Coy Faircloth, well known Dismal Township farmer and special deputy sheriff for the enforcement of the liquor laws, was fired upon from ambush at 2:30 Wednesday afternoon while raiding a moonshine still in the South River swamps in the Cooper vicinity. He was taken from the swamp by a rescue party and rushed to a hospital at Fayetteville where he died at 9:30, seven hours after he was shot down by a blockader sniper using a shotgun loaded with steel slugs.
Immediately after the shooting, a posse of planters armed with pistols and shot guns began a systematic combing of that entire section of Dismal Township in an effort to apprehend Jonah Emmanuel, a Croatan Indian, long suspected as a bootlegger and who was identified by Deputy Faircloth’s companion, Black Stewart of Cumberland County as the one who had fired the fatal shot. An effort also is being made to locate Jesse Maynard, another Croatan, who is believed to have been with Emmanuel at the still. The neighborhood posse was joined in the early part of the night by Sheriff A.A. Jernigan, County Officer Lonnie Honeycutt and Deputy Sheriffs Newsom, Wrench and Daughtry. The hunt with new recruits continued all night and still was in progress today—Thursday.
Murder Is Described
According to the report given Sheriff Jernigan, Officer Faircloth, accompanied by Special Deputies Stewart and Olin Page, the latter living in that section of the county, entered the swamp about 1 o’clock and began a search for the still, strongly suspected of being in that immediate area. After penetrating a considerable distance, Deputy Page became separated from the others who worked their way through the sloughs and woods to a point about 300 yards from the Graham Bridge.
Deputy Faircloth, according to Stewart, was in the lead and unexpectedly entered a small clearing and ran upon a purring moonshine outfit. He probably was within 10 feet of the still, Stewart stated, when Emmanuel, hidden behind a large stump, arose, took deliberate aim and fired. Faircloth fell mortally wounded. Stewart, who carried an unloaded shotgun and remembering that he had turned his box of shells over to Page a short time earlier, backed away several yards and, he says, stood perfectly still for a period of about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, he states, he considered the situation. Believed the snipers still in hiding, awaiting an opportunity to shoot him, and realizing he could not remove Faircloth’s body unassisted, he went in search of Page. After repeated signals by whistling and calls failed to get a response from Page, he left the swamp and went for help among the neighbors, securing the aid of four, who accompanied him into the swamp, found Faircloth’s unconscious form partially submerged in the blood and mud and water where he had fallen. He was carried out and rushed to a Fayetteville hospital.
Wounds Prove Slugs
At the hospital, an examination by the attending surgeons showed that a steel slug had entered at the front of the right temple and three others just below the cheek bone, on the left side of the face. Each shot passed through the head, coming out the back. Either of the wounds, it is declared, would have proven fatal. The physicians say the wounds could not have been made by mere bullets. The patient, although unconscious, gave very indication of intense suffering.
The posses worked swiftly and thoroughly. Some formed a cord around the home of Emmanuel about two miles from the scene of the tragedy, others surrounded the homes of his father, Enoch Emmanuel Sr., and his brother, Enoch Emmanuel Jr., while still others whipped the woods and swamps for the fugitive. Early in the evening, the father, Enoch Sr., was observed to leave his own home and go to that of Jonah Emmanuel. It was suspected that he was reconnoitering and was forbidden to leave Enoch Sr. and the oldest son of Jonah, both living nearby, were rounded up and held virtually prisoners in the slayer’s home, while the officers and possesmen secreted themselves in the vicinity to await developments. This was done in the theory that Jonah, who is barefooted and in his shirt sleeves, and without information as to the movement of the officers, would be driven by reason of the cold rain, which fell throughout the night, to take a chance that he might procure clothing and food. In the meantime, Sheriff Jernigan has notified officers in nearby cities to maintain a close watch in the event he seeks to leave the county.
The home, where the killer’s wife and their eight children were huddled together with the father, brother and son’s family, was in peculiar contrast to the gloom that had settled over the remainder of the section. Sounds of discordant music from an ancient organ, mild laughter floated out of the windows and into the dreary night. One of the possemen, during the early evening and while the prisoners were on the front porch heard the wife remark that “Jonah was driven to it; they had made him desperate.”
They Became Silent
About 2 o’clock Thursday morning, however, when Sheriff Jernigan entered the home to question the inmates, a dense silence greeted him; none of the household even could remember whether Jonah is clean shaven or wears a beard. The sun finally admitted that he had seen his father at the home shortly after noon and that was all the information obtainable.
The officers, in their effort to capture the slayer, are working on two theories. First, the probability that he will seek to communicate with his relatives either today or tonight, and by shadowing the family, particularly the father, they be led to his rendezvous. Secondly, the probability that he will remain in hiding until Thursday, or perhaps Friday night, and then seek to escape to the Croatan settlements in Robeson county, or into Florida, where an elder brother lives.
The assassination is especially saddening. The slain officer, shot from ambush, was not given a chance to fight for his life; also he was regarded as an unusually good citizen and was especially earnest in his efforts to stamp out the liquor traffic. He had been living in that section many years, and had numerous relatives and friends and is survived by a wife and four children. The body was taken from the hospital to the home Thursday morning. Funeral services and burial will take place at the Randall Williams place, but the hour has not been announced—probably Friday afternoon.
And the Fugitive
The fugitive also has been living in that section for many years and belongs to the Croatan settlement. It is said that at one time he was a preacher and a leader in the tribal flock.
For the last several years, though, numerous facts indicated that he was moonshining and on at least two occasions Special Deputy Faircloth and associated officers have trailed him, searched his home and otherwise sought to secure direct evidence of his guilty. He succeeded in eluding their vigilance each time, but the persistence with which the officers worked had developed an intense spirit of vengeance and he is known to have threatened “to get Faircloth.” Wednesday offered him the opportunity, the officers think, which he grasped. It is merely speculation as to why he and his companion made no effort to shoot Stewart.
From the front page of the Sampson Independent, Clinton, N.C., Oct. 8, 1925
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn91068086/1925-10-08/ed-1/seq-1/
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