User:Acdixon/Harpe brothers

Micaja "Big" Harpe and Wiley "Little" Harpe were murderers known as the Harpe brothers. They are believed to be among the first serial killers in the United States. Their modus operandi was to hide the bodies of their victims by disemboweling them, filling the hollowed corpse with rocks, and sinking it in a body of water. Because of this, it is impossible to know exactly how many people were eventually killed by the Harpes, although the number is believed to be in the dozens.

Early life
Little is known about the Harpes' origins. Both were born in North Carolina, "Big" Harpe in 1768 and "Little" Harpe in 1770. It has been assumed, but is not certain, that they were brothers. Members of Harpe family were Loyalists during the American Revolution. Like many Loyalists, the Harpes were ostracized by their patriot neighbors after the colonies won the war.

The Harpes sought refuge at the Chickamauga settlement at Nickajack. They participated in the 1794 Titsworth massacre in Robertson County, Tennessee. Nickajack was destroyed on September 12, 1794.

In 1795, the Harpes and two women named Susan and Betsy Roberts migrated to Tennessee. Susan, the elder woman, claimed to be the wife of "Big" Harpe; Betsy was apparently a concubine to both men. For two years, the group lived with a group of Cherokee and Creek Indians who had been exiled from their respective tribes. The group was known for committing violent crimes against both Indians and whites, and the Harpes joined in the atrocities.

Sometime in 1797, the foursome made their way to Knoxville, Tennessee. They built a cabin and settled on Beaver Creek. Sometime after their arrival in Tennessee, "Little" Harpe began to court a woman named Sarah "Sally" Rice. The two were married June 1, 1797, and Rice's father, a parson, performed the wedding ceremony.

The Harpes' first reported crime in Tennessee occurred in April 1797 when they robbed a traveling Methodist minister named William Lambuth. While searching the Lambuth's possessions, the Harpes found his Bible and several other accouterments that revealed his occupation. Out of respect, they returned the articles they had stolen from him. As they rode away, they announced "We are the Harpes!" This, combined with the fact that the Harpes did not kill Lambuth, made it possible for them to be described later. The Harpes would rectify this in future encounters, killing everyone they robbed and eventually, nearly everyone they met.

Physical description
Because the Harpes murdered all their victims (Lambuth excepted), descriptions of them are scarce and unreliable. Rumors persisted that they had some Negro ancestry. Robert Coates records one account that asserted "their tawny appearance and dark curly hair betrayed a tinge of African blood."

A description of "Big" Harpe, given in a bill offering a reward for his capture, said that he stood about six feet tall and was "robust" and "full-fleshed in the face". The bill went on to say that he had short, black hair that came down his forehead. He was further described as having an "ill-looking, downcast" countenance. Lambuth described Harpe's skin as "dryed and lifeless" and his eyes as having the fixed stare of an animal.

A bill also offered a reward for "Little" Harpe, who was described as being "very meagre [sic] in the face". His hair was also short and black, though not as curly as "Big" Harpe's. He also had a "downcast countenance".

"Big" Harpe's wife Susan was described as "rather tall, raw-boned, dark hair and eyes, and rather ugly." Betsy was "a perfect contrast to her sister", having blonde hair and blue eyes. "Little" Harpe's wife, Sally, was described as a "frail, blonde beauty".

Murders on the Wilderness Road
A mail carrier on the Natchez Trace named John Lee Swaney claimed the Harpes began their crime spree after losing all their money betting on horse races in Knoxville. Their early crimes included horse thievery and stealing hogs from their neighbors (which they would then butcher and sell for pork.) The locals gathered evidence and suspected the Harpes, but by the time they went to confront them, their cabin had been abandoned. The enraged neighbors formed a posse, and caught up to the Harpe brothers, who were arrested without resistance. Before the group had traveled far, however, the Harpes escaped through the underbrush.

