not release them up
on bail, but the latter refused to take any,
and upon threats being m; dc, a sufficient
guard was plaoed around the Town Hall
on Sucday night, aod Monday morning
they were sent to tho jail al Barnwell, a
portion of tho crowd who wore anxious to
rescue them following them, we are in
formed, to the train. No others than tho
above have been captured, but a diligent
search is being made for them, and it is
supposed that they will soon bo arrested.
Tho oitizcDs in the neighborhood of tho
murder arc very much incensed that all of
tbe party have not been arrested before
this, and, while everything is quiet at
present, if tho guilty parties arc not
brought to trial it is feared that there will
be trouble, for no one will feel safe, and
where the law fails to protect there will al
ways be disorder.
The Charlotte Railroad and the
Tax Receiver.—Tho Board of Referees
appointed to decide tho controversy be
tween the Charlotto, Columbia & Augusta
Railroad and the Receiver of Tax Returns,
relative to the value of tho real estase
owned in this county by tho formor, has
decided against the railroad, and iu favor
of the Tax Receiver. They decide the
property of the railroad to be worth sev
enty thousand dollars, instead off orty-five,
as it had boon returned.