contributed by Dean Long For three or four years past, frequent deeds of lawlessness and violence have occurred in
the extreme southern portion of the county in the settlement long known as Smokey Town, now called O’Neal. There
have been several cases of incenderism varied with occasional shootings. There was some trouble down there in 1876
which left bad blood between neighbors; but the first act that attracted public attention was the burning of the
barns and stables of Mr. Jacob H Boozer one night three or four years ago. The purpose was to make a clean sweep
of his premises, but the winds shifted at an opportune moment and drove the flames from the dwelling/house and
it was saved. After that, Mr. Orlando Dickert had two horses taken from his premises and killed. Later on, Mr.
Walter Wise’s barn and stable were set on fire and burned. There were various acts of lawlessness of a more or
less serious nature. All these acts have occurred in a radius of not more than four miles. Butler Banks
Butler Banks lived in a log cabin of one room on a small tract of nine acres that belonged
to his wife. Banks has acted the part of an invalid for a good while. He is a small man, small and sallow, quiet
and reserved in his general demeanor, with nothing of the bully or desperado in his appearance. He hunted a great
deal and has the reputation of being a crack shot and of being a fighter and shooter, and a bad man to fool with.
Mrs. Banks, a hard working woman, tended the farm, her only help being an ox with whose aid she made last year
2 bales of cotton and 65 or 70 bushels of corn, besides a good crop of peas and potatoes. The cotton had been sold
and a small portion of the corn had been used, the balance, about 60 bushels, was in the barn with a quantity of
fodder and the peas, and two banks of potatoes were in the garden. These things formed the means of living for
the family of eight for the year, and were nearly their whole worldly possessions, the furniture of the house being
of the rudest and simplest kind, but there were enough to keep them comfortable in their humble way. The children
are too young to be of any assistance on the farm, the oldest being 13 and very small for his age, and the youngest,
2- the five oldest, boys, the youngest a girl, such was this little household on Saturday last.
Threatened By Regulators
Butler Banks was not a desirable neighbor, at least to some members of the community. It
is quite likely that the fault was not all on his side. Lately he had received several written notices from anonymous
sources, ordering him to leave. One of these notices, signed ‘Regulator’, he attributed to his neighbor and distant
cousin, James C Banks. It is said the he was heard to remark after receiving this, that he would ‘fix that regulator.’
There is no evidence that his suspicion was correct- this is non to the public. Mr. James C Banks is well known
in the county, having frequently attended the county convention as a delegate where his occasional sallies of wit,
made him a conspicuous figure. Six or eight years after he was a candidate in the primary for county commissioner,
he was 47 years old and appears to be a peaceable, jolly, good-natured man. He has 4 grown sons. The Shooting of James C Banks
Butler Banks left his cabin that morning- armed, as was his custom. He and James C Banks
came in sight of each other by accident, at a point near O’Neal Academy. James C Banks went into the house of Dorothy
Holman- the house formerly occupied by Mr. M. L. Lon- to sell some pictures or papers or something else of the
kind. As he came out of the house, Butler Banks, who had taken a position in a large pine tree in front of the
house, blazed away at him with a double-barrel shotgun, discharging both barrels at him in a quick succession and
following them up with two shots from a pistol. The shotgun was loaded with buckshot. Butler Banks’ House Burned
On Saturday night, about midnight, a pair of men went to Butler Banks’ residence, where
his wife and six young children were. They set fire to the dwelling/house, after saturating the timbers with kerosene
oil. Mrs. Banks came out and extinguished the fire. They drove her back into the house, and again set it on fire,
and this time, burned it down. Mrs. Banks got out with her children, but saved very little else. The party then
fired the other houses on the place and burned down every one of them, leaving nothing but a chicken coop. More Trouble Expected
What next? That is the question in the minds of the people in that neighborhood, for few,
if any, believes that the matter will stop here. Some new development is expected every day. The parties concerned
are not likely to appeal to the law. They have that rude border notion that a man should be able to take care of
himself and it is cowardly *** **** **** *** personal difficulties **** *** *** **** appears to **** *** * ***
**** desire the intervention of *** *** * *** * *** reported in the neighborhood.
A few months ago, Butler Banks was shot at by someone in ambush on the roadside, and was slightly wounded. He thought
that James C Banks was the man that shot him or had it done and vowed vengeance upon him. Butler Banks is regarded
as a man of desperate character *** ****** ***** *** * ******* ***** ****.
Whether moved by the threats of the ‘regulators’ or for other reasons, more likely because he had been offered
a good price for his little farm, Butler Banks decided to sell out and leave Smokey Town. He had bargained his
place to Mr. John Henry Koon, whose land adjoins his, for $20 an acre, and the sale was to be completed and the
deed executed at Prosperity on Saturday last, but early that morning, an event occurred that knocked all the neighbors
into ‘pi’ and culminated in the most diabolical deeds of this bitter feud.
James C Banks was wounded in four places. One buckshot struck him on the right hand, one struck him in each shoulder,
and one entered the forehead just above the left eye. The wound in the forehead was the only serious one. Dr. Wyche,
who was called to see him, probed for this ball to a depth of about 2 inches, but could not find it. It ranged
a little downward and is a very serious wound. Butler Banks, after the shooting, fled in the direction of Edgefield.
After the burning of the house, the mother and children, who had escaped with scant clothing and two old quilts,
and part of a bed tick, huddled together with no other protection from the winter’s cold, than the smoldering embers
of their little cabin. There they remained until Sunday morning. All the children were barelegged, only two had
on shoes, and only one a hat, and all were thinly clad. On Sunday morning, Mrs. Banks went off in search of some
friend or relative and the children were left alone to make out as best they could in the open field around the
fire. The neighbors were afraid to interfere, lest they might involve themselves in the deadly feud. Mr. John Henry
Koon, sent the children some dinner, and this, with the potatoes they roasted in the ashes, they satisfied their
hunger. Three men who went to the juvenile camp on Sunday afternoon, found the children making themselves as comfortable
as possible. Their philosophy being somewhat of the Mark Topley order, they were quite jolly, no whimpering or
complaining. They talked quite freely and intelligently about the events of the preceding night; said there were
about 20 persons in the crowd that burned the houses; but no doubt in their excited condition, that a few figures
flitting about in the firelight would appear to be many. They said it was the Banks crowd and mentioned one by
name. Sometime during Sunday night, Mr. James Albritton, the stepfather of Mrs. Butler Banks, carried the mother
and her children to his home and gave them shelter.
Butler Banks has vowed retaliation for the burning of his house and that he threatens a ‘clean sweep’ for his enemies.
The people of the community are naturally very much excited over this new outlook. There are many excellent, law-abiding
citizens in the community who deeply deplore these repeated acts of violence but heretofore they have been powerless
to prevent or punish them. It is hope that these new acts will be thoroughly investigated and sifted and that the
guilty parties will all be brought to the bar of justice to answer for their crimes.
Trial justice Hair has made out a warrant for the arrest of Butler Banks on the charge of shooting James C Banks
but no efforts have been made to execute it. No warrants have been executed for the burning of Butler Banks’ house.
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