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The Confessions of

A Poor White Life of the Old South Edited by Charles C. Bolton

and Scott P. Culclasure

Introduction by J. William Harris

The University of Georgia Press

Athens & London

EDWARB ISIÀM

Athens, Georgia 3 0 6 0 2

Set in 11 on 14 Bulmer by G 8c S Typesetters

Printed and b o u n d by E d w a r d s Brothers, Inc.

T h e p a p e r in this b o o k meets the guidelines for

p e r m a n e n c e and durability of the C o m m i t t e e on

P r o d u c t i o n Guidelines for Book Longevity of the

Council on Library Resources.

P r i n t e d in the United States of America

02 0 1 00 9 9 9 8 C 5 4 3 2 1

L i b r a r y of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

I s h a m , E d w a r d , d. 1860.

T h e confessions of E d w a r d Isham : a p o o r W h i t e life of the

O l d South / edited by Charles C . Bolton and Scott P. Culclasure ;

i n t r o d u c t i o n by J . William H a r r i s ,

p . cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0 - 8 2 0 3 - 2 0 2 1 - 8 (alk. p a p e r ) .

ISBN 0 - 8 2 0 3 - 2 0 7 3 - 0 ( p b k . : alk. paper)

1. Isham, E d w a r d , d. 1860. 2. W h i t e s — S o u t h e r n

States—Biography. 3. P o o r — S o u t h e r n States—Biography.

4. Murderers — S o u t h e r n States—Biography. 5. W h i t e s —

S o u t h e r n States — Social conditions. 6. S o u t h e r n States —

Social conditions. I. Bolton, Charles C. II. Culclasure,

Scott P. III. Title.

F 2 1 3 . I 8 5 1998

9 7 5 ' . 0 3 ' 0 9 2 — d c 2 1

[b] 9 8 - 4 3 5 9

British Library Cataloging in Publication Data available

Frontispiece b y J o h n M c L e n a n (1859)

I Autobiography of Edward Isham, Alias "Hardaway Bone"

Was born in Jackson County Georgia1 was 5 years old at the time of the cold Friday and Saturday. My father2 was dissi- pated and spent what property he had and moved first to Biles Mills, then to Carroll County Georgia and went to digging gold. Every one dug where he liked and could get a location. I lived with my father in the suburbs of a little town called Pine Mountain town.3 I went to school five days to a man named Scroggins and never went again. I recollect when 10 years old fighting a boy named Jake Blakenship, and hurting him with a rock. I went home scared and told my father and he told me I was a fool for being scared. I then fought a boy called W m Garthard 4 and bit him severely and then hit him with a rock. I also fought with William Compton. I had long hair and he held me by it, and beat me severely. I went home to my father and he cut off my hair so I could have a fair chance and I went back and whipped him. T h e next difficulty I had was at Hickstown town with two boys named McQuister and I whipped them both. I was then growing up and began to work for myself in the mines and made money. Tom Godfrey and I quarreled about water for washing gold and he came to cut down a dam I had made and we fought. H e struck me with his shovel and I threw rocks. His friends came and I ran off to my fathers and got his rifle and fired on Godfrey but some one knocked up the gun and I missed him. H e then struck me with a shovel and we were parted.

McCurdy one of his friends went to town for a warrant to Squire Ruffin and I pursued him. I found him at the Squires and fell on him with a hickory stick but was arrested by the Squire and sent to Car- rollton to jail—was put in at midnight. On the next day, I broke out

12 | Edward I sham

by prying up the floor and creeping out under the house. I went home by dusk, ate my supper and fled. I went to DeKalb County to my uncle Charles Icems,5 a farmer and remained there some time. I went up to Nance's creek6 andjoined the Methodist Church at Cen- trals meeting house. John M. Smith was the preacher. I got into a difficulty with a negro about a fishing pole and tried to cut him but was prevented, for this they turned me out of the church.

I went with my Uncle and a party swimming in Nances creek. We all got drunk and I had a fight with Wash Smith, a free negro, who choked me very severely. We went on towards home and stopped at Henry Islys Grocery. There the free negro got drunk, and I drank no more and got sober and watching rfty chance I fell on him with a rock and beat him very severely but we afterwards made friends. I left next morning and went to Forsythe County Georgia to my Uncle Hardin Millers7 and dug gold. There while working on the road,8 a man accused me of stealing milk from his spring house and I tried to kill him with my axe but was prevented. I went then to a little cross road town called "Shake rag town" and got to gambling with one Rogers, who tried to cheat me and we had a fight but nei- ther was hurt. I then went back to John Millers and then started for Carroll. On the way I stopped at a muster at Howells Mills 9 in Cocke County.10 There two men were quarreling and one refused to fight because he was sick, the other pressed on him and I volunteered to be his second, so they went to fighting and during the fight one Gus. Wood, a great bully, attempted foul play and I struck him with a heavy hickory stick and hurt him badly. T h e men were then parted and the other party gathered in force to mob us and we fled. I was not yet grown at that time. I went back to the mines in Carroll County and in a short time I was at a Grocery in Pinetown and got into a difficulty with Thomas Wallace and hit him with a glass tumbler. I then took a stick from my bro in law and beat him severely. I was not arrested. About this time I used to visit a girl named Jane Mobley and we were intimate. A young man named T h o m p s o n was court- ing her and one night he eavesdropped me and next day told Jane what I had said to her. I was half drunk and went down to the Gro- cery and T h o m p s o n and I fought about it and were parted but got

Autobiography \ 3

at it again and fought til he hollered. I then made him go with me to Jane and acknowledge he told her a lie. While fighting Thompson one of my friends struck at Thompson a rock and hit me and hurt me badly. I continued to dig for gold and made money. I went up to "Cross Ankles" to a horse race and heard my brother had a difficulty with one Maxdale and there was a warrant out for him. My brother lived in Macon county Alabama, so I went back with him. A fellow named Jim Cordry went along and got into trouble and we started back. On the way at "Silver Hill" Tallapoosa11 a county I got into a difficulty with one Bratch Ward and we fought desperately, his sons and nephews joined him, and Jeff Chambers1 2 a friend of mine joined me. We fought at a grocery, and we finally whipped them and they shut themselves up in the grocery. In the fight I acci- dently struck Chambers, with a heavy stick and nearly killed him. I helped him home. T h e other party gathered a crowd to kill us and we fled to the woods. I then came back to Carroll County and com- menced mining. I got into a difficulty about water again and had a fight with rocks with a party who tried to brake my dam and I whipped them off.

