December 31, 2013

1860 In Memoriam

Alexandria Gazette, Alexandria, VA. December 31, 1860. Page 2. Genealogybank.com.


The Year 1860 is about to pass away forever! It ends in gloom and sadness.  No one, at its commencement anticipated its mournful termination.  We had once, as a united Nation, a bright future.  No clouds and darkness settle upon the horizon, and are gradually gathering over the whole land!  The hearts of the people are sorrowful.  Every mind is depressed.  Passion and excitement, wrong doing, and a departure from the spirit of our Constitution, and the principles of our fathers, and the founders of our government, have accomplished the sad calamity which has already fallen upon us, and which even threatens worse results.-- Would that there could be a return to the feelings which once prevailed, to the harmony which once existed, to the comity and friendship which once knit the States together, and made the people proud of a common government and a glorious Union, "known and honored through all the earth."  Would that a kind and gracious Providence would now interfere to soften the prejudices, and turn the hearts of men to justice, and truth, and peace!  Even now, if those in one section, who by their aggressive course, their unwarrantable proceedings, and their persistent disregard of the rights and feelings of the other section, have hurried on the present crisis, in our national affairs, could be brought to a sense of the perils before them and us, and would turn from the errors of their ways, "the bow of hope might yet, it may be, be seen spaning the heavens, and giving promise of a brighter day!"

December 29, 2013

Contemporary Reviews of Solomon Northup's 12 Years a Slave, 1853

Previously:

Click here for a list of my other Pulaski/Rockcastle/Laurel County KY articles

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This is a collection of contemporary book reviews of Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave that was printed in the Pennsylvania Freedman of Philadelphia, PA on September 1, 1853. 

You can read the full memoir Twelve Years a Slave for FREE on Googlebooks. (I think you can download the free Google Play app and then read it on your phone, or download it as a PDF and view it in any PDF reader app.) While the movie with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o is very good, it changed several incidents, and there was a lot that the movie didn't have the time or ability to explore, and I highly recommend reading it even if you have seen or plan to see the movie.


[September 1, 1853] -

The Narrative will be read with interest by every one who can sympathise with a human being struggling for freedom. -- Buff. Cour.

The volume cannot fail to gain a wide circulation. It will be read extensively both at the North and South. No one can contemplate the scenes which are here so naturally set forth, without a new conviction of the hideousness of the institution from which the subject of the Narrative happily escaped. -- N.Y. Trib.

What a tale it tells;what inexpressible reproofs against Slavery; what occasion for shame and tears on the part of all. We think the story as affecting as any tale of sorrow could be. We believe its perusal will not only excite an absorbing interest, but minister powerfully to the sound, intelligent anti-slavery sentiment of the country. -- N.Y. Eveng.

Next to Uncle Tom's Cabin, the extraordinary Narrative of Solomon Northup, is the most remarkable book that has ever issued from the American Press. Indeed it is even a more extraordinary work than that, because it is only a simple, unvarnished tale of the experience of an American freeman of the "blessings" of Slavery, while Mrs. Stowe's Uncle Tom is only an ingenious and powerfully wrought novel, intended to illustrate what Solomon saw and experienced, Southern Slavery in its various phases. -- Detroit Tribune.

We hope it will be universally read. If we do not sadly err, it will prove of vast service in the great cause of Freedom. If there are those who can peruse it unmoved, we pity them. That it will create as great a sensation, and be regarded equally as interesting as "Uncle Tom's Cabin," is not a question for argument. In our opinion it will lead that wonderful work in the popular opinion, and in the aggregate of sales. -- Buff. Express.

This is one of the most exciting narratives, full of thrilling incidents articulately told, with all the marks of truth. Such a tale is more powerful than any fiction which can be conceived and elaborated. There are no depicted scenes in "Uncle Tom" more tragic, horrible and pathetic, than the incidents compassed in the twelve years of this man's life in slavery. -- Cin. Jour.

He who with an unbiased mind sits down to the perusal of this book, will arise perfectly satisfied that American Slavery is a hell of torments yet untold, and fell like devoting the energies of his life to its extirpation from the face of God's beautiful earth. -- Even. Chron.

It is one of the most effective books against slavery that was ever written. "Archy Moore" and "Uncle Tom" are discredited by many as "romances;" but how the apologists for the institution can dispose of Northup we are curious to see. -- Spr. Jour.

