charge; and Steigal and Grisson soon after joined the party. The
dying outlaw, as he lay stretched upon the ground, begged for
water, and Leiper took a shoe from one of Harpe’s feet, and with
it procured some for him near by. McBee now told him that he was
already dying, but they should hasten his death; time, however,
would be given him for prayer and preparation for another world--to
which he made no reply, and appeared quite unconcerned. When asked
if he had not money concealed, he replied that he had secreted a
pair of saddle bags full in the woods on an eastern branch of Pond
River, some twenty miles from its mouth. From his description of
the branch, and their knowledge of the country, they concluded that
there was no such water-course, and gave little or no heed to his
story; but a report, however, has gained some currency--for the
truth of which we cannot vouch, that a considerable sum of specie
has been found, within a few years, near the head waters of Pond
River.
“Steigal, after reminding Harpe how unfeelingly he had murdered his
wife and only child, drew a knife, and exhibiting it to him, said
in plain terms that he intended to cut his head off with _that_!
‘I am,’ said the dying outlaw faintly, ‘but a young man, but young
as I am I feel the death-damp already upon my brow; and before I
die I could wish that old Baldwin might be brought here, as he is
the man who instigated me to the commission of all my crimes.’ This
Baldwin, a very suspicious character, lived at Green Tree Grove,
in the then adjoining county of Livingstone, now called Caldwell;
and though subsequently tried, he was acquitted, nothing positive
being proven against him. When they had somewhat recovered from the
fatigue of the chase, after perhaps an hour’s delay--during which
Harpe lay on the ground upon his right side, unable from weakness
to raise himself, and rapidly ebbing his life away--Steigal
stepped forward and pointed the muzzle of his gun at the head of
the expiring outlaw, who conscious of the intention, and desirous
at least of procrastinating it dodged his head to and fro with an
agility unexpected to the beholders, manifesting pretty plainly
a strong disrelish ‘to shuffle off this mortal coil.’ Perceiving
this, Steigal observed, ‘very well, I believe I will not upon
reflection shoot him in the head, for I want to preserve _that_
as a trophy;’ and thereupon shot him in the left side--and Harpe
almost instantly expired without a struggle or a groan. Steigal,
with the knife he had so menacingly exhibited to Harpe, now cut
off the outlaw’s head. Squire McBee had with him a wallet in which
he had brought his provisions and provender--in one end of this,
Steigal placed the severed head, and some articles of corresponding
weight in the other, and then slung it behind him across his horse,
and all commenced their return. Thus died Big Harpe, long the
terror of the west, and his decapitated body was left in the wilds
of Muhlenberg county, as unsepulchred as his merited death was
unwept and unmourned.
“After the party left the scene of decapitation they re-joined
Tompkins and Lindsay, who had been left in charge of the two women
of Big Harpe, and they all proceeded to the camp of the outlaws,
which they gave a careful examination. Nothing of any value was
discovered, save a dollar and a half in small change pieces. Ten
horses in all were recovered and restored to their several owners.
That noble animal which Big Harpe rode, and which had belonged to
Major Love, was conveyed to his widow, but did not long survive
that terrible ride.
“The head was conveyed to the cross-roads within half a mile of
Robertson’s Lick, and there placed in the forks of a tree, where
for many years it remained a revolting object of horror. To this
day the place where that bloody trophy was deposited is known as
_Harpe’s Head_, and the public road which passes by it from the
Deer Creek settlement to the ‘Lick,’ is still called _Harpe’s
Head Road_. In subsequent years a superstitious old lady of the
neighborhood, some member of whose family was afflicted with fits,
having been told that the human skull pulverized, would effect a
certain cure, thus appropriated that of the memorable outlaw of the
west.”
[Illustration: LEXINGTON, _Sept. 10_.
The two murderers by the name of Harps, who killed Mr. Langford
last winter in the wilderness, and were arrested and broke the
Danville goal, killed a family on Pond river, by the name of
Staple on the 22d day of August, and burnt the house; a party of
men pursued and overtook them and their women; the Harps parted.
