Mr. VAN TRUMP. Mr. Ball is a lawyer; he has heard the law read and must decide for himself. I certainly shall vote for an answer to the inquiry. Mr. Ball understands the law and understands our powers. We cannot compel him to answer; we can report him to Congress, where he can be made to answer. Under these circumstances, I shall vote for the question to be answered. It is for him to decide for himself.

The WITNESS. I am willing to abide by the ruling of the committee, and answer that Captain R. E. Richardson was one, and, I think, Mr. T. P. Crews was another, and the other I do not remember, for it has been a long while, and the thing died out in a short time.

By Mr. STEVENSON:

Question. What other members belonged to the company or club?

Answer. I remember that Dr. William E. Black belonged to it, and I think J. W. Ferguson, and I think Stobo D. Garlington. These are all I can recollect at this time. Question. Who is Captain Richardson?

Answer. He is a gentleman in the county there.

Question. Living in the town?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Why do you call him captain?

Answer. He was a captain in the confederate army.

Question. Who is T. B. Crews?

Answer. He is the publisher of a newspaper there.

Question. The editor of a democratic paper?

Answer. Yes, sir; he is the publisher. He always has an editor employed. His name is in the paper.

Question. Who is Dr. Black?

Answer. He is a dentist in the town of Laurens.

Question. Was he in the army?

Answer. He was.

Question. Who is J. W. Ferguson?

Answer. He is a Scotchman in the town, and now editor of a newspaper.

Question. Editor of the democratic paper?

Answer. Yes, sir. He was not at that time, but he is now.

Question. Was he in the army?

Answer. I do not know; I think very little; probably towards the latter part of the war he was. He was a school teacher and exempt.

Question. How as to Mr. Garlington?

Answer. He was not in the army.

Question. Do you know whether your men were good, reliable men who had seen service?

Answer. I do not.

Question. Are these men citizens in good position?

Answer. Citizens in good position.

Question. What form of organization have the citizens kept up since then?

Auswer. None, sir.

Question. For their protection?

Answer. None, sir.

Question. What form had they last fall?

Answer. Well, sir, as I told you, I do not think they had any. There was none last fall. I organized a company, which was tendered to Governor Scott as part of the National Guards. It was agreed that that organization should exist for protection for some two or three months, but it was dropped at least a month before the election, and disorganized.

Question. After it was tendered to Governor Scott and not received, it was then agreed that the organization should be kept up as a volunteer organization, was it? Answer. Yes, sir; for two or three months. That was in March or April, and probably two months before the election. I told the parties the organization was no longer an organization.

Question. What further companies were organized in the county?

Answer. There was a company organized in the lower part of the county, which was tendered to Governor Scott as a part of the National Guards. I do not remember the officers, but a man by the name of Vance, and one named Watts. The services of that company were tendered to Governor Scott as part of the National Guards. I think when it was rejected that no action was taken upon it. I never heard of it afterward. Question. Do you know Major Farley?

Answer. No, sir. I suppose I know the man you allude to, a man who might be called major sometimes. There is but one Farley in the county. He was a lieutenant in the army, and, I believe, called captain. I suppose he is the person.

Question. Was he connected with any of these companies?

Answer. He was not. I do not think he was in the county at that time. He came to the county, I think, early in the fall.

Question. You say you believe there is a Ku-Klux organization in that county? Answer. No, sir, I do not. From what I have read in the newspapers and what I hear, I suppose there is, probably, a Ku-Klux organization in the South, and, probably in this State. That is my impression; but I do not know. I have no reason to believ, it exists in my county.

Question. In what part of the South do you believe it to exist?

Answer. Possibly in this State, and in North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.
Question. Mississippi?

Answer. I do not know. I know very little of Mississippi, from reading or otherwise.

I have not heard much mention of it. I do not remember that Mississippi has been impressed upon my mind so much as the States I have mentioned.

