Report of the Joint select committee appointed to inquire into the condition of affairs in the late insurrectionary states, so far as regards the execution of laws, and the safety of the lives and property of the citizens of the United States and Testimony taken.

ALABAMA-SUB-COMMITTEE. 1677
By the CHAIRMAN:
Question. Boyd was a colored man, was he?
Answer. Yes, sir; all were colored.
By Mr. BLAIR:
Question. What do you know of the whipping of Mr. Lovet?
Answer. There were two Mr. Lovets, an elderly and a younger man, came to this
county some time back, from Mississippi, I believe, and located in the neighborhood
above here. One night a party of men came to his house and gave him a whipping,
and, I think, advised him to move away.
Question. What did they whip him for?
Answier. He had been playing Ku-Klux with the negroes in the neighborhood, apparently amusing himself with them, and had got them alarmed to such an extent that
they were afraid to remain in the neighborhood.
Question. He had been Ku-Kluxing the negroes?
Answer. Yes, sir; he had been Ku-Kluxing the negroes, as they called it; and he did
leave.
By the CHAIRMAN:
Question. Who Ku-Kluxed him?
Answer. It was not known who they were.
By Mr. BLAIR:
Question. Were they white men?
Answer. Yes, sir; they were white men.
Question. They whipped him?
Answer. Yes, sir; severely.
Question. Whipped him for Ku-Kluxing negroes?
Answer. Yes, sir.
By the CHAIRMAN:
Question. When did that occur?
Answer. In February, 1871.
By Mr. BLAIR:
Question. Do you know anything of the killing of the negro Anthony Rogers?
Answer. Anthony Rogers was killed this year, near Warsaw, by a negro, Harrison
Little. It was a private feud. I think they were brothers-in-law; probably some
family quarrel. He was shot, through a crack in the house, while he was sitting with
his family. Harrison Little was arrested, and, I think, is there in jail now.
Question. Were there any other murders occurred among the whites during this period of which you have been speaking?
Answer. Yes, sir; there have a good many murders occurred among the whites, but
they were all private quarrels or disputes. There are a number of them. There was
one, it was not known what was the motive or object, or by whom it was done. There
was a Mr. Stratton; that was in July, 1867; Mr. Stratton was shot in his bed one
night at Gainesville.
Question. A white man?
Answer. Yes, sir; a miller, or machinist, employed in the mill there, a very worthy
citizen. He was found next morning in his bed. The supposition is that he was shot
fiom the window.
Question. Was no one arrested for it?
Answer. No, sir; I believe the perpetrators never were discovered. I think one or
two negroes were arrested for it, but the examination elicited no evidence on which
they could commit him, and he was discharged. In April, 1868, a man named Patterson killed a Mr. Bryan at Gainesville. It was purely a private quarrel. In April,
1869, there was a Mr. Scarborough killed by a Mr. Morris, down in this direction,
southeast from here six or seven miles, at a place called Lee's Station, on the Selma
railroad. There was another murder in this county, at Payneville, in January, 1870.
Boyd killed Hopper in a drunken broil. In April, 1870, a young man named Meredith
killed another named Rogers at Gainesville. Three of these murders took place in
Gainesville.
By the CHAIRMAN:
Question. Was any one punished in either of these instances-hung?
Answer. Well, in this Patterson and Bryan case there was an arrest made, and the
law took its usual course. I do not know what was the termination of it. Morris,
who killed Scarborough, I think fled. I am not positive whether he was apprehended
afterwards or not. Boyd, who killed Hopper, was the same. Meredith, who killed
Rogers, is under bond now, I think-on bail. In each of these four cases where the
perpetrators were known, the law took its usual course, except in one, where I believe
the assailant took flight, and probably has not yet been caught. There may have been
other murders that I don't remember now among whites and blacks. I remember one