T h e y went for a warrant for me and while they were gone I broke up their rockers and shovels and fled to DeKalb county again to my Uncle James Icems. I stayed a month or so and returned. Everybody was afraid of me and no officer would attempt to take me. I con- tinued to visit Jane Mobley in Pinetown, and at a frolic there Jim Fletcher and I fell out about her but Jim was afraid of me but Jims fa- ther 13 who had just got out of the penitentiary for killing a man sent me word, he intended to kill me at sight. I replied I was tired fight- ing and did not wish any difficulty. I was afraid of old Fletcher and thought he would kill me.

In the meantime while mining a man named Porterfield and I fell out about a spike and in a fight he stabbed me on the shoulder. I fol- lowed him to Hargroves1 4 store to kill him but was prevented. In a few days I went to Hickstown town to sell my gold and on my return near home I met old Fletcher in his wagon. He stopped and said now was the time to settle our "fuss." I told him I did not want to fight, but he commenced to get down and seeing a pistol in his

12 | Edward I sham

bosom I ran up and struck him over the head with a 4-lb bowie knife and then ran. He rose and snapped his pistol. I then turned and threw my knife at him but missed. I went then to my brothers and got a double barreled gun and went up to see Jane Mobley. While there my brother came running and told me that Fletcher and a crowd were after me, so I escaped to the woods. I then went to Cocke county1 5 and from there to DeKalb, stayed 3 months and re- turned to the mines and went to work. Everybody was afraid of me. They took out warrants for me and I fled to Walker county on the Tennessee line but returned shortly again. I went with my Brother to whip one Adams intending to kill him with a rifle if he resisted but he was not at home. We then went to Macon county Alabama to one Hutchinsons1 6 and remained a short time. While in Alabama be- fore, I was engaged to [a] girl who married Peter Windley after I went away. I saw her and she and I agreed to run off and we did so. Her name was Mary,17 she was 20 yrs old and very pretty. We came to Carroll county, to my mothers in Pinetown. My father had taken up with another woman and left my mother alone. I went up to Walker county to hunt a house, and split rails for James Fulcher1 8 at 25 cts pr hundred, til I got money enough to bring my mother and Mary up there. Here I raised one crop but getting into several fights, at a logrolling and at Gordons Grocery, I sold out and went up to Chattanooga to work on the Rail Road. While working there I got into a difficulty with some Irishmen boat hands about some lewd women and left the Road and went aboard the "Sam Markin"19 on the Tennessee river as fireman.

I worked there sometime, and was on the boat when the volun- teers from Mexico returned.2 0 We were anxious to get to Chat- tanooga soon and I made a bet with Charlie Harris engineer about when we would get there. I won. Next day we quarreled about it and he struck me with a board and I stabbed him under the collar bone with my pocket knife. T h e boat hands took Harris part and I fled. They swore vengeance on me and whenever the boat came to town I would leave to avoid them. I took to gambling for a living and lost all I had even to my pistol and knife.

I then took up with a man named Napper, a wild fellow who lived

Autobiography \ 4

over the line in Walker county, who had a farm and some negroes. He gave me a pistol and knife to fight Harris. Harris never attacked me. While riding one of Nappers horse [s] to water one day I saw him and one Jake Floor2 1 fighting and I ran up and hit Floor with a brick bat and ended the fight. I then took Nappers horse and fled to Georgia but in a short time returned and found there was something wrong with Mary, she did not treat me kindly and I became jealous. I pretended to leave home one day, but rode up to "Bald Hill" where I could see my cabin and watched. I saw my wife start for water but stopped in a cabin on the way—so I slipped up there, it was about dusk, and I saw a fellow named Noah Vineyard sitting on a bed with her and his arms around her. I went round to the door and spoke and Mary ran out and went off. Vineyard denied anything wrong but I told him he must fight. He said he would fight me in town, so we started for town and while riding along, he threw suddenly two rocks at me and struck my hat. I drew my revolver and fired three times at him but never hit him. I then j u m p e d off and pursued him with my bowie knife. In the race he fell and commenced begging and said he was badly shot so I left him and went over to Nappers and sent a man to see about it and found out he was not shot at all. I stayed at Nappers til Christmas and we were all invited to a "Treat" at Gordons Mills22 in Walker County. We played Chuck Luck2 3 all day and all got drunk. I fought one Scott Victory and got soundly beaten. Napper and Tracy fought and I interfered. Tracy struck me and I struck at him with my bowie knife and scabbard, forgetting in the excitement to unsheathe it. This saved his life and all made friends. I stayed with Napper a few months drinking, hunting and gambling. I then went to Chattanooga and stayed with my mother. She sold cakes and whiskey and boarded work hands for a living. I had but little to do with Mary. There were warrants out for me and I fled to Ringgold Georgia 24 stayed 3 or 4 months drinking & gam- bling, then returned. On Sunday while drunk I went to a [ ] 2 5

House and got into a difficulty and a fellow named Bernice slipped up behind me and knocked me down with a rock. It knocked me senseless and next morning I came to at my mothers, not knowing who did it. I was hurt badly and it scared me very much. I reflected

12 | Edward I sham

on my course and for awhile was disposed to do better, but warrants issued for me and I fled to Ringgold and became very intimate with a gambler named Riese [?]. We went to a House and got into a fuss and a warrant issued and I was tied and carried to jail but Napper sent over in five or six days and bailed me. I stood my trial and had to pay the cash. I then moved my mother down to Ringgold.26 She sold cakes for a living and I gambled. Mary (Windley wife) had mar- ried Hiram Brown2 7 and they had moved to Ringgold too. We never had anything to do with one another. I went up on the first train of cars to Tunnel hill.28 Got drunk at a grocery. A friend of mine named James got into a difficulty with a man named Parrigan and being too drunk to fight, I took his place and fought Parrigan. I then went back to Carroll Co. to Pinetown. At Cross Ankles I was play- ing marbles for money and a fellow from North Carolina was drunk and kicked out the marbles. I was going to fight him but he drew a bowie knife and I left him and went back to Pinetown and came back to the grocery where he was. He was dancing and swearing he could whip any one. Jef. Chambers my old friend was there and told me to watch him knock that fellow down but I told him to hold on, he had imposed on me and I intended to whip him. Just then he danced on my toes and said are you the man that was playing marbles. I said Yes, and immediately struck him with a rock I had in my pocket and knocked him down; but he was too much for me. I couldnt hurt him any more; but Chambers and my friends kicked him and hurt him badly and he hollered. I then left him and went back to the mountain to work. I worked four or five months and made a con- siderable amount of gold. I gambled every night and fought chick- ens on Sundays. We had a regular cockpit made for the purpose.

