prisoners when they were heard in their defense. The decision
of the court was that the five prisoners “ought to be tried for
the murder of the said Thomas Langford before the Judges of the
District Court holden for the Danville District at the next April
Term, and it is ordered that they be remanded to jail.”
Thomas Todd, the prosecuting attorney, in the requirement of
the law, “acknowledged himself indebted” to the Governor of the
Commonwealth “in the sum of ten thousand pounds current money”
should he fail to appear before the judges on the first day of
the April term of the Danville District Court then and there to
prosecute the prisoners. The witnesses “acknowledged themselves
severally indebted ... to the sum of five hundred pounds current
money” should they fail to appear and give evidence on behalf of
the Commonwealth.«7»
On January 5 the five prisoners were taken by the sheriff and a
guard of seven men to Danville, there to await trial before the
District Court in April. The distance from Stanford to Danville
is about ten miles. Neither history nor tradition tells how this
cavalcade made the trip over the trail, whether afoot, on horses,
or in wagons, or by a combination of these means. The condition
then reached by the women may have necessitated the use of a
conveyance for them. This party of thirteen doubtless attracted
much attention along the road, for five prisoners, of whom three
were women, was a sight not often seen. The ten mile trip to
Danville made by the guards with the captured Harpes along this
historic highway, winding through an almost unbroken forest,
readily lends itself to anyone’s fancy.«8»
Evidently John Biegler, “Jailer of the District of Danville,” to
whom the prisoners were delivered and who had them in his custody
several months, felt there was some likelihood of his charges
escaping. His account against the state shows that on January 20,
1799, he bought “Two horse locks to chain the men’s feet to the
ground, 12s. and 1 bolt, 3s.” It seems to have become necessary
to fasten the front door more firmly, for, on February 13, he
purchased “one lock for front jail door, 18s.” Two weeks later he
bought three pounds of nails for 6s. “for the use of the jail.”
The expense items further show that four men, two at a time, were
employed to guard the prisoners.
But with all these precautions, the two Harpes escaped on March
16, leaving their three women and two new-born infants behind.
There is nothing in the court records indicating how they escaped.
The jailer’s expense account merely shows an item dated March
19: “Mending the wall in jail where the prisoners escaped, 12s.”
Breazeale, forty years later, wrote--but cites no authority for
his statement: “the jailer, soon after their escape, resigned his
office, left the jail, bought a farm and settled himself in the
country where he very shortly became wealthy--no one ever knew with
certainty by what means, but the general suspicion was that he had
acquired his wealth by receiving a large bribe from the Harpes to
permit them to escape.”
How they escaped was doubtless a subject of much conjecture and
discussion. Colonel Daniel Trabue in his _Autobiography_ says
that the two men “took two guns from the guard at Danville.”
Whether or not the guard or guards were present and resisted the
prisoners when they took the two guns is not stated. Judge James
Hall, continuing his brief account of the Langford murder, quoted
a few pages back, gives no details, but simply ends with the
statement: “They were taken to Stanford where they were examined
and committed by an enquiring court, sent to Danville for safe
keeping, and probably for trial. Previous to the time of trial they
made their escape.”
Nor do the records contain any hint as to how the two men passed
the time of their imprisonment. Lyman C. Draper, in his “Sketch
of the Harpes,” says that shortly before his escape Big Harpe,
contending it would answer the ends of justice as well, proposed to
whip at fisticuffs the two best fighters in Kentucky, provided he
be set free if he succeeded in whipping the men, and should he fail
he would abide by the decision of the court.
The trial of the three women was set for April 15. But during the
hundred days they were immured in the log jail there was happening
to them the immortal trial that comes to their sex under all
conditions. Yoked as they were irregularly, pursuing as they had
the lives of the hunted and outcast, they had to bear, in the
rigors of winter, in abandonment and in prison charged with murder,
the burdens of motherhood--and to such fathers! These items from
the jailer’s accounts of his expenditures on their behalf tell a
story with which imagination is free to work:
“February 8, ¼ lb. Hyson tea, 3s. 9d., 1 lb. sugar, 1s. 6d. for
Betsey Walker she being brought to bed by a son the preceding
night, 5s. 3d.--February 10, ¼ lb. ginger, 1s. 1d., 1 lb. sugar,
1s. 6d., for ditto, and paid cash to the wife and other assistance
21s. £1. 3s. 7d.”--total £1. 8s. 10d.
