Mississippi Outlaws and the Detectives

"While in the woods we divided the money, but Levi, who carried it, showed up only twenty three hundred dollars.

"Sunday night we stole a skiff in Hickman and went down the river to James' Bayou, and while there, on Monday morning, we saw Messenger Cross, whose car had been robbed, making inquiries about us in a grocery-store. We then started off on foot, going down the river on the Missouri shore. About a mile below James' Bayou we found the skiff which we had previously set adrift, and which had evidently been picked up by some one. Taking this skiff again, Hillary, Taylor, and I dropped down to a point about a mile above Lester's, leaving Levi on the Missouri shore, where we started from. We landed on the Tennessee shore, and walked down the river road a short distance, when Taylor left us, remaining in the woods. Hillary and I met Lester on the road soon afterward, and told him that we had come down on a steamboat which was then tied up, on account of the heavy fog. Levi arrived next day, having come across the river with a fisherman.

"The following Sunday, October 29, Hillary left on a steamboat, taking with him a woman named Slaughter, with whom he said he was going to Davidson's wood-yard, nine miles above Cape Girardeau. He expected to return in a few days.

"The next thing of any importance which occurred was on the Tuesday night following, when Messrs. Pinkerton and Connell rode up to Lester's house. At the first glance, I thought they were officers, and Levi told me that he thought the same. I saw him pull his pistol out of his pocket before getting out of his chair."

[The moment Connell opened the door, Levi knew that he was a detective, having seen him acting in that capacity in Memphis, when Hillary was arrested for horse-stealing the previous spring.]

"When I made my escape from Lester's house," continued Barton, "I ran right back through the cornfield; I heard all the shooting, but did not see it. In a short time Levi joined me in the cane-brake back of the cornfield. Levi told me that he had had a shooting match with the two officers, but he did not know whether he had hit either of them or not; they had not hit him, but he had had a very narrow escape.

"After awhile we slipped up to the house, and saw that the officers were gone; so we went in, got our supper, and took our pistols, besides a shawl and blanket. We then got an old skiff, crossed the river, and slept in the woods on the Missouri shore. The next day we remained under cover until nightfall, when we recrossed the river, and went through the woods to Union City, spending Wednesday night and Thursday in the woods on the way. On Thursday night we took the train from Union City to Gillem Station. The conductor of the train was Conductor Roberts, on whose run I had formerly been brakeman; and, being afraid he might recognize me, I laid down in my seat and covered up my face, while Levi paid both fares. We arrived at Gillem Station about three o'clock in the morning, and reached Mrs. Farrington's house about daylight.

"I gave Mrs. Farrington five hundred and fifty dollars in money to keep for me, this amount being the proceeds of both express robberies, and she still has it in her possession. Before leaving Lester's, Hillary had given most of his money to Levi to take to their mother to keep for him, and Levi left with her nearly the whole of his share of the plunder also.

"We had been at Mrs. Farrington's a week when Hillary arrived. Before this, we all thought that the officers had captured him, and we were quite surprised to see him safe. He said that Detective Connell had arrested him at Mrs. Gully's, and that he had made his escape by jumping out of Connell's wagon into a thicket near Allenville; he had then gone right back to the house where he had left Mrs. Slaughter, where he got a pistol and some money, and had his irons removed.

"At the time Hillary arrived at Mrs. Farrington's, the old lady had been gone a day and a night on her way to Texas or Missouri. It was understood that Levi and I were to meet her somewhere on the road, or at Holton's farm, near the line between Lawrence and Dade Counties, Missouri. The day after Hillary arrived, we started for Missouri; I was riding a sorrel horse; Hillary, a chestnut-sorrel horse; and Levi, a large brown mule. We spent two days at the house of Mr. Douglas, near Mrs. Farrington's, and then crossed the Tennessee River at Cuba. We crossed the Mississippi River by the last ferryboat on Friday evening, November 10, at Hall's Ferry, opposite Point Pleasant, Missouri. We saw no men on guard at the ferries. We struck right out through Nigger-Wool Swamp to Bloomfield, where Levi left us. He said he was going to Farmington, Illinois, as that was a good place to keep under cover. After he left us, nothing important occurred until our arrest. We knew where Mrs. Farrington was every night, and also knew all about the two men who were following her; we did not mind letting them follow her, as they could not have captured us, and we could have shaken them off at any time if we had wanted to do so.

