Thanks,I love to read about the history of Fentress County. I was born there. ew -----Original Message----- From: MPiros1120 <MPiros1120@aol.com> To: TNFENTRE <TNFENTRE@rootsweb.com> Cc: DELk <DELk@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tue, Nov 30, 2010 6:34 pm Subject: [TNFENTRE] Trial of Champ Ferguson from Tami Thought this might be of interest to someone. Tami Delk Longino http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50B15F6395A1B7493C7A81783D85 418684F9&pagewanted=2 THE TRIAL OF CHAMP FERGUSON.; Details of Atrocious Barbarities. ublished: August 15, 1865 he notorious desperado, CHAMP FERGUSON, is now on trial in Nashville. etween fifty and sixty murders are charged to him personally. The following estimony is no worse than that which has been given daily during the last hree or four weeks: ohn Huff, a witness for the prosecution, testified as follows: Am a son f Mrs. Patsey Huff, of Fentress County, Tenn.; was at her house when Wm. elk, John Crabtree and John Williams were taken from there; Ferguson, Hans oles, John Gregory and Thomas Riley were all I recognized out of the party f thirteen or fourteen who came to the house; it was at night, I think, at ne o'clock, as near as I can recollect; they surrounded the house, and aid for some one to get up and strike a light; I started to do so, and they sked who I was; I told them; don't know who it was asked me that; they old me if I got up they would kill me; some one then ordered me to get up and ake a light, which I did; Hans Moles ordered me to do this; some asked ho were in there; I told them I didn't know; then they asked if Preston Huff nd Andrew Huff were present, and said they were going to kill them it hey were there. They asked me then who all were there that night. I told them illiam Delk, John Crabtree, John Williams, William Huff and Preston Huff ere there, and that Andy Huff was not there. Then they ordered those in he house to surrender; they hadn't seen them yet; here Delk walked out to the crowd and asked what they were going to do with them; they replied that hey were going to take them to Albany, to headquarters, to have their trial; he other boys, Williams and Crabtree, surrendered themselves, and the arty all came into the house, and went to searching it; then they took the traps off their guns and tied the prisoners; Delk begged them not to tie him o tight, that it hurt him; Ferguson said: "D -- n you, that is what we ant to do -- we want to hurt you;" Delk aimed to give my sister some money o give his mother, and Thomas Riley grabbed the money; Crabtree started to ive his mother a knife, which they grabbed for, but she got it. Champ then ot a negro girl, saying she belonged to Eli Hatfield, and he had orders o take her. The girl belonged to Hatfield, who is a brother-in-law of mine. y mother had raised the negro. They then went to taking things from the ouse -- bed clothing and wearing apparel. Ferguson told the men to take hat they pleased, when the money was taken from Delk. Ferguson told him he Delk) would have so further use for money. They chopped up the floor and hreatened to burn the house. They chopped up two planks of the floor. erguson then told the prisoners that he was going to kill them. He drew his nife nd told Crabtree that he was going to cut his throat. Crabtree's mother aid to Ferguson, when they started. "You ain't going to kill him, are you?" nd Ferguson said they were. Then they started and took Crabtree, Delk, illiams, and the negro girl with them. They got about one hundred yards from he house, and I saw the light of two or three guns, whereupon I went into he house, and there heard about twelve or thirteen guns. Heard some one ay two or three times, "run." Between half and three-quarters of an hour rom the time they left the house, I went to Piles place and found Delk, illiams, and Crabtree dead in the horse-lot. Didn't hear any firing after at he Piles place. Williams was shot about the centre of the forehead, and a iece of his skull was blown off. Delk was shot once through his breast, and bayonet run through his breast -- it looked like it might have been a ayonet; Crabtree I don't think was shot at all -- he was just cut; he was cut ll over the breast, and in the forepart of his shoulder, between the neck nd collar-bone; also in the back, under the shoulder-blade; in that wound as a cornstalk stuck in and cut off; my sister (Mrs. Lucinda Hatfield) nd Crabtree's mother, and Miss Annie Piercy, went with me to the Piles lace, where we found the bodies; saw there Vina Piles, Nannie Piles and Wm. iles; didn't see Mrs. Piles, the mother of Vina Piles; think she was dead at he time. erguson gave the orders, and had control of the party while at my other's house. All this occurred about Oct. 1, 1863. They stayed at the house rom the time they came until about daylight. ross-examination by the Defence -- Q. -- How old were you at the time this occurrence took place? . -- About 16 years old. . -- Were you disturbed while the party above-mentioned were at your ouse? . -- When they first came up, I was. They made us all get up, and hreatened to kill me, and threatened to take me off with them. They said I had been in the army, and John Gregory told them I hadn't, and then they let me ff. . -- You say Preston Huff and Wm. Huff were at the house; what became of hem? . -- Why, they got away. . -- Were Preston Huff and Wm. Huff armed? . -- Yes, Sir. . -- Did you hear them shoot? Do