A VOICE FROMSouth CarolinaTwelve Chapters Before Hampton and Two
Chapters after Hampton |
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A VOICE FROMSouth CarolinaTwelve Chapters Before Hampton and Two
Chapters after Hampton |
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| CHAPTER SIXTH - LAURENS—AFTER THE
RIOT The old adage, that after a storm comes a calm, was not verified very promptly in Laurens. For days and weeks, after the events recorded in a previous chapter, the public mind was kept at fever heat of excitement. Rumors of parties organized to burn the town at night, and other diabolical schemes of the scattered leaders, were well calculated to cause continued apprehension and anxiety. Patrols were detailed to watch every night, and in every part of the corporate limits, and every head of a family was expected to guard his own premises. Then came a rumor that Gov. Scott had decided to send a regiment of his colored militia to garrison the county. There was some truth in this, but the prompt and spirited veto of the whites in Columbia, soon made him abandon the scheme. Then there were other rumors of the immediate proclamation of martial law by the President, and of wholesale arrests by United States Marshals, which produced wide-spread consternation and alarm. No one on retiring to bed at night, had any assurance that he would be found there the next morning. In fact, this state of uncertainty and uneasiness would have become intolerable, if long continued. But gradually these rumors subsided by their own limitations. It was found that these leaders were more effectually demoralized than was at first supposed; and that they were more engaged in securing their own safety, than in plotting mischief against others. Scott found that there was a spirit aroused over the whole State, from the unblushing abuse of the ballot-box in the recent election, with which it would be dangerous to tamper, and was disposed to remain quiet enough. As to the United States authorities, they had so often been deceived by the "cry of wolf" from these same parties, that they contented themselves with sending a small garrison, with officers competent to inquire into the matters for themselves. There were still two fruitful sources of trouble and annoyance; and as long as these continued, there could be no hope of lasting peace and quiet. These were the " public arms," and the " State constabulary force". It is true that most of these arms were in the, custody of the sheriff; but very many more were in the hands of the colored militia, issued to them before the riot; and our friends in the country felt no little anxiety on this account. As for the constabulary force, they began to appear, one after another, and to give every indication of resuming their former practices. In view of these facts, the citizens of Laurens appointed a committee of three, to wait on the Governer, in Columbia, make a report of these public nuisances, and to urge upon him to remove or abate them if possible. The citizens selected the three they thought above all suspicion of complicity with rowdyism, viz: Dr. J. W. Simpson, the patriarch of the town, S. R. Todd, Sr., the oldest and most substantial merchant of the place, and J. A. Leland, President of the Female College. Capt. Estes, of the United States garrison, kindly consented to accompany this committee to Columbia, mainly to testify to the readiness with which the whites had given up, and were still willing to deliver to the proper authority, all the public arras in their possession. He was also willing to assure the Governor that, while a United States Marshal alone, or accompanied by one or more United States soldiers, could ride through the length and breadth of the county with perfect impunity, whether by day or night, his constabulary were forced to prowl about like wolves, with about the same chance of safety if detected in indulging their instincts. Through the kind offices of Captain Esles, an interview with the committee was accorded by Scott the very night of their arrival, and in his own parlor. Dr. Simpson, the chairman, read to him a carefully prepared paper, tracing the recent disturbances to the unfortunate arming of the militia, and the mischievous intermeddling and reckless course of the State constabulary; and urging the withdrawal and removal of both these causes of irritation, in behalf of public peace and order. The committee found Scott apparently ready to accede to any proposition that would insure quiet. He had just been re-elected by an overwhelming majority, and, as far as he was concerned, there was no further need of all this political machinery. But it was necessary to try to conciliate the tax-payers of the State, whose sense of justice and fair dealing had been so grossly outraged by the means resorted to in the recent canvass. Whatever may have been the motives actuating him, he certainly did agree to both propositions, as promptly as his impediment of utterance would permit. He then and there authorized Capt. Estes to call in the State arms, and ship them to Columbia. He also promised the committee that his constabulary force would speedily be recalled— which promise he actually fulfilled