431 



KENTUCKY. 



the approaches to the jail by posting sentinels 

 in sufficient numbers at the proper places, 

 they captured and forced silence on a night- 

 watchman, then on his beat near the court- 

 house, while one of the guard who was on 

 duty outside the court-house, in the rear of 

 which the jail is situated, and his three com- 

 rades and the jailer who were within, were also 

 captured and treated in like manner by differ- 

 ent squads of the band at about the same time. 

 They conducted the jailer to the jail, and or- 

 dered him to unlock the cell of the prisoner, 

 whom they awakened from his sleep, and took 

 away with them. The jailer stated that " those 

 whom he saw numbered about seventy-five, 

 armed with double-barrelled shot-guns, the 

 approaches to the jail being crowded with 

 them ; " that " they were unmasked and with- 

 out disguise of any kind ; " but he recognized 

 no one, and believes "they were strangers to 

 the county." 



The mail-service along the railway line be- 

 tween Louisville and Lexington a distance 

 of nearly one hundred miles was suspended, 

 by order of the Postmaster-General at Wash- 

 ington, on March 3, 1871. The cause of this 

 suspension is traced to an assault previously 

 made on the mail-agent, a negro employed by 

 the General Post-Office Department to accom- 

 pany and distribute the mail on that route, 

 while he was discharging his duty. The as- 

 sault had taken place at North Benson Station, 

 nine miles from Frankfort, on January 26th, 

 when, upon the arrival of an afternoon train, 

 one of four persons, who had just before come 

 to that depot, entered the mail-car, attacked 

 the agent, and endeavored to drag him out 

 with the avowed intention of killing him. 

 The crime was not consummated, by reason 

 that the train, accelerating its motion, com- 

 pelled the aggressor, to avoid being caught, 

 to leap from the car. The Governor of Ken- 

 tucky, receiving no official information of this 

 occurrence, of which circumstances were va- 

 riously rumored rather than stated, directed 

 his Adjutant-General to inquire into the facts ; 

 whereupon that officer reported on the 30th 

 as follows: 



ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, ) 

 FRANKFORT, KY., January 30, 1871. ) 

 To his Excellency John W. Stevenson, Governor and 



Commander-in- Chief: 



SIR : In accordance with your instructions, direct- 

 ing me to ascertain the facts connected with the late 

 assault upon the United States mail-agent at North 

 Benson depot, in Shelby County, on the 26th inst., 

 I have the honor to report that I sent a reliable 

 agent to the scene on the 26th inst., who returned 

 with the enclosed statement of facts, as given by Mr. 

 H. C. Hodges, the local mail-agent and depot-mas- 

 ter at that depot. Very respectfully, 



J. STODDAKD JOHNSTON, 



Adjutant-General of Kentucky. 



LOUISVILLE, CINCINNATI & LEXINGTON EAILROAD, ) 

 NORTH BENSON STATION, January 29, 1871. ) 

 I hailed the train for a passenger to go to Louis- 

 ville. There were four strangers rode up just before 

 the 3.45 train Avas due. When the train was within 

 seventy-five vards of the station, the stoutest man 



of the party stepped out on the platform and drew a 

 Colt's navy revolver, saying he intended to kill the 

 negro mail-agent. I begged him to desist, and 

 called on some gentlemen to disarm him. His owu 

 friends, came around him, and took his pistol from 

 him. When the train was even with the platform, 

 and running very slow, the man, still bent on as- 

 saulting the negro, jumped into the mail-car alone, 

 and attempted to drag the mail-agent out ; hut, the 

 train moving off very quick^ he was frustrated, and 

 jumped from the train after it was in motion. 



Only one man entered the car. The other three 

 ran up alongside of the mail-car, but took no part. 

 After the train started off, one of the men fired a 

 pistol into the air. The men were all strangers in 

 this section, and rode off as soon as the train went 

 out of sight. H. C. HODGES. 



The Governor transmitted this report to the 

 General Assembly, with a message dated the 

 31st, strongly condemning the violence offered 

 to the mail-agent, and urging that body "to 

 enact such laws as will tend to the capture of 

 the offenders, and certainly prevent the recur- 

 rence of any such attempt in the future by bad 

 men upon any officer or agent of the Federal 

 or State Government." The matter was re- 

 ferred in either House to the Special Commit- 

 tee on Law and Order. 



From the day of the assault a military guard 

 of ten men belonging to the United States 

 troops was assigned to accompany the mail- 

 agent, which was continued for several weeks, 

 his safety apparently requiring such precau- 

 tion. On the 27th of February, the Post-Office 

 Department called the attention of the post- 

 masters concerned to the subject by the fol- 

 lowing circular : 



POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT, CONTRACT OFFICE, \ 

 WASHINGTON, February 27, 1871. \ 



SIR: On the 26th day of January, 1871, a wanton 

 and unprovoked attack was made on William H. 

 Gibson, a route-agent in the service of this Depart- 

 ment, at Benson Station, on the Louisville & Lex- 

 ington Eailroad, and riotous demonstrations were 

 made on the same road, in consequence of which the 

 lives of the route-agents are put in peril, and the 

 business of the Department seriously impaired. 



The Postmaster-General has directed me to call 

 your attention to the following act in relation to the 

 postal service, and to say that, unless due protection 

 shall be given to the agents chosen by the Depart- 

 ment, and the mails in their charge on said route, 

 the mails will be withdrawn from the entire route. 



The Postmaster-General desires to have your views 

 as to the probable safety of the Department's agents, 

 should the guard be withdrawn and the service on 

 said route be continued. 



Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 



GILES A. SMITH, 

 Second Assistant Postmaster-General. 



" An act in relation to the postal service : 



" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of ^Repre- 

 sentatives of the Umted States of America in Congress 

 assembled, That whenever, in the opinion of the 

 Postmaster-General, the postal service cannot be 

 safely continued, or the Post-Office revenue collected, 

 or the postal laws maintained on any post-route, by 

 reason of any cause whatsoever, the Postmaster- 

 General is hereby authorized to discontinue the postal 

 service on such route, or any part thereof, and any 

 post-offices thereon, till the same can be safely re- 

 stored, and shall report his action to Congress. 



" Approved, February 28, 1861." 



Danger being still apprehended for the 



