The following additional particulars, as sequel to the Summerfield
homicide, have been furnished by an Auburn correspondent:
Mr. Editor: The remarkable confession of the late Leonidas Parker, which
appeared in your issue of the 13th ultimo, has given rise to a series
of disturbances in this neighborhood, which, for romantic interest and
downright depravity, have seldom been surpassed, even in California.
Before proceeding to relate in detail the late transactions, allow me
to remark that the wonderful narrative of Parker excited throughout this
county sentiments of the most profound and contradictory character.
I, for one, halted between two opinions--horror and incredulity; and
nothing but subsequent events could have fully satisfied me of the
unquestionable veracity of your San Francisco correspondent, and the
scientific authenticity of the facts related.
The doubt with which the story was at first received in this
community--and which found utterance in a burlesque article in an
obscure country journal, the Stars and Stripes, of Auburn--has finally
been dispelled, and we find ourselves forced to admit that we stand even
now in the presence of the most alarming fate. Too much credit cannot be
awarded to our worthy coroner for the promptitude of his action, and we
trust that the Governor of the State will not be less efficient in the
discharge of his duty.
[Since the above letter was written the following proclamation has been
issued.--P. J.]
Proclamation of the Governor.
$10,000 Reward.
Department of State.
By virtue of the authority in me vested, I do hereby offer the above
reward of ten thousand dollars, in gold coin of the United States, for
the arrest of Bartholomew Graham, familiarly known as "Black Bart." Said
Graham is accused of the murder of C. P. Gillson, late of Auburn, county
of Placer, on the 14th ultimo. He is five feet ten inches and a half in
height, thick set, has a mustache sprinkled with gray, grizzled hair,
clear blue eyes, walks stooping, and served in the late civil war, under
Price and Quantrell, in the Confederate army. He may be lurking in some
of the mining-camps near the foot-hills, as he was a Washoe teamster
during the Comstock excitement. The above reward will be paid for him,
dead or alive, as he possessed himself of an important secret by robbing
the body of the late Gregory Summerfield.
By the Governor: H. G. Nicholson,
Secretary of State.
Given at Sacramento, this the fifth day of June, 1871.
Our correspondent continues:
I am sorry to say that Sheriff Higgins has not been so active in the
discharge of his duty as the urgency of the case required, but he is
perhaps excusable on account of the criminal interference of the editor
above alluded to. But I am detaining you from more important matters.
Your Saturday's paper reached here at 4 o'clock Saturday,13th May, and,
as it now appears from the evidence taken before the coroner, several
persons left Auburn on the same errand, but without any previous
conference. Two of these were named respectively Charles P. Gillson and
Bartholomew Graham, or, as he was usually called, "Black Bart." Gillson
kept a saloon at the corner of Prickly Ash Street and the Old Spring
Road; and Black Bart was in the employ of Conrad & Co., keepers of the
Norfolk Livery Stable. Gillson was a son-in-law of ex-Governor Roberts,
of Iowa, and leaves a wife and two children to mourn his untimely end.
As for Graham, nothing certain is known of his antecedents. It is said
that he was engaged in the late robbery of Wells & Fargo's express at
Grizzly Bend, and that he was an habitual gambler. Only one thing about
him is certainly well known: he was a lieutenant in the Confederate
army, and served under General Price and the outlaw Quantrell. He was a
man originally of fine education, plausible manners and good family, but
strong drink seems early in life to have overmastered him, and left him
but a wreck of himself. But he was not incapable of generous or, rather,
romantic acts; for, during the burning of the Putnam House in this
town last summer, he rescued two ladies from the flames. In so doing he
scorched his left hand so seriously as to contract the tendons of two
fingers, and this very scar may lead to his apprehension. There is no
doubt about his utter desperation of character, and, if taken at all, it
will probably be not alive.
So much for the persons concerned in the tragedy at the Flat.
Herewith I inclose copies of the testimony of the witnesses examined
before the coroner's jury, together with the statement of Gillson, taken
in articulo mortis:
Deposition of Dollie Adams.
State of California, } County of Placer. } ss.
