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. 1869
little excitement there. There was no cause for his resigning. In fact, he spoke of
resigning before the court convened, and we prevailed upon him to hold the court;
that it was important that the business should be disposed of, and to hold on until
the court got through the business. But on Tuesday of the second week he resigned.
Judge Smith was in the habit of sending a boy-I think he was probably friom eighteen
to twenty years old-to Mount Sterling for his mail on mail days. We have a large
male academy there. The boy went down on Tuesday, and the court adjourned
Wednesday; the boy went down there Tuesday and got drunk, and got out,among
some boys there and got very impudent to them, and they gave him a good thrashing.
He went home and reported to Judge Smith's brother, who was living at his house at
the time, that he had been severely beaten by the boys there, and he advised him to
go down before the grand jury that was then in session, and indict them. Next
morning he got ready to go, but said he was afraid to go. Abe Lyon, as I understood,
collected some twelve or fifteen men, and they armed themselves and started down:
and he remarked, as I was informed, that he would go there, and, if necessary, he
would burn the town, and if the white people did not let the negroes alone, that he
would head a crowd and he would commence killing from the cradle up. I understand that was the cause of the attack made upon him.
Question. Did you understand that the crowd who killed him consisted of both
whites and blacks?
Answer. Yes, sir; I understood there were blacks with them.
Question. From whom did you derive the information?
Answier. I have heard it from a number of persons; I can'ttell. I heard it as coming
from his wife, and then I have heard other persons say that there were blacks among
them. There was another negro that was killed there, and I heard the cause of his
being killed was that he attempted to commit a rape on a white lady. I heard of that
at the time it occurred.
Question. What was that negro's name?
Answier. My impression is that it was Rogers. I do not remember the names of the
negroes that were killed, all of them; but I knew Abe Lyon personally, because when
I lived in Demopolis he lived with Mr. Frank Lyon, and learned his trade in a shop
just across the street from where I was living.
Question. Did you see him after he was killed?
Answer. I did not, sir.
Question. Did you hear of a man named Ezell being killed?
Answer. Yes, sir; I heard of a man by the name of Ezell being killed there.
Question. Did you hear any cause assigned for his killing?
Answer. I did not, sir.
Question. Did you hear of a man by the name of Lem. Campbell being killed?
Answver. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you hear any cause assigned for that?
Answer. I heard he had made a remark that he would be willing to join a crowd and
commence killing from the cradle up.
Question. Did you hear that these men were disguised?
Answer. Yes, sir; I heard that they were disguised.
Question. In every instance.
Answer. I think that in one instance, perhaps, they were not disguised. I think, that
prolably in the case of Rogers, that was killed for attempting to commit a rape, the
parties went out and killed him without any disguises. I did not hear who the parties
were.
Question. It has been stated here by several witnesses that the negroes in your county
have been deterred from voting by intimidation on the part of the white people.
Answer. Well, sir, I reckon I know about as much about that as anybody in the
county; because in the different elections I have visited different parts of' the county,
and I have never heard of the first instance of any intimidation toward the negroes.
In fact, they have voted, in a body, the radical ticket, with a few exceptions. Now,
they have voted in about four precincts out of sixteen in the county. I have heard the
negroes say that they have been instructed to go to these different precincts to vote,
and not to vote anywhere else. I know that they passed by precincts, and traveled on
fifteen or twenty miles to get to the point where they were instructed to go to vote.
They would go there and get around the polls and put in their votes, and go in crowds
and have their jollifications around, and I have never known any attempt at any intimidation at all, except on the part of the negroes. There are a few negroes there that
have voted the democratic ticket all the time; and last November, in our State election, there was a negro went up to the polls and voted the democratie ticket, and there
was a crowd got around him and were in the act of mobbing hin because he had voted
the democratic ticket, and a number of white persons went up there and suppressed
the mob.
Question. Did the negroes have arms?
Ansiwer. Yes, sir; a number of them had arms, and a great many of them came to the
polls armed.