USA > Kentucky > Garrard County > A history of the feud between the Hill and Evans parties of Garrard County, Ky. The most exciting tragedy ever enacted on the bloody grounds of Kentucky > Part 3
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THE BARBECUE FIGHT. . 29
nearly all the rest stopped to seize their supposed victim, while the Doctor made good his retreat under the cover of night. Those who continued the pursuit turned to the left to inter- cept him in the road which led to his house ; but instead of taking the road, he turned to the right through the woods. IIe had not gone more than fifty yards before he fell from his horse : but this did not stop him, for he ran on his hands and feet, alternately rising and falling, till one of his sons found him, and aided him to mount. The Doctor was nearly senseless, and called loudly for water. But the son knew it would not be expedient to delay a moment, and ordered his father to follow him.
" Ride faster father, they might overtake us !" said the son, as he heard the drunken rabble in their noisy pursuit.
" Oh son ! I can't do it-I am almost dead !"
" Good Lord !" exclaimed the son, "what shall we do; yonder they are ahead of us again in the main road ! We must take the other end of the road and out-run them, for we can't out-fight them !"
"Let us gallop on son ; throw down the fence and go the nearest way to Bill Turner's house, for if I don't get some water soon, I can't live."
They went on about half a mile to Turner's, and called for water. The Doctor asked Turner :
" Have you a gun ?"
" I have a rifle !" replied Turner.
" Is it a sure fire ?"
" Not very."
"I want it anyhow, if it will shoot at all ; will you load it for me?" " Yes ; but won't you get down and stay awhile ?"
"I believe I will, for I would like to wash my wounds in whisky, if you have any. Then I must go back after my hat and saddlebags. I find my wounds to be so bad that if I remain long they will get sore, and I will not be able to get away."
" You are unable now to get home ; you had better stay here," replied Turner.
"I will try it anyhow, if you will go with us and lend my son your gun."
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THE HILL AND EVANS FEUD.
" I will give you all the assistance in my power."
. After the Doctor washed his wounds in whisky, they set out and arrived at home without further disturbance. The Doctor was bruised perfectly black nearly all over, and his chest was very much swollen. His jaw-bone was broken in two places, and his head had not a few gashes. These wounds and bruises kept him in bed nearly two months, and so severe were they, that the neighbors dispaired of his recovery.
I have no feelings of enmity for the Doctor, but I could have it in my heart to rejoice that this misfortune befell him, for he certainly deserved a sound thrashing for being caught at such a place at so late an hour. The Doctor claims to be a respecta- ble man, which claim I do not in the least doubt, but this would seem to indicate that his code of morals, or standard of respec- tability was not very elevated, and may perhaps make some people skeptical as to the justness of his pretensions. It is true that honorable men do sometimes visit such gatherings, but a man of high-toned refinement would not be seen there, unless he chanced to be a candidate. But how can we justify a man, pretending to any respectability in society, in mingling and drinking with such a motley, ruffian crowd, at so late an hour ? I am persuaded that the Doctor had imbibed too freely of the ardent, for if his soul was not drunk, it was certainly devoid of sensibility. Every departure from nature's laws brings its penalty, and severe the penalty proved in this case to him. Of all the despicable evils, that of being thrown into a ruffian crowd, stirs up the most bittef disgust and horror in my soul. And had the Doctor any moral sensibility, or any feelings of native pride, he would have felt this same detestation and bitterness of heart for those with whom he mingled.
I am utterly opposed to those debasing assemblages on elec tion occasions ; they do no good, but inestimable evil. They are given by the parties-not so much to hear political dis- cussions as to gain friends and secure votes by the magnificence and magnanimity of their TREATS. This custom has grown upon the people to such an extent that the man who can treat the most, drink the mnost " LIKER" and make himself the bigest fool while drunk, is alnost certain to be elected. This is a lamen- table fact. In many instances have worthless topers been pre-
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ferred to men of talent and morality. Now, if I could not be elected but by these drunken beasts, I would disdain the honor, stamp it under foot as I would the necks of the senseless vaga- bonds that gave it. Such drunken honors I would cast to the swine, as unworthy a man possessed of a soul.
