USA > Tennessee > Sevier County > The White-caps : a history of the organization in Sevier County > Part 8
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After a stay of only a few minutes, John went home. While at supper he heard two shots in the direction of his brother's house, and, hastening back, he found the dead bodies of his brother and sister-in- law lying on the floor, but the murderers had disap- peared.
It was about seven o'clock when John left his brother's house and went home to supper. Laura then undressed for the night and laid down on the bed with her sick husband and sleeping child. Lizzie Chandler occupied a bed in the opposite corner of the room. In the fireplace a bright fire was burning.
Suddenly the front door was burst open and two men entered, one unmasked and apparently unarmed, the other masked and carrying a gun. The first men- tioned intruder was a man of medium height and had a mustache (Tipton), the other, the more conspicuous of the two from the fact that he wore a mask and carried a gun, was a low heavy-set man wearing a blue over-
THE MURDER OF WILLIAM AND LAURA WHALEY.
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coat which reached almost to his feet. Stooping down for some purpose, his mask parted from his face and the fire-light revealed his side-face to Lizzie Chandler, whose eyes were riveted on the man with the gun. Pleas Wynn was the "man with the mask," and he had assumed the responsibility of committing the crime.
"If you have come to kill us," pleaded William Whaley, " we will do anything you say : but spare our lives."
"O, Lord ! O, Lord ! If you have come to kill us, let me give my little baby to my sister before I die," was Laura Whaley's appeal.
It was apparent that she realized her death was a certainty, hence mother-like her last moments were directed in an effort to secure the safety of her baby. She recalled the fearful night when Bob Catlett had compelled her to write the While-cap letter, and his warning at that time when he said :
" We are all in this, we will die with you in this," meaning the White-cap oath. She also remembered that on the night he agreed to release the mortgage and dismiss criminal proceedings against her husband, he added " For this you shall die."
She knew that through the instrumentality of these two men, Bob Catlett was now keeping his word. She also knew of previous murders by the White-caps, and therefore fully realized her peril. There was no way of escape. She and her husband were defenseless. It was best to die quickly and end the agony.
She got out of bed and, taking her babe in her artas, she pressed it to her bosom and kissed it again and
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again. Then the agonized mother laid her babe in bed with her sister Lizzie, and, breathing in the child's ear a last farewell, covered both of their heads with the bed-clothes. Bravely she stepped to the side of her husband, who stood by his bed, and turning, faced her executioners.
No woman ever acted more heroically than did this mountain girl and wife of twenty-one summers.
Can it be possible that the greed for money was the sole stimulant which enabled these two men to remain during this period silent observers of this mother's agonizing caresses of her child without exhibiting any emotions of pity or mercy? Whiskey was not the cause of so much nerve, for such a scene would have sobered drunken men.
A gun shot is fired which enters the mouth of William Whaley and he falls dead at the feet of his wife, who, turning to look at her husband, receives a shot in her temple which tore away the top of her head.
As soon as Lizzie Chandler felt sure that the murderers had left the house she arose from the bed and dressed herself quickly. At that moment John Whaley entered the room.
THE MURDERERS TRACKED.
After leaving the cabin, the murderers pursued their way through a field leaving tracks behind them. One evidently wore a number six shoe of superior make, the other a number nine of coarse material.
These tracks led to the ford where Tipton and Wynn had met only an hour before on their way to
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the Whaley cabin. They recrossed the river at this point on their way to constable Otis Montgomery's house. They asked him to go fishing with them, but he declined. It was then half past eight o'clock. They then went to the house of Mark McCowan and requested him to go with them. He also declined, but loaned them his boat. While at McCowan's the clock on the court house struck nine.
Wynn and Tipton insisted that they were fishing on the night of the murder and were so engaged at the time it was committed.
But, in addition to the foregoing details, other evidence was produced implicating Wynn and Tipton.
Not long after the murder, Wynn was playing a game of cards with Sam Jenkins, a boon companion of his, in Dr. Henderson's barn. He asked Jenkins if his brother, Joe Jenkins, had ever told him of his (Wynn's) presence at the " blind tiger " on the night of the murder.
" Yes," replied Sam, " he told me all about it."
" Well, for God's sake, don't say a word about it," said Wynn. "By G-d, I did kill the Whaleys, and it took a d-d sight of nerve to do it, but I got one hundred dollars for the job."
