The Settler in Kentucky.

Cromwell Argus, Volume I, Issue 20, 30 March 1870, Page 7

The Settler in Kentucky.

■lt was some time in the year I&2G that I emigrated to Kentucky, which was at that time a frontier county of the state of Virginia. I was then quite a young man, and b/ profession a practical surveyor. 1 found at once constant and profitable employ meat in arranging the land claims of the numorpas settlers. The range of ra/. business extended over a wide s;ope of country, following the line of the settlements as thoy struck deeper and farther out into the wilderness. From the nataro of my employment, I was necessarily much in the woo Is, often entirely alone ; and I soon £-quire 1 thj love of adventure and the uulifferjnce to personal peril which seam t'le spontaneous pro luction of a wild and roving life. The country was comparatively a wilderjiss. With the exception of the growing gjctleinents which here and there ddtte I the suffice, an unbroken expanse of forest I stretched out, apparently, to illimitable distauces in all directions. Sh ilteroU in the woody retreats, the wild beasts and fie Indians held a divided sway, and surrounded the adventurous intruder with multiplied perils, Gaug3 of desperadoes infest)d the highways, and tilled tlie coun try with s:eneg of violence, it became unsafe to travel alone, and especially in th-3 night. The solitary or bolated traveller in some of the more sparsely settled portions of the country, was almost sure to flose his purse, and often his life, at the m m Is of individual plunderers, but more jfieauontly of confederated robbers. 1 Living in the midst of such scenes and lexcitemeuts, my nature—naturally fearless I—soon acquired a spirit defiant of all Rhe dangtS-s which encompassed the exposed life which A was leading. Still, I was aljways wide awake when abroad, and ever jkeenly on the watch when I hail occasion jjto piss from one place to another in making my surveys. I always .went well amounted and well armed, and travelled, jespecially when unaccompanied, only in klie daytime. ■ ■• "'■'" I On one occasion I had been settling jelaims at some distance from my place of jpsidence, and having been absent for sevefr.d weeks, I had become extremely anxious jto return home. Mounting my horse about mud-day, ( hoped, by dint of hard riding. Jto reach a noted tavern on my return jnute by sunset, fn this, however, I was jpstined to bo disappointed. The roads Irere mtrv from rain and frost, and my |ior33, in sute of the solicitation of whip lind spur, ilou vlered so slowly along them what the day closed when I was still many pules distant from my place of destination. p rode o-i in thr> deep miug darkness, chill'd !>y the keen October air, and revolving ilmost unconssiouslv in my mind the many ides that I hj id heard of robbery and asjsisinitioa committed upon b.dited travelBars like myself. The glimmer of a light Ithroug'i the woods, and the welcome bark lof a dog, betokened a human habitation Inear the ro id. A slight c ill brought the joectip int to the door, and he readily con !»ssntod to entertain me for the night. I dismounted, and my host, a stout, roughlooking man, inviting me to enter his .cabin, immediately led my horse to the jatihle. I Entering the open door of the house, I found a cheerful tire blazing and crackling on the hearth, The room was small, but closd and comfortable. A side-door revealed another apartment, which, as I eon jectured, was the one I should occupy tor j the night. The furniture of both rooms | was scant almost to destitution. I saw no other inmate. The spirit of loneliness seemed to hover over the place as I entered boating myself on one of the three legged stools near the fire, I stretched out my numbed hands and feet to receive the grateful heat. The comfort of returning warmth in a few minutes diffused itself over my wholo.person. I felt even exhilarated, as the torpidity of cold passed off, and my mind ceased to recall the grim memories and traditions which haunted me during my lonely ride. Suddenly a most peculiar and thrilling sensation shot along my nerves, and flushed like an instantaneous glow over me. I had never before, and have never since, experienced any sensation at all similar to it. It was like, and yet most unlike, the nervous shuddering produced by the shock horn an electric battery. I felt at the same time a sort of dread—an apprehension, vague and undefinable—that danger of some kind was near me. My first thought was that sudden and serious illness hail seized me. I rose from my seat and walked across the room. Every step that T took seemed to increase the tingling sensation in my body, and the apprehensiyeness, changing rapidly to terror, in my miid. An impulse, which I did not care, or attempt to resist, drew me towards the door through which I had entered. I stepped out, and felt at once entirely relieved, in both body and mind. I was perplexed, but not alarmed, by the singularity of the occurrence. Feeling entirely relieved, and the night air being quite cool, I went back into the house, and resumed my seat by the fire. I had scarcely seated myself, when the nervous tremour and sense of dread returned with redoubled YioitocQ, They came jtf ;firat suddenly,

