USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Brookville > A pioneer history of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania and my first recollections of Brookville, Pennsylvania, 1840-1843, when my feet were bare and my cheeks were brown > Part 59
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the convention expedient to strengthen the ticket by nominating a man for this office who was known to be a war Democrat and from the South, and as this was a convention of freemen, wise leaders, and not of bosses, the people and wisdom ruled.
From Baltimore I went to Washington on business to see Stanton. I found him haughty and austere. I therefore sought and received an audi- ence at the White House. I had heard Lincoln denounced verbally and in the newspapers as " Lincoln, the gorilla," " Lincoln, the ape," " Lin- coln, the baboon," etc., and, true enough, I found him to be a very homely man, tall, gaunt, and long-limbed, but courteous, sympathetic, and easily approached. My business with him was this : In 1863 a thir- teen-year-old boy from Jefferson County, whose father had been killed in battle, was recruited and sold for bounty into the Fourteenth United States Regulars at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. After a few months' service, this boy, tired of military life, was told by his soldier companions that he could not be held in the service, and, instead of demanding his discharge in a proper way, unceremoniously left and deserted, for which he was afterwards arrested, court-martialled, and sentenced to be shot. As early as April 28, and after that, legal efforts were put forth, and military in- fluence used by myself and others to save this boy, but without avail.
" ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, " WASHINGTON, D. C., April 28, 1864.
" SIR,-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your commu- nication of the 9th ultimo, requesting the discharge of - -- from the military service of the United States, of the Fourteenth United States In- fantry, on the ground of minority, and to inform you in reply that he is now under arrest for trial by court-martial for desertion, and no action can be taken for his discharge, or that will prevent his punishment if found guilty.
"I am, sir, very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, " THOMAS M. VINCENT, " Assistant Adjutant- General.
" W. J. MCKNIGHT, Brookville, Pa."
My business was to save this boy's life, and while everything else had been done by legal talent and military influence, I went to Lincoln with a sad heart. He was at that time perhaps the busiest man in the world. He listened patiently to my story, and then said, " Is all this true, Dr. McKnight, that you have told me ? Will no one here listen to you?" I replied, " Yes, Mr. President, it is all true." He arose, reached for his hat, and remarked to me, " I'll be a friend to that fatherless boy." He put his arm in mine and took me to Stanton's office, and, after a few
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
minutes' talk with the Secretary, he turned to me and said, " You can go home, doctor, and if that boy has not been shot, you can rest assured he will be discharged." In due time, after my return home, I received by mail the following :
" ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
" WASHINGTON, D. C., July 13, 1864.
"SIR,-I have the honor to inform you that, by direction of the President, -, alias John Scott, Fourteenth United States Infan- try, was discharged the military service of the United States, by special orders No. 204, Par. 25, current series, from this office.
" I am, sir, very respectfully, " Your obedient servant, " SAMUEL BRECK, " Assistant Adjutant- General.
" MR. W. J. MCKNIGHT, Brookville, Pa."
Washington at this time was the greatest panorama of war in modern times. It took me days to secure an audience with Mr. Lincoln. I was then, and am yet, perhaps too ultra and bitter a Republican, but after this humane act of President Lincoln I was as bitter a partisan as ever, and, in addition to that, a personal admirer of Lincoln from the crown of my head to the end of my toes. The call for our county convention that year was issued July 13, 1864, as follows,-viz. :
" DELEGATE ELECTION.
" The Republicans of Jefferson County will meet in their respective townships and boroughs on Tuesday, the 2d day of August, between the hours of two and six o'clock P.M., to elect two delegates of each township and borough, to meet at the court-house in the borough of Brookville, on Friday, the 5th day of August, at one o'clock, to nominate candidates to be supported for the different county offices.
" M. M. MEREDITH, " Chairman County Committee."
The county then had twenty three townships and four boroughs, giving us fifty-four delegates. The date fixed for the primaries was on the day set by the law of the State, passed in the spring of that year, for the special election for three amendments to our Constitution, one of which was to permit the soldiers in the field to vote. The date fixed for this call was a shrewd policy, as it materially assisted in bringing out a full Republican primary, and was a great aid in carrying that "soldier vote" issue in the county, which we did, as the full return gave fourteen hundred and ninety-seven for this amendment and twelve hundred and twenty against it, a majority of two hundred and seventy-seven. This
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
issue was bitterly fought. After the national convention I had been ap- pointed a member of the Union State Central Committee by Simon Cam- eron, who was then chairman of that committee, and this soldier cam- paign in the county was conducted by Captain Meredith. The county convention was held on August 5, as called, and the following ticket selected : For District Attorney, A. C. White ; County Commissioners, I. C. Jordan, Eli B. Irvin ; Auditor, Joseph P. North ; Trustees of Academy, P. H. Shannon, M. M. Meredith, Calvin Rodgers.
