Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 May 1877 — HIGH-TONED SOUTHERN GENTLEMEN. [ARTICLE]

HIGH-TONED SOUTHERN GENTLEMEN.

Ever since the enrtifrt recoUwlion« of the present ffcncratigjrof people of the United States *™eat deal of gnehing talk Ims been beard about the wonderful hospitality, exalted morale, lofty honor, fefid ohivalrow character of those Wealthy/and, consequently, cultured, classes who consent to live under a republican form of government at the Sooth. These people have been described as posteasing all of the vtrtuea intensified and stone of the vices of those inhabitant* of England and France in the 'day* of Frtidal power over which novoilnts and poets like Sir Walter Scott have woven the magical veil t>t fiction which hides all deformities and exaggerates all beauties. In advertising the far west to the people of earth interested persona have depended chiefly upon a description of its productive soil and the ease with which it is cultivated, the beauty of its scenery, the salubrity *of its oliinate and the

Wealth wf its mines; bat those who advertised the south have depended more up'oh a laudation of the character and high grade of civilisation v>f her inhabitants. The one bid for labor to produce capital, the other for those who had accumulated capital to ootne and purchase ease In the midst of associations refining ami ennobling. Just how mach of the praise that haa been lavished upqn the people of the -south in the line of their especial boast they are entitled to and how much is fraudulent can only be determined by living in the region or anmreful study of events that are constantly transpiring there. Convinced that the policy of conciliation, which President Hayes has 'determined to experiment with, if ■ft can be made successfttl at all, trill result the most satisfactory of any in firmly cementing a friendship and uniting of sentiment between Mieaeotions north and south, which ttloYie wHi establish the perpetuity t>f the nation, The Union makes no allusion that ha* occurred in the 'distant past. But having Warmly advocated the settlemeut of the south by men of means, enterprise, Industry, and capital, strict impartiality makes it imperative to show the dangers that are to be encountered, as well as the advantages to be gained. Subjoined are two arlixles Vrhich are copied from the IJeraM, a newspaper of strong southern sentiments and sympathies published in the town of Magnolia, Pike county, Mississippi':

'Cross Hoads, April 80,1877, To tlie Magnolia Heraltl : Bqutftls 1,11 and 9of Bulldozers met to-«lay, and argued on very interesting points. The question brought up to-duy was, which is the worst, for itegioes to steal hogs or merchants to xdiarge fmm 50 to lot) j>er cent on thdir goods, and 12j additional on that? It was argued that one was equally as itad as the otlier, and that both were guilty of robbery, nod that stejis should be taken to govern the merchant as well as the negro, it can and slntll be dime after December Ist 18<<; and if any merchant is caught or known selling goods over 12j per cent, ire shall be waited on by a respectable crowd of fifty men, or more if necessary. We shall not be robbed any more after the above date. If they no not like this chat, they can bundle up and leave and let others come in who will l»e reasonable. Tfce-6 are what we want, and we will have them or none. If grangers can sell at 5 per cent, any one eise can afford to sell at 12j. We are alluding to the country merchants. If corn goes up one or two cents in New Orleans, here they go up ten or fifteen ceuts. Is that right? No it is not. Just to think: when coru is selling in the city at fnwn 50 to 60 cents, tliev sell here at $1.50 to 1.65. We think ul! the good citizens ought to join with us or consult each other, and say that we are right. The merchants* have got so that they are not willing to! I rust the best of farmers, unless they Will mortgage every thing they have. Who brought them to this? No one Vut the tu< rebuilt—by selling them good* at double prices. When the merchant says lie paid such heavy prices Tor meat and corn, he tells nothing but a lie; and why should not some means be taken, even though they be rough? It is the wish of these squads or dozen that the dozers all over the state will govern themselves accordingly, for this worid has come to such a pass tint a countryman goes to town with libs pass. " ' Bulldozer, secretary. We are sorry to say that, though It was (he determination of Mr H. . If. B&hb to become one ot the landlord* of the cetrfral house a't this place, aud all the preliminary arrangement were made by him preparatory to occupying the house, yet on his arrival here with his family, and on hi* going with Ids lady ail through the I louse on a tour of inspection, lie found that he had been badly misbtkeii concerning the true condition

