Sistersville oil review. [volume], July 27, 1898, Image 1

About Sistersville oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1896-1901

Image provided by: West Virginia University

                
. XIV.
SISTERSVILLE, TYLER COUNTY,
Terms ? $x.oo Per Year, n Ad van c<
-
mW HATFIELD'S
Bloody Crimes Brought to an
End by His Capture.
A THRILLING ARREST
And Successful Becausc of the
Bravery of DanCunningham
VFhi? Aftervnr l Killing at ilse
IIuixNo! the Fjiiuoiis IlnKifhl
t?j- the t ool Bravery of Attorney Ucn.
eral KiicSfr.
The blood blotted trail of
"Johnse" Hatfield stops before pris
on bars. I
Another of the desperate gang of
murderers and outlaws that has in
fested the Kentucky border of the
state has been c:ral!ed and is in
the grip of life relentless, outraged
law. Iu his human moments his
eyes look out upon moving shapes
of murdeied men and murdered
women, and murdered children.
He sees a scaffold. Iu his human
moments his ears ring with the
groans of victims slaughtered, with
curses and curiously uncouth pray
ers. Ke hears the swinging of the
trap.
Tne facts leading up to the cap
ture of this distinguished murderer
are interesting. The story ot his
taking is thriliing. The characters
in the episode are "Johnse*' Hat
field, brother of the courtly crim
inal "Cap," and sou of the paradox
ical desperado "Devil Anso,"his pal,
"Awk" Darnrou ?probably a con
traction for awkward; Doc Ellis, a
prominent timber man, worth about
$15,000 with home at Gilbert, in
Mingo county, and loggingcamp at
the mouth of poplar branch just
across the river 111 Kentucky; and
lastly, though next to "Johnse,''
most interesting of the quartette,
Deputy United States Marshal Dan
W. Cunningham ? that man of iron
nerve and terror to evil-doers, who
has beeu up against the Hatfield
gang for many years and has
brought a number of them to jus
tice.
DAN ?CEXTS TROUBLE.
As may be readily supposed,"!
Dan's name is cn the Halfield
blacklist and he has been marked
by the gang lor slaughter. Dead
men tell no tales. There is prob- ]
ably no man alive today who cau
give more valuable testimony |
against these picturesque pests in j
human form that this self made de- !
tective. Consequently when be re
ceived a letter from his friend Doc
Ellis asking him to come to his !
camp at the mouth of Poplar creek, j
on urgent business, Dan's trained !
instinct scented trouble and his ex- 1
perience told him that the Hatfields!
were in it. But he took his life in 1
his hands, as he has done so often
in times past, and went. He was,
back in Charleston again last night
carrying as trophies of his trip a
45-95 Winchester bullet, a 3S Smith
& Wesson cartridge, a devilish
looking dirk, six inches long and
an incli wide, and a very bad head- '
ache. The three first articles he
will present to the State Historical
Society. The last he will keep ?
until hi can get rid of it. It is a
curioksuy in the way of a headache,
rema: table both for size and ten
acity but the society does not want
it. -
SWORN TO KILL HIM.
Cunningham had been up in
Wyoming tracking a man wanted
in Parkersburg for felony. He
missed him there and came home.
Here he heard that his man was in
Mingo and Sunday he .set out- for
that interesting little county. Not
finding the game he was after he
decided to go over to ElHs' camp,
which decision he immediately
acted upon. This was on Monday.
There Doc Ellis told him that
"Johnse" Hatfield had sworn to kill
him and was preparing to follow
up his unrighteous vcw with im
mediate action. Now, how Doc
Ellis came to be placed in this un
comfortable piedicaraent the
records do not show. It can not
be said that the Hatfields had any-j
thing particular against Doc Ellis;
it seems that he is one of a number
of good citizens who do r.ot love
the gang, and they had it in for him,
were going to give him a summer
cuting in eternity, as "Johnse" de
clared i 1 other words. The citizens
of Logan and Mingo counties, par
ticular the latter, have grown ter
ribly tired of these gangs of des
perate mer. who roam the ranges
attired principally in Winchesters;
cartridges and dirks, and while they,
have nothing against the Hatfields
| or their friends who remain at
i .iome and attend to their business,
or when they travel, go about as
uon combatants, the Mingoliansj
have arrived at a sort of uuwritteu j
agreement that it is their opinion,
that the time has cone when every,
Hatfield or member of the Hatfield
gang or ot any gang, going about
the country armed to the teeth, j
must be dealt with according to the;
laws of civilized communities. So 1
j unanimous are the ci izens on this
; point that the desire amounts tc;
i almost an organized effort.
