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A Southern Tragedy

A Southern Tragedy image
Parent Issue
Day
22
Month
January
Year
1890
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

For several years I was cmpioyed in the investijration of claims against the United States pending before the Sonthern Claims Commission. To fret before that body the claimant had to swear he had remained loyal in thotight nul action from the bejíinnin to the close of the war. It wilt bu preumO.l tlmt tliis was a hard thlnsr for any resident of the seceded States to tlo, but the alleged claitnantt of over $50,000,000 worth of property - cornmissary and qunrtermaster stores - testitied that they werc, and attemped to prove the same. A vast amonnt of improbable tcstimony was ofSjreil, und much that was itnpossible of belief. The law provided for but tbree special ajrents to cover the immense territory occupicd by these several thousand clainiRnts, and these three had to be up and doinjr, early and late. Very early in my nvestlfrations I wa impressed with the belief that men caied very Httle what tliey swore to if t would help themselves or a neighbor to ;et morey from the Treasury. I examined underoath probably 10,000 men, scattered from Texa9 to Virginia, and I undertake to say that full 95 per cent. of these tesilfied falsely. And during my service I probably examined half as m my females of all affes and coiulitions. I do not meinber uut two mstances wlierein tema] es testilied to anything but the trutli, as they believed it to be, aml in these two instances I had my doubts. The men supported the Bible assertloo that "all men are Hars." The woineo proved tliat an oath to tliem was sacrei). Tbli is my experience covering mauy thousand cases. Explain it wlio can. I am reminded of tlie pecuüaritie of one case by a dispatch in Sunday's pupers detailing the loss of one David Dilloii in a boat off New York liarbor. I had considerable to do witli Claimiint D vid R. Dillon ot Savannah, Ga., wlio liled claims numbered 5235 and 7451, aggregating S48,015.67. After yeirs of investigation and the recordinjr ot volumes of perjured testimony, the claim was rejecied because of proved disloyiüty and the fraudulent character of the claim, exceptlng possibly $3,000 or $10,000. The investigation brought to lighc one of the most romantic and 'trarical histories imaginable. Mr. Dillon resided at Savunnah, Ga., during the wnr, and it is said had resirted there all hls life, having been bom there. He was reputed rich, having owned fifty or sixty slaves. He was styled a banker, dlteouiitlng notes, but not doing an exchange or deposlt business. He was a bold and enterprising speculator, dealing in all kinds of property. He was a "hale fellow, well niet" character, off-hand and outspoken, and was very popular throughout Lower Georgia about the beginning of the war. He was of Irish descent, and at one time luid claim to anlrish baronetcy, but had to abandon it, because the records of. bis father's birth had been burned, solacing himself with the declaratiou that he would rather 'be an American king than an Irish lord. Very many years bcfore the war wlien Dillon was young, he commenced businesp, in a small way, on the river bank at the corner of River and Broad streets, in Savaiinah. His stock consisted of such articles as the slaves up the river would be likely to want in exchange for poultry and garden truck, whicli they broughtdown in canoes or sklffs betvveen days. The liquor trafile was Uien almost entirely uncircumscribed eyerywhere in the South, and poor whiskey aud bad rum formed no uuimportant part oí his stock. Young Dillon was ambitlous of wealth, and not over-scrupulous of the means of obtalning it. He gave the slaves what seemed to them extra bargatns, recouping himself, as it is said, in a way not less honest than that at thls day pursued by many of the employers of freedmen throughout the South. After the exchange had taken place to the entire satlsfaction of his tomerg, and the goods had been unpacked in the little boats preparatory to the trip up the river, Dillon would declare it wal his treat and pet the colored fellows back Into the store for a parting drink. Once there he would volanteer seyeral drink?, lengthened out by stories suitable to the capacity of tlie negroes. Whlle this was going on, Dillon's strikers would remove every article purchased from thoboits and convey thcin to a place oT safo hiding. When this was accomplislied the negroes would be dismissed with earnest requasts to come again. There would be consternaron when the pooi fellows found themselvea despoiled of what had cost them such weary work performed betneen the slave tasks. The most indignant of all would be Dillon, who would swear to pursue the dirty thieves to the end of the world. But the negroes were due al the river plantation before daybreak and away they would be compelled to carry tlieir sorrowing heaits. I do not vouch for the correctness of this tradition. Aboul this time there lived in Savannah a beatitiful, intelligent and energetic free mulatto woman nained Kachel Veideny. She was keeping