Chapter III: Part 3

For the first time in all her hated experience with these desperate men, she faltered and felt her courage failing her. To the high-toned and sensitive spirit of this brave and beautiful girl, there was something in this contemplated exposure of her person far more torturing than any number of lashes, however mercilessly inflicted. Death itself were a thousand times preferable, and, for the first moment in all her life, she felt like supplicating for mercy. Her hands dropped nervously and motionless at her side, and the stout-hearted heroine of the previous hour, stood in the presence of her persecutors almost stricken dumb with shame and confusion.

There was no sympathy in the glaring eyes that peered with lustful and revengeful fires from behind the hideous masks of their tormentors; no sentiment of pity, no hope, no help. She was given but little time to decide. They fell upon her like hungry wolves famishing for their prey, tearing one garment off after another, she resisting with all the strength she could command, and entreating them to take her life, if they must, but to spare her this last indignity.

Neither her piteous appeals nor her stubborn resistance availed her, and she lay upon the hard floor at last, naked as when born into the world, ashamed, degraded, broken in spirit, and her maidenly feelings outraged beyond any power of description. Four of the defenders of the "white man's race" seized her limbs and arms; stretched them to their fullest tension, and placing their knees thereon, held her brutally and forcibly to the floor. Her punishment was to be terrible.

The "executioners" were called, and five of the band came forward. "Number one!" shouted the leader, and a stalwart member of the Klan that had sworn to uphold the "white man's government," raising his knotted strap in the air, brought it down upon the naked person of the helpless girl with the terrible force of his muscular arm, cutting through the delicate white skin and causing the blood to spurt at every stroke. He administered thirty lashes, and was succeeded by "number two" and "number three," until, as the witnesses state, one hundred and fifty lashes had been administered, and her shoulders, loins, and limbs, were literally cut into mince meat.

Her screams had ceased, and her unoffending body lay still and motionless long before the punishment had ended. There was something in her young heart far beyond the dread cruelty of this infliction, and she inwardly prayed to God for death, to end her mental and bodily suffering. Lying under this great mountain of sorrow and shame, she heeded not the rude and obscene observations of her tormentors; and the unconsciousness produced by the punishment, soon placed her beyond the power to listen to them.

Leaving her as one dead, and issuing the edict that if the family did not leave the country, it would be "_death!_ DEATH! DEATH!" to all, the band departed.

Thousands of honest hearts of all shades of political opinions, upon perusing this truthful narration, will feel to wish that they could have been present with power at this time to have utterly destroyed this band of midnight raiders; but, let them remember the words of holy writ, "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay".... "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath: but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy, for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land."

It was an hour after the departure of the band, before any of the party exhibited evidences of life or animation. Henry Furguson, and the young man Phillips, were the first to come to a realizing consciousness of the awful scenes through which they had just passed. Wounded and bleeding as they were, they felt the necessity for immediate action. The mother and daughter still lay upon the floor, naked, lacerated and motionless. John Furguson had fainted from the loss of blood he had sustained, and was still unconscious, while Daniel was lying amid the debris of the bed, groaning in the agony of the fever, and the wounds upon his body.

Hastily gathering up the dresses of the women, and throwing them over their nude bodies, the young men lifted them tenderly to the bed, and gave them such attention as they felt able to bestow. The remaining members of the family were cared for as well as the circumstances permitted. Not a doctor could be had in the vicinity, who was not in sympathy with the Klan, and not a neighbor came to their assistance, although fully aware of their distressed condition. The neglect of the neighbors was in no way attributable to their indifference or their inhumanity. It was one of the legitimate results of the feeling of terror that then pervaded the community. A show of sympathy towards these unfortunates, they feared, would place them under the ban, and subject them to a visitation, and they dared not incur the risk.

In ten days another warning came to the Furgusons, that they must leave the country within twenty-four hours, or the penalty of death would surely be inflicted. They knew this warning must be heeded, and with broken hearts and crushed spirits, they crawled out into the woods, under cover of the darkness, and secreted themselves as they best could.

In an interview held with the writer, subsequent to this last outrage, Miss Furguson stated that the weather, at this time, was cold and disagreeable, sometimes frosting and sometimes raining; that they had to lie out without a shelter, and suffered with the cold and hunger, sometimes going twenty-four hours without food. Occasionally the neighbors gave them something to eat, and finally the unfortunate wanderers sold to them the right to what furniture they had left behind in the house, and thus procured something upon which to subsist.

She stated further, that they were in the woods nearly a month, and that as soon as they were able to travel they left the vicinity and procured a home with a Mr. Dixon, on the lower edge of Chatham county.

An affidavit, based upon the statements of this young lady, was made before the Hon. A. W. Schaffer, U. S. Commissioner at Raleigh, N. C., on the 8th day of September, 1871. It charged the men, recognized by this girl, as being present and concerned in the outrages above related. Warrants were issued, and the officers of the U. S. Secret Service went to Chatham county and arrested the parties and brought them before the Commissioner. The more wealthy and influential members of the Klan rallied to their rescue, became their bondsmen, and they were released to await trial.