"Levi and Hillary frequently spoke of making other raids upon the express company, and said what a soft thing it was. It was my intention to separate from them as soon as I could get my money from the old lady, as I wished to return to my friends below Columbus, Mississippi.

"The foregoing is all I know of the Farringtons or the express robberies.

(Signed), "William Barton."

It will be observed how completely this confession corroborated our investigations, there being few new points learned. The information that Mrs. Farrington had possession of nearly all the stolen money was valuable, and I sent instructions to Cottrell, at once, to attach all of her property in the name of the Southern Express Company, if it could be done. But the most important feature brought out was the hiding-place of Levi Farrington, which was given as Farmington, Illinois. It will be remembered that William found, at the store at Lester's Landing, some pieces of paper, upon which was scribbled, "Kate Graham, Farmington, Illinois;" that I sent a detective to that place to see Mrs. Graham; that the latter answered, with every evidence of truthfulness, that she did not know Russell, Clark, or Barton; and that the clue was dropped immediately. From Barton, however, William learned that Mrs. Kate Graham was a cousin of the Farringtons, and that, being a highly respectable and conscientious woman, she knew nothing of their aliases, nor of their crimes. It was there that Levi Farrington had gone to hide. Barton's confession was made on the fourteenth, and William instantly sent me a cipher dispatch containing the important features of it. By the evening train of that day, my other son, Robert A. Pinkerton, took passage for Farmington, accompanied by Detective W. T. Brown, of my force. They arrived there about noon the next day, and soon learned that Levi Farrington was staying with his relatives. Having presented letters of introduction to one or two influential men, Robert obtained an introduction to the city marshal, who promised to give all the aid in his power to arrest Farrington.

About two o'clock they saw the latter coming down the street, and, by previous arrangement, Robert allowed Levi to pass him, both walking toward Brown and the marshal. Levi Farrington was a very powerful man, standing six feet in his stockings, with a frame and muscles in proportion to his size. Remembering the desperate character of the man, Robert did not deem it advisable to give him any chance to draw a weapon or show fight; he therefore followed Farrington closely until he was about ten feet from the marshal, and then, springing at him, he pinioned the desperado's arms by clasping him tightly around the body just at the elbows. Farrington did not stop to question the cause of this proceeding – he knew the reason of his seizure well enough – but, gathering his whole strength, he made one jump away from the two officers who were approaching in front, and landed nearly in the middle of the street, taking Robert along with him. Robert clung to him like a vise, however, and before he could make another such an effort, the other two were upon him. A terrible struggle now ensued in the street, during which both Robert and Brown were badly bruised by being rolled upon and kicked by their powerful prisoner. Robert knew that Farrington was desperate enough to fight to the bitter end, and that he would kill as many as he could before being killed himself; to release his arms, therefore, would enable him to draw a weapon, as he was undoubtedly well armed, hence Robert never relaxed his hold. Having a professional pride in securing his prisoner alive, moreover, he did not wish to resort to extreme measures except to save the lives of other persons, and, as a large crowd had gathered around the moment the struggle began, there would have been evident danger in allowing him an instant's freedom. Over and over they rolled together, therefore, Farrington striving with all his strength to break Robert's clasp upon his arms, while the other two officers were doing their best to pinion his legs. After a ten minutes' struggle, they succeeded at length in holding him down and sitting upon his legs until he could be tied with ropes. By this time, the whole party were pretty thoroughly exhausted, but, after resting a few minutes to recover their breath, the officers got handcuffs on their prisoner's wrists, and took him to the railroad station, where he was searched. Little money was found on his person, but he had a large revolver, two Derringer pistols, and a large dirk concealed about him. He was then placed in the freight office, while Brown and Mr. Graham, Mrs. Kate Graham's husband, went to the latter's house to get Levi's baggage. On their return, the whole party took passage for Chicago, where they did not arrive until next day, owing to the failure to make connections. In Levi's valise were found two revolvers, some jewelry, and a very large sum of money.