of tlie building, and was >o much diMMtUefled with-il* appearance and condition that he at once signified hla. unwillingness to take it on the turins which he had proposed, and as ttha owners have refund to make the repairs, • Mr. Babb has rooted hta family upon a little farrd which he has bought near-town, where he is nqw fixing up to accommodate his northern friends who desire visiting the south. This is very much to be regretted by our townspeople, as a hotel like the central house, under the management and control of a northern rami with the reputation that Father Bnhb has as an "host,’* would necessarily bring many |>ersoiis from 'that section here, for the purpose - of enjoying our climate, and would add much to the life and interests of our town. The company who own this building must surely be very much in their own light by not fitting up and refurnishing it and thus making it an inducement for souie man to take hold of and ruu it as it should be. It is well located, and with some expenditure of money could be placed In a condition to be made one of the most desirable summer resorts in the whole south. The house, we are told, is getting to be in a rotten and almost dangerous condition, and as a stitch in time saves nine, it would seem to be economy iu the company to repair it in time.

Nearly every newspaper in the laud,north and south, has published some account of a fearful tragedy that was enacted in Kemper county Mississippi, towards the latter part of April, by an armed mob who broke into a jail to murder a prominent republican named Chisolm, a graphic description of which, abbreviated from the report of a New York Tribune correspondent, is here appended: To give an idea of the state of feeling out of which so phenomenal a crime grew, 1 must preface it by a reference to the personal feuds and bitter political animosities prevailing in the country. There is a negro majority in Kemper, and after reconstruction it was controlled by a small clique of native white men, the leader of which was J udge Chisolm, a man of considerable ability and of great personal courage, lie had been a judge of probate under the Confederacy, and when civil government was re-established lie obtained the office of Sheriff. In this position he virtually ruled the county tor seven years until the political revolution of 1875. The other offices wers tilled by the u.en lie told the negroes to nominate. They were all natives—no carpet-baggers coming into the county.

Among the active democrats of the county, were the numerous members of a family named Gully, the chief of which was John »’. Gully. Tliere was ill-tceliug between Chisolm and til's man, but nd personal encounter ever grew out of it. One of the warm partisans of the Judge, named Benjamin Kush, formerly clerk of the chan eery court, had quarreled with Gully years age about a business matter,' (they hail been in partnership,) and iu 1873 an impromptu duel took place iu the main strei t of be Kalb, in which Samuel Gully; a brother of John W., was killed,* «ud Kush was severely wounded. About die same tiiirc J. P. Gilmer, another of Chisolm's adherents, who kept a etore at Seooba, and was a state senator, shot a democrat named Dawson. His clerk fired at the same time, and between them botli they killed him. Although it was shown that Dawson entered the store with a pistol in his hand for the avowed purpose of killing Gilmer, a mob of democrats invaded the town one night, arid, failing to l:nd Gilmer, took his goods out of the store and made a bonfire of them. Arrests wore made, but there were no convictions. The sumo year Benjamin Bush was wnyluid and shot and severely wounded by eotne person lurking behind a church in DeKalb. As a lesult of the campaign of 1875, J edge Chisolm and bis friends lost their offices, in 1870 the Judge ran for Congress, aud was defeated. The campaign was a heated one, and the democrats, banded together in well-disciplined, clubs, broke up some of the republican meetings by marching to them in large bodies and holding meetings of their own in the siuue place, to intimidate the negroes. On one occasion a democratic procession paraded iu front of Chisolm's house, and some men in it fiivd pistols in the air, according to seme account:-, and at the house, according to others. After the election Chisolm procured the indictment of thirty-two prominent democrat by the Uuited States Grand Jury at Jackson, under the intimidutiou clause of tho enforcement act. This added fresh fuel to the fire of hostile feeling long'cherished ngninsi him in the Count v .