? At any rate, the name of D:cj
j Ellis wis on the fatal black list and (
he was feeling badly about it. He
welcomed the detective with open
arms, so to speak, and the two,
presently sat down to e:>t dinner.,
| They hid hardly begun their meal
i when they perceived steathily j
dodging in the woods on the other
side of the river ? Tug liver? fig-,
ures of armed men. Cunningham:
and Ellis had made up their minds
to capture "Johnse" Hatfield or kill
him. -The time had come. This
was their quarry. They slipped,
down to the river's edge and
silently crossed over to the
south end of Sand siding cut, where
they took a position sheltered from
observation. In a short time they (
saw "Johnse" put his Winchester
to his shoulder and draw a dead
aim on Ellis' shack on the other
side of the river. He was waiting
for Doc to come out. The other
man, who was"Awk" Damron, was
still down in the weeds. Ellis and
Cunningham threw up their guns
and covered the desperado, who
had his Winchester trained on the
headquarters of the Mingo man
across the river. He turned his
head :or an instant and his murder- (
charged eyes looked down the bar
1 rels of two deadly rifles aimed at
i his head.
I
"drop that gun."
"Johnse" Hatfield is noted
among other things, as a man of
quick action. "Drop that gun and
: hold up your hands," shouted Cun
; ningham. "Johnse" took another
i lightning glance at the rifles of his
I enemies and dropped his gun. He
did net hesitate. Had he turned it
| an inch to the right he would have
I had two bullets in his head. Cun
ningham, Ell's covering "Johnse,"
walked over and standing on the
: desperado's rifle, proceeded to fur
I ther disarm him by taking from his
clothes a 38 Smith & Wesson and
the six-inch dirk. He then hand
cuffed him and left him in charge
of two men ? Hopkins and Birch
field ? who had just come up and
he and Ellis followed "Awk" Dain
roa, caught him, took from him a
revolver and Winchester and
brought him back to where they
had left Hatfield. The latter's
guards had tak^ji him across the
: river and thither went Ellis and
i Cunningham with Damron. They
, kept him over night and next day,
having nothing against him turned
him loose and sent him home with
his own and Hatfield's artillery
I The dirk Cunningham bought from
("Johnse," paying him a dollar for
! it; Ellis and Cunningham took
j their prisoner across the Kentucky
mountains to the Pikeville jail, a
long forty miles from camp. There
they left him to face the thirty-nine
Pike county indictments for mur
der pending against him.
SLAYER OF FIVE CHILDREN.
At the jail, who should visit the
captured desperado, but Jim Mc
Coy, brother of five children that
' "Tohnse" Hatfield has helped to
i slaughter. It is characteristic of
the situation, that McCoy went
over and gravely shook hands with
Hatfield, promising him the best
treatment possible under the cir
cumstances, and at the same time
informing him that he proposed to
prosecute him to the bitter end of
the law.
It * has even been characteristic,
too, of the Hatfields, when caught,
to confess, and the latest recruit
for the gallows from their ranKS
? was no exception to the rule. lie
confessed and asked for a lile pen
itence. There is a possibility that
j he may get it, a probability that htj
j may not.
The words "he confessed," to
! those unfamiliar with tragic inci- j
'dents of the Hatfield-McCoy feud is^
'a phrase ambiguous. Hatfield cc-|
knowkdg.d his participation in at |
! least two of the principal horrors of j
that deadly strife? that of 1882 and
'that of 18SS.
I
HISTORY OF A FEUD.
In 18S2, old man Randolph Mc
Coy was engaged in a petty law
suit with Bill Stateu over a seventy
five cent shoat. Ellison Hatfield? j
or "Deacon", as he was known ? ;
he was a preacher before he be- ?
came a corpse ? was courlirg old
man Staten's daughter and natural
ly sided with his prospective father
Jin law. On election day in Pike
county, as was their wont, the Hat
fields crossed over the river and)(
at the behest of certain interested;
! politicians ss well as from a sheer!
desire for devilment, proceeded to |
terrorize the community and to run
'the election to suit themselves. The|
! "Deacon" was at Black Fork Pre
'cinct with a squad of co horts.
"Devil Anse" was at Peter crtek
! precinct, with another. Together.
: the Hatfields had twenty-nine men
with them at these two precincts.
'Talbot McCoy approachtd the polls
1 to vote. The "Deacon," the hog
incident fresh in his mind, asked
1 him how he was going to vote. "It's
none of your business, ' said Tal
!bot. "I'll make it my business,"
said the "Deacon." "I am hell on
?earth," declared Talbot. "So am
;I," asserted the "Deacon" emphat
ically, and the two men mixed.