Miss Furguson's description of the dreadful indignities to which she and the other members of the family were subjected, was of the most graphic and thrilling character, and aroused the sympathies of many who heard it.

The defenders of the "white man's government" were alone amazed and enraged at the persistency and courage of this young girl of the "white man's race," and they determined to ferret her out and punish her again. In this they were successful, although for greater safety, the family had broken up, and the mother and daughter had secreted themselves, as they supposed, beyond the knowledge of their persecutors.

On the night of the 20th of September, 1871, three men, armed and disguised, and who had been detailed by the Camp for the purpose, appeared suddenly before the miserable hut in which these unfortunates had taken refuge. An entrance was easily effected, and the women were told that their doom was sealed, and they were to be whipped to death.

These three protectors of the "white man's race," then fell upon the women, beating them brutally. Susan recognized one of them, by his voice, as a man named Jesse Dixon, whom she knew. The moment she called his name, the three ran away, leaving their victims, who passed the remnant of the night in the woods.

On the following day, the mother and daughter made their way to Raleigh, where fresh complaints were entered, and the Secret Service officers, armed with warrants, went out and succeeded in capturing two of the murderous assailants, who were brought in and held for trial. Mrs. Furguson and her daughter were then retained in the city as witnesses, at the expense of the government, and to protect them from further outrages.

Susan J. Furguson, the heroine of the terrible experiences above related, is now twenty-one years of age. She is a girl of commanding presence, is endowed with a powerful constitution, great energy and force of character, and an indomitable spirit. Her P. O. address is "Snow Camp Foundry, Chatham Co., N. C.," where herself and other members of the family can be found, in verification of the facts above related.

There are few narrations in the annals of "persecutions for opinion's sake," more shocking in their inhuman details than the foregoing; certainly, none that cry with a louder and more earnest voice to the government, and the right-minded people of the country, for help for those who have been the subjects thereof.

No amount of retributive justice can erase one solitary scar from the knout-welted bodies of the Furgusons, or remove from their spirits the dreadful memory of their disgrace; but to those who went forth to battle in the days of "The Nation's Peril," who stood shoulder to shoulder amid the roar of cannon, and, in vindication of the right, successfully withstood the shock of rebellious armies, it must ever remain a matter of profound gratification that the victories _then_ achieved in the field are _now_ being perpetuated in such a firm and vigorous enforcement of the laws as will have a tendency to make them substantial ones in the repression of any and all such outrages in the future.

GEORGE W. ASHBURN.

SHOT TO DEATH FOR OPINION'S SAKE.

The shocking murder of this gentleman is still fresh in the minds of most readers of the daily journals, North and South. Mr. Ashburn was a sterling patriot, who entertained radical opinions, and through his fluency and ability, as well as his outspoken friendliness towards the colored race, had gained their confidence and support alike, with that of the Republican whites of the vicinity.

He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Georgia which met at Columbus, in the winter of 1867-8, and during his stay there, was refused admittance as a guest at the principal hotels of the place on account of the political prejudice existing against him. He occupied private rooms upon one of the main streets of the city, where he lived in an unostentatious and unpretending manner.

He was a man of extraordinary natural talents, a good speaker, of fair educational qualifications, and a most earnest defender and supporter of true Republican principles. On all occasions, and wherever he appeared, to discuss the political situation of the trying times he moved in, he spoke his sentiments unreservedly. He was far from ever having been a huckster or trickster in politics, but he was fearless and able, and his enemies doomed him!

At midnight, on the 31st day of March, 1868, a band of about forty men, who were armed and thoroughly disguised, made their appearance in an open lot of ground near his residence, and just opposite his private quarters. He had gone to bed in his room, and the door was just closed, when a summons from without called the servant, who opened it, and the Klan burst into the hall. Mr. Ashburn heard the noise, sprang out of bed, struck a light, and opened the door of his sleeping apartment. He did not fear death at the hands of these intruders, but he was alarmed at the rude demonstrations they made, and demanded to know what was their purpose.

With an oath and a brief exclamation of unwarrantable abuse, the foremost members of the Klan immediately fired upon and shot him down in his tracks like a dog. A white and colored woman in the house recognized three or four of the leading assailants, whom they subsequently identified, and these were among the first residents of the city of Columbus. The names of these parties, whose identity was sworn to, and who were afterwards placed on trial, are as follows:

Elisha J. Kirksey, Columbus C. Bedell, James W. Barber, William A. Duke, Robert Hudson, William D. Chipley, Alva C. Roper, James L. Wiggins, Robert A. Wood, Henry Hennis, Herbert W. Blair, and Milton Malone.

The morning after the assassination, a coroner's jury was summoned, and, as was usual in such cases, the verdict of these men--who were all members of the Ku Klux Klan--was, that Mr. Ashburn came to his death "from wounds received from parties to the jury unknown." The local authorities made a faint show of investigating the matter, but really did nothing towards actually ferreting out and bringing to justice the murderers.

This outrage was so revolting in its inception and consummation, that the military authorities considered it right that they should undertake to do what the local police and citizens of Columbus had apparently been so indifferent in performing.

