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Letter to Editor
July 1, 1854
The Empire County Argus
Coloma, El Dorado County, California
What is this article about?
S. W. Helm writes to correct a Sacramento Daily Union article falsely claiming the Helms brothers are a family of nine violent men involved in multiple shootings and stabbings in California mining towns like Diamond Springs and Gold Hill.
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Full Text
A CARD
A Family of Desperate Men -The brothers Helms, who stabbed a man by the name of Harris, at Diamond Springs, on Sunday night, belong to a family, as we learn from the Under Sheriff of El Dorado county, of nine brothers, the one who stabbed Harris is said to have shot a man at Bird's Valley, in 1850, and one of those engaged in the late murderous assault, shot a man not long since at Gold Hill, whereupon the miners held a meeting and gave them notice to leave the place; they did so and went to Diamond Springs, where they have been guilty of taking the life of another man. All the nine brothers were at one time in the State, but three out of the nine as well as we are informed have been shot, leaving six still, four of whom were present at the attack upon Harris, two fled, the other two were arrested, one discharged, and the other committed to jail, as will be seen by our telegraphic report, for want of $6000 bail, the others not yet arrested, one of them lost one of his eyes in a fight and wears glasses.
The above was published in the Sacramento Daily Union. The whole is one unbroken chain of falsehoods. The one who shot White, at Bird's Valley, is but a very distant relation of the one above mentioned, and neither of the two who were engaged in the fight with Harris, had anything to do with the affair at Gold Hill; as to the miners giving them notice to quit that vicinity, that is also false; a meeting was held there, but no communication of the result of that meeting was made known to the Helms. Moreover there never was nine brothers of them living at one time, and therefore that report is also false, and as to the one who was sent to jail for the want of $6000 bail, he has stood his trial since, and is now at large, having given bail in the amount of $2000, and he is not a brother to the other two that fled; and as to the one who the above report says, lost his eye in a fight, that occurred in breaking a rock with a sledge hammer, as Mr. George Vincent, of Coloma, can testify.
S. W. HELM.
A Family of Desperate Men -The brothers Helms, who stabbed a man by the name of Harris, at Diamond Springs, on Sunday night, belong to a family, as we learn from the Under Sheriff of El Dorado county, of nine brothers, the one who stabbed Harris is said to have shot a man at Bird's Valley, in 1850, and one of those engaged in the late murderous assault, shot a man not long since at Gold Hill, whereupon the miners held a meeting and gave them notice to leave the place; they did so and went to Diamond Springs, where they have been guilty of taking the life of another man. All the nine brothers were at one time in the State, but three out of the nine as well as we are informed have been shot, leaving six still, four of whom were present at the attack upon Harris, two fled, the other two were arrested, one discharged, and the other committed to jail, as will be seen by our telegraphic report, for want of $6000 bail, the others not yet arrested, one of them lost one of his eyes in a fight and wears glasses.
The above was published in the Sacramento Daily Union. The whole is one unbroken chain of falsehoods. The one who shot White, at Bird's Valley, is but a very distant relation of the one above mentioned, and neither of the two who were engaged in the fight with Harris, had anything to do with the affair at Gold Hill; as to the miners giving them notice to quit that vicinity, that is also false; a meeting was held there, but no communication of the result of that meeting was made known to the Helms. Moreover there never was nine brothers of them living at one time, and therefore that report is also false, and as to the one who was sent to jail for the want of $6000 bail, he has stood his trial since, and is now at large, having given bail in the amount of $2000, and he is not a brother to the other two that fled; and as to the one who the above report says, lost his eye in a fight, that occurred in breaking a rock with a sledge hammer, as Mr. George Vincent, of Coloma, can testify.
S. W. HELM.
What sub-type of article is it?
Informative
Persuasive
What themes does it cover?
Crime Punishment
What keywords are associated?
Helms Brothers
Diamond Springs
Sacramento Daily Union
Falsehoods
Bird's Valley
Gold Hill
El Dorado County
Mining Violence
What entities or persons were involved?
S. W. Helm
Letter to Editor Details
Author
S. W. Helm
Main Argument
the sacramento daily union article contains falsehoods about the helms family, including incorrect relations to past shootings, miner notices, family size, bail amounts, and eye injury cause; the writer clarifies the true facts.
Notable Details
Quotes Sacramento Daily Union Article
References Under Sheriff Of El Dorado County
Mentions Witness Mr. George Vincent Of Coloma