Micajah Harp, took two of the women off with him; the men pursued
him, and in riding about 10 or 12 miles, caught him, having
previously shot him. He confessed the killing of Mr. Stump on Big
Barren; he also confessed of their killing 17 or 18 besides; they
killed two men near Robertson’s Lick, the day before they burnt
Staple’s house. They had with them eight horses and a considerable
quantity of plunder, seven pair of saddle bags, &c. They cut off
his head. The women were taken to the Red banks. The above took
place on Pond river in the county of Muhlenburg.
FACSIMILE OF NEWS ITEM REGARDING CAPTURE OF MICAJAH HARPE
Dated Lexington, Kentucky, September 10, 1799, and published in the
Carolina Gazette, Charleston, S. C., October 24, 1799]
Thus ended the career of “one of the most brutal monsters of the
human race.” And Little Harpe, having escaped the pursuers, resumed
elsewhere, as we shall see later, his life of outlawry. The capture
of Big Harpe is briefly described by Breazeale, Collins, Hall, and
a few other historians, but none goes into details as does Draper
in the sketch quoted. Each of these writers, however, presents
some circumstance not mentioned by the others. Some writers say
Big Harpe made a confession before he was killed; others are
absolutely silent on that feature, neither affirming nor denying
it. Local tradition, the current newspapers, and Breazeale are
among those who state that Big Harpe made a confession. It is more
than probable that he did. _The Kentucky Gazette_ of September 5,
1799, prints a statement to the effect that he confessed to killing
about twenty people. Colonel G. W. Sevier, about 1840, recalled
the number as about thirty-one. [12G] The number of their victims
noted in this sketch up to the death of Big Harpe is twenty-eight,
exclusive of the Triswords of whom there were probably about ten.
The report that Big Harpe had been captured and beheaded and that
Little Harpe had escaped spread rapidly throughout Kentucky and
Tennessee, and was soon verified by the state press. Among the
newspapers beyond the boundaries of these two states that announced
this news was _The Carolina Gazette_, of Charleston, which, in its
issue of October 24, 1799, published a paragraph on the subject,
dated Lexington, Kentucky, September 10, which is here reproduced
in facsimile.
History and local tradition have it that Big Harpe was killed in
Muhlenberg County, two miles west of Unity Baptist Church [110]
near what has since been known as Harpe’s Hill. An oak tree four
feet in diameter, which until 1910 stood about a hundred yards
from Pond River on the old Slab Road leading from Harpe’s Hill to
“Free Henry” Ford, was always pointed out as the tree under which
Big Harpe was beheaded and his headless corpse lay until it was
devoured by wild animals. On the south slope of Harpe’s Hill, about
a mile and a half east of Pond River and a few steps off the road
leading to “Free Henry” Ford, is a large isolated rock known as
Harpe’s “House.” It was at this so-called “rock house” that the
Harpes were camping when overtaken by the pursuers. [109]
After Big Harpe had been disposed of and the women held as
prisoners, the pursuers began their victorious march to Robertson’s
Lick, a distance of some thirty-five miles, there to display the
head and to warn Little Harpe and all other outlaws what to expect
should they attempt any depredations. Draper, as we have already
seen, states that before the men started on their return, Stegall
placed the severed head in one end of a wallet and some articles of
corresponding weight in the other end and then swung it across his
horse. The same historian, in one of his note books, wrote: “Big
Harpe’s wife was made to carry the head by the hair some distance;
while slinging it along she kept muttering, ‘damn the head!’”
[12G] Another account is that the men, knowing they would be
obliged to camp out for the night and require more food than still
remained, took some roasting ears from a field along the route and
having no other means of carrying them, put them unhusked into the
bag with Big Harpe’s head. Later, when the corn was taken out and
prepared for supper, one of the men refused to eat “because it had
been put into the bag with Harpe’s head.” [21]
The head was carried to the neighborhood where the two Harpes had
committed their last crime. Authors vary somewhat in the details
of just how this gruesome object was displayed as a warning to
outlaws, but all agree that it was put up by the side of the
highway (about three miles north of what later became the town of
Dixon) near the forks of the road running south from Henderson,
one branch of which extended to Marion and Eddyville and the other
to Madisonville and Russellville, Kentucky. The old road became
known as Harpe’s Head Road, and its successor, the Henderson and
Madisonville Pike, still bears that name.«12»
The captors had traveled about thirty-five miles before they
reached the spot decided upon as the most fitting place to display
the head. Continuing their journey some twenty miles further they
arrived in Henderson and there placed the three women in “the
little log dungeon, then located on the river bank near the present
bridge”--the railroad bridge erected in 1885. [124] About a week
later they were taken to the court house for trial. The minute book
of the Court of Quarter Sessions briefly shows, on pages 4 and 5,
what disposition was made of them by that court, an exact copy of
which is here given as extracted from the records in the curious
courthouse jargon of that day:
“At a Court of Quarter Sessions called and held for the County
of Henderson on Wednesday the 4th day of September, 1799, for
the examination of Susanna Harpe, Sally Harpe, and Betsey
Roberts, committed to the jail of this county for being parties
in the murder of Mary Stegall, James Stegall an infant, and
William Love at the house of Moses Stegall in this County and
in burning his house and robbing and stealing the horses, goods
and effects of the said Moses Stegall on the night of the 20th
day of August last.