They arrived so late on Saturday that there was no train for Cairo before the following evening, and meantime the prisoner required the most careful watching, as none of our handcuffs were large enough to fit his wrists without cutting into the flesh. Robert and Brown were completely prostrated by the strain upon their muscles and the injuries they had received, so that they felt the effects of the struggle for several days.

The moment that Robert arrived in Chicago with his prisoner, the latter was taken to the First Precinct police station, where he was placed in a cell for safe keeping. During the afternoon it was learned that he had sent for a lawyer to obtain a writ of habeas corpus. The arrest had been made without any warrant, and no requisition had been obtained for use in Illinois, as I had expected to capture all three of the men in Missouri. Should Farrington succeed in getting the desired writ, I should be forced to give up my hold upon him, and, before the requisition of the Governor of Tennessee upon the Governor of Illinois could be received, he would be probably beyond the reach of pursuit.

I therefore procured a closed vehicle and took the prisoner out for a drive, carefully bound, with two reliable men as guards. The afternoon was thus spent, and, after dark, there being no longer any object in driving around the suburbs of the city, Farrington was taken to my office and kept all night. He behaved very well, and did not seem anxious to get away by force. He tried, however, to induce Robert to let him go, telling him that it would be worth a very large amount of money to him to do so. Finding his offers disregarded, he appeared to take his arrest very coolly, saying that he guessed he had money enough to see him through.

On Sunday evening, Robert and Brown took him to the railroad station, and the party embarked for Cairo.

CHAPTER X

A terrible Struggle for Life or Death upon the Transfer-boat "Illinois." – "Overboard!" – One less Desperado. – The Fourth and Last Robber taken.

After Barton had made his confession to William in St. Louis, the prisoners, Hillary Farrington and Barton, were kept separate, as the latter was afraid that Hillary would find some means of killing him. About midnight of Thursday, December fourteenth, they all took passage by railroad for Cairo, and there they immediately went on board the large transfer-boat to Columbus, Kentucky. All the detectives were thoroughly worn out from excitement and loss of sleep, but they did not for an instant relax their vigilant watch upon their prisoners. William had been talking for some time with Hillary, trying to obtain a confession and to learn what had been done with the money secured at the two robberies. From the questions that William asked, Hillary soon learned, or surmised, that Barton had confessed. He was terribly enraged at this, and without doubt he would have killed Barton if he could have got at him; but being unable to do so, his fury was all turned upon his captors.

My son hoped by threatening to have Mrs. Farrington arrested and imprisoned, to induce Hillary to give up his share of the plunder rather than have his mother punished. This threat seemed to infuriate him beyond anything, and he swore that he would have his revenge on William if he had to wait twenty years for it. After sitting sullenly thinking on the subject for a time, he said he was cold, and wanted to get a drink. William therefore offered to go with him into the bar-room, and they walked toward the forward end of the saloon, leaving Galway and Barton seated together. Connell had gone into the water-closet a few moments before, but, as there was a detective with each of the prisoners, no attempt at escape was anticipated.

The steamer was the powerfully-built transfer-boat "Illinois," and she was running with great speed, her ponderous wheels revolving at an unusually rapid rate. The bar-room was situated just forward of the saloon, after passing through the barber shop, and it could be entered from the saloon or through a door leading upon the guards, just forward of the paddle-box.

As they were about to enter the barber shop from the saloon, Hillary drew back, saying that he did not want to go that way, as there were some men in that room whom he knew. They therefore went out upon the guards to walk along to the outer door of the bar-room. The space was narrow, and the rail quite low, so that it would not have been at all difficult for a man to spring overboard, even though he were in irons. This idea occurred to William, but he did not trouble himself about it, since he knew that the heavy strokes of the paddle-wheel would instantly kill any one who might attempt such a thing. William wore a loose-fitting sack coat with large pockets, in one of which he carried a heavy army revolver, which he had taken from Hillary, his own revolver being in his belt. In walking it was his habit to put his hand on the butt of this army revolver, which protruded somewhat from the pocket. On reaching the door, however, he took his right hand from the pistol to turn the knob. This was a careless action, of which he never would have been guilty, had he been less fatigued, mentally and physically, but, being so used up as to act almost mechanically, his habitual thoughtfulness was momentarily absent, and he was caught off his guard for an instant in a manner which nearly cost him his life. It should be understood that the scene which ensued occurred so rapidly as to occupy less time in its passage than is required to read about it, and that during those few seconds a struggle of life and death was going on.