This liquor-bribery custom not only debauches men, but leads directly to another evil even more lamentable to an American- that of SELLING VOTES. It cannot be denied that some of the chivalric sons of old Kentucky are becoming so debased as to sell their votes with impunity. Had I an ocean of tears to wecp for their depravity ! I never even thought of such a thing as selling votes ; selling the liberties of freemen, the franchise of the ballot-box, till I visited the hills of my childhood, in Garrard county. What superlative disgust stirred the inmost cells of my heart on learning that some of my native county-men were thus dead to the noble and elevated principles of our glorious liberty ! These are hard words for the county of my nativity, but mild in comparison to the indignation aroused by such heathen degen- eracy. This cannot apply to the people generally, for Garrard county boasts of some of the most noble and patriotic men that breathe American air, and I love her for her greatness; but every flock has its black sheep.
I am no temperance advocate myself, nor particularly in favor of Maine-liquor-law-like statutes, but it does seem that it would be a blessing to the State, and to the whole Union, for the legislature to enact measures to prevent this corruption in elections. No penalty could be too severe for the low miscre- ant who would sell his vote, or the vile-hearted wretch who would buy it. For, let the evil go unchecked, and what would be the result ? The base scoundrel who had the most money would be sure of election. Then see what a condition our country would be in. The men of intelligence and moral worth would disdain to contend for such degraded honors, and our legislative halls would be filled with all the vice and depravity of the land. Such guardian angels of our liberties would soon demolish the towering temple of freedom, humble her proud columns to the dust, and shut the world in darkness. We could but weep over her beautiful and classic ruins.
We see Dr. Evans countenancing and participating in a vice
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THE HILL AND EVANS FEUD.
that leads directly to this dire fate. One vice leads to another. But he has dearly paid for his erring ways, and can repent at leisure, and I am confident that he will not be guilty of the like again. I could wish that the same punishment were visited upon every perverse Kentuckian who has straved into these dismal paths of corruption. This is hard reproof for my country- men, but they must pardon me for daring to speak so boldly the sentiments of a heart that received its first impulses in the gen- erous and patriotic community of their glorious State.
HILLS LURK AROUND DR. EVANS'S HOUSE.
CHAPTER IV.
False. rumors .- Mrs. Rus Hill's debut -- Woman's depravity - Jesse Hill's chase -- Bravery of the little boys - Hill's horses found in the Doctor's orchard - Two of the boys retreat before a party of the Hills -- Neighbors help the Doctor to defend his house - Squire Level and Ben Dunn take the horses.
THE barbecue fight happened on Saturday evening. and on the Monday following, it was rumored by the Hill party that the Doctor had been seen lurking near one of their houses. This was entirely false, for he was scarcely able to move a limb, from the soreness of his wounds.
Time, pregnant with dire events and livid crimes, soon raised the curtain and exposed Mrs. Rus Hill to the scorn of the ex- pectant multitude. The sinking sun shone forth in all the resplendency of his evening glory, but mantled in a mournful blush of crimson, that youthful innocence had thus grown to aged depravity. She took her child into her arms, and with the sincere affectation of an expert actress. set out from her lone cabin of rudeness, and made the welkin ring with lamentations for her miserable fate. The proud hills, disdaining to listen to such airy wailings, repulsed the empty sounds and with reproof echoed thein from their rock-ribbed sides to the ear of their degenerate mistress ; - while the crystal waters murmured along their innocent way, leaping with joy and child-like gambol, apparently unconscious that one so repulsively black with crime was mirrored on their bright surface. But she bellowed most lustily and made the big tears stream like liquid diamonds down the furrows of her woe-begone countenance, to attract the attention and com- miseration of the passer-by ; and well did she succeed, for Mr. Gardner, James Hutson, and William Walls, ever tender to the woes of others. inquired into the cause of her overflowing grief.
" I'm 'fraid to stay at home," bellowed she ; - " Dr. Evans has been shooting at me all day. Hle stands behind the big 3
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THE HILL AND EVANS FEUD.
beech tree and shoots into the door. Two of the balls struck the cradle in which my child was sleeping. I picked up the balis as they rolled across the floor, for here they are now." (She held out to exhibition two balls that had never been in a gun. ) "Being very much alarmed for the safety of my child, I took it up in my arms and walked to the door ; he shot at me again and struck the door-facing. I then started to run through the corn, the negro woman bringing the other children, and he shot at me twice again, cutting the corn blades near me."