In December last an attempt was made tb assassinate John \V. Gully. He was waylaid and shot by some unkuowupersou. Suspicion fell upon Rush. Shortly afterward Rush lett the state and went to Russellville, Ark. ho one has seen luiu in Kemper county since. Last Thursday evening, the 2fith, as John W. Gully was returning home to his plantation, a few miles north of DeKalb, lie'wnsnssHssinatedh. some person in hiding by the roadside, who sent % charge of buckshot through him and robbed him of his boots and money. Intense excitement was created by tlie murder. It was believed that Kush had returned and had committed the crime, but us no trace of him could be found, the revengeful feelings ot the relatives und friends of the murdered man Centered on the jmwerful personal and political friends of Rush. A story flew about front mouth to mouth that the Gullys had some evidence that Chisolm aud Gilmer were accessories to the crime, it can n t be ascertained, however, that there was the slightest ground for this report, aud it probably grew solely out of the suspicions of the Gullys. John* W. Gaily was buried on Saturday, and about 250 men attended the funeral, rjo much engaged was this throng iu planning the scheme ot vengeance which was executed the next day. that there was difficulty in getting anybody to fill up the grave. On that Jay a warrant was sworn out for the arrest ol' Judge Chisolm, Gilmer C. Rosenbaum, (a friend of Gilmer), the DeKalb postm ster, but living iu Seooba. and two brothers named Hopper, one a merchant and the ether a saloou-keeper iu DeKalb. AU these men were republican?, j. liere fccruu to been a plot t© got them together and murder them all. The sheriff arrested the two Hoppers and Chisolm and placed them all under guard jn Chisolm's house, end dispatched a deputy to hcooba for Gdiner aud Rosenbaum,

but they had beard of the warrant, and were met coming to town to give themselves up. About 10e'clock that morning (Sunday) armed men began to tide into DeKalb. First small detachments cam*, and afterward a large body, numbering about 100. Before noon over 200 men bad congregated. They were sober, cool and determined. Tying, their horses to the gallows-like hitehing-bars around the Court House, they surrounded Judge Chisolm’s house and insisted that the sheriff should take the prisoners to the jail. This was done, and a guard of six men, selected by the sheriff, was piitced over them. Then the mob hung two of Chisolm’s negro servants up to trees with bridle reins, and tried to make them confess that they had heard something to impliea'e the Judge in the murder; but the poor fellows knew nothing, and were finally allowed to run to the woods.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon Gilmer and Rosenbaum came into tbe villago with the Deputy Sheriff, dismounted andjstarted to walk down the main street to the jail. They hnd not gone a dozen rods before a shot was fired at Gilmer from the crowd of armed men hanging about the store doors. lie ran down a narrow passage to the rear of the building, only to find himself penned in by another detachment of the mob. Escape was impossible, and the defenseless man was killed like a rat ill a trap. Two balls were shot in his head after lie lay dead on the ground. When the firing began Rosebnum clung to an acquaintance (n tbe crowd, named Hull, and begged for protection. This man interceded for hint, and he was allowed to escape unharmed. When Judge Chisolm went to jail, ail the members of his family—his wife, a daughter eighteen years of age, a son of sixteen, and two younger boys—knowing that his life was in danger, and hoping that their presence might soften the hearts of the mob, went with him. After they jvere locked in, the daughter, Cornelia, found that ti.e guns of the sixth guards were not loaded, and that they had no ammunition. Under pretense of going to procure food for the family the courageous girl left the jail, passed through the crowd of angry men. and returned home, where she hastily secreted a powder flask, a bag of shot, and some uewspapers for wadding, under her dress. Then taking some bread and meal, she went back to the jail. The mob, leaving tbe stores and saloons, now hegan to press nround the building and clamor for Chisolm’s Ilfs. Among the guards there was but one republican, a cool, courageous Scotchman, named McLellaud, who was a personal friend of Chisolm. This man stationed himself at the door of the jail, and told the mob that if they killed the prisoners two of them should die for every life they took. While expostulating with the mob, and threatening them, lie fell, shot by five pistol balls. Three of the remaining guatds now deserted thpir p -st, nnd, leav. ing their guns an t taking with them the two Hoppers, they went out ot the jail. There seems to have been little personal animosity against the Hoppers, and they mingled with tbe crowd-and got awaymihanni d. -