It is well told, and bears internal evidence of being a clear statement of facts. There is no attempt at display but the events are so graphically portrayed, that the interest in the perusal is deep and unabated to the last. Some of the scenes have a fearful and exciting power in their delineation. The sunshine of kind treatment sheds a few broad beams athwart the dark canvass of twelve years of bondage; but in the main, the darker cruelty and wickedness of oppression is still more revolting by the contrast. -- Cayugo Chief.

It is a strange history, its truth is far stranger than fiction. Think of it? For thirty years a man, with all a man's hopes, fears and aspirations--with a wife and children to call him by the endearing names of husband and father--with a home, humble it may be, but still a home, beneath the shelter of whse roof none had a right to molest or make him afraid--then for twelve years a thing, a chattel personal, classed with mules and horses and treated with less consideration than they, torn from his home and family, and free labor by which he earned their bread, and driven to unremitting, unrequited toil in a cotton field, under a burning southern sun, by the lash of an inhuman master. Oh! it is horrible. It chills the blood to think that such things are. -- Fred. Douglass' Paper.

It comes before us with highly respectable vouchers, and is a plain and simple statement of what happened to the author while in bondage to southern masters. While we concede to the south all the privileges in respect to slavery which are guaranteed to them by the constitution, we are free to speak of its evils; and when particular instances of inhuman treatment of slaves come to our notice we shall remark upon them as we please. It is a well told story, full of interest, and may be said to be the reality of "life among the lowly." -- Buff. Com. Adv.

Let it be read by all those good easy souls, who think slavery is, on the whole a good thing. Let it be read by all those who think that although slavery is politically and economically a bad thing, it is not very bad for the slaves. Let it be read by all those M. C.'s and supporters who are always ready to give their votes in aid of Slavery and the slave-trade with all the kidnapping inseparable from it. -- Let it be read, too, by our Southern friends, who pity with so much christian sensibility, the wretched condition of the free negroes at the north, and rejoice at the enviable condition of their own slaves. -- N. Y. Independent.


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December 24, 2013

Several Killed in Christmas Day Miners' Riot at McFerran Hotel, Whitley, 1908

Previously:

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[December 26, 1908] -

United States Marshal and Miner Killed; Hotel Burned In Fight in Whitley County

Pitched Battle Between Union Workers and Federal Officials Seeking Arrest of Miners Accused of Violating Injunction Fatal--Others Believed to Have Perished.

(Special to The Herald.)
DANVILLE, Ky. Dec. 25.-- Deputy United States Marshal John Mullins, of Richmond, Ky., and Richard Ross, a miner living at Stearns, were instantly killed in a battle between United States Marshals and miners at Stearns, in Whitley county, sixty-six miles south of Danville this morning.

The McFerran Hotel, in which the miners were barricaded, was burned, presumably to smoke the miners out.  It is thought that four or five of the miners were burned alive in the hotel. In the battle several miners were wounded. 

United States Marshals Tate and Ryan, of Somerset, were wounded, but it is thought that their wounds are not of a serious character.  

How the Trouble Arose.

The trouble came about as the result of an attempt on the part of the union miners to organize the non-union miners at Stearns, numbering over 300.

The Stearns Coal Company, through its attorneys, E. L. Stephens and J. N. Sharpe, of Williamsburg, instituted suit in the United States District Court at Covington recently against J. O. Tunstall and thirty-one others, in which the company sought to enjoin the union men from interfering with the operations of the plaintiff's mines in Whitley county.  Tunstall is the District Organizer of the United Mine Workers of America.  It was charged that the defendants were attempting to bring on a strike.  Numerous threats are said to have been made.

Temporary Injunction Granted.

Judge A. M. J. Cochran caused a temporary restraining order to be issued. Whitley is said to have the largest output of coal of any county in the State.  It is alleged that the strike promoters refused to obey the restraining order granted by Judge Cochran and proceeded with their efforts to organize the miners.  A part of deputy United States marshals went to Stearns yesterday and arrested five miners and landed them in the jail at Somerset.

However, a large number escaped arrest and this morning United States Marshals Siler Ryan, Henry Waddell, Marshal Tate and Marshal Massingale, of Somerset, and Marshal John Mullins, of Richmond, went to Stearns for the purpose of arresting Simpson, a leader in the strike movement, who also connects the McFerran Hotel, the largest hostelry in Stearns.