One day two men named Morgan and Gray came from Hicks- town town to Pinetown and swore they could whip any Democrat in Pinetown and they intended to whip the Icems before they left. I was eating supper and some one told me the news. I got a piece of a shovel handle which I had sawed off for a bludgeon and went up to the grocery—Warner Lyon's — and asked Morgan if he had said what I heard. He said he did and I knocked him down with the shovel handle. Gray then j u m p e d on me, and a friend of mine named

Autobiography \ 7

Murphreyjoined in the fight. T h e candles were knocked down and we fought for a long time in the dark.

Grays eye was knocked out by a weight thrown by some of us, and he ran and we pursued him with rocks and he left town very badly hurt. Morgan ran out the back door in the meantime and es- caped. I was then boarding with a man named Price and was keep- ing his daughter. A warrant was issued for me but the officer was afraid to take me. I concluded to leave and a brother in law of mine named Wm Bivings29 and I started to Cobb Co to dig gold. Near to Powder Springs3 0 while traveling in the wagon we met "Gray" and being afraid he would get a crowd and kill me, I j u m p e d on my bro in laws horse and ran. I went to Marietta and from there to my Uncle John Everetts31 in Cobb Co Georgia. I got there early in the morning. Soon after eating I discovered 8 or 10 men with guns com- ing after me and I slipped out and ran. I came to Vickerys creek32

and swam it, which chilled me and stiffened me. I went on til I came to Chattahooche3 3 and tried to swim it but couldnt and came out, and went down to Covins ferry and crossed over to an Aunt of mine and waited til Bivings came. He went to work in the mines but I con- cluded to leave and went up to Lumpkin Co 34 and stayed four or five months. While there I took up with a woman named Thirs. Mur- phy 3 5 and had a severe fight with a man who had been keeping her. I became intimate with two men named Ball Gilbert and Jim Gilbert. T h e y had a feud with a grocery keeper named Thomas Ball. We went up to his grocery one day and broke up everything he had decanters, glasses and barrels and his fiddle. H e went down to De- loneger3 6 and got a warrant for us. T h e y caught Ball Gilbert and put him in jail. I was going down next day to hear about it and overheard some officers who were after us and hurried back and told Jim Gilbert and we went off to the woods. Ball Gilbert broke jail but he and T h o m . Ball compromised, and Gilbert worked, to pay the dam- age, for Ball. I was there a few days after and while Ball was away from home, made his wife sell me a pair of shoes and paid her a bill on a broken bank. I never counterfeited any and knew nothing about it. I then left went to my Uncles in DeKalb and he bought me tools and I went to Cobb Co to dig gold. We had to cook for ourselves

12 | Edward I sham

and, while at my Aunts one day, I met a pretty girl named Mary Dagget and hired her to cook for me, and we took up together. I made very little gold and concluded to leave. I took this girl with me to DeKalb to Isleys old grocery and there left her and went back to Pinetown in Carroll and went to work.

My Bro in law bought up a drove of beeves and hired me and Bill Clemmens to drive them to Montgomery Alabama. We drove them there but found them due sale (I had three brothers John lived in Macon Co Ala, James and William, my name is Edward). From Montgomery Bill Clemmens and I went down to Macon to my Brothers, built a little shantie on the river and rafted lightwood to Montgomery.

While there I took up with Mandy Hatch, (a sister to Mary Wind- ley, whom I took from her husband Peter Windley and a sister in law of my brother John). We used to meet at a spring of nights. Bill Clemmens and Bivings watched me one night and we came near fighting about it. Shortly after this, I shot a mans hog that used to eat our things at the shantie and he took out a warrant for me and I left and went over to my brothers; but John was very angry because I had taken up with his sister in law and we got into a quarrel. He struck me with a chair and cut my head badly. I went over to Frank- lin37 and got Dr. Wilburn to sew it up. H e put seven stitches in it. I then went down to the shantie and Bivings gave me some money and I took the cars 38 and made my way back to DeKalb Georgia. I then took my sister, Bivings wife, and we went back to Pinetown. My fa- ther was living there with another woman. Shortly after that I had a difficulty at Hickstown town with a circus company but had no fight. Also with Allen Fletcher who had the bowie knife I struck his father with [ ] 3 9 but we did not fight, friends interfered. I was then in my prime, about 24 years old, was a great wrestler and could not be thrown down. My thumb was then off. It was blowed off one Christmas morning, before breakfast by the busting of a gun when I was only 10 years old.40 I next got into a difficulty with Dick Fen- ley,41 a great bully and we agreed to have a set fight. My old friend Jef. Chambers was my second.

Fenley bit my finger very badly, the prints are there now and tore

Autobiography \ 9

my flesh off my bosom with his long nails. I bit him too and gouched one eye nearly out; but they parted us before either hollered, though Dick got the best of the fight. When we were done I j u m p e d on Fen- leys son, who had shown some foul play, and beat him til he hollered but he gouched one of my eyes very badly. T h e bite on the finger got very bad and I could not work for a long time.

After some months I went to my mothers at Ringgold, and con- tinued to gamble and drink. I was at Brown's grocery one day and an Irishman wanted to bet five dollars he could whip any man in town. His name was Clark. I took him up and we fought. He was too drunk and I whipped him and got the money. I then helped a friend named James Gordon in a fight at the same grocery and was arrested and Gordon paid the fine and got me off. I took up with Caroline Brown a sister of Hiram's (Mary's husband) and she became preg- nant. I then quit her and married Rachel Webb,42 the daughter of a widow in Ringgold. I drank very hard and got completely out of money and concluded to go back to the mines in Carroll. I worked made some money and sent for my wife, and we went to house- keeping in Pinetown. A man named New4 3 claimed the place I was working but I made him leave and we became mortal enemies, but nothing passed between us for some months. I could hear of his threatening to kill me. One Saturday evening I went up to Biving's grocery, and when Biving was shutting up, I was closing the shut- ters and heard "New" say "stand aside." I looked round and saw him coming with his gun and cocked it but just then my father ran up and caught the gun and the crowd interfered. I then made at "New." I had a rock in my pocket and I took it out and struck him a severe blow. We then parted but afterwards stripped off and took a fair fight and I whipped him. We were both arrested next morning but compromised and "New" paid all costs, and we made friends.