Question. Do you know whether it exists in Spartanburgh County?

Answer. I do not, sir.

Question. Have you understood who manage it there?

Answer. I have not, sir.

Question. Have you never heard who were the managers of it in that county?
Answer. I never have, sir.

Question. You deny belonging to it yourself?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Do you understand whether there is an obligation upon the members of it not to reveal the fact of the membership or any of the secrets of the order?

Answer. I do not; I know nothing about it.

YORKVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA, July 25, 1871.

JAMES R. BRATTON sworn and examined.

By the CHAIRMAN:

Question. Do you reside in this place?

Answer. Yes, sir, and have been residing here for twenty-five years.
Question. Are you a native of this State?

Answer. Yes, sir; of this county.

Question. What is your occupation?

Answer. I have been practicing medicine here for twenty-five years.

Question. Have you had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the people of this county generally?

Answer. Yes, sir, I think I have.

Question. Does your practice extend through the county?

Answer. Through the different sections of the county.

Have you any

Question. Our purpose is to inquire into the security of life, person, and property through this county, and the manner in which the laws are executed. knowledge of any offenses against the law, or against the security of person and property, that have not been redressed in the ordinary courts of justice?

Answer. I have no personal knowledge of anything of the kind. I merely hear rumors and reports. Personally, I know nothing about it.

Question. Have you been called upon, as a physician, to either testify before, or certify upon, any inquests on the bodies of dead men?

Answer. I have not. I have only heard these reports from the coroner's inquests; that is the way I get my information about these cases.

Question. How many persons have you heard of who have been killed in this county within the last six or eight months?

Answer. There was a man up here named Tom Black, or Roundtree, that they say was killed-I cannot tell when. One report says he was killed by negroes for his money; another, that it was by white men in disguise. He had been to Charlotte a few days before that, to sell his cotton, and, when killed, his money could not be found; but who killed him I cannot tell.

Question. Was that within six months?

Answer. I think it was this year; if not in this year it must have been toward the close of last year.

Question. Have heard of any other cases?

Answer. Yes, sir; a negro up here, named Brown, was reported killed.

Question. What was he?

Answer. He was a farmer, renting land, I presume.

Question. What was his full name?

Answer. Anderson Brown.

Question. Was that, also, since the beginning of this year?

Answer. I think it was.

Question. Was he a militia captain?

Answer. Not that I know of. I do not think he was, to my knowledge.

Question. Any others?

Answer. Yes, sir; a negro was hung about twelve miles below by some persons, who I cannot tell.

Question. What was his name?

Answer. Williams.

Question. Was he a militia captain?

Answer. He was.

Question. When was that?

Answer. That was some time in this year, in February or March; in the latter part of February or the first of March; I do not remember the date exactly.

Question. Do you recollect the day of the week?

Answer. No, sir, I do not remember it.

Question. Do you recollect the day you heard it?

Answer. No, sir; nor the day it was done; it was some time in the latter part of February or the first of March.

Question. Was that done by men in disguise?

Answer. Yes, sir, it was so reported; that was the testimony at the coroner's inquest. Question. Were you at that inquest?

Answer. I was not; but it was so reported to me by the coroner.

Question. Was that in February or March?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Are those the only cases you have known of?

Answer. I do not know any other cases that I can think of now. I have not fixed

any other cases upon my mind. Let me see, there may have been other cases.

Question. Those are cases of actual death about which I am inquiring now?

Answer. What do you mean by that?

Question. Persons killed.

Answer. Those three are negroes killed. I do not know any other cases to my knowledge.

Question. Was there any arrest in either of the three cases?

Answer. None that I know of; I do not think there was any.

Question. Do you know of any trial in the case of persons who killed Roundtree?

Answer. No, sir; I do not think there were any arrests made; not to my knowledge. Question. You think there were not?

Answer. I do not think any were made.

Question. You reside in town here?

