the slaves of the vicinity intended an insurrectionthat Madam Latham had overheard a conversation between one or two of her house-girls and one of Mr. Landfair's men, in which she distinctly understood the man to say that the negroes were going to rise and kill all the whites; and, when being asked by one of the girls what they would do with such a child as she then held in her arms (having one of her mistress's grandchildren in her arms), he replied, that they intended to put them to death, as it would be doing them a service, as they would go to heaven, and be rid of much trouble in this world, &c. On the first day of July we had a small meeting at the bluff, when I was requested to examine the two girls. They both said, in unqualified terms, that the boy above alluded to had informed them that the negroes intended rising and slaying all the whites. Mr. James Lee, who resides near the bluff, a very close observer of men, both white and black, had his suspicions aroused from what he had seen and heard, and was consequently on the alert both day and night. He had overheard conversations which confirmed him in his suspicions, and this was of great service to the committee in the investigations; among the slaves he had heard two of Capt. Sansberry's boys, Joe, and Weaver (a preacher). There was a motion made that a committee of three be appointed to arrest Joe and examine him; whereupon Capt. Beatie, James M. Smith, and myself were appointed, and immediately proceeded to the plantation of Capt. Sansberry, who promptly delivered up Joe for examination. This man Joe is a blacksmith, and works for the public. I had sent one of my men to the shop twice some short time before this. This man of mine, Sam, I consider a great scoundrel; and I felt confident that, if Joe knew any thing of the intended insurrection, Sam was also in the scrape. This I communicated to Capt. Beatie and Mr. James M. Smith, before we commenced the examination of Joe. The first question we put to Joe was this: Do you know who we are? Joe replied that he knew Capt. Beatie and Mr. Smith, but that he did not know me. I immediately insisted that he did know me, and continued to look him full in the face for some minutes, until he began to tremble. When I saw this, I asked him if he knew Sam, and when he saw him last?

Joe replied that he knew Sam, and had seen him twice not long since at his shop. I then told him that our business with him was to know the conversation that passed between himself and Sam at their last interview. He declared that nothing had passed between himself and Sam but what was usual when fellow-servants meet. We then called for a rope, and tied his hands, and told him that we were in possession of some of their conversation, and that he should tell the whole of it; after some time he agreed that, if we would not punish him, he would tell all that he could recollect. He said he knew what we wanted, and would tell the whole, but that he himself had nothing to do with the business. He said that Sam had told him that the negroes were going to rise and kill all the whites on the 4th, and that they had a number of white men at their head: some of them he knew by name, others he only knew when he saw them. He mentioned the following white men as actively engaged in the business: Ruel Blake, Drs. Cotton and Saunders, and many more, but could not call their names; and that he had seen several others. He also gave the names of several slaves as ringleaders in the business, who were understood to be captains under those white men. He said that one belonging to his master, by the name of Weaver, and one belonging to Mr. Riley, by the name of Russell (a preacher also), and my old carpenter, Sam, were of the list of captains. Joe stated that the insurrection was to commence the 4th of July; that the slaves of each plantation were to commence with axes, hoes, &c., and to massacre all the whites at home, and were then to make their way to Beatie's Bluff, where they were to break into the storehouses, and get all the arms and ammunition that were in that place, and then proceed to Livingston, where they would obtain re-enforcements from the different plantations; and from thence they were to go to Vernon and sack that place, recruiting as they went; and from there they were to proceed to Clinton; and by the time they took the last-mentioned place, they calculated they would be strong enough to bear down any and every opposition that could be brought against them from there to Natchez; and that, after killing all the citizens of that place, and plundering the banks,

