Marshall Texas Republican, October 20, 1860
We are in receipt of a letter from our friend Otis G. Welch, of Denton, giving some of the particulars, relative to the termination of Mr. Bewley’s career. He was the man to whom the Bailey letter was addressed. He was arrested near Cassville, Bear county, Mo., by the Fayetteville (Ark.) Vigilance Committee and sent back on the overland stage to Sherman, and from thence taken to Fort Worth, where he was hung on the same pecan tree on which Crawford met his deserts. He expected to be rescued by his clan, but no attempt was made. On being shown the Bailey letter, he confessed that he was the man who lost it, and that it was lost while getting some oats from a stack near where it was found. He refused to make any further disclosure, saying that he knew they were determined to hang him anyway.—Houston Telegraph.
- This hanging was one of many during the Texas slave panic of 1860—also referred to as the Texas Troubles—a period that was a result of the worries of southern slave-holders about abolitionists and a potential slave revolt, an exceedingly hot and dry summer, and a series of inflammatory letters by the editor of the Dallas Herald, Charles R. Pryor. Pryor’s letters were widely reprinted and, by the end of July, counties, and communities throughout North and East Texas had established vigilance committees to root out and punish the alleged abolitionist conspirators.