"State of Tennessee, Tipton County.

66

Having been called on by Virgil A. Stewart to state to the public whether the statements set forth in the publication entitled 'The Western Land-Pirate' are correct or not, I do hereby certify to the world that all that is set forth in that publication relative to the said Virgil A. Stewart calling at my house in this county, on the bank of the Mississippi river, in the latter part of January, 1834, in company with the notorious villain John A. Murrell, is strictly correct in all the many particulars set forth in that publication. The said Virgil A. Stewart was travelling with Murrell in disguise, and under the fictitious name of Adam Hues. Mr. Stewart then informed me of his real name and business, and solicited my assistance, provided he should need it. I also informed him that he might depend on the aid of Matthew Erwin, my neighbour, who lived a few miles below me on the river. I have frequently conversed with Mr. Erwin on the subject of Murrell having agreed to bring him (Erwin) three negro men; of the arrangement that Mr. Stewart had made with Mr. Erwin to have a guard to arrest the said Murrell when he should arrive with the negroes which he had promised to bring Mr. Erwin. I have also heard Mr. Hargus, who lives on the river below Mr. Erwin, state that Mr. Stewart was at his house in company with the said Murrell, and that his son carried Mr. Stewart and Murrell over the river in a skiff; and that the said Virgil A. Stewart informed him (Mr. Hargus) of his real name and business with John A. Murrell.

"Mr. Stewart requested me, before he started over to the morass, if Murrell came back to my house after his horse, and he (Mr. Stewart) was not with him, to have Murrell arrested immediately, as I might know

that he was murdered. Mr. Stewart and Murrell had left their horses at my house.

"I hope these statements will be fully satisfactory to all who are not satisfied on the subject.

"Given under my hand and seal, this, 18th day of October, 1835.

[Sealed.]

"JOHN CHAMPION. ›

"State of Tennessee, Shelby County.

Having been called on by Virgil A. Stewart to state to the world what I know relative to the said Virgil A. Stewart and the notorious John A. Murrell being at my house while I resided on the Mississippi river, in Tipton county of this state, in the latter part of January and first of February, 1834, I now certify to the world that all that is set forth in the publication entitled the Western Land-Pirate' is correct so far as my name is connected with the same; and I will further state, for the satisfaction of all who may wish to know it, that John A. Murrell did engage to bring me three negro men, and that Virgil A. Stewart concerted a plan with me to arrest Murrell when he should bring said negroes.

"Mr. Stewart was travelling with said Murrell in disguise, and under the fictitious name of Adam Hues. Mr. Stewart informed me of his real name and business. All this transpired as mentioned in the 'Western Land-Pirate.'

"Given under my hand and seal, this 20th day of October, 1835.

[Sealed.]

"MATTHEW ERWIN."

Tipton County, Tennessee, Oct. 19th, 1835.

"MR. VIRGIL A. STEWART :—

"You have requested me to state what I know of your trip to Arkansas in company with John A. Mur

rell, the western land-thief, which I will do in a few words. Early in February, 1834, I was standing on the bank of the Mississippi river, near my dwelling, when I perceived two men riding towards me, one of whom I suspected of being the notorious Murrell, having seen him once previously; the other I now know must have been you; moreover, at the time, being unacquainted with you, I supposed you to belong to the same gang. After you passed I went to the house, and observed to my wife that two suspicious-looking fellows had just gone by. She then informed me that, during my absence from home, two white men on horseback had been among our negroes tampering with them, offering to take them to a free state, &c. I got on my horse and rode out to the place where my negroes were at work, determining to learn from them all the particulars. They described the men so as to leave no doubt on my mind that they were the same fellows who had passed but a short time before. I concluded then to follow you to Randolph, whither I supposed you had gone, and to ascertain if one was Murrell (as I was not certain of it myself), and have him well Lynched; but nothing was to be seen of you. Next day I went down to my neighbour's (John Champion), who was then living four miles below me on the river, to learn from him if he had seen them and knew them. He told me they stayed there all night, and that one of the men was Murrell, who had stolen negroes from a Mr. Henning, a preacher of Madison county. The other was a man by the name of Stewart, who was following said Murrell for the purpose of detecting his villany. And Champion then related to me the conversation that passed between you and himself; the same that was afterward published in Stewart's life of John A. Murrell. "A few days afterward I saw another man, Mr. Mat

thew Erwin, who confirmed what Mr. Champion had said. With Champion I am well acquainted, and know him to be an honest man, and any thing he would state is deserving of credit. I will here inform you that I too have had some knowledge of the Murrell clan in Arkansas, and believe them to be villains of the deepest die. Many of them were concerned in robbing a flat-boat that grounded six miles below me, in May, 1834. As it regards the Barneys, fellows mentioned in your list of Murrell's accomplices, I can say, they stole from me last fall two negroes, and kept them concealed for several days; they soon learned they were suspected, and that I was determined, if I did not get them, to punish the Barneys agreeably to the merits of their crime; therefore, in a short time, my negroes were forthcoming.

"On the subject of G. N. Saunders, the man who certifies and swears for Judge Clanton, I will merely state, I know nothing of him personally; he left this country before I moved to it; but, from his general character here, I should say he was a base man; and whatever he might say or swear to not entitled to credit. "Respectfully, your friend,

"ORVILLE SHELBY."

Murrell now began to speak of the bad luck he had had with the old parson's negroes, which appeared to give him much uneasiness. Hues, deeming the occasion a safe one, ventured, for the first time, to ask him a direct question respecting the negroes. He inquired to what market he had sent them. Murrell replied, "They have sent my two, with three others, and seven horses, down the river in one of those small trading-boats; they intended, if they could, to go through the Choctaw pass to the Yazoo market; and

they have with them ten thousand dollars in counterfeit money, which I fear is to upset the whole matter. I am not pleased with the arrangement. The fellows whom they have sent are only strikers, and that is too much to put in their hands at one time. D-d if I am not fearful they will think themselves made when they sell, and leave us behind in the lurch; though Lloyd says there is no danger in them; that he told them to sell and mizzel."

Once more on the road, Murrell renewed the unfinished narrative of his life, as follows:

Murrell. "After I returned home from the first grand circuit I made among the speculators, I remained there but a short time, as I could not rest when my mind was not actively engaged in some speculation. I commenced the foundation of this mystic clan on that tour, and suggested the plan of exciting a rebellion among the negroes, as the sure road to an inexhaustible fortune to all who would engage in the expedition. The first mystic sign which is used by this clan was in use among robbers before I was born; and the second had its origin from myself, Phelps, Haines, Cooper, Doris, Bolton, Harris, Doddridge, Celly, Morris, Walter, Depont, and one of my brothers, on the second night after my acquaintance with them in New-Orleans. We needed a higher order to carry on our designs, and we adopted our sign, and called it the sign of the grand council of the mystic clan; and practised ourselves to give and receive the new sign to a fraction before we parted: and, in addition to this improvement, we invented and formed a mode of corresponding, by means of ten characters, mixed with