Knives were drawn and the battle
was getting bloody, when "Farmer"
j McCoy, Talbot's brother, rushed
! up and shot the "Deacon." The two
I McCoys were arrested and several
! deputies started through to Pike
ville with them. One ol the "Dea
! con's" friends notified "Devil Anse,"
? who with his posse headed off the
.deputies, took charge of the Mc
Coys and brought them back to the
'scene of ihe fi^ht. where they found
! little Randolph McCoy and the
wounded "Deacon. T hey took
the boy prisoner and carried all
three * of the " McCoys over
the river and held them in
an old school house near
I what is now Matewan. A family of
i West Virginia McCoys, living on I
' Mate creek, took the wounded man
in. He died on the third evening
after the fight. That same even
ing "Devil Anse" and fourteen
other men took the three boys
across the river into Kentucky and
tied them to some pawpaw bushes,
! where a year before they had
hanged three sheep kiiling dogs.
I They hung lanterns above the
| heads of the doomed McCoys and
! forming a squad fired below two of
| the lanterns. Forty five bullets
entered the body of Talbot and
forty- eight were pumped into the
"Farmer." The little boy Randolph
they had not fired at and started to
leave him tied to the bushes. He
was crying. "Dead men tell no
i tales," said Alex Messer, one of the
gang, suggestively. "That's so;''
said Anse. Messer borrowed a shot
gun, went back and fired both bar
rels at the boy's head, blowing the
1 top of it completely off. Part of
] the skull as large as a man's hand
, was found seven feet away lrom
where the poor little cold body
| lay, when discovered the next day.
TRAGEDY OF '88.
I
So much for the tragedy of '82. i
The tragedy of 1S88, was, if possi
ble, even more terrible. It was on
New Year's night. A crowd of
; Hatfield's? nine in all ? went over
; into Pike county to the house of old
I man Randolph McCoy, on Black
berry Fork of Pond Creek ? a long
house with doors at each end and
'windows. They surrounded the
house, placiHg two men at each
door. These men opeued up a
cross fire on the inmates. Old man
McCoy ran up stairs. The women
? his wife and daughter Alvira ?
climbed up on the head of the bed
j
[steads. Tom Mitchell, one of Hat
field's crowd, began throwing
? lighted balls of co'ton into the
j house which set it on fire. As he
| was doiug this Randolph McCoy
Isbothis hand off. He called A1
jviratocoine up and put out the
H|e, which the two women had
riecked down stairs by putting
1 milk on it. Alvira stjned up. She
! \yas shot in the breast and killed
:^!vin McCoy, the old man's son,
i :ben started to make a break for
i tie corn crib, intending to fire on the
Hatfield gang while his father es j
jeftped from the building which by
; this time was in flames. lie \vs
sjiot through the head and died in
stantly. The old woman asked
permission to l.r'ng bet dead daugh
ter out. S:ie was caught, clubbed
into insensibility and left lor dead.
Her own uncle, Jim Vance, did the
deed.
; The old man, roasted out from j
| ijis garret, made a break for one of
the doors, emptying a barrel cf the j
;?Jhot into "Johnse" Ha! field's shoul- j
der as he passed. He escaped.
"johnse" goks west.
f "Johnse" Hatfield went west |
after this, but was rounded up at
Seattle and driven from the coun
i try by Treeve Gibson, who had
j hunted him in the West Virginia
; hills. He came back to Mingo
I County and now figures before the
; public in an entirely new role? that
| cf prisoner.
j ' These are two of the crimes
| "Johnse" Hat-field coufessed to par
ticipation in.
TRIES TO KII.L DAN.
i The murderer safely behind the
i bars-, Deputy Cunningham started
: for Charleston, boarding the train
. yesterday morning at Sand Land
ing. Wheu he got 011 he saw ' Doc"
Hatfield. . With Doc were Bob
ffcmpsoii and two other men. Half
ofOthis ouartette was in the smoker
?ir: a hairfoHUg ? ifctili y, At tn rney
General K. P. Rucker was aboard
the train also. Doc Hatfield saw
Cunningham and went into the
other car and spoke to Bob and his
companion. They followed him
into the rear car, and they crowded
around Cunningham. Doc called
Mr. Rucker aside and was talking
to him. Suddenly he sprang up
and said he was going to kill Cun
ningham. Rucker pulled him back
but Doc reached over his shoulder
and grabbed the detective by the
collar. Conductor West and Brake
man Witt pulled him off.
Ladies screamed and pandimonium
reigned, but murder was averted.
Doc and his companions ?Ot olf at
Thacker. They told Cunningham
if he did not get eft and be killed
thev would kill him in the train.
The detective declined to get oft,
land the Hatfield crowd were hus
* tied out. Cunningham came 0:1 to
Chaileston with his headache and
souvenirs.