a stall in the city market, supplemented by n Cake stand and by close attention to both, and polito treatment of her customers was making money very fast. Öhe knew that Uillon was niaking money and after his agreeiiifr to remain true to her to the end of her life they begon to live togetherand nineteen children was the result of the connection. All this was in perfect acconl with the cliivalrous code, and would not detract from the social standing of ny one. But it would seem that Dillon possessed more love for the mother of his children, or a keener sense of honor than the average chivalry of this time, for about the year 1848 he determined to marry Kachel Verdery fit could be ai:coinpllshed. To this end he pocured the passage of au act through the Georgia Legislature removlng Hichel's disability of color, nnd granting her all the privileges of a white woman. Disti'.EtiUhed physlcians of S:ivannah certified that there was no negio taint n her veins, atul t was proved Ihat slie was Mie offspring of a white woinan and Indlan, albeit nearly every okl citizen of Savannah knew that she was araulatto woman, and her blood brotliers are known as colored men to this day. David R. Dillon married Rachel Verdery, the mother of liis children, and the most important factor.in the production of bis fortune. It is a iittle peculiar that tbis, the noblcst act of his entire life, is the one which lixes li is social outlawry in the commutiity in which he lives. The act of marria(o legitimated the children. These were educalej i:i Germany, and they were all splendid. The boys grew to be fine, manly fellowp, and the girls aa boautlful as a poet'g dream. Two of the girls died In Germnny, one of wbom was the oi.w.orl of a pbysician of note. A tliird married a mart .,_,J,i ivilotier, and is residing in Canada. Until some time after the close "f tlie war Dillon remained loyal to bis family relations. In 1869 Kachel was feaifully burned and disligured by the explosión of a coal oll lamp. Tben he began abusing and even beating her, and ended by deserting her and takinj; up wlth a pretty milliner nauied Jennie Etrich, for whoni be built a most beautiful residence just in the outsklrts of Savannah. He began to epcml munuy freely upon Jennie and her brotliers, setting one of thetu up in business and at the f=ame time utterly ignoring the claims of his own family, and Ihose of them in S ivannali liad frequently to depend upon charity for subistance. As the children retunied IVoni Germany they were refiued racognition or aid by th'father. Durinif Dillon's trouble8 wlth his wife, Alexander, the brightest of bis son?, returned from Germany He caine in for a laige share of the atuse and vituperation of liis falher. It Is probable that he would have accepted this for himself in gllence or haye wirhdrawn from its influence by leaving Sivannali,. but he cnuld not tdlerate the neglect and cruelty, even unto tripes with a cowliide, wliich Dillon administered to bis motber. One day be borrowcd a revolver snd soujfht hls tiither at his office. What ocenrred at tb at Interview will never be correctly IcnnwK. From the after plens of his fatbcTf it is presumed tliat he was taunteii wlth being the son of a negro woman, the bastnrd son of a white min. Shortly after he had gone to the office persons in the vicinity were startled by two plscol shots quickly following each other. Kushlng to Dillon's office they found him shot throngh the head and Alexander deiiil, sliot tnroiitjh tlie beart. It is only known positivcly that Alexander first shot his father as he thought fatally, and tben tock bis own life beyond recall, A8 Benjamin, another son, was returning from (lerniany he met bis father and Jennie Elrich on the cars in Upper Georgia. They told him bis motlior was dead, the fainl'y wholly broken up and HiivUid him to avoid Savannah. Their conduct and what he was told soured him with them and bis own prospects, and he enlisted in the regular artny at Atlanta, and may be stlll serving as a private soldier. Another son James, was living at Atlanta ten years sgo. The whereabouts of the other metnbers ot tbis unfortunate family I never learned. The records of tho courts of Georgia detail the efforts of Jjavid R. Dillon to release himself from bis obligations to bis wife. Term after term he fought her application for maintainance. He plead that sbe was a negro and thtrefore could not be the lejiul wife of a white man, to be met wlth the act of tlie Georgia Lcgislature endowlng her with all the rights of a white woman, the passage of which was procurad by bimself. Flnally the matter was compromii-ed and Jennie Erlich was discarded and he returned to live viith hls wife. This is but a skeleton of the story as detailed by the persons interviewed in connectlon wlth the claims of David R. Dillon. - The San Francisco Chronicle. Enraptured Dude (to chorus girl bebind thogcenes) - Miss Footllghts, I adore you. Can you - canyoubemy wife? Miss Footllgbts - I'll ask my husband about it; he's just coming off the stage. [Dude carne off immediately.]

Article

Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Courier