you know what they shot at? . -- I heard them shoot; they said they shot at the men that came to the ouse; but those men shot first. . -- Did Delk, Williams and Crabtree belong to an independent company? . -- Not as I know of; they said they belonged to the Seventh Tennessee nfantry. . -- Were they in the habit of lying out, shooting at soldiers and others assing the road? . -- If they were I don't know it. . -- Did these men, Delk, Williams and Crabtree, belong to Eli Hatfield's ommand? . -- Not as I know of. . -- How long had they been in that part of the country? . -- I don't know how long; Delk came there after they were whipped at untsville; I had never seen Williams and Crabtree there before that night. . -- What instrument was used for chopping the floor? . -- An axe; they got it there at our house; I don't know who did the hopping. . -- You saw Ferguson take away a negro girl; might you not be mistaken? as it not Hans Moles and Alex. Evans that took her? . -- No, Sir, it was Ferguson. eexamination by the Judge Advocate. -- Q. -- Did you see behind whom the egro girl rode, in going from your mother's house to the Piles Place? . -- I do not know; they took her off from our house walking. rs. Lucinda Hatfield, a witness for the prosecution, testified as follows: Am the daughter of the late Alexander Huff and Mrs. Patsey Huff, and the ife of Eli Hatfield; my father was killed the 2d day of May, 1865; was at y mother's house at the time Delk, Williams and Crabtree were taken from here, but don't recollect the date of the affair. As most of the testimony of this witness was merely corroborative of the revious evidence, presenting the same facts in similar language, we omit ll, excepting such points as are new.] hamp said by G -- d he intended to burn the house, unless I would tell here my brother, Preston Huff, and my cousin, William Huff, were; the men hat were with him asked what were the orders next, and he (Ferguson) told hem to take just what they wanted; they took some five or six blankets, four overlets, some calico, and some other things; they took some of the lothes that my father was killed in, some pants, a hat and a shirt, and I on't ecollect what else; some of them pulled off their own clothes and put on he stolen clothes in the room. The coat we got back. We found it where elk, Williams and Crabtree were killed. We could have sold the blankets for ix dollars; the coverlets might have been worth eight dollars apiece. The oat that my father was shot in was shot so that it was not worth much of nything. They took an ax and broke up a table, besides cutting the floor. hey brought Delk, Williams and Crabtree into the kitchen. Crabtree's mother egged for her boy, and Champ told her it was too late now, that she ought o have made him do better long ago, and his mother said he hadn't done nything. He said that by G -- d he was going to kill them with a knife he rew. He said he had never said yet that he was going to kill a man but what e got to kill him. When he threatened to burn the house if I didn't tell here my brother was, he said if he caught him he intended to unjoint every oint in his body, and throw the pieces so far apart that we would never get hem to bury them. county twenty-eight holes cut in Crabtree's coat when we washed it after e was cut up so; I saw two cornstalks driven in his left shoulder; I knew erguson well; he stayed all night at my father's house, about four years efore the war; afterwards first saw him in Clinton County, Ky.; Ferguson as riding a horse I thought belonged to Daniel Kogier; I saw the horse hristmas, and Kogier had it then; I spent the Christmas holidays with Kogier, nd saw the horse several days; it was after that Christmas I saw Ferguson ith the horse. . -- When and where did you see the prisoner next after that? Who were ith him, and what did they do? . -- It was when he came to my father's and took him off; Galen Elliott, octor Elliot, Henry Sublets, John (Cooney) Smith, Hamp McGinnis, Jouett cGinnis, and Will Hildreth, were all that came to the house; this was on the d of May, 1862. . -- Now state what was done, and who gave orders and controlled the arty. . -- My father was sitting in the yard: he went into the house, and ouett McGinnis told my father to go out, and pushed John Smith out to shoot im; mother and myself caught hold of Smith and told him not to kill father, nd Champ said he shouldn't be hurt, for me to go back in the house and go o my work; they took my father away. . -- Where did you find your father, and how long after they took him way? . -- We found my father at the old Conrad Piles place. Jeff. Piles was aken way in the morning, and about afternoon two girls came and told us they ad killed him, and I went over and found my father dead. . -- Describe the wounds that were on your father. . -- I saw two wounds that were on his left arm, and one through his nkle, and a bullet had entered the centre of his forehead. It had gone through the skull and lodged. I could see the bullet. They said there were more on is back, but I didn't see them. djourned to 8 o'clock this morning. Milly WARD Piros My Mind is like Lightning.....One Brilliant flash and pooooooooofffffffff t's gone http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/TNFENTRE ------------------------------ o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TNFENTRE-request@rootsweb.com ith the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of he message