Said witness, being duly sworn, deposes as follows, to wit: My name is
Dolly Adams, my age forty-seven years; I am the wife of Frank G. Adams,
of this township, and reside on the North Fork of the American River,
below Cape Horn, on Thompson's Flat. About one o'clock p. m., May 14,
1871, I left the cabin to gather wood to cook dinner for my husband and
the hands at work for him on the claim. The trees are mostly cut away
from the bottom, and I had to climb some distance up the mountainside
before I could get enough to kindle the fire. I had gone about five
hundred yards from the cabin, and was searching for small sticks of
fallen timber, when I thought I heard some one groan, as if in pain. I
paused and listened; the groaning became more distinct, and I started
at once for the place whence the sounds proceeded; about ten steps off
I discovered the man whose remains lie there (pointing to the deceased),
sitting up, with his back against a big rock. He looked so pale that I
thought him already dead, but he continued to moan until I reached his
side. Hearing me approach, he opened his eyes, and begged me, "For God's
sake, give me a drop of water!" I asked him, "What is the matter?" He
replied, "I am shot in the back." "Dangerously?" I demanded. "Fatally!"
he faltered. Without waiting to question him further, I returned to the
cabin, told Zenie, my daughter, what I had seen, and sent her off on
a run for the men. Taking with me a gourd of water, some milk and
bread--for I thought the poor gentleman might be hungry and weak, as
well as wounded--I hurried back to his side, where I remained until
"father"--as we all call my husband--came with the men. We removed
him as gently as we could to the cabin; then sent for Dr. Liebner, and
nursed him until he died, yesterday, just at sunset.
Question by the Coroner: Did you hear his statement, taken down by the
Assistant District-Attorney?--A. I did.
Q. Did you see him sign it?--A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is this your signature thereto as witness?--A. It is, sir.
(Signed) Dollie Adams.
Deposition of Miss X. V. Adams.
Being first duly sworn, witness testified as follows: My name is
Xixenia Volumnia Adams; I am the daughter of Frank G. Adams and the last
witness; I reside with them on the Flat, and my age is eighteen years.
A little past one o'clock on Sunday last my mother came running into
the house and informed me that a man was dying on the side-hill, from a
wound, and that I must go for father and the boys immediately. I ran
as fast as my legs would carry me to where they were "cleaning up," for
they never cleaned up week-days on the Flat, and told the news; we all
came back together and proceeded to the spot where the wounded man lay
weltering in his blood; he was cautiously removed to the cabin, where he
lingered until yesterday sundown, when he died.
Question. Did he speak after he reached the cabin?--A. He did
frequently; at first with great pain, but afterward more audibly and
intelligibly.
Q. What did he say?--A. First, to send for Squire Jacobs, the Assistant
District-Attorney, as he had a statement to make; and some time
afterward, to send for his wife; but we first of all sent for the
doctor.
Q. Who was present when he died?--A. Only myself; he had appeared a
great deal easier, and his wife had lain down to take a short nap, and
my mother had gone to the spring and left me alone to watch. Suddenly he
lifted himself spasmodically in bed, glared around wildly and muttered
something inaudible; seeing me, he cried out, "Run! run! run! He has it!
Black Bart has got the vial! Quick! or he'll set the world afire! See,
he opens it! O my God! Look! look! look! Hold his hands! tie him! chain
him down! Too late! too late! oh, the flames! Fire! fire! fire!" His
tone of voice gradually strengthened until the end of his raving; when
he cried "fire!" his eyeballs glared, his mouth quivered, his body
convulsed, and before Mrs. Gillson could reach his bedside he fell back
stone dead. (Signed) X. V. Adams.
The testimony of Adams corroborated in every particular that of his wife
and daughter, but set forth more fully the particulars of his demoniac
ravings. He would taste nothing from a glass or bottle, but shuddered
whenever any article of that sort met his eyes. In fact, they had to
remove from the room the cups, tumblers, and even the castors. At times
he spoke rationally, but after the second day only in momentary flashes
of sanity.
The deposition of the attending physician, after giving the general
facts with regard to the sickness of the patient and his subsequent
demise, proceeded thus:
I found the patient weak, and suffering from loss of blood and rest, and
want of nourishment; occasionally sane, but for the most part flighty
and in a comatose condition. The wound was an ordinary gunshot wound,
produced most probably by the ball of a navy revolver, fired at the
distance of ten paces. It entered the back near the left clavicle,
beneath the scapula, close to the vertebrae between the intercostal
spaces of the fifth and sixth ribs; grazing the pericardium it traversed
the mediastinum, barely touching the oesophagus, and vena azygos,
but completely severing the thoracic duct, and lodging in the xiphoid
portion of the sternum. Necessarily fatal, there was no reason, however,
why the patient could not linger for a week or more; but it is no
less certain that from the effect of the wound he ultimately died. I
witnessed the execution of the paper shown to me--as the statement of
deceased--at his request; and at the time of signing the same he was
in his perfect senses. It was taken down in my presence by Jacobs,
the Assistant District-Attorney of Placer County, and read over to the
deceased before he affixed his signature. I was not present when he
breathed his last, having been called away by my patients in the town of
Auburn, but I reached his bedside shortly afterward. In my judgment, no
amount of care or medical attention could have prolonged his life more
than a few days.
(Signed) Karl Liebner, M. D.
The statement of the deceased was then introduced to the jury as
follows: