USA > Arkansas > The aftermath of the civil war, in Arkansas > Part 10
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fugitives from justice from Arkansas. This trip sub- jected me to great personal peril.
On the way to Memphis during the night at a land- ing on the Arkansas side a man with a gun took passage on the boat on which my staff and I were passengers. Of course he immediately became the object of close surveillance by a detective who, to avoid suspicion of being connected with me, had taken passage on the steamer at Clarendon, Ark., on its way to Memphis. That night, soon after this man came aboard, and while I was in the cabin at the front of the boat, the center of a group composed of my staff and others, he was observed by the detective outside the glass partition that separated the cabin from the passageway, slowly mov- ing backward and forward with his gun in his hand, peering through the glass and evidently trying to single out some person on the inside. After moving backward and forward and sometimes raising his gun and then lowering it again, he suddenly raised it to his shoulder and was taking aim when the detective, who had con- cealed himself nearby, instantly sprang upon him from the rear, and with the assistance of one of my officers disarmed him and placed him under arrest. When first seized and asked what he was doing he acknowl- edged that his sinister purpose was my assassination. Upon arrival at Memphis he was immediately sent to Marion under guard, and placed in the custody of the commanding officer there. When I was about to say good-bye to General Upham to return to Little Rock he asked me what he should do with this prisoner. I instructed him to organize a military commission and investigate the matter fully before acting,-expecting, of course, that he would report to me the result of such in- vestigation. This he failed to do, and it was not until several years thereafter that I learned from an officer
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who had served at Marion that the court, upon the prisoner's own confession, had found him guilty and sen- tenced him to be hanged, and that the sentence was car- ried into execution. Years afterward General Upham told me that this man, during his trial, had admitted that he was acting under orders but would not disclose the source from which they were received.
I do not say that I would not have approved the pro- ceedings, but as they related to me personally I would certainly have given him every opportunity to divulge the names of his accomplices. Had they proved to be persons higher up, I would probably have remanded the matter back to the military commission for revision upon the theory that he was but a tool, and not acting on his own responsibility.
On my way from Marion to my official home in Little Rock I stayed a few days in Memphis, Tenn., where, on the invitation of Colonel Beaumont, General Upham and I, accompanied by my staff, attended a performance at the New Memphis Theatre. We had no sooner taken our seats than we became the "observed of all observers." A description of my visit to Memphis and this event will be found in the following article from the Memphis Post:15
"HIS VISIT IN THE CITY-INTERVIEWS WITH THE KU "KLUX-BOLD TALK ABOUT ASSASSINATING HIM
"Since Governor Clayton's arrival in this city on Tuesday evening, from a trip of inspection, accompanied by prominent military and judicial officers of his State, to the Headquarters of the militia force stationed in Crit- tenden County, he has been the leading theme of thought and speech of every citizen, be he a Ku Klux or a Re- publican friend.
"With his staff he has occupied rooms at the Overton,
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where, early and late, a continuous stream of friends wishing to pay their respects and of enemies anxious to gain his favor by obsequious pretensions of respect has poured through his room. Among the names of the prominent citizens and friends who have called to pay their respects are those of Judge Hunter, of the Crimi- nal Court; Judge Waldran, of the Municipal Court: At- torney-General Thorn; Prosecuting-Attorney of the Mu- nicipal Court H. F. Hudson; Col. S. B. Beaumont. Su- perintendent of the Little Rock Railroad; Judge Vance, of Mississippi, now stopping in the city, and prominent Republicans of this place, together with several large property owners; among them W. R. Greenlaw, Esq.
"The interviews of these gentlemen have been of the most interesting character, and all have come away with a greater degree of respect, if possible, for the noble chieftain whose name has become a terror to the Ku Klux Klan which infests his State.
"The rebels from the city and from Crittenden. many of whom have called upon him, have received the most cordial welcome and the kindest attention from him, and have also come away convinced that he is a worthy mag- istrate of his State, and one who demands nothing but justice to all.
