During the Civil War and for several decades that followed, criminals and vigilantes from various places around the United States would don Klan-like outfits and terrorize citizens. In many newspapers, they were commonly referred to as Night Riders. They were named after their preferred time to commit crimes while on horseback.
The Night Riders, like the Home Guards, gangs, and Irregular units of the Confederate Army, frequently harried and preyed upon law-abiding citizens in the power vacuum created by the War and the collapse of the South.
Civil War Operations in Pickens County
In 1864, the Union Army sent men into what is now the Talking Rock area of Pickens County to apprehend wanted men. They apprehended A.J. Green and damaged his property. Later, when the Army went after James Simmons, they were scared off by the Jordan Gang.
More than a decade later, during the Moonshine Wars of the 1870s, frequent clashes between revenuers, moonshiners, informants, and the U.S. Army happened throughout Pickens, Gilmer, and Fannin Counties. An investigation was launched and the results essentially laid blame on the unscrupulous tactics of the Deputy Marshals who overzealously went after whomever they felt like.
In 1886, Pickens County resident, David C. Wheeler, formed a vigilante group (the group's name has been lost to time) that committed arson against informants. In 1886 they burned down the house of A.J. Holder and in 1887 the house of N.C. McClain.
The Honest Man's Friend and Protector
Later, in 1889, twenty-six men gathered together (including D.C. Wheeler) to carry their tradition of vigilantism. This time they called themselves The Honest Man's Friend and Protector (hereafter referred to as the HMFP), and drew up a manifesto that outlined their mission. Each of them planned to assume the name of an honorable resident of Pickens County who was known to be against moonshining. And if they were caught, they hoped to damage the reputations of their nemesis, or at the very least, cause one to question the reputation of those upright citizens.
The home of John R. Aiken was burned to the ground on November 12th, 1889. He, his wife, and his children were left homeless as a result. John was formerly a witness against one of the HMFPs in a revenue case.
On December 3rd, 1889, the HMFP gathered in a valley just east of Sharptop Mountain at the Thomas W. Fields property. Tom, his cousin Eli Fields, and the other men, donned their black robes and hoods and launched a brief reign of terror. They burned down the homes of other citizens who had turned evidence against them. One of the arsons happened on Jones Mountain at the residence of Mr. Nelson Ledford. Mrs. Ledford was home with her children when they were accosted. In short order, the Ledford barn and house were razed to the ground.*.
A third arson happened in mid-December, 1889, when the HMFP burned down the house of Mike Stoner.
Shortly thereafter, Sheriff Johnson and Deputy Marshalls Lee Cape (one of the falsely listed members on the manifesto) and Mann tracked down two of the men, James Coffey and W.T. Champion. The two men were released after a preliminary trial.
After the men were caught, one of the members named Coffey spoke of the group's intent and told the authorities where to find their manifesto. It was found in a hollowed-out oak tree in a cigar box that was wrapped with one of the black hoods of the Night Riders.
It was scrawled on a piece of foolscap paper* and read:
(NOTE: I left all of the original misspellings to convey the actual handwritten message)
"Honest Man's Friend and Protector
We, Nelson Ledford, John Hayes, Mike Stoner, William Bradley, Isaac Southern, G.N. McPherson, John R. Aiken, John Brock, Bob Black, James Dobson, Thomas Hayes, John McPherson, Will Thomas, Samuel Parker, Thomas Hamilton, George Leak, Joseph Mullinax, Joe Padget, Samuel McClain, Lee Cape, Marion Blackwell, Griff Cason, Thad Padget, Bill Bradford, Jim Chadwick, Cornell Pace and Wheeler Burlison do solemnly swear that we will protect each other in putting down reporting, and that we will stick to each other in anything we under take, and we will be true to each other at all times and in all troubles, we or any of us may get in to in regard to this matter, and that we will allways be reddy to help our kind when we are cald upon, and in case any of us should be deprived from this privilege we will do all that we can all that we can to get him out of his or there trubble, and further say that we will not take in any person or persons without concent of all the party, and that we will do all we can to keep down suspition, and that we will be detectives for each other at any and all times and will work for the good of our country, and expresly for ourselves; and we further swear that if any many devulges any of the secrets of the honest man's friend and protector, the final event of his conviction shal be sentence of death in any way the true party thinks best; and we further swear that we will all ways be ready to work when cald upon when in power to do so, and futher swear that we will alway do justice between all parties and will be kind to each other and help each other in bearing the burdings of life, and if any of the party gets so far away that he can not be with the party or is ever excluded from this band that he will keep the secrets of this body as secret as a member in full command.
We do solemnly swear that we will do all the things in the above stated case as we can at any and all times.
SO HELP US GOD!"
After the arsons happened the authorities began looking for the rest of the group. Jack Lansdown, John Forrester, and Jim Wiggington were arrested by R. Henderson and William Dooley.
Wigginton was released for promising to turn on his fellow conspirators.
Most citizens in the area were happy the HMFP was brought to justice. Although there were more than a few people who felt they were innocent. Some of those opposed broke into the Pickens jail and set Lansdown and Forrester (along with two other non-members of the group, free)
Lansdown was apprehended shortly after that.
The names of the HMFP are:
Jack Lansdown, Sr. - Captain
D.C. Wheeler - First Lieutenant
George Fields - Second Lieutenant
Jack Lansdown, Jr.
Seaborn Lansdown
Eli Fields
Thomas Fields
Johnny Fields
William Fields
Tom M. Pendley
Carter Pendley
Cicero Padgett
Harrison Jones
Arch Grizzle
Jim Wiggington
Jack Forrester
John Coffey
George Coffey
Patton Millice
Tom Rollin
M.G. Holbert
Joe Richards
Alexander Richards
The sensational nature of the story made into into newspapers all over the country. Soon trials were initiated and seven of the HMFP were given life prison sentences by Judge Gober.
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Aftermath
Eli Fields - A few years later after being incarcerated, was pardoned. He and his wife Rachel relocated to a 100-acre parcel near Hendrix Mountain and they raised nine children. Eli, like his father before him, was one of the best distillers around. He and his children made moonshine and apple brandy from their apple orchard.
In June of 1891, two of the men, Seaborne and Jack Lansdown, attempted to break out of their imprisonment. Jack was killed in the escape attempt from the Dade Coal facility. Seaborn managed to escape, but having been shot in the thigh, was recaptured. He likely absconded to his remote property in Northeast Pickens in the area known as the Lansdown.
Later he escaped again, assumed a new name, and moved out of Georgia.
Thomas Monroe Pendley was later pardoned and moved into the Griffeth Property off of the Jasper-Dawsonville Road (Cove Rd). He moved into the dog trot home that was built in 1877 by Samuel Tate's cousin Caleb. Thomas remodeled the home and lived the rest of his days as a landowner and farmer.
The Next Generation
Years later, Eli Fields' son, Walter, carried on Eli's legacy. One day, teenage Walter lost his leg while trying to board a train and began moonshining to make a living. Walter became "Peg" (pronounced "Pag"), named after his conspicuous appendage. He continued making liquor and became one of the last genuine old-time whiskey makers in the North Georgia region. Peg Fields died in 1977.
In 18th Century England, paper was produced with the watermark of a fool's cap, a jester hat.
See more on Nelson Ledford in Part 2
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