The furious mob filled tli lower hall of tho jail, aud broke open a door at the foot of a stairway lending to the floor above where the prisoners were confined. At the top of the stairs tliere was another door with a grating up in it. The lock wag broken off with axes. While the blows were falling upon it, Cornelia implored the two remaining guards, Overstreet and Wall, to fire through the grating upon the mob pi essitig up thestnirs, but they refused. She then carried the guns left by the other guards to her father. After the lock yielded, the two guards tried to hold the door, and Iho second son of the judge, a boy of thirteen, iu aiding them, was shot in the wrist. The mob pushod the guards aside, aud the men in advance gained the upper landing, tired, and killed the poor wounded boy, who was clinging to his father. First in the hrutal crowd came David Rosser, a planter and practicing physician. He was instantly killed by the judge. As soon as he fell the mob, cowardly as all mobs are, ru.-lied out of the building. There was a lull for a few minutes; then the crowd outside began to yell, “Fire the jail; burnthetn out!” Afterwards they shouted, “Tho jail is on lire! ” It was a stratagem worthy only of savages. Judge Chisolm, believing that tho woollen building was already in flumes, determined to tight his way out and to sell his life as dearly as lie could. He came down the stairs- with his wife and three surviving children. The dead bodies of Johnny Chisolm and of Dr. Rosser had previously been carried out by Overstreet and Wall, who 1 ft the jail to get out of harm’s way. At the foot of the stairs the hunted family found the hall full of armed men. One man stuck his gun through the grating iu the door, against the breast of the judge, but Cornelia thrust it aside. A volley of shots wa* fired against the door. The judge pushed it open and got into the hall, .Mrs. Chisolm tired both barrels of a sho'-gun, and wounded oue of the assailants in the fitoe. The murderous mob closed in around their victim, llis daughter clung to his neck with one hand, aud with the otlier thrust away the guns aimed at him. Her hand was shattered by a ball, and five shots struck one of her legs. Judge Chisolm fell, wounded in eleven places. The mob, believing they had accomplished their purpose, left tlie jail. The wife and son of the judge, aided by a citizen, who, for a wouder, showed a spark of humanity, carried tho wounded man to his home,* a few hundred yards across the commons. A body of men stopped them on the way aud were about to fire at the judge, when Miss Cornelia, with the reninrkable courage and self possession she showed throughout the whole tragedy, assured them thnt her father was dead, that ho had died in her alius in the jail, and persuaded them uot to mutilate a dead body. The bleeding and unconscious man was then got within the shelter of liis house. Towards evening the murderers rode out of the town.

Judge Chisolm is still alive, but his recovery is scarcely within the bounds of probability. 1 visited him this evening. He said: "1 want'to live fur the dearest wife in the world, for my children, and for mv country. lam dying for my country The surgeon forbade him to talk more. The brave young girl, although suffering severe pain from her shattered right hand, is cheerful and hopeful. The surgeon says he never saw a woman with such a nerve, and that she bore the severe pain of extracting the shot from her leg and dressing her hand without« groan. She has a sweet, intelligent flee, dark brown hair, and a pair of large, reoiute, bluff" eyes. The Chisolms are people of a refinement and culture, exceptional for this part of the Country. ‘There are t-ooks, pictures and a piano in their pretty little cottage, and the flower garden that surrounds it would be the wonder and pride of any northern village. The front window of the room where the judge lies is hoarded 0£ to guard

against an attempt to complete tbe work of assassination, and five or six of his kinsmen, well armed, keep watch every night. Gilmer i* spoken of as an unprincipled man—-a gambler, and something of a desperado. McLellaud was an iLdustrious, respectable citizen. 1 From tbe careful inquires made by Gov. Btone, it appears that the brothers, sons and nephews of tbe murdered Gully were the ringleaders of the mob. In my convenation with the ceunty officers and oth--ers of the principal citizens. of the place, I I have been shacked to find them all more desirous of excusing or palliating the horrible crimes of the mob than to exhibit sympathy for the victims. From not a single man have I heard expressed an intention to aid in bringing tIW murderers to justice, or even the hope that they will be arrested. A portion of the community entirely sympathizes with the perpetrators of the bloody outrage, and those who do not are too much tenorized to try to enforce tlie law. Such is the story of the Kemper tragedy, in the briefest form in which tbe facts can be clearly stated. I wish I could say that politics bad nothing to do with the terrible affair, but I can not, in face of the fact that the assailants were all democrats and the victims republicans, and in view of the bitter feelings against Chisolm and Gilmer that had pervaded the country for years, btill, it was by no means a purely political outrage. The personal feud between Chisolm and his adhereuts and the Gully family had roots outside of party difference®, and the Gullys no doubt believed that Chisolm and Gilmer had instigated the assassination of the kinsrnnn, who was the chief of their clan. After all, the principal cause, underlying all others, must be a loi\ grade of civilization—a condition of society in which the laws arc not respected, the sacredness of human life not appreciated, and which personal grievances are often avenged by cowardly murder, and political quarrels are held by an ill-educated public opinion to palliate, if not to justify, the shedding of blood. E. V. S.

