Appalachian Murder, Mystery And Legend
White Capping And Blue Billing
Listen to just how far bigots will go.
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- Broadcast on:
- 29 Sep 2024
- Audio Format:
- other
(gentle music) - Apple Atchia, the word that evokes a whole pass of the reactions. Everything from the beauty of a mountain top to trailer parks, drugs, and about everything in between. The Apple Atchian Mountains are indeed the oldest mountains in the world. They once towered 30,000 feet into the air. They stretch from Eastern Canada through 14 states all the way to Louisiana. The folks who live in these mountains have faced an unending number of tragic and just plain odd hatens that cry out for the telling. Hello, I'm Larry Bentley. I know I was born and raised in these very mountains by a family who themselves were born, raised, and lived for generations in the heart of the Apple Atchian Mountains. Come with me and we'll take a look at some of the unending stories that come from within my beloved mountains. And we'll look through the eyes of an old Apple Atchian at some outside area as well. Welcome to season four of Apple Atch in Murder, Mystery, and Legend. Hi, I'm a good friend. I hope you and yours are doing well today. And thank you so much for stopping by. And as we all know, especially if you've been following the show here for a spell, the Apple Atchian Mountains starting at about, well, arguably the southern border of West Virginia, all the way to Louisiana was prime breeding ground for what would become known as the southern aristocrat. And as we've talked about in past episodes, they were some pretty stubborn and hardheaded individuals. So hardheaded, in fact, once the union served up their hind quarters to them on their own plates during the Civil War, they simply, well, they picked them up off the plates, so them right back on just kept right on going with the BS like nothing ever happened. Besides forming the boss system of government, as we went over in a previous episode called the battle of Athens, Tennessee, they formed renegade clans of societies like Mounted aristocrat, thinking lunatics that would take it upon themselves to go right on with shoving their bigoted ideas on whatever subject that happened to come up over supper that night down the throats of whoever's throat they thought it might need to go down. Sounds me like these whack-a-doodle just plain had too much time on their hands, folks. The white caps of Severe County, Tennessee were just such a group, which was formed by citizens who wished to rid Severe County of individuals who turned out to be mostly women who they thought to be lewd and adulterous. Of course, as with any respectable southern aristocrat, they left out the part where the majority of their own members were likely involved as said women to start with or they wouldn't have known anything about what was going on in the first place. In other words, southern aristocrats outhouse don't stink like everybody else does. So come on in, set a spell, and let me tell you how far some of these lunatics ago when left unchecked by law. Now, white capping, as it was called, had been taking place in Severe County since the 1830s and was actually what led to the more organized KKK to come later on. The white cap worn was actually like a pillowcase with our whole cut in it and usually tuck down into color of the shirts that wouldn't blow off. More like a hood than a cap, I reckon you'd say. Now, the white caps way of doing business was to leave it or the so-called offending party, a note signed by the white caps. The note was usually left with a sack full of hickory switches. That was supposed to be a warning for them to leave town. If that tactic didn't work, the white caps would step it up to beatings with hickory sticks, and if necessary, move on to the third step, which was usually never required, but resulted in a person leaving feet first in a pine box. That is, if they were ever found at all. Most of the time, they just vaporized into thin air in the middle of the night, you know, while their house was on fire. But the white caps were extremely popular in the Southern aristocratic society and the Southern Appalachians between 1892 and 1896 and were hard to control legally, especially if any of the police force happened to wear that white cap, which happened a whole lot more often than anybody might think. Even if any of them were arrested, with the white caps on and the hickory stick in their hand, even other white caps would just go leave a note, sack of switches on the juror's front porch to ensure a proper quittle of the white cap in question, of course, as with any society that continues to see fault in everybody else, and there's no justice to face pretty soon. It was almost so moon-backed crazy that folks would get curbs don't for much more than Jay walking and beatings increased in severity. Now, to note here, folks, this type of thing if left completely unchecked will lead to these type of people even turning on their cells. Of course, that only happens after they run plum out of folks who are just trying to live their own lives and not bother anybody else, after they beat them out of town. And then it's happened throughout history, you know, every time big it's like this or left to do as they please, so they have to be stopped before it comes to that. But apparently somebody else read up on the history back then and all of the threatening and beating and running