THE DETECTIVE'S RKCORD
Cunningham has macte a record !
in the matter of arresting Hatfields. j
The first 'was Charles Gillespie,
who confessed that he was in the
gang that burned Ran. McCoy's
house in 18SS. He broke jail. He
is now married and living in Vir
ginia. There is 2 romance con
nected with this episode, but, as
Kipling says, that is another story.
The detective's second victim
was the younger Eliison Hatfield,
whom he caught ^fter a desperate
struggle, on the head of Mate creek,
in i883. He confessed to partici
pation in the crimes of '$2 and '8S,
and was nangtd. At the time he
was caught, Ellison Hatfield. Tom
Mitchell and Black Elliott Hatfield
were going down to pay Frank
Philips a polite call. The creek
was swollen and they could not
cross, so they put up at Josh
Skeens, who is connected with the
Counts of Jackson county ?
two sons of Richard Skeens, who
went to Virginia frtfm that county,
were hanged in the Old Dominion
the other day for killing a sheriff
Bill Xapper and Treeve Gibson were
with Cunningham on that occasion.
Each picked out a man. Ellison
lell to Cunningham, who, after a
fight, handcuffed him to a Buckeye
tree on tiie side of the creek. The
other two got away. Frank Philips,
whom the Hatfields were alter, and
jwho played an important part in
! the running of some of them to
earth, was shot by his clerk twenty
days ago and died Wednesday.
Doc Hatfield attended him and am
putated one of his legs. After he
was buried, "Johnse" Hatfield and !
his friends crossed the river into
Pike county, visited the grave at]
the mouth of Peter creek, fired a
volly over it, preached the dead
man's funeral and returned to West!
? Virginia.
While returning from that trip,
| on which Ellison was captured, Cun
ningham ran across Aleck MesserJ
' on Big Ugly, in Lincolu county ?
the man who shot little Ran's head
off. He arrested him, took him to
Pikeville, where he confessed ar.d
was sentenced to life imprisonment.
A SEKIOl'S EXPLOSION.
Col. Robert WcEhlowney'* Rmldenoc
I>. mulKht ?l.
New Martinsvi.le, W. Va., July
24.? Today at 2:30 p. m., a terrible
gas explosion took place in Capt.
Robert McKldowney's residence,
which blew out the western end of .
the building, making a clean cut;
from top to bottom, and spreading '
the building. Capt. McEldowney
| and family are at Mountain Lake
| Park, ?nd no one was at the house
I at the time of the explosion. The
force of the explosi3n was so great
that it shook the buildings in the
south end cf town.
Fi'vyr Situation at Santiago.
I
! Washington, July 25. ? The war!
department at 9:15 p. m. posted the 1
following:
Santiago, July 25, 1S98.
Adjutant General, U.S.A. Wash
ington:
Number of fever cases on the 24th
I instant about 500. At least 450,
returned to duty. Actual figures
will be given hereafter. Notwith
standing figures, situation seems
somewhat improved. One death,;
Sergeant J. Larnen, Troop C*r
Third cavalry, yellow fever, Sib
oney.
(Signed) "Shatter."
Major General.
"7
WW FLEET ?;
Not to Bombard Spanish Coast
Cities.
iH
HE WILL RUN DOWfl ^
_____ . jCM|
' '
i Camara's Fleet, When His Mis
sion Will be Complete. -
The tiovei uuiont \oi Wunt (Ik*
CrtimrM s -I'orlo lliro liivn?inu Of rn*
pUd lb? Ailriiliuu of Hie Vl nr BoiiN
Yftlrrdnjr.
Washington, July 22. ? A signifi
cant statement was made to the As.
I sociated Press today by a gentle
man in a position to speak with
knowledge and authority as to the
plans of the administration with
reference to- future war opera
tions. In substance, the statement
was as follows:
Commodore Watson, in proceed
ing to the Spanish peninsula as
soon as the Porto Rican expedition
is gotten under way, is not to bom
bard the cities of the Spanish coast.
Xo such idea of bombardment of
the coast is maintained.
While there may be other inci
dental purposes, the main mission
of Watson is to take care of Admi
! ral Camera's fleet. The movement
1 of this fleet and the fears and appre- -
hensions ciused by reports con
cerning it are to be stopped for all
time. The ships under Camara will
; be located by Watson and finally
^jnet and engaged. The talk oeca- -
sionally indulged in as to the Ca
l nary Islands is utterly without
foundation. This government has
: no plans to take these islands and
does not want them.
I
^SMITH & BOESHAR'S^
Special Rocker!
This is a good picture of the Rocking Chair which we are
setlirg for
00 A
t
?
It i-s strongly made of hard wood and is finished in either
Antique or Mahogany.
Smith & Boeshar!
i
'k - ? ? ? A.f. V*
ir