“March 7, ⅛ lb. tea, 1s. 10d., 1 lb. sugar, 1s. 6d., for the use of
Susanna Harpe brought to bed by a daughter the preceding night, 3s.
4d. Paid cash midwife for ditto, 18s.”--total £1. 1s. 4d.
“April 9, ¼ lb. tea, 3s. 9d., 1 lb. sugar, 1s. 6d., 1 quart
whiskey, 1s. 6d. for the use of Sally Harp brought to bed the
preceding night by a daughter.”--total 6s. 9d.
It will be noted that when the third child was born a week before
the time set for trial--the second was about a month old and the
other two months old.
Such was the state of affairs when, on Monday, April 15, 1799, the
clerk turned to page 314 of the Danville District Court Order Book
and there began his record of the trial of the three women indicted
for the murder of Thomas Langford. The court was presided over by
Judge James G. Hunter and by Judge Samuel McDowell, who served in
the absence of Judge Stephen Ormsby. “Susanna Roberts, spinster
of Lincoln County was set to the bar in custody of the jailer,”
so runs the record, and pleaded “not guilty;” but “for reasons
appearing to the court” her trial was postponed until the third day
of the term. “Elizabeth Walker” and “Sally Roberts” were not called
on to appear personally that day before the judges, but their cases
were postponed until the 18th.
On the 17th “Susanna Roberts” again appeared in court. A jury of
twelve men was sworn, which, after hearing the same evidence given
in Stanford, presented in the form of written affidavits, declared
her “guilty.”
On the 18th another jury was sworn and “Elizabeth Walker, spinster
of Lincoln County,” was tried on the same evidence presented
against “Susanna Roberts,” but found “not guilty.” The court
proceedings of that afternoon show that the judge “saith he will
not further prosecute the said Sally Roberts (spinster of Lincoln
County) ... and therefore it is considered by the court that she be
acquitted.”
Thus, with the same evidence against each woman, one was found
“guilty,” and one “not guilty” and one was “acquitted.”
On the 19th Susanna, who had been found guilty, appealed for a new
trial and it was granted. The Attorney General, however, concluded
not to prosecute her, and, at his suggestion, the clerk was ordered
to record “certain of the reasons which moved him to enter into
_nolle prosequi_ in this case ... to-wit: Upon considering the
circumstances attending the case of Susanna Roberts and although
she has been found guilty of the charge in the indictment contained
by a verdict of her peers, yet as Eliza Walker has been tried on
the same indictment, on which trial the said Eliza was found not
guilty and the same proof produced against her as was produced
against the said Susanna, and in consequence also of the Court
having granted a new trial and from the probability [of the
evidence] which would be produced on the trial of the said Susanna
at the next term by the two other women, in the same indictment
contained, who are acquitted and discharged, operating in favor
of the prisoner, and also by the advice of the prosecutor and of
the Court, and also to save to the Commonwealth the expenses which
attend her long detention and further prosecution, I have been
induced to direct the Clerk to enter a _nolle prosequi_ as to the
said Susanna Roberts.”«9»
The Harpes--Renewal of the Terror
What had happened to the Harpes and their women was a natural
outcome of the frontier outlook upon life. The three mothers
had gained the sympathy of the court and the community in their
apparent distress and helplessness. It was believed that they
had obtained a happy release from their barbarous masters. It is
probable that many of the persons who now helped in the hunt for
the escaped Harpes did so not because they were highway murderers
and should therefore be shot or hanged, but because they deserved
particular punishment for their brutal conduct toward the young
women. At any rate the settlements were united in the pursuit of
the two men, who had so curiously escaped.
The acquitted women declared that, above all things, they
desired to return to Knoxville and there start life over again.
