KKNTl.VKY. 



425 



ul.lcd 

 nor Merriwetber 



Resolutions were adopted, dec-luring: 

 That the Federal (Jovernracnt is one of limited and 



wen. 



i i< of any power by the Federal GOT- 



1 delegated to it 1-v the Constitution ia a 



!' their lil>e: 

 :res has no right to deprive any State 



.nt 1ms' not the right to 



freedom nf speech (ir of (he press, and 



.^sioii is tlie destruction of every 



:.il lihfl'ty. 



.1 Government lias no right to try 

 ,::iry commissions and drumhead 

 -martial. 

 Tha 1 : u of suflfrage belongs exclusively 



iize the abolition of slavery as an 

 ! f.u-t, hut earnestly assert thnt Kentucky 



rL'ht l-> regulate (lie political status of the 



- within her territory. 



the writ of habeas corpus should have been 

 fully restored as soon as the war was ended. 

 That we earnestly request the Government to prac- 

 i- most rigid economy and prosecute those who 

 '<'ci>n guilty of fraud, corruption, and embezzle- 

 ment. 



That arge standing armies arc not to be tolerated 

 in times of peace. 



That the thanks of the country are due to President 

 Johnson for the vetoes of the Freedmen's Bureau and 

 Civil Rights Bills. 



That our Senators and a majority of our Rcpre- 

 in Congress have acted satisfactorily to 

 the people, and merit our thanks. 



Another important convention was held in 

 Louisvillo on the 30th of May. It was called 

 by representatives of many of the counties, for 

 tlio purpose of promoting the* "restoration of 

 pi>d trovernnient and the preservation of a con- 

 stitution:;! Union." At this convention resolu- 

 tions were passed substantially similar to those 

 ofore recited. 



1 hiring the year there were several instances 

 of the infliction of "Lynch law " in the State. 

 The persons who were the subjects of these 

 were said to have been noto- 

 rious criminals; and the men composing the 

 mobs, for the most part of good repute, and 

 law-abiding in the ordinary relations of life. 

 The most remarkable example of Lynch law 

 was that which occurred in the month of No- 

 vember near Lebanon, a brief account of which 

 is Driven by Lieutenant King, United States 

 Army, who was cognizant of the facts, as fol- 

 lows : 



LED AS os, KT., November 25, 186ft, 



To Jlrtcet Lieut. -Colonel FT. F. Drum, A. A. A. G. 

 M 'Hilary J>iri#ion of Kentucky, Louisville, Ky, : 

 COLON*! : I have the honor to report, for the in- 

 formation of the general commanding, that the 

 tlycatened raid on the jail at this place was made 

 and successfully carried out last night. A party, 

 numbering from one hundred to one hundred and 

 lil'ty, from the neighboring towns of IVrryville, 

 Springfield, Haysvillo, and Maxville (with soine of 

 the young men of this town), dismounted near the 

 i the town, and in small squads quietly took 

 np position near the jail until the entire party were at 

 ami around the jail. About forty or fifty men were 

 Mat toned on the corners of the streets, a half-square 

 above the court-house, where my men are quartered, 



acting as pickets, who detained any and all citizens 

 might pans, until their ile.-igns were tccom- 

 i. In less than three minutrs after the attack 

 was made, the detachment was in line in the court* 

 house yard. I was well satisfied that I would not bo 

 called on by the civil authorities, luit took this pre- 

 caution in case that I should bo. The town marshal 

 came to the court-house, where the detachment was 

 standing under arms, and while the attack on the jail 

 was being made, but did not call on me for assist- 

 ance or say a word about protecting the jail. 



Three men, named Crowdus, Stephens, and Goode, 

 were taken out of jail and carried about one mile 

 from the court-bouse, and hung by the mob to the 

 limb of a tree beside the road. I notified and cau- 

 tioned the civil authorities everyday during the past 

 week, as I had heard the rumor ten days ago, and 

 was confident that if not prevented the men would be 

 hung. The civil authorities all knew of the threaten- 

 ed attack, and also knew several of the ringleaders 

 of the mob. Some seventy-five or eighty men started 

 for this place last Wednesday night the night first 

 set to carry their threat of banging three men into 

 execution; but they were met by parties from town, 

 who were under the impression that I bad orders to 

 protect the jail. This report turned them back, else 

 they would have taken the men out on that night, and 

 hung them. 



Last Wednesday night I visited the county attor- 

 ney in company with Mr. J. M. Fidler, and notified 

 him of the anticipated attack on the jail that night, 

 and also informed him of the telegraphic instructions 

 that I had received from the general commanding re- 

 garding it. 



He coolly informed me that he did not think that 

 the civil authorities would call on me, and that "the 

 men deserved hanging." He advised me not to go 

 near the jail with my men, " as there might be a 

 row, and some good citizens hurt." 



I talked with the jailer every day during the past 

 week in regard to the threatened attack on the jail, 

 and was so satisfied in my own mind that the attack 

 would be made, that I offered to send a guard to the 

 jail, and protect it ; but he declined my ofler, saying 

 that he would notify me in time should an attack be 

 made. The civil authorities were all notified, and 

 were well acquainted with all the facts. They could 

 have prevented the mobbing of the jail and the hang- 

 ing oi three men, as it was generally understood and 

 known, that had I been called upon in time by the 

 civil authorities to protect the jail, the attack would 

 have been abandoned. 



I have no doubt, that, had I been called upon by 

 the civil authorities during the attack upon the jail, 

 I should have had a serious fight, as a majority of the 

 men were armed with double-barrelled guns and with 

 revolvers, and were determined to take these men at 

 all hazards. Considerable excitement prevailed in 

 the morning, when the news of the hanging was circu- 

 lated ; but not a single citizen said a word in opposi- 

 tion to the action of the mob, but exulted over and 

 sustained it. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



J. R. KINC. 



2d Lieut. TJ. S. Infantry, commanding detachment. 



These outrages were chiefly confined to Mari- 

 on, Boyle, and the adjoining counties. There 

 the swny of the mob was almost undisputed. 

 In the language of Gov. Bramlette, who sent to 

 the Legislature a special message on the sub- 

 ject, '-Jails are forced by them, and their vic- 

 tims ruthlessly torn from legal custody and 

 murdered. Those standing on bail, who are 

 obnoxious to their murderous wrath, are drag- 

 ged from their homes and executed. * 

 Within the last few days, during the session of 

 the Boyle Circuit Court, these murderers took 