G. W. Andrews was made county chairman. Our Representative dis- trict was Clarion and Jefferson, and on September 9, at Corsica, Hunter Orr, of Clarion County, was declared the nominee for the Legislature. On September 15, G. W. Schofield was declared in Ridgway our nominee for Congress. Dr. A. M. Clarke and S. W. Temple were our conferees there. This completed our ticket. There were no State officers to be elected. Nothing but district and county tickets in that October elec- tion. I do not recollect who was the Democratic chairman, but it is im- material, for ex-Senator K. L. Blood dominated and controlled the Demo- cratic party in this county then, and a bold, wiry, vigorous antagonist he was. Our Democratic Dutch friends used to make this reply : " I do not know how I votes. I votes for der Kennedy Blute anyhows." School- house meetings were held in all the townships. Local speakers were scarce. Most of them were in the army, and this labor then principally devolved upon Andrews and me. Dr. Heichhold was furloughed about October 20 to help us. In our meetings we all abused Blood, and he in return abused us. Major Andrews was a great worker, and usually took a number of papers and documents to read from. What little I said was off-hand. The major would always say in his speeches that " the common people of the Democrats were honest, but the leaders of that party were rascals, traitors, and rebels." He was a Maine Yankee. We elected him to the State Constitutional Convention in 1872, and after his service there he removed to Denver, where he lived and died.
For the August and October elections we had no funds except our own, and we were all poor alike. Our newspaper editor was John Scott, Esq. He was poor, too ; paper was high and hard to get, and, as a con- sequence of this, our organ, the Republican, was only published occasion- ally, and often only half-sheets : hence our meetings had to be adver- tised verbally and by written and printed posters. I had one horse. I traded some books for a second-hand buggy, and bought another horse that I would now be ashamed to own, and in this buggy and behind this team the major and I drove the circuit in October and November, stop- ping for dinner and over night, Methodist preacher fashion, with the brethren. It was a rainy fall, and all through October and November there was mud,-mud rich and deep, mud here and there, mud on the hill and everywhere, mud on the ground and in the air, and to those who
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
travelled politically it was a mud-splashing as well as a mud-slinging cam- paign. We had a mass-meeting on October 8 in Brookville, and on that day we had a strong address published, reviewing the issues to the people, signed by I. G. Gordon, Philip Taylor, T. K. Litch, A. S. Rhines, R. G. Wright, and J. P. Wann. The speakers for the mass-meeting were Chair- man Andrews, Colonel Childs, of Philadelphia, Congressman Myers, and A. L. Gordon. J. W. Pope, the great campaign singer, from Philadel- phia, by his patriotic songs, impelled us all to greater earnestness. In the October struggle we lost our county and Representative ticket, but Scho- field was re-elected to Congress. A Congressman then never thought of having one or two bosses in a county to dispense post-offices. The Demo- crats carried the State on the home vote ; but, with the aid of the sol- diers, we carried the State by a small majority. The anti-war Democrats greatly rejoiced at their victory on the home vote, and they confidently expected, as McClellan was a Pennsylvanian, that State pride would carry him through in November. The two elections were about one month apart. The soldier vote was denounced as the " bayonet vote" and " bayonet rule." Simon Cameron, our State chairman, was greatly dis- appointed at the loss of our State on the " home vote." After the Octo- ber election Cameron sent me a draft for two hundred dollars in " rag- money," which I expended as judiciously as I knew how. We gained in the county sixty votes for the November election. I am sorry that I can- not give the manner of expenditure of this money. My accounts were all audited and the settlement-paper left with G. W. Andrews. McClel- lan had been the idol of the army and the people, and although he and Pendleton were nominated at Chicago on August 31, 1864, on a peace platform that the war had been a failure and a call to suspend hostilities, there never was a day that McClellan would not have been overwhelm- ingly elected in 1864, until in September, when Sherman captured At- lanta and Sheridan went whirling through the valley of Virginia. Every- body, Lincoln and all, knew this. These two victories gave the Union people great heart for hard work. After these victories, Fremont and Cochrane, who had been nominated at Cleveland, Ohio, on May 31, 1864, for President and Vice-President by radicals of the Republican party, withdrew, and both supported Lincoln. Our army before Rich- mond was idle, and, to effectually stop the " bayonet rule" charge, Meade furloughed five thousand soldiers for two weeks. Sheridan did the same, making ten thousand in all, and they were home and voted. This gave us the State on the home vote by about five, and with the " bayonet vote," by about twenty, thousand. In this election our county went as follows :
Lincoln.