"A conversation which he had with a citizen from across the river is too full of facts for the public to lose the benefit of it. The citizen's object in calling upon the Governor was, like that of most of the rebels who vis- ited him, to learn when he intended to revoke martial law and disband the militia. Like the rest of his friends, the citizen pledged his honor as a gentleman that when those steps should be taken every good citizen in Crit- tenden would take measures immediately to enforce the laws and punish all offenders. The Governor replied that that was the result which he was seeking by the aid of the militia, and as soon as he became satisfied that the people would do what had been pledged, then they should at once be relieved of the militia. The promise pleased
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the citizen, and he plied his specious pledges more heart- ily and grew eloquent in cxtolling the character and wishes of the good citizens of his county.
"In order to test the man's idea of a good citizen, the Governor asked him his opinion of Maj. J. F. Earle and B. C. Crump, of his county. With a look of surprise that the character of these men should be questioned by the Governor, the citizen replied with great emphasis that both were among the best citizens; that they always counselled order and quiet and obedience to the laws of the State. He would have expatiated a whole hour on the exemplary character of these men, probably, if the Gov- ernor had not relieved him of that trouble by telling him that Earle was the Commander of the 'Knights of the White Camelia,' and that Crump was the leading spirit and active worker in the organization! The con- fusion of the citizen at this statement was sufficient to convince the Governor of the correctness of his statement, even if he had not had the additional evidence in the form of sworn statements from the members of the organiza- tion themselves, revealing the whole history of that law- less organization.
"When it is expedient that the facts should be given to the public the Governor's information of the opera- tions of the outlaws in his State will be found to be per- fect.
"Yesterday afternoon the Governor enjoyed a ride around the city. In the evening he attended the New Memphis Theatre, accompanied by his staff. Soon after his presence in the theatre became known the word was whispered around by the blood-thirsty rebels present, and they began to gather in little knots in the passage-ways skirting the theatre, and to talk in audible tones about assassination.
"The epithets 'murderer, ravisher, and thief' were mingled with expressions of vengeance to be heard in portions of the audience. One of the unterrified was heard to say to a comrade, 'How would you like a good
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dagger to throw at the villain?'-'That would be all right,' was the flippant reply. The public officers pres- ent kept a vigilant watch, and the rebel fiends had not the heart to risk an assault, and the Governor, whose personal courage is of the highest order, returned to the hotel in safety."
It having been noised abroad that we would attend the theatre, the audience was so large that many people could only procure standing room in the aisles near the entrance to the foyer. Frequently I observed them point- ing us out, and it was evident that we were the subject of their conversation. When the performance was fin- ished we found it difficult to make our way to the foyer, hence the theatre was almost completely empty when we reached the principal street leading from it. To our surprise the sidewalks on each side of the street for sev- eral squares were jammed with a hooting, howling mob, making it dangerous for us to attempt to jostle our way through it. Hence we took the middle of the street as the safest way for us to reach our hotel, and as we walked in this strange procession we realized that to endure the insults of the mob was the "better part of valor," and although we did not show our apprehensions, we were all greatly relieved when we were again under the roof of our hotel.
Many years afterward, Confederate Maj .- Gen. James J. Fagan, having, in the strange mutations of political events, allied himself with the Republican party and be- come the United States marshal for the Western District of Arkansas, described to me and others, among whom was my brother Judge William H. H. Clayton, a meet- ing of the original organization of the Ku Klux Klan in Memphis, held for the purpose of taking into considera- tion the question of my assassination by the Klan during
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my visit to Memphis. I do not recall any living witness to General Fagan's disclosures except my brother, who, in a letter addressed to me, January 9, 1914, thus cor- rectly described General Fagan's statement :
"In regard to the occurrence which took place at Memphis while you were Governor of Arkansas and went to that city, and while there with some of your friends attended the theatre, General Fagan told me that he himself was a member of the Ku Klux Klan and that he was at Memphis when you were there, and at- tended a large meeting of the Klan that was called for the purpose of taking into consideration your assassina- tion; that at that meeting a resolution was offered di- recting a certain committee to proceed to take your life ; that its adoption was warmly advocated by leading men, but that he, General Fagan, and other prominent mem- bers of the Klan made speeches against it, alleging that you deserved death, but that it was not expedient, as it would destroy the sympathy for the South that had been worked up by the Klan and Democratic Party of the South generally, during the late Presidential Campaign.