In the then condition of affairs nobody dared to appear against the suspected parties, and consequently witnesses could not be had in the ordinary way.

At this juncture General Geo. G. Meade, then in command of the Military Department there--for the State of Georgia was at this time under martial law--telegraphed to Gen. Grant, in Washington, that he desired the services of a competent and able detective to assist in bringing the guilty parties to justice. A second dispatch was sent by Gen. Meade, requesting that Col. H. C. Whitley, of the United States Internal Revenue service (then absent under Department orders in Kansas), should be directed to report to him in person for the duty indicated. In pursuance of this request Col. Whitley went to Columbus and commenced his labors, which resulted in the arrest of the parties above named.

A military commission was at once convened to try the accused. The witnesses for the Government gave their testimony in a straightforward manner, their evidence being fully corroborated by that of the people in the house where the deed had been consummated, and the conviction of the parties seemed inevitable.

The citizens of Columbus raised a hue and cry; the local newspapers sharply criticized the proceedings; a furore of excitement was engendered; the ablest legal counsel to be had for the defence, with Alexander H. Stephens at the head, were engaged, and large sums of money were expended in behalf of the prisoners.

All parties were astounded, however, at the evidence which was produced against the accused. Its preparation showed a skill and ingenuity such as had never before been exhibited in working up a case before the courts of the district, and it was necessary that some measures should be devised to save the participants in the fearful tragedy from their justly merited punishment.

This could only be accomplished in one way--by the adoption of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, it being a clause in the law that, upon the adoption of this amendment by the legislature of any State, all cases of civilians pending before military tribunals organized in said State, should be taken cognizance of by the civil courts therein.

The Democratic members of the Georgia Legislature were between two fires; the 14th Amendment was a bitter pill, but the necks of their confreres were in danger, and they were compelled to vote solid with the Republicans, and thus end the proceedings before the military tribunal. By this means, the trials of the Ashburn murderers were taken out of the hands of the military authorities, the prisoners put under bail, the witnesses compelled to flee for their lives, and there the matter rests.

To the unobserving mind the murder of George W. Ashburn would seem totally unavenged; but to him who sees in every great event the hand of an over-ruling Providence, evolving good from evil, a different conclusion must be arrived at. In his life, he fought manfully for the establishment of civil rights, and the political equality of the oppressed race of which he was the chosen champion. In his death that result was consummated, in the State of Georgia, sooner perhaps by years than it would otherwise have been without this sacrifice. "Wherever a few great minds have made a stand against violence and fraud in the cause of liberty and reason," there shall we find just such sacrifices as this, and there, too, "in the eternal fitness of things" and the onward march of law and the establishment of order, shall we find the triumphal vindication of those principles for which the republic has labored and travailed, and George W. Ashburn died.

A THRILLING NARRATIVE.

DESPERATE ENCOUNTER AND DEFEAT OF A BAND OF KU KLUX.

As an instance of what the courage of one man can do in a righteous cause, against a multitude of those who are actuated by wicked and unlawful motives, the case of Mr. J. K. Halliday, a resident of Jackson County, near Jefferson, Ga., is perhaps one of the most extraordinary on record.

Mr. Halliday is a native of Jackson County, Ga., where he has always lived and done business. He was opposed to secession and rebellion from the first; was continually counselling peaceful measures, and openly avowed himself a Unionist. During the war, he utterly refused to take up arms against the Government, and being a man of great influence and large means, was enabled to avoid conscription into the rebel ranks.

He was a thriving business man, the proprietor of two plantations and a mill, and kept a large number of hands engaged at work. After the close of the rebellion and as a measure of concession to the turbulent spirits by whom he was surrounded, he employed white men to do his labor.

Mr. Halliday soon found, to his inconvenient cost, that these men demanded exorbitant wages; that they were indisposed to perform a fair day's work, sometimes not working at all, and then but for a half day, but always charging him for full time--and he finally became disgusted with, and discharged them altogether. This was sufficient to bring him into contempt with the Klan, who charged him with being a "negro lover," as well as a Union sympathizer, and an open-mouthed Radical.

Threats of his assassination and the destruction of his mill and other buildings were freely uttered. He was formally "warned" by the K. K. K.'s, that he must change his course, politically, or he would certainly suffer death. Halliday's reply to this threat and warning was simply to proceed to Jefferson, and procure some of the best modern weapons, for defense, that he could find. With these he returned to his dwelling, awaited results, pursuing his usual course, advocating such political principles as he please, and employing colored men as before.

During the spring of 1871, at a meeting of the Ku Klux Camp of Jefferson County, it was solemnly resolved that Halliday should be killed, and his property destroyed. The night for the "visitation" was duly decided on; and through an anonymous note this information was conveyed to Halliday, the writer begging him as he valued his life, to leave the place, and thus save himself.

To less resolute men this would have appeared a serious matter, but upon Halliday the threatened danger had an entirely different effect. It nerved rather than weakened his brave spirit, and he resolved to "stick." He was a man full six feet in stature, and well proportioned; he had been long accustomed to out-of-door life, and was considered one of the most powerful men, physically, in the county; he knew his strength, and relying upon that and an unswerving faith in God, he determined to defend himself and his family to the last.

