| Summary: | Horace Kephart (1862-1931) was a noted naturalist, woodsman, journalist, and author. In 1904, he left St. Louis and permanently moved to western North Carolina. Living and working in a cabin on Hazel Creek in Swain County, Kephart began to document life in the Great Smoky Mountains. He created 27 journals in which he made copious notes on a variety of topics. Journals 1 through 4 deal with the various aspects of mountain life and contributed to his popular book, “Our Southern Highlanders,” first published in 1913 and revised in 1922. Journal 3 (previously known as Journal III) includes sections on moonshining, personal character, and Eastern Band Cherokees. Click the link in the Related Materials field to view a table of contents for this journal. 7 /V RETURN OF THE II DEAD. It FIND "BURIED" SON IS ALIVE After Funeral . Parents Get Request f rom Hospital to Visit Him. As the family of Jacob Levine of 169 Monroe Street thought they had bur led him In Mont efiore Cemetery on Friday they were surprised on Satur day to be notified by a p oliceman that· he would like to h a ve them come and see him In B ellevue H ospita l. Mr s. Sarah I"evlne, moth er of Jacob, it was lear ned y est er day, didn' t ! eel • like going· a lone and seeing t eh son she I thought she h ad b urled i n a bra nd-n ew b uria l plot tha t cost $100. Tha t's why sh e w a ited u n til she was surr ounded by I four daughters and two other sons b e. fo re she went to B ellevue to see what i t was a ll about. ' Aft er Jacob , who Is 28, and a l a borer, was t al< en ba ck t o h is h ome everything was explained . "Vhat h ad appeared to be complicated r eally was qUite s imple. J acob was r emoved t o B ellevue fo t· oliscrvation from In front of the Jl,fu niclpal B uild ing last Wednesday at 4 o'clock In the afternoon. About the same time a n unidentified man s u ffering from m orphine p oisoning was t a k en f rom Br oome and R idge Streets to Gouverneur Hospit a l. When a policem an called to notify the Levines of J acob's whereabouts n one of 1 the family was home, so he told a n eigh- / . bor. The n eighbor made a nhsta ke and told the family Jacob was in Gouverneur ins tea d of B ellevue. The family w ent to Gouverneur a nd saw a n u ncla d b ody of a ma n wit h a swoll en face. They took I it for granted it was J a cob. And they "'Ncpt over him. 1 'N,hen the man i.n Gouverneur died on Th ursday morning they mourned more. They ' bought t he b urial plot• a nd buried the man, think ing be was Jacob. '.rha t 'vas on Friday. F uneral se rvices were on Friday evening in t he ver y r oom wh ere Jacob was s itting in a r eclining chair last night. _ The L evines now · are wonclering who I the man ' is t h ey pa id the $100 for a buria l plot f or-and tha t is n ' t c ounting other funeral expenses either. M 1 • • llJJ C. "{(•~·'·'· . -, ' TREASURE . FIND TREASURE CAVE BUT FAIL TO ENTER IT Suppos~d to Be' Hiding Place of $12,000.in Gold Buried by German Officer. ' HE WAS 'LATER MURDERED Mystery Surrounds Exploration of Former Estate of Schumann- ' Heink In Orange Mountains. Special to T he New Yol'k T im es. CAL DWELL, N. J., Aug. 19.- A sma ll artificial cave in · which a Germa n . r eservist is b ellev edto have hidden $12,000 in gold d uring t h e wa r was uncover ed 'y esterday on · the estate of E . W. Rob· ln son, but the cave is a ll eg ed to b e as yet unexplored . It has b een common r eport h ere f or three years or more tha t William Bos• thorn , a r eserve officer In the Imperial German Navy, who was murder ed in 1918, had buried $12,000 on the estate In 1916 or 1917 while h e was employed by Mme. Schuma nn-H elnk , who then lived t h er e . J oseph Carpenter a nd his son, George, f ou nd the cave yesterday a ftern oon while cu tting a road on a hill s ide overlooking t he Passaic R iver on the estat" whi ch is a b out f our miles f rom North CaldwelL Ti·.·ey cleared th e- ent1·ance to the cave, but, according to Mr. Carpent er, did n ot en t er or inv e ~ti gate . Th ey · hurried off at on ce to Inform Mr. R obisch on, a nd h e r eturned with them to the cav e. Here the narrative stops abruptly. Mr. Rob lschon and h is employes botb assert that they scanned the ex te r ior only of t he hole scooped In to the h illside. They Ins is ted t onight tha t they h ad not looked Inside to see whe t h· . er the tiny chamber was s tuffed wltb g old eag les a nd double eagles or not. Mr. Roblschon, who Is the head of E. • W . Roblsch on , Inc., hosiery and underw ear, at 1,135 Br oadwa y, New York, was r eluc t ant to d iscuss the treasure t rove, which, according to all the Infor mation which could be obta ined for p ublication tonig h t, Is s till in the cave waiting for Mr.' R obischon a nd his hired •nan and the hired man's son to decide YJh a t to do a bout it. The h i r ed man was s till more reticent, a nd pe rmitted himself t o give the impres s ion tha t h e was under directions n ot to talk too much. · Fear a Treasure Hunt. It t.ecame obvious tha t much of ·the myst ery which was maintained a bout' the exciting discovery was due to the f E:ar that t oo much publicity would cause a swarm of treasure hunters to ir.vate .t h e est a te with spa de a nd pick· axe. ' T he discoverers did n otice some broken delf t wa r e, aft er they h a d lifted the cave doo r or lid , according to t he h ired m a n . This was visible from the outside. N obody would a dmit, however, t h a t h e had crawled· Into fhe cave or ma de a ny move to find out Its content s. Mr. R obinson w as ask ed wh ether h e or the hired man would own 'the money, according . to the New J e rsey law. If someone sh ould a t some subsequent per iod h appe n to take a look Into the n eglect ed cav ern a nd fin<\. $12,000. " It / would be mine, of course," h e· replled. " If you lose a .g olf ba ll and your caddy f inds It f or. you, whose bal~ Is it, ' vours or his?'' · Mr . R oblschon bou ght tne place which is known as " The Cloud'l " from Mme. Schuma nn-H eink five yea r s a go. After William Besthorn the gardener em ployed by Mm e. Schumann-Heinl<, had been murde r ed myst erious ly a t San· IJlego, Cal. , in J ul y, 1918, Mr. R obisch9n firs t h eard t he local r eport that Besth orn had run a tru n nel into a h ills ide on " The Clouds " . a nd concealed a ll his mo ney in it. Feder a l investigati on had actua lly 1 s h owed t h a t B esth orn did cause his b a ni< account to be converted Into gold , and h ad hidden it. probably in f ear tha t he i would be arrested as a spy and his \ money confiscat ed . lt· was s ta ted yest e rday tha t a J a pa nese s erva nt of Mme . Schuma nn-Heink h ad denounced him to t he Federal a uth orities and cau sed him t o be k ept under wa tch . Priest Gives .First Cl ue. Mr . R obischon r ega rded the t a lk of burled treasure as countrys id e gossip until la te In 1918. ·One day h e too kinto his a utomobile a pa ri sh priest or' Caldwell. Mr. Roblsch on ·mentioned the story tha t the murdered ma n h ad built a saf e ty deposit vault for himself with a pick a nd sho vel on one of the n ear-by h!ll s . · " Th a t's t1·ue," said the priest. ". H e t old me so himself. " As the priest r ecollected it, the amount was $12,000. B esthorn h a d n ot buried it I a ll, because at the time of hla murder it cam e out that Feder a l agents who had visited him ncar San Diego to look up his status had f ound sever a l hundl'ed doll a rs in g·old in a bureau drawe r . a nd had cautioned him a g a in st carrying so larg·e a sum loose on his person. It is I suppos·ed t h t th e murdered kill ed Besth orn for the m oney. The body wa.