The marshals found all of the striking miners barricaded in the hotel. No sooner did the presence of the marshals become known than a volley of shots poured out of the hotel at them.  The marshals returned the fire.

Marhsal Mullins, of Richmond, was killed instantly, as was also a miner by the name of John Ross.  The marshals then retreated, but came back, two going to the rear of the hotel and two approaching it in front.

Another pitched battle took place, in which Marshals Tate and Ryan, of Somerset, were wounded.  It is thought that seven of the miners were wounded in the latter conflict.  After the second fight the hotel was fired, women and children fled for their lives, in the midst of the most intense excitement.

Miners Flee From Building.

The miners were slow to come out, but when the roof began falling in they rushed out and fled.  The miners who killed Mullins came out on the veranda and fired directly at his man.  He was fired upon and it is thought that he was wounded and was burning in the building.

Two or three others, who it is thought were wounded, are also said to have been burned in the building.  Marshal Ryan, of Somerset, who was wounded, got separated from the other marshals when the building was burning and is hiding out in the mountains.  A searching party went after him tonight.

Fears for Marshal's Safety.

Great apprehension is felt for his safety, as it is believed that if the irate strike promoters discovered him that he will be murdered.  His family at Somerset is much alarmed.

The body of Marshal Mullins was placeed on a train this afternoon and taken to Richmond.  All the marshals, save Ryan, returned to Somerset at 4 o'clock this afternoon.  A posse of from fifty to one hundred armed men, headed by United States Marshals Massingale and Waddell left Somerset tonight for Stearns.

They will reach that point about 3 o'clock and an effort will be made to capture the strike promoters before the break of day and before they again barricade themselves.

Excitement is intense in all the surrounding country, but it is believed that the posse which will go tonight will be able to capture the leaders.  However, they will go prepared for another battle, if necessary, to capture their men. [1]

December 19, 2013

Pours Carbolic Acid Down Throat of Wife, 1921

[July 22, 1921] -

POURS CARBOLIC ACID DOWN THROAT OF WIFE

By Universal Service
Buffalo, July 21.--The police tonight arrested John Verosky, 103 Cliff street, East Pittsburgh, on a charge of murder, first degree.  In a fit of jealousy the man is said by the police to have entered a beauty parlor here this afternoon, where his wife was employed, and after blinding her with a solution of carbolic and muriatic acid, to have poured the contents of a second bottle down her throat.  The woman died an hour later.

Verosky is a scenario writer using the name of Harvey Reynolds.  Since a marital estrangement last January Mrs. Verosky had been living with her mother in Buffalo.

Verosky escaped from the scene after grappling with a newsboy, but was pursuaded by an infuriated crowd and was captured on an automobile truck.



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[1] "Pours Carbolic Acid Down Throat of Wife." The Patriot of Harrisburg, PA. July 22, 1921. Page 14. Genealogybank.com.

December 17, 2013

Brothers Kill Man Over Election Irregularities, 1921

Previously:

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[September 6, 1922] -


Horace and Zade Norton, who were given seven years each in the penitentiary by the Rockcastle circuit court for the murder of Walter Rice also filed appeal today with the appellate court.  [1]



December 12, 2013

An Unintended Consequence of Prohibition

[May 2, 1919] -

What Will Replace the Saloon?

The advent of Prohibition strongly emphasizes one of the great public needs of today--adequate toilet facilities, or comfort stations, as they are generally called, says "Building Age."

What will replace the saloon, that Mecca which has often been sought under the spur of necessity?  Surely some accommodations must replace it.  Male citizens, both of large cities and small towns, have relied upon it, often buying a beer for no other reason than to make use of the facilities that the saloon affords.

Office buildings will in many instances be called upon to make good the lack.  Yet managers of such buildings are showing an increasing tendency to restrict to tenants the use of facilities of buildings under their charge.

Citizens of small town will have to depend on railway stations, where the key is frequently in charge of an agent who only hands it out to those possessing a ticket.  Small towns are notoriously slack in providing accommodations for strangers.

Comfort stations should at least be one to the square mile in larger cities, while in small towns one should be placed at the intersection of the main streets; this is the minimum.  Such comfort stations need not be unsightly, but may be architecturally attractive.  They may be placed underground, being lighted from above by sidewalk lights.  If a proper ventilating system is installed and the stations kept clean this type will prove satisfactory.