On the night of the anticipated visit, he placed his wife and his two children in the upper room of the house, and barricaded the passage way leading thereto, as best he could.

Mrs. Halliday well knew the desperate character and murderous designs of the Klan. She clung to her husband, to whom she was devotedly attached, and expressed her fears as he passed down the stairway, that she would never see him again, alive! To this Mr. Halliday responded:

"You forget that the GREAT MASTER is with me! Trust HIM as _I_ do," and kissing her and the little ones, he descended to the ground floor, where he intended to remain and await the advent of the party.

Some of the more faithful of the negroes observing the unusual care with which Mr. H. adjusted the fastenings upon the doors and shutters, that night, hinted to him that they "reck'nd he 'spected trouble," and they would like to be near him.

"No," said he, "go to your own places and don't come out; if they come in here, I had rather be alone, for then I can shoot and cut at random and be sure not to hit any of my own friends. Every man I strike will surely be one who ought to be stricken."

Mr. Halliday was armed with two rifles, two revolvers, and a long bowie knife. Shortly before midnight, the Klan made their appearance in front of the house, to the number of about twenty. Halliday saw them through a small half-moon shaped aperture at the top of the shutter.

They were all masked, and appeared each to wear a long rubber cape, falling from the shoulders to the waist. They came straight to the door, and, without saying a word, commenced to batter it in. The door gave way in a few moments, and as they rushed in, Halliday discharged his firearms with such fatal effect, that three of the Klan dropped dead upon the floor.

The room was intensely dark, and a desperate fight ensued, in which the assailants more frequently encountered each other than the victim for whom they were in search.

Halliday was finally grappled by one of the foremost of the party. He speedily freed himself through his superior strength and the prompt use of his bowie knife, thrusting it into his assailant's bowels, and throwing him violently back on to the crowd. The wounded man exclaimed:

"He's got a knife! I'm murdered!"

This caused a panic among the marauders, and the entire crowd left the house, taking their dead and wounded with them. After making certain that all of their own number were out, they discharged their firearms through the open doorway, and beat a retreat, taking a circuitous route, to avoid being traced by the blood that oozed from the wounds of several of the number, two of whom died soon after reaching their homes, thus making five in all who had paid the forfeit of their lives in the unholy cause.

During all the time of this desperate encounter, the feelings of the wretched wife and frightened children in the upper room, may only be imagined. The father and husband, single handed, fighting against a horde of ruffians bent upon his murder; their own fate depending upon his, and not daring to cry out lest they should be discovered, and thus bring destruction upon their own heads, their situation was agonizing in the extreme.

Mrs. Halliday did not forget the last words of her husband, so full of the strong faith that characterized the man: "_You forget that the Great Master is with me. Trust Him as I do!_" And sinking upon her knees, she poured her spirit out in silent and earnest prayer to God for help.

The dead calm that had ensued after the uproarious tumult of the firearms, and the fierce struggle of the combatants in the room below, alarmed Mrs. Halliday more than all else. Whether her husband had been overpowered at last and taken away, or had been left dead upon the floor, with some of the murderous crew watching to see who would come for the body, she knew not. Possibly he might be lying there alone, wounded and insensible, with the life-blood ebbing away, and no friendly hand to stay the crimson tide, and the thought was terrible and agonizing.

An hour went by. An hour into which years of misery were crowded to the forlorn woman, and yet no sound of life, no ray of light gleaming through the impenetrable darkness, to relieve the awful gloom and suspense, or give her one faint shadow of hope.

Halliday was indeed lying there, exhausted and unconscious from the numerous wounds and contusions he had received. In his right hand he still held the bowie knife firmly grasped, as if awaiting the further onslaught of the foe, while his left was clenched with the determination of his iron will. The cool wind blowing off the mill-stream and coming in through the open doorway, aroused him at length to consciousness.

The remembrance of the fight, his successful resistance, the retreat of the assailing party, and, above all, his wife and children, saved--and by his own right arm!--came back to his recollection and nerved him to action. He roused himself from his lethargy, and groping his way to the stairs, he called out:

"Are you there, mother! and our darlings!"

Who shall tell the feelings of that wife-mother's heart, bowed in its terrible anguish, and now so suddenly raised to the highest pinnacle of happiness as she responded, "Here! and safe, thank God, and our husband and father."

Who shall describe the music that will compare, in Halliday's bosom, to the pattering feet of his darlings, as they rushed to meet his strong and loving embraces, and shouted, "Papa, papa!" amid their fast falling tears.

Halliday's wounds, though not fatal, were still serious enough to alarm his wife, and as early in the morning as she dared, she sent one of the negroes for a doctor; but it appeared that every doctor in the vicinity was busy with patients who had been "taken suddenly ill during the night."

One of these was the only son of a widow, the nearest neighbor to the Hallidays. He had received a "severe fall" the night previous, they said, upon a sharp instrument that had pierced his bowels and caused his death. This proved to be the man Halliday had cut. Five funerals attested the energy and strength of the hero's arm, and the dead bodies of the victims remained as lasting "warnings" to the "defenders of the white man's government," and that it was not always wise to attack the members of the "white man's race."