\! cut up a nd buried In ) t · ditch under a thick g rowth of watermelon vines in the garden at G1·ossmont, Schuma nn-H elnk's Cali fornia home. Accor ding to the p riest, Besth orn h ad given him some of the' det a ils of the scenery a nd la ndma rks near th e spot . The priest could not r emember en ou gh , h owever , to serye as a w orking h y pothesis of the t reasure hunte r s, a nd Mr. Robisch on made no sear ch . Mea nwhile, many free-l a nce pr osp ectors h ave fre tted the hillsides In a n effor t to find the place whe re the gold was s upposed to have . been hidde.n . Discovery of the CaYe. While CarpentEo!' a nd his son were ( h opping out t rees a nd bus hes yest erday they found a large s t one 1 In th e i way. It was not b edded deeply en ough in t he FOil to look natural, Or something a bcmt it a ttract ed the a tten tion of the Carpenters. They moved it. The g round under it was too y ielding·. They scra t ch ed it and found tha t the· gntss was growing over a film of soil !a id on a large squa re of t in, probably from a oil can . T hey dug up the tin ~ nd fo und they h a d open ed a sma ll a pert u re In the h ill side, scooped out of dirt w it h a trowel' or b a re hand. "It didn't look big enou gh f or a man tc· crawl into," ~aid Joseph Carpente r . H<- a nd· hi s s on, h owE'v er, did n ot eyen a ttempt to crawl 'n or to ma k e a ny s urvey of the interior of B esthorn' s private go ld depo8ita r y, according to Mr. CaTpente r. · , vVhetller B ethorn h as a ny h eir s who might claim the p roper ty, If they could pl~ove its exis t '::!nce, 'vas not kno,vn last nigh t. The laws as to treasure-trove diffe r , b u t in some St a tes the lev y on cl i::.:coverers of buried trea.tiur~ is as h ('avy as the excess p 1·ofits tax, while lu some other S tates the county b oldly claim s the whoie of 11ny n ewly-discove r ed trea sure wh0se f or m m~ owner Is un}\_ nown. John Maste rson, Chief of P olice of Caldwell, N. J. , said that no r eport of·' t))o di.>cov" ry of buried t reasure h a d been m ade th <ll'e. Father McKinley, the pries t a t Caldwell , N. J ., said th a t a Father Jo~eph had Jived ther e a t the tilne that Besthort1 w a:-; Jnu t-dc J·ed, bnt: I FPther .Joseph had left three y ear's ago. T hough denying tha t he h a d ma de a ny <'ff ort to get t he gold, Mr. Robischon said : " T hBre is every indicati on t h a t it Is the r e ." \~' h en a ~ked again to explain the reasoning whch had caused him t o mortify his curiosity and to leave a possible ~1 2.'100 unguar ded and open 'to t he firs t f·ome r. he said: , " I though it was best to h ave It r .el main untouch ed temp oraPi!y." • · p~oos~a - a1mos (]N Cv4o ~1/ -. t-!}~tcfat~u~'rnty llta 1 . ·0"6 ·EXPEDI 0 WILL I . MAKE SEARCH FOR COCOS TREASURE IS ON ISLAND OF DEATH Hold se,kers Han Periahed and GonQ Mad on Fatal Runt. S PECIAL D r::;V.A.'fCH •ro THE G LOBE-DEYOCR.1T. MEX ICO CITY, MEXICO, May 12.;--Another expedition is being outfitted on the Pac ific coas t of Mexico to go in sear.ch of the famous Cocos islahd _t r ea.qur~ . James H. J ackson, an American who made cons!tle rable money In Mexican mines, is said to be fina ncing t he proj ec t . . A rew years ago it was r eported tha t the crew of an E nglish war vessel, "Imperleuse," the fl agship of R ear Admira l PaJI!s~e r of the North P acific squa dron, had d iscovered the pla.ce where the treasure was hidden, but were forced to go on board the ship before they could excayate it. So fa r as k nown, none of the cr ew ever r eturned to the isla nd to get the fortune, a nd the r eport of its ·discovery is not credited. In t he last fifty years many excurs\Ol).S have been pla nned with the tone PacifiC Islet for their objective point. Some or them went so far as to get embarked. Ot hers lived and died on pap er. F ew ever r eached Cocos, and of those few a sta rtling proportion f ound dea t:h on the rocky shore by fever or s ta rva tion. Non<' found t he t reasur e. Cha rles Harttora. a ma n who cla ims to have found it, found a lso the sk eletons of those who had gone before him, gha s tly mo1;1um.ents of fa il: ure. H e is said to be llvmg m t he United J Sta tes now. H a r tford Is th E> only man who has gone or has tried to go to Cocos twice. Cocos Island Is a mounta inous rock . with t hirty miles of coast line, t ha t rises from the depths of the P acific ocean a bout 450 miles out from Costa Rica, of which It Is In p osses sion. Only stormdriven vessels ever sight it. It Is out of the tra veled world, the pick et spot or the universe for a cache of va lua bles. In 1820, when Central America was in r evolt aga inst Spain, the richest among the colonists formed a close-banded company for the , preserva tion of their gold, s ilver and precious stones, and, fitting out a schooner, aet sail for the far island. Written history says nothing about this excursion, but the history which ts handed from fa ther to son and eventua lly spreads and becomes interwoven with legend has It that h alf a dozen picked men of the band burled the treasure within the outer vein of the mountains tha t line the coast, a t night and in close secrecy that each had a ma p of the cache, and that uvon mutual agreem(;nt. when the wa r should be over, they should sail awa y to recover their hoa rd. which was sa id to be of the value of $30,000,000. Of the six, so goes the story, one was killed and two died within a shor t time. Their · ma ps of the island disappear ed. The other three, some years la ter , fi t ted out au expedition which was storm-beaten from t he four quarters of h eaven, and finally driven back upon the South Ame rIcan ohore, where still another .of the band perlsh,ed. Undaunted, the rema ining two fitted out a ship, were cast upon t11e ro<;k-bound coast of Cocos In a ga le, a nd perished. The Death Record. '.Phen begins a vague mortua ry r ecord. Early in the forties a pa rty sailed f rom Honduras in .great secr ecy, supposably tor t he treasure. The disappearing sails of the ship on' the horizon we re the last tha t mortal eye ever saw of tha t venture. '.I'wo Germans, wandering upon the face of the earth, r eached Cocos with an excur ion, a nd e sed to r eturn, pref erring to stay and search. ·Anot her excursion, three years la ter , found wha t had become of t he Ger mans. One wa s a skeleton upon t he sh or e. The other was a foul anima l, human only In form. They took him back-though not until four of t heir pa rty had died of a myster ious fever-a nd he died, raving, within two days after t hey had r eached the ma inland. The re a re• Indefinite s ta tements of two other parties who r eached the :sland, but · nothing to awa rd their venture. In the meantime, maps of the island, bearing a lleged ma rkings of the treasm ·e's location, were traveling· abroad u pon the earth In the ha nds of sa ilors. Some went to New York, and there wa s a n a bortive a ttempt to organize an ex pedition ther e. One la nded In Bost on. 11nd a wealthy storekee per had such faith In It tha t he fitted out a ship to go around the Horn, only to die of fever two weeks before the time s et for sa lling. T he a ngel of death, who guarded the Is land, struck him with a far-rea ching sword. Of the late a ttempts to find the trea sure , the1most businesslike one was made by Mrs. Brenna n, a Nova Scotia woman of considerable mean s and g reat r esolution. A drunken sailor brought one of the maps to the town where she lived and it came into her p ossession. After a week 's con sider a tion she was r eady to set about getting that t reasure. She went to Victoria, B. · C., got s~veral business men of/'tha t city interested in her project , a nd in March , 1897, sailed for . Cocos in t he schooner Aurora, with Capt Fred Hack ett and a crew of eight men, r eachii;lg the island In June. Found a MaiL To their intense amazement and disgus t they were met upon the shore by a human being. To be sure he had almost for~otten how to talk, and was Inclined to looK upon them as apparitions who would presently vanish over the wa ves, a s he declared a ll his other visitors had done; but s till he was a ma n, a nd his wits soon r eturned when he became u sed , to the compa nionship of his fellow beings. In two respects, however , the Aurora people considered 'him unsound. Fh·st, he was positive that he had .been there sever a l y ears, although he admitted he had lost track of the lapse of time and n ext , he Insisted he had found the treasure by a ma p which wa s the only genuine map In existence. It