[Marshall] Texas Republican, August 18, 1860
We copy the following from the Bonham Era:
Alarming State of Affairs.—What Shall We Do?
We have an extra from the office of the Quitman Herald of the 26th ult., copying the news of the destruction of Dallas, &c., from the Era, with the additional intelligence that the watchman of that town had fired upon a man who dropped, in his retreat, a bundle of shavings and matches. The same extra also mentions the arrest at Gilmer, of three run-away negroes, having in their possession passes, various documents, way-bills, to the Indian Nation, pistols, powder, caps, writing materials, &c.
Were these two merely isolated facts, we should not attach great importance to them, but, taken in consideration with all that has gone before, they only confirm the inevitable conclusion that a deep laid conspiracy against the property and lives of Northern Texas, not only exists, but has borne sad fruit. Several towns have been simultaneously laid in ashes, and plantation houses owned by men conspicuous in the expulsion of abolition emissaries, have been laid to the ground. Whenever such a company has been expelled, or otherwise punished, (except at Bonham,) the hellish spirit of revenge has found agents of retaliation.
We hear many rumors of arrest and summary execution in this connection of which we do not choose to make particular mention, deeming it more prudent to leave the publicity of their operations to the discretion of the vigilance committees having the public safety in charge. That prompt and decisive measures of self-protection are necessary, and should be adopted and sanctioned by every conservative mind in the country is too painfully evident. But to the calm and reflecting it is no less evident that in times of panic, men are apt to be hasty in arriving at conclusions, and that punishment is not unfrequently administered where there is no guilt. If other counties have, like Fannin, Vigilance Committees of the most sedate and substantial men of the community, we do not see what more their citizens can do than to sustain these committees. The resort to such means is a dire necessity. We have been opposed to any and every measure of public security which has not the sanction of a legal basis. When the citizens of Dallas trampled upon the law by taking men from legal custody, and subjected them to unlawful violence, we regretted their conduct; and by this time they no doubt appreciate fully the necessary consequence of their misguided action. Still the need of prompt and vigorous measures of repression, of vigilance, and an unflinching enforcement of summary justice is none the less a duty on that account.
We deem the existing condition of affairs one which imperatively requires of the State Executive an immediate call for the Legislature to meet in special session to provide for a more speedy and energetic administration of justice than is afforded by the slow operation of our established jurisprudence. In Louisiana, if we mistake not, offences of a character like those we now deplore, are cognizable at any and all times before a special jury empanelled by the Sheriff; and are summarily tried and punished. This avoids cumbering the jails with the worst class of criminals, and lessens the chances of escape. Such a statutory provision is just what we need; and what should be furnished without a delay to the next regular Legislative session. What say our brethren of the press on this subject?
Great excitement exists in Cherokee county. The Rusk Examiner says:
During the past week our town has been the theatre of intense excitement, growing out of the incendiary movements of the negroes in the neighborhood impelled by abolition leaders in our midst. Up to the first of last week, we had thought ourselves comparatively free from the diabolical plottings which have so alarmed the citizens of Northern Texas; still a sense of danger, and a desire to take measures which would secure our safety prompted the calling of a public meeting, by which a committee of vigilance was appointed and an efficient patrol for the town organized. Do developments of a startling nature, however, had been made, until the negroes on the plantation of Mrs. Timmins, in the neighborhood, became unruly and manifested strong symptoms of insubordination. The overseer on the plantation refused to correct the negroes, and Mrs. Timmins called on the town police for assistance. One or two of the negroes were whipped who made such disclosures as startled the whole community. According to the tenor of their confessions, poison had been freely distributed among the negroes, and they were instructed that on the Sunday before the August elections (last Monday) the negroes were to poison the wells and springs and otherwise administer it to the whites—to fire the dwellings in the country and destroy the towns—to get possession of all arms and ammunition they could and kill the men as they returned from the election.
Many negroes were implicated in the plot, well known in the neighborhood, as well as several white men; consequently on Saturday and Sunday several arrests were made of the implicated negroes in different parts of the county. Some of the negroes were severely whipped, and others made full confession with little or no punishment. All, however, told the same story with but little variation, and all confessed that the plot had been in agitation for some months, and all stated they expected shortly to be free, and that they would be assisted by white men in large numbers, when the time came for them to act. This intended emute was under the direction and control of negroes, for the most part preachers, or who pretended to an extraordinary degree of piety, and who were generally the favorites of their masters; but from the disclosures made, although it appeared that all the negroes in the country were aware of the plot, yet comparatively few were willing to participate in it, and many tried to dissuade others from having anything to do with it. According to the confessions of some, a meeting of the leaders was to have been held on Sunday last, a few miles west of this place for the purpose of making a more definite assignment of each to his part; but this meeting was happily frustrated by the discovery of the matter and the arrest of the chief conspirators.
The Committee of Vigilance have had an arduous duty to perform during the past week, as well as severe labor, but they have not as yet concluded that any of the slaves implicated ought to receive the extreme punishment of death. The white men spoken of by the negroes as confidants, or rather leaders do not reside among us, but the evidence against them is now the subject of scrutiny and deliberation, by a committee of cool-headed, fearless and correct men; and if circumstances warrant it, measures will be taken to compel the personal appearance of all implicated.
On Tuesday night a man was started from his concealment in a dark corner of an unoccupied lot, and fired at twice by the guard, but he succeeded in making his escape in the darkness.
The following is from the same paper:
Two German pedlars were apprehended yesterday, charged with complicity with the negroes, but up to the time of going to press we have not learned of anything being elicited of importance in relation to them.
The Henderson Times says:
We have seen a note, (written from near Danville, by Col. Dunn’s overseer, to his son Charles Dunn,) which said that a negro boy, Allen, formerly belonging to Mr. Dunn, had confessed his connection with this insurrectionary movement, and was to have been hung on yesterday.
We copy the following from the Sulphur Springs Monitor:
Just as we are going to press a plan has been disclosed, through the confession of some negroes, for the destruction by fire, of Sulphur Springs. The plot was to have been carried out next Tuesday night.
We copy the following from the Henderson Times.
Abolition Emissaries.—We a few days ago alluded to the evident fact, from recent developments in Grayson and other counties, that Abolition emissaries were at work among the negroes, inciting them to crime. These fellows may possibly come from the Cherokee nation, where their intrigues have caused a most unhappy state of affairs, setting the slave owners and those who are not, in almost open armed hostility to one another.