It is almost needless to add that Mr. Halliday was left free from that time forth to pursue his own course, politically and otherwise as he deemed best, and that his persecutors came to realize with him that "the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong," and that in the struggle of the right for supremacy over the wrong, "God and one constitute a majority."

SLAUGHTER OF AN UNITED STATES OFFICIAL.

John Springfield, a Deputy United States Marshal, residing in St. Clair County, Alabama, had drawn upon himself the odium of the Ku Klux of that county by accepting a position under the United States Government, the duties of which he endeavored faithfully to discharge.

He had been approached on several occasions by members of the Klan, who had made propositions to him to pervert his office, and shield certain parties who were engaged in the illicit distillation of whiskey; but had utterly refused to listen to any of these overtures, and was bold enough to proclaim the fact that he should use his best endeavors to bring to punishment the violators of the law wherever he found them.

The customary warning was sent to this intrepid officer, informing him that "St. Clair County was getting hot for him," but that if he kept on in his course he would "be sent to a hotter place in a hurry."

He was somewhat alarmed at this threat and moved about with great caution, but was unremitting in his attention to his duties until the spring of 1871, when the Klan decided that he must be stopped. An edict was issued, sealing Springfield's doom, and the second night thereafter he was followed by three members of the Klan, disguised in black gowns and with their faces blackened, and was shot dead within a few feet of his house.

This murder was charged upon the negroes, and up to the present writing, the instigators and perpetrators have escaped punishment.

THE ASSAULT UPON ASA THOMPSON.

_Singular Conduct of the Klan._

In the latter part of the year 1870, there resided in Clinch County, Georgia, a gentleman by the name of Asa Thompson, who, although a Southerner by birth and education, was an outspoken Radical Unionist, and had directly identified himself with the Republican party.

In his intercourse with the people he was frank and free in the expression of his sentiments, and always exercised the right of suffrage, conducting himself in an orderly and acceptable manner, at all times, as a good citizen should do. He was proprietor of a thrifty plantation, upon which he employed a large number of hands, and stood well generally in the community.

These essential requisites to a good citizen were altogether insufficient, in the eyes of the Ku Klux Klan in that vicinity, to balance the bad points (in their esteem) which characterized him, inasmuch as he was a Radical in principle. This fault was considered good cause for forwarding to Thompson a sharp "warning" from the camp, which was sent him in the customary form, and he was ordered to restrain himself in the utterance of his Radicalism, or quit the country.

If he failed to obey, then he would receive a visitation from the K. K. K.'s, and that meant death. To this notice he gave no attention, but laughed at the threat and awaited events. A second warning was then sent him, couched in the following terms:--

"One of three things will happen to you, very shortly. You will leave
the country, so that we can never find you--change your politics--or
be turned into Buzzard Bait.

K. K. K."

To this expressive, but not over polite missive, Thompson returned a somewhat defiant reply, proceeded at once to fortify his cotton gin-house, in which he remained at night, and dared the Klan to come for him.

During the month of September, 1871, matters had assumed such a position in this man's case, that the Klan felt that Thompson must be annihilated, or the "reign of terror," which they had inaugurated in the county, would be broken--and a reaction take place among the people, inimical to themselves.

Numbers of the band were accordingly detailed by the Commander of the Camp of Clinch County, to put Thompson out of the way. They were headed by Shimmie Timmerson, formerly sheriff of that county; a man notable for his unusual brute force and personal resolution.

The Klan approached Thompson's gin-house on the night of the assault, cautiously, and as they supposed, unobserved. Each one of them was well armed, and disguised in black gowns, masks and hats.

Thompson, who had been constantly on the watch, discovered them upon their first appearance. He relied upon the solid door of the gin-house, which he supposed would withstand a much heavier shock than it did. It gave way upon the first assault, which was made with a heavy piece of timber, battered against it by the assailants; and which shivered it to splinters.

As the door crashed in, Thompson opened such a rapid fire upon the marauders, as to lead them to suppose that the gin-house was full of armed men. This belief had been strengthened, from the fact that its only occupant shouted simultaneously with the discharge of his weapons: "Give it to 'em, boys! Don't spare a man."

Timmerman (the ex-sheriff), who led this gang, fell at the first fire, seriously though not mortally wounded. Several others of the party bit the dust, and the entire band at once beat an ignominous retreat--bearing with them their wounded; and leaving their single-handed and brave opponent master of the situation.

The most singular and unexpected result of this was, that the band were so thoroughly chagrined at their failure, that they had a quarrel among themselves after leaving the place, and charged their defeat upon Timmerman, who led the van--and whom they adjudged guilty of death on the spot, on the ground that their defeat was due to his bad management.

This sentence would actually have been executed upon him, but for the interposition of some of the Klan, who declared their belief that Timmerman could not recover from the wounds he had already received, and that he might as well be left to die in the woods; that they did not think he was a traitor, and hence ought not to suffer a traitor's doom.