developed that he was wide of the truth as far as his length of sta y was concerned. Little by little his story came out. The Costa Rica government had sent him to the island by the gunboat Tura lba In September, 1896, under contra ct to search for the treasure, and divide It with the government should his search be successful. The Turalba w as to return in three months. Those three months the voluntary maroon tallied on a small sapling. The gunboat did not return and at the end of the fifth month he gave up hope. His fate was the more bitter In that he had locat ed the treasure, after three weeks' work, the map having baen somewha t Indefinite. This story · the newcomers refused to believe, and. for nearly three months they explor ed the island with pick and shovel, while Hartford smiled. Finally he dictated the following a greement: "I, Cha rles Ha rtford, have a n agr eement with and p ermlssion from the Costa Rican government to sea r ch for hidden treasure on Cocos isla nd. I was la nded by said government on September 22 (I think), 1896, and that government promised to come back for me Inside of three months. I have not h eard from said government, and being In a s ta r ving condition a nd with no means t o obta in food, and having located the la rge t reasure, I mak e this a greement with the ca ptain and cr ew of the schoon er Aur ora of VIc- ' t oria, B. C., to let them take half of the treasure. of wha tever natur e, whether gold, s ilver or precious stones, for their s ide of the agreement, and to la nd me, Charles Hartford, a t some convenient h~Ii ~f ~ld ~i:'s~r~:;tes; wlth the Other But the otrer was not accepted. Mrs. Brennan, Capt. Hackett and two men or the" cre w h eld out aga.lnst It, and finally t hese two men a greed to stay and search while the ship r eturned for a supply of dyna mite, wi th which they intended to facilita te the work. Ha r tford returned on the Aurora, which landed at Vancouver, B. C. , on Aug ust 1, 1897. H e left there to organize a nother expedition. He returned to the Island on the Imper-and found the two Aurora men If they locat ed the trea sure none was ever brou ght away. . 1 addition to t hese known expeditions have been made in search of thiS en treasure, there are said to have I a number of secret trips ma de to the 1d by v enturesome fortune hunters. :ar as kn own, n one of t he wealth has · been carried away from the Island, J it may continue to be the alluring r a for r oma ntic sear chers. . 776 l' TREASURE SEt:.KERS, j HERE IS A GUIDE! It Tells You All About Pirate Qold and Oth~r Sougt't but Unfound Weatth treasure.' ' Thus wrote Mark Twain in " Tom Sawyer," and this being true, ·it follows that every rightly constructed man hav ing, as a boy, dug tor pirate gold, must be Interested In the search by others for the wealth he missed. The only boy on record who never went a treasure-troving was, or is, Henry James. He confesses to being that unfortunate, and Robert Louis Stevenson holds his confession to be proof In Itself that James never was a boy. So, with I the exception of this singular man, all of mankind will want to- read Ralph D. Paine's " Book of Burled Treasure,''• In which he tells all that he bas been able to gather regarding pirate gold, where it Is burled, and how It may be recovered. In tact, the volume might the more appropriately have been called the " Handbook:' or " Guide to Burled Treasure," so complete are the directions . for Its quest. Mr. Paine seems to be somewhat skeptical about treasure hunting as a source of Income. yet there Is no doubt that his stories of lost hoards would fire the heart of many an adventure seeker. The basis of a search for lost gold, the author facetiously says, Is, par excellence, a chart given on his death bed to his benefactor by the sole survivor of some piratical crew. " The reeipient," says the author, " after digging In vain and heartny damning the departed pirate for his misleading landmarks and bearings, hands down the chart to the next generation," whiCh, tt Ia assumed, goes and c1oes Hkewlse. It 1s evident that Mr. Paine's thorough study of his subject must have taken him •THE BOOK OF BURnmD ·TREASURE. By Ralph D. Paine. Illustrated. Sturg-is & 'Walton Compat17. ,2.00. I I THE NEW YORK TIMES, DECEMBER 3, 1911 around the world, and to many of Its out- • of-theCway corners. He has dug up real treasures of history while seeking the history of trea s ures. Starting with the sto~ of Capt. William Kidd, Mr. Paine relat s the doings of such merry rovers as Blac - beard, John Quelch, Sir William Phi s, and to them he adds the stories of Spaill/S lost ga lleons, and of some that were nbt Spain's. I thirty,two tons of bullion. The author traces many lost ships of the Spanish Armada, and relates the efforts to recover their ·cargoes. One of the most Interesting of these ends with the efforts now being made to recover the golden cargoes of ·:nearly a score of Spanish gal• !eons which were sunk in 1702 by the English under Sir George Rooke, In V!go Bay, on the coast .of Spain. The treasure there amounts to more than $100,000,000, and to get It a company now Is at work under Carlo L. lbertl, an Italian, who has invented many . machines to further the project. If Mr. P aine is to be believed-and WhY should he not be?-the most-maligned man in the history of piracy was Capt. Kldd. How he ever attained pre-eminence as a freebooter the a uthor cannot understand, nor can the reader of Mr. Paine's book. In fact, not a single real a ct of piracy, as piracy was defined, can be attributed to hJm. True he was tried and convictoo, and hanged a t Execution Dock, but It was fOI: the murder of an impudent seaman, a not unusual thing in those days-that he was fir st convicted, the piracy trial being a second thought. Having made sure of his death for murder the good folk or the time tried him for piracy, to lend color to the, hanging, for the murder of a se;J.man really was not In the hanging class. Capt. Kidd had a long and honorable career in New York before he sailed away to the Spanish Main, chosen to exterminate the " pyr a te,s " by Gov. Bellomont and Rober t L ivingston, founder of the existing New York family. -Finding no pirates, and being empowered to prey upon the F rench, Kidd captured two ships, the November and the Quedah Merchant; bringing the last named back to New York aft er his own ship, the Adventure Ga lley, became unmana geable. lt wa s for the capture of these ships that he wa s charged with piracy, for they were English ships. Kldd's defense was that their Captains had French papers, but as ~ e had turned the papers over to ·Bellomont, and was unable to produce them, he wa s found guilty and denounced for a liar. · Yet,Kidd told the truth. After all these years it was Mr. Paine who found the Freq,e_h papers taken from the Captain of the Quedah Merchant In the Public Records office In London. The gist of Mr. Paine's argument, so tar a s Kidd goes, wa s that he never buried any treasure, and tha t the stories are legends gratuitously attached to his name. Sir William Phips, the author says, was one of the few successful treasure seekers. From the wreck - o! a Spanish galleon off the coast of Hispaniola, now -the I s land of San Domingo, Phips r ecover ed Cocos Island in the Pacific, and TrinIdad, IIi the Atlantic, also have proved ·strong lures to the treasure seekers. In both Islands many optimists armed with charts have delved, but always in vain. In the former Island there Is a man even now living the life of a hermit, seambing day . by day for the lost gold of the buccaneer s. So Mr. Paine runs through the list. H . M. S. Lutine went down off the Island of Vlleland, near Holland, on Oct. 9, 1799, with $2,500,000 on boa rd, and her wreck now is being sought. And with much treasure aboard, H. M. S. Thetis was wrecked at Cape Frio, Brazil, on Dec. 5, 1830. These stories he tells, and also that of the search for the mythical El Dorado, or treasure city, hidden, it was believed by the early explorers, in the interior or South · America. Most interesting in these modern days is his · description of the divining rod and the methods which were employed to induce It to seek out hidden wealth. It iS ·not so very long ago, either, that It was seriously considered, for within the decade a wizard was consulted and made experi ments to locate the sunken bull of the Florencia, in the 'Island of Mull, off Scotland. This diviner was John Stears, and Mr. Paine says he still Is In J>usiness, finding It more profitable to point out where the treasure Is hidden than to dig for 1t himself. The author gives some hints to treasure seekers, to whom, he savs. " faith, Imagination, and a vigorous physique" are essential. Capital Is desirable, but not absolutely necessary, " for it Is always possible to dig for the treasure of poor Capt. Kldd, and It is a matter of really small Importance that he lett no treasure In his wake." " The zest o! the game," he says, " Is In the seeking. A pick and a shovel are .