Highland Recorder July 23, 1926
From The Pendleton Times
WILLIAM HARPER - CONFEDERTE SCOUT
Some weeks ago, there was some controversy or discussion in the columns of the Randolph Enterprise concerning the time, place and manner or circumstances of the death of William Harper, late of Randolph County, scout for the Confederate forces during the War between the States. Since that time the writer has had the pleasure of an interview with Mrs. Catherine Trimble, of Monterey, Va., 91 years of age, who although she has been totally blind for some five years or more, retains her mental faculties almost entirely unimpaired. She is now the only surviving eye witness to the tragedy, and her account of the same, given below settles all dispute in regard to it. Some time in the winter of 1863-64 or in the early spring of the latter year. Mrs. Trimble and her sister, Mrs. Hannah Trimble made a visit to their father, the late Leonard Harper, who lived on the upper North Fork, in Pendleton County, then Virginia, and near the Highland County line. Their brother, Jacob Harper, a member of company "C" 62nd Virginia Regiment, had died in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on the 24th day of September, 1863, of typhoid fever contracted in the Gettysburg campaign, and this was the first visit of these sisters to the parental home after the death of their brother. Late in the evening of the day of their arrival, the said William Harper, who was their first cousin, a nephew of their father, Leonard Harper, and a son of his brother, Adam Harper, of Randolph, called for a visit to his uncle and family. In answer to an inquiry his uncle advised him that he did not think it prudent or safe for him to remain overnight in the home. Being a man of almost reckless courage and daring, and not having paid these relatives a visit in a long time, he decided to disregard the warning and stayed. When the time came for retiring, Mrs. Trimble showed the guest to an upstairs room. At his request she removed all the feathers from the bed, for the reason, as he said, that he did not know where he might be sleeping the next night and did not want to get used to luxurious or comfortable beds. He placed his pistol and a large knife on the window beside the bed, remarking as he did so, that he might need them before morning. Mrs. Trimble and her sister occupied an adjoining room. Mrs. Trimble for some reason, was nervous and apprehensive, and did not sleep any during the night. Along toward morning she heard a number of persons around the house outside, several of whom had effected an entrance, and were coming up the stairway, yelling, "Where is Bill Harper?" and "Kill Bill Harper." She met them on the stairway, and had the presence of mind to extinguish the candle they carried, by a motion of her skirts and all were left in total darkness. She was seized by two of the attacking party, one holding her by either arm, and with the muzzle of a pistol pressed against her breast, she was led down the stairs, they thinking that she was the desired William Harper. In the excitement Harper raised a window, and got out on the roof of the porch where several shots were fired at him. He leaped to the ground, ran past his assailants, through the the orchard, and almost made his escape, but some members of the attacking party and at this time had run down the public road, parallel with the course taken by Harper, and when near the run some hundred yards below the house, shot him down. Mathias Helmick, a member of the party, shot him in the breast a number of times after he had fallen. There were in fact five bullet holes in his breast that might have been covered by a man's hand. It was yet dark, but a light snow covered the ground and Mrs. Trimble succeeded in locating the body of Harper, though he was dead and cold. The attacking party, some nine or ten in number, members of State troops, at that time commonly known as "Swamp Dragons" or "Swamps" among whom were the said Mathias Helmick, George Arbogast, Sampson Mick, and a man named Halterman, now turned their attention to plundering. Members of the party were rifling a clothes press, and had torn out the baby clothes of the three orphaned daughters of Jacob Harper, who were being reared by their grand parents. Mrs. Phoebe Harper, their grandmother was trying to replace these little clothes in the press in the hope of saving them, when Mathias Helmick fired point blank at her hand. The bullet barely missing its intended mark, buried itself in the press, which is now the property of Mr. George W. Hammer, four miles below Franklin, where the bullet mark may yet be seen. Mrs. Harper upbraided Helmick for his act and reminded him of the many times she had supplied his hungry family with meat and bread. George Arbogast, another member of the party, who had been a tenant on the Harper farm, before the war, took the horse of Mrs. Trimble, by the bridle, and was leading it away. She found it out, and caught hold of the bridle on the other side, while she and Arbogast were thus engaged in a tug of war over her valued horse, some one of the party fired a shot, and some other one yelled, that they had "killed old Leonard Harper." This caused Mrs. Trimble to loose her hold on the bridle, in order to look after the safety of her father. Her horse and saddle were consequently taken. When she found her father he was holding open bags, under threats of death or bodily harm, while the marauders filled them with his grain and other provisions. The party took all of his horses to carry off their plunder, although he was a private citizen too old for military service, and had taken no part whatever in the war. Helmick, Arbogast and Mick had previously served in the same company and regiment with Jacob Harper in the Confederate Army.