The ex-sheriff was greatly weakened from the loss of blood, caused by these wounds, and was so thoroughly panic-stricken at the idea that he might possibly be murdered by his associates, that he swooned, and his body was carried nearly a mile into the wood, where his "brethren" of the Camp threw it down, and left him.

On the following day Mrs. Timmerman, having missed her husband, employed a gang of negroes to go in search of him. The hunt was successful, and the wounded man was removed to his house; where, after the most careful nursing, he was partially restored to health, but was so badly crippled as to be unable ever again to perform manual labor.

The treachery and inhumanity of these men towards one of their own number so enraged Timmerman that he declared himself ready to expose their whole operations, their modes of working, and their secrets; and it was from him and Mr. Thompson that the writer obtained the facts, as herein set forth. This raid ended the operations of the Clinch County Ku Klux Klan, for sometime, so far as the influential whites were concerned.

Outrages upon negroes were continued, however, but with less severity--the subsequent vigorous action of the Government in enforcing the laws, in other parts of the country, being felt to some degree in that place.

BRUTAL WHIPPING OF WOMEN.

The outrages committed by members of the Klans, upon both individuals and property, in the county of Chatham, and in Moore county, N. C., were so numerous and oppressive, during the spring of 1871, and finally became so brutal in their character as to occasion the direst consternation among the whole negro population, as well as among such of the whites as dared to exercise the right of suffrage in accordance with their own convictions, which were not in accord with the tenets maintained by the Ku Klux or democracy of the place.

About this period, the more intelligent of the colored people were in the habit of gathering together at stated times, for consultation in company with the friendly whites, as to the course it was deemed best for them to pursue for the protection and security of their lives.

A favorite place for holding these meetings, was at the dwelling of Mrs. Sallie Gilmore--a woman then residing with her family in Moore county.

These frequent assemblages were soon brought to the notice of the Camp in Moore county, and it was decided that such an example should be made of the parties as would deter others from pursuing a similar course; and compel these to abandon their radical views, or quit the country.

The house occupied by Mrs. Gilmore, was rather of the better class, and Mrs. G. was known as an intelligent woman, who, in her sympathy with the colored race, was anxious for the day when the rights and privileges guaranteed them by the Constitution and the laws, could be enjoyed without molestation.

The opinions and teachings of Mrs. Gilmore becoming known, the heresy was sufficient for the Klan to commence a crusade upon her and her family, and an edict was issued that she, and all the others found upon her premises, should be scourged.

Thirty men of the Klan were, accordingly, detailed to carry out the order, and the "visitation" was fixed for the night of April 15th, 1871. The Klan were disguised, as usual, and were under the leadership of Roderick J. Bryan, a prominent citizen of Moore county, who was violently opposed to Republican principles. They met and organized in a field about a mile from Mrs. Gilmore's house, where they held a counsel, and finally completed arrangements for making the proposed raid.

Saturday night (the night in question) was the favorite time when the negroes met there, but, on this particular evening there chanced to be but three present, besides Mrs. Gilmore, her son and daughter, and a young woman named Mary Godfrey.

For greater security, no lights were used when these meetings were held, and when the Klan arrived, the place was found to be entirely darkened. The doors were at once broken in, and Murkerson McLane, one of the negroes, taking advantage of the darkness, crept through the doorway stealthily, and darted towards the woods; but he was observed by some of the Klan, who pursued and soon came up with him.

They had fired upon him as he ran, and when overtaken, he had sank down exhausted, and begged hard for his life. Roderick Bryan and Garner Watson replied to his earnest supplications for life by discharging their revolvers at him a second time. Both shots took effect. McLane gave a spasmodic leap into the air, and dropped motionless by the roadside. Supposing him dead the band left him there, where he lingered through the night in great agony, and died next morning.

Having murdered McLane, his pursuers returned to Mrs. Gilmore's house, where the rest of their party were awaiting them before commencing their inhuman indecencies. A light had been struck, and Mrs. Gilmore, her son and daughter, the negroes, and Mary Godfrey, were found fastened to the bed, in the most indecent positions. The negroes were first released, and were fearfully beaten with clubs and twisted switches, until they became utterly unconscious, when they were rudely dragged to the doorway, and their bleeding bodies tumbled, unceremoniously, into the mud.

Mrs. Gilmore's son and daughter were then stripped of their clothing and compelled, in this condition, to _dance_, for the edification of their tormentors; the music of this wretched exhibition being provided by the switches in the hands of the Klan, who applied them to the naked bodies of their victims with terrible severity, mocking them wickedly, meantime, as they were forced through the unwilling and miserable antics they performed!

The son was entirely nude, but the daughter was allowed to retain her chemise. Both became exhausted, and sank down under the terrible punishment inflicted upon them, and the vigorous switching kept up, failed to revive them into further action. The attentions of the Klan were then directed towards Mrs. Gilmore.

One of the band said, "Let's make the old she radical dance now!"

"We can do better than that," said another; "we can lick the d-- nigger-loving blood out of her."

Mrs. Gilmore, now upwards of fifty years old, was then seized and thrown violently upon the floor. Her clothes were drawn up over her head, and the cotton under garments covering her limbs were rudely torn off, exposing her naked person to the demons in human form who surrounded her. The switches were then applied with all the vigor of which the executioners were capable. The old lady uttered a few heart-rending shrieks, but speedily fainted, and continued unconscious during the remainder of the infliction.