"That the ascendency of the National Democratic Party in the control of the general Government could only be had with the help of certain wavering Republi- can States of the North and West, and that they were finally prevailed upon to abandon the proposed assassina- tion."
No one in Arkansas will doubt the veracity of Gen- eral Fagan. My brother, Judge William H. H. Clay- ton, was for twelve years the United States District Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, which included in its jurisdiction at that time the Indian Terri- tory; for a period of eight years after separate courts were set up in Oklahoma he was one of the United States
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Judges in that Territory. His veracity will be questioned by no one who knows him personally or by reputation.
MARTIAL LAW IN CONWAY COUNTY
Having described with as much brevity as possible the operations of the militia under the commands of Generals Catterson, Mallory, and Upham, I shall now describe martial law conditions and the operations of the militia in Conway County, which will complete the de- scriptions of the operations of martial law.
On December 8, 1868, I issued a proclamation plac- ing Conway County under martial law, and in my message to the General Assembly of December 14, announcing that fact,16 I referred but briefly to some of the events that caused my action. That the reader may judge of its justification, I shall now present to him a brief history of events not included in said message.
Having received reliable information of serious dis- orders at Lewisburg, Conway County, that had resulted in unauthorized action of private individuals in trespass- ing upon the rights of colored citizens by breaking up a court and seizing their arms, which were their personal property, I resolved, before resorting to forcible meas- ures, first to give to the people of Conway County and the whole State an example of peaceful effort.
In furtherance of this policy, on August 28, 1868, I chartered the little steamer Hesper, and on my invita- tion the following prominent citizens of the State, rep- resenting both political parties, accompanied me to Lewis- burg, the scene of the trouble: C. C. Scott; Hon. A. H. Garland; Hon. O. A. Hadley; S. L. Griffith; Col. Sandy Faulkner; Col. James Ryan; James Wolf, Esq .; S. H. Tucker; Col. W. S. Oliver, and the editor of the Little Rock Republican.
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That night we arrived at Lewisburg and I accepted the hospitality of Mr. R. T. Markham, who under the Johnson administration held the position of Deputy United States Marshal and who was a Democratic par- tisan. We were immediately interviewed by prominent citizens, who all assured us of the peaceful disposition of the citizens of Lewisburg and vicinity, but the follow- ing incident forced me to doubt the truth of their asser- tions. Our host, who had a bright little daughter about ten years old, in describing a meeting held the day pre- vious to our arrival under the pretext of taking steps for the protection of the town against threatened negro aggression, had assured me that those attending this gathering had been absolutely unarmed. Another public meeting was called for the day after our arrival at 10 o'clock A. M. While the citizens in large numbers were passing down the main street in front of Mr. Mark- ham's house to the meeting his little daughter looked out of the window and exclaimed: "Oh, Papa, the men haven't got their guns as they had the other day." I turned to Mr. Markham, whose face had flushed, and remarked, "Children and fools tell the truth." Then the subject was dropped.
I here incorporate a copy of my speech 17 delivered at this meeting,-a speech that was based upon unques- tioned previously ascertained facts :
"Fellow-Citizens: I have not come here in any par- tisan spirit, to stir up strife or to add fuel to the flames of discord that have threatened your county with such disastrous results. My mission is a peaceful one. I am here under the obligations of my office, to see that the laws are respected and enforced and that all per- sons who may be acting without authority of law desist and return peaceably to their homes.
