OUTRAGE AT COLUMBIA, KENTUCKY.
"Gold begets in brethren hate;
Gold, in families, debate;
Gold does friendship separate;
Gold does civil wars create."
The James Boys were good travelers, and did not confine themselves
to narrow limits. One week they might be in Clay county, Missouri,
and the next in Nelson, or Logan, or Jessamine county, Kentucky,
and then in five days more or less they would be in New York
City, and in another week they might be found in Texas far toward
the Mexican border. The Boys understood the advantages of rapid
movements. When they had "business" on hand, they never appeared in
the vicinity of the scene of their intended operation. Only one or
two of their most trusted friends, under any circumstances, were
allowed to know anything of their presence in the vicinity. When
going to commit a robbery in a strange place, the utmost caution
was used to keep down even the suspicion that anything was wrong.
Thus it was with the band at Russellville, and at Gallatin, Mo.
No one had seen them or even heard of any suspicious characters
around. In both cases the first intimation the citizens had of the
presence of banditti in their streets was the reports of fire-arms
and the shouts of the dashing robbers as they thundered along the
highways. They appeared as suddenly as a meteor, and departed as
quickly as an apparition. Such were their tactics at Northfield,
where the Jameses are known to have taken part in the attempt to
rob the bank. Precisely the same order was observed on the occasion
of the outrage at Columbia, Kentucky, which we shall now proceed to
describe.
Columbia is a pleasant village in Adair county, in the middle part
of the State of Kentucky. In the region of country in which Adair
county is included, there are many of the relatives of the Boys
resident, and these were then also friends. Columbia is a quiet
village, except during the terms of the courts which meet there, it
being the seat of justice of the county. At the time which we are
now considering, the courts were not in session, and no more sedate
a town in all Kentucky could be found than Columbia.
It was a lovely afternoon, April 29, 1872. The genial warmth of the
sun had decked the earth in a carpet of green, clothed the trees
in the forest, and called into being the myriad flowers, whose
perfumes scented the breezy air. It was mild, and one of those
lazy, dreamy afternoons, when, from very excess of enjoyment of the
beauties of reviving nature, men are disposed to fall into sweet
reveries.
But the quietude of Columbia was about to be rudely broken in upon,
the repose of the beautiful spring day disturbed, and the place
swept by a storm of excitement such as Columbia never experienced
before. But we will not anticipate.
At the hour of two o'clock, on the afternoon of April 29th, 1872,
Mr. R. A. C. Martin, cashier of the Deposit Bank at Columbia, and
Mr. Garnett, a citizen, and two friends, were sitting quietly
conversing in the bank office. Neither of the gentlemen was armed,
and no one could have anticipated danger. Everything in the village
was quiet, and the country around was enjoying the blessings of
peace.
A half hour later the equanimity of the gentlemen was disturbed by
the entrance of three men, well armed, who, with cocked pistols,
ordered the cashier to surrender up the keys of the safe. Another
one attempted to shoot Mr. Garnett, but that gentleman saved his
life by knocking up the pistol, but was burned slightly by the
flame produced by the discharge. All this was the transaction of a
moment of time.
"Will you give up the safe-key, d--n you?" shouted one of the
robbers, with a cocked pistol presented at Martin's head.
"I will not," was the answer.
"Then, d--n you, will you open the safe? Come, I've no time to
wait. If you don't, I will blow your brains out. Come, will you?"
"I will not. I will d--"
The words were cut short. The sentence was never completed. There
was a loud report, an involuntary moan from lips that would never
speak again, and the lifeless form of R. A. C. Martin, the brave
cashier, fell heavily to the floor. The other three gentlemen were
guarded by one of the robbers, who kept his pistol cocked and
pointed at them, and in view of their dead friend, jested with them
about the facility with which he could dispatch all three of them.
They had witnessed a demonstration of his skill, and they trembled
for their lives.
Having disposed of the cashier, the two robbers who were in the
bank commenced gathering up all the money and other valuables
which were outside the safe. They tried to open the safe, but the
combination was with the dead cashier, and the robbers were baffled.
It was soon known that five men, splendidly mounted, had entered
Columbia, at an hour when very few people were abroad. They were
armed with heavy dragoon pistols, but as they were divided, two
coming in on one road and three on another, the citizens did not
take the alarm until they heard, the firing at the bank. Two men
held the horses of the three who went into the bank, and with
pistols fired at every one who appeared on the street; and by their
savage yells and fearful oaths they alarmed the people to such an
extent that the place soon appeared as if it had been deserted.
Gathering everything they could carry away that had the semblance
of money, placing it in a sack, and, one of them throwing it across
his horse, the three robbers who had gone inside the building came
out, remounted their horses, and with a shout which sent a thrill
of terror to the hearts of the citizens of Columbia, they galloped
away unmolested.
The suddenness of the raid; the terrible character of the men
revealed by the murder of so highly esteemed a citizen as Mr.
Martin; the facility with which they shot a vane off a chimney,
and their declarations that they would murder every man in the
place, which declarations were accompanied by the most terrible
oaths, all had a tendency to demoralize the men of Columbia.
Surprise and consternation prevented immediate action. But when
the cause of their fears no longer remained, they rallied, and
then commenced a pursuit which continued until in the mountains
of Tennessee, in Fentress county, one of the robbers, who went by
the name of Saunders, was wounded and finally captured. This man
was often seen, by their friends, with Frank and Jesse James. This
is conclusive of the fact that the Columbia robbery was committed
by the same gang, who for some years are known to have aided the
James Boys and Younger Brothers in many of their depredations. It
has been asserted by some persons, in a position to obtain reliable
information, that Frank James was the leader in this raid, and
that Bill Longley, the noted Texas desperado, formed one of the
party. At any rate, none of the robbers were ever caught, except
the Texan, who went by the name of Saunders, and he was so fatally
wounded that death closed his existence soon after.
Martin, the murdered cashier, was a gentleman held in high regard
by the people of Adair county, and was a member of the Kentucky
Legislature at the time of his tragic death. The failure to catch
the robbers on this occasion had the effect of creating in the
public mind the belief that an organized band of bank breakers
existed, and sometimes the names of the Jameses and Youngers were
mentioned as leaders of the band.