Reader, this incident will give you an inkling of the depth in degradation to which some women are capable of descending. - Were this the extent of her depravity, I could rejoice ; but it is . an episode to the gloomy scenes yet to be revealed by our his- tory. It does seem that woman is susceptible of an infinite degree of either virtue or vice. A maiden, just blooming into maturity, may possess a purity of heart and holiness of mind that elevates her to a comparative level with the chanting seraphs of angelic glory - then again, her heart may be full of the blackest vice, and her mind such a demoniac work-shop as to merit the lowest pit in the infernal regions. The one, we can but admire and love, the other, despise and abhor. See this woman as she walks down the creek, bawling deception, with her little innocent in her arms. What a contrast ! Her bosom is stained with all the vice to which human beings are heir, while the cheerful babe, innocence and purity personified, peeps forth with its bright little eyes upon the beauties of nature, a stranger to guile, and unconscious of the boisterous passions and rankling depravity of the one in whose arms it rests.
After she had gone, Walls told his comrades that her tale was all a lie, for he had been to Dr. Evans's during the day, and he was unable to get out of the house. Further down the creek, she mnet David Gordon, and told him the same yarn. He invited her to go home with him, but she refused, and went on down the creek, making the woodland slopes reverberate with her lamentations. The next morning, Gordon went down to Rus Hills's, and saw where some one had actually shot the door-facings. But we have reason to believe that the Hills did the shooting themselves, in order to raise the report, and have the signs for evidence. After widely circulating this report,
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HILLS LURK AROUND DR. EVANS'S HOUSE.
and exulting in their success, they determined to swear out a warrant against the Doctor. But James Naler, John Hill's nephew, told them they could not prove anything against him, for his uncle, and aunt, and Mrs. Hutson, had been staying at Dr. Evans's house all day, expecting him to die of his wounds. With this counter evidence, they said nothing more about it till the sitting of the grand jury, when they attempted to bring it up; but the jury would pay no attention to them. Thus ends a tale of female baseness, a baseness too enormous, I hope, to find room in any other woman's heart.
The object of the Hills in spreading these reports was to get public sentiment in their favor, and make it appear justifiable in the eyes of the world for them to beset Dr. Evans's house. Circumstances soon proved that they had succeeded in their design. One morning the Doctor sent out one of his little sons to the pasture to get a horse to go to mill. He came run- ning back, very much alarmed, without the horses, and said Jesse Hill was out there. The Doctor, though scarcely able to walk, took up an old rifle and a small pistol and started to rout him. He told some of the little boys to bring the ammunition, and tried to make the others stay ; but they would not-one of them, Sam, led the way. They went to the place where Hill had been seen ; but he was then invisible. They believed him to be hid somewhere near, and began to search. Soon, the little fellow who had the pistol, jumped him up behind a bank of earth, and ran after him with all his might, without ever thinking of his pistol, and hallooing: "Yonder he is-yonder he is ! shoot him, Pap - shoot him, Pap!" As Hill ran off about one hundred and twenty yards distant the Doctor fired, but missed him. The little boys ran on in pursuit, presenting a miniature buck chase. The Doctor found a horse belonging to one of the Hills hitched in his pasture. He turned it into Hill's field, and called to the boys to know where they were. To this call, two of the Hills, lower down in the thicket, near their own house, answered :
: " Here we are, G -d d -n you ! Go and get those other horses and turn them through also, you d -d old rascal !"
" Are they your horses, Rus ?" replied the Doctor. " If they are, you had better come and get them."
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THE HILL AND EVANS FEUD.
"Turn them through, you grand old scamp, or you 'll be re- sponsible for them. If you don't, we'll get you."
