| Stories of Kentucky Feuds |
| Plucked Out-Root and Branch Part-2 |
| _____ |
 |
 |
| (Page-6) "We want to rent some ground, Uncle George," said Tabor. "We want to raise a crop and earn some money to defend ourselves in court. We may have been wrong but we mean to go straight from now on." "None o' my land is fo' rent," was the old man's answer. "But they's a little place ovah at the head of Tygart that mebbe I could git fo' you." "If my aunt was only alive I know she'd welcome a chance to help me get on my feet." "Don't you fret, son," was Old George's answer, "when some 'un wants to do right it ain't the likes 0' me to turn my back on 'im." And shortly afterward Tabor and Martin with their wives and their families were installed on a small farm nearby-though it was not on the land of the Underwoods, and from that minute peace fled from the vicinity. Not that there was perfect calm possible as long as the Halbrooks, the Stampers and their clansmen resided close by; but though they had never been friendly with the Underwoods there had never been any outbreak of duration. However, now that these men had settled in the neighborhood they made no effort to conceal their resentment and antipathy. Open warfare was declared when one of the Stampers missed a fine young horse that he had especially prized. He fastened its disappearance on a man named Pendlum and who was particularly "thick" with Tabor and Martin. Pendlum was a Rowan County man, well connected, which in a measure explains his interest in Tabor, who knew his relatives and had been intimate with them in the old days. The upshot of the horse-stealing episode was that Pendlum, Martin and Tabor received an anonymous notice to "pull up stakes" and leave that part of the country. The notice to Martin was particularly bitter and vicious. His wife was ill at the time and the threat included violence to her, referring to the woman in the lowest sort of terms. Word of this soon reached George Lewis Underwood, the son, who mounted his horse and rode over to the place and offered Martin and his wife shelter under his roof. Meanwhile his father met Tabor and urged him to take advantage of the protection of the "fort." The two families being moved, both Underwoods, in due course of time, received their notifications that death and disaster (Page-6) |
| would follow for the succor they had afforded to the men under the ban. The Underwoods, father and son, treated these with disdain. They were the type who thrived upon such scares, but they were soon to know that their enemies were not bluffing and that they were in deadly earnest. A few days of ugly mutterings followed and then-Pendlum was shot from an ambush. Who did it? No one knew, but a score of men had thrown their lot in with the Halbrooks and the Stampers and none of the principals denied the fact that they had directed the party on the day that the shooting took place. Pendlum lingered a short while and died. Again the mysterious warnings were circulated that it would be extremely unhealthy for any of the Underwoods or their adherents to be seen in the vicinity of the home of grief. Old George Underwood declared that "no man or set of men would keep him from calling on a dead neighbor," so in broad daylight he set out for the Pendlum place. For this defiance he was to pay dearly. To reach Pendlum's he had to pass through a thickly wooded patch of land, and while he and his horse were in its densest part a dozen rifles blazed forth. The head of the Underwood clan was hit in eight places in all, so deadly was this marksmanship. An eye was shot out and his other wounds crippled him for life. His horse, stung by a bullet, wheeled and galloped for home with its sorely stricken master holding tight to its mane. More shots were fired but none took effect. Now the band of blood-thirsty assassins determined to finish the job of annihilation which they started. Off they started for the home of George Lewis Underwood, and while one of them called to him from a point of concealment the others trained their weapons upon the doorway. Never suspecting such a cowardly trick George Underwood answered the summons. A volley immediately followed his appearance and he sank upon his own threshold with a buckshot wound in his abdomen. Reliable chroniclers declare that this man, Elvin and his brother William had never taken any part in the raids or affairs when their (Page-7) |
| brother Alfred led his band. Old enmities, therefore, were not being visited. His only offense was that he had given shelter to a sick woman. Sorely wounded, he was carried into his home and cared for, but for two years he never left the bed upon which he was laid. Now began the war of the feudists with each side intent upon seeking any or all who could be destroyed. The Underwoods had friends, and some two score fully armed rallied to their defense. Old George as soon as he recovered led his force. The Halbrook-Stamper faction also swelled its ranks until it also numbered some forty or fifty effectives. John Richards Tabor decamped when the signs of violence appeared, but John Martin proved of different metal and remained behind to fight. Now Elvin Underwood was added to his father's defensive forces. Up to this time he had been a peaceful citizen, plodding along on his farm and endeavoring to serve virtuously the family that had been brought to him by his wife. The shooting of his father and his brother was too much for human nature to stand without some show of remonstrance, so he, with John Martin and others, "took to the bush," after declaring their intention of wreaking vengeance upon their enemies. Shortly afterward a man named Glover and another (a son-in-law of the head of the Stamper family, both of whom had proudly proclaimed a leading part in the killing of Pendlum) were ambushed and slain. Elvin Underwood made no effort to conceal the fact that he had played a part in their taking off. Events, however, had come to such a pass that people in the western part of Carter County feared for their lives and sent petitions to Governor McCreary in Frankfort to do something to staunch the bloodshed that was in progress. The governor responded energetically. He sent a company of state guards and authorized the raising of another company under the command of Captain J. N. Stewart of the county town of Grayson. These latter, forty men in all, were equipped and armed from the state arsenal at Frankfort. When the state troops reached Grayson immediate action was (Page-8) |
| decided upon, and it was first determined to disarm all of the participants in the feud. Now, however, a new figure projects itself into the limelight-Jesse Underwood returned from Iowa; returned bringing a wife and two or three children with him. It will be remembered that Jesse's departure and his determination to remain with his brothers in the West had been occasioned by a singular circumstance. Jesse's reputation had been clouded with the same taint as that of his brother AU. He was an admirer of horseflesh, even after the guerilla days, and the disposition of cautious folk was to keep the barn doors locked while he was in the neighborhood. While he was "hiding out" after the killing of young Trumbo, Jesse ventured into the vicinity of the home of "Squire" Halbrook and was shot by one of his sons. Jesse was severely wounded, and the justification advanced by young Halbrook was that he believed the man he wounded was seeking to make off with his horse. Jesse had taken this vilification without a murmur-he could not do otherwise, but it was in the Underwood veins to remember such a stain cast upon their name, so, when the word reached him that war had broken out between the families, he packed up his earthly possessions and determined to return to Carter County. His wife and his youngsters had just been nicely settled at Fort Underwood when the soldiers made their appearance. This woman from Iowa knew nothing of the turbulence she had to face and her surprise can well be imagined when Jesse kissed her a hurried good-bye, mounted his horse and rode away as the company of state guards approached the place. Still none of them molested him as he departed. His quietly riding away was Jesse's first attempt to bring peace to the troubled state of affairs. He desired apparently to avoid a conflict from the beginning, but it was not to be. What manner of man was he? Only a pen picture of him remains. He is described as "being over six feet in height, slender but compactly made. His black hair was cut close, he wore a heavy black moustache, with the rest of his face cleanly shaven. He had a well shaped aquiline nose; a high, good shaped forehead and keen brown eyes that snapped like those of an eagle. His voice was low, |