Following their escape, the Harpes returned to Knoxville to tavern owned by a man named Hughes. As night fell, only four men remained in the tavern – the owner, his two brothers-in-law, and a man named Johnson. It is not known exactly how the Harpes killed Johnson, but despite their having disemboweled him and filled his hollowed corpse with rocks, the body washed up on the bank of the Holston River two days later. Suspicion for the crime fell on the Hughes and his brothers-in-law, and the Harpes left the area unmolested.

The Harpes rendezvoused with their female companions near Cumberland Gap in western Virginia and crossed into Kentucky in December 1798. They traveled along the Wilderness Road, killing as they went. Their first victim in Kentucky was a trader by the name of Peyton. The details of the murder are not known, but his body was found tomahawked near the Cumberland River south of Barbourville.

Days later, the Harpes encountered two Maryland natives named Paca and Bates. The two parties traveled together until evening, when they decided to camp at the next suitable spot. The Harpe brothers fell in behind Bates and Paca, and simultaneously shot them. Bates died instantly; Paca survived the gunshot, only to have his head split by "Big" Harpe's tomahawk a few minutes later.

Later that December, the Harpes arrived at the inn of a man named John Pharris. Pharris' inn was a popular meeting place for travelers because between it and the next settlement – Crab Orchard, Kentucky – lay thirty miles of rough terrain which was infested with Indians. Consequently, travelers would stay at Pharris' inn until there was a sufficiently large number of them to safely make the trip. Virginian Stephen Langford was waiting on such a party when the Harpes arrived. Because the Harpes claimed to have no money, Langford paid for their breakfast before the trip. The Harpes noticed that Langford's wallet was bulging with cash. The party left the inn together. Langford's body was found on the trail a week later. He had been tomahawked, stripped of his clothes, and robbed.

Arrest, escape, and journey to Cave-In-Rock
Another posse, under the leadership of Captain Joseph Ballenger, was formed in the town of Stanford, Kentucky to pursue the Harpes. On December 25, 1798, all five of them were found in the settlement of Carpenter's Station, near present-day Hustonville, Kentucky. They were captured without a struggle and taken back to Stanford. At their arraignment on January 4, 1799, four of the five gave their actual given names but used the surname "Roberts". Betsy – possibly the only one whose surname was actually Roberts – gave the name Elizabeth Waker.

On January 5, 1799, the gang was taken to Danville, Kentucky and incarcerated. Despite giving aliases at their arraignment, the Harpes' true identity was soon discovered, and gawkers from miles around came to get a look at the infamous Harpes. "Big" Harpe even made the challenge that he would best any two men in a fistfight one the condition that he be set free if he did so. On March 16, 1799, the two brothers escaped through a hole in the jail wall.

The three women (all pregnant) were left behind, scheduled for trial on April 15, 1799. All three gave birth while awaiting trial. The citizens of Danville felt sorry for the women on account of their abandonment by the Harpe brothers and their newborn children. The women were acquitted at trial and the locals took up a collection of supplies for them; one resident even provided them a horse. Spies followed the women as they left Danville, hoping they might lead them to the Harpes' hideout. At the Green River crossing, however, the women traded the horse for a canoe and disappeared down the river to meet the Harpe brothers at a predetermined location.

Meanwhile, the state of Kentucky offered a bounty of three hundred dollars each for capture of "Big" and "Little" Harpe. Several posses were formed to comb the area looking for the escaped men, but the only one that found them became frightened and ran. Henry Scaggs, a longhunter who had been part of this posse, tried to re-form them and pursue the Harpes, but to no avail. Undeterred, he pressed on alone, and eventually came to the cabin of a pioneer named Daniel Trabue. Trabue agree to join the hunt for the Harpes as soon as his son returned from an errand to borrow some flour and beans from a neighbor. Unfortunately for Trabue, the famished Harpes found his son first. The son's blood-soaked dog led Trabue and Scaggs to the sinkhole where the Harpes had discarded the body. He had been brutally beaten and tomahawked, and his load of supplies was stolen. Scaggs and Trabue searched for days, but never found the Harpes.