I then went to work, and continued sober and civil for some months and made a good deal of money in the "diggings" but I then got too intimate with a free girl and took her to "Warner Lyons" gro- cery one night and there got into a difficulty with Betsy Wedding a girl Lyons was keeping. This made a feud between us, and I went back one night to get some liquor and they wouldnt let me in. I saw

12 | Edward I sham

her on one side of the door with a double barreled gun and Lyons on the other and heard Lyons tell her not to be afraid but to shoot as "he passes back up town." This enraged me and I went to Bill Williams and borrowed his rifle and watched for three hours by moonlight to shoot "Lyons" but couldnt get a chance. I then went to his door and told him I would see him in the morning. In the morn- ing, I took an axe helve and went up street to Lyons grocery and pushed off his hat and cussed him but he wouldnt fight and I left him. (No preacher could ever live or preach in Pinetown, one lived there once and they tore down his fences and run him off. There never was any school there.) I then went to work, kept sober and made some money and was peaceable for six months. While sitting in my house one Saturday evening I heard a noise up at the grocery and went up. I found two Smiths and a hired hand of mine named Hendricks4 4 quarreling. I started to take Hendricks off and Smith threw a rock at me. I returned another and hit on the burr of the ear and every body thought he was dead. I ran down home got my money and left but came back and found out about midnight that he had come to. A warrant was issued for me and I went off to DeKalb Co. I then concluded, I would slip back and get my wife but "New" my old enemy discovered me at my bro in laws and told it. While asleep that night, the house was surrounded by about 30 men and the bailiff one "Slaughter" took me prisoner. They took me that night to Hickstown. I tried to get an opportunity to escape but failed. Next morning, I told the guard I wished to step aside and I watched my opportunity and fled. T h e y fired three pistol shots at me without effect. I went to Marietta, took the cars and came to Ringgold and sent down for my wife. My mother had moved back to Chattanooga and we went over there.45 I gambled and drank very hard and spent all my gold. I there took up with one "Ann Baldwin" and finding out she had some money, I concluded I would get it. I won a little money rolling ten pins and sent my wife to her mothers, who was then living in Walker County Georgia. I went with this girl to walk one day and met a man who had been her old beau. He tried to take her away and I struck him with a rock and hurt him severely. "Anne" and I then went on to her fathers and as we came up he came

Autobiography \ 11

to the door and cursed me for being with his "gal" and fired a horse pistol at me but missed. I then threw a rock at him but struck the door, then put at him with a knife but he shut the door on me. In a few days "Anne" and I ran off and went down to Pinetown—and from there to Atlanta Georgia. I had a quarrel with her in a few days, and with some money I got from her, I took the cars and went to [my] wife on Hiwassie Rail Road.46 I found her sick, but when she recovered we moved 5 miles above Chattanooga on the Nashville Rail Road 47 and went to work.

I was civil and worked hard for about six months, until one day I met an old enemy named McAustin at a grocery and we had a fight. I was very drunk and he got my head between two bars of iron and would have killed me but I hollered and they took him off. I then borrowed Joe Dobbins rifle and watched on the RRoad for three or four days to shoot him. He found it out and one of his friends came to me and begged me off from it as McAustin had a wife and three children. I got into a fight with a Runnels about that time and hit him over the head with the rifle and hurt him very badly but did not kill him. About this time my wife had a child, which was born dead. She was an easy good tempered woman and never quarreled with me. I quit work on the Rail Road and went to gambling. I met a fellow named Jim Waters and he beat me and we then made a bargain to go "halves in cards and in our fighting." So we followed up and down the Rail Road between the river and Chattanooga, playing cards with the hands or any one we met. I dressed well, had plenty of money, and supplied my wife with all necessaries; but took up with a woman named "Beck Caldwell" with whom I stayed more than my wife, but she never complained. I got into a fight one night about her with a fellow named Moore, he had a revolver and rock and I had a little pocket pistol. He hit me with a rock, and I snapped the pistol. We then fought on. I snapped the pistol three times on his side but it would not fire. I then took the muzzle in my hand and beat him severely. It was a desperate fight and we were both hurt. T h e Mar- shall while trying to arrest us had his arm broken by a rock from the crowd but the police finally took us. Moore was fined twenty dollars but I got off.

12 | Edward I sham

Waters and I continued to play cards on the Rail Road and won a great deal of money. We once had a "big game" with a gambler named Smith and won $100 and came near getting into a big row. Waters and Smith played with a bowie knife beside them. I finally became tired of this and went down to Pinetown to see Jane Mob- ley but she had moved. I followed her to Campbell county and we agreed to run off; but she found out I had a wife and we parted. I came back to Chattanooga and Tate Miller a grocery keeper and Waters and I cheated a fellow named "Napper" out of $250 by pack- ing cards, and we fell out about dividing the money. Waters and I finally concluded to move to Arkansas. I bought a gun and went off without paying for it but the fellow pursued me and took it back. We then went on with our wives to Johnston County Arkansas.4 81 worked here splitting rails, hunting deer and bees and enjoyed my- self better than ever before in my life. I stayed there six months and got along very well.

Waters had a "set fight" with a fellow named "Steve Thompson" the greatest bully in the county and I was his second. "Waters" whipped him and it created a feud between their friends. T h e Blacks were on Thompsons side and hated me very badly. I moved down on the river and followed the business of getting lightwood for the boats, so did the Blacks and it made us worse enemies. One day while sitting in my cabin Pete Daily and another fellow of Black's crowd came by and my dog barked at them and Daily said he could whip the dog and me both and we had a fight. T h e other fellow hit me with a stick while we were fighting and my wife ran him off with the axe. I then went down to Jim Iverys and while there old Black and three others came in pursuit of me. We went out to fight Ivery promising to help me but he backed out. Old Black threw a toma- hawk at me and as I dodged it cut my coat. I drew a pistol and shot him in the back as he ran but never killed him. I then pursued him with a knife around the house and overtook him but the other three hit me with rocks and sticks and got me down and took my knife and I had to holler or be killed. So I hollered and they let me off. My wife came up with my rifle, hearing the noise but the Blacks went off be- fore I could recover and use it. Waters and I then left and went up

Autobiography \ 13

to Fort Smith.49 I followed gambling there for some time, made money and had no fights; but after awhile I got intimate with Ben Harmand a half breed indian (in the mean time my wife came, she then had one son whom we called James). Ben Harmand had a feud with a man named "Reeder" and we went to "Fort Smith" one day to fight it out.

They met at a grocery where we were all drinking. I had two pis- tols and two bowie knives. T h e y fought and I kept the crowd off with my knife. Harmands pistol wouldnt fire and he then drew a bowie knife and cut Reeder very badly. Reeder then broke loose and ran and as he went I fired my pistol at him but missed him. We pur- sued him to the grocery but were shut out. Reeders friends came and we fled. We went out to John Borrows and got money and horses and went down to my old home in Johnston county leaving my wife. From there we went to Napoleon and then to Memphis, there to Paducah, being afraid we would be taken, then to Smith- land. Here I fell in with "Jim Ingles" whom I knew in Chattanooga and we gambled together for awhile but lost all our money. I had but a half dollar left, and went to chopping to get some; but meeting a wagoner I went with him to "Nashville." There I got on the hind steps at the back of the cars and rode down 80 miles until the con- ductor discovered me and made me get off. I sent word by the brake- man to my mother to send me money to come home. She sent a girl by whom I had a child in Adanta for me and she met me up the Road, had the child with her but I did not know her. We came on down to Chattanooga. I was very ragged and my brother who had just come from "Ducktown" with a good deal of money he had won gambling gave me some clothes and some money and hearing of "Reeders" death at Fort Smith I left on the cars and went to my Brothers in Macon Co Ala. There I made shingles 8c cut lumber and rafted to Montgomery awhile, and there three of us formed a com- pany to fish and gamble.

