Texas State Gazette. (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 7, Ed. 1, Saturday, October 7, 1854 Page: 3 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
55
qwMpmwmp
ymmmnmmmym
mnpp
3
. . . Mfn juiiJIIm.
5
s
;1
W
11'
fl
1
1851
TEXAS STATE GAZE l T&
vicinity and that it would bo very unsafe to visit mo. About
daylight next morning I started on to overtake tho company.
About 9 or 10' clock 1 discovered that I was within a hundred
yards of an Indian camp. Juan Jose and a Mexican who were
on tho lookout for mo expecting that I would attempt to over-
take them ran to mo and taking me up a small ravino on
which they had camped concealed me in the grass by bending
it over me. They again gave me food for several days. Iro-
mained hero two days. I would go out after night for water.
Sometimes Indians would pass within a few feet of me.
After the Indians and Mexicans had gone off I camo out in
daylight and removed to a hollow stump near by where I re-
mained six days making eight days in this vicinity.
After night tho wolves would howl over me and gnaw the
bark from the 6tump that I was in At the expiration of the
8th day the Mexicans came back and took'me to Santa Fe.
They left me at a small village called Pecos in the direction of
Independence from Sania Fe. I was pursuaded to Btop at Pe
cos by a German living at that place who could speak both
English and Spanish languages. Wo were thirty-eight days
from the time of leaving the stump until we arrived at Pecos.
Tho Mexicans sat no price on me but were inclined to have
me to stay with them if I chose.' The Governor gave them
something of a ransom the amount 1 have not heard. I re-
mained at Pecos about a week. Tho Governor 6cnt a horse
and saddle to me and an escort of dragoons under command
of Gen. Garland which conveyed me to El Paso. From El
Paso to San Antonio I was in tho care of Lieut's Ward and
Wood of Smith's U. S. Train. From San Antonio I came by
stage coaches to this place.
Bonham Aug. 14th 1854.
From the Galvezton News.
Shultz (he Murderer.
John Shultz dim Jesse Hamilton Shultz Zuw James Baker
says he was born in the State ot Indiana (then a portion of the
territory of Ohio) in May 1811; but at what precise place he
does not know as his parents died when he was very young
and hewas taken into the family of his grandfather David
Shultz whose residence was in Green county Kentucky. His
remembrance of the incidents of his early life runs no farther
back than his being with his grandfather at quite a tender age.
When he wan yet very young his guardian removed from
Kentucky to North Alabama somewhere in the neighborhood
of Tuscumbia -at which place they remained a few years and
then removed to the town of Purdy in West Tennessee. lie
(Shultz) remained at this latter place until he became involved
in some sort of difficulty the nature of which he seems dis
posed to conceal for which he was imprisoned for a consider-
able length of time.
As we now find him quitting the house of his grandfather
and just commencing the career of waywardness and crime
wnicn ne nas since pursued witn sucn reckless daring and in
mauy instances with the most singular success it may not be
out. of the way to allude to the tact that he has frequently pour-
ed out his complaints with much bitterness of feeling in con-
sequence of his guardian having wholly neglected to give him
the benefits of education. It appears that he ascribes and
perhaps to some extent properly too all his manifold troubles
to this one cause.
After being released from prison he repaired to Tuscumbia
and there became an apprentice to a watch maker with whom
he remained several years; during which period according to
his own statement he sustained a good character and acquired
a pretty thorough knowledge of the trade. From Tuscumbia
after beiug discharged from his apprenticeship we find him
traveling in the direction of Winchester Franklin county Ten-
nessee. Nothing worthy of note appears to have occurred on
bin journey nor after his arrival in that town until we find
him married to a widow lady with one child and getting into
his possesion some property; by said marriage a onsiderable
portion of which he soon managed to squander. By this mar-
riage he had but one child (a daughter) of whom he often
speaks with much seeming tenderness.
About this time a gloomy and portentous cloud gathered
over the head of Shultz; destined soon to pour forth such fear-
ful torrents as he had never before conceived of. We allude
to the discovery and breaking up of that extensive well orga-
nized and formidable band of robbers and murderers known
as the "Murrd Gangv of which it seems he was a member.
On the breaking up of this despicable and dangerous band of
outlaws Shultz in common with the balance of the gang in
that State was compelled to seek security by an immediate
stealthy and precipitate flight from Tennessee. He managed
to reach Natchez Miss. in safety and there found a gentleman
raising a company of volunteers for the aid of Texas in her
struggle for liberty; which had just then (the 'fall of 1835)
commenced in good eameet.