Again, not long after this admission, Wynn went to Knoxville. While there he remarked, "Bob Wade and Bob Catlett are not guilty of that murder. They have got the wrong sow by the ear. I blew in two hundred dollars d -- d easy and fired two shots."
There is a conflict between these two admissions- the one he made to Sam Jenkins and the other in Knoxville-as to the amount of money he received, .
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It is evident that the murder cost Catlett two hundred dollars. Was it divided between Wynn and Tipton, or did Wynn receive the whole sum?
It was necessary to get rid of Lizzie Chandler. Pub- lic excitement was too high to attempt another murder ; so her husband, John Chandler, was used to decoy her out of the State.
Although John had secured a divorce from her on false and scandalous charges, against which Lizzie had neglected to make a defense, so earnestly did she desire a separation, yet, with fair promises for the future, he succeeded in winning her consent to live with him again.
Mounted on a horse behind her former husband, they started, as she thought, for a friend's house. But John had no such intention. He was the paid agent of Bob Catlett to abduct her from the State.
As Lizzie, since the murder, had been living with the father of Sheriff Maples, it was not long before her absence was discovered. Sheriff Maples and dep- uty sheriff Davis started at once in pursuit and caught them in the Smoky mountains, near the North Caro- lina line. They were returned to Sevierville. John was jailed and Lizzie was sent to Knoxville for safe keeping.
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CHAPTER XXI.
MOLLY LILLARD WHALEY.
Champion
My name is Molly Lillard Whaley, I'm left alone in this wide world ; Papa and mamma are dead, you know, And I am their only baby girl.
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The story is told in this little book, Of how and why I was left alone, How papa and mamma died one night, In our own little cabin home.
How mamma pled for her own dear life, And for the life of dear papa, as well, How she pressed me to her aching heart, As she kissed me a last farewell.
She held me in her arms for a moment, And then laid me in Aunt Lizzie's bed, And the last words she spoke on earth Were, "Sister, cover up your head."
Then she turned and faced the murderers, Who stood waiting upon the floor ; Two shots rang out in quick succession, And papa and mamma were then no more.
A deathly silence came o'er the weird scene, Aunt Lizzie will never forget the time, I was made fatherless, motherless and homeless, By the commission of that awful crime.
They tell me of a fearless officer, Who ran those criminals down
They made him sheriff of the county, And his name is now renowned.
They tell me of two detectives, Who lent a helping hand To uncover the crimes of criminals, And break up the White-cap band.
They tell me of the Attorney General Who made such a gallant fight To convict those hellish demons, Because it was just and right.
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They tell me of an honorable Judge, Who now holds court in Sevier, Of that roving band of White-caps, They say he has no fear.
They also tell me of another Judge, Who sits upon a higher throne, And if I but do his bidding, He will one day call me home.
They say he is kind to little children, And will guide these tiny feet,
And deal out justice to the murderers In the death they are doomed to meet.
CHAPTER XXII.
TRIAL FOR THE MURDER OF LAURA WHALEY.
At the March term of the Circuit Court, 1897, Pleas Wynn and Catlett Tipton were indicted for the murder of William and Laura Whaley, and Bob Catlett and Bob Wade were indicted as accessories before the fact.
At the following term of the court, November, 1897, Pleas Wynn and Catlett Tipton were arraigned for trial. Judge T. A. R. Nelson presided. Hon. E. F. Mynatt, district attorney, Hon. J. R. Penland and Hon. W. A. Parton, of Sevier county, and ex-Congressman John C. Houk, of Knox county, appeared for the State, while the defense was represented by Col. W. J. McSween, Hon. George L. Zirkle, Captain W. M. Mul- lendore and others.
A panel of twelve hundred men was required, and five days were consumed securing a jury. Four days were spent hearing the testimony and two listening to the arguments of counsel. Every point was hotly contested and nothing was left undone to secure the ends of justice.
The jury was "picturesqe," but the best that could be obtained in a county where excitement ran high and men, who had not " formed or expressed an opinion," were scarce.
The facts proven were substantially the same as already detailed in this chapter.
Lizzie Chandler, of course, was a most valuable wit- ness for the State. She was the only living being,
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LAURA WHALEY.
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except a six weeks old child, who saw the murder committed.
The defense tried to impeach her character by intro- ducing in evidence the charges made by her husband in his bill for a divorce, but failed. Her testimony was clearly and deliberately given, with every appear- ance of truthfulness.