a short time afterwards. But Scott's conciliation could reach as low down as it ever aspired upwards; for, at the very time he was giving the committee a private audience, he had Joe Crews shut up in an adjoining chamber, with the door ajar, that he might hear every syllable uttered ! The truth of this is founded on Joe's own statement, confirmed—for all his statements required confirmation— by the fact that Capt. Estes left him closeted with Scott when he returned to conduct the committee to the Governor's mansion. What use Joe made of this characteristic strategy will appear in the sequel. He certainly could testify to the time-honored adage, that eaves-droppers never hear any good of themselves. These fruitful sources of annoyance and irritation being thus happily removed, the village and county of Laurens became as quiet and orderly as any other community in the State. The leaders were anxiously looking for some developments which they could magnify into "outrages" and thus keep up the notoriety they had already given the county, but they were never gratified. Attempts were thus made to distort some acts of sales-day rowdyism, but they always failed in these efforts at perversion, as it was easy to show that, in these, neither politics nor race was involved, but that they were the natural fruits of very mean whisky. No efforts at investigating or arresting were made for months after the 20th of October, simply because there was no need ior political capital of that sort just then. The previous course of the party, all over the State, had made it notorious that they cared nothing for these outrages and murders, in themselves considered, particularly when they were confined to the colored race; but when they could be made to sub-serve their party purposes, they could raise a howl which would reach from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Lakes to the Gulf. How else can we account for the fact, now a part of history, that the high crimes of "conspiracy" and "murder," alleged I to have been perpetrated, not only in Laurens, but in the counties of York, Union, Spartanburg, Chester, etc., in the Fall of 1870, were ignored and unnoticed by the constituted authorities, till the Spring of 1872. The policy is patent to the comprehension of a child. The elections were over in the Fall of 1870, but another State election was to take place in 1872, and law and justice, to say nothing of the dignity of the State, must be kept in abeyance till then. Besides, a Presidential election was to be hotly contested the same Fall, and this fortunate coincidence would add amazingly to the deep strategy of postponement. With such a capital of crimes and outrages whereby to "fire the Northern heart," there was no end to the aid and comfort they might expect from the authorities at Washington. The results of this policy more than realized their highest hopes, as we shall soon see. About three months after the occurrence of the 20th October, there was a mere interlude in this matter of arresting, but from the character and circumstances of the parties selected for forcible seizure, public opinion at once assigned mercenary, and not political motives for the choice. These parties were: Dr. D. A. Richardson, practicing physician, and Intendant of the town, Col. Jones, Sheriff of the county, democrat; Col. Moseley, landlord of the only hotel in the place ; Col. R. P. Todd, a prominent member of the bar; S. D. Garlington, apothecary and druggist; Capt. Hugh L. Farley, who, with Col. Todd and Mr. Garlington, represented some of the oldest and most respectable families in the county, and Mr. George Copeland, the wealthiest merchant in Clinton. It was thought that these gentlemen, with the prospect of the penitentiary immediately before them, would " pay out" handsomely, either directly, or through their friends, should the opportunity be offered. It is always a risk to attribute motives, but in this case, public sentiment was, and still is, so unanimous in this charge of black-mailings that nothing can change it. These gentlemen were arrested by the State constabulary, and taken directly to Columbia, some time in January, 1871. The Richland Court was soon after in session, but the grand and petit juries had not yet been sufficiently manipulated for such trials as these. Those in charge of the prosecution, or rather, the legal representatives of the persecution, selected Dr. Richardson's case to go before the grand jury. What are commonly known as the Ku-Klux Acts of Congress had not then been passed, so he was indicted under the "Enforcement Act." The grand jury promptly threw this indictment overboard, by bringing in a verdict of "no bill." The Doctor thought he was free; but another warrant was ready for his arrest before he could leave the court-room. "No bills" were made out against the others, but they were excessively annoyed and harrassed for several weeks. They were many times haled from the jail to the court-house, to appear before the examining magistrate; every time amid the jeers, taunts and curses of a large crowd of colored spectators. As the magistrate would release one on insufficient evidence, Hubbard, the Chief Constable, with his congenial