We had a grocery on the river and used to have great crowds there fishing and playing cards—until some fellows came from Opala- chee5 0 to play cards and one drew a pistol on me at the table. I was afraid to get up, but watching my chance I sprang to my double

12 | Edward I sham

barreled gun j u m p e d out of his way, and as I ran around to the other door cocked it and fired at h i m j u s t as he was coming out. T h e whole load struck the door j a m and missed him. H e ran and the other bar- rel was not loaded. We afterwards made friends. A few days after this I went u p to "Franklins" grocery on the Rail Road and had a serious affray with one Blake Edwards, in which he tried to shoot me but was prevented by my Brother, w h o drew a sword over him. I contin- ued fishing and gambling at my shantie on the river for some time, and finally took a raft and went down to Montgomery and stayed five or six days gambling and drinking. My brother and I went into a house there before we left to get breakfast. It was kept by an old negro woman and she was drunk. While we were in there, I saw a pocketbook on her table which I stole and then left. It had about $25.00 in it. We then came on to the shantie and continued our for- mer course of living.

Until at one Proctors, at a frolic there was a general feud created by " R u s h i n g " a partner of mine. We went from there to "Franklins" grocery again and I gambled with a negro there from whom I won some money.

I then went on home with Proctor that night and a man named "Jim Runnels" with whom I had an old feud followed me there, hav- ing his cousin with him. While in bed in the night heard them talk- ing about jerking me out and stamping me but concluded to wait til morning. In the morning he came u p to me but I avoided him and left with Susan Proctor, with whom I had agreed to run off but after talking with her an hour some distance from the house, we went back to get a drink of liquor. W h e n I came u p Mrs Proctor told me that "Runnels" had loaded his pistol and said he intended to kill me. I then said "this fuss had been going on long enough and I would end it." I then went about a quarter of a mile to my brothers and got his double-barreled gun and went back to the house.

W h e n I got in the yard I called to Runnels and told him we must end this fuss now. H e came to the door and as he slipped on the ground, I shot him with the whole load of small shot in the breast. H e exclaimed " O h L o r d " and reeled off behind the house (and as I afterwards learned died soon after). I then fled to the Coosa river.

Autobiography \ 15

(Runnels had hit me across the back with a rifle gun and hurt me badly and I had often avoided him because I thought he was armed to kill me.)

I left Proctors next day, intending to get onto an island in Coosa river but had no boat. I slept on the cane that night, until my brother came and took me across the river to " H a r l a n d Bones." I stayed there all night and then made my way on foot to "Hickstown" to my brother-in-law Edwards, who then went on with me to Cartersville, avoiding all public notice, went on to Gilmore county 5 1 and on to Ducktown. At Gilmore county I first assumed the name of " H a r - land Bone."

I stayed at Ducktown all night sold my double barreled gun and played cards for money. From Ducktown 5 2 I went down to the Ra- b u n gap Rail R o a d 5 3 and worked for a man named "Alexander." Here I took chills and was unable to do anything more and went to playing cards for a living, and at a Grocery near by, one Saturday had a difficulty with a man named "Ripley" who afterwards pursued me to the Road to whip me but the hands kept us apart. We both had weapons. I then went to Luckaseage river 5 4 and worked for T h o m p s o n , then over to the Tennessee river and worked for a free negro named "Fax." 5 5 T h e n from there I came to "Brindle town" N. C.5 6 stayed all night, saw them fighting chickens and gambling. I left there next day and went to Morganton,5 7 then to Statesville,58

then started for the Rail R o a d 5 9 to work, but stopped on the way at "James Lesleys" 60 for whom I dug a well and did some other work and finally married his daughter " M a n d y Lesley.''''61

I then bought 10 acres of ground from Charlie Carlton,6 2 cleared some and raised a crop. At the election I had a fight with one "Clarke" who returned me to the G r a n d jury. 6 3 O n e "Beavers" then told some lies about me and my mother in law and I threatened to kill him, intending to do so if he didnt retract and he swore the peace against me.6 4 To avoid the officers I went u p near Taylorsville 65 and remain[ed] a week or more, gambling with some white men and free negroes and won some money. I then came on back and moved into Lincoln County66 and lost all my crop. I ditched for various people and made money. My wife had one child and died. " J a m e s

12 | Edward I sham

Cornelius'''67 then hired me to clean out some old ditching while he was gone to market. W h e n he came back we went down to look at the work and he expressed himself satisfied but said the price was too high, it was more than the law would allow me. I told him "I would see about that" and I sued him for $7.00 but got j u d g e m e n t only for $5.00.6 8 I expected to get this money to redeem my gun which I had pawned to Dr Motte 6 9 but Cornelius stayed it. I went home that night to Reed's where my child was and got pretty drunk. 7 0 I told Reed I was going to the fishery and started with that intention, and came by Wash. Sherrils 7 1 and exchanged knives with him til I came back. As I went through the bottom, I cut a small sweet-gum stick. I then came on to the house of James Cornelius 7 2

and stopped in one of his negro houses and inquired if I could get across the ferry and they said I might if the bateau was on this side.7 3

I went on to the river but there was no bateau. I then hollered there for a long time but no one came. I was then on my way to the fish- ery, and had never premeditated "Cornelius's" death.

