Major James Childress Tuscaloosa, AL Ca 1822
Friday some frienda and I took the bus to Los Angeles Library and found this book. I thought this was such a cute story, I wanted to share with some fellow Childers/Childress researchers. This story took place 1822....
Til later
Don Spaulding
Judy Spaulding, descends from Willis Childers (b. 1795 NC) via daughter Elisabeth D. Childers WATTS (d. 1902 buried Moreland Cemetery, Winston County, Alabama)
Los Angeles Public Library bk, "Heritage of Winston County AL", p34--"Counterfeiting in Winston County" (submitted by Madeline Evans, P.O. Box 457, Columbiana, AL 35051. Taken from: Reminiscences of a Long Life, by William R. Smith, Sr.) Before the county of Winston evercame into being, history was being recorded within its borders.
In 1822 a group of men passed a large sum of Counterfeit money in the town of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The culprits had not been long left town when their crime was discovered and the whole town turned out and business came to a standstill.
At this time the penalty for counterfeiting was death. The men of the town immediately began to organize to pursue these criminals and within two hours of the news being discovered a group led by Major James Childress left town in pursuit of the criminals. To avoid being detected as a posse they posed as a hunting party and were dressed in hunters garb and accompanied by a pack of hunting dogs.
A short way out of town the posse met a young businessman, John W. Prewitt, returning from a trip into the upper end of Walker County. On being questioned he said he had met a party of men going from Tuscaloosa to Walker County and they told him they lived on Clear Creek. One for the men in the party had traded horses with Mr. Prewitt and had given him $100 boot on the trade.
After learning of the occupation of these men Mr. Prewitt checked his
wallet and discovered that the $100 boot he had received was also counterfeit. Mr. Prewitt now joined the "hunting party", they now having a destination of Clear Creek in what is now Winston County.
The hunters traveled all night and about daybreak next day pitched their tent on the edge of a bluff on Clear Creek. They had breakfast on wild turkeys they had shot on the way.
About one half mile from the hunters camp was a drude and freshly built cabin with a small cotton and corn patch nearby. Also close by was a row of stables and in one of them was the horse Mr. Prewitt had traded to one of the men they were pursuing.
The hunting party now scattered into the woods along the creek as if going off to hunt. Just above the water fall was a hole with smote issuing from it, leaving the hunters to conclude that their counterfeiters were concealed in a cave beneath the fall.
A little girl about six years old came from the cabin down the hill with a small water bucket and told Mr. Childress, on being asked, that she was going to the spring. She proceeded down below the fall to a small spring where she sat down to rest. The other men had scattered and rode off.
As soon as she thought Childress was out of sight the little girl darted behind the waterfall and disappeared. Childress beckoned to four of his friends nearby and the five men followed the girl behind the water fall. For eight or ten feet behind the water fall it was light enough to see but beyond that it was dark so the men kept in touch and groped along.
Suddenly a shutter was opened and light came from within the cavern and the little girl went inside. Childress and the men felt their way until they came to a slab door. Childress now made a light with his tinder-box. There was a cavern opening on each side of them and a slab door in front.
The party could hear voices inside. They put out the light and arranged themselves on the opening side of the door. Shortly the door opened again, the little girl darted out. A brawny bare arm reached out to the edge of the open door intending to close it. Childress seized the wrist of the arm with his left hand, caught the man by the throat with his right hand, dragged him out of the door, threw him to the ground and placed a knee on his chest and the other four men went into the cave with rifles and pistols ready and found two other men there sitting on a bench before a log fire.
In the den were paper counterfeits on North and South Carolina and Georgia banks, tools and implements for engraving bills, and dies for casting counterfeit coins of all denominations along with many coins already cast.
With their prisoners the party returned to Jasper where they spent the night. About three o'clock the next afternoon the party entered Tuscaloosa with their prisoners. The entire town turned out to greet the victorious hunters and their prisoners.
There were many newspaper accounts of the ensuing trial and most of the counterfeiters were hanged while one who gave evidence was given a reprieve. His punishment was a severe beating as he was leaving town. This administered by the local citizenry.