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When asked to point out the man who did the shooting, she looked around the court room. Amidst a breathless silence, glancing from one face to another, her gaze finally rested upon that of Pleas Wynn, who sat near by and in the rear of his senior counsel. She gazed intently at Wynn for a moment, then looked up at the judge.
" Have you found him?" asked Judge Nelson
" Yes," she answered.
" Where is he?" inquired the district attorney.
" There," she said, pointing her finger at Wynn's shrinking form; "He is the man who had the gun on the night of the murder."
The State failed to adduce any evidence showing any complicity on Tipton's part. But Tipton, while on the witness stand, implicated himself in the minds of many when he admitted that he was with Wynn on the night of the murder, from dark until near mid- night.
It is not our intention to review the arguments of counsel, but we may be pardoned for mentioning one incident connected with District Attorney Mynatt's eloquent appeal to the jury, which shows the confiding trust which the people of the mountains have in divine mercy and justice.
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LIZZIE CHANDLER,
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During this trial District Attorney Mynatt and his brother, the assistant district attorney, occupied a room at the Snapp House adjoining one in which Mr. and Mrs. McMahan, the father and mother of Laura Whaley, Mollie Lillard, her infant child and her sister, Lizzie Chandler, were quartered. The cooing of the child and the subdued tones of the father and mother, rehearsing the virtues of their dear departed dead, inspired the efforts of the district attorney while pre- paring his appeal that night to the jury for a rigid enforcement of the law.
After a while this simple, unpretentious old man knelt in family prayer.
As he progressed with his supplications to Almighty God, he grew more earnest and vigorous; his voice trembled with strong emotions as he told the Divine Ruler the whole story of his daughter's life, her trials and troubles, her persecutions and finally her cruel death. He asked for the punishment of the guilty parties and that the blessings of God might rest upon the efforts of those who were striving toward this end.
Every word of the old man, mingled with the sobs of the mother and the sister and the crowing and gurgling of the happy infant, was distinctly heard. It filled his heart with sympathy for these poor people and for all those who had suffered at the hands of the White-caps, and inspired the greatest effort of his life.
His address to the jury next day bore the impress of inspiration.
The court room was crowded to its fullest capacity. Many ladies occupied chairs on the judge's stand. Within the bar sat the wives and children of the
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prisoners, Pleas Wynn and Catlett Tipton. By the district attorney sat the father, mother, sister and child of Laura Whaley.
There were times during the district attorney's 1
argument when he seemed unconscious of his surround- ings. The old man's prayer had imprinted upon his mind the picture of his daughter's life in all its details from prattling childhood up to the time of her death, and he reproduced this picture on the minds of the jury with an intensity and fervor that beggars all description, and when he had finished his peroration there was moisture in the eyes of everyone present. - The jury were in tears, and sobs were heard in every part of the court room.
The district attorney closed his argument at dusk on the evening before Thanksgiving day. By candle- light the judge read his charge to the jury. During the reading, a good woman with a weary and sorrow- ful countenance, who had pushed her chair toward the judge, looked intently at him, hungering for some word of hope for her criminal husband, for she was the wife of Pleas Wynn.
The jury retired, and on the following day returned a verdict finding Pleas Wynn guilty of the murder of Laura Whaley, and acquitted Catlett Tipton.
Both men were yet to be tried for the murder of William Whaley, and by order of the court Pleas Wynn was removed to the county jail at Knoxville for safe keeping until the next term, and Catlett Tipton was held on a bond of ten thousand dollars for his appearance,
CHAPTER XXIII.
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TRIAL FOR THE MURDER OF WILLIAM WHALEY.
At the March term of the Circuit Court of Sevier county, 1898, Pleas Wynn and Catlett Tipton were arraigned for the murder of William Whaley on the night of the 28th of December, 1896. Both men were convicted of murder in the first degree.
This trial consumed seven days, and twelve hundred men were examined before a jury was secured.
· New evidence was introduced weaving more closely a net of circumstances around Pleas Wynn and strongly corroborating Catlett Tipton's admission, during the former trial, that he " was with Wynn on the night of the murder from dark until near midnight."
On the day before the case was submitted to the jury, Owen Dickey was placed on the witness stand in behalf of the prosecution, who swore that Pleas Wynn showed him a hand full of cartridges, saying :
"When I go a-fishing I take them along and kill d-n big game."