gang, stood ready to re-arrest him on some new warrant. This course was well calculated to extort blackmail, but it signally failed. Worn out at length by this kind of persecution these prisoners determined to make one final effort, and, through their counsel, to apply for the writ of habeas corpus. This was still practicable, as martial law had not yet been proclaimed. Fortunately for them, Judge Vernon, a part of whose circuit was Laurens County, was within reach, and they decided to make their application to him. As this Judge had always proved upright and honest, and would, under no circumstances make his high office subservient to mere party purposes, he had himself become odious to the authorities, a stumbling block which must be moved out of their way, Accordingly, his impeachment was already determined upon, mainly, on the charge of intemperance, and a resolution to that effect was already before the Legislature, then in session. Without hesitation, Judge Vernon determined to give the prisoners a hearing, through their counsel, and took his seat in the court-house, in Columbia, where the prosecution, as well as the counsel for the prisoners could be heard. In the midst of the proceedings, a dandified colored attache of the Legislature walked in, and proceeding up to the bench, there deposited a written notification, that the " resolution of impeachment" had just been passed, and the day fixed for his trial. The Judge merely glanced at the paper to learn its contents, and, without pause, proceeded with the cases. After a patient hearing, he admitted them all to bail in the sum of five thousand dollars each. Of course there was no loss of time in executing these bonds, nor was there any trouble about sureties, as the generous citizens of Columbia came forward in crowds, and voluntarily offered any number of the best names there. And now it was amusing to witness the various exits of these gentlemen from Columbia. They knew that fresh warrants would await them at all the railroad stations, and that the constabulary would accompany all the outward bound trains. So each determined to find a route for himself, and on horseback, with the understanding that no two should travel the same road. Like a covey of partridges, suddenly flushed, they scattered to all the points of the compass, and after a few days, they reappeared in Laurens, dropping in one after the other, and from all possible directions. But the strangest part of the story is, that though these heavy bonds were conditioned on their appearance at the Circuit Court of the United States, to be holden at Greenville Court-house, on the following spring, not one of them was then summoned, nor were their bonds forfeited. And, though one or more of their number were re-arrested in the general onslaught on Laurens, in 1872, still not one of them has ever been brought to trial, while others subsequently arrested, have been tried. All this seems wholly unaccountable, excepting on the black mail theory. The name of Judge T. O. P. Vernon, must not pass out of this narration, without some tribute to his noble self-sacrifice on this occasion. There were few more promising young men than "Tom" Vernon, when he returned to his native county of Spartanburg, as a graduate from the University of Georgia, at Athens. Every celebration of the "Battle of Cowpens," every Fourth of July occasion, every public reception of distinguished visitors —in fine, every occasion calling for the orator or the ready speaker within reach, claimed his name as most prominent on the list. He had not been long at the bar, before the Legislature elected him " Commissioner in Equity for his native district, which office he held for many years. Forced out against his will, as a candidate for Congress, he carried his own district almost unanimously, though unsuccessful in the congressional district. He also served as Judge of the Inferior Court, established soon after the war, in the first or Johnsonian reconstruction. After the second, and now existing reconstruction, he, unfortunately, permitted himself to be elected Judge of one of the Circuits, sheltering himself under the examples set by Orr and Thomas, natives, who had already taken other Circuits. Very soon afterwards, his unswerving integrity checked many of the local schemes of the party, and he became obnoxious to cliques and rings. They soon determined to get rid of him, and on a charge of "intemperance," his impeachment was already determined upon. His habits were no worse than those of many of his associates on the Bench, and certainly no worse since his election than before. He knew enough of the party to be assured, that a little yielding on his part, and a few pledges for the future, would cause all these clouds to vanish into thin air. In the cases then before him, he knew, that remanding these Laurens prisoners to jail, would reinstate him with the party; and, on the other hand, his releasing them would be equivalent to signing his own deposition. He nobly decided on self-sacrifice in behalf of principle; and to disappoint their triumph and revenge, he resigned his commission before the day fixed for his trial. |
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