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North
Arkansas Times
Gainesville, Arkansas
October 10, 1868
Page 2
From Fulton County
Bennett’s River, Fulton
Co., Ark.
October 3d, 1868
Editor Times: Sir-Below we give you a partial history of
the late troubles in this county.
Owing to the excitement caused by the murder of Mr. Bush, and a
threatened reptition (sic) of the outrages of
Monks, we have as yet been unable to elicit authentic accounts of all the rascalities committed by him; we only give such as we
have been able to get good evidence upon.
On the 19th of
September, near 7 o’clock, a.m.,
Simpson Mason, with an escort of six members of the Fulton county militia, started from North Fork township to Bennett’s Bayou precinct, (Harlow’s store,) distance about 13 miles. When within about 3 ½ miles of their
destination they were fired upon from the bushes, by (judging from the
firing) three men, as three shots were fired, and three balls entered Mason’s
body, killing him instantly. On of the
escort fire back into the brush, and then all ran off, leaving Mason lying
dead in the road. They went to the
house of Mr. Houston Thompson, about 200 yards distant, called him out and
told him to bring Mason’s body to the house, and save his money, arms,
&c., - until they returned saying it was the d—d Tracy crew who had
killed him, and that killing had only just then commenced, for Tracy had to
pay the debt, &c. They then told
Thompson that they were going after two companies of militia, and would soon
return, and left his house and took to the woods, and again entered the road
about 200 yards from where Mason was killed, in the direction from whence
they came, near where an old gentleman named Clerk was pulling fodder. The called him up to the road, drew their
pistols upon him, and used very rough and abusive language to him, saying
that they believed he had done, or was cognizant of, the killing of Mason,
and ordered him to stay at home until they came back with reinforcement, that
they would be back by 2 o’clock, and left – some going one way and some
another. About 8 or 9 o’clock on the
morning of the 20th they returned, with something over 20 men, to
the place where Mason had been killed, took charge of the body, and removed
it to his late residence on Strawberry, saying again that killing had only
just commenced, &c.
Nothing more was done
until Tuesday 2 o’clock, when the
Sheriff, (Ed. Spears,) with about thirty militia,
arrived on Bennett’s Bayou, at Hariens store, part
of them stopping at the house of Mr. N.T. Baker, and part of them going on in
the direction of North Fork township, under command of J.H. Fitzwater. The Sheriff was with the party stopping at
Mr. Baker’s. Leaving Baker’s house
next morning at day-light, in the direction of Talbert’s Mills, the two
parties thus concentrated at or near T.W. Baker’s, and then started for
Fielding Herrons and Capt. N. H. Tracey’s at which
place they arrested Jo. H. Tracey, the captain’s brother, and Fielding Herrons, and made search for Capt. Tracey, but he had
seen them approaching and made his escape.
They then started for the residence of Mr. Uriah
B. Bush, about ten miles distant, arresting Mr. Bush, whom they found plowing
in the field, and directly after they had arrested him, Capt. T.C. Flutey and Mr. T.W. Baker rode up, and when they saw an
armed body of men around Mr. Bush’s house, Mr. Baker made an effort to run,
thinking it to be the Allsop and Monks militia; but
Capt. Flutey, seeing the Sheriff in the crowd, said
to Baker not to run, as the Sheriff was with them and it was not the Allsop and Monks gang.
Mr. Baker was then arrested by the Sheriff. After the arrest had been made and the
prisoners secured, Capt. Flutey took the Sheriff
aside and asked him what it all meant.
The Sheriff told him he had warrants for several men, and that he had
understood the citizens intended to resist the laws, and consequently he had
brought a force to fight any and all resistance. - The Sheriff then told Capt. Flutey that he also had a warrant for the arrest of Col.
Tracey and several others, charged with the Murder of Mason. Capt. Flutey then
protested against the county being scouted by militia, saying there was no
use of any men with the Sheriff, except sufficient to guard prisoners, and
said to the Sheriff, “If you will send this militia home, I will vouch that
you can arrest and bring to trial any person in the county you may wish: and
furthermore, I will vouch that you will not be hurt or molested in the
discharge of your duties.” He asked the
Sheriff to go home with him alone, and that he (Capt. Flurtey)
would go with him to Col. Tracey’s next morning, and if the Sheriff would
vouch that Col. Tracey would not be mobbed, he would have him to trial at
once, saying to the Sheriff, “If you go after him with this militia you will
never get him, as I have talked with Col. Tracey, and he only feared a
mob.” This the
Sheriff at once agreed, and sent the militia off with the prisoners, in the
direction of T.W. Baker’s. The Sheriff
and Capt. Flutey started next morning for Col.
Tracey’s. Arriving there, the Sheriff
told Tracey’s family what he wanted, saying to Tracey’s wife, “Tell the Col.,
that I have a warrant for him, and that he can come down on Strawberry and
stand his trial, and that I will vouch that he is not molested by any mob, or
outraged in any way.” Tracey’s wife
then told the Sheriff that the Col. would be at home or at Capt. Tracey’s during the
day, and that he might look for him down that night or in the morning.