Hardly had William's hand touched the doorknob ere he felt the pistol drawn out of his coat pocket. He knew there was but one person who could have done it, and that person was a perfect devil thirsting for his blood. Turning like a flash, he seized Farrington by both wrists, just as the latter was trying to cock the pistol; then there was a terrible contest. The pistol was in Farrington's hands, which were held so close together by the irons as to make it impossible to wrench one away from the other; it was pointed directly at William's head, and should Farrington succeed in cocking it, William's death would be instantaneous. All his energies, therefore, were directed toward keeping Farrington's hands far enough apart to prevent him from drawing back the hammer. The space was too narrow to permit of such a struggle without one party or the other being forced back upon the rail, and, in a moment, William had lifted his lighter antagonist from the deck, pressing him against the railing, and at the same time shouting for assistance. In response to his call, Connell came running out in dishabille, with his pistol in one hand and his pantaloons in the other. At this moment the cold muzzle of the pistol was pressed against William's temple, and he heard the click of the hammer as his desperate prisoner succeeded in drawing it back. He made a violent plunge forward, ducking his head as he did so, and simultaneously the pistol exploded close to his ear, the ball ploughing a little furrow in the scalp, while the powder scorched his neck and hair. Staggering back stunned and dizzy for a moment, he was caught by Connell, who asked whether he was much hurt. He soon gathered his senses, and, finding his wound to be only trifling, he asked what had become of Farrington. Connell pointed overboard, and no further answer was necessary; no man dropping in front of those wheels could have lived for an instant, and, even had he not been struck, he could not have kept himself up in the rapid current then running filled with fine ice.

By this time the bar-room, barber shop, and saloon had been emptied of their occupants, and the boat had been stopped to see whether the man could be picked up; but, as this was clearly hopeless, the trip was soon resumed. Connell's arrival had been most opportune for William, since he had caught the weapon the moment it was discharged, and succeeded in changing the course of the bullet sufficiently to save William's life. Thinking, however, that William had been killed, Connell had struck Farrington on the head with his pistol almost simultaneously with the explosion, and the blow, aided by the plunge which William made forward in endeavoring to dodge the pistol-shot, had sent Farrington over the rail into the water, where he was undoubtedly killed the next instant by the paddle-wheels.

The fact of the man's death was so absolutely certain that no person could doubt it, if acquainted with the circumstances; yet there were not wanting people who insinuated that he had been allowed to escape by jumping overboard and swimming ashore. The absurdity of such a story is manifest, for, even supposing that his irons had been removed, and that he had escaped injury from the paddle-wheels, he never could have swam ashore at the spot where the affair occurred. The nearest point of the river bank was more than three hundred yards away, and the current at that place was running off the shore; besides, the night was very cold, and the water was covered with a film of ice, so that after five minutes' immersion in it, a man would have become wholly numbed and insensible.

Barton was not at all surprised when he heard of Hillary Farrington's death, for he said that he knew Hillary so well that he had expected nothing else from the time he was taken; he was so desperate that his intention undoubtedly had been to have seized William and dragged him overboard; but, seeing the pistol, another idea had probably occurred to him. Barton said that had Hillary succeeded in killing William, he would have gone up to the pilot-house with the revolver, and forced the pilot to land him immediately; once on shore, his knowledge of the country would have enabled him to escape again. Whatever had been his plans, however, he had failed in his attempt at murder, and had paid the penalty of his rashness with his life.

The rest of the party went on to Columbus, where they took passage for Union City, arriving there Friday morning.

About this time, Mr. Ball, who had been sent to follow the wagon train of Mrs. Farrington, reported, after a silence of several days, that he had traced her into the Indian Territory. In point of fact, she was settled at Ash Grove, near Mount Vernon, in Greene County, Missouri, and had been there ever since Hillary and Barton had left her before their arrest at Durham's. It will thus be seen how fortunate it was that I had not trusted to Ball and Bledsoe to keep track of Mrs. Farrington, since they had utterly lost the trail, and had followed another set of wagons for several days as far as the Indian Territory; when, probably suspecting that he had made a mistake, Ball telegraphed to the express company's officers for instructions. He was then ordered to return at once with Bledsoe, the whole party having been captured by that time.