“Present Samuel Hopkins and Abraham Landers Esquires.
“The said prisoners were set to the bar in custody of the
Sheriff of this County and being charged with the felony
aforesaid denied the fact sundry witnesses were thereupon sworn
and examined and the said prisoners heard in their defence
by their att’e on consideration whereof it is the opinion of
the Court that the said prisoners are guilty of the facts
charged against them and that they ought to be tried for the
same before the Judges of the District Court holden at Logan
Courthouse on the first day of their next October Court, and it
is therefore ordered that the said prisoners be remanded to
the jail from whence they came there to remain until removed by
due course of law.
“John Leiper, Nevil Lindsey, Matthew Christian, and Isham
Sellers severally acknowledged themselves indebted to his
Excellency James Garrard Esquire, Governor of this Commonwealth
in the sum of fifty pounds each to be levied on their lands
and tenements goods and chattels respectively and to our said
Governor and his successors rendered in case they fail to
appear as Witnesses, on behalf of the Commonwealth before the
Judges of the District Court holden at Logan Courthouse on
the first day of their next October Term, and then and there
give evidence against Susannah Harpe, Sally Harpe, and Betsey
Roberts charged with felony.
“(Signed) SAM HOPKINS.”«13»
A search recently made for details regarding this examining
or preliminary trial resulted in the finding of a bundle of
papers labeled “1799,” in which were discovered four depositions
pertaining to the arrest of the Harpe women. They were made
September 4, by the four men who on that day were put under bond to
appear at the trial in Russellville, to which place the case was
ordered for trial. These old documents substantiate the statements
made by Squire McBee to Lyman C. Draper who wove them, with other
details, into his account of the capture of the Harpes. The
depositions show that Moses Stegall arrived at Robertson’s Lick on
August 22, 1799, to procure volunteers to join in the chase.
Matthew Christian in his testimony recites that immediately after
Stegall came to Robertson’s Lick with the news of the murder he
started for Stegall’s farm and became fully convinced that the
report with all its terrible details was true. He then proceeded
to Grissom’s house, which had been designated as a rallying point,
preparatory to going to Squire McBee’s the following morning.
Although it was not known that Grissom’s family had left home and
gone to McBee’s to remain during the proposed pursuit, the men,
nevertheless, met at this designated place “where they tarried all
night.” Christian “found a paper fas’d to the door of Wm. Grayson’s
[Grissom’s] house, signed by Silas Magby and directed to Moses
Stegall in the following words: ‘Come to my house without delay,’
and a jacket hanging up at the said door supposed by the company
to belong to Major William Love. That he from there went to Silas
Magby’s in company with John Leiper, Nevil Lindsey, and Moses
Stegall, that on their way to Magby’s he heard a gun go off which
he supposed was fired by one of the prisoners who had committed
the felony.” This note was apparently a forgery and shows that
the Harpes had planned to kill Stegall; and since it is more than
likely that the outlaws had already started on their flight, this
attempt to waylay Stegall indicates that the Harpes must have been
associated with some accomplice living in the neighborhood, with
whom they prearranged this move.