.. " You had me once, but did n't kill me ; - but I don't thank you for not doing it ! If you want me, here I am - come and get me - I am at the service of even such poor, pitiful scoun- drels as you are ! "
. On his return home, the Doctor found three other horses hitched in the orchard, but did not know to whom they be- longed. He started two of his sons to mill, the remainder to school. The two going to mill had gone about half a mile to the creek, when a party of the Hills gave chase and ran them back home: In the meantime the Doctor sent a negro boy to one of their houses to inform them that they could get their horses. On receiving intelligence of this fact, they replied that they were d -- d sorry that they were absent, for they would have taken out the black scoundrel's heart. The Doctor then sent the boys around to several respectable neighbors to invite them to come with their guns and help defend the house, or give counsel for future actions. They came and saw where eight or ten horses had been hitched around the fence, beside those in the orchard, with signs indicating that they had been standing there all night. They knew not what advice to give, but two or three of them, whom the Hills had mutilated almost as badly as they had the Doctor, remained with their rifles. Before. night, about twenty of the Hill party collected on the creek, and swore they would have their horses that night or die, and if the old coon did not keep a sharp look out, they would take the white house. Late in the evening Col. Hall Anderson saw the party and advised the Doctor of the danger, and also in- formed him that one of the horses belonged to the wife of old Henry Ware, and the others to John Hill, jr., who had nothing to do with the difficulty. John Hill, jr., had sent them down to old John Hill's in a wagon loaded with lumber, and through Mr. Anderson asked if he could get them. The Doctor replied -
" He can come unarmed ; I have no objection to his coming in daylight, but as it will be dark before he can get here, I rather he would wait till morning. I will have his horses stabled and well attended to."
The Doctor then posted six sentinels around the house, with
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HILLS LURK AROUND DR. EVANS'S HOUSE 37
orders to shoot everything that came near enough. Four guns were heard during the night, but no one was found hurt in the morning. He sent a note to John Hill, informing him that he could get his horses in perfect safety -- that no one would be allowed to hurt him. Hill replied that he knew the Doctor would not molest him, or permit it to be done if he could help it; but, as Sellars was there, he feared to go. 'Squire Level, seeing so much preparation on the previous evening, supposed they had an action, and came up to learn who had fallen on the battle field. The Hills had previously sent for Ben. Dunn. As these gentlemen were particular friends of the Doctor, the HITills requested them to go and bring the horses. When they went up to the Doctor's house, they informed him that there was no crowd of Hills collected below - the only persons having been seen were old John Hill, little John Hill, and Col. Hall . Anderson. . But the Doctor knew better the tricks of the party, and told them if they wanted to see a crowd lying in ambush, all they had to do was to look into the bushes as they returned. And, sure enough, they did see some fifteen or twenty, with their rifles, lying in the shade. They delivered the horses and left as quickly as possible. From that time forth the Hills con- -tinually lurked around the house and shot at any of the family who chanced to be secn.
I do not know that I ever heard of the stern and rigid laws of our enlightened State being violated with such impunity. They roved, a bandit clan, insulting and stamping bleeding justice to the earth. The whole country should have arisen in arms and humbled in the dust the necks of the miscreants who would thus dare to violate the laws.
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si !
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SUNDRY INCIDENTS.
CHAPTER V.
The Doctor meets Rus Hill on the creek -- Attempts to shoot, but gun snaps- 'The Doctor's sons come to help him - He makes them go back to work - Nancy Baker's interposition - Hill sheltered by the wagon while Naler drives it past -The Doctor's superstition -The peace warrant - Could not -get it served -Inefficiency of officers - Hills besiege the house --- Narrow escape - Cowardice of the Hills -The hat stratagem -The Hills increase their forces.
THE next incident happened on the creek. The Doctor's negroes and sons were pulling fodder in a little field near the creek, and to see how they were progressing, the Doctor shouldered his rifle and went down therc. He soon heard a wagon coming up the road, and saw that Rus Hill was driving it. As soon as Hill saw him, he began to rip out some of the blackest blasphemies, and stopped his wagon about thirty paces distant.
" You d-d old rascal, what are you doing ? You had bet- ter go away from there !" said Hill.
The Doctor said not a word, but very leisurely laid his gun on the fence, as if to shoot.
" Oh, don't shoot - don't shoot -you are mistaken, it was not me, it was not me-I had no hand in it!" imploringly cried Hill.
" You are a liar, Sir! I am not mistaken; defend yourself or die !" replied the Doctor.
The Doctor leveled his gun and took deliberate aim at Hill's breast, but the cap snapped. He put on a second and a third cap, but all missed fire. During this time, Hill was standing before the oxen, fair to view ; but when the fourth cap went on, he ran behind the wagon, drew a large pistol, and presented it as if he intended to shoot.