I then started on back to go down to another canoe landing, b u t as I came u p to Cornelius's house again, he was sitting j u s t 7 4 inside the door washing his feet in a bowl. We both said good morning. It was Sunday.75 And he then asked me i f l would come in and I did so. I walked and stood leaning against a table in the middle of the floor. I then told him I had come by to get that little money he owed me. H e replied that he had stayed it. I told him I would take $4.00 and let the other dollar go to the cost if he would pay it, and he said "I have but 25 cts in the house." I replied "You can get that amount anytime if you want it" and he then pointed to his gun over the door and said it would be settled if that would settle it. I replied "You need not talk that way to me, I am not afraid of you or your g u n . " H e then stepped to the p o r c h with the washpan in his hand and threw out the water. I stepped to the p o r c h too and asked him if he in- tended to pay me and he said he did not. I then struck him with the stick, and he j u m p e d off the p o r c h and hollered for the negroes and picked u p a piece of plank or a shingle, and we both struck at one another about the same time. We struck about two licks apiece, one lick hit me over the left eyebrow. H e then ran off a few yards towards

Autobiography \ 17

the kitchen and called for "Jim" a negro of Littles,76 and "Jim" came running with a rail in his hand. Cornelius and I were together again and when I saw the negro I d r o p p e d my stick and drew my knife and as "Cornelius" came at me, I cut him two or three times. We ceased a moment and I gathered a rock to throw at "Jim" but when I looked u p , the negro women were holding "Jim" and Cornelius was run- ning towards his horse and I threw the rock at Cornelius as he gal- loped off on his horse. (To this statement he added some very strong and solemn appeals as to its truth and correctness.)7 7 My thumb was cut pretty badly in the fight; when it was over I left very quickly. I passed by "Bill Sherrill" 7 8 in the bottom and told him not to tell anyone he had seen me. I went on to Reeds, got a gun and some powder and lead and told them I was going to Beattus ford,7 9 but I crossed the river and took right u p the bank 5 miles and then took the big road, avoiding houses on the way by taking the woods. At sundown I came to Daniel Finks 80 and got supper but became un- easy and left and traveled on when the moon went down. I laid down by the road and went to sleep. I had been drinking since my wife died and was sick and was very tired. T h i s was in 5 or 6 miles of Taylorsville. In the night I heard horses crossing a bridge and I thought then they were in pursuit of me. Before day I got u p to go and was so tired and sore I could hardly walk. I stopped outside of the road a while and Charlie Carson 8 1 and another passed nearby me, looking for my tracks in the road. I was in full view but they were looking down and did not see me. I then took off the road, went through the woods around Taylorsville and waded a stream above a factory and took into the mountains.

An old man whose house I came to gave me some breakfast but I was too sick to eat. I traveled on taking mountain roads, got my sup- per at a house and went on. Slept under a tree. It rained all night on me. Tuesday traveled in same way over the mountains, got some dinner at a widow's. It rained all day. Left " B o o n e " 8 2 6 miles to [un- readable]. Wednesday got to Taylorsville Tenn 8 3 —passed around it—met Waugh 8 4 in the road, had a little talk. T h a t day the hand bills with $200 reward came on by stage and Waugh overtook me as he said in the mountains. I suspected him from the first but couldnt

18 | Edward Isham

get away. As he came up, I gave the road and as he j u m p e d off his horse I wheeled to strike him but my foot slipped and I fell. He then tied me. We stayed at Jones that night. They kept me tied, but I watched my chance and got off and took the river but they pursued and took me again and brought me on to Newton 85 jail.

Hanged 25 May I 8 6 0 8 6

134 I Notes

southern culture as portrayed in Elliott J. Gorn, ' " G o u g e and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch': T h e Social Significance of Fighting in the Southern Backcountry," American Historical Review 90 (1985): 1 8 - 4 3 .

5. An excellent guide to the issues for historians, as well as an exem- plary analysis, is Natalie Zemon Davis, Fiction in the Archives: Pardon Tales and Their Tellers in Sixteenth-Century France (Stanford: Stanford Univer- sity Press, 1987).

6. T h i s comment on "propertylessness" is made with the caveat that, near the end of his short life, Isham reported that he "bought 10 acres of ground." T h i s purchase was probably made on credit and would not likely have been enough to support his new wife. He abandoned the property af- ter his third wife died in childbirth.

7. Charles C. Bolton, Poor Whites of the Antebellum South: Tenants and Laborers in Central North Carolina and Northeast Tennessee (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1994).

8. On the household economy, see especially Hahn, Roots of Southern Populism, and Stephanie McCurry, Masters of Small Worlds: Yeoman Households, Gender Relations, and the Political Culture of the Antebellum South Carolina Low Country (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).

9. T h e nature and importance of kinship ties in the antebellum South have been perhaps most clearly described in Robert Kenzer, Kinship and Neighborhood in a Southern Community: Orange County, North Carolina, 1849-1881 (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1987).

10. Most notably in Victoria E. Bynum, Unruly Women: The Politics of Social and Sexual Control in the Old South (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).

11. Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China (New York: W. W. Norton, 1990), xix.

1: Autobiography of Edward Isham, Alias "Hardaway Bone"

1. If his age listed on the 1850 federal census for Carroll County, Geor- gia, is correct, Edward Isham was born in 1826 or 1827. T h e mortality schedule of the 1860 federal census for Gaston County, North Carolina, gave his age as thirty-two years.

2. Edward Isham, Sr., successfully drew a lot in the 1832 land lottery. H e picked land lot no. 854, district 18, section 3, a plot of land located j u s t

Notes I 135

north of Carroll County. O n the 1850 federal census for Carroll County, Edward Isham, Sr., is listed as a sixty-year-old landless miner. He lived with Cynda Elkins, aged thirty-five, and four Elkins children ranging in age from six months to ten years.

3. Pine Mountain was a short distance north of the future site of Villa Rica. Gold was discovered there in 1830.

4. A William Godard is listed on the 1847 tax list for Carroll County, Georgia. He owned no property.

5. T h e 1850 federal census for De Kali) County, Georgia, shows that Charles Icems was at the time an eighty-six-year-old farmer who owned land valued at $1,000 in the Buckhead District. He initially acquired land in this county during the 1832 land lottery. He also owned two slaves in 1850, according to the federal census.

6. Nancy Creek, in northern Fulton County, Georgia. 7. According to the 1850 federal census for Forsyth County, Georgia,

Hardin Miller was a forty-six-year-old landless farmer living in the house- hold of John and Mary Miller, who also owned no real property. John and Mary Miller were probably Hardin's parents and, therefore, Edward Isham's maternal grandparents.

8. Presumably Isham was working as part of the county's road crew. 9. Located on Peachtree Creek in present-day Atlanta. 10. Should be Cobb County, Georgia, the place where Howell's Mill

was located. 11. Located in east central Alabama. 12. Like Isham, Jeff Chambers was probably an occasional resident of

Carroll County, Georgia. Although he is not listed on the 1850 federal cen- sus for Carroll County, the 1853 tax list for that county has a Jeff Chambers, a man who owned no real property but $375 worth of personal property.

13. Allen Fletcher was convicted in Stewart County, Georgia, of man- slaughter in 1834. He served almost all of a four-year sentence in the state penitentiary before he was pardoned in November 1837. At the time of his conviction, Fletcher was a twenty-nine-year-old farmer. Allen Fletcher is listed on the 1847 tax list for Carroll County, Georgia, as having no property.