-to be obtained in the woodshed, or cailbe purchased at the nearest hardware store for a modest outlay. A pirate's chart is to be highly esteemed, but i! the genuine article cannot be found there are elderly seafaring men in every port who· will furnish one jus t as good and perjure themselves as to the 'information thereof with all the cheerfulness in the world." T·hen follows a " tabloid guide for ready reference,'' of value, maybe, to parents of boy hoard seekers, as well as for " boys who have never grown up." This list shows that In 1780 there wa s sunk in the East River the British frigate Hussar. She carried down $2,500,000 in gold, finding herself at the head of Randall's Island. The story of the pirate diggings in Oak Island, Nova Scotia, also Is told at length, because there have been found unmistakable signs of pirate Industry, though no pelf. Mr. Paine Is fa cetious In regard to the seeker and the search, but the information he gives is submitted !or what It Is worth, uncolored and unbiased, and will. he ·hopes, prove of value to those with designs on hidden .wealth. f ~)' • • ~ -t~7. ' --- ~ --- ~ --- ~ . ··• - 1· - FELJDS. ~at~ k~ ~ ~ .4-~ 1/w ~1.1' ~· 4<.-v Jo· / tllll' A v\ 'fl . "Elsewhere the southern mountaineer holds hur.t1an life as cheap e l sm7here he i s r eady to let death. settle a personal di spute; elsevvhere he is more i gnorant and has as little regard f or l aw elsewh.ere b.e was divided a gainst l1.i rnse l:f by the war and was left in subsequent conditions just as l awless elsewhere he has similar clannishness o:f :feeling, a nd elsew11ere is an occc.sion8.l feud whicb. is confined to :family and close k i nct.red . But_J"').OWher e is t he feud so common, so old, so persistent, so deadly, as iri;,1{entucky mountains. No ,~·h er e else is there GUCh organi zation, such division o:l' en.mi ty to t he limit of' 1\.insh.i:p." ( F.Qz., 38-39. ) ( J.ldgingly surrendered to the l aw·, tho pri vilege of avenging his p rivate wrongs. The non-parti san and the traveller ar e never molest ed. Pr gperty of the beaten fact ion i s never t oueh.ed . Th.e women are safe* f rom harm, and I 11ave never 11.eard of one who "".'as subj ect ed to insult. Attend to your O\liJTI business , s i de with neither faction in act or wo-rdl, and you are Inuch safer among tb.e Kentu cky mountaineers, when '"*~· ~P· 9:J.0 1ot>, <f3'' . 2 FEUDS. · a feud_ is going on, tb.a.n you are crossing Br oadway a t Twenty-third street •••• There ar e other facts t l1.at soften a too ha.r sl1. judgment of the mountaineer and his feud-- harsh as the judgment s·houl d b e . Pers ona l fealty is the cornerstone of the feud . The mountaineer admit s no hi gh er law; he u nderstands no cons cience tb.at will viola t e t hat t i e . You a r e my f riend or my kinsman; your quarrel is :my qu a r r el; v1hoever s tri1ces you, strikes me. If you &r e in trouble, I must not t estify agains t you. I f you ar e an officer, you mu s t not a rrest me, you !IDJ.s t send me wor d to come int o court. If I li'n innocent, why , maybe I•ll come •••• Even·-"tb.e .:ambu sh, t he b.ideous feat u r e of the f eud , took root in the days of t he Revolut ion. cCites Milfort.J ••• •Hit•s f'air for one as 1 tis f er t• other. You ee.n• t fi ght a man f• ar and squar who• 11 shoot you in t he ·back. A :pore man can•t f i ght money in the courts. Than hain•t no witness e s i n the lorrel but l eaves, an • dead men don• t hev much. to 3ay. ~ • • • €-#;,.,,,&.t'" ~ "' - 4" !~ I t i s also a f act t hat most of t he men who have been enga ged in t hese fi ghts were born, or wer e childr en, during t he war, and were, in consequence, a ccustomed to bloodshed and bushwhaclcing f rom i nfancy . St i ll, even among t he fi ghter s t her e is of t en a strong pr e j udi ce agains t t he ambush, a nd i n mos t f euds , one or t he other s i de di scountenances it, and that i s t h.e fac t i on u sually clefeated. I l;;:now of one f amily tha t ·was one by one ext ermi nat ed be cau s e they r efu s ed t o t ake t o the • bresh. • li Again the secret of tb.e f eud is isol at i on . In t he mountains t b.e y·ar kep t on longer, f or personal hat r ed suppl ant ed its dead i s sues. Railroads and news papers b.a.ve had t heir i nfluence el sewb.ere . I!ls ew11ere court c i1~cu i t s i nclude va lley people. • •• The Kent uclcy rnountaine er, ' unt il quite l atel y , h as b een tried , when brought to trial at all, by the Kentuclcy mountaineer . And wh.en a man i s t ried f or a cri me by a man who -would co:m.mit that cri me under t he same circumstances, punishment i s not apt t o fo llow." ( ~ Blue- grass a.nd Rl1.ododendr on , 3 8 - 4 6 . ) "~. - 1 •-.,t~'--·<f• ·-~·- . -,.1.1--:-__ .,., A-o t7<' "'- ~I ~u ·_- ~ """I "" .l.n.H. ~J /-~, .•. .~ .- -~J --- i.t l.-.L[=_ (:}!).:_!_'}, ''.L ,, .v~. See also RELIGION. ~ . "' ~ tl>· 8 91. , :LJ ~.; ttfJ - "Tl1e s ending of sta t e troops a fmv years ago seems to l1.a ve macle a perceptible impr e s s i on upon t he :people. They r ealized. then as never befor e t h.e existence of an exter nal aut 11ority which cannot be i gnored • ••• I n the l ittle county t own of Hazar d we hea r d det ails of the f amous Franche-F;verso l e f eu d , which was sup':@res s ed. on ly a f ew years ago, after sixty or more lives had been s a crificed. Tl1e account was f ull of ambuscades , o:f fi ring :from t he cover of cabi ns , of besi egi ng t he courthouse and s tores , of })i tcb.ed ba.ttles i n the s t reet s . ·one story was of' a vvo:man who , l earning that her husband had been sur-pris ed by hi s fo es , filled her apron with cartr i dges , s e i zed a Winchester, and rushed through t he f i gi'J.t to her •old man.• Once a r med he fought his way out to s af e t y." (Vincent,GeoM$. in Amer. Journ. of s ocio logy , 4:19.) " ~T~ ._ ,. ~?"- tr.b-~ .;.t:t: .- . -- ~.,. /:I;:;._ .(._I. -;t. . ~, ,._;.L ~t;.4. .,.,_ ~.,.,. . " (10'1--~.,._ . ~} eo·-r·sff2. . 9 63"! \ • - 3 - FEUDS . The feud di s trict i s in t hat :part of t he Appa l a chiang and Oumb erlancls ·~vh er e Kent u cky, Tennes see, Virginia, and West · Virgi nia. j oin or approach each other. Its darl<.est region i s i n the 19 s ou t b.eastern counties of Kentucky, about t he headwa t ers of t he Ournberland, Kentucky, Licl\.ing , and Bi g s andy rive r s . "As one s tudi es t he hi s tory o:f the seven greates t of Kentucky feuds •• ·• one f'inds only tl1.e s ickening s tOI"'J of bloodsh.ed told over and over again, t he cowardly attack from sehind, t 11e s hooJG i ng of unarmed men. They vary only in details of' horror. Not one s ingle d.eed of chiva l ry , not one act of gener osity, not one r ay of nobility or uns elfishn ess , not even a sugges tion of f air l:J l ay, illumines the b l a ckness of the tales. Among t hese people t he lus t f'or human blood has b ecome a ma l ignant di s ease . The seven gr ea t Kentucky f eud_s b.ave resulted in some 250 murders, and l ega l jus tice has claimed but t vw_~·~'1. lives in retribution. One wa s a h.al:f-wi tted youth . ::. he other Y.J'as hanged by the court in def i ance of t he con s titution of t he United states, f or he was once l egally a c qui t t ed of ·the killing f or which he was aft e r v:a r ds e~e cuted . (.'f3f) Hum8.n li:fe is the cheapest thing in t he Land of Feuds, y et t h e Land of Feuds has i ts o·v<m code of etl1ics. The s tranger within it i s s afer t han in New York, if he be careful t o avoid t aking s i des , and to sb.ow that he has no i nquisiti ve int erest in moonshine distilleries. Also his prop erty is s ac r ed . He will be r eceived with a hospitality as genuine a s i t is enthu s i astic. But l et llim abstain f rom making enemies. 