&c., they were to retire to a place called the Devil's Punch Bowl-here they were to make a stand, and that no force that could be brought could injure them, &c. While Joe was going of with his confession, Capt. Sansberry, and his overseer, Mr. Ellis, brought up old Weaver he would not confess any thing; said that Joe had told lies of him, and that he did not know any thing about the matter at all. He was put under the lash, Mr. Lee being present, who had overheard his conversation with Mr. Riley's boy Russell, in which he heard them pledge themselves to each other that they would never confess any thing, either of themselves or any others; and although he frequently repeated these words to Weaver, yet he would not confess. Joe was set at liberty, and Weaver remained in confinement. We then went to Mr. Riley's and took up Russell: all was mystery with him; he knew nothing, nor could he conceive what we were punishing him for; we now concluded that we would hand him over for safe keeping to Mr. Ellis, who took charge of him, and just as he arrived at home with him Mr. Lee rode up, and told Russell that he had overheard Weaver and himself in conversation, at a certain place and time, and that he should tell him what had passed between them. Mr. Lee at this time struck him twice; Russell asked him to wait, and he would tell him all about the business; he then went on to make a full statement of all that he knew. His statement was, in all particulars, precisely like the one made by Joe. Next day we again met at the bluff; a number of slaves were brought in; among the rest, one belonging to Mr. Saunders, by the name of Jim, a very sensible, fine-looking fellow. I was appointed to examine him; he would not, for some time, make any confession; but at length agreed that, if I would not punish him any more, he would make a full confession, and proceeded so to do. His statement was very much like that of Joe's; implicating, however, more white men by name than Joe had done, and some more slaves. There was a man present on the ground by the name of Dunavan, whom he pointed out as deeply implicated; he also pointed out a man by the name of Moss, and his sons, as being very friendly to the slaves; said that to him they could sell all they

could lay their hands on; that he always furnished them with whiskey; and, also, that these bad white men, while in the neighbourhood, always made Moss's house their home; but that he did not know whether he, Moss, intended to take any part with them in the intended insurrection. Jim further stated, that it was their intention to slay all the whites, except some of the most beautiful women, whom they intended to keep as wives; said that these white men had told them that they might do so, and that he had already picked out one for himself; and that he and his wife had already had a quarrel in consequence of his having told her his intention. Jim gave the names of Blake, Cotton, Saunders, and Dunavan, as deeply engaged in the business.

Bachus, a boy belonging to Mr. Legget, confirmed all that Jim had stated, and added one more white man's name to Jim's list. The name given by Bachus' I understood to be Sliver, a pedler; and that Sliver was making up money to buy arms, &c.; and that he, Bachus, had given him six dollars for that purpose, and had not seen him from that time. This man we could never get hold of. After getting through with these examinations, Jim, Bachus, Weaver, Russell, and Sam, were all put to death by hanging. And being sent for to-day to take my seat on the committee organized and appointed at Livingston, I do not know any thing more that transpired at Beatie's Bluff, except this, one of Mr. Landfair's boys who was implicated made his escape, and when he was brought back to the bluff the people met and hung him. I was present at this hanging.

The above is all that I now recollect that took place at the bluff while I was present.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JESSE MABRY.

September 20, 1835.

The news of the execution of the negroes at Beatie's Bluff, and of their horrid and sanguinary intentions, as developed by their confessions in the preceding report, being quickly circulated through the county, had the effect of arousing the citizens from their inaction, and of dispelling the illusion, and warning them of the

awful reality of their precarious situation. They were now apprized, for the first time, when the conspirators would attempt to consummate their unholy work. They ascertained that they were not to contend alone with a few daring and desperate negroes, and such of their deluded race as they might enlist in their daring and bloody enterprise, but that these negroes were instigated and encouraged by some of the most wicked and abandoned white men in the country; highway robbers, murderers, and abolitionists, who were to supply them with arms and ammunition, and lead them on to the work of massacre and carnage, conflagration and blood.

In order that the proceedings of the people of Madison county at this critical and trying emergency may be the better understood and justified, the situation of the county should be here fully explained.

The county is settled principally in large plantations, and on many of them there is no white man but an overseer, most of the large planters being absent at the north; and on a number only the families of the absent-being at least 50 negroes to one white man in the neighbourhood of Livingston and Beatie's Bluff, where the scene of desolation was to commence. Having no arms for their defence but their fowlingpieces; no organized militia in the county; what would the ordinary array of arms avail, opposed to the stealthy marauder of the night-the demon of the firebrand and the dagger-and no place of security as a retreat for their families? The only prospect before them was certain destruction, should they fail to arrest the progress of the impending danger. Intense excitement was pervading the whole community at this time, and was increasing every hour.

The following white men, Cotton and Saunders, were arrested and in custody; and this, too, before the disclosures of the negroes at Beatie's Bluff were known; the arrest being made upon circumstances of suspicion and facts, indicating in a very strong degree their agency and participation in the plans then hastening to their full development and consummation. And when the disclosures made at Beatie's Bluff, as above unfolded, were fully made known at Livingston, there seemed to be left no alternative but to adopt the most efficient and decisive measures.