Isom Sellers’ statement shows that on August 16, four days before
the Stegall fire, the three Harpe women stopped at John Leiper’s
house and inquired the way to Moses Stegall’s and that Sellers
“being indebted to Susannah Harpe one dollar gave her an order
upon Moses Stegall for the said sum which this deponent saith
that Moses Stegall has informed him he has paid agreeable to the
aforesaid order.” There is nothing to indicate the specific purpose
of this statement; however, it is further evidence that Stegall
was acquainted with the Harpes and he may have served as a spy or
messenger for them.
Nevil Lindsey’s deposition gives a detail not mentioned in any
printed sketch or oral tradition: “Three case-knives were stuck
into the body of Mrs. Stegal, one of them was buried in so deep
that the fire which consumed the house would not burn the handle.”
John Leiper asserts that when they “had rode about forty-five miles
they came up with Sally Harpe standing on the ground and ... to
show them the way they had gone went with them for that purpose,
that after riding about a mile and a half they came up with Susanna
Harpe, Betsey Roberts, and Micajah Harpe, they rode by the two
women and followed Micajah Harpe for about four miles, when this
deponent overtook and killed him.”
Christian’s deposition states that Big Harpe, before he died,
“asked for water and that John Leiper went to Pond River and
brought him some in a shoe.” The depositions of both Leiper and
Christian end in practically the same words: “That the said Micajah
Harpe a little while before he expired told this deponent that
Susannah was his wife and that he wished she could come up and
wished her to do better in the future and that the whole of them
would do better in the future, escrowed as he was, and that he
would acquaint her with one thing that was hid.”
Two days after their examining or preliminary trial, the three
women and two infants were sent, by order of Judge Samuel Hopkins,
to Russellville, Logan County, there to appear before the judges
of the District Court, which court at that time embraced Henderson
County. There is no history or tradition as to how the three
women were conducted to “Logan Courthouse.” They probably were
taken on horseback. The minutes of the next term of the court of
Quarter Sessions held in Henderson contain a few items that throw
some light on the expense of holding and then transferring the
prisoners, the total being $281.78.
These entries indicate that the prisoners were accompanied by the
sheriff and five guards and that the county attorney and county
clerk took part in the second trial. The prisoners and their guard
left Henderson September 6, and after traveling the ninety-five
miles, the women were turned over to the sheriff to await their
trial, September 28.«14»
Major William Stewart was sheriff of Logan County at the time.
He more than once had chased the Harpes for many a mile, only
to discover that he was going in the wrong direction and to
become irritated by his failure. He was, notwithstanding his
eccentricities, a just man and one on whom a person in need might
depend, and the three women, realizing this, must have felt
encouraged, not only by the prospect of receiving justice, but also
of having mercy shown them. Draper, in his notes on information
supplied by George Herndon, a Revolutionary soldier, who long lived
in Logan County, writes: “The women were, of course, in his charge,
and lodged in the old log jail, becoming dirty and lousy, Major
Stewart, feeling for their miserable situation, agreed to let them
enjoy the liberty, provided they promised not to attempt to escape
and thus make him liable, for he did the act on his individual
responsibility. They were rejoiced at the offer and he went around
the little town and collected some necessary articles of clothing
for them, had them and their children cleaned up, placed them in
the courthouse and got a couple of spinning wheels and set them to
spinning.” [12F]
Smith says the murders committed by the Harpes in this section
of Kentucky were too fresh in the minds of the people living in
and near Russellville and the suspicion that the women had been
accomplices in their crimes was too strong to fail to arouse a
hatred for the three women. When threats were made to tear down the
log jail and lynch the prisoners, the sheriff secretly conveyed
them into the country, where they remained until brought back for
trial.
This statement probably is not true. It may have originated from
the fact that Stegall and some of his friends rode to Russellville
for the purpose of killing the women should they be acquitted.