out of town didn't take place without somebody saying enough is enough and actually having the spine to try to do something about it. The blue bills were formed in 1893 as a direct response to the white caps down right meanness. That happened when Dr. J. A. Henderson attended the deathbed of Mrs. Mary Breeden, who had been beaten for having the gall to protect her daughters from white cap members who thought that they had the right to do as they pleased with the young girls. Then I reckon they got by with that. They sent the little girls a letter and warned them about their lewd actions and told them to get out of town. Mama Breeden wasn't having a bit of it and stood up to him which led to Dr. Henderson being called to find out that there was nothing he could do but helped Mama pass peacefully and painlessly as possible. The white caps had beat her so bad that there just wasn't anything that he could do to help her. Needless to say that he was pretty ill over that which had him start up the blue bills. Now he had recruited other people disgusted by the white caps and they formed what they know what was known as the blue bills. Whose sole intention was to bring down the white caps. Now the blue bills weren't a secret organization like the callards behind the white caps. They didn't hide behind masks. I reckon they had dads that told them the same thing. My dad told me when I was a little feller, don't go do anything. You wouldn't be proud to tell you grandma. You did, but then you'd make it just fine in the world. The white caps apparently didn't have a grandma or want grandma to know anything or listen to daddy or had a daddy that wore the white cap too or they didn't want anybody else doing anything so they just masked up like the super destroyer from parts unknown and mid-Atlantic wrestling. Now the blue bills also made sure that official legal authorities were on hand to pounce on and arrest of worthless pieces of dog squeeze. I'm just surprised that there was enough of anybody left around them parts to put together anything against the white caps altogether to start with. It was a tough job to get them arrested and watch them dance out front door of the courthouse a few weeks later because of jury tampering but the blue bills wouldn't quit. They kept doing it. In August of 1894 and they got a break because in the August election of 1894, MF Maples was elected sheriff by 147 votes running on the pledge to end the white caps vigilantism and restore order. He chose farmer and former school teacher Thomas A. Davis to be his chief deputy. Deputy Davis was an educated man in Methodical and led the way to restore law and order for the citizens of Severe County. Hugh nicely, well he was raised in Dandridge but had left Tennessee to see what the world was all like you know like all young folks do. Now he joined up with relatives in Oklahoma to work for the Chisholm Trail for a cattleman. While there he was lucky enough to contract a typhoid fever and well back in the year was actually lucky enough to survive it. Back then typhoid had at least a 55 to 60% mortality to rate which reminded him that there was a no place like home and he decided to head back to the hills that he loved. He was going about his business just after the election and cutting the boundary of timber for deputy sheriff Davis who approached him for help in putting down vigilante violence. Mr. Nicely agreed leaving the login to the loggers and joining the force of sheriff MF Maples to put the quietest on the white cap violence. In my opinion though, I have no proof when the outgoing sheriff picked up his balloons vacate to office, he either tucked his white cap in his hip pocket and ran off the tall grass or he burned his sack full of warning letters and along with the sack full of hickory switches and a pop belly stove and ran off for the tall grass. One or the other happened I would say. Over the next year or so, there were several battles between the two groups. Dr. Henderson became the biggest pain in the rear enemy that the white caps had. Doc Henderson was slick about how he went about the blue belt business. He would brought a few white caps to tell him where their attack was coming and when and then he'd go get the blue bills together with the law enforcement and be waiting at scenes when the idiots rode up. Now, which brought on 1895 when he was killed in his own home by some out of the blue random stranger who of course had nothing to do with white cap and whatsoever. Not that anybody saw anything to know any better but nothing could be done without any evidence. No, people weren't that dumb. They didn't believe a word of that. Dr. Henderson's death became a rallying point for the folks who opposed the white caps and public sentiments started to turn it against the pillowcase wearing Jack Booty thugs. Now, things ain't working like they used to anymore but the white caps still think that they can fix it all by scaring them for Jesus out of everybody by stepping up the terrorism. But then came December of 1896 when the wet jobs finally went completely over the edge with their lunacy and that's when not even the Southern aristocrats who were actually the white caps start with could publicly support the group anymore. In other words, they were doing what's known as a political straddle. They would jail, scream, stomp for feet and demand justice all day long, then go home, slip on the pillowcase and go out on the town burning digs and splitting wigs all