London has made good provision for her citizens, her comfort stations being mostly underground.  Clean and well kept, they afford marked contrast to the many places here, which are malodorous and unsanitary in the extreme.

In many European cities the back of a store is utilized, the front being rented as shops, thus bringing in a profit to the town.

Much of a town's prosperity is gained from travelers, either resident or transient.  Their importance in the local scheme is more than sufficient to warrant attention being paid to their comfort.

Comfort stations, although designed primarily for the convenience of citizens and therefore necessarily being free, may yet have pay closets for those who desire additional sanitary conveniences, on the scheme followed in the terminals of many railroads.  Such revenue will go far toward meeting the expenses of upkeep and attendants to keep the place in proper condition.

Now that the need for comfort stations will be emphasized more than ever before, it behooves municipalities to devote some attention to this matter.  [1]

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[1] "What Will Replace the Saloon?" Lexington Herald, Lexington, KY. May 2, 1919. Page 4. Genealogybank.com.

December 10, 2013

Argument Over Lost Pig Results in Killing, Laurel, 1913

Previously:

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[July 9, 1913] -  

Death Record for Ira Ellis Barnes (click to enlarge) [1]




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[November 12, 1914] -


SENTENCE FOR LIFE SET ASIDE BY APPEAL COURT


FRANKFORT, Ky., Nov. 11.-- Edgar Tyree convicted in Laurel county of killing Ira Barnes in an altercation over a lost pig and sentenced for life, secured a reversal  of the Laurel circuit court in the court of appeals because he was not granted a new trial on account of newly discovered evidence.

Tyree, who was jointly indicted with Sallie Mise, pleaded self-defense.  Barnes had accused Tyree of stealing his pig and was alleged to have threatened Tyree's life.  They met and Tyree shot Barnes to death.  Tyree contended that Barnes had a weapon, which he attempted to draw, but could not do so in time.  Judge Miller wrote the opinion. [2]


December 5, 2013

Over One Hundred Men Hunt Slayer of Berea Town Marshal, 1914

Previously:

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[August 24, 1914] -

JOHN HOPKINS AND SON ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF COLLINS

Armed Posse Scouring the Hills In search of Two Other Brothers Said to Be Implicated

CONSPIRACY AGAINST MARSHAL IS CHARGED

Wife of Wounded Constable Says She Heard Ambush Plans Discussed

BEREA, Ky., Aug 24.-- The armed posse that has been scouring the country since early yesterday morning in search of John Hopkins, Jr., and Henry Hopkins, believe the fugitives are located near Mt. Vernon, in the Cropper Creek region, though a capture has not been effected.

As the result of the killing of John Collins and the wounding of Leonard Watkins, from ambush early yesterday morning at about 2 o'clock, as the party rode along the lonely road leading from Berea to Richmond.  Andrew Hopkins, 21 years old, and his father John Hopkins, have been arrested and placed in the Madison County jail charged with premeditated murder.  An armed posse of about sixty citizens and deputy sheriffs are scouring the hills in the vicinity of Cropper Creek in an effort to locate John Hopkins, Jr., and Henry Hopkins, sons of John Hopkins, who are said to be implicated in the murder.

The shooting occurred within a few hundred yards from the Louisville & Nashville Railroad depot on the Berea-Richmond pike.

Immediately after the killing occurred, Captain V. G. Mullikin, of this city was called by the Berea authorities and left soon after in an automobile with his two bloodhounds, King and Dink.  He arrived at Berea at 4:15 o'clock.  The dogs were taken to the scene of the killing and soon picked up a trail.

By a round-about road the dogs led the posse which had been formed to the Hopkins home, about a mile from the depot.  In a field of cow-peas that surrounded the house, the tender foliage had been recently broken down it is said.  After being released the dog dashed across the field, entered the back door of the house, and "treed" Andrew Hopkins on top of a center table in the front room.

Two Brothers Escape

Both Andrew Hopkins and his father John Hopkins were placed under arrest by Captain Mullikin and turned over to the Berea authorities.  Henry Hopkins and John Hopkins, Jr., both sons of John Hopkins, who were seen near the place of the killing about midnight, were not in the house.  It is said they secured a mule and escaped in the direction of Cropper Creek.  Another posse was organized and sent out in search of the brothers.