As the two Harpes moved north toward the Ohio River, it was reported that they killed a man by the name of Dooley near the town of Edmonton, Kentucky. Soon after followed news of the murder of a Barren River settler named Stump. Stump had been fishing and noticed smoke from the Harpes' campfire. Believing them to be new settlers in the area, he gathered some food to bring as gifts to the newcomers and rowed across the river to them. His body was found days later, sunken in the river in the Harpes' accustomed manner.

Eventually, the Harpes, now reunited with their three female companions and their young ones, came to Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, a popular hideout for many criminals of the day. On one occasion, the bandits at Cave-In-Rock fell upon a passing flatboat, killing those aboard and dividing the considerable spoils among them. The Harpes captured one of the passengers and his horse. Taking him atop a nearby cliff, they tied him to the horse and whipped the horse over the edge. The Harpes meant the act as a prank to liven up the already celebratory evening, but it was too gruesome even for the ne'er-do-wells of Cave-In-Rock. The group chased the Harpes out of their camp.

It is not known exactly where the Harpes went following their exile from Cave-In-Rock about May 1799. Their next known action was the murder of a man named Bradbury in Roane County, Tennessee in mid-July of that year. On July 22, 1799, the Harpes found themselves in need of a rifle, and they observed a young man named Coffey, who carried one on his journey to get a fiddle. After killing him, the Harpes smeared his brains on a tree to make it look as if his horse had carried its rider into the tree at great speed. Two days later, they murdered a man named William Ballard just outside Knoxville.

Then, the Harpes began using a new tactic. They would approach travelers and pretend to be bounty hunters looking for the Harpe brothers. They first used this ruse on brothers James and Robert Brassel, two travelers from Barbourville. The Harpes encountered the Brassels on July 29, 1799. The Brassels did not recognize the Harpes, and as the two parties traveled the road together, the Brassels related the news about the murders of Coffey and Ballard. "Big" Harpe told the Brassels that they were presently hunting the perpetrators. After riding a little further, "Big" Harpe accused the Brassels of being the Harpe brothers. He demanded they disarm themselves and accompany him back to Barbourville where they could be positively identified.

James, the elder brother, was confident that this arrangement was fair and obediently disarmed. Robert, however, made a break for it and escaped into the woods. Shortly, he ran across a group of men he knew who were hunting for the Harpes; he joined them as they returned to the place where he had left his brother. Upon their arrival, they found the body of James Brassel, his throat slit and his head battered. They gave chase to the Harpes, but like others before them, lost their nerve and fled when they encountered the fearsome murderers.

The Harpes continued their murderous ways. Shortly after the murder of James Brassel, they killed a man named John Tully somewhere near the state line between Pickett County, Tennessee and Clinton County, Kentucky. One evening, the found lodging at the home of a man named John Graves; before morning, the Harpes killed Graves and his son with Graves' own ax. The two were found when a neighbor noticed a great number of circling buzzards that were drawn to the Graves' corpses.

From the Graves' cabin, the Harpe gang traveled to Russell County, Kentucky to the home of "old man Roberts", father of Susan and Betsy Roberts. From there, they set out for Mammoth Cave and eventually, Russellville, Kentucky in Logan County. At some point during this journey, they committed two child murders. Little is recorded about either murder. The first was a Negro boy on his way to a mill; the Harpes bashed his brains out against a tree. The second was a young girl, though it is not recorded how she died.

