CHAPTER XIV.
THE MURDER OF ELI WILLIAMSON
At the foot of Webb’s mountain, fourteen miles from Sevierville, on the Emert=s Cove road, stands an old dilapidated log house. On a hot day in July, in the year 1892, William Sneed and Houston Romines were seen walking side by side down the road in the direction of this house. They were talking in a low tone and Sneed was carrying an old-fashioned, long-barrel rifle. On reaching the fence, they halted for a moment, Romines drew a long-bladed knife and walked to the back door while Sneed went in at the front. Eli Williamson was not a coward, and was not afraid to fight with equal chances. He was unarmed and saw at a glance that he would be overpowered. He rushed to the back end of the house, threw up his hands and begged for his life. Sneed lowered his gun, took deadly aim and fired. Williamson fell to the floor, writhing in pain and expired a few hours later. This was the first murder committed in Sevier County traceable directly to the White-caps. A few nights previous to this, the White-caps had gone to the home of Julia Ramsey, intending to give her a whipping, but Eli Williamson and Henry Proffitt were there that night and opened fire on them. When they attempted to batter down the door, a regular pitched battle followed which resulted in the defeat of the White-caps. Lewellen Sneed, brother of William Sneed, was shot in the leg in this affray, enraging the Sneed’s against the Williamsons, and while his brother was still suffering from the wound received that night, William Sneed avenged him by taking the life of Eli Williamson. Excitement ran high for a time. The citizens offered a reward of fifty dollars for Sneed, but he succeeded in making his way through the Smoky Mountains into North Carolina and is still at large. This put an end to White-capping in Emerts Cove. The citizens banded together under the leadership of John S. Springs and vowed they would hang the first man caught in disguise. John S. Springs, who led the opposition in Emerts Cove, was a man of great courage, backed up with an iron will and invincible determination. The White-caps had done no injury to any of his relatives or close friends, yet he did not hesitate to speak out against them. He talked to their faces, saying that Any man, or set of men, who would go at the dead hours of midnight under the cover of darkness, with masks on their faces, and overpower and drag a poor defenseless woman from her home and lash her back, was a base coward and not worthy of citizenship. Perhaps it would not be out of place to mention in this connection that John S. Springs was foreman of the grand jury when true bills were returned against the murderers of the Whaley family, and is now a deputy sheriff under Sheriff Tom Davis. White-capping in Sevier county first began in Emerts Cove, but ceased as abruptly as it began. |