A collection of clothes and money was made among the citizens
of Danville and an old mare was given to help them on their
way to Tennessee. The three women, each with a bundle over her
shoulder and a child under her arm, and the old mare loaded down
with clothes and bedding, left the jail one morning on what was
considered no easy journey even when undertaken with good horses
and the best of equipment. They walked down the street in Indian
file, led by the jailer, who accompanied them to the edge of town
to point out the road that led through Crab Orchard to Tennessee.
These forlorn and dejected travelers, however, had covered less
than thirty miles when they changed their course and went down
along the banks of Green River. A few days later they traded their
horse for a canoe and then went down the stream and were soon lost
sight of by the spies who attempted to watch them. [12F]
The brutal killing of Langford had stirred the country for almost
two months, and now that the murderers had escaped and the gnawed
bones of the two Marylanders were found, with all evidence pointing
to the Harpes as the perpetrators of this terrible murder, the
citizens became even more enraged. They were aroused to the
realization that the villains must be captured and disposed of at
once. The case required prompt action and any and all methods that
might bring about the extermination of the Harpes were endorsed.
On March 28, 1799, _The Kentucky Gazette_ published the following
paragraph: “The criminals in the Danville district jail for the
murder of Mr. Langford, (as mentioned in our paper of the 2nd
of January last) have made their escape. By an order from W. E.
Strong, Esq., a justice of the peace for Mercer County, all
sheriffs and constables are commanded to take and re-commit them.”
An entry in the Danville District Court Order Book, page 370,
under date of April 22, 1799, reads: “It is ordered that the
Commonwealth’s writ of capias issue from the clerk’s office of
this Court to the Sheriff of Lincoln County commanding him to take
Micajah Roberts and Wiley Roberts who have lately broken the jail
of this District and are now running at large and them, the said
Micajah Roberts and Wiley Roberts, safely to keep so that he have
their bodies before the Judges of the District Court holden for the
Danville District on the first day of their August Term, to answer
for the felony and murder of a certain Thomas Langford whereof they
stand indicted.”
Lynching parties had been organized since the middle of March and
in the meantime a committee was sent to James Garrard, Governor of
Kentucky, presenting to him the necessity of capturing the outlaws.
A memorandum on this subject in the Executive Journal, entered
in the month of April, states that “the governor authorized Josh
Ballenger to pursue them into the state of Tennessee and other
states, and to apply to the executive authorities of such states to
deliver them up.”
Ballenger and his men began their chase before they received
official notice of the governor’s action, and were soon on the
trail. Near the headwaters of Rolling Fork, a branch of Salt River,
they suddenly found themselves face to face with the Harpes, who,
although surprised, were prepared to shoot. The pursuers retreated
in confusion and the Harpes, taking advantage of the situation,
made their escape. Henry Scaggs, one of the party, suggested that
the crowd go to his farm and, with the aid of his dogs, continue
the chase. Scaggs was one of the “Long Hunters” who came to
Kentucky in 1770 with Colonel James Knox and a pioneer who had ever
since been looked upon as “a valiant man in battle and a great
hunter.” Urged by him they resumed the pursuit and continued it
until late that night, when most of the men, becoming discouraged,
left the party because the trail of the Harpes led them through
very thick and almost impenetrable cane.
A few men, led by Ballenger, continued the search, but in a section
where the heavy cane was no impediment. Scaggs, believing the
canebrake should be penetrated, went to a “log rolling” a few
miles north of the home of Colonel Daniel Trabue, and there, with
the aid of Major James Blain, tried to organize another party.
But the men declared that the cane was too thick and the chances
of capture too slight to justify the risk, and the “log rolling”
went on. Scaggs then--on or about April 10--rode to the farm of
Colonel Daniel Trabue, a Revolutionary soldier and one of the most
prominent and altruistic of Kentucky pioneers, who lived about
three miles west of what is now Columbia, Adair County.