'rhe mountaineer h.os t who slep t on the f loor so tha t t l1e vis itor mi ght 11ave l1i s b ed , and refus ed any payment, will ca lmly wayl ay and 1~11 1 tha t s ame vis itor l ater in t he day f or $20 or l es s . The r e are hundreds of men in t he Land of' Feuds v, ho cc;.n be hired for ~2 a day to l i e i n the op en f or thr ee montn.s , i f neces s ary , to 1cill any one p oint ed out to them-- .Providi ng, of cou r s e, that the victim does not b s long to tb.e i r clan." /.J. ;. .qlf'IJ- (H,Davi.s &. Q.smvth in Muns ey• s Magaz ine, Nov.03.) "Captai n J ol1n Bryan, of t h.e 2d Ken tlJ.cky , said t o t ll.e wi dow of t he murd e r ed Tom Baker c Balcer - Hewa r d f eud i n c l ay Co., Ky .J , af·t er t l1ey r e t urned f rom t he f une r a l: . •Mr s . Ba ke r , why don•t you l eave t hi s mi serab l e country and es cape f rom thes e t e r r i b l e feuds ? Move a ray , and t each your childr en to f orget . 1 1 Captain Br yan, • sai d t he vri dow, and "·he spoke evenl y and quiet l jr , 1 I ha ve t l!e l ve s ons . I t 1ri l l be tl1e cl1i.,f a im of nr.Y l ife to bring t hem up t o a venge t_l.ci r fa t11.er • s d e a t h . Each. day I s11all sho·,v my boy s t he handlcercbj .ef st a i ned with h i s b lood , and t e l l trwm -viho murdered hi m. • " _,4.,t,c- />. 903 ~ q11s'! 168 ~ (I&.) _j_ -=:~::, .;A. )5_ -zrreachery • _ _ · · ~ more cl1 al~ a ct er- Ci i stic of a Kent ucky feud t han ~ of t he Nenv:.Yor lt stock exchange ,_ _Ii.G-i" s t he o:mot. i onal f ury of a baclcvmods camp- meeting more vio l ent or ftq El,.;i.,gg-Fae&fm t han th.a t of' a Wall s treet pE.nic . You r 11 l eve lb. eaded businGs man" can be quit e as irrat i onal, qu ite as frenz i ed, a s cr uel, aG r evengeful, as cla ndes tine and l awless, in pu rsuit of .money as t l illitera t e and bel a t ed mount a i neer i n defence o:f hi s fami ly ho. or . *.;A-~.-> -- · """"" . ~ t;-_,.~ ~.t.w. -- f't;;;:C_:. .u. • (li.,.v qo2. I' I - 4 - FEUDS . n A little later I sat t a t able where tb.ere were confidential conver sations and hints th.t s omething was to be done in t he l i ne of revenge. one of t he guests at t hat tavle, a young man about 19 years of age , quiet and paceful in appearance, was Curtis Jett, the very young man who is no1iv under conviction for having shot Marcu.rn in the city of J ackson. I as1ced a good woman vrho knew hi m wh.at she though.t of him. This was at rmr second visit , after he 11.ad been arrested. She said he was a very quiet man a.nd had never killed anybody except when under the inf luence of' drinlc, o.nd t hen had shot only t v70 or t hree men. • •• The sort of work that I speak of, good r oads and good educat ion, will sure.ly cure the feud spirit t r As a matter of fact the ringleaders ~ •• of the most widespread ana desperate feuds V~:e re rnen of education, some of tb.em judges or members of the bar, o8 lii! .• .-hJ:IM.D&J while some of the partici pants in .thes e Kentucky feuds were clergymen or deacons in the church.,]'41"'~i1-l1'bn of that spirit comes f rom t J:J.e present and p ast necessity of a head of a f amily protecting his family. As I was passing one cree1c set-:.lement a farmer wb.o he,d b een arrested was being t aken t o the county seat fol~ t rtal. He had killed one o"f three young s c amps wh.o had been a t his home b.s.l f drunl\. and had insulted his daughte rs . A 'neighbor riaing a long by my side said tl1at this f armer vroul d have been ac quit.ted if he 11.ad shot t 11e youngster the first time tha t he came t o his home . He di d not shoot soon enough t o suit J>Ublic s entiment. ( No doubt the public knew t heir man. Profane and obscene tallc. i n the p r esence of women and children is common in the mountains, b eing indulged in by lJoth sexes when they are drinking. Unchastit y is a jo l~e , and is ·,vinked at by many a parent. :J ~a-~MS~!~f~;~ ~ • •• Every mB-n of any prominence in the mounta i ns , a prominence acqui red by his physical prowess or hi s mental vigor, has a following of at l east 40 or 50 supporters. I f two of these l eaders get into a conte s t over politics, over t he Union, over money mat ters , or over the mi s cond.uct of somebody on t he one s i de or the other , di spute· l ea.ds to blows b l O i~' s l ead to the use of arms, and -~·.rb.e r e v e r whisky j_s thrOYH1 in, moonsh.tne or other , tb.e war t s on, and it wi ll continue till one s i de or the ot her perisl1.es . F ol~ t un a te ly there i s a r ever-ence f'or ·~r om en and children, and t11ey are spared .( in fact t hey have .,.tl£(.;, b een beaten, mah ned , murdered in co l d blood, tn several of t11e feudSJ . .=::. Yet mothers and sisterf> , ·~vives and sweet.he~.rts, f r equently u r ge on ~ t he contest. Sons are very often inspired in early childlJ.ood wi t b. a h a t red or spirit o:f r even ge 'Nhtch is very har d to eradicate. It will be done , as it i s done ever-yv.r:h.ere else, by more and more of the sni rit of the Master." - (G.sm. • .o__. Q.,.Howard in Tl.le Inciependent, 56:786- 8 (7 Apr.,o4.) ••• '"'We :formd a bright student r at Berea College] who supposed that it \!lfas • all right • fo~ any kinsman of a murdered man to make way with the slayer provided it was done tt~ght seon~ !. " ( Frost, Review of Reviews , 21: 3o9.) See also REVIVALS. FANAT I CISM, 2'1!.5". ~ 04 d/fl. . ' c • I• \ II 1 • ·' - 5 - FEUDS. 11The diffi culty of' maintaining the activity of the Civil War in this period of conf lict was made t he gr eater by the action of t he Horne G-uards , a f orce t hat coul d not be Kept under proper control • .,.,The partisan troops made many raids upon persons known to be in sympathy vvi th the south. '.Phe whol e experience of t he Civil war with these det ached lo cali zed troops serve to show t hat they wer e an element of great danger t o the civi l ._,overnrnent of the s t ate. Tl1e r apid organization of t he r egular troops of Kentuclw f'ortunately made it possible in time ~ a rt ly to do away with this medi aeval t ype of s oldiery, but the local disturbances that they bred were of more permanent damage to the state than all the operations of war that were ever carried ·on within her borders. Their deeds of violence bred a crop of hatreds and blood-feuds in which hundr eds of lives were sacrificed and ~ertain count i es made almost deso l ate fo r years after the close O . [n. + 11-e war II ( v -'. . V·. • §he. l~r · KentuC}\.y' 266-267. ) £rincina l Kentuclpr Feuds.-- s trong-A~ feud, Turner-Sizemore 11 Turner-sowders 11 Breathitt Co., J8 7ft,'11· Knott co. - /ll'f; Bell co. . - J f-fft•- . ,;Logan-Tali ver II Rowan Co. 1 88(1- 8~ • Perry co.-1899. . Frenc11-Eversole 11 Hatfield-McCoy II Howard-Baker II White-Baker . 11 Ha r gis-Cockrill " Howard-Turner 11 Pike co., Ky., and Logan co., w. va. 1882-88. Esp . 1 87-8. clay co. /2'95':- ' ' ' · 11 " 1898- 9. Esp.July and 3e., .• 7, 8 ,1899 . Breath.i tt co. 1 9"2-~ .p Harlan co. 188 1. -11 ~ . Esp .S€p.,oct.,l.889. Goebel mur der. Jan.30, 1900. Reynolds-Wright ku-1\:luxism. Letcher co. April, 1901. "C ivil war", Mi ddlesboro , Bell co. Feb.l2, 1902. ~tf A.~ ~" ~ J'fo ~ ~ · ~· d 'IOf-nftegulato: rs 11 and Rovvz ee ' s band. c antral Ky. 1867. Henderson Gooch• s band of outlaws . 11 11 1869. Ku-klux. 11 11 1870. 11 in F:ranlcfort. 1871. 