This testimony so enraged William Wynn, a brother of Pleas, who had been drinking freely all day, that, after the adjournment of court, he met Dickey in the court house and began cursing and abusing him, calling him a liar and attaching thereto all the necessary adjectives. Sheriff Maples ordered Wynn to leave the court room.
Shortly thereafter, as the sheriff was going from the new to the old court house, Wynn stepped out from a
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livery stable and began hurling curses and opprobrious epithets at him. The sheriff, being alone and in the midst of Wynn's friends, knowing the dangerous character of his assailant and believing a movement on the part of Wynn threatened a deadly attack, drew his revolver. Five shots rang out in the air in rapid suc- cession, and Wynn fell to the ground shot four times in the abdomen.
A crowd of enraged White-caps at once surrounded the sheriff, and as the five shots had exhausted his supply of ammunition he backed through their line and hastily retreated. His pursuers gained on him rapidly and seized him just as he reached the public square.
At this critical moment deputy sheriff Davis reached the side of the sheriff and waived the crowd back with his revolver, at the same time supplying the sheriff with a hand full of cartridges. In quick suc- cession followed detective McCall and George Thurmer, one of the Burnett robbers who had turned state's evidence and rendered valuable assistance to the officers of the law in ascertaining the secret plans of the White-caps, etc.
The sheriff was taken before Judge Nelson, who ordered him into the custody of deputy sheriff Davis with instructions to summon a strong guard for his protection. Upon arriving at the jail, Hogan Bailey, a brother-in-law of Wynn, attempted to shoot the sheriff, but was disarmed by detective McCall and others and placed in jail.
During the night, excitement was intense. The White-caps dispatched couriers in every direction throughout the county summoning their adherents.
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Sheriff Maples telephoned sheriff Groner and chief of police Reeder, of Knox county, and sheriff Walker, of Blount county, to come to his assistance at once with a posse of well-armed men. These officers responded promptly, leaving Knoxville at 9 p. m., and met the Blount county posse at Trundles' Cross Roads, fourteen miles from Sevierville, reaching their destination at four o'clock the next morning.
Early in the morning crowds began to congregate on the public square. Law abiding citizens through- out the county, hearing of the condition of affairs, abandoned their plows and came into town determined to maintain order at all hazards. These extensive preparations for war insured peace.
It was a sad coincidence which the people witnessed that morning. In the court room the senior counsel for the defence was making his appeal to the jury in behalf of a murderer, the funeral of whose brother was then passing the court house door. The church bells tolled a sad accompaniment to the eloquence of the learned counsel. Armed deputy sheriffs for the protection of the court were conspicuous everywhere.
The case was submitted to the jury in the afternoon of April 8, who retired and the following day returned a verdict finding both Wynn and Tipton guilty of murder in the first degree.
Appealing to the supreme court, they were removed to the Knox county jail for safe keeping.
The supreme court, on the last day of the following term, affirmed the judgment of the court below and sentenced them to be hung on the 4th of January, 1899.
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CHAPTER XXIV.
PLEAS WYNN.
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Pleas Wynn is the son of Captain E. M. Wynn, and was born at Pigeon Forge, seven miles south of Sevier- ville. His parents moved to Sevierville when Pleas was a small boy. He was principally raised in Sevier- ville and was known about town as a shrewd and cun- ning chap.
His parents sent him to school, but Pleas was not very fond of books, and took more delight in outdoor sports. He was a strong and active boy and could endure more hardships than any boy in town.
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He could play any kind of a game; he was good at marbles, an expert ball player, and later on became the champion of the town at playing cards. He held this title for many years and was only turned down by George Thurmer, and as before stated he was hard to turn down at playing baseball. He was a member of the best club in the county, the old " Eureka," a team that was seldom defeated, playing in a great many of the small towns in East Tennessee, Newport, Dandridge Mossey Creek and Morristown being among the num- ber. He was short in stature and as swift as an arrow, and once on the ring he seldom failed to reach the home plate. He was familiarly known as "Shorty," and bears that name to this day.
He was not regarded as a real bad boy, in his early days, yet he had many ups and downs with the boys in town, and was not afraid to fight. It was very seldom that he failed to come out first best with any boy in the ring.
He was very fond of hunting and fishing and was an expert at both. There was scarcely a trail or . by-path anywhere among the rugged hills surrounding Sevierville with which he was not perfectly familiar.