Discovering Stegall’s motive, Stewart put the Harpe women back in
jail, pretending “it would never do to turn such characters loose
upon society,” but the next night he hid them in a cave about five
miles from town and thus shielded them from the revenge-seeking
Stegall who, a few days later, returned home. [28]
An examination of the minute book of the old District Court
preserved in Russellville, shows that on Monday, October 28,
1799, a grand jury having been empaneled, “made the following
presentment: Commonwealth against Susanna Harpe, Sally Harpe, and
Betsey Roberts, a true bill.” A District Court was presided over
by a judge and two associate judges, and Judges Samuel McDowell
and John Allen being absent, the women, rather than delay the
trial, agreed to be tried before the one who was present, namely,
Judge James G. Hunter. Judge Felix Grundy appeared in behalf of
the women, and no one, except the prosecuting officer, against
them. Each prisoner was tried by a different jury, the three trials
taking place on October 29th and 30th. “Susanna Harpe, late of the
County of Henderson and parish of Kentucky, spinster, who stands
indicted of felony was led to the bar in the custody of the public
jailor and pleads not guilty to the Indictment, and for her trial
hath put herself upon God and her Country and the Attorney General
in behalf of the Commonwealth, likewise whereupon came a jury,
to-wit: [twelve men are named] who being tried ... and having heard
the evidence, upon their oaths do say that the Susanna Harpe is not
guilty of the murder aforesaid.”
Then followed the trials of “Betsey Roberts, spinster,” and “Sally
Harpe, spinster,” both of whom were found “not guilty of the murder
aforesaid.” No depositions or other records of the proceedings of
these three trials can now be found among the various old documents
still preserved in the Logan County Court House. The women were
liberated and the act seems to have met the approval of the public.
Major Stewart, in his capacity as sheriff, had many opportunities
to talk to his prisoners. Some of the incidents in their lives
could not have failed to touch the heart of any man, especially
when heard from the lips of the women themselves. Forty years after
the Harpe women had been captured, an interview with him on the
subject was arranged to procure facts for publication. From this
interview we quote:
“Major Stewart said the women seemed grateful to him, and related
with apparent candor the story of their lives and their connection
with the Harpes. They told him that their husbands had once been
put in jail in Knoxville, Tennessee, upon suspicion of crime,
when they were innocent; when released, they declared war against
all mankind, and determined to murder and rob until they were
killed. They said they might have escaped after the murder and
robbery at Stegall’s, but for the detention at the branch where
Smith was shot. Big Harpe, expecting to be pursued, proposed that
the three children be killed, that the others might flee without
that encumbrance. His two wives and brother consented after some
discussion, but the wife of Little Harpe took her child off to
the branch where she had seen a projecting, shelving rock, under
which she placed it, and lay down at its outer side, determined to
remain and die with her child. As her husband came to the branch
to let her know they had concluded to put the children to death,
he saw Smith, the horse hunter, approaching. He moved toward him,
and sounded the shrill whistle on his ‘charger’--the understood
signal of impending danger. Big Harpe almost in a moment made his
appearance at the branch mounted on Love’s mare, when the firing
commenced. Smith was shot down and the Harpes fled. Big Harpe did
not go directly to the camp, but circled around it, fearing the
pursuers might already have taken it. These sudden and unexpected
events saved the lives of the children by allowing no time for
their execution. Little Harpe’s wife and child hastily returned to
the camp, when the firing took place a little distance below the
shelving rock, and were made prisoners with the wives and children
of Big Harpe.” [28]
The same delay that resulted in the capture and death of Big Harpe
brought about a great change in the lives of the Harpe women. But
Major Stewart, in the interview given forty years after the women
had been in his charge, evidently was somewhat mistaken in some
of the details and in the identity of some of the characters he
recalled. There never were more than three Harpe children and all
of them were born in the Danville jail. We have seen how the child
of Little Harpe’s wife was killed a few weeks before the women were
arrested and taken to Henderson; it is later shown what became of
Big Harpe’s children, both of whom were with their mothers in the
Russellville jail. It is quite likely that when Big Harpe realized
the pursuers were close at hand, he proposed that the children be
killed and that then Little Harpe’s wife took the two infants and
“determined to remain and die” with them. A few weeks before, she
had seen her own child cruelly murdered by Big Harpe, and probably
had, ever since, awaited a chance to escape from the violence and
villainy of the lives led by the Harpes. She doubtless concluded it
would be far better for her and the two infants to fall into the
hands of the pursuers than to kill the infants, even though the
killing of them would relieve the five Harpes of an encumbrance
which they considered sufficient to interfere with their escape.
At any rate, the desire of Little Harpe’s wife to free herself,
combined with her effort to save the two infants, exercising itself
as it did at this critical moment, delayed the attempt to escape
and resulted in the capture and killing of Big Harpe.«15»
The Harpes--Mysteries and Fate of Survivors