While they were standing
upon the porch at Tracey’s house, Capt. Wm. Monks, from Mo., with about 8 men, rode up to the gate. The Sheriff then said, “There, that is Butler now.” Capt.
Flutey asked the Sheriff what Butler it was? The Sheriff said it was Dr. Butler, and
immediately started out towards the gate, shaking hands with Monks in a very
friendly manner when they met. Monks
and Spears (the Sheriff) stepped aside and had a short confidential talk, then Monks and his party left in the direction of Harlens store. Flutey and Spears then mounted their horses and started
after them, and when they arrived at Harlens, Capt.
Fluty discovered it was Monks instead of Butler that the Sheriff had been talking to. Monks then informed the Sheriff that he had
sixty men from Missouri upon the ground and that they were at this service;
which service was accepted at once by the Sheriff, and after consultation
between all the parties, it was proposed by some on that Monks and his men be
sworn in by the Sheriff as Fulton County militia, which was accordingly done
by the Sheriff. Capt. Fluty then left
them and started for home, stopping to get his dinner at Noah L. Baker’s,
about two miles distant from Harlens store, and
while there two of the Arkansas militia men rode up and called for dinner
also, and in a few minutes Col. Tracey also rode up an dismounted and went
into the house, and after shaking hands with the Militia and all the rest
informed them that he learned that they had a warrant for him, and that he
was ready for his trial, having then followed them five miles, and asked them
where the Sheriff was; and then turned to Capt. Fluty and said, “The Sheriff
has concluded, I learn from you wife, that I will not be mobbed, and I have
started to have my trial; do you think I will be mistreated by this militia?” Capt. Fluty replied that, “So far as the
Arkansas militia is concerned, I suppose they would not, but that Monks and Allsop were up at Harlens, and
I am satisfied that they would kill you on sight. Tracy, you know they care nothing for law, and the
Sheriff also told me when I went to leave him at Harlens
to tell you not to be arrested, but to keep out of the way until Monks
leaves, and then come in and stand your trial.
Tracy then told the
militia that he would not be arrested until Monks left the country, but that
he would like to see the Sheriff, and requested one of them, (E.W. Smily,) to go and see the Sheriff and tell him privately
that he (Tracy) wanted to see him and that he would wait for him until he
came down to Bakers. After Smily left, Tracy mounted his horse and rode out upon a ridge near
by, to await the Sheriff, but instead of the Sheriff coming Monks and about
40 men made a dash for the house, and Tracy made his escape.
The militia then returned, and sent a scout of fourteen men after
Capt. Bryant, Jas. M. Archer and Judge E.C. Hunter, returning with Capt.
Bryant next morning to camp, but leaving Archer and Hunter at home on account
of sickness of Archer and blindness of Hunter. – They then commenced scouting
the country, destroying forage, fences, and riding over yards, feeding and
camping round houses, and swearing that the had come down into Arkansas to
fatten themselves and horses. Robbed Harlens store of some upper and sole leather, tobacco,
horse shoes, nails &c. Robbed the
store of H. Price & Co. of one keg of powder, some lead, percussion caps,
horse rasps, hammers, horse shoe nails, &c. Robbed one old man, Mr. Galbreath,
of three guns, ammunition, &c.
They took possession of
the dwelling house of Mr. Horber, made a guard
house of it, ordering his wife to cook for them and the prisoners, or that
they would burn them out. On Saturday
morning Monks called his men and said “All who are in favor of killing the prisoners, fall into line and I am with you.” The entire squad from Missouri fell into line, and all of the Arkansas militia except about ten or fifteen, making about
70 men who were in favor of killing the prisoners, without a trial. The Sheriff protested, saying “These are my
prisoners and I do not want them hurt,” but Monks deliberately informed him
that he had the power, and that he would do as he d—d please about the
matter. He then called out Capt.
Bryant and U.B. Bush, and informed them that if they did not bring forward
the men who committed the murder by Monday at 2 o’clock, they would be killed. The prisoners plead for a trial, but they
were hooted at, and told that if their friends did not bring in the murders
by 2
o’clock Monday, they would
be shortly where they ought to be, in hell.
The Sheriff then left, leaving the prisoners in the hands of the mob,
and never went back to see what had become of them, saying he was afraid that
they would kill him, also.
About 1 o’clock Saturday
evening they broke up camp at Harlen’s and moved up
to Col. Tracy’s place, and took possession of the house and drove his family
into the kitchen, ordering his wife and mother-in-law, Mrs. Pickrue, to go to cooking or they would burn the last
d---d thing on the place. They chained
U.R. Bush with a log chain upon one of the beds and pitched into Tracy’s papers and books, and made a genuine smash of
them. Tore up his buggy and threw it
into the mill-pond, took all the mill irons, augers and tools they could find
and threw them away, fed away and destroyed about 4000 bundles of oats, about
150 or 200 bushels of corn and cut and destroyed corn yet in the field; took
and destroyed some thirty bee hives, killed all the chickens, &c., and
smashed up things generally, damaging him between seven hundred and a
thousand dollars. They took out Capt.