The party, after they had secured everything they could take away, proceeded down the North Fork, and stopped at the home of Rev. Martin Bennett, a local Methodist preacher, who was Union in his sympathy. They placed their bags and packs of plunder in his yard, and the good old man went out and quietly carried them outside of his yard fence. The incidents of the night proved such a shock to Mrs. Phoebe Harper, familiarly known as "Aunt Phoebe" the wife of Leonard Harper, that it wrecked her nervous system, and she remained a palsied invalid for the remaining twenty years or so of her life. William Harper was the first person to be buried in what is now known as the old Harper burial ground, not far from the place where fell, and where his remains now repose beside those of his uncle, aunt, and numerous other relatives. The Harper home is now owned and occupied by Mr. O. K. Warner, but the bullet marks inside and outside the same, are still visible as grim reminders of the troublous days that are now happily so far removed in point of time. Mrs. Trimble is authority for the statement that Mathias Helmick when on his death bed, recounted the part he had taken in this unhappy night's tragedy and said he was unable to obtain Divine forgiveness for the same. Sometime after the events here recorded, the man named Halterman, who had been one of the party, sent word to the Harper family, that if they would come for Mrs. Trimble's horse, they might have it, as he had worked for the Harper family, and been kindly treated by the members thereof. Her brother, Isaac Harper went for and obtained the horse, but the saddle was never recovered. Mrs. Trimble, and her sister, whose shoes were taken, were forced to depend upon the generosity of friends for horses for the return journey to their homes at Monterey, Va., where upon their arrival, Mrs. Trimble undertook to recount the incidents of the night to the late Dr. Whitelaw, but the memory of the bloody corpse of her cousin, William Harper, caused her to fall in a dead faint. This, in brief, is the correct record of the time, place and manner of the death of William Harper, with the attending circumstances. The events of the night have been burned into the memory of the writer's informant, in the fiery crucible of that day and time, to such an extent that she can repeat even the conversations of the participants, all of whom, herself alone excepted, have long since gone hence.
From The Pendleton Times
WILLIAM HARPER - CONFEDERTE SCOUT
Some weeks ago, there was some controversy or discussion in the columns of the Randolph Enterprise concerning the time, place and manner or circumstances of the death of William Harper, late of Randolph County, scout for the Confederate forces during the War between the States. Since that time the writer has had the pleasure of an interview with Mrs. Catherine Trimble, of Monterey, Va., 91 years of age, who although she has been totally blind for some five years or more, retains her mental faculties almost entirely unimpaired. She is now the only surviving eye witness to the tragedy, and her account of the same, given below settles all dispute in regard to it. Some time in the winter of 1863-64 or in the early spring of the latter year. Mrs. Trimble and her sister, Mrs. Hannah Trimble made a visit to their father, the late Leonard Harper, who lived on the upper North Fork, in Pendleton County, then Virginia, and near the Highland County line. Their brother, Jacob Harper, a member of company "C" 62nd Virginia Regiment, had died in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on the 24th day of September, 1863, of typhoid fever contracted in the Gettysburg campaign, and this was the first visit of these sisters to the parental home after the death of their brother. Late in the evening of the day of their arrival, the said William Harper, who was their first cousin, a nephew of their father, Leonard Harper, and a son of his brother, Adam Harper, of Randolph, called for a visit to his uncle and family. In answer to an inquiry his uncle advised him that he did not think it prudent or safe for him to remain overnight in the home. Being a man of almost reckless courage and daring, and not having paid these relatives a visit in a long time, he decided to disregard the warning and stayed. When the time came for retiring, Mrs. Trimble showed the guest to an upstairs room. At his request she removed all the feathers from the bed, for the reason, as he said, that he did not know where he might be sleeping the next night and did not want to get used to luxurious or comfortable beds. He placed his pistol and a large knife on the window beside the bed, remarking as he did so, that he might need them before morning. Mrs. Trimble and her sister occupied an adjoining room. Mrs. Trimble for some reason, was nervous and apprehensive, and did not sleep any during the night. Along toward morning she heard a number of persons around the house outside, several of whom had effected an entrance, and were coming up the stairway, yelling, "Where is Bill Harper?" and "Kill Bill Harper." She met them on the stairway, and had the presence of mind to extinguish the candle they carried, by a motion of her skirts and all were left in total darkness. She was seized by two of the attacking party, one holding her by either