Not long since quite a lengthy article was reproduced in these eolnms from the Magnolia Herald iy which the editor of that paper complained very bitterly of the want of confidence in the profession of the people of the south shown by those of the north. His exact language was: ‘‘The south has courted ‘‘peaceful relations with the north, “but from her overture of conciliation she has been met with manifestations of a lack of confidence. “We insist that we want to bury “old animosities and be friendly, “and we are told that we lie —are “stigmatized as barbarians! mur- • m r * “Jerers and-banditti.—We mv ite “intelligent, {industrious northern “men to come and live with us, and “they demand pledges from us that “they shall not be molajtbd. We “are not Mqdocs. ** * Our peo“p!e are honorable, law-abiding. “ * * We ask what is Tight, “nothing more, and we are willing “to accord :t. to others.”

In view of the quotations which illustrate this article, those who read it will not he slow to preoeiva that the ideas of honor, honesty, morality, culture and obedience to law prevailing at least in Pike and Kemper counties, Mississippi, do not entirely correspond and harmonize with the popular understanding of those terms tit the north. There is very little honor in the conduct of those who pursnaded a man of Father Babb’s years to abandon a home where he was surrounded by children, relations and friends, deranging his business entirely, and to move hundreds of miles only to learn that he has been outrageously deceived by them. There M not much encouragement for men of means to embark in mercantile pursuits in a community which meets them on the threshold with a threat of violence and outlawry. There is very little inducement for men and women to take their children from a section of country where they live without locks or bolts, peacefully aud unmolested, and move into a community where public sentiment justifies outrages like that perpetrated upon Judge Chisolm's family. Ana especially when the governor of the state coldly refused to protect defenseless, wounded, white wojnen from the outrages of a brutal mob, and contemptuously denies the prayer of a wife and mother for safe conduct to remove her wounded family out ot the state to a place of safety, as Governor Stone did in this case. Undoubtedly there are good people in the state of Mississippi end throughout the south who deprecate the outrages that are being committed constantly, and who do not approve of the meannesses of which some southern people are guilty; but, unfortunately, the record. of their frequent occurrence and the great difficulty* which amounts almost to impossibility, attending the conviction and adequate punishment ot criminals, seems to prove that the influence and protests of the better class of

people are scarcely felt and seldom listened to. Peaceful appliances wherever they are adequate for the work are the best with which to correct evils, but qobody has yet improved on Napoleon’s tactics of grape and canister first, blank cartridges afterwards, to compel the respect of a mob of ruffians. So far as Mississippi is concerned the eonduot of her citizens, newspapers and public officers is proving her own stumbling block to prosperity. It will be just as well for northern people and northern money to remain away from her borders until such time as society shall be in a condition to afford protection to life and property. Northern people will find it just as healthy and northern industry will be as well remunerated in auother region until after Mississippi bandits shall have completed the robbery of those who are at present engaged in mercantile pursuits, destroyed the commerce of the railroads, amt finally killed one another off as they have so well begun to do in Kempercounty. After the excesses of the natives shall have completed the desolation and depopulation ot their county perhaps it will be safe for northern enterprise To go down there and remove the rubbish piled up by lawlessness and lay the foundation for a more perfect prosperity than that region of country-over knew. Secretary of slate Kvarts has officially notified tlie Russian and Turkish governments that the United Stales will he a strictly neutral spectator of their war. But that will not prevent individual Americans sending powder and great guns to the power that pays the best prices for them.