But by and by Pleas grew to manhood. And yet he had no occupation, except that of jailer during the last two years his father was sheriff of Sevier county, from 1888 to 1890.
Only a short time previous to this Pleas had married a most excellent young lady, Miss Mary Thomas, daughter of W. H. Thomas, and it was hoped that Pleas would lead a more useful life, and, for a time, it seemed as though he would. But his associates were
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bad, and step by step he went from bad to worse, and soon learned the habit of drink, and then that of gambling, and, coupled with that of idleness, they soon told their tale. His best friends concede that his down- fall was due more to idleness than anything else.
CHAPTER XXV.
J. CATLETT TIPTON.
James Catlett Tipton was born in Sevierville, Sevier county. He was named for Mr. James Catlett, an old and respected citizen of the county and father of Bob Catlett, one of the alleged accomplices of Tipton in the Whaley murder. He is the only son of B. J. and Abigail Tipton. His mother still survives, but his father died many years ago when his son was but a
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small boy. By the death of her husband, Mrs. Tipton was left to battle with the world with three small children to support, towit: James Catlett and two daughters, one of the latter now being the wife of B. B. Bailey, and the other the wife of Mr. Mack Blair, both of Sevier county and highly respected citizens.
J. C., or Catlett Tipton, as he was familiarly known, was a bright and handsome boy of good address, and was generally well liked by his associates in and around Sevierville where he spent his boyhood days.
His education was limited to that of the common schools of the county, but in these he acquired a fair business education sufficient to enable him to transact ordinary business. He is said to have been apt in his studies and would have made a good scholar had he continued in school and applied himself diligently. But, being fond of outdoor sports of all kinds, this in a measure distracted his mind from his school work. In the running and jumping matches, baseball and other games usually engaged in by the school boys, young Tipton was a favorite and always among the first to be chosen. He became an expert baseball player and won distinction in this art among the local teams. He was a member of the " Eureka " team for a number of years, composed of Sevier county boys, of which sheriff Tom Davis was captain. Plez? Wynn was also a member of this team and a very fine player, being the fleetest on foot of any one in the team.
Tipton was not only an expert in such games and pastimes as above referred to, but he was very fond of hunting and fishing, and was equally as successful in this field of sport.
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He was a crack shot with a gun or pistol, and could bring in as much game as any one who went after it. Having been raised on the very banks, as it were, of the two Pigeon rivers, when it was not unlawful to fish with the gig, or seine, or by shooting them, and delighting in the sport, he became a skillful fisherman and spent much time with the finy tribe.
So strong was his inclination for this kind of sport, he still followed it, according to his own confessions, in violation of the law after it had been made a highly penal offence to take fish from the streams in any man- ner except by hook and line. Even on the night of the Whaley murder, it is claimed that he and Wynn were fishing, both above and below Sevierville, with dynamite, and succeeded in capturing a fine lot of fish. This fishing tour, which the parties related in the testimony upon the witness stand, enters largely into the history of this famous trial.
Tipton was also a good mechanic, being both a carpenter and a blacksmith. For the past fifteen years he spent the greater portion of his time at the carpen- ter's trade. While not a fine workman, yet he was an average country carpenter and found ready employ -. ment on many of the best jobs in the county.
His brother-in-law, B. B. Bailey, with whom he lived for some time, is one of the best blacksmiths and wagon makers in the country, and Tipton spent enough time with him in his shop to become a fair mechanic in this line. And at the time of the Whaley murder, and for some months previous, he was working with Bailey in Sevierville, while his family lived two or three miles in the country.
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In the spring and summer of 1884, Tipton was engaged to assist in the construction of a hotel at "Seaton's Summer City," Seaton's Springs, about eight miles above Sevierville. While thus engaged, he formed the acquaintance of the girl who afterwards became his wife. She was the daughter of Mr. James Seaton, the owner of Seaton's Springs and proprietor of the hotel Tipton was helping to erect. Their court- ship was short, but romantic, and on the 21st of June, 1884, James Catlett Tipton and Mary R. Seaton were united in the holy bonds of matrimony by J. H. Atchley, Esq., a Justice of the Peace of Sevier county. This marriage was stoutly opposed by the parents of Miss Seaton, but love which had sprung up between these two young people was not to be thwarted by parents or any one else, and over the protests of father and mother the young lady left home and was married as above stated-a marriage which is commonly termed a "runaway match." Miss Seaton was what might be called a pretty country girl of splendid character and was very popular among her associates.
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