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Outrage Upon Northern Rights! Great Excitement!

Outrage Upon Northern Rights! Great Excitement! image
Parent Issue
Day
28
Month
August
Year
1847
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Mr. Editor : - I have just returned f rom t!ie pleasarit and peaceful vüloge of Ca-;sopols, Cass Co. - distant sixteen railes from this plai e - where I was called to witnes scpnes uhich 1 hope, for tlie honor of Michigan may never be re enncted on the soil of ; free and sovereign State. On Fridoy mrning last, a gang o Kentuckijns, 10 the nuniber of sixteen (which we are informed is a part of company of sixiy, who left Kentucky to gelher, For the Northern tiunting grounri' comiTifiicPii their diah .licil work jusl beibre ilie break of day, aftor hnving divided themselves into cornanies of three and f.iur each ; being armo I witli earbines, pistol.s, dirks, &c. They entereH Bimultanaowtly a number. of dwellmgs, draging the .-lceping inmutes from their beds, and confiuing tbem in irons. In one of thern, a mnn in attomp'ing to escape was knocked down, nnd afiet being mucli cut nnd nrng'ed, was securtd. In auother they caught a little infant, tlie inother making her escape. By this time they had succeeded in securing nine individuáis; but this v;is no sooner done, than the neighborhood being alnnnrd, en me to the spot, and demanded that the parties should proceed to the village of Cassopolis and present their claim to their properly bofore the proper au'hority. To this the Kentuckians,after many threats to use tbeli' fire arms, were compelled lo siibmi', tliey bcing by this time far outnumbered. On arriving at Cassopolis a warrant was oblained against the Kentuckians on the charge of assault and bntlery ; ond the PRorERTY in irons was subponaed as witnesses in the case, nnd in defnult of bail was committed to jail to nppear at the trial which, at the request of the Kentuckians, was deferred four days to enable them to send to Kalamazoo for counsel - they being held to bail in th sum of three thousand dollars, which they obtained by dppositing $900 and their horses in the hands of sotne of tbe citizens. At this stage of the proceedings two of the friends n Cassnpolis came to Niles to obtain a writ of habeas corpus from E. Mcllvaine Esq. The writ, some additional counsel, and some friends beingobtaiiied, we rnpaired to Cassopolis. The writ being served, the claimants were requested to prove proprly. They firsl asked for an adjournment lo enable them to send to Indiana for witnesses. - The motion, afier being argued by counsel, was overruled. They then called one of their number as a witness, whose name by mUtake had been omitted in the writ ; but before he had proceeded far tbp question of the exislence of slavefv in Kentucky being raised, the court decided that it could not be proved by parole testimony. The witness then look his se;it. The counsel for the defence now examiiel sundry papers of his clients', when he informed the court that hu had no further testimony to offer; whereupon lus honor E. Mcllvaine dischargpd the prisnners - giving his decisión at the same time ihat he, being a State offi, er, had no jurisdiciion in the c.-ise - ihat no one but a United Sta'es officer could give a certifícate of ownership. This decisión, to the honor of the large assembly convened be it said, was received wiih almost universal applau.e. The counsel in behalf of the defence were Messrs. Smilh & Sullivan of Cassopolis and Jame1; Brown Esq. of Niles. Too mucli praise cannot be awarded to them for the talent and zeal they manifested on the occasion. I haste to give you this mengre &kelch, so that you raay put the community on their guard. Must an armej banditti inarch ihrough Michigan? No, never! Perhaps you may soon receive a more d3tailed statement of facts. Yours for Liberty, Niles, Berrien Co., Ang. 21, '47.

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News