It will readily beimmagined that he embraced this unexpec-
ted opportunity of making sure his escape beyond the limits
of the United States with all possible promptness and with
the most joyous emotions of heart. Ho lost no time in enrol-
ing hiniBelf in that company; which in a few days thereafter
proceeded down the river to New Orleans and there embarked
for Copano.
This lCompany" as he calls it must have been the battalion
commanded by Maj. Miller faniiliary known in tho days of
our Revolution as' "Copano Miller'''' ns he states that soon
alter landing the whole command was surprised and captured
by a considerable force of Mexican troops and marched to Go-
liad where they were confined within the walls of the same
fortress with the lamented Col. Fannin and his brave but un-
fortunate men. This is almost the exact history of the landing
capture and imprisonment of Maj. Miller and his battalion.
Acat-.ill t'nrMtnr virlrnrr t lio munliw. fn tlm mmntrir i.rtfl.
11" ' "--.-. ..-.w..w . VVI11II1 VJ llivi UV'llllll J Willi
Maj. Miller and falling into the hands of tho Mexicans with
him he states after giving as correct an account of tho me-
morable massacre as could be expected from one merely speak-
ing from recollection and that after a lapse of eighteen years
that the reason of the command to which he was attached
not sharing the sad fate of the gallant Fannin and his men
was that they made no resistance at the time they were taken
prisoners: which was tho only thing that saved Maj. Miller
and his battalion.
After the battle of San Jacinto tho division of the Mexican
Army which had charge of this battalion retreated disorderly
and precipitately towards tho Rio Grande; giving their pris-
oners ample opportunity to escape ax their pleasure. Shultz
naturally of a restless disposition whb not backward in avail-
ing himself of the first fair chance that was presented to aban-
don the loathsome confinement- to which ho had for some
weeks been compelled to submit. Ho effected his oscapo
without difficulty four of his fellow-sufferers escaping with
him and directing his course eastward he and his party final-
ly met the army of Texas (then under the command of Gen.
Rusk instead of Houston as he states) which ho joined; at-
taching hiniBelf to Col. Teal's intrepid corps of spies. Tho
Texas army proceeded westward; and after having buried the
remains oi tnose who were massacred at ttoluul returned and
From
5F
took up temporary quarters in tho vicinitv of Victoria.
that point those indomitable spies belonging to the commands
of Cols. Karnes and Teal frenuontlv made snvimr oYnnraionR
as far as the Rio Grando. During one of these trips it ap-
peal's that Shultz and his commanding officer had some sort of
misunderstanding of a trifling character however which
caused Shultz to fiendishly resolve on assassination of Col. Teal
if a favorable opportunity should over occur for him to carry
out his brutal design. Some time subsequently whilst tho
army was lying near tho Lavaca river on one of tho most
stormy and terrific nights over witnessed the determined as
sassin picked his time to carry intoexecntiou his horrid purpose;
and being well acquainted with the spot occupied by the small
scaffold in Col. Teal's tent on which that officer slept he avail
ed himself ot the assistance of a vivid flash of lightning
which enabled him to perceive as distinctly as in day-light
the exact position of his sleeping victim to shoot through the
tent-cloth killing Col. Teal on the spot. Several others were
suspicionod of having committed the cold-blooded and dastard-
ly deed but no one ever for a monieut suspected Shultz of
being the assassin.
He remained in the army until its final disbandonment in the
summer of 1837: and after obtaining an honorable discharge
he repaired to the city of Houston then the newly selected
Scat of Government where he received his Land Warrants
and Scrip for his services. Being without money as nearly
all the volunteers were when discharged from tho" service he
resorted to the usual in fact the only means then at hand to
piuviuu umiBuu wiiii u uuiu casn viz: selling nis land war-
rants Scrip and Head Right claim to some speculator; with
which description of individuals Houston wa6 thronged in those
days.
He appears to have a considerable thirst for gaining ; as ac-
cording to liiB own statement he had not been in Houston
long before ho became penniless in consequence of his frequent
losses at the different games that were then exhibited in that
place to an extent seldom witnessed in any country. In this
condition he managed to reach New Orleans by the way of
Red River; in which city ho remained in groat distress for
some time. It seems howevor that after a while he managed
to steal a watch from the window of a small shop kept bv a
t t.t.. ... e. .!.... i. : i
ouw. no wuo mini mm e.iuhu r uiuer unmeoiateiy suspect-
ed by the Jew of being the thief; and it was not many minutes
before he was arrested searched ai-d the watch found on his
person. He was now provided free of charge with what he
had for some days so keenly flt the want of viz : " hoarding
and lodging." On his trial before the proper court he was
convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary at Baton Rouge
for a term of two years. During his. imprisonment he acquired
the trade of a shoe maker. Notwithstanding his long absence
from his family and the ab.venturous dissolute and criminal
life that he had led during his absense from them it seems
that he had not lost all concern for them. After his discharge
from the penitentiary wo find him again visiting Tennessee
with a view to seeing his wife and child ; but for some reason
which he betrays an unwillingness to give his stay in that
State was of brief duration and he has never seen his family
since.