11 11 Franlclin co. 1873. Reg-tll ators in Boyd , Lawrence and Cart er counti es , N. E. Ky. 1880 • Co lson-scott political tragedy , Fran:,Cfort, J an.l6, 1900. Political murders, 11 Nov.6, 1900. ' 'J06 - 6 F 1l~UDS . . "The disturbances of this description have mainly b een limited to the ea s t ernmost part of the state; certain counties in ]!:ast ern Kentuc1cy , noticeably the county of' Br eat hitt, have been the seat o:f ~i-1''7- the principal mob outrages . In thi s region tl1.ere are certain blood feuds, t he herit a ge of the Civil War; in these feuds the decent cit- X izens have b een s ettling account s wi tb. members of gu.errj_lla bands who comrni tt,ed outrages in the civi l War. On the one s i de are arrayed those who f ought i n t he t wo ar mies and their descendants; on the other, a c l an of outlawi sh fo l k -rvho belonged to neith er s i cle. Tl1is i s olatetl r egion has been more or l ess engaged in t he settlement of these old di sputes ever s ince the close of the Civil War. The district has suf f ered rruch los s of li:fe in thi s chronic s truggl e it seems a t l ength t o be over cthis was writ ten in 1884;:1 tb.e dangerous element - has b een •elimi nated • by t he use of the r i f l e , or has taken itself away t o other l ands . The small remainder of the f olk wl1.o 11.0ld the ground cel eb r ated last y ear the return of p ea ce by bu i l ding a l a r ge s c hool-: ~ o use at the county se2,t. Even in the wors t d.ays of tl1.is • Breathitt war, • when t he courts, i f h e l d at all, were u_11der a heavy military guard, the county was s afe to peaceable citi zens and to trave l ers of all degr ee, except t hose ,,ho cou l d be suspec t ed of being on t he lookout f or illi ci t di s till ers. Yet the ~ e op le in this di s trict are, in t lle main, a manly, frank-natured f olk, and wer e a l ways ready to int errupt thei r occupations to ent ertain the wayfarer who demanded their hosp i tality. These :fierce, bloodt l1.irsty qualities vrill speedily disappear _4t.J. .16< b efore the sof'tening process of civili zation; all ex-perience shows us tha t an appetite f or o~oen combat, blood feuds , and other savageries of this s ort , o:ften co exist wi t l1. admi rab l e qu a lities of head and heart. In this p eop l e t hey certainly are associ at ed ':-:i tll generous natures , a.nd a s ing,ular "freedom from t he lo··,rer vi ces that are found among many l e s s u.nru_ly peo-:01es . The cond.i tion of t11.ese 1 hill :people• 11.as muc11 t o remind us of t he s cotch Hi ghl anders a centu17 ago; in a generation that f olk passed from a r ather l mvl ess peo-ple to quiet citiz ens . As soon as roads a r e made int o their wilderness, so that they can ma 1ce money, a val"'ice, that master ·oassion of tl1.e race , will _ s ogn subdp_e thi s arcb.ai 2_Yi 2§ Qf viol~."~ r -talics.) k~ a~ . .l {Shaler . Kentucky , 405- 106.) · ~ou~-_,. . 4c-!:. 1 1(4 ,~o ·· ,-1 "The b l ood-feud still survives in full vigor ••• seems to have been decadent when the civil war gave it new l ife •••• People have not g ras~9 e d t he modern notion of t he s acredness of life . • • • :·;.ountain homicides a r e not c o:-rrLi t~c.e d for l'urpo es of r obbery. Tl1ey are almos t univei·sally ·per fo rmed in tl1e SI> i r i t of an Homeri c chi e·f t e.in, and the mot ive i s some •point of honor .•" (Fros.t.__ in At l antic Montl1.ly, s 3; 316.) 11 I t i s i!Vell to remember tha t the v~r11.o le s outh is still far nearer than the other :parts of the country t o the age o:f chiva l ry , vil1.en all gent l emen 7-.'ore s i de,.arms and felt t :D.at the Government was si¢ply to defend t hem from :foreign ·foes , while they were to rely upon tn.eir own pro;vess to p r ot ect their househo l ds and their honor. So far, then , as the back-:ioo dsmen are affected by tb.e e xarrrple of those who have enjoyed superior advant ages , ti1.ey have been continuously taught to avenge thei r o·.rm wrongs rather t han t o appeal t o l mv. And. qui t e naturally they have shown l ess restraint and good taste in such matters. It is to be added t h&,t the aci.ministration of justice in the mountain counties i s a t tended with even more del ays and uncertainti es t11.a.n e l s er:-l1.ere . Add to thi s the fact that t11e mounta i neer h a s t he inde- . \ 7 FEUDS. -pendent s p i rit born of soli tude , const<:mt practice in th.e use of f irearms , e.nd tllat t h.e Civi l War, in vv-b.ich the mounta i neers ivere p lund el~ed by both armies , rekindled the belligerent spirit of their ancient blood. It gives us rwpe for their future that the frequent homicides a r e not cormn.i tted vvantonly .nor f or purposes of' r obbery, but in the spirit of an Homeric chief t ain on some •point of honor .•" (~rost in Review of Reviews , 21: 30G.) (Dave Bradshaw . )-"Yes , the c•s and HI S do stick t ogeth er." (Y. B. )- "I coul d kill that t hing just as free as ever I took a cup of water in my li:fe . I wi sh all the c 1 s and H1 s was i n t hat mine , and it -~vou ld ca.ve in and bury t hem." 11 N"ot the children, shorely: them th.a t • s young and i nnocent ." 11Yes : they 1 d be better of f t h ey • 11 gr ow u-p as mean as tb.e r e st.n s c ot ch saying : 11 1-.fits br'eed lice . 11 Also used by American :fl"'onti ersmen when ext erminating Indi ans. Fr auds . see Bridgman, also 1Falker, clippings accom1}anying. In North. Caro l ina feuds are confined chief ly to t he north·11iTest re gion bordering on Tennessee, e . g., the Shelton Ijaurel. Bob s ays at one time b.e saw sixteen men in Madison Co . jail at one time under indictment f or mur der. Still ,on ly one man has ever been hung i n that count y, and he but recently • .r::u.~.;,tr.· ?, 'ISJ,,_ See also MOONSHI NING.-- Addenda. ~. ~- Jl14. ~ .;,__ ~ ( f~ 1-Jt:;. rr~-~-J ~· ~,.~e.-~. ~. ~,11,.~ . .3~ '1-~ ~r.~. ~,/{.k. ~ . """""'"~- . I FELLED By Former Deputy Sheriff WJI.s the Leader of the Fuedists in . Rockcastle County. I I'JPJ:CIA.L DISP.J.TCH TO TBI: J:NQUIBJCL L ondon, Ky., April 25 . .:.Elzy Langford. the re<;ogn!zed leader of the ·Langford. side . of the· Langford-MJ.tlllns feud, Is dying to· night at Mt."' Ve;,non,, Rock Castle County. He was shot by Da;,!s Clark, a former Deputy Sherltr of Rock Castle C<;>Unty. ~ Some two )"Ilonths agct, Clark and Lang' 1 ford, met a t ;Brush Creek Depot . and. emptied 1 their pistols at !!ach other , ·clark bemg wounded In the arm. To-day· the men met In Mt. Vernon. Clark went to the otn<;e of County Judge L. yv. ·Bethurem, Langford followed and atfenrpted to draw· his pistol. Clark got Into ac,tion first and fired tour shots, · all of w·hich · took etrect and two . . . . entering the head. It Is" said that Langford "has killed six or eight men In the feud In I the last five or six years. I •John· Hundley, Tom R ose and several rrt the Mullins met. death at his hands. He comes .from a noted family of R'ock Castle County and ha s· many r elatives. Clark Immediately. surrende.red, and Is now In custody . ' . - 8 - FEUDS. 11 some have char ged t hat ·the f euds originated i n tlJ.e civil war; other s conj ec tur e that tb. -·y t ool\. their rise bet ween t he patriot s and t or i es in t he war of the revolution . Both are v!rong . ~:hey have every earmarlc of the s c otch feuds among the clans , and none more than in the savage cus tom of way l aying and killing :f rom ambu sl1." ( J. S.Johns t on i n Cosmopolitan , Sep., 1899.) To ascribe the custom of' ambushing t o .the examp l e of t he Indians i s eque.lly an error. American settlers all along the fronti er , so long as t here was a f rontier, were Indian fi ghter s , and the part p l ayed in t l1.i s v.ray by the sou t hern rnou.nt aineers has been .-y small compared t o the rest of the country; yet tl1.e f amily feud and the habit of ambushing fe llow Yt"l1i te men has never b een k.nov-.'11 among any o:f our pioneers save these men of the :Jout l1.ern mou nt ains and foo thills. "In tru t h it is vvar, and war i s t o kill. Tb.ere is no fair combat bet;;v-een individua l s except t he duel , and t hat i s ri ght fully prob.ibi ted ·by l aw . If deat h ensues ;from an att ack vvi t b.out warning , i t is assassination if with pr emeditation, under any c i l~cu.