McClellan.
Home vote
1614
1756
Army vote
207
1II
Total vote
IS21
IS67
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
In the November election our county went Democratic ; but we Re- publicans had a grand jubilee after the returns came in from the na- tion, as McClellan only carried three States,-viz., Kentucky, Delaware, and New Jersey. Brevity requires many things that I would delight to say about Lincoln and this campaign to be omitted. Republican suc- cess gave assurance to the world that "the war for the Union would still be prosecuted," and it was, and Pennsylvania performed her duty, both politically and on the battle-fields. Pennsylvania gave to the national government during the war three hundred and sixty-seven thousand four hundred and eighty-two soldiers, and during the same period organized and put in the field eighty·seven thousand men for State defence, making a grand total of four hundred and fifty-four thousand four hundred and eighty-two soldiers. Three times during the war Pennsylvania was invaded, and it remained for the Rebel- lion to receive its Waterloo at Gettysburg and from a Pennsylvania commander.
In conclusion, it was the soldiers' bayonets and the " bayonet voters" of " Lincoln's hirelings" that crushed rebellion and saved the Union.
" BROOKVILLE'S PIONEER RESURRECTION; OR, 'WHO SKINNED THE NIGGER?'-TIIE TRUTH TOLD FOR THE FIRST TIME, BY THE ONLY ONE NOW LIVING OF THE SEVEN WIIO WERE ENGAGED IN IT-ORIGIN OF THE STATE ANATOMICAL LAW .*
" On Sunday morning, November 8, 1857, Brookville was thrown into a state of the greatest commotion and excitement, occasioned by the discovery by W. C. Smith (then a lad of fifteen) of the mutilated re- mains of a human being in an ice-house belonging to K. L. Blood, on the corner of Pickering Street and Coal Alley, or where Mrs. Banks now lives. When discovered by Smith, the door was broken open, having been forced during the night, and the body was found lying on the ice, with a board under the shoulders and head, the legs and arms spread apart, the intestines taken out, a lump of ice placed in the abdominal cavity, and the body literally skinned, the cuticle hav- ing been removed entirely from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet.
" Filled with terror, young Smith ran from the spot, telling his dis- covery to all he met. Men, women, and children rushed en masse to the ice-house. Thoughts of savage butchery, suicide, and horror took hold of the people. Women cried, and men turned pale with indignation. The news of Smith's discovery spread like wildfire, and the excitement and indignation became more and more intense as hundreds of men,
* By W. J. McKnight, M.D.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
women, and children from the town and vicinity gathered around the lonely ice-house. It was at first supposed to be murder most foul ; but, on a closer inspection of the 'remains' by Henry R. Fullerton, a little ' curly hair,' resembling ' negro wool,' was found lying loose near the body. This was a clue. Fullerton then declared it was the mutilated corpse of one Henry Southerland, who had died about ten days before and been buried in the old graveyard. Tools were at once procured by the excited mob, led by Henry R. Fullerton, Cyrus Butler, Sr., Richard Arthurs, Esq., and others, and a rush was made for Southerland's grave. Arriving there, and upon the removal of a few shovelfuls of dirt, a loose slipper was found, and farther on its mate. When the coffin was reached, the body was found to be gone, and only the clothes, torn off and lying inside, were to be seen. What was this desecration for ? Cyrus Butler, Sr., a gruff old man, said, ' For money.' He boldly asserted that men nowadays would do anything for money. ' Yes,' he said, 'skin human excrement and eat the little end on't.' Soon, in the absence of any bet- ter theory, everybody seemed to accept his belief, and it was positively asserted from one to another that 'a negro hide would sell for five hundred dollars, to make razor strops,' etc.
" During the entire day the mob were at sea. The officials permitted the body to remain exposed,-a revolting spectacle to men, women, and children. To all of this I was an interested spectator.
" At nightfall an inquest was summoned of twelve men by Justices John Smith and A. J. Brady, as appears from the following Quarter Sessions' record :
(Copy.)
" COMMONWEALTH'S SUMMONS TO JURORS.
"' November 8, 1857. Served personally on all the within-named jurors. Cost, $1.20.
"'C. BUTLER, "' Constable.