The punishment of the young woman, Mary Godfrey, was reserved to the last. She was stripped of every thread of clothing, and was thus compelled to experience the shame of indecent exposure, added to her other tortures. During the process of scourging this young woman the vilest and most obscene epithets were bandied about by the Klan, and she was subjected to many other indignities.

She sank under the treatment at last, and lie upon the floor, her life apparently extinct. Cold water was dashed over the faces and bodies of these unfortunate women, who, by this means, were rallied sufficiently to render them conscious enough to listen to the final edict of the Klan, which was, "To cease indulging in and promulgating their heresies, from that hour forward, and abandon the country, on pain of certain death!" With this admonition the defenders of the white man's government left the house.

Of a truth, "all cruelty springs from wickedness." But the weakness which could prompt the brutality--exhibited in such cases as those above recorded--is utterly inexcusable in any being wearing the shape of man.

The brutal whipping of these inoffensive women, and the murder of the negro McLane, add one more to the many evidences of the degradation to which the members of the Ku Klux Klan had reduced themselves, in their endeavors to crush out freedom of thought and expression, and compel adherence to their own peculiar tenets. Thank God, and the wisdom that now guides and controls the destinies of the nation, these dark hours of the Republic, fruitful with scenes like those described above, are passing away. A gleam of light appears in the horizon, as a glad harbinger of the dawn that shall usher in the day when

"All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail;
Returning justice lift aloft her scale;
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white robed innocence from heaven descend."

MISCELLANEOUS OUTRAGES.

WHIPPING OF STANFORD AND NASH.

On the night of the 16th of June, 1871, two negroes, named John Stanford and Edward Nash, were proceeding to their homes, near Oltewah, Hamilton County, Tennessee, when they were met in the road by some fifteen men armed and disguised, who ordered them to stop. They were then interrogated by the leader of the band as to why they had voted the Radical ticket at the previous election. Stanford replied that they had done it because it was right. One of the band said:

"There's a sting in that ticket, and you may as well have the whole of it," at the same time striking at Stanford with a wooden club.

The latter is a very powerful negro, and having some spirit, resented the attempted injury, dodged the blow, and instantly seizing his assailant, threw him heavily to the earth. Nash showed fight also, but being a much weaker man, was soon overpowered and pinioned fast. Several of the band seized Stanford, who, from his superior strength, dashed them one side, and darted away, followed by half a dozen of the Klan.

As he ran, he managed to pick up a piece of board in the road with which he turned on his pursuers with the intention of defending himself, when a well-directed shot struck his elbow, shattering the bone, and compelling him to drop the board, and again attempt to save himself by flight. A second shot struck him in the ankle, and impeded his further progress. His pursuers again came up with and secured him, and conveyed him back to where Nash was pleading for his life.

A council was held by the Klan, in which it was decided that the negroes should be severely whipped, and if ever known to again vote the radical ticket, they should die.

Stanford was tied to a tree, his immense strength still being feared by the band, and was beaten until entirely insensible. Nash received a similar castigation. Both the negroes were then untied and placed across the driveway of the road so that a wagon in passing would be likely to run over them, unless they should in the mean time become conscious, and get out of the way.

In his desperate struggle with the band, Stanford had displaced one of the masks, which enabled him to recognize a man named Goal Martin, who lived in the vicinity. Upon the statement of these negroes, and from evidence furnished by other corroborating circumstances, several of the members of the band committing these outrages were arrested and brought to appropriate punishment.

OUTRAGE UPON WILLIAM FLETCHER.

On the night of the 23d of November, 1871, there assembled in the woods near Cross Plains, Alabama, a band of men armed and disguised as the White Brotherhood. Their persons were enveloped in long white gowns, white masks covered their faces, high white conical hats surmounted their heads, their hands were encased in white gloves, and white stockings were drawn over and completely covered their boots.

The object of this gathering was the punishment of one William Fletcher, a white Unionist and Radical, who had the temerity to vote the Republican ticket, advocate the supremacy of the Government, and aid the officers thereof in the enforcement of the laws. These were crimes in the eyes of the Ku Klux Klan sufficient to warrant their taking the offender in hand. The customary warning was not sent in this case, but a friendly hand penned a note to Fletcher, informing him of the danger, but this, unfortunately, never reached him.

At the time of the assembling of the band, as above stated, the "Night Hawks"[1] of the Camp came up with the intelligence that Fletcher was then in a grocery store kept by a man named Flanders, and that it would be better to decoy him out of there, and get him on the road towards the woods, where he could be the more easily mastered.

Fletcher was a cool, resolute and brave man, was supposed to be well armed, and the members of the Klan knew that unless some strategy was used with him, some of their number must suffer the consequences. One of the Klan, named N. G. Scott, was accordingly detailed to decoy Fletcher away. Scott removed his disguise, and started for the store, followed at a convenient distance by several members of the band. He was successful in his undertaking, and in about twenty minutes he and his intended victim were walking down the road, in the direction of the ambuscade.