arm, and with the muzzle of a pistol pressed against her breast, she was led down the stairs, they thinking that she was the desired William Harper. In the excitement Harper raised a window, and got out on the roof of the porch where several shots were fired at him. He leaped to the ground, ran past his assailants, through the the orchard, and almost made his escape, but some members of the attacking party and at this time had run down the public road, parallel with the course taken by Harper, and when near the run some hundred yards below the house, shot him down. Mathias Helmick, a member of the party, shot him in the breast a number of times after he had fallen. There were in fact five bullet holes in his breast that might have been covered by a man's hand. It was yet dark, but a light snow covered the ground and Mrs. Trimble succeeded in locating the body of Harper, though he was dead and cold. The attacking party, some nine or ten in number, members of State troops, at that time commonly known as "Swamp Dragons" or "Swamps" among whom were the said Mathias Helmick, George Arbogast, Sampson Mick, and a man named Halterman, now turned their attention to plundering. Members of the party were rifling a clothes press, and had torn out the baby clothes of the three orphaned daughters of Jacob Harper, who were being reared by their grand parents. Mrs. Phoebe Harper, their grandmother was trying to replace these little clothes in the press in the hope of saving them, when Mathias Helmick fired point blank at her hand. The bullet barely missing its intended mark, buried itself in the press, which is now the property of Mr. George W. Hammer, four miles below Franklin, where the bullet mark may yet be seen. Mrs. Harper upbraided Helmick for his act and reminded him of the many times she had supplied his hungry family with meat and bread. George Arbogast, another member of the party, who had been a tenant on the Harper farm, before the war, took the horse of Mrs. Trimble, by the bridle, and was leading it away. She found it out, and caught hold of the bridle on the other side, while she and Arbogast were thus engaged in a tug of war over her valued horse, some one of the party fired a shot, and some other one yelled, that they had "killed old Leonard Harper." This caused Mrs. Trimble to loose her hold on the bridle, in order to look after the safety of her father. Her horse and saddle were consequently taken. When she found her father he was holding open bags, under threats of death or bodily harm, while the marauders filled them with his grain and other provisions. The party took all of his horses to carry off their plunder, although he was a private citizen too old for military service, and had taken no part whatever in the war. Helmick, Arbogast and Mick had previously served in the same company and regiment with Jacob Harper in the Confederate Army.
The party, after they had secured everything they could take away, proceeded down the North Fork, and stopped at the home of Rev. Martin Bennett, a local Methodist preacher, who was Union in his sympathy. They placed their bags and packs of plunder in his yard, and the good old man went out and quietly carried them outside of his yard fence. The incidents of the night proved such a shock to Mrs. Phoebe Harper, familiarly known as "Aunt Phoebe" the wife of Leonard Harper, that it wrecked her nervous system, and she remained a palsied invalid for the remaining twenty years or so of her life. William Harper was the first person to be buried in what is now known as the old Harper burial ground, not far from the place where fell, and where his remains now repose beside those of his uncle, aunt, and numerous other relatives. The Harper home is now owned and occupied by Mr. O. K. Warner, but the bullet marks inside and outside the same, are still visible as grim reminders of the troublous days that are now happily so far removed in point of time. Mrs. Trimble is authority for the statement that Mathias Helmick when on his death bed, recounted the part he had taken in this unhappy night's tragedy and said he was unable to obtain Divine forgiveness for the same. Sometime after the events here recorded, the man named Halterman, who had been one of the party, sent word to the Harper family, that if they would come for Mrs. Trimble's horse, they might have it, as he had worked for the Harper family, and been kindly treated by the members thereof. Her brother, Isaac Harper went for and obtained the horse, but the saddle was never recovered. Mrs. Trimble, and her sister, whose shoes were taken, were forced to depend upon the generosity of friends for horses for the return journey to their homes at Monterey, Va., where upon their arrival, Mrs. Trimble undertook to recount the incidents of the night to the late Dr. Whitelaw, but the memory of the bloody corpse of her cousin, William Harper, caused her to fall in a dead faint. This, in brief, is the correct record of the time, place and manner of the death of William Harper, with the attending circumstances. The events of the night have been burned into the memory of the writer's informant, in the fiery crucible of that day and time, to such an extent that she can repeat even the conversations of the participants, all of whom, herself alone excepted, have long since gone hence.