Answer. Yes, sir. That negro, Roundtree, was killed eighteen or nineteen miles from here; if any persons had been arrested in his case I presume I would have known it. Question. The trial has been in the last six months if at all?

Answer. Yes, sir; and I presume at this post office.

Question. You have not heard of any trial?

Answer. No, sir, I have not.

Question. Is it likely that if it had excited any interest here you would have known it? Answer. Certainly; I would have known it had there been a trial going on; but there has been no trial.

Question. For killing Roundtree or either of the other two?

Answer. No, sir.

Question. Has there been anybody arrested for killing either of these men?

Answer. No, sir, I do not know of it.

Question. Do you recollect any persons whipped in this county within six or nine months?

Answer. Only such cases as are reported to me; I cannot mention them, because negroes were reported to me as whipped that I did not know of at all.

Question. Do these reports which you hear and give credit to go to any considerable extent?

Answer. I have inquired how many negroes have been whipped from different persons in the county and town, and they did not report to me more than fifteen. Some gentlemen and myself were counting them up the other night how many negroes to their knowledge or from report had been whipped and we could not make out more than fifteen.

Question. Did you make it fifteen?

Answer. I think it was twelve or fifteen.

Question. Whose names you knew?

Answer. Yes, sir. I do not know that we knew the names; we knew the cases.
Question. In what parts of the county were they?

Answer. In different parts of the county, east and west. Some were reported to have been whipped clear on the western side of the district, and I think one negro man reported himself to Colonel Merrill in the last month as having been whipped, and I get from reliable authority that that negro was not touched.

Question. From whom did you get it-who is the authority upon which you rely from whom you got it?

Answer. I was talking to Squire Brown on that subject about two weeks ago. The negro is named Kale.

Question. What is his first name?

Answer. That is his last name. I do not know his other name.

Question. Did he report who had whipped him?

Answer. I cannot say. I do not know. I asked Squire Brown about it, and heard that the negro had reported to Colonel Merrill that he had been whipped, and he told me that the negro, as he understood, had not been touched; that there was some difference between the negro and his employer; that the employer had called together a number of men to settle the difficulty between them about the crop. They settled the difficulty; awarded the negro so much, and he not being satisfied came off to Yorkville with this story.

Question. Had Brown been charged with taking part in the whipping?
Answer. No, sir.

Question. Had the negro said who whipped him?

Answer. I do not know. I did not inquire when Squire Brown told me,

not one word of truth in it." I did not bother myself further.

Question. Brown gave you that as his opinion?

Answer. Yes, sir, and information derived from other sources by him.

"There is

Question. Information derived from those who had been charged with whipping him?

Answer. No, sir; from those who acted as arbitrators.

Question. But their testimony that he was not whipped was opinion?

Answer. It was information.

Question. Mere negative testimony?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Have you examined the negro?

Answer. No, sir; I do not know him. I have mentioned the case to show you that if that negro was not whipped how easy it is for some people to report themselves here falsely.

Question. Suppose he was whipped and swore to it, would it not be just as easy to circulate a story that they did not believe he was whipped?

Answer. But if he was whipped the marks should show, and now let him bring up the persons who whipped him.

Question. Do you discredit the statements of negroes who say they were whipped? Answer. In many cases I do.

Question. Do you think the men who disguise themselves could be easily told?

Answer. I do not say that, but a great many of these people dislike to work, and if they can get the protection of the State or the United States to relieve them from work they will do it, and I have no faith in their testimony.

Question. In negro testimony?

Answer. I have not.

Question. Is there any concerted arrangement here for the purpose of intimidating the negroes either with regard to their political rights or their making complaints against those who have whipped them or otherwise committed violence upon them? Answer. I know nothing of the kind. The truth is this, I think it is just the reverse. If ever our people were earnest in anything it is to teach the negro his duty to be quiet and passive and attend to his duty; to let public meetings alone; to go and vote as he pleases, allowing no man to interfere with him. I do not know any cases where a darkey has been interfered with at the polls.

