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handed Overstreet one dollar, remarking at the same time that he had ten dollars. This paid for both of them and was all that took place at Overstreet's. Thompson and the negro then left and traveled in the direction of Paulding. The road passed through a portion of Clarke Co., at this point there was a noted spring on the roadside. The two stopped to get water and rest. After the negro drank he laid down and put his head on a pine root and went to sleep. Thompson took up a pine knot and knocked him in the head, killing him instantly. He then dragged the negro's body some 30 steps down the spring run to a thick marshy place and sank it under the sand. After this he traveled in the direction of Newton Co., Miss, and there engaged to work on a farm. In three or four days after the murder, a party stopped at the spring to get some water, and noticed buzzards in the marsh. On investigating the place they found the negro's body; the neighborhood was notified and a jury of inquest was held. Nothing definite as to the cause or who did it was arrived at. Later on, the circumstances of Thompson and the negro being seen traveling together caused supicion to rest on Thompson. He was pursued, arrested, and lodged in jail at Quitman. When arrested he had in his possession the knife which the negro obtained from Overstreet's son, also a dressed deerskin pouch similar to the one the negro had. Overstreet and his son were witnesses against Thompson. Young Overstreet swore that he once possessed the knife; the father swore that, to the best of his knowledge, the deerskin pouch was the same one the negro took from his pocket when he settled for the night's lodging. Thompson could not tell who he obtained these articles from. The evidence was all circumstantial, but the jury convicted him and he was hung. Thos. F. Sterling was judge of the court and Jno. Watts, district attorney. A few days before the execution of Thompson, he confessed the crime. In olden times justice was meted out without money, favor or affection; the laws were rigid to the extent that the second offence for horse stealing was punished by death. It was death on conviction of negro stealing. William Sauls was hung at Winchester in 1837 for stealing a negro from a farmer in the state of Georgia. for petty offences branding or the whipping post was resorted to. In those times it was necessary to have rigid laws and they be rigidly executed. It will be remembered by the old timers of this country that
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it was infested by a set of negro and horse thieves who were sent South, no doubt, at the bidding of Thad Stevens and his abolition crusaders from New England to incite negro rebellion. Failing for the most part in this, they turned their attention to negro and	horse stealing.	John A.	Merritt	of	Tenn.
and his clan	joined in,	and at	one time	it was
dangerous	to	send a negro	to mill for fear	he	would
be stolen	by	this clan of	robbers.
It	will	also	be remembered	by old timers	that
this	country	was full of New England tramps.	Some
were	on	the	Hunt for schools,	while others	were
engaged in selling patent medicines and brass clocks. The Yankee clock peddler and patent medicine man were dangerous people to deal with; they never failed to beat you.
I could mention many incidents of olden times that might be interesting and amusing to the people of this	day	and	time but as I	have already	spun
this manuscript out beyond my intention at the beginning, I will pass on from my boyhood days to manhood.
About 25 years ago I was elected county surveyor of Clarke, and held this office for 20? years and was also agent for the Alabama Land and Development Company for 10 years. In surveying over different portions of the country, I made some discoveries which, in my opinion, deserves an investigation.
In Section 14, T.l, R. 16E. there is an excavated place of about 60 ft. square; the earth was removed across a branch and deposited in an oblong shape, on which elevation are now growing some trees 2 1/2 ft. in diameter. In the SW 1/4 of SW 1/4 of Sec. 33, T. 2, R. 16E. is an excevation 150 yards in length. It is on a hillside near a branch and from all appearances the cut must have been 10 or 12 ft. deep. In SE 1/4 of Ne 1/4 of Sec. 27, T.2, R. 16E there is a similar excavation but much larger than the one just mentioned. It is 400 yards in length and divided by a small branch. The cut seems to be as deep as the one just mentioned. Now the question naturally arises who did this work, when was it done, and what the object of it. It certainly could not have been done by the Indians, for they had no implements to carry on such a work. It must have been Desoto or some other, some French or Spanish explorer. In
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