night long. That was until they showed up and brutally murdered Laura and William Whaley right in front of their own infant child. The Whales might have been poor but they were fine honest and upstanding citizens of Severe County. It was their deaths that finally did it. JC Catlett-Tipton was a member in good standing of the white caps and one of the renegade nutballs that didn't know when enough was enough. He proved it over and over again by showing up at every meeting, every night and from looking at what happened, we can conclude that he was volunteering to be the official Hickory Stick Bears for the convention of morons. That means that he was the one who got up close and personal with the brutal business at hand. Now I reckon he found a rat-a-tat-tat of a Hickory bat bouncing off everybody's front back, both arms chest, neck, and head just plumb addictive. But by being one of the horse asses that helped carry out the Whales murder, he won special mansion which came with a knowledge. Fans stay at Severe Jail and with a personal view from a top of 13-step platform with a nice hip necktie thrown in free of charge. Oh, that came compliments of the good sheriff Mabel's who was doing exactly what he said he was gonna do. Folks this ain't over with because Mr. Tipton can't shut up. I'll be right back here listening to Appalachian murder mystery and legend with Larry Bentley. Folks Mr. Tipton was born and raised in Severe County and at the time all this happened, he was 38 years old. Yes, folks dang sure old enough, no better. In December of 1896, he was living about two miles from Severe Jail but was at the timestamp with Ben Bailey, his brother-in-law. I'm working in a blacksmith shop with him. I'd say because he swung a hammer all day to warm up for swinging a club all night. Now it's a wonder he didn't tear a shoulder out of socket from all the swinging but that's beside the point. Mr. Tipton was arrested along with pleasant or pleasant wind as they called him for the murders of the Whales. It's important to understand here that the Southern aristocrat will defend their great ideas to the death as long as it's somebody else doing to die. So he decided to tell what he knew about the whole ordeal to try to save himself from the next stretching party that came with that kind of stuff. Now his story of course came with the obligatory load of self-righteous BS and hot air. Now he said that he knew Bob Catlett and who was currently out of jail on bond after being indicted by the grand jury. Now we'll get to the for what in a minute. Now Mr. Tipton had known Bob pretty much all his life. He said on the Saturday evening when the November term of the circuit court adjourned, Bob Catlett came to me and said that he needed to have a talk with me. We went into Fred Emerich's store along with Bob Wade and upstairs to the back room. There he told me that William Whaley and his wife had gone before the grand jury and in that term of court and had him and his brother-in-law Bob Wade indicted. Seems that Mr. and Mrs. Whaley had seen who the scoundrel were that had shot into Sheriff Maple's house and they put the finger on the two Bobs. Now Mr. Tipton continued on saying that Bob Catlett wanted to Whaley's put out of the way and he would give $100 to have him killed. Of course for $100, which is worth about $3,800 today, he expected to get his money's worth because he wanted to make an example out of them to teach people that they just couldn't walk into court and exercise their rights as a citizen in this country and tell the truth about him. Mr. Tipton told him that he didn't want to do it and wouldn't do it. Of course, I'm like you. I believe that as much as I believe my dog will give the opening speech at the next daytime Emmy Awards show. Now, I'll save you the long-grown out story on exactly how Mr. Tipton claims that he was more or less intimidated than to do in the job because it's all self-grant dies and hogwash anyway. Maybe if he truly was intimidated into doing it, Mr. Catlett put on a pillowcase and asked him to do it and followed it up with the question there with a or else while slapping his hand with a hickard club. That might have been intimidating enough to get him to do it, but that might be more believable than to, here's making it short by saying this. Mr. Catlett slipped him an envelope, but at a lodge meeting is what he claims. And after he got home, he opened it and founded it and had $100 in it. Now, the way I took it, that made him pretty much obligated to carry out the murders that he already didn't want to do. Bob being the good Joe that he was did follow up the deal by grand to pay Mr. Tipton's attorney fees and keep him out of jail by making his bond if he happened to get caught killing two innocent people. Wouldn't be nothing sus about that, would you? Now, he'd do that, I reckon, while the white cat letters and bags of hickard swetches were being packed up and delivered to the jury to ensure a quittle when the goon went to trial. Now, for some reason or another, they couldn't get their minds around the fact that the days of the jury intimidation were over with two on this one. Now, that's the way these macadoodles think, folks. They can't see or sense when they've gone too far. They just keep on trucking 'til somebody breaks a bar, stool, cross her teeth and stops in the hard way. Then they claim to be victims. But I'll shut up for now and get back to Mr. Tipton. Now, Mr. Tipton told Bob Kettlett that he had