Upon arriving in Logan County, the Harpes learned of a large family camping near Adairville, Kentucky. The group included two brothers named Triswold, their wives, children, and slaves. The Harpes, joined by two Cherokee Indians, fell upon the campsite just before sunrise and killed everyone present, excepting one man who managed to escape and call for help. The Logan County sheriff organized a posse, but the group incorrectly assumed the Harpes would head south. Instead, the Harpes went north into the woods. One night while camping, one of the infant children of the Harpe's female companions cried too loudly for "Big" Harpe's liking. Harpe grabbed the child by its heels and swung it so that its head hit a large tree and burst. He then threw the lifeless corpse far into the woods. Tradition usually holds that the child was that of Susan Roberts and fathered by "Big" Harpe, but historian Otto Rothert says that both of "Big" Harpe's children were reliably reported alive well after this incident, and that the child must have been that of "Little" Harpe and Sally Rice-Harpe.

Death of Big Harpe
The Harpe gang eventually returned to Henderson, renting a small cabin on Canoe Creek. Shortly after the Harpes' arrival, a neighbor named John Slover became one of the few people who encountered them and lived. As Slover returned from a hunting trip, he heard a gun misfire behind him. He turned to see his two neighbors, hiding in the bushes and ready to kill him. He quickly turned his horse around and fled. Slover reported the incident back in Henderson, but little credence was given to his suspicions that his neighbors were the Harpes because it was believed that the Harpes had gone south from Russellville.

A few days later, a man named Trowbridge disappeared while on an errand to deliver some salt. He had been killed by the Harpes, but his body was not found for months. Meanwhile, General Samuel Hopkins, acting on Slover's suspicions, posted spies to watch the Harpes' cabin. After a week of not observing anything suspicious, Hopkins' men gave up the watch.

The Harpes had been aware of Hopkins' spies, and they abandoned the cabin soon after the watch ended. They headed south, arriving at the cabin of James Tompkins on August 20, 1799. Having acquired two suits from their exploits, they pretended to be Methodist preachers en route to a distant congregation. Taken by this guise, Tompkins invited the Harpes to come inside and have lunch, an offer they accepted. Tompkins commented that the men were heavily armed to be preachers, to which "Big" Harpe replied "With such dreadful men as the Harpes abroad, my friend, it behooves us all to protect ourselves." Tompkins commented that he barely had any gunpowder in the house. Apparently still playing his role as a preacher, "Big" Harpe filled Tompkins' powder-horn, and the Harpes left soon thereafter – inexplicably without having killed Tompkins.

The same evening, the Harpes planned an attack on a man named Silas McBee who had been actively involved in hunting down and arresting outlaws. As the Harpes approached McBee's cabin, they were attacked by his hunting dogs. McBee heard the commotion and came to the door to see what was the matter. He saw his dogs attacking two men, but he suspected the men might be up to no good, and did not restrain the dogs. After a brief fight with the dogs, the Harpes were forced to flee.

Following the failed attempt on McBee's life, the Harpes proceeded to the home of Moses Stegall near Dixon, Kentucky. Stegall himself was a man of questionable repute, and he and his wife were previously acquainted with the Harpes. Stegall was not home, but his wife admitted the Harpes and allowed them to stay in the cabin's loft with a man named Major William Love, who was waiting for Stegall's return. During the night, the brothers killed Love by smashing his head with an ax. Then, they descended from the loft and dragged Stegall's wife and infant outside and tomahawked them. They set the cabin ablaze, and left the scene. Two neighbors, attracted by the fire, encountered the Harpes as they left; the Harpes killed both of them.

Stegall's wife lived until Stegall returned, and she was able to tell her story before she died. Stegall formed a posse – which included James Tompkins – and pursued the Harpes to Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. The posse caught up with the Harpes two days later. "Little" Harpe escaped to the woods, but "Big" Harpe followed the trail. A man named Samuel Lieper shot at "Big" Harpe, but missed; as he tried to reload, his ramrod stuck in the barrel of his rifle. Tompkins – realizing Lieper had the fastest horse – rode up to him and insisted Lieper take his gun. He also commented that the powder in the gun was from the supply Harpe had given him during his previous visit to Tompkins' cabin.