14. T h i s store was probably the one operated by Hansan Hargrove, who is listed on the 1853 tax list for Carroll County, Georgia, with no land but $1,800 worth of merchandise and $6,500 worth of money and sol- vent debts.

134 I Notes

15. Presumably Cobb County, Georgia. 16. T h e Ishams of Macon County were likely related to this Hutchin-

son family by marriage. In 1845 J o h n D. Isom, probably Isham's brother, married Susan Hutchinson in Tallapoosa County, Alabama.

17. T h e 1850 federal census for Walker County, Georgia, lists Mary Brown as the twenty-four-year-old wife of Hiram Brown, a landless mechanic.

18. T h e 1850 federal census for Walker County, Georgia, enumerates a James Fulcher. H e was a sixty-three-year-old farmer who owned no real property.

19. T h e Sam Markin worked on the Tennessee River between Knox- ville, Tennessee, and Decatur, Alabama, during the 1840s and was cap- tained by a man named Rogers. T h e boat was owned by a group of men in Chattanooga who hoped to persuade the Western and Atlantic Railroad to locate the northern point of their line at Chattanooga. T h e boat's main function was to show that the Tennessee River was navigable, making it possible for a potentially large volume of commerce to pass through Chat- tanooga. See Donald Davidson, The Old River: Frontier to Secession, vol. 1 of The Tennessee (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1946).

20. T h e volunteers would have been returning in late 1847 or early 1848. Around the country, the Mexican War volunteers were often wel- comed home by large, cheering crowds. Enthusiasm in Tennessee for the war rivaled that in any other southern state. At the war's beginning, 30,000 Tennesseans had responded to the call for 3,000 soldiers.

21. This Jake Floor may have been Jacob Flora, listed on the 1850 fed- eral census for Hamilton County, Tennessee (the county in which Chatta- nooga is located), as a forty-one-year-old landless farmer.

22. O n e of the oldest mills in Georgia, located two miles from the town of Chickamauga. T h e mill was built by James Gordon in the 1830s.

23. Chuck-a-luck, a game played with two or three dice. 24. A federal road passed through this town, which is the county seat

of present-day Catoosa County, Georgia. 25. T h e missing word here and for the blank below is probably

"whore" or "bawdy." Because of his religious sensibilities, frequently evi- denced in his diaries, David Schenck may have been reluctant to write the word down.

26. T h e 1850federalcensusforWalkerCounty,Georgia,listsaMaryA. Isam as the head of a household. She is forty years old, and the household also includes eight-year-old Mary S. and eleven-year-old William A.M.

Notes I 137

27. T h e 1850 federal census for Walker County, Georgia, lists Hiram Brown as a twenty-two-year-old landless mechanic born in Tennessee. His wife Mary, aged twenty-four, was born in Alabama. Also living in the household was a six-month-old boy and Caroline Nelson, aged eighteen, most likely Hiram's sister.

28. Tunnel Hill was a major obstacle to the completion of the Western and Atlantic Railroad. T h e first train went through Tunnel Hill on Oc- tober 30, 1849.

29. T h e 1850 federal census for Carroll County, Georgia, lists William Bivings as a thirty-year-old landless laborer born in North Carolina. Within the previous year, he had married twenty-five-year-old Melissa, Edward Isham's sister.

30. Located in Cobb County, Georgia. 31. T h e 1850 federal census for Cobb County, Georgia, lists John

Everett as a thirty-eight-year-old farmer; he owned land valued at $255. 32. Located in western Fulton County, Georgia, at the upper head-

waters of the Big, or Cedar, Creek. 33. Chattahoochee River. 34. Located in northern Georgia. 35. Probably Thursday Ann Murphy, who was mentioned in S. D.

Crane's will, which was drafted in 1849 in Lumpkin County. In the will, Crane left Murphy "my bedstid and all my bed clothes," a bequest perhaps indicating that the two were lovers. If so, Crane might have been the man mentioned in the autobiography as "keeping" Murphy. No additional in- formation about Murphy could be found in census or tax records.

36. Should be Dahlonega, located in Lumpkin County, Georgia. 37. Franklin is located in Macon County, Alabama. 38. T h e railroad. 39. A word has possibly been omitted. 40. T h e absence of Isham's right thumb was one of the physical char-

acteristics listed in newspaper advertisements for his arrest after James Cornelius's killing. See appendix C.

41. Dick Fenley is listed on the 1852 tax list for Carroll County, Geor- gia, as having no property.

42. Rachel Webb is the woman listed as living with Edward Isham on the 1850 federal census for Carroll County, Georgia.

43. T h e 1850 federal census for Carroll County, Georgia, lists Elijah New as a twenty-three-year-old landless miner. New is listed on the census manuscript seven households away from Edward Isham.

134 I Notes

44. T h e only Hendricks listed on the 1853 tax list for Carroll County, Georgia, is J. M. Hendricks, a man who owned no property.

45. T h e 1860 federal census for Hamilton County, Tennessee, lists a Mary Isham, aged fifty-four, as a domestic owning $250 worth of real prop- erty and $350 worth of personal property. Also living in the household were Nancy Oliver, age sixteen; Sarah Carson, age nineteen; and John Car- son, age one.

46. T h e Hiwassee Railroad was chartered in 1850 and ran from Knox- ville, Tennessee, to Cleveland, Tennessee.

47. Probably the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, completed to Chattanooga in the early 1850s.

48. Should be Johnson County, Arkansas, located in northwest Arkansas.

49. Completed j u s t before the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, Fort Smith in the fifteen years before the Civil War served as a key com- munications center, military headquarters, and supply post for the south- west frontier. Administrators at the fort also supervised Indian matters west of Arkansas.

50. Probably Opelika, Alabama, the county seat of present-day Lee County.

51. Gilmer County, located in north Georgia. 52. Originally a Cherokee town, during Isham's life Ducktown was a

Tennessee mining town, located near the point where the borders of Ten- nessee, Georgia, and North Carolina meet.

53. This railroad ran through north Georgia. 54. Probably the Tuckasegee River in northeast Tennessee. 55. T h e 1850 federal census for Blount County, Tennessee, lists a

group of free blacks with the last name of Fagg. Isham's "Fax" may have been a member of one of these families.

56. Located in southwest Burke County, Brindletown was the center of one of North Carolina's gold-mining regions.

57. Morganton was the county seat for Burke County. 58. Statesville was the county seat for Iredell County. 59. T h e Western North Carolina Railroad reached Statesville in 1858. 60. James Lasley appears as a thirty-five-year-old laborer in the 1850

federal census for Iredell County. 61. Living with James Lasley [Lesley] in 1850 (no wife is listed) was

fourteen-year-old Amanda. Neither individual appears in the 1860 federal census.