Question. Is attendance at a political meeting considered imprudent or wrong in them?

Answer. When they attend in large numbers they create great confusion and annoyance; but I do not know a procession that has been interfered with.

Question. Is that the light in which the white people view that subject, that the negroes had better stay away altogether from political meetings?

Answer. Yes, sir. Our advice is "have as little to do with politics as possible; if you want to vote, vote, but vote for no dishonest, vicious, ignorant, and wicked man ; vote for whom you please, so he is honest, whether a radical or a democrat." That has been my advice to them all.

Question. Do you know of no organization in this county intended to prevent negroes from voting as they saw proper?

Answer. I don't; and that has not been the case.

Question. Do you know anything of this organization commonly called Ku-Klux? Answer. I am no member of the Ku-Klux, and know nothing of their proceedings. Question. Do you know anything of an organization in this county having any political purpose or purposes against the negro, whether Ku-Klux or not?

Answer. I have not. I tell you the feeling, the honest purpose of the people of this county and State, so far as I know, are in favor of the negro.

Question. What do you mean?

Answer. For his general good, private and public. They do not wish to take away one particle of the rights of the negro, civil, moral, religious, or political.

Question. Have you no knowledge of this charge, which is so general, as to the existence of this organization called Ku-Klux?

Answer. Only from report and rumor, and from public proclamation.

Question. From your intercourse with the people here, do you believe that that organization exists in this county?

Answer. I do not believe there was an organization. There may have been assemblages of men to protect person and buildings, but evidently, from the fact of these negroes having been killed, somebody must have done it; but I do not know anything about the organization.

Question. I want your belief as to the existence of this organization, which is by popular name called Ku-Klux, let its real name be what it may; does it exist in this county?

Answer. Not to my knowledge.

Question. I ask for your belief?

Answer. That is my belief; if there is any organization of that kind, I do not know it. Question. You may not have actual knowledge, but you have ridden through all the county and heard of these murders, and heard of these whippings. Is it your belief that these murders and these whippings are done merely by individuals to revenge private wrongs, or that the people who do it are organized to assist each other?

Answer. No, sir; I think there is no organization in the matter. There may be neighborhood assemblies, but to say that they have a regular organization, I do not believe it. Question. Were you here the night the county treasury was broken open?

Answer. I was in my bed.

Question. In this town?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. How many men were present?

Answer. I cannot tell you.

Question. How far do you live from here?

Answer. On the next lot. There is one intervening between this and my house.

Question. How many yards from here; two hundred?

Answer. No, sir; not more than seventy-five yards.

Question. Did you hear the disturbance?

Answer. I heard the noise and got up, but did not go out of my house.

Question. Did you make inquiries?

Answer. I did next morning.

Question. Was there noise enough to arouse you.

Answer. Yes, sir; I got up.

Question. What was your impression ?

Answer. When I first heard it, I thought it was a drunken row. It was a terrible noise; but after awhile, when the noise ceased, I went to bed. Next morning they told me what had been done, but they could not tell the purpose.

Question. What time of night was that?

Answer. About the middle of the night; between 12 and 1, I think.

Question. You heard the noise?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Were the men in front of your house?

Answer. The men seemed to be in this direction, on Front street, first.

Question. Did you see men in front of your house?

Answer. No, sir.

Question. Did you hear the noise here?

Answer. Yes, sir.

Question. Did you hear firing?

Answer. I heard a few shots fired; that was after the noise was over.

Question. Did the noise impress you that night with the idea that there was a disturbance of the public peace?

Answer. I was satisfied that there was a row of some kind, and that would be a disturbance of the public peace; but what its nature was I could not tell.

Question. Did you learn the property in the house here was broken up ?

Answer. Not until next morning.

Question. Did you go back to bed and to sleep?

Answer. Yes, sir; I went to bed after the row was over.

Question. You heard all the noise?