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Page 2 Invasion
of the State by Missourians The Notorious Monks on
Another Raid A Gross Outrage on Our
People and State One Citizen Murdered and
Another Missing The usual quiet of our town
was broken on Sunday morning last with the startling rumor that a band of
Missourians, under the notorious Monks, had invaded the State, and forcibly
taken from the custody of the Sheriff of Fulton County seven citizens, to
wit: Capt. L.D. Bryant, Wilburn Baker, N.L. Baker, Uriah
Bush, J.W. Cochran, and two others, the names of whom we did not hear, who
had been arrested upon suspicion of being concerned in the killing of Capt.
Mason, some weeks ago. The report
further stated that two of these men, Capt. Bryant and Uriah
Bush, without warrant of law, were to be executed on Monday morning at Before the party reached
the scene of action, intelligence was conveyed to the Missourians of the
approach of the party, and they (Monk’s party) turned over to the Deputy
Sheriff of Mr. Bush was an orderly,
law-abiding, honest citizen, and highly esteemed by all honest men who knew
him. The pretext that he was
implicated in any way in the murder of Capt. Mason is preposterous. One of the murderers of his children lived
within three miles of him for some time after the close of the war, and when
he was asked why he did not kill this man he replied that he did not want the
blood of any man on his hands, and that the killing of Allsops
would not restore the lives of his children.
From his conduct in this instance, and his know character as a good
citizen and a Christian gentleman, his arrest on suspicion of being concerned
in the killing of Capt. Mason, a man who never injured him, discloses a
devilish plot to “get rid of him” in some way, which finally ended in his
murder. On Sunday, Capt. L.D.
Bryant, one of the prisoners, after being hung up three times, made a
confession, it is said, implicating sixteen men in the murder of Mason, and
it is reported was turned loose; but up to yesterday noon it was not known
that he had returned to his friends, and it is supposed that he, too, was
murdered. In his case it can by proven
by indisputable evidence that he was at a store fourteen miles from the scene
of the murder of Mason at the time it occurred. On Monday, previous to the
murder of Bush and after the reported release of Capt. Bryant, Judge Baxter,
of the Circuit Court, who was at Salem at the time, issued a writ of habeas
corpus for the release of the remainder of the prisoners, and their return to
the custody of the civil authorities.
Monks refused to obey the writ at first, but afterwards turned over
the prisoners to the Sheriff, with the exception of Bush, who was held until
night, when he too was turned over to the custody of the Sheriff, and was
afterwards murdered as stated above. At about All of those implicated by
the reported confession of Bryant who were arrested, some five or six in
number, were released on being examined before a magistrate in Salem, no
evidence being produced to justify their committal. This is the second time
since the close of the war, this man, at the head of armed bands of
Missourians, has invaded this State and murdered citizens. On one occasion in the spring of 1867 he
surrounded the Circuit Court of Fulton county, while in session, and arrested
all in the Court House, judge, jurors, lawyers and citizens, and searched the
crowd to find, as he said, some men he “wanted.” He failed to discover the parties he was in
search of, and on his way home, a few miles from town, a citizen named Smith,
alarmed at the approach of so large a number of armed men, and ignorant of
their object, started to run from his house, and was immediately shot and
killed by the men under Monks. On
examination of the corpse, they pronounced him not of the party they were in
search of, and an innocent man. In
this instance the Governor of our State took no steps, as far as we ever
heard, to bring to justice the men who had invaded the State with arms in
their hands, in time of peace, and murdered a peaceful, innocent citizen. We have now a word to say
in regard to the matter of the citizens turning out to resist Monks and
rescue the accused men from his clutches.
Our information – which we deem reliable – is that the rescuing party,
on their arrival in Monks and his party, in
addition to the unlawful seizure of the prisoners from the hands of the
Sheriff, and the brutal murder of Mr. Bush, committed other high-handed
outrages. They encamped on the
premises of Col. Tracey, a prominent and well-to-do citizen of Fulton County,
fed their horses upon his corn, and also cut down a quantity and left it in
the field; killed his cattle, and carried away several of his horses. All this they did without shadow of law or
authority, but simply after the manner of bandits, robbers and murderers, as
they are. In commenting on this
whole affair, we desire to do so coolly and in a proper manner. But this is the second time within twelve
months that this same infamous fiend, Monks, with his murderous band, has
crossed the State line and invaded We do not justify the
killing of Capt. Mason, and shall do nothing to shield the real guilty
parties when found, and pronounced guilty be a jury in a competent court of
law, but we protest against the bringing of armed bodies of radicals from
another State, and the collusion of civil officers with them in the murder of
citizens, without even the pretext of a trial or giving them a hearing. Why did this band of outlaws come into our
State? Because they were sent
for. They were sent for by the Union
League of Fulton county, who held a meeting on the Monday night pervious and
dispatched a man named Smilley to When the whole secrets of
this infamous affair are made known – as they undoubtedly will be in the
course of time – it will be found to be one of the most diabolical plots ever
hatched for the wholesale murder of citizens, and that, too, for political
opinions alone. |
North Arkansas
Times-100368.doc