a partner named Plez Win who himself enjoyed a good hickard stick beat down and he could be trusted to throw a damn good one on. Now, he was probably angling for another $100 if you ask me what you didn't get. Bob told him that he didn't care who he brought, but he wasn't getting any more money out of him. The Thugdup Tipton would have to pay a old Plez from the money he already had. Then the idiot Tipton told Bob to find a reason to be out of town on the night of the murders, so they couldn't pin it on him. I reckon one man's intimidation is another man's murder plot. I could be wrong, but the whole family sounds to me, at least a whole lot more like an old fashioned murder for hired plan than it does. He made me do it situation. Now, on the 28th of December, 1896, Bob Kettlett left Severeville with a load of horses in tow. He passed Mr. Tipton on the road and told him not to forget that big job he needed to take care of later that day. Now, that night, the moron Tipton met idiot Nguyen at Ben Bailey's house in Severeville, pulling out about dark. Got a wonder what Ben thought to moron dead every night, especially since it was Monday and they needed to be up and I'm early at the blacksmith's shopping next day. Kind of makes me wonder Ben didn't slip on a pillowcase every night again. They made a stop by Mr. Bailey's blacksmith's shop where they grabbed a shotgun out of the tool chest and a few shotgun shells. I reckon only Hickory that was gonna be involved in this was the wood on the shotgun, but this time, but when they got to where the Whales lived, they stopped before getting to the house so they could slip on their pillowcases. They saw Mr. Whales came out with a light and was doing something like fixing the door, probably making sure it was locked and was holed up. But after Mr. Whales went back in, masked marbles ran up to the house, kicked the door open and ripped through the door like a federal government looking for back taxes. They caught a Whales standing there with their two-year-old and the geniuses opened fire killing both of them instantly right there in front of their baby. Then they then walked out, pulled off the mask and hit them in their saddle bags and rode back to Ben's shop. They hid the shotgun and grabbed some dynamite, then rode over to a man named Mark McCowan's house and asked him to go fishing with them. Yes, they were gonna use the dynamite to fish with because they still ain't done enough. After Mr. McCowan saw the dynamite, he decided that he wanted a part of that, so they went along and they were blasting up, oh, he blasted up six or eight good looking fish and took them home. And they also took the opportunity to burn their masks whilst out there. Then they went home to bed like nothing ever happened. JC Catlett-Tipton and Pleasant Play as Wind were put on trial for murder. If there was any white cat bladders or sacks of switches left to stretch, they sure as hell didn't work. People were fed up with these lunatics and convicted for the Whales murders. And they were never released on any bail because once arrested, they didn't have a friend in the world, and Bob Catlett suddenly didn't know who the hell either one of them were and wasn't about to go anywhere near any of it for any reason. Especially since his charges were now dropped, and the only thing that they had on him was hearsay. Now, when he was never convicted of anything to do with the murders, and Bob Catlett wasn't only one that needed examples made out of some folks. The judge didn't wear a white cat either, and he didn't pull any punches when sentencing came around. The two Nemrads were sentenced to be hanged by their necks until dead. It didn't matter to the judge if they confessed or not. As far as he was concerned, that just meant it. They definitely got the right guys. Now, they were allowed to celebrate Independence Day in 1899, which was an ironic thing for them to have to do from behind bars after learning that all of their appeals had been exhausted, and your death warrant had been signed, sealed, and delivered, because the next day on July 5th, 1899 in Severeville, they were trundled out, marched up to 13 steps to the next stretching party. They were promised, and once they assumed room temperature, they were cut down from the purchase by none other than Deputy Nicely, who proceeded to take out the trash, as he promised. You might see that was the end of the reign of the white cats and terror in that area. There were other threats and a few beatings, but white captain was all but dead after that. Well, I should say dead as referring to white captain. Of course, there, as always, there was another more organized group called the Ku Klux Klan, who was fixing to rise up and out of the ashes, like a Phoenix and wreak havoc for quite a few number of years, yet, and I guess that'll be another story we'll get to. Folks, I hope you got something out of our store today. If it wasn't one thing that needed telling, I don't know what was, but if you did, please rate and review the podcast, and don't forget to follow and subscribe wherever you're listening, including over on YouTube, where you can hit the like button and help others find the show. Come on over to Appalachian Murder Mystery and Legend podcast, excuse me, podcast group on Facebook where we talk Appalachian or about anything else you want to talk about. I'll be back real soon with another Appalachian Murder Mystery or Legend, and I will see you then. [BLANK_AUDIO]