WHITE CAPS AND BULL DOOZERS , or WILL PURVIS
Numerous
stories have been written on the life and experience of Will Purvis, known as
the "Miracle Man", or the man who was hanged and still lives. His life on the
gallows, in the convict camp, and as a fugitive was all brought about by his
being a member of the "White Caps". In the year 1895, when he had just returned
from school at the age of 19 years, there was a secret clan known as the White
Caps which had overrun Mississippi. They had banded together to promote a better
regime of law and order. Their meetings were held in secret and no one but a
member knew of their meeting place or their plans. The order was much like the
Ku Klux Klan and must have been an outcropping of the original clan.
The White Caps were held
responsible for many acts of violence and disorder, some of which they were
innocent. The law was very much opposed to the White Capping and even the
Governor of the State determined to destroy their power.
Soon after Will Purvis
became a member of their Clan some of the White Caps called on a Negro, Sam
Waller, who was a farm hand on the Buckley Place nearby. Sam had been working
for an aged widow in this community, who could pay only a very poor wage. The
Buckleys knew Sam's ability as a worker and finally obtained his service on
their farm at a higher wage. The White Caps determined this act an injustice to
the poor widow and then and there marked the Negro for vengeance. They called at
the Buckley farm that night and took Sam out and gave him a flogging. Will
Purvis had nothing to do with the whipping, but was present when it took place.
Now the Buckleys were
members of the White Caps but denied this. They became very wrought up over the
flogging of the Negro and declared that they would report this to the sheriff.
All members of the White Caps were stirred up over this and became wary, lest
Sam had recognized some of their members.
The Grand Jury was in
session in Marion County at the time. The White Caps called a meeting at Red
Bluff on Pearl River and the death lot was cast for the murder of Will and Jim
Buckley. So while the Buckleys were reporting the misdemeanors of the Clan to
the Grand Jury their neighbors were planning their murder. They held their
meetings after dark and planned for the murder. Will Purvis had only attended
two meetings of the clan prior to this. He arose and stated that as long as the
Clan stuck to the colored line that he was with them, but when it came to
killing members of the white race they could count him out. He resigned that
night and knew nothing more of the activities of the Clan.
Late one afternoon as
the Buckley brothers and Sam were returning from Columbia, where they reported
the whipping of Sam, they were fired upon from an ambush and Will Buckley was
killed from his saddle.
Buckley's murder was
soon reported in town and the Sheriff, Jim Buckley, the Coroner, and others
returned and prepared Will's body for burial. Jim Buckley claimed that he saw
Will Purvis near the scene of the murder and pinned the crime on him. The next
day, June 22, 1893 Will Purvis was summoned to appear before the county Grand
Jury. About midnight that same night Sheriff I. G. Magee and several deputies
called at the home of Will Purvis' father to arrest Will and carry him to jail.
The following day his
father engaged two lawyers, Watkins and Travis of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to
defend Will. In a short while he was taken to Meridian and placed in jail and
remained there thirty days and then was returned to Columbia for trial. This was
a special term of court. As public sentiment was running high at that time the
Judge felt justified in calling a special term. Then came the strenuous siege of
trial, and witness after witness was summoned and questioned. After hours and
hours of debating the Grand Jury returned the verdict- "We, the Jury, find the
defendant guilty as charged in the indictment and recommend him to the mercy of
the court." Then the Judge's sentence- "I sentence you (Will Purvis) to hang by
the neck until you are dead, dead, dead, on the 5th day of September, 1893,
between the hours of 11 A. M. and 3 P. M. at the jail, Marion County. This was
to be a lesson to the White Caps.
It was September 6,
1893. The Reverend Sibley read a short passage of scripture. The sheriff asked
Will if he had anything to say; Will stated that the only regret that he had was
on account of his grief stricken mother, and shouted, "I didn't do this. There
are men out there among you who could save me if they would." The black cap was
placed over his face and the trap sprung, but the knot slipped, and he was
escorted to the scaffold the second time. The Reverend Sibley cried out, "We
have seen a miracle from God and the hand of Providence slipped the noose." Then
the vote was cast and was unanimous to the effect that the act should not be
repeated. He was taken back to jail and a new trial. The State Supreme Court
confirmed the sentence and set the date for him to be hanged a second time on
December 12, 1895. He was brought back to Purvis and stayed five months. One
Sunday night friends broke jail and set him free. He hid out with friends until
February, 1897; then he gave up. Upon his surrender Governor McLaurin sent him
to Okley Farm between Natchez and Jackson and he remained there until on
December 20, 1898 he was pardoned.
After coming home he
married and reared a large family. In 1920, Joe Beard, a resident of Marion
County, went before Toxey Hall, then District Attorney and confessed to the
murder of Will Buckley. After Purvis' innocence was established the Mississippi
Legislature on March 15, 1920 appropriated $3,000 compensation for the services
performed in the penitentiary through an erroneous conviction.
WILL PURVIS PARDON
The
petition for the pardon of Will Purvis, the Marion County whitecapper who
miraculously escaped the hangman's noose by the slip of the rope and is now
serving a life sentence in the penitentiary has received over 100 signatures
among the members of the legislature. This petition is signed by all officers in
Marion County with some 1700 citizens of the county. Representative Hathorne of
Marion County will present these petitions to the governor in a day or two.
The Pearl River News,
February 4., 1898
$10,000 FOR WILL PURVIS
Representative
John A. Yeager of Lamar County introduced a bill in the house this week for the
relief of Will Purvis. The bill appropriates $10,000 and reads that it is given
as a measure of recompense for the erroneous prosecution, conviction and
punishment of the said Will Purvis of the state of Mississippi, relative to the
assassination of Will Buckley in Marion County, Mississippi, in the year of
1893.
A little over a
year ago the real murderer of Buckley confessed on his deathbed the crime,
finally clearing the name of Purvis, whom many have believed innocent. The
Columbian was the first paper to announce to the world the confession and a day
or two after its issue the leading Metropolitan Papers played the news up in big
business. The
Columbian, January 17, 1918
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
This Document along with others under our Mississippi Local History Network's "Outlaws, Rascals and Ruffians" site has been used with permission of Pamela Gibbs, County Hostess of the Lamar County MSLHN site. Thanks Pam!
To see more of Pam's great site, take the Table of Contents link above.
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