While speaking of Mrs. Farrington, I may as well give an account of all our dealings with her, irrespective of the chronological order of the story:

Having received Barton's order upon her for all of the wagons and stock, and for five hundred and fifty dollars in money, Cottrell endeavored to attach her property in a civil suit. She insisted that she had none of Barton's money – indeed, that she had no money at all – and she refused to give up anything. At last, finding that he could not legally attach her property, Cottrell took the bold step of arresting her for receiving stolen goods. She was taken to Mount Vernon, where she engaged a lawyer to defend her, and then, of course, Cottrell was also obliged to employ a legal adviser. At length, a compromise was effected, by which Mrs. Farrington was allowed to retain a small portion of the property; Cottrell then took possession of the remainder as agent of the express company, and Mrs. Farrington was discharged from custody. After selling some of the animals, Cottrell shipped all the remaining chattels to St. Louis, where the agent of the express company took charge of them. The two detectives then returned to Chicago, and no further attention was paid to Mrs. Farrington.

On Saturday, after the arrival of William's party, with Barton, in Union City, Detectives Galway and Connell started out to arrest Bill Taylor, the fourth one of the party of robbers.

This man was a long, lank, round-shouldered fellow, with putty face, long, straggling hair and beard, and a vacant expression of countenance, who lived by hunting and chopping wood, below Lester's Landing, in the vicinity of Reel's Foot Lake. William had been satisfied of his complicity in the robbery for some time previous to the arrest of the others, but he had not arrested him for the reason that he was sure of picking him up whenever he wished to do so; and, knowing Taylor to have been merely a weak accomplice, he was anxious to secure the leaders in the crime first. Barton's confession made the suspicion of Taylor's guilt a certainty, and so Galway and Connell were sent to arrest him.

At Mr. Merrick's they obtained a good guide, and four other citizens joined them, so that they had quite a formidable party. After visiting several houses in the cane-brake, they learned where Taylor was staying, and, on going there, they saw him looking at them from a front window. Galway asked Taylor to come down a few minutes to give them some information, and Taylor unsuspectingly complied. He had been allowed to go free so long, and had so often talked with William and others about the robbery, that he did not imagine their object on this occasion. On coming into the yard, therefore, he greeted the men cordially, supposing them to be a party scouting for the other robbers, of whose arrest he had not heard. When he saw a couple of navy revolvers close to his head, and heard an order to throw up his hands, he surrendered without a word. He was evidently badly frightened, but he would not confess having had any part in the robbery, and he refused to tell where his share of the money was concealed. He was placed on Connell's horse and taken to Merrick's, where another horse was obtained, and the party went on to Hickman; thence he was taken by wagon to Union City, arriving there about midnight of Saturday. Both Barton and Taylor were placed in rooms in the hotel, where they were carefully watched night and day by my detectives, the county jail being almost useless as a place for keeping prisoners.

On learning that the whole party had been arrested, Taylor made a very full confession of all the circumstances connected with the robbery, and the movements of the robbers after it had occurred. He confirmed Barton's account in every particular, but revealed nothing new of any importance. His share of the stolen money had been only about one hundred and fifty dollars, as Levi had made him believe that they had obtained only six hundred dollars in all. About fifty dollars were found on Taylor's person; the rest he had spent. He said that Levi Farrington had hidden all the checks, drafts, and unnegotiable paper underneath an old log in the woods, but that he could not tell where the log was, nor find it, since it was not marked in any way, nor had they taken any bearings by which to remember it. He gave an account of the evening when Hicks, the tipsy planter, came to their camp-fire, which agreed exactly with the previous statements of Hicks and Barton; but one slight remark in his confession seemed to account for the fifth man mentioned by Hicks. Taylor said that during most of the time Hicks was at their camp, one or two of the party were lying on the ground with their feet toward the fire, and that there was a log of wood lying beside them. Now, it is probable that Hicks was just drunk enough to be unable to tell the difference between a man and a log, especially as, in his description of the men, he gave the appearance of Hillary Farrington twice as belonging to different persons. Hicks's vision was somewhat uncertain that night, evidently.