Highland Recorder July 23, 1926
From The Pendleton Times
WILLIAM HARPER - CONFEDERTE SCOUT
Some weeks ago, there was some controversy or discussion in the columns of the Randolph Enterprise concerning the time, place and manner or circumstances of the death of William Harper, late of Randolph County, scout for the Confederate forces during the War between the States. Since that time the writer has had the pleasure of an interview with Mrs. Catherine Trimble, of Monterey, Va., 91 years of age, who although she has been totally blind for some five years or more, retains her mental faculties almost entirely unimpaired. She is now the only surviving eye witness to the tragedy, and her account of the same, given below settles all dispute in regard to it. Some time in the winter of 1863-64 or in the early spring of the latter year. Mrs. Trimble and her sister, Mrs. Hannah Trimble made a visit to their father, the late Leonard Harper, who lived on the upper North Fork, in Pendleton County, then Virginia, and near the Highland County line. Their brother, Jacob Harper, a member of company "C" 62nd Virginia Regiment, had died in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on the 24th day of September, 1863, of typhoid fever contracted in the Gettysburg campaign, and this was the first visit of these sisters to the parental home after the death of their brother. Late in the evening of the day of their arrival, the said William Harper, who was their first cousin, a nephew of their father, Leonard Harper, and a son of his brother, Adam Harper, of Randolph, called for a visit to his uncle and family. In answer to an inquiry his uncle advised him that he did not think it prudent or safe for him to remain overnight in the home. Being a man of almost reckless courage and daring, and not having paid these relatives a visit in a long time, he decided to disregard the warning and stayed. When the time came for retiring, Mrs. Trimble showed the guest to an upstairs room. At his request she removed all the feathers from the bed, for the reason, as he said, that he did not know where he might be sleeping the next night and did not want to get used to luxurious or comfortable beds. He placed his pistol and a large knife on the window beside the bed, remarking as he did so, that he might need them before morning. Mrs. Trimble and her sister occupied an adjoining room. Mrs. Trimble for some reason, was nervous and apprehensive, and did not sleep any during the night. Along toward morning she heard a number of persons around the house outside, several of whom had effected an entrance, and were coming up the stairway, yelling, "Where is Bill Harper?" and "Kill Bill Harper." She met them on the stairway, and had the presence of mind to extinguish the candle they carried, by a motion of her skirts and all were left in total darkness. She was seized by two of the attacking party, one holding her by either arm, and with the muzzle of a pistol pressed against her breast, she was led down the stairs, they thinking that she was the desired William Harper. In the excitement Harper raised a window, and got out on the roof of the porch where several shots were fired at him. He leaped to the ground, ran past his assailants, through the the orchard, and almost made his escape, but some members of the attacking party and at this time had run down the public road, parallel with the course taken by Harper, and when near the run some hundred yards below the house, shot him down. Mathias Helmick, a member of the party, shot him in the breast a number of times after he had fallen. There were in fact five bullet holes in his breast that might have been covered by a man's hand. It was yet dark, but a light snow covered the ground and Mrs. Trimble succeeded in locating the body of Harper, though he was dead and cold. The attacking party, some nine or ten in number, members of State troops, at that time commonly known as "Swamp Dragons" or "Swamps" among whom were the said Mathias Helmick, George Arbogast, Sampson Mick, and a man named Halterman, now turned their attention to plundering. Members of the party were rifling a clothes press, and had torn out the baby clothes of the three orphaned daughters of Jacob Harper, who were being reared by their grand parents. Mrs. Phoebe Harper, their grandmother was trying to replace these little clothes in the press in the hope of saving them, when Mathias Helmick fired point blank at her hand. The bullet barely missing its intended mark, buried itself in the press, which is now the property of Mr. George W. Hammer, four miles below Franklin, where the bullet mark may yet be seen. Mrs. Harper upbraided Helmick for his act and reminded him of the many times she had supplied his hungry family with meat and bread. George Arbogast, another member of the party, who had been a tenant on the Harper farm, before the war, took the horse of Mrs. Trimble, by the bridle, and was leading it away. She found it out, and caught hold of the bridle on the other side, while she and Arbogast were thus engaged in a tug of war over her valued horse, some one of the party fired a shot, and some other one yelled, that they had "killed old Leonard Harper." This caused Mrs. Trimble to loose her hold on the bridle, in order to look after the safety of her father. Her horse and saddle were consequently taken. When she found her father he was holding open bags, under threats of death or bodily harm, while the marauders filled them with his grain and other provisions. The party took all of his horses to carry off their plunder, although he was a private citizen too old for military service, and had taken no part whatever in the war. Helmick, Arbogast and Mick had previously served in the same company and regiment with Jacob Harper in the Confederate Army.