" Shoot, you cowardly puppy ! " said the Doctor.
Hill raved and cursed desperately, making so much noise that the boys came from the corn-field to assist their father.
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SUNDRY INCIDENTS.
" Shoot the dirty scoundrel, and don't let him curse you that way !" exclaimed the boys.
" Go back to the pulling of your fodder; his words are nothing, I can manage him!" replied the Doctor, calmly.
"Fetch them all out,- sons, negroes, women, children and all - I can whip the whole camp-meeting of you !" shouted Hill, flourishing his pistol over his head, to indicate his boister- ous bravery.
Nancy Baker, one of his particular friends, went to him. They talked awhile in a low voice; then she went to the Doctor.
" Get over the fence and fight him a fair fight! " said she.
" Madam, I am not able to fight any one; and as you are one of his good friends, you had better stay with him."
" Go away then, and let him pass."
"I have a right to my own fence, and I will stay here, at least, till I get rested."
Mr. Naler then came along, and said he was afraid to pass while two such belligerent fellows were near; and that he might pass safely, asked the Doctor to go away. The Doctor did as requested. Naler drove the wagon past; while Hill walked beside it, to shelter himself, even after the Doctor had gone away two or three hundred yards distant.
These snappings made the Doctor believe that he should not take revenge for past injuries ; and from that time forth he only acted on the defensive, up to a certain period. This opinion betrays a good deal of superstition. It reminds me of old lady who would not flog her son because the first lick broke the switch, believing it to be the decree of heaven thus manifested, that she should not whip him. This was a dangerous policy for him; he would not take the proffered advantage of the law, which rendered his arms inoffensive. Had he shouldered his rifle, searched the country, and shot down every Hill that he chanced to meet, the law could not have hurt him, since they had threatened and already attempted his life ; and this, too, would have brought the war to a speedy close.
The Doctor soon got out a peace warrant against the Hills. But the constable could not, or would not, serve it on more than two or three of them. This was a desperate state of affairs ; -
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the law had no power, and the Hills bid audacious defiance to all opposition.
In the mean time, the Hills, with shouldered rifles, scoured the country, swearing they would serve a peace warrant on the old white headed coon at the first opportunity. They continually laid around the house and shot at every one seen, either black or white. One evening when the front door was half open, one of the boys passed by it, going up stairs ; at that instant an ounce ball was fired at him. It passed through the side light of the door, and had it not been for the half of the door which swung open, it would have killed him. The ball glanced from the swinging door and fell at his feet on the stair-way. Many such incidents might be pointed out, but this one is sufficient to show the eminent danger to which Dr. Evans and his family were contin- ually exposed. The reports and long echoes of guns were so many familiar tunes, and the rattling balls on the house top lively accompaniments to the music. They had the house perfectly besieged - every road and outlet had its blockade of veteran troops. Of course the Doctor and his family had to keep pretty close and quiet, through motives of personal safety. Jesse and William Ilill had command of the forces employed in this siege, which lasted more than two months.
About the first of March, the Doctor was called to see a patient in the family of Ben. Dunn, who resided just across the creek. On the way thither, he had to pass the house of old John Hill, who professed to have nothing to do with the difficulty. He knew the Doctor's destination, and immediately sent a negro messenger with the news to Rus Hill. Rus came, and as the Doctor returned, went to the door and tried to shoot, but his gun would not fire. The Doctor jerked a pistol from his holster, Hill jumped back, and he rode on unhurt. From this you may see their mode of operation. Old John Hill professed perfect friendship for the Doctor, but in reality was the general of the Hill party. He would not come out boldly before the enemy, but staid in the back ground and boldly gave orders for others to boldly fight by. After this incident, he went another way to Mr. Dunn's, but they soon discovered that trail and waylaid him, though it was through open ground and they could not lie in ambush. On que occasion they besieged the Doctor at Mr.
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SUNDRY INCIDENTS.
Dunn's house, and kept him there nearly a week, and that too, within a short mile of home. Finally, during a very dark night, he succeeded in making a safe retreat. A man could scarcely be hunted more perseveringly, or watched more closely than the Doctor was. Of course he had to use considerable cunning and dexterity to keep out of their clutches. But if he saw a party in open ground, and started toward them, they would turn upon their heels and make tracks in double quick time.
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