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"It is not my present purpose to fix the responsibility for the outrages that have disgraced your county upon the guilty parties. This is properly for the courts to de- termine. I am here to turn aside, peacefully if I can, the disastrous results that must overtake the people if they permit such illegal and unauthorized proceedings to continue as have taken place in your midst within the past few days. What little I have to say I shall say plainly. I shall not cover up my meaning with honeyed words. I desire you to know the attitude I occupy toward you in my official capacity and to impress upon your minds the necessity of an obedience to the laws as they now exist. I had information that your county was in a state of insurrection. It seems that a few days ago such was the case. I am rejoiced to find that better coun- sels have prevailed. I am sure that if the people properly understood the motives and intentions of the State au- thorities no further trouble would exist. I am unwilling to believe that there is any considerable number of citi- zens who are disposed to set the law at naught and en- gage in armed hostility to the State Government. I trust that the outbreak can be traced to a few evil disposed and irresponsible persons, and that the great mass who have been engaged in it have been led through misap- prehension to do that which a little cool reflection would have prevented. It seems that during the excitement, brought on by a few individuals, a very erroneous opinion was entertained that the colored people contemplated violence against the whites. Without investigating the facts, unauthorized persons proceeded to disarm the blacks, which at once led them to believe that the whites were disposed to commit outrages upon them. I cannot believe that the white people of this county are disposed to kill off the colored people; neither do I believe that the colored people ever contemplated for one moment the massacre of the whites. The history of the late war shows that the black man is not naturally bloodthirsty or revengeful; for did he not remain with and protect
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your families while you were fighting the battles of rebel- lion ?
"You would have had no trouble if, instead of taking the law into your own hands, you had called upon the sheriff of the county for protection when you thought that the negroes were organizing to attack you. He could have gone clothed with the authority of the law, and the truth would at once have been made manifest, and all cause of trouble have been removed.
"Now I say to all, white and black, if you at any time apprehend danger, invoke the aid of the civil au- thorities. Look to them for protection,-you pay them to perform that duty. It will not do for us to interpret the laws to suit ourselves, or to assume the authority of their execution. Such a course would lead to insurrection and perhaps to civil war. We must accept the laws as they are and not as we might wish them to be. A court of justice has been broken up by a mob, and one class of citizens has been disarmed by another. This is all wrong, illegal, and insurrectionary. That court must be reinstated and allowed to proceed. The right of the citizen to bear arms is a constitutional right,-one that no citizen can be legally deprived of. The arms that have been illegally taken from the colored men must be re- turned to them. I have the assurance that it will be done. When you, my colored citizens, receive your arms again, use them as good citizens should. To white and black I say that armed assemblages are illegal; therefore, when you: assemble for any purpose, do so peaceably and un- armed. If there is any person in this audience who does not recognize the fact that the colored man possesses the same rights, privileges, and immunities-civil and politi- cal-that the white man possesses, let him pause and reflect, for I say to him that such is the case, and the colored citizen shall be protected in those rights. I am informed that it has been charged that you are not to have a fair registration, and that this has caused bad feeling. Now, let me say a few words in regard to regis-
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tration. You shall have a fair registration, and a fair election too. When I say this I mean just what I say. Let no one misunderstand me,-the registration law shall be enforced. So far as my authority goes, every man who is entitled to register under the law shall be permitted to do so; and those who are disqualified shall not. It is not for me to say who can register and who cannot. The law fixes the qualifications of electors. I have no au- thority to interpret it to suit myself; neither have you. When the day of election arrives every citizen who is registered can vote in accordance with his own judg- ment. Those who are not registered cannot vote.
"I understand that the militia law is distasteful to some. I have only to say that it is a law that will be enforced. The militia force will be organized in this county and throughout the State. The organization of the militia does not inaugurate a new principle of gov- ernment. It is as old as the Constitution itself. Every State has its militia. I am inclined to think that you do not understand this law. It is to preserve the peace and is only to be used when the civil authorities are un- able to enforce the laws. To all good citizens, who are willing to obey the laws, the militia need give no alarm, but rather an assurance of safety. If there be any who intend to resist the execution of the law, they may well object to the militia. But I say to all that so long as the civil officers can enforce the law there will be no armed force called into service.