The party, after they had secured everything they could take away, proceeded down the North Fork, and stopped at the home of Rev. Martin Bennett, a local Methodist preacher, who was Union in his sympathy. They placed their bags and packs of plunder in his yard, and the good old man went out and quietly carried them outside of his yard fence. The incidents of the night proved such a shock to Mrs. Phoebe Harper, familiarly known as "Aunt Phoebe" the wife of Leonard Harper, that it wrecked her nervous system, and she remained a palsied invalid for the remaining twenty years or so of her life. William Harper was the first person to be buried in what is now known as the old Harper burial ground, not far from the place where fell, and where his remains now repose beside those of his uncle, aunt, and numerous other relatives. The Harper home is now owned and occupied by Mr. O. K. Warner, but the bullet marks inside and outside the same, are still visible as grim reminders of the troublous days that are now happily so far removed in point of time. Mrs. Trimble is authority for the statement that Mathias Helmick when on his death bed, recounted the part he had taken in this unhappy night's tragedy and said he was unable to obtain Divine forgiveness for the same. Sometime after the events here recorded, the man named Halterman, who had been one of the party, sent word to the Harper family, that if they would come for Mrs. Trimble's horse, they might have it, as he had worked for the Harper family, and been kindly treated by the members thereof. Her brother, Isaac Harper went for and obtained the horse, but the saddle was never recovered. Mrs. Trimble, and her sister, whose shoes were taken, were forced to depend upon the generosity of friends for horses for the return journey to their homes at Monterey, Va., where upon their arrival, Mrs. Trimble undertook to recount the incidents of the night to the late Dr. Whitelaw, but the memory of the bloody corpse of her cousin, William Harper, caused her to fall in a dead faint. This, in brief, is the correct record of the time, place and manner of the death of William Harper, with the attending circumstances. The events of the night have been burned into the memory of the writer's informant, in the fiery crucible of that day and time, to such an extent that she can repeat even the conversations of the participants, all of whom, herself alone excepted, have long since gone hence.
From The Pendleton Times
WILLIAM HARPER - CONFEDERTE SCOUT
Some weeks ago, there was some controversy or discussion in the columns of the Randolph Enterprise concerning the time, place and manner or circumstances of the death of William Harper, late of Randolph County, scout for the Confederate forces during the War between the States. Since that time the writer has had the pleasure of an interview with Mrs. Catherine Trimble, of Monterey, Va., 91 years of age, who although she has been totally blind for some five years or more, retains her mental faculties almost entirely unimpaired. She is now the only surviving eye witness to the tragedy, and her account of the same, given below settles all dispute in regard to it. Some time in the winter of 1863-64 or in the early spring of the latter year. Mrs. Trimble and her sister, Mrs. Hannah Trimble made a visit to their father, the late Leonard Harper, who lived on the upper North Fork, in Pendleton County, then Virginia, and near the Highland County line. Their brother, Jacob Harper, a member of company "C" 62nd Virginia Regiment, had died in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on the 24th day of September, 1863, of typhoid fever contracted in the Gettysburg campaign, and this was the first visit of these sisters to the parental home after the death of their brother. Late in the evening of the day of their arrival, the said William Harper, who was their first cousin, a nephew of their father, Leonard Harper, and a son of his brother, Adam Harper, of Randolph, called for a visit to his uncle and family. In answer to an inquiry his uncle advised him that he did not think it prudent or safe for him to remain overnight in the home. Being a man of almost reckless courage and daring, and not having paid these relatives a visit in a long time, he decided to disregard the warning and stayed. When the time came for retiring, Mrs. Trimble showed the guest to an upstairs room. At his request she removed all the feathers from the bed, for the reason, as he said, that he did not know where he might be sleeping the next night and did not want to get used to luxurious or comfortable beds. He placed his pistol and a large knife on the window beside the bed, remarking as he did so, that he might need them before morning. Mrs. Trimble and her sister occupied an adjoining room. Mrs. Trimble for some reason, was nervous and apprehensive, and did not sleep any during the night. Along toward morning she heard a number of persons around the house outside, several of whom had effected an entrance, and were coming up the stairway, yelling, "Where is Bill Harper?" and "Kill Bill Harper." She met them on the stairway, and had the presence of mind to extinguish the candle they carried, by a motion of her skirts and all were left in total darkness. She was seized by two of the attacking party, one holding her by either arm, and with the muzzle