and without premonition of any kind. My nerves seemed to quiver with a sort of vibratory thrill, and the mental emotion amounted to absolute horror. I leaped up and spr ing out of doors. The same result followed as before. In an instant the tingling thrill vanished from my body, and the shuddering horror pissed from my mind, A few steps from the door 1 met th s grim landlord returning from the stable, with my bridle and saddle swung across one of his sinewy arms. I requested him to re-siddle my horse, as I had decided to 1,0 on to the next tavern that night, He rem uistr.ited ssrongly against the undertaking, urging the darkness of th* night, th '■ distance of the route, and the dinger of robbery or assassination. 1 did not care to reason the matter with him, much less to disebse th < motive for my resolution to go on, in den nice of the p'rils ho arrayed before me, The piremptory tone In which I repeated the c ill for n\y hon-j, without the least notice of what hj» was saying, put a stop to his expostulation. He returned to the stable and in a few moments brought me my horse. I offered to pay him for the trouble I had given, but he sharply and positively declincd to receive any compensation. Having examined the priming of my pistols, I ludo my sullen host good night and rode off. At a late hour of the night I reached the cross road tavern, and, after partaking of a good supper, soon found oblivion for the events of the day in a sound and refreshing sleep. Time passed on. The events winch I have just related had almost faded from my memory. I. had married and settled whflfre I" am now living. Kentucky had become a State.of the Union, and I saw a busy and thriving population dwelling where I had sieen a wilderness, inhabited only by wild-beasts and Indians. It was a wonderful transformation, and I can even now scarce credit the evidence of the mighty change.which. 1 have witnessed. At length bu'siness. oalled me to the chief town'of a neighbouring county. On ray arrival, I found a large crowd assembled to witness the execution of a noted criminal, who had been convicted of robbery and murder, and sentenced to be hanged. I am by no means partial to such spectacles ; but somehow I felt a desire to be present at this execution, It was rumored that the convict intended to make a confession at the gallows of all his evil deeds. This inflamed my curiosity, so I went with the crowd to the place appointed for the awful expiation. An immense concourse of both sexes, as was customary in that day, was present. The place selected for the execution was at the base of somj high hills, which formed bv their declivities a natural amphitheatre for the accommodation of the The day was bright and still. Nature, in her silent beauty, seemed little in hirmony with the awful spectacle which we were about to witness. Escorted by the military and the ministers of the law, the criminal at length arrived. He ascended the platform under ■the gallows with a firm step, and looked round with an air of careless indifference upon the vast assemblage. The sheriff whispered something intended for his ear alone. He rose and advanced to the side of the platform that faced the bulk of the crowd. The murmur of expectation was succeeded by universal silence. Evervone seemed eager to hear what he was about to say. Standing near the platform, I had a full view of the criminal. He was an old man, apparently more than seventy years of age. His hail- was white and thin. His person was stout and thick set. His eyes, which were fierce and peculiarly malignant in expression, glared with hate and scorn as he surveyed the expectant crowd. The bronzed face, upon whose adamant features no line of sensibility or kindlv feeling was visible, attested a life of hardened villany and crime. He began his confession, and spoke ft)'more than an hour, in a harsh and most repulsive tone of voice. I heard with the utmost distinctness every woid that he uttered. He was, as it seemed, born wi-h the instincts and the aptitudes which make a man a villain almost from the cradle He grew up with favourable opportunities for indulging his appetite for crime. Allured by the hope of both pillage and impunity, he oame with the rushing tide of emigration to Kentucky, in the days of its early settlement. He built his cabin in the loneliest solitude of the wilderness, or in some mountain gorge near the highway, that he might rob the unwary travellers who became his guests. After a few successful feats of his murderous skill in one place, he took the precaution to remove to another one, thus multiplying the chances against detection, and enlarging the field of his operations, Many an adventurous traveller, who had come to Kentucky in search of a new home, had gone down beneath his hand to the grave, and left no sign of his going. As the population of the State increased; and the police of the law became more vigilant, ho retired to the mountainous and comparatively uninhabited districts, practising his grim trade upon a reduced fcale of profit and of crime. During the nearly liaH-oentury of laa robber Ufa that

I had been spent in Kentucky, only one man had ever stopped at his cabin in the wilderness ut night, and left it alive. In the early settlement of tho country, a young man came out from Virginia, who was,a practical surveyor. Being expert in his profession, he soon acquired a large run of business. He always went well mounted and well armed, and seemed alilco vigilant and fearless in his movements. ' ( " I took it into my head," said tho convict, " that this young surveyor musb always hive about him in his travels considerable sums of money, arising from fees paid him by the settlers for surveys, or fro. 1 j deposits made with him to bo "paid into tho Land-office for Government warrants. He was, consequently, in my eyes, a rich booty, and, as he occasionally passed my cabin, I hoped in time to have him for my guest. The wished-for event came at last. On his return home from a surveying excursion, he was belated, and called at my cabin to spent! the night.- [ was overjoyed when, on going out to take his horse, I saw, by a momentary flash of (irelight on his features, that it was the wily, surveyor who was about to become my guest. ' I led his horse to the stable; and he went in to the tire, for it was a raw night in October, and he appeared .almost benumbed with cold. While stabling the horse, I arranged ia my mind the details of a pian for his death. This was easily accomplished; for I had only to repeat what Ih id often done before. There was a door opening from my own room into the one in which I lodged the few guests that called upon me. Having fed the horse, I returned to the house with my mind full of the scheme I had planned and determined to execute. I met the surveyor in the yard, hurrying with a quick step from the house. In an excited and peremptory tone of voice he requested ms? to saddle his horse, saying that he had decided to go on to the tavern at the crossroads. I told him that it was a long distance to travel alone on such a dark night, and that there was even danger of robbery and assassination, as there were robbers about, and that a man had been murdered by them in the neighbourhood only a few days before. He seemed to pay no attention to what i said, but repeated, iu a firmer and louder tone of voice, the call for his hors •. Somehow I felt awed by his manner and voice, and immediately brought him his horse. He rode off, and I afterwards heard that he reached the tavern safely, but at a late hour of the night. I have never seen him since, as I soon after changed my residence to a distance from the region in which he made the surveys." These revelations of the criminal thrilled mo with horror. I recognised in the grayhaired culprit my host of the wilderness cabin ; and the surveyor, his intended victim, was unmistakeably myself. All the events of that nearly forgotten adventure cama back fresh to my memory. I recalled every incident of that terrible night. The recollection of those events, the scene which was transpiring before me, and more than all, the awful certainty that a presentiment had been vouchsafed to deliver me from impending death, impressed me so powerfully, that I hurriedly withdrew from the crowd, despatched my business, and returned home. From that day I became a firm believer in presentiments.