"' The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to C. Butler, constable of the township of Pine Creek, in the county of Jefferson : We command you immediately upon sight hereof, to summon twelve good and lawful men of Jefferson County aforesaid, whose names are hereto annexed, to be and appear before A. J. Brady and John Smith, two of the justices of the peace of the county of Jefferson, at the ice-house of K. L. Blood & Brother, in the borough of Brookville, at four o'clock p.M. of this day ; then and there to inquire of, do, and execute all things as in our behalf shall be lawfully given them in charge, touching the supposed body of Henry Southerland ; and be you then and there to certify what you shall
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
have done in the premises ; and, further, to do and execute what in our behalf shall be then and there enjoined you.
" ' Given under our hands and seals, this 8th day of November, 1857. "'A. J. BRADY, [L. S. ] JOHN SMITH, [L. S ]
" ' The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, greeting, to E. R. Brady, John J. Y. Thompson, A. Craig, John Boucher, L. A. Dodd, Christopher Smathers, Henry Fullerton, G. W. Andrews, S. C. Arthurs, John Carroll, John Ramsey, D. Smith.
"SUBPOENA FOR WITNESSES.
" ' November 8, 1857. Served personally on the within names by reading. Cost, $1.75.
" ' C. FULLERTON, "' Constable.
"""" The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to K. L. Blood, Thomas Espy, J. P. George, Joseph Darr, Thomas Graham, John Hamilton, William J. McKnight, T. B. McLain, James Dowling, James Scott, J. S. Steck, George Smith, A. B. McLain, Charles Windsor, Robert St. Clair, J. P. Miller, West. Bowman, greeting : We command you and every of you, that you set aside all business and excuses whatsoever, you do in your proper persons appear before A. J. Brady and John Smith, two of the justices of the peace in and for said county of Jefferson, and an inqui- sition now sitting at the office of John Smith, Esq., in the borough of Brookville, in said county, to testify the truth and give such information and evidence as you and every of you shall know touching the man- ner in which the said body of Henry Southerland, or some person un- known, lying at the ice-house of K. L. Blood & Brother, in the borough of Brookville, dead, came by his death or came there, and touching all other matters in relation to which you shall be examined. And this you are in nowise to omit, under the penalty that may ensue.
" ' Witness our hands and seals, at Brookville, the 8th day of Novem- ber, A.D. 1857.
"'A. J. BRADY, [L. S.] JOHN SMITH, [L. S. ]
" CORONER'S INQUEST.
" ' Proceedings of the coroner's inquest, held in the borough of Brook- ville, upon the body of a man found in the ice-house belonging to K. L. Blood, on the corner of Pickering Street and Spring [Coal] Alley, on the morning of Sunday, November 8, 1857.
""' In pursuance of the summons issued by Justices John Smith and A. J. Brady, the following persons were called and sworn,-to wit : E.
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
R. Brady, J. J. Y. Thompson, Andrew Craig, John Boucher, Levi A. Dodd, Christopher Smathers, Henry R. Fullerton, G. W. Andrews, S. C. Arthurs, John E. Carroll, John Ramsey, Daniel Smith, who re- paired to the ice house and made an examination of the body there de- posited, and found the remains of a male human being, with the breast sawed open, the bowels and entrails removed, the toe-and finger-nails cut off at the first joint, and the skin of the entire body removed.
""' The grave in which Henry Southerland (colored), of Pine Creek township, had been buried having been opened in the presence of a number of the jurors and other persons, and it being found that the body of said deceased had been removed from the said grave, the following witnesses were called and sworn :
""' David Banks, sworn : I helped open the grave in which the body of Henry Southerland (colored) had been buried ; found no body in the coffin ; found the burial clothes rolled up in a bundle and placed in the head of the coffin ; found one of the slippers in which deceased was buried in the clay about a foot above and before coming to the coffin ; the body had evidently been removed.
"' F. C. Coryell, sworn : Was present at the opening of the grave to-day ; saw the coffin opened and no body there; found the clothes thrown in carelessly in a heap; one slipper with the clothes in the coffin and another in the clay some distance above the coffin ; these slippers had my cost mark on, and are the same as purchased from me by the friends of Henry Southerland for his funeral.
"' A. R. Marlin, sworn : Henry Southerland was buried in the grave- yard at Brookville on Wednesday or Thursday last ; helped to bury him ; the grave opened to-day is the one in which deceased was placed : no body in the coffin when opened to day.