of a pistol pressed against her breast, she was led down the stairs, they thinking that she was the desired William Harper. In the excitement Harper raised a window, and got out on the roof of the porch where several shots were fired at him. He leaped to the ground, ran past his assailants, through the the orchard, and almost made his escape, but some members of the attacking party and at this time had run down the public road, parallel with the course taken by Harper, and when near the run some hundred yards below the house, shot him down. Mathias Helmick, a member of the party, shot him in the breast a number of times after he had fallen. There were in fact five bullet holes in his breast that might have been covered by a man's hand. It was yet dark, but a light snow covered the ground and Mrs. Trimble succeeded in locating the body of Harper, though he was dead and cold. The attacking party, some nine or ten in number, members of State troops, at that time commonly known as "Swamp Dragons" or "Swamps" among whom were the said Mathias Helmick, George Arbogast, Sampson Mick, and a man named Halterman, now turned their attention to plundering. Members of the party were rifling a clothes press, and had torn out the baby clothes of the three orphaned daughters of Jacob Harper, who were being reared by their grand parents. Mrs. Phoebe Harper, their grandmother was trying to replace these little clothes in the press in the hope of saving them, when Mathias Helmick fired point blank at her hand. The bullet barely missing its intended mark, buried itself in the press, which is now the property of Mr. George W. Hammer, four miles below Franklin, where the bullet mark may yet be seen. Mrs. Harper upbraided Helmick for his act and reminded him of the many times she had supplied his hungry family with meat and bread. George Arbogast, another member of the party, who had been a tenant on the Harper farm, before the war, took the horse of Mrs. Trimble, by the bridle, and was leading it away. She found it out, and caught hold of the bridle on the other side, while she and Arbogast were thus engaged in a tug of war over her valued horse, some one of the party fired a shot, and some other one yelled, that they had "killed old Leonard Harper." This caused Mrs. Trimble to loose her hold on the bridle, in order to look after the safety of her father. Her horse and saddle were consequently taken. When she found her father he was holding open bags, under threats of death or bodily harm, while the marauders filled them with his grain and other provisions. The party took all of his horses to carry off their plunder, although he was a private citizen too old for military service, and had taken no part whatever in the war. Helmick, Arbogast and Mick had previously served in the same company and regiment with Jacob Harper in the Confederate Army.
The party, after they had secured everything they could take away, proceeded down the North Fork, and stopped at the home of Rev. Martin Bennett, a local Methodist preacher, who was Union in his sympathy. They placed their bags and packs of plunder in his yard, and the good old man went out and quietly carried them outside of his yard fence. The incidents of the night proved such a shock to Mrs. Phoebe Harper, familiarly known as "Aunt Phoebe" the wife of Leonard Harper, that it wrecked her nervous system, and she remained a palsied invalid for the remaining twenty years or so of her life. William Harper was the first person to be buried in what is now known as the old Harper burial ground, not far from the place where fell, and where his remains now repose beside those of his uncle, aunt, and numerous other relatives. The Harper home is now owned and occupied by Mr. O. K. Warner, but the bullet marks inside and outside the same, are still visible as grim reminders of the troublous days that are now happily so far removed in point of time. Mrs. Trimble is authority for the statement that Mathias Helmick when on his death bed, recounted the part he had taken in this unhappy night's tragedy and said he was unable to obtain Divine forgiveness for the same. Sometime after the events here recorded, the man named Halterman, who had been one of the party, sent word to the Harper family, that if they would come for Mrs. Trimble's horse, they might have it, as he had worked for the Harper family, and been kindly treated by the members thereof. Her brother, Isaac Harper went for and obtained the horse, but the saddle was never recovered. Mrs. Trimble, and her sister, whose shoes were taken, were forced to depend upon the generosity of friends for horses for the return journey to their homes at Monterey, Va., where upon their arrival, Mrs. Trimble undertook to recount the incidents of the night to the late Dr. Whitelaw, but the memory of the bloody corpse of her cousin, William Harper, caused her to fall in a dead faint. This, in brief, is the correct record of the time, place and manner of the death of William Harper, with the attending circumstances. The events of the night have been burned into the memory of the writer's informant, in the fiery crucible of that day and time, to such an extent that she can repeat even the conversations of the participants, all of whom, herself alone excepted, have long since gone hence.
Family Members
Siblings
Advertisement
Advertisement
