_A Rich Lead Struck at Last._
William was quite sure, from the reputation and actions of Russell,
Clark, and Barton, that they had been the leaders in the robbery, and he
believed that Lester could give important information about them; he
therefore caused Lester to be brought to Union City, and, on November 5,
he succeeded in getting a statement of the doings of these men since
Lester had known them. The important points developed were as follows:
They came to Lester's Landing in the middle of July, and built their
store. They were rarely there together, as they would go off for two or
three weeks at a time, leaving Barton or Clark in charge, and sometimes
putting Lester in as storekeeper during the absence of all three. On one
occasion, Russell showed him a pocket-book containing nearly one
thousand dollars, which he thought he had lost, but which he found under
a rail fence where he had hidden it; the other men, also, seemed to have
plenty of money. About the middle of October, the three storekeepers
went away, and were gone until October 24, three days after the robbery,
on which day Lester met Clark and Barton walking toward his house, on
the way from Hickman. They seemed quite excited, and said that they had
been engaged in a difficulty, but they did not state what it was. They
asked him whether he had seen Russell recently, and also whether there
was a skiff at his landing; both questions were answered negatively, and
they passed on toward the store, while Lester continued his walk to
Hickman. On his return at night, he found that Clark and Barton had been
across the river all day, scouting the Missouri shore for Russell, and
that shortly after their return, Russell had come across the river in a
skiff. Russell said that he had been shot, but that he was not much
hurt, and he did not seem to act as if he had been hurt at all. Sunday
morning, October 29, Clark took passage in a steamer for Cape Girardeau,
having Mrs. Slaughter in company, and it was understood that he was
going with Mrs. Slaughter to the house of her mother, nine miles from
the Cape. Tuesday evening, William and Connell arrived at Lester's, the
fight took place, and Barton and Russell escaped. After the detectives
had gone back to Campbell's, Barton returned to the house and obtained a
shawl, blanket, and two shot-guns; he said that they would never be
taken alive, but that Russell had been badly wounded by one of the
detectives. William had left two men at the landing the next day to
capture the men if they returned, but they were afraid to attempt it,
although they had a good opportunity that night. Russell came into the
house alone, showing no signs of having been wounded, and said that he
and Barton had joined four friends, who were outside waiting for him;
that they were all well mounted and armed, and that they intended to
kill any one who should betray them or attempt their capture. He added
that they intended to make their way on horseback to Alabama, and that
they were strong enough to fight their way through, if necessary. Of
course, Russell's object was to frighten the detectives and others who
were searching for him, as he had no one with him except Barton.
Among other points of value in Lester's statement, was some incidental
information relative to the men, which he had learned during the time
they boarded with him. He had heard Clark say that his mother lived
sixty miles back of Nashville, and Russell had once run a stationary
engine in Missouri. Lester was shown the satchel found on the engine
after the robbery, and he recognized it as having been left at his house
once by a wood-chopper named Bill Taylor, who lived in the cane-brake,
some distance below him. He said that the three men each carried a navy
revolver and a derringer, while Russell had also a new, large-sized
Smith & Wesson revolver.
Meantime, the telegraph had been used constantly to learn something
about the three men, Russell, Clark, and Barton, from whatever source
information could be obtained. Barton was well known in Nashville, New
Madrid, and Union City. He was quite young, but he had been involved in
a stabbing affray in Nashville, and was regarded as a desperate
character. He had been respectably brought up by Major Landis, General
Agent of the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad, and had been given a
place in the employ of that road, with good prospects for promotion.
Having become dissipated and hardened, he had been discharged from his
position, and Major Landis had cast him off; thenceforward, his career
had been rapid in the downward direction.
With regard to the other two men, little could be learned, until a rich
lead was struck on the seventh of November. The corrected descriptions
of the different parties having been sent to all the agents of the
express company, Mr. Charles Pink, agent at Cairo, recognized Russell as
a man who had sent eight hundred dollars in currency from Cairo to Mrs.
M. Farrington, Gillem Station, Tennessee, on the eleventh of September,
and who had then started, according to his own statement, for his home
in Illinois. Mr. Pink also stated that the chief of police in Cairo
claimed to know Russell, and to be able to find him--for a sufficient
consideration. Not having any use for the services of this disinterested
officer, his offer was politely declined.
The superintendent of the express company was strongly impressed with
the belief that Russell and Barton were lurking around Lester's, and so,
while William went to Nashville to see what could be learned about
Barton and his companions, a number of men were hired to scour the
country, hunt through the brake, and guard the Mississippi ferries,
while Connell and Crowley, the express messenger, were placed on the
Missouri bank, to scout that side of the river. I may say here, _en
passant_, that, with the exception of the two named, these men were a
source not only of great unnecessary expense to the company, but of
vexation and hindrance to William. In most cases, their scouting
consisted in riding the high-roads from one tavern to another, and in
order to have something to show for their work, they would bring in
every species of wild and foolish rumor that they could discover or
invent. As the superintendent frequently desired that these reports
should be investigated, much valuable time was thus wasted. These men
were not only employed without my advice, but they were retained long
after I had urgently requested the discharge of the whole party, and I
had great difficulty in obtaining their discharge, even after I was
positively sure that the robbers had crossed the Mississippi and escaped
into Missouri.
William spent one day in Nashville, and then went to Gillem Station,
where he learned that Mrs. Farrington, to whom Russell had sent eight
hundred dollars from Cairo, lived on an old, worn-out farm, and passed
for a rich widow. She had three sons--Hillary, Levi, and Peter, the
latter being quite young. Hillary and Levi Farrington bore a very bad
reputation, having been mixed up in all kinds of fights and quarrels for
a number of years. They were suspected of horse-stealing and
counterfeiting; but most people were afraid of them, and they had never
been arrested in that vicinity. William here learned, also, that Barton
had been a frequent visitor at the Farringtons', and that he was as bad
as the others. While at Gillem Station, William met Pete Farrington, the
youngest of the three brothers, and his resemblance to Russell, whose
face William had seen by the dim firelight and the flash of his pistol
in the cabin at Lester's Landing, caused a sudden possibility to flash
across his mind. He reasoned out the connection of the different facts
about as follows:
"Russell was, undoubtedly, one of the Moscow and Union City robbers, and
he obtained a considerable share of the plunder; two months after the
first robbery, I find that he sent eight hundred dollars to Mrs.
Farrington; this establishes the connection of those two persons. Barton
was one of the actors in both robberies, also, and I find that he was
formerly intimate with Mrs. Farrington and her sons; another link. Pete
Farrington bears a strong resemblance to Russell, their peculiar Roman
noses, with a lump in the middle, being exactly alike, and this creates
a strong presumption that they belong to the same family. Now, Russell
and Clark were so similar in their general appearance, that many people
who have seen them together believe them to have been brothers. Hillary
and Levi Farrington, I am told, also closely resemble each other, and
they have not been seen about here for some months, they being,
according to their mother's account, in Texas. The chain of evidence is
very complete; what if Russell and Clark should prove to be the
Farrington brothers!"