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tltitlh| iuuc tur - -----v~ -----~ y' {y men. a few had laments and ability which ,an ; gave !h~m positions of influence. To this % !**• ’ class belonged Carpenter, who instigated b in* I and wan the prime mover in the lynching u u'] i of the McCov hoys. One afternoon in tb» ti “a* spring of 1*86, he arrived at the little vil-j d ,1S lace of Wat field, from the direction of | T Loniia Coart Hcnse. lie crossed into West- CJ 101 Virginia, and located n; the Month ot e-T Mate where he solicited nod obtained tm**y ploycient. Carpenter was a mnn ol mug-lt; nifie-nt phydqne, and entered heartily n 1 into all the sports ot the mountain ‘ad* j 1 » 1 j Cap Hatfield wm the only one cf h;s com-; u UP peiifors who could bring down a Hju.rrel ^ s R | from a higher tree, or was a tr lte quicker shot than the htimUc.mo stranger. . Jk m To these elements of popularity, Carpenter f{ nl | added others which seemed little less than w lJe I roiracnlons to the people who snrronnded ^ ld« him. He became a leader in every game i a 1 and merry making. A party or yonrg ht ' men clustered about him aud then • lis wild freaks oi disipation in the succeed- *w ,.1* j ing winter and spring, were the subject of lji!-v general comment. Carpenter taught school, U-,d* and added to his infiaencc, but not even j to his nearest friends did he ever breathe a word as to his past life or his motive tor geekirg a home in the wilderness. Once a diunken companion attr-mpted to qne*uonlathcoIt;V'him before a crowd. Carpenter at first Ti,r warded oil his questions, aud theu a blow l[ trom the bolt 01 bis pistol quieted i I hia tormentor, and le!t him fcar-• x v,; aia iui uirui* *,e red for life. Such was this man, when I *aEdison Hatfield was killed by the Me-1 mlt; Coys and his elaytn were taken prisoner*. They were kept on Wee! Virginia soil for a tew davs, and one night were placed under guard, with Carpenter in com maud, so and Parted for Tike county jail. When lit Tug river was crowed, Carpenter called a j ah ; halt, and proposed tlmt all three men he dc gfcot tii^n And there. l’eThe older members of the party insisted | th that their origin*! desigu should be carried lb out, bat thev were out numbered. The cri hot blood of Carpenter’s followers was t j heated to the boiling point, by the death I sp of their kinsman, and the artful desperado ' dr bad little trouble in leading them hoon to the slaughter. He carried the Vi ! day. The men were tied together, led lo Vt a little hush, and a dczeu shots fired into ' in j them. With bin own hand Carpenter blew ( on I out the btain8 of the youngest McCoy, as de he lay on the gronud, dyiug trom a dozen tl i wounds. 1?®!CAi.i'KN l'KB’3 FLIGHT. LjThe outrage awakened the vengeance or j the whole M« Coy family, and their wrath bi was primarily directed at Carpenter. , aQ Many of the relatives of the men he had , w alain lived on the Weal Virginia eide nl Sf the Tag; hnndrdds of others were in strik-1 afJ ing distance in Kentucky. It was death , ?b to remain, and to within ft month after ^ the mardtr of his three dtitnseless prison-1 tQ er», Carpenter tied, and bis lace has never i {{{ since been .«een on the batiks or the hub- a, mountain stream. Whether he escaped or %Q whether he lell victim to the vengeance of fb some McCoy will probably uever b- j ^ known.
Newspaper Details
Wheeling Sunday Register
Wheeling, West Virginia, US
Sun, Jun 30, 1889
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
West V.
WV, USA 13 Jun 2023
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