Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser

From the Kentucky Reporter

HORRID TRANSACTION.

Extract of a letter to the Editor of the Reporter, dated Eddyville, Feb. 26.

"A most horrid, inhuman, and audacious murder, was committed in this neighborhood on Saturday last, on the body of Smith Moore, and attempts were made to murder Stanfield Moore, his brother, Jane Moore, his sister, and one Talbot.

"The circumstances seem to be, that the father of the Moores and Talbot, strangers from Pennsylvania, lately hired a Farm of the widow Long, about six miles from this, and had moved to it with their families: in the afternoon on Saturday, James M'Auley, Joshua Perkins, and Jonah --, living at or near the mouth of Cumberland river, professing to belong to a regulating party, came with arms to the house where those people lived. Talbot being at the door, invited them into the house-as he walked in, two rifles were levelled at him, one missed fire, the other took effect, the ball went thro' his shoulder and back, lodging in the other shoulder ; he fell exclaiming he was a dead man. At the same time the other of the murderers went to the opposite door to prevent the escape of those within, being a considerable number of men, women and children.

"The murderers next attacked Smith and Stanfield Moore, with knives, dirks, &c. the latter received many wounds, but effected his escape into the woods with life, while SMITH MOORE bore the brunt of the murderers' rage; besides receiving many other wounds, Perkins gave him a mortal stab in his body above his second lower rib, which reached into his liver; after which he made many efforts to escape, but the unrelenting savages pursued and beat him with their guns until the breath left his body. While he was crying for help and mercy, his sister, a girl of 17, running towards him with a stick in her hand, fell in with M'Auley, and struck him to the ground; M'Auley recovering, struck her to the ground, wounded her badly, and left her for dead. During the transactions, the father and mother of Moore, and the woman present, by tears, argument and exertions, endeavoured to check the inhuman murderers, for which they received nothing but insult, and threats that they should also lose their lives.-The murderers fixed a rope about the neck of the dying Moore, and were dragging him along, as if to secrete the dead body, when Perkins became alarmed and cried out "it is time for us to be off, the neighborhood will be up in arms against us;" on this they retired.

Such is a sketch of the history of this horrid transaction. taken from the witnesses who appeared before the jury of inquest on the body of Moore. Perkins is a militia major, and M'Auley, who is a man of family and property, is a Justice of the Peace in Livingston county; some attempts have been made to apprehend them, but they are yet running at large near their homes.

This barbarous murder has been committed under pretext of punishing offenders against the laws, and shocking as it is to state it, there are in this civilized christian country, those who justify this conduct. It is an awful state of things, where the vilest men, under pretence of suppressing villany, are countenanced in whipping, wounding. maiming and murdering those whom prejudice or ill will point out as victims of their displeasure ; in this state of things, the terrorists, the regulators, have no security for their own lives against the displeasure of their coadjutors."