Here we arrive at a period in his life of 6ome four years
from 1889 till 1843 which presents nothing of sufficient in-
terest to be given in this sketch. In tracing tho narrative we
find him at Knoxville in East Tennessee ; remaining at that
place about three months.
During his short stay in that town ho committed one of the
most atrocious and revolting murders and- robberies that has
ever stained the annals of crime: An old revolutionary sol-
dier who resided in the vicinity of Knoxville went to town
for the purpose of drawing his yearly pension from a gentle-
man of that place who was acting as agent in the procurement
of his money from Washington City; and after arranging his
business he met with a number of friends with whom he got
somewhat intoxicated and remained in town until after night
fall when he left tor home. Unfortunate old man ! He little
thought when he left his peaceful and happy domicil that
morning that when he again entered its portal he would be
borne in a barbarously mangled corpse. He who had braved
death time and again in the midst of battle nobly doing
service in his country's cause and had passed through such
trying and perilous scenes in his early life without being se-
riously hurt little thought that after reaching perhaps the ad-
vanced age of tare score and Uny it would be his melancholy
fate to fall by the hands of a lurking highwayman and assassin.
But such alas! appears to have been the way in which he
came to his end.
As the old gentleman was wending his way homeward in
the darkness of night he had to pass a noted point in a bend
of the river where the road runs between a huge projected
rock casting its sable shadow over the road and rendering
even the darkness of night more gloomy. .Just as he reached
this darksome lair of the impatient monster he was suddenly
grasped by an unseen hand and instantly murdered and rob-
bed. His mangled body was discovered on the following
morning by a party of young men students in the college at
lYiJoxviuu- ttuu wuiu uueumumeu io liiKing everuug anu morn-
n
ing walks on that road on account of the rugged and romantic
scenery that Bkirts it. They instantly recognized the body
notwithstanding the mangled condition it was in to be that
of tho "old revolutionary soldier" who was known and vene-
rated by everybody in Knoxville and tho surrounding country.
No sooner had they found tho body of the murdered man than
their suspicions rested upon Shultz as being the foul perpetra-
tor of the deed. It seems that the cause of his being so readi-
ly euspicioned was this: at a late hour on the previous after-
noon as they (the same young gentlemen) were returning
from their evening stroll they met Shultz at or near the very
spot where they had found the dead body of the old man.
They hastened back to Knoxville and mado all the facts known ;
and Shultz was soon arrested. Ho was tried (as ho Bays) for
tho murdor of tho did pensioner and acquitted.
Wo next find him in Charleston S. C. stopping at a private
hoarding houso kept by a widow lady of tho name of Howard
represented by liim as being uncommonly beautiful and
fascinating with whom he soon became involved in an "af-
fair of tho heart." Having some money and fine cloathing
and tolling her an interesting tale about his plantation and
negroesy in North Alabama ho did not encounter much diffi-
culty in obtaining her consent to unite her fortunes with his.
Thoy wero married ; but in less than six montliB after getting
everything she owned (something considerable) into his pos-
session he abandoned her in a luhd of strangers and without
means to return to hor relatives in Charleston.
It appears that he persuaded her to convert all her property
into cash and accom any him to his splendid-farm in Alaba-
ma wherosho could ivo in retirement from the bustle of cities
and in easo and affluence the residue of her days. Bidding
her relatives and many kind friends adieu she left the placo of
her nativity and accompanied her villainous but unsuspected
husband in anticipation of soon entering upon tho enjoyment
of that quiet life of elegant rural easo which it is alone the
privilege of tl country folks of high degree"'to experionco in all
its refined susceptibilities. They filially arrived at a stage-
stand about ten miles east of Iluntsville Alabama where lie.
left her at a public house quite unwell from exposure and tho
fatigue of her long journey. It was for the oshnxsible purposo
of going to Huntsvillo to procure medicino for his afflicted
consort that ho loft hor at this placo. He promisod to return
as soon as he could possibly ride to town and back. Poor wo-
man ! she nover again laid oyes on that form which in her
enthusiastic dovotodness she had fondly imagined to be a per-
fect embodyment of all that is gallant manly and honorable.