~ . stanc e s exce1Jt sel f - defence, it i s murder. The s cheme of t he civil c omoact vests t he war - making power . ::;ol ely in t 11.e state and r e cogni zes the right of none , ei t iJ.er singl y or in combination, to t al:e life i n redress of })er sona l ?Tievance . The :feud and. it s met hods , t herefore , cons titute one of t he graves t violations of lm'IJ, and shoul d sub j ect t h.ose who engage i n t hem to pena lties .next only to treason, which i s vv-agi:ng war a gainst t he state and giving ai d and comfort t o the enemy. The excitin6 causes of these feuds are mani f old, and f r equently of a trifling nat u r e . In ~ region where t he local agencies of the l aw are 'Jvea1~ or indisposed to act , l"esor t to violence r equires little provocation . Al t ercations between fri ends suddenly angered or dri nking , disputes over business settlements , or f amily discords-- of vvhich the son-in-l aw i s credited with many-- may all l ead t o an ou tbrea. lc the t:md of whi ch. may not be f oretold . Perha:0 "' t 11e best exp l anation of the f eud i s to b e f ound in 1 Tl1e KentucKian s , 1 by ,John ?.ox, J l . , who made the Kentuc}:y mountaineers a , p r actical s t u dy by residing a.:.rnong t hem for th.e purpose . In a s cene "~Nhicll. he J.Jresents .betvveen the Go vernor• s daughter and a young mountaineer s en t to the :penitentiary f or t aking ~a rt in one o:f tl1ese disturbances of the peace, slle aslcs t he youth why hi s lJeople f i ght t ha. t vmy. •Well,• rep li e:> the boy , • suppose some s orry fe ller was to shoo t your b rother or your daddy, an• t he hi gh. sb.eriJ':f •.vas afeered o• llirn an• wouldn • ·t arrest him. Wh.at would you do? You l~no v\' mi ghty well . You• d j est go git yo • gun an• l et him have it. Then rnebbe his brother wou l d l a.y ~v ay you an• all yo • folks •ud gi t mad an • t ake hit up an• thi ngs •ud git frolicksome giner a lly .• The de linqu ency of t he sheriff here noted is the prime cause of the · troub l e , ''hether f'rom fear or, as i s too often the c ase , from sympat hy with one of the fa ctions . rrhe same may apply t o the other county officers-- judge, clerk, j ai l er, and ma gistra t es i f not partisans of the stronger faction, they may be ov e r awed into inact ion. But i t may be a slced, why does the Governor perrni ~ such pract i ses wi t hout se:u.o. ing troops to preserve t he lJeace? UTlJier the law, when, upon p roper r Gqu est :from the civil authorit i es , he send"' troo:os t o a cou.nty , they must go as 8. posse t o tl1.e civil off'icers and while frequent i nst ances have occurred in whicll. t heir presence has been s a l utary, i'rhen t he officers are art i sans troops ·vvould only -orove in 91! • - 9 - FEUDS. effect a r einforc ement t o t he side f avored by t he offi c ial t o i!l':h.om they wou l d. repor t. In t he abs ence of some intervening power-- ei tl1er the l aw, pub l ic opi nion, o r t lle int ercess ion of mut u a l fri ends of i nf'l uence-- the soluti on r ests in t he c on qu est , or a.:p:oro ach t o extinction, of one fact i on by t he other. Thi s h as s omet i mes occur r ed, tlle defeat ed p a rty moving , i n t he verna cular, • hi gher up t he c r e e1c, • ro os ting l ower,• or mi grat i ng beyond t he s tat e." ( Jol .ns ton i n t he Cosmopoli t an, Sep., 18999 . ) "Educat i on has not t aught t he f eudi sts a horror of' rnurd.er; t he resp ect ability of wealth has not lce-pt them f rom lci lling a h e l p less , una rmed. man s i rriply fo r t he name he bears. • • • Nei tl1.er education, nor wealth, nor the refinement s of civi li za t ion are as st r on~ as the rm.1rder-1us t in th.e Land of Feuds . I t s regen er ation VJi ll come only through the introduct ion of outsi de infl uences , of p eople who will dominate not only int e l l ec t ua lly but numer ic a l ly." ( .Davis & 3ITIY.t l1, in Muns ey • s Magazine , Nov., 1903.) "•Over in Clay County , a friend of mine a t t ended di vine worshi p one morning wl"len every man i n the congr e gat i on had h i s ba clc to the preacher, hi s f'a.ce to the door , and hi s gun b e t •Neen lli s 1\.ne e s . 1 I t '.7as a l ady vrb.o S l')O ~ .e , and she r eferred t o a s c ene i n t hese Unit ed stat es , i n the s tate of Kentucky . The vi l l a ge in which I met t he l ady s hc.ll be nameless , bu t it ~v a s a Cumb e rland l·.1ountain t ovm. I t· Vias B.L os t s f orei gn in many of it s s cenes a.nd a ccessori es as a t own i n the Bal lcans . • • • c~ 1 I t iNas a t ·~h e time ther e -c.rer o many ki l lings , • t b.e l ady s aid , cont inui ng her f i r s t r ema r lc , • ·.J~rh.en t he Ha r var d- Baker · f eud was on . we s~oea.lc of murderco her e as •1d llj_ngs • i t • s a l e s s unp l ea s ant word t han murde1·s . Th e r e wa s. a lcilling n ea r b.e i'e t ·,yo days ago . A judge was s ho t f rom a!11bus h. 1)y some one of t hose vvh.o t ook exc ep t ion t o s ome u nfair -pol i t i ca l man68uv ~ ri n g i n a cont ested e l ectior1 cas e . The sher i ff has arri ved a t t he s c ene of t he mur der v.:i t h b l ood.h.ounds , and 6i ven t hem t he s ce·J.t of the mur derer and t urned t hem loos e . • ••• Tb.e wo:me11 J l 2.y v e ~cy 2 cti ve :oarts i n the f'euds , secreting men ,· f eeding them ~·vl1. i l e i n. hiding, c arryi ng ammu nit ion and · ood t o t hem when they are b e l eaguered i n a cabin or court-110us e , or wh er ever, and they are never i n t e r f'er ed wi tn. ., . Nove l ists Emd other s tuden t s of t he rnount&i n popu.l "' t i on have kept t he mur derous f'euds i n tll.G f oregr ou nd i n ,, ll.at t h ey have writ t en. Thi s i s unj u s t onl y i n i t s E( I)l i c a t j.on t o a f'ev counties . In the mai n i t i s t he Gve r - nrosent s hadow t hat dar kens t he fame and t he near futut e of t he peop l e . The f eud i s a scotch inherit ance , and wha t Qu enttn Dur 1:va r d tells of the mr.rf u l fa t e of his h orne and f a ui ly i n t he Hi gh l ands i n t he f i f t een tb. cent u r y many an A-o:oa.l a cb.i an can _ e- eat with t r uth out of h i s own exp eri ence t o- day. " ( Ju lie.n Re.l -oh i n Har per • s Magaz ine , June , 190 3 . ) ''w;.,.J.-,J.~., * )f~-t8Niwu1 a AAfC4 ·7 18'1&--l't~>l · ·, FEUDS . Turner-sizemore Feud , in Knott -1875 . \ At a Christmas dinner given by "Ol d J ef f 11 Turner;, on BGaver Creelc, . nott. c o., t here broke out c:. drunlcen f i ght in vhich 1'urner and Bug Sizemore wer e killed ar;_d ei ~rb. t or ten ot11e r c badly wound.ed . War ensued . "In t l!.e several years in v:h.icl'J. l1os ti l i ties wer e kept up t v.'enty or thi rty \':e r e ldlled, t 11e ina cc es sibility of t he coun try and t h e wi despread f i e l d of operations p r eventing the intervention of t T·oops . The mos t not ed fi gure in the :feuci was a man c a lled "Old Talt" Hall, i n cont r adi stin c t i on to hi s s on of the s ame name, who was almost as notorious . He tooK p art vvi th t he Sizemor·es , and long af ter t he loca l di s sent ions cea sed , by deat h on each s i de and the e-ffort s of t he l aw , the Hal l s con tinued t heir c ar eer of crime in s e veral other counties of Kentuclcy , and when driven t hence became Ol.1t l a-.rvs in west '!irginia and eastern Ten.nessee . Both -v •e r e f'i nally b rou ght t o j ustice , the l ast having been h anged in T en~ess e e a few y ears a go." J s. Jolmston i n Cosmo::;olitan , Sep ., 1 899 . ) FEUDS. strong-Amis 1874-1877. This f eud was personal, not po li ti cal. One side was l ed by Captai n Bill strong , f ormerly of t l1.e Pederal army t he other by John .Amis (whose name i s generall y written and p ronounced. "Arny " ). several p itched battles were fought . In 1874 a com·pany of s t ate gu a r ds was sent to the scene of troub l e,in mi dwint er, t he roads b eing so bad tha t f or n e arly a hundred mi l es oxen ·\vere re qu.ired to haul the artille r y . I n 1877 t he feud. bro1ce out again . I n t he Yiinter of' that year the G-overnor sent tYvo companies of t he s t ate gu ard to. arrest the of fenders and protect t l1.em during t rial. As s :oecia l judge l1.e sent G-en.W.L.,Jackson, and as com:momvealth•s a ttorney, Ja.j .W. R. Ki nney, both of Louisville. The t roops overawed the malcont ents, and sev eral of the indicted we r e s ent to the penitentiar-y . J. s.Jo n s ton in G0smopoli t an, s ep ., 1899 . ) 91,7 FEUDS . Had its ori gin in an election quarre l bet ween t-~·::o memb ers of the Mart in and To l i ver fa'Tiilies . 