John Collins was 34 years old and has been in Berea about two years.  He is survived by his wife and four children.  The funeral arrangements have not been completed though burial will possibly take place Wednesday.

The shooting occured about 2 o'clock Sunday morning when John Collins, town marshal of Berea, and Leonard Watkins, a constable, accompanied by another man were returning from out in the county where they had been looking for negro chicken thieves.  It is declared by Watkins that they saw four or five men lurking in the bushes by the side of the road and suspecting trouble, brought the horse to a standstill.  Before they could get out of the buggy to investigate they were fired on, a charge from a heavily loaded shotgun entering the left temple of Collins killing him instantly.  Watkins was also struck in the leg.  He was not seriously wounded.

Driver is Unhurt

The boy that was driving the two officers, and whose name they did not know, leaped over the back of the horse and escaped without injury.  Owing to the short range at which they were fired on the buggy caught fire and the back curtain burned out.  The horse was also struck by one of the bullets.

After John Hopkins had been arrested it was learned by Captain Mullikin and the Berea authorities that Henry Hopkins, one of the brothers who escaped on the mule, had previously threatened the life of the town marshall and had sent him a message to the effect by one of his younger bretherin.  

Several years ago, Henry Hopkins was arrested by Collins and afterwards sentenced to the county jail.  He escaped but was later captured at Mt. Vernon and returned to Berea by Marshal Collins.  It is said that Hopkins then threatened Collins by telling him he would kill him the first time he had an opportunity.

Plot is Overheard

Mrs. Watkins wife of the wounded constable declared she overheard several men back of the depot Saturday night discussing a plot to ambush some one.  With the view of avoiding a homicide, if possible, the woman notified Mrs. Collins of the plot, urging her to inform her husband and have him arrest the men before they could put their plans into effect.

Marshal Collins and Watkins had gone out in the county earlier that day and could not be located.  Mrs. Collins was so worried over the incident that she sat up all night waiting for her husband's returned, and declared she heard the shots that killed him.

About dark, Mrs. Watkins said she watched the depot from her home and saw the men, whom she had overheard earlier in the day, leave the depot in the direction of the Hopkins home.  She said she recognized them as John Hopkins and his three sons.

The trail of the mule on which it is said the brothers escaped was followed by the dogs only for a little way.  About 500 yards from the barn they found a blanket that had been lost it is believed by the brothers.

Dink, one of the dogs that assisted in trailing the men is being trained by Captain Mullikin exclusively for criminal work, and Mr. Mullikin believes that in a few months Dink will be one of the greatest criminal detectives in the state. [1]

December 3, 2013

Fatal Gunfight During Session of Livingston Police Court, Rockcastle, 1922

Previously:

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[April 19, 1922] -

Double Killing Under Unusual Circumstances At Livingston

Town Marshal Shoots Two Mullins Men After One Had Hit Blind Police Judge, Says Judge Chenault

J. C. Chenault returned Wednesday from Livingston where he had been with a gentleman from Pittsburg, Pa., whom he was trying to interest in some coal lands.  He says that just as he returned to Livingston from an inspection of the coal lands, he and his friend saw that police court was in session and they started to enter the court room and in that way pass the time until their train for Richmond arrived.  Just as they were about to enter, shooting began in the court room.  Judge Chenault says that as soon as the shooting ceased he went in and saw two men lying on the floor, one dead; the other appeared to be dying.

The man killed was Obe Mullins, 45. The other man was Charles Mullins, 48.

The cause of the shooting as near as Judge Chenault could learn occurred in this way:  Some boy who had been summoned to appear in court come about an hour sooner than the time the trial in which he was to testify would be heard.  Charles Mullins said to the boy, "You could have spent an hour at home."

The police judge, Bob Ford, who is blind, stated "I fine you $5 for contempt of court."  Mullins said "All right, judge.  I hope you will look after my wife and children while I am in jail, I am unable to pay the fine."  The judge said, "I fine you $3 for that speech."

Mullins then struck the judge with a stick.  The judge began to say, "Shoot him."  The town marshal, Bill Gillis, opened up on Mullins and in a few seconds the court house was cleared of all spectators and litigants except the two Mullins. [1]