Tho forlorn wretched situation of this unfortunate female
may readily be conceived when the render is informed that in
addition to her being abandoned in a "stranger land" and
without money she was when this God-forsaken monBter left
ner iar gone in pregnancy.
From Iluntsville he went to Montgomery ; thence to Mo-
bile and New Orleans. At tho lattor placo he soon lost tho
most of the money which ho had obtained by such nefariouB
inhuman means by playing at tho different games which
abound in all portions of that city. .
Leaving New Orleans he went up the river to an uncle's
inDe Soto county Miss ; where wo find him in the Spring of
1844 prevailing on tho old gentleman to let one of his sons ac-
company him to Texas alleging that ho owned an excellent
tract of land in the vicinity of Gonzales and ho was anxious
that Iub cousin should settle upon it. The old man gave his
consent to this seemingly advantageous proposition and fur-
nished them both with good horses money and a servant man
to wait upon them. Thus equipped they started for Texas ;
traveling through Arkansas. At Little Rock whore it anneara
they stepped for some time young Green (the cousin of Shultz).
sold the negro man and a horse ; "no donbt at the suggestion
of Shultz so that he could obtain the proceeds or the most of
them ; and ho (Shultz) finding an acquaintance there whom
he had mot somewhere cine in his travels succeeded in pur-
chasing a buggy or gig from him on a credit with the under-
standing 'hat the money was to bo promptly paid the first time
they should meet. According to the statement of Shultz that
meeting has never yet taken place; and as a matter of course
his friend is minus his vehicle.
Nothing of any great moment transpired on their journey
from Little Rock to Gonzales county farther than the indul-
gence of both Shultz and Green in gambling in every Mttlo
town through which they passod ; and the occasional drunken-
ness of Green. During the times of his being in that condition
no doubt his traveling companion tooh good care of his money.
After arriving in Gonzales county it appears that he and his
cousin had a misunderstanding which resin ted in their separa-
tion Green returning to Mississippi.
On tho arrival of Shultz in tho town of Gonzales he found
quite a large number of tho citizens of tho town and county
assembled at a public meeting of some kind ; among whom he
soon ascertained there wero several Tennesseeans ; and being
from that State himself he found no difficulty in making the
acquaintance of a number of them Mr. Bateman among the
rest. It seems that this gentleman took something of a fancv
to Shultz as he invited him home with him telling him tha't
he had plenty of corn and fodder for his horse which were
rather scarce at the hotel in town and expressed a desire that
he should make Iu'b house Iub home whilst he remained in that
county ; which hospitable proposition Shultz was too modest a
man to refuse his assent to.
CONCLUDED NKXT WKKK.
Mukdkr in Texas. It is quite surprising the groat number
of instances of murder which meet tho eye from tho columns of
tho Texas press. Hardly a paper reaches us but that contains
one or more of these horrible announcements. We are pleased
to see the press of the State unanimous in calling for tho sup-
pression of these crimes. Let. it persevere in its condemnation
and point out tho guilty for just punishment by tho offended
laws denounce the perpetrator no matter how high his posi-
tion and much will he done to stay the hand of the murderer.
Tt is a source of no little congratulation to us of this wild and'
almost neglected frontier that few of these horrible scones occur
with us their perpetration is reserved for the older and more
civilized settlements. American Flag
Fkkakb at Watuuino Pi.aoks. We believe that wo have
referred to tho fact that a few days ago at Newport a New-
Yorker made a bet of a champagne supperthat he would go to
a ball at tho Ocean Mouse in the full dress of a Roman Senator.
The editor of the Boston Post says that he won tho wager in
flowing robes arms and legs bare &c. A few dayB after a
young lady paraded tho streets there with a blanket on her
back whereon was written " Flora Temple" the natno of the
famous fast mare. Probably another wagor. But such things
are anything but tho legitimate amusements of ladies and en-
tlemeu. John Van Bukkn's Health is so delicate that he contem-
plates giving up his general European tour and returning home.
It is thought that ho will revive amid the balmy breezes that
are expected to bo raised by tho hards and softs at the ap.
proaehing fall election in New York
!-
&'
:m
m
m
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View eight places within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Oldham, W. S. & Marshall, John. Texas State Gazette. (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 6, No. 7, Ed. 1, Saturday, October 7, 1854, newspaper, October 7, 1854; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth81155/m1/3/?q=Texas%20state%20gazette: accessed May 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.