While Scaggs was discussing his plans with Colonel Trabue, the
Colonel was patiently awaiting the return of his son, John Trabue,
a lad of thirteen, who had been sent to one of the neighbors to
borrow some flour and seed beans. The boy was accompanied by a
small dog, and, in the midst of the discussion, the dog walked into
the yard badly wounded. [12E] An investigation was immediately
made. The neighbor reported that the boy had left the house a few
hours before with the flour and beans. All efforts made that night
to find him were futile. They began to suspect that he might have
been kidnapped by the Harpes. The search continued for many days,
but all in vain. Evidence of the Harpes was discovered by George
Spears and five other men about fifteen miles southwest of the
Trabue farm, near the East Fork of Barren River, where the outlaws
had killed a calf and made moccasins out of the skin, leaving their
old moccasins behind. The footprints indicated the presence of two
men, but there were no signs to show that a boy was with them. [63]
Little did the pursuers realize what had actually happened. The
innocent lad, walking home over an old buffalo trace, had met the
Harpes as they were crossing it. There they killed the little
fellow, cut his body to pieces, and threw it into a sinkhole near
the path, where it remained hidden about two weeks and was then
discovered by accident. The murderers had taken the flour but not
the seed beans.
Colonel Trabue, in his autobiography or journal, written some
twenty-five years after this tragedy, deplores the fact that the
log rollers did not continue the pursuit: “It is a pity they did
not go, for then John Trabue might not have been killed.” He adds
that these men ever after “reflected very much on themselves for
their negligence, and said this ought to be a warning to others
hereafter to always do their duty.”
In pioneer times the execution of the law by officials was in
many instances an unavoidably slow process, and it therefore
frequently became necessary for the law abiding citizens to
organize themselves into bands and, by any method the emergency
might demand, establish order and safety. No matter how achieved,
preserving peace and fighting danger was looked upon by good
citizens as the imperative duty of all. Had the then slow-acting
laws been relied upon, the sly and quick-traveling Harpes probably
would not have been captured for years, and their victims might
have been numbered by the hundreds. On the other hand, as suggested
by Colonel Trabue, it is possible that had the men who were called
upon by Scaggs done what was in those days considered a duty,
Langford might have been the last victim of the Harpes and their
career ended.
A report that mad dogs were running through the country and were
likely to spring from behind any bush or tree at any time could
not have alarmed the people more than did the realization that the
Harpes had escaped from jail and were killing all who chanced to
be in their path. On April 22, the Governor of Kentucky was again
appealed to for help, and he immediately signed a proclamation
which was published in the Frankfort _Palladium_ on May 2 and May
9, 1799:
“BY THE GOVERNOR, A PROCLAMATION.
“Whereas it has been represented to me that MICAJAH HARP, alias
ROBERTS, and WILEY HARP alias ROBERTS, who were confined in
the jail of the Danville district under a charge of murder,
did on the 16th day of March last, break out of the said
jail;--and whereas the ordinary methods of pursuit have been
found ineffectual for apprehending and restoring to confinement
the said fugitives, I have judged it necessary to the safety
and welfare of the community and to the maintenance of justice,
to issue this my proclamation and do hereby offer and promise
a reward of THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS to any person who shall
apprehend and deliver into the custody of the jailer of the
Danville district the said MICAJAH HARP alias ROBERTS and a
like reward of THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS for apprehending and
delivering as aforesaid the said WILEY HARP alias ROBERTS, to
be paid out of the public treasury agreeably to law.
“In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and have
caused the seal of the Commonwealth to be affixed.
“Done at Frankfort on the 22nd day of April in the year of our
Lord 1799, and of the Commonwealth the seventh.
“(L. S.)
“By the Governor JAMES GARRARD
“Harry Toulmin, Secretary.
“MICAJAH HARP alias ROBERTS is about six feet high--of a
robust make, and is about 30 or 32 years of age. He has an
ill-looking, downcast countenance, and his hair is black and
short, but comes very much down his forehead. He is built
very straight and is full fleshed in the face. When he went
away he had on a striped nankeen coat, dark blue woolen
stockings,--leggins of drab cloth and trousers of the same as
the coat.
“WILEY HARP alias ROBERTS is very meagre in his face, has
short black hair but not quite so curly as his brother’s;
he looks older, though really younger, and has likewise a
downcast countenance. He had on a coat of the same stuff as his
brother’s, and had a drab surtout coat over the close-bodied
one. His stockings were dark blue woolen ones, and his leggins
of drab cloth.”