" ' Richard Arthurs, sworn : I examined the body in the ice-house this day ; looked at the mouth and tongue; they resembled those of a person who had died of a disease; two double teeth out; seemed as if they had recently been drawn ; found some hair about the back of the neck, which was black and curly ; think it was the hair of a negro, or whiskers ; think this is the body of Henry Southerland ; toes, fingers, and skin taken off.
""' After making these enquiries and believing the body found in the ice-house to be that of Henry Southerland, which had been removed from the graveyard in the borough of Brookville, the jury caused the same to be taken up and deposited in the coffin, and placed in the grave from which the body of said Southerland had been removed, and the same filled up in their presence ; then returning to the office of John Smith, Esq., a justice of the peace, adjourned, to meet at nine o'clock to-morrow (Monday) morning.
"' The jury render their verdict as follows : That the body found in
601
39
PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
the ice-house is, to the best of their knowledge and belief, the body of Henry Southerland, stolen from the grave in which the same had been deposited ; and that the skin, bowels, and toe- and finger-nails had been removed by some person or persons to the jury unknown.
"' E. R. BRADY, Foreman.
A. J. BRADY, [L. S.]
JOHN SMITH, [L. s.]
:
"'E. R. BRADY, [1 .. s.]
JOHN J. Y. THOMPSON, [L. S. ]
ANDREW CRAIG, [L. S.]
JOHN BOUCHER, [L. S.]
LEVI A. DODD, [1 .. S.]
H. R. FULLERTON, [L. S.]
C. SMATHERS, [L. S]
G. W. ANDREWS, [L. s.]
S. C. ARTHURS, [L. s.]
JOHN E. CARROLL, [L. s.]
JOHN RAMSEY, [L. s.]
D. SMITH, [L. s.]
" Coroners Jury.
" BILL OF COST ON INQUISITION.
"· Fee of coroner, or justices $4.00
Viewing dead body
2.75
Summoning and qualifying inquest 1.37 1/2
witnesses, each 25 cents, 4 1.00
Jurors, 12, each 2 days
24.00
Constable Fullerton
1.75
Constable Butler . Witnesses' costs :
1.20
David Banks, I day .621/2
F. C. Coryell, I day .621/2
A. R. Marlin, I day .621/2
R. Arthurs, I day .621/2
$38 571/2
"' JEFFERSON COUNTY, SS. :
"' We hereby certify that the above is a true bill of the costs in this above case.
" ' Witness our hands and seals, this 15th day of December, A. D. 1857.
"'A. J. BRADY, [L. S.] JOHN SMITH, [L. S. ]
" ' December 17, 1857. It is adjudged that there was probable cause for holding the inquest.
" ' By the Court,
" ' J. S. MCCALMONT.'
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
" This coroner's verdict was supposed to have been manipulated by the 'Masons.' It was the custom then to charge all unpopular verdicts on 'the Masons.'
" After the inquest jurors viewed the body and ice-house on Sunday evening, a rope was tied around Southerland's neck, he was dragged into Coal Alley, thrown into his coffin, and reburied in the old graveyard, where lie
""' Hearts once pregnant with celestial fire, Hearts that the rod of empire might have swayed, Or waked to ecstacy the living lyre.'
" Who were the ghouls? As usual, stupidity and prejudice came to the front, and picked out for vengeance two innocent and inoffensive colored men living in the suburbs of the town. 'The law ordained in reverence we must hold,' and so on Sunday evening Theresa Sweeney, a sister of Southerland's, was sent for, and she made information against Charles Anderson and John Lewis. Cyrus Butler, Jr., a constable then in Pine Creek township, arrested forthwith these two harmless colored men and thrust them into jail. On Monday morning, the 9th, Anderson and Lewis had a hearing before Justices Smith and Brady. George W. Zeigler, an able lawyer, represented the Commonwealth ; but the poor negroes were without friends or a lawyer. However, as there was no evidence against them, they were discharged. The excitement was now so intense that several newly made graves were opened to see if friends had been disturbed. A few timid people placed night-guards in the cemetery.
" In commenting on this atrocity, the Jeffersonian said, 'Taking everything into consideration, it was one of the most inhuman and bar- barous acts ever committed in a civilized community: and although the instigators and perpetrators may escape the punishment which their brutality demands, they cannot fail to receive the indignant frowns of an insulted community. They may evade a prosecution through the technicalities of the law, and they may laugh it off, and when we have no assurance but our bodies, or those of our friends, may be treated in the same manner, cold and hardened must be the wretch who does not feel the flame of indignation rise in his breast at the perpetration of such an offence.
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