'r.he Youngs sided with t he To live r s and the Logans with. t h.e Martins. Tl1e Logan-Martin e l ement e l ected their candidate for she~· iff by 12 vot es . The Toli vers l;:.ill ed one IJogan and vvounded tl1r ee after the votes were count ed. Five months l ater Dick Mar t in, one of t he wounded , ki lled Floyd To liver, ch ief participant in the election -day fi ght. He was arres t ed by hi s own p e ople, :for s afe-keeping , and sent to Winch est er . The Tolive r s had. him brou ght back on a forged order , and murder ed him i n col d bl ood , when he -\ii.'a s bound and hel 9 les s . This -,vas j u s t outs i de of Morehead, t he county-seat. Craig To liver, a young man of gr eat ph.y s j.ca l s t r engt h , and a dangerous cl1.a r acter, b e came l eader of hi s ±'action and v;aged war upon the Mar tins and Logans . To s t rengthen his power he b ecame a candidate fo r ma r sha l of hforehead, and by ·intimi dat i on 8.t t he poles s ecured t b.e o:ffic e . "During the next t wo yea r s the Logans and To l ive r s ki lled one another at every opportunit y, t he c:rpp r oved method b e i ng the ambushi ng of a vict i m by hal f a doz en enemies •••• Three t i mes troops were s ent t o Rowan County , and each time t he mountains swal lOiP!ed the men want ed • ••• The Governor then s ent envoys t o the warring camp s , brought about a confer ence at the cour t-house , and prevailed upon t he :fac tions to s i gn a truce . Crai g Toliver was t o expat riate himself in rli s souri for one year , and Cook Humpl1.ri es , tb.e sher iff , a. Logan l eader, f or t he s ame period in Texas . Toliver ret urned s ever a l months before t he expira tion of lJ. i s term, resumed hi s offi ce , and rene·,yed l1is atro cit ies . Al l t l1.e county officers, i nc luding t he j u dge , were involved i n t he warfar e that ensued. I n 1887 Gove r nor Proctor Knott , of Kentuclc.y , s a i d i n l1is message: "Though composed o:tr only a "'mall por tion of the community , these fB.c t ions h.8.ve succeeded by t heir vio l ence i n overawing and sj_ l encing t he voice of the p e a c eful . e l ement, and i n i n t imidating the of fic e r s of the l aw . Having their origin part ly in party rancor , t hey have ceas ed to 11.ave e.ny politi ca l signifi ca.nc e , and have become cont ests of personal ambition and r evenge each party seeking appar ently to p osse s i t c e l f of t he machine r~r of justice , .in order that i t may , under the forms of l aw, s eek t he gratification of perso na l animosities. Duri ng t he present year t he l ocal l eader of one of these factions came i n p os session of t he offi ce of police j udge of t he town of Morehe ad. Under color of the a.uthorit y of tha t of'fice , and sustainecl by an a i·med band of a dl1.erents , h.e exerci sed despotic mvay over t he to ·~vn and it s vicinage. He banished c i ti zens who wer e obnoxious to hi m; and, i n one ins t ance , aft er arres ting t wo c i t i~e n s who s ~ em to have been guilty of no offense , he and hi s partV , att ended by a deputy sheriff of the county, mu rdered them i n co l d blood . This act of atrocity fully aroused th.e community. A posse a cting under authori t y of a warr ant f rom t 11e county j ud.ge attacl::.eo_ tl1.e pol ice judge and hi s adher ents on t he 22d of June l ast, l::.illed seve r a l of t h eir number, and pu t the res t t o f light , and t em't)orarily r estored s omet l1ing lil::.e tr·anquilit y t o t he conmruni t y. The pro ceedi ngs of t he Circu i t Court, which. was hel d in August, ;,-.,re r e not Ca.lcu l ated t o inspi r e the c i tiz ens with confidence in securing justi ce . The r eport of the Adjut c.nt Gener a l o:n thi s sub j eet shows, f rom information derived 1 :from representative men v;i t hou t ref erence to party affi liations, 1 t hat the judge o ±~ t he Circu.it Court s eems so fa. 1~ under t he influence of t he r enuted leader of on e . of t he fa c t i ons as tcjla !BBt ti.,. iR8:ikM~b •WiilLJll~ • FEUDS. permit sucl1. an or gani zation of the grand juries as will effectually prevent the indictment of members of t hat fact ion f or the most f lagrant crimes . u The p osse here mentioned was organi zed by Daniel Boone Logan, a cousin of the t wo young men who b.ad been mLlr der ed, a college graduate, and a l a~rvye r of good s t andin g . With. t he assent of t 11e Governor, he gathered 50 or 75 carefully picked men, and armed them vv·i th the best modern r ifles and revolvers. Some of the men were o:f his own c l an; others he hired. His }) l an was to end the '.i'tar by exterminating t he To livers . 'rhe p os se, l ed by Logan and t he sheriff, suddenl y surrounded the · town of Morehee>.d . Everybody gave in e xcepting craig Toliver, Jay 'roliver, Bud Toliver, and Hiram Cook, ·v;rho 'barricaded t hems elves in the railroad station, where all of them were shot dead by the p osse. Boone Logan was indi cted for :murder. At the trial "He a d.mitted the lcillings. He t o l d tl1.e s tory of the feud , which h ad cost 23 lives -- that number could be proved-- and he b o l dly maint a. i n ed that •.vhat l!e had done was f or the good o:f t he public. He declared t hat 11e had ended t he murderous stru ggle. · He was acqui ttecl on that def·ense , and moved to Bell Co., "wher e he i s a r espected lavvyer." "Not one person vms legally punished f or t he 23 murders t hat resulted f rom this feud ." Early in 1888 t h.e Kentucky Legi s l ature appointed a comrni ttee to i nvestigate and r eport ul)on th.e conduct of Judge Cole. The committee I' ep orted i n March, censuring Judge Cole and recom:rnendi ng the abolition of the county court s . The Legislature removed the county from the 14't11. to the 13th. j u d i cial di strict, t h.us t a l::.ing it f rom the jurisdiction of Judge Cole, who was permitted to retai n h i s off ice . (.J.Qb.n.st_on.,__J .s ., in Cosmopolitan, Sep., 1899. Davis & Smyth i n Munsey•s Mag., Nov.,l903. Ap-p l eton• s Annua l , .CyClop a edi a , 1887 and 1888.) FEUDS. -188~ . ~ The Turner ~:nan · :fought among t hems elves. Two fac tions of t hese "Yellow Creelce r s 11 , l ed, l"'esp ectively, by Alvis Turner (or J e f f Hender son) e.nd "Gen" Een Butler s o-.:vder s , 1vho -~v as also o:r Turner e xtraction , enwtered upon a war of extermi n a t ion. "For t -"-o year s Ye l l o'V"' Cr e ek wa s s e l dom free f rom the s tain of 11uman b lood , and Hell• s Hal f - Acre-- a v.rell -. n amed s pot-- s aw wa r f are t hat \;;ou l d have made a r ed Indi an b lush :eor shame . 11 Alvis Turner vms one of the ld l l ed . Among the coml::>atants '.vas Andy Johns on , "who h ad s i x or ei ght nicks on hi s no t ch- s t ick." In 1888 an En glish synd i cate bough t t he va lley of Ye l low Creek and sta r t ed 11a most amazing boom t own , 11 wl1.i ch was named Mi dd l e sboro. Thi s ended t he feud. Andy Johns on b e c ame a specu lator and an off"i-c er . of t rw l aw. Squire Sowder s , f a t her of "Gen 11 , b ecame .jus t ice of the peace i n Mi ddlesbo r o. "Bu t he s till gl or i es in t l1.e f ami ly a chi evements, f or he has f ramed in hi s of fice a l ist of t he victi ms of t he :feud , and it numb ers 26. •Th os € on t he lis t -;; hos e l a s t name i s not Turner h a d a Turner f or their mo t h er.• 11 On Feb .l2 ,1902 , s i x survivo r s of the feud were ki lled by a she r i ctrf• s poss€ a t Lee Tu r ner•s Qu art er House , "a notorious hos t e lry on the Kentucky and Tennessee b o r d e r , " i n which 53 men had b e en Killed b e:fore this f i gh t in February . The of fi cers ~J ere t ryi ng t o arres t t he sal oon- keeper. In the f i ght t h e s a l oon ~ as bu rned . ( avis & Sn1vt l1 in Munsey
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