Notes I 138

62. Perhaps Isham is referring to Charles A. Carlton, agent for the State Bank of North Carolina, who lived in Statesville. According to the 1860 federal census for Iredell County, Carlton owned $2,000 in real estate and $5,100 in personal property. No record of a land transaction between Carl- ton and Isham could be found.

63. O n election day, August 5, 1858, Democratic candidate J o h n W. Ellis handily defeated his Whig opponent. Isham's fight with Clarke, who is not readily identifiable in census reports, resulted in the assault and bat- tery case State v. H. Bone, August term 1858, Iredell County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions Trial Docket, North Carolina Division of Archives and History, Raleigh, North Carolina. T h e indictment, issued to Lincoln County where Isham fled, was dropped after Isham's arrest for the May 1859 killing of James Cornelius.

64. A twenty-three-year-old farmer named Eli Beaver, with real estate valued at $80, lived near James Lasley in 1850, according to the 1850 fed- eral census. T h e r e is no record in this instance of legal action against Isham.

65. Taylorsville was settled in 1847 and was the county seat for Alexan- der County.

66. Lincoln County was the home of David Schenck. 67. T h e 1850 federal census for Catawba County shows James Cornel-

ius as a farmer, age forty and a bachelor, who owned real estate valued at $2,580 and possessed three slaves, all female. In 1859 he was taxed $18.76 for 236 acres of land valued at $3,540 and four slaves. See the Catawba County List of Taxables, 1 8 5 7 - 6 8 , North Carolina Division of Archives and History, Raleigh.

68. No record of Isham's suit could be found. Compare with T h o m a s Beaty's testimony at Isham's trial (appendix B).

69. T h e twenty-six-year-old Dr. J. J. Mott owned $6,000 of real estate and $8,400 of personal property, according to the 1860 federal census, making him and James Cornelius's brother, Austin, two of the most affluent residents in the Sherrill's Ford neighborhood of southeastern Catawba County. Dr. Mott later attended the mortally wounded James Cornelius but failed to appear at Isham's trial. See trial transcript for further details (appendix B).

70. Isham was staying at the Catawba County home of William and Susan Reed or Reid (both of whom later testified against Isham at his mur- der trial), although for how long a period of time is unclear, as newspaper advertisements for his arrest state that he lived near Statesville, in adjoin- ing Iredell County. Isham's infant was called Margaret Bone, and she lived

134 I Notes

in the Reed household for at least the next twenty years. In the 1880 fed- eral census for Iredell County she was listed as Margaret F. Boone, aged twenty-two, and was described as a "boarder" in the home o f j a m e s Reid, William's oldest son. Her father's place of birth was given as Georgia. Per- haps her status in the household and the knowledge of her father's origin indicate that Margaret was never considered an intimate member of the family that had cared for her after Edward Isham's execution. She appears neither in later census reports nor in North Carolina marriage or death records.

71. Lincoln County farmer Washington Sherrill owned $3,500 of real estate and $3,550 of personal property in 1860. Sherrill, aged forty-eight, and his forty-six-year-old wife, Mattie, had eight children. Sherrill testified against Isham at his murder trial.

72. James Cornelius's property lay in the southeastern corner of Ca- tawba County near where Mountain Creekjoined the Catawba River. T h e property is now covered by Lake Norman. Austin Cornelius, his brother, was his nearest neighbor, according to the 1860 federal census.

73. Presumably Isham wanted to cross the Catawba River eastward to the Iredell County side.

74. Beginning at this point, Schenck highlighted with indentation and ditto marks the section of Isham's narrative concerning the death of Cornelius.

75. May 8, 1859. 76. One o f j a m e s Cornelius's neighbors, according to the 1860 federal

census, was the farmer Mary Little, whose son, James Little, owned a twenty-seven-year-old male slave in 1860. James Little's personal property, which also included a young female and an infant male slave, was valued at $4,800. Mary Litde held an older female slave and owned personal prop- erty valued at $550 and real estate at $1,200.

77. This parenthetical element is the one point in the narrative where Schenck's voice is clearly evident.

78. William J. Sherrill was listed in the 1860 federal census as a twenty- six-year-old farm laborer, living in the Catawba County household of the fifty-eight-year-old Sarah Sherrill, who had a farm that was valued at $5,000 and personal property worth $8,200.

79. Beatties Ford crossed the Catawba River from Lincoln to Mecklen- burg Counties. T h e site is now under Lake Norman.

80. Iredell County farmer Daniel Fink, aged fifty-four, and his wife

Notes I 140

Elizabeth, aged fifty, owned $4,500 worth of real estate and $400 worth of personal property in 1860, according to the 1860 federal census.

81. T h i s individual is perhaps the Charlie Carlton from whom Isham obtained land when he first came to North Carolina.

82. Named for Daniel Boone, Boone is the county seat of present-day Watauga County, North Carolina.

83. Isham had come to Carter County, Tennessee, at the northeast- ern end of Tennessee. According to Waugh's trial testimony, Isham must have traveled nearly a hundred miles in the four days after his assault on Cornelius.

84. William K. Waugh o f j o h n s o n County, Tennessee, was a forty-eight- year-old merchant in 1860. Married to Julia and the father of three chil- dren, Waugh owned real estate valued at $1,000 and personal property valued at $2,000.

85. Newton, incorporated in 1855, is the present-day county seat of Catawba County, North Carolina.

86. T h i s penciled note was added in Schenck's handwriting.

2: Edward Isham and Poor White Labor in the Old South

An earlier draft of this essay was presented in November 1993 at the an- nual meeting of the Southern Historical Association. I thank Bradley G. Bond, Scott P. Culclasure, J. William Harris, and David K. Kleit for their comments on various versions of this essay.

1. Salisbury (N.C.) Carolina Watchman, May 10, 1859; Charlotte (N.C.) Western Democrat, May 10, 1859.

2. T h i s figure of 100,000 is a conservative estimate. According to J. D. B. Debow's Compendium of the Seventh Census (Washington, D.C.: A. O. P. Nicholson, 1854), 302,607 individuals in the South were clas- sified as either laborers or farm laborers. Many of these people, however, were younger sons living with their parents, although it is impossible to know exactly how many fell into this category, since local census enumer- ators recorded information in a variety of different ways. For example, a 250-household sample of the 1850 federal census for Davidson County, North Carolina, reveals that 69 percent of laborers in that county were actually younger sons living with their parents, while a 250-household sample of the 1850 federal census for Pontotoc County, Mississippi, shows