In a moment more, the Klan sprang upon and overpowered Fletcher. Pistols were presented at his head, threatenings of death were made if he uttered a cry; a towel was tied tightly across his eyes as a bandage, and he was led away to the woods on the north side of Cross Plains. Upon reaching the woods, his coat and vest were removed, and he was stood up with his face pressed hard against a tree. His arms were drawn around the trunk of the tree, and tied together, and his legs were firmly secured by ropes.

John Yeateman, who had charge of the proceedings of the Klan that night, then stepped forward, and told Fletcher to say his prayers, as he had but a short time to live; that it had first been the intention to give him a whipping and let him go, but that they had now decided to whip him to death.

Fletcher replied by asking if there was no mercy to be accorded him, and inquired to know for what he was to be killed. The only answer to this was that they never gave mercy to the "infernal radicals, who wanted niggers to rule the country." This remark was followed by his shirt being torn completely off his back.

Meantime the "executioners," who had gone for the "rods," returned, and upon the order of their leader fell to their work, cutting the back of the poor victim most dreadfully, and causing him to lose all his stoicism at last, and shriek from the effects of the blows. The "executioners" becoming exhausted, Yeateman himself seized a knife, and cutting away the garments that encased Fletcher's lower limbs, took a "rod," and commenced beating him about the loins with great ferocity.

Fletcher fainted under the punishment, and as his screams had ceased, Yeateman desisted, remarking, "There's one Radical vote less, by ----."

The band continued consulting together for some time, when, Fletcher being heard to groan, one of the Klan, named James Bierd, said: "He ain't finished yet; I reckon he'd better have the whole of it."

Yeateman then approached the miserable victim, and having succeeded in arousing him to consciousness, asked: "Have you anything to say before you die?"

Fletcher responded faintly, saying: "Write to my mother, Mrs. William Fletcher, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and say how and why I died." In a moment afterwards he asked: "Is there no chance to live?"

The band consulted together again, when Yeateman said: "There is just one chance for you, and that is that you agree to leave the State in three hours, and never come back."

Fletcher gladly gave the required promise. He was then untied, and two of the band supporting him upon either side, led him to the railroad track. The bandage was then taken from his eyes, and he was told he must walk on, and that if he looked back, he would be shot. A row of revolvers pointed at him gave evidence that he was not being trifled with, and summoning all the resolution and strength which he could command, he slowly hobbled away.

William Fletcher is no mythical creation. He lives to-day, a scarred and maimed monument of the demoniac brutality that instigated his scourging for opinion's sake; his property destroyed, his health ruined for life, his spirit crushed and broken. The naturally indignant reader will ask if justice has overtaken the miscreants who committed this outrage, and will be gratified to know that it has; and that the principal offenders have felt the weight of the strong arm of the law, now being vigorously enforced throughout the South against the execrable Klan to which they belonged, and in whose interest, and that of bigotry and persecution, they committed this dreadful outrage.

A SIGNIFICANT CONVERSATION.

The preceding stories of wrongs and outrages committed by the Ku Klux Klan, and those that follow, serve in a degree to show the extent to which persecutions for opinion's sake were carried. It was the intention of the leaders to intimidate the masses, that further opposition to the principles promulgated by the Ku Klux Klan, or Southern Democracy, should cease altogether. They were wiley enough to see, however, that silence, while it may often give assent, can rarely be construed as an endorsement of that which is utterly repugnant to the human heart.

Hence, plans were adopted for the dissemination of principles in violent antagonism to the Government and the Administration. It was not only hinted at that a change of Administration would effect the ends desired by the Ku Klux Orders; but it was openly declared by the bolder ones that such an event would give the South more than it had ever hoped to obtain, even had the war been a success to them instead of to the nation at large.

As an illustration of the feeling of some of these leaders, who were men of property and influence, and owned plantations in the interior, the following conversation is given. This conversation actually occurred upon the Moore plantation, situated upon the Tuscaloosa and Lexington Turnpike.

Moore had been a most uncompromising rebel, and was one of the first to join the Ku Klux Camp in his vicinity. He was continually haranguing his laborers in the interest of Ku Kluxism and democracy, cursing the Government and the Administration, and swearing death to all who upheld them. One of his hands, whom he had but recently employed (September, 1871), said to him:

"What shall we do to break up this cursed Government, and have things as we want them?"

Moore replied: "There is a movement on foot all over the South that will drive every d----d Yankee out of it before long, and give us things all our own way."

"Good," said the laborer, "I'd like to know the programme, and get posted in that thing; I'd take a big hand in it!"

Moore being now convinced that he had the right kind of a tool for the intended work, then said:

"We've got the right thing now to fix all the niggers and Yankees with that don't go as we want them to; we don't care a d---- for the general government. It can go to ----, where it ought to. They may pass an hundred more Ku Klux bills, and it won't do them a bit of good. The Ku Klux are resting just now; but they are not asleep. They have got the niggers and radicals in pretty good train, so they don't dare say anything. All we want is a Democratic President, and that must come sure the next election, and then we can run things to suit ourselves."