Before this proclamation by the Governor had time to circulate
throughout the state, report reached the people that the Harpes
had killed a man named Dooley, near what is now Edmonton, Metcalfe
County, [28] and had butchered another named Stump, who lived on
Barren River about eight miles below Bowling Green. [12D]
Stump was fishing, and seeing smoke rising on the opposite side
of the river, a little distance from the bank, presumed some new
arrivals were preparing to settle. He stepped into his cabin and
got his violin, and then crossed the stream to greet the newcomers.
He was clad in his shirt and trousers, without hat or shoes, but he
probably felt that what he lacked in wearing apparel would be more
than counterbalanced by the hearty welcome to the Wilderness he was
prepared to give his new neighbors. So, in this scant attire, and
with a turkey over his shoulder, a string of fish in one hand and
his fiddle under his arm, he entered their camp. He probably never
realized that his good intentions had led him into the hands of the
Harpes. They stabbed him, cut open his body, filled it with stones
and threw it into the river. [12F] Some of Stump’s neighbors, says
_The Kentucky Gazette_, were suspected of having committed the
murder and were taken into custody, but an investigation proved
their innocence and also proved beyond all doubt that the Harpes
were the perpetrators of the crime.
The criminals continued their raid down Barren River into the lower
Green River country to a point near Henderson, Kentucky, and then,
either by land or water, rapidly worked their way to Diamond Island
in the Ohio and to Cave-in-Rock, in or near any of which places
they evidently had arranged to meet their women.
How many men, women, and children these two brothers killed
and what course they followed while rushing through the lower
Green River country and the Ohio Valley between Henderson and
Cave-in-Rock will never be known. Shortly before reaching the Cave,
they committed a murder in Illinois at the mouth of Saline River,
about twelve miles above Cave-in-Rock. Twenty-six years later this
incident was briefly summed up in the _Illinois Gazette_, published
at Shawneetown: “There are persons living in this country whom we
have heard recount the story of the Harpes with great minuteness,
and the place is still pointed out, on the plantation of Mr. Potts,
near the mouth of the Saline River, where they shot two or three
persons in cold blood by the fire where they had encamped.” [56]
The many reports--some false and others only too true--of the
inhuman acts committed by the Harpes had, in the meantime, put
every community on its guard. Captain Ballenger, after pursuing
the outlaws a few weeks, found that, owing to the many conflicting
rumors, he had been thrown off the trail and was moving in a
direction opposite the one taken by the Harpes and, therefore, he
gave up the chase.
Captain Young, of Mercer County, in the meantime organized a
company with the determination to exterminate the Harpes and
all other outlaws, or at least drive them out of the country.
Commenting on Captain Young’s expedition, Edmund L. Starling,
author of _A History of Henderson County, Kentucky_, writes:
“Captain Young and his men recognized the perils of their
undertaking; they understood the wily machinations of the enemy,
and, with blood for blood emblazoned upon their banner, started
upon their mission of capture or death, utterly regardless of their
own personal comforts or the hardships attending a campaign in such
a wild and comparatively unmarked country.”
Having met with success in Mercer, Captain Young and his men
continued their pursuit and finally reached Henderson County. There
they were joined by a number of citizens. The combined forces
swept over the entire country, including Diamond Island, driving
the outlaws out of that part of Kentucky across the Ohio River
into Illinois. A number of the criminals fled to Cave-in-Rock. The
character of the men who usually centered at the Cave was well
known to the refugees, for many of them had helped to make the
place notorious.
Captain Young and his outlaw exterminators having covered the
territory they set out to relieve, left Henderson County and
returned to Mercer County--a distance of more than one hundred and
fifty miles--and were there given a grand ovation. [124]
Governor Garrard, however, must have felt somewhat apprehensive
regarding the return of the Harpes, for the Executive Journal shows
that on June 7 he “deputed Alexander McFarland and brothers” to
take charge of “these inveterate enemies of human happiness” should
they be found “in any adjacent state.”