"And now in conclusion, I am for peace and I will ex- haust all peaceful remedies to preserve order and ex- ecute the laws. When peaceful remedies fail then I will resort to force-but this must be the last resort.
"Let us have peace. Have we not suffered enough from war? We are just now recovering from its ter- rible effects. Providence has helped us with abundant crops, the lap of nature is full, her face is smiling, she invites us to stretch forth our hands and enjoy her rich gifts. Let us turn our whole attention to peaceful
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pursuits. Let us gather the harvests we have sown and build up our broken fortunes, and not by reason of our political differences plunge headlong into rebellion. For rest assured that if we sow the wind we may expect to reap the whirlwind. If the American people make po- litical mistakes they will rectify them.
"Trust to peaceful remedies. Violent measures will accomplish nothing but ruin and desolation.
"I have brought with me Colonel Garland and other prominent citizens of Little Rock of both political par- ties. The Colonel and I disagree upon the political issues of the day, but I am happy to say that upon the questions of peace and the observance of the laws as they exist, we both stand upon the same platform.
"He will address you. I thank you for your atten- tion."
Before I left to return to Little Rock I had the assur- ances of the most prominent men of Conway County that no further unauthorized action upon the part of private citizens would be had, and that the arms taken from the negroes would be returned to them, which assurances were afterward practically disregarded.
The State Government had been in existence less than two months when this disturbance occurred. Had I then known what was afterward divulged to me by the "mysterious stranger," I would have had no parley with the Ku Klux of Conway County. This first effort at conciliation proved to be a mistaken policy, having been taken as an evidence of weakness on my part. and a fabric of lies was built upon it, among which was the charge of the Gazette, in its issue of August 28, 1868, that I had already started the negro militia to the scene of the disorder, and my pacific efforts were made the subject of ridicule.
To illustrate the mendacity of the Ku Klux Organ,
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soon after the breaking up of the court and the disarm- ing of the negroes there it published a communication from a "reliable gentleman of Pope County, of the high- est respectability,"-as the Gazette of August 28, 1863, put it,-in which among other absolutely false state- ments appeared the following :
"The citizens of that place (Lewisburg) feeling in- secure from known facts, and from reports constantly coming in, sent out Mr. Thomas Burchfield and Mr. George Bentley to ascertain the extent of the occasion of alarm and if possible to induce the parties (the ne- groes) who had assumed the hostile attitude to desist from the execution of their threats. Meanwhile some two or three hundred persons had assembled at Lewis- burg, to defend the place if necessary. [The meeting referred to by Markham's little daughter. ]
"Burchfield and Bentley left on their mission of peace at an early hour on the 25th, but when some three or four miles east of Lewisburg on the Little Rock road they were suddenly fired upon by a party of nineteen negroes, the volley wounding Burchfield, it is said by his physician mortally, and killing Bentley's horse. Both of these gen- tlemen are old and reliable citizens of Conway County and undertook the mission of peace for the single pur- pose of bringing about a cessation of hostilities and to preserve the peace. . .. ' "
In this connection I insert the following extract from a letter dated February 1I, 1907, from the late Dr. A. D. Thomas to me. Dr. Thomas was a gentleman of the highest standing in business circles, and a brother- in-law of the "old and reliable citizen" George Bentley.
The Thomas Burchfield is probably the man who was killed between Lewisburg and Plummerville when the Ku Klux started out one night to make a raid on the negroes in that bottom. The negroes got wind of
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their coming and ambushed them, shooting this man in the bowels and scattering the balance of them. My brother-in-law, George Bentley, was with them, and came home minus the saddle on his horse and his hat, and told his mother that he was through with the Ku Klux. He was only 17 years old at the time."
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