Bryant, hung him up by his neck, and told him that if he did not say that
certain parties killed Mason they would kill him, but if he would implicate
certain parties he should be released, and at last, to save his life, he told
them any and everything that they asked of him, (so he told bush when they
again turned him into the guard house).
Said he to Bush, “I have been very nearly killed by these men, and to
save my life I have told an awful tale.
I had to tell them that you did assist in killing Mason, and the only
chance for you is to do as I have done-to lie out of this place.”- They then
sent Bryant out with an escort, and report says he made his escape. They then arrested on B.T. Deshazo, a very harmless citizen, and tied a rope around
his neck and surrounded him with pistols, cocked, told him if he did not
acknowledge that Col. Tracy, Capt. Tracy, T.W. Harker,
U.B. Bush and Capt. Bryant did the murder, that they would kill him; and thaty if he would tell that, they would turn him
loose.—He protested to the last that he knew othing
about it, &c. They abused him very
badly. They the caught up Deshazo’s little brother, and would write out just such
evidence as they wanted and asked him if it was not so, and the little feller
would say just what they wanted him to say, and they would then go out and
write out a long string of evidence and come in and tell a prisoner that a
certain one had sworn to it; and that he had just as well acknowledge it, and
sometimes some of the guards would get an opportunity and tell the prisoner
that nobody had sworn any such thing, and for them to acknowledge nothing,
&c.
Things went on this way
until Monday at noon, when they
prolonged Bush’s life twenty-four hours, and about dark Monday night, Pink
Turner, the Deputy Sheriff, arrived with a writ of habeas corpus for the
prisoners. – Monks and his men unanimously, at first, voted to resist the
writ and kill the prisoners any way, saying that they intended to kill ten
men for Mason before they left the country, and that they then had three that were fat
enough. Tracy’s wife and others heard them talking about judge
Hunter’s case. Some said that they
hated to kill an old blind man, others said they did
not car a d---n, as they had just as soon kill him as anybody else. They all seemed very wrathy
about Col. Tracy making his escape, saying that they would have shot him, if
he had come in, before he could have got off his horse. Some time after they had refused to obey
the writ, a squad of men went into Tracy’s house and took some newspapers and made caps of
them, and started up the road in the direction of Salem, saying that they were the Ku Klux. Directly after the scout had left, Monks
told the Deputy Sheriff that he would obey the writ, and that the prisoners
were at his command. The Sheriff then
took U.B.. Bush and J. H. Tracy and started for
Salem, saying that Tracy should not be hurt, but saying nothing about Bush,
and when they had proceeded about two miles towards Salem, a party of men,
with paper caps on, rode down the road, meeting the Deputy Sheriff, in charge
of the prisoners, made no halt, but rode directly up and made efforts to
seize the bridles of the prisoner’s horses.
The succeeded in catching Bush’s, the Deputy Sheriff caught J.H.
Tracy’s horse and wheeled around and whispered to Tracy to run with him, and
they then ran off, leaving Bush in the hands of the men. After they had proceeded but a short
distance, Tracy heard Bush pleading for his life, and directly
they heard firing, and Bush’s body, pierced with three balls, was found, at
daylight next morning, near the spot where he was taken away from the
Sheriff. Wm. Richardson then galloped
back to Col. Tracey’s, informed the gang that the prisoners had been taken
away from them, and all hands mounted their horses and started up the road, and in the bustle and excitement T.W. Baker, B.T. Deshazo and the rest of the prisoners, they were informed
that they had made their escape. They
then hunted round in the orchard, lots, &c., for about one hour, thinking
that Baker was too sick to set up and that he had been carried out into the
field by the rest of the prisoners. On
learning that an armed body of men was advancing upon them, Monks and his
murderous band left in haste for Missouri, taking to the woods after they had
proceeded a short distance. The Deputy
Sheriff arrived in Salem before day, with J.H. Tracy as a prisoner, who
immediately stood his trial and was acquitted, together with all the rest who
have so far stood their trials, to-wit:
N.W. Baker, E.C. Hunter and Jas. M. Archer, the rest implicated in the
murder now stand ready for trial when called on. The Prosecuting Attorney said to a
gentleman in Salem, after the prisoners had been acquitted, that he
was satisfied it was nothing more than a Union League trick to get vengeance
from certain parties.
Monks then fell back to
West Plains, at which place he was, with about fifty men, when our informant
left, threatening a return to this state, saying he would yet have ten men
for Mason.
Excitement is still very
high. As soon as times calm down, we
will send you farther particulars.
Yours, &c.
J.H. Tracy,
N.L. Baker
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