Lieper accepted Tompkins' rifle, and his next shot hit "Big" Harpe in the spine. Paralyzed, he rolled from the saddle and was approached by Stegall. He beheaded Harpe before he could die of the gunshot. It is reported that Stegall beheaded Harpe slowly, so much so that his victim said with his dying breath "You are a God damned rough butcher, but cut on and be damned." Harpe's decapitated corpse was left unburied where it lay under a tree on a hill in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky; the site of the killing is called Harpe's Hill. On the south slope of Harpe's hill was a cave where the outlaws were believed to have been living just before "Big" Harpe's death; this cave is now called "Harpe's house". Stegall brought "Big" Harpe's head to Hopkins County, Kentucky where he impaled it on a lance and placed it in the fork of a tree. The head remained in this location – known as Harpe's Head – for many years. According to legend, it was eventually removed and powdered to make medicine.

Not content to have killed "Big" Harpe, and "Little" Harpe having escaped, Stegall turned his attention to finding the Harpes' female companions. They were quickly arrested and tried on vague charges. Stegall and some of his friends attended the trial armed and threatening to kill the women themselves if they were acquitted. Despite this, they were acquitted, but returned to jail, possibly for their own protection. After a few days, Stegall's men lost interest in the women, and the group disbanded. All three women abandoned their criminal ways after their release. Sally Rice-Harpe returned to her father in Knoxville. Susan Roberts married and settled at Russellville, Kentucky. Betsy Roberts moved to Christian County, Kentucky.

Death of Little Harpe
"Little" Harpe escaped Stegall's posse. On the Natchez Trace, he encountered a farmer from Tennessee named Bass. Bass did not recognize Harpe, and the two rode back to Bass' residence. Harpe remained with Bass a few days, and had a whirlwind courtship and marriage to Bass' sister. The left the Bass residence together, bound for North Carolina. A few days later, Harpe returned to the Bass residence alone. He told the family that his new bride had been thrown from her horse and dragged to her death. Harpe, still unrecognized, was believed, and a few days later, he rode away again. After the family learned that "Little" Harpe was in the area, they exhumed the body of their departed relative and discovered she had actually been bludgeoned to death and mutilated afterward.

Shortly after Bass' murder, William C. C. Claiborne, governor of Mississippi Territory, reported that "Little" Harpe had joined a gang led by Samuel Mason. As news spread that Mason and Harpe were working together, rewards for their capture mounted, eventually totaling two thousand dollars. The Mason gang was reported to be near Rocky Springs north of Natchez, Mississippi. By the time a posse arrived at this location, however, it had been deserted.

The next report of the gang's location came from the wife of Mason's son. A new mother, the gang had abandoned her, and a mail carrier encountered her on the Natchez Trace. Ms. Mason reported that the gang had set up a headquarters on Stack Island in the Mississippi River north of Vicksburg, Mississippi. On January 12, 1803, the local militia arrested the entire gang. "Little" Harpe was not recognized on his arrest, and when asked his name, he gave the alias John Taylor.

At the trial, Mason claimed to be innocent, but misunderstood and set up by his enemies. In an attempt to gain leniency, he fingered Harpe as one of the guilty ones, calling him by his alias, John Taylor, but adding "he sometimes goes by others names which I cannot recall." When Harpe took the stand, he admitted his name was not John Taylor, but he gave another alias – John Setton. On the spot, he concocted a back story. He had immigrated from Ireland and joined the army, but soon deserted. He was later arrested, but escaped with a fellow deserter and joined up with Mason. Upon learning of the activities of Mason's gang, Harpe claimed, he made more than a dozen failed attempts to escape them. Eventually, they forbade him to carry arms, which made escape impossible because of the dangers of the surrounding area. At one point in the questioning, he was asked if he knew Wiley Harpe. He said he had heard the name, but did not know the man.

Mason re-took the stand after Harpe's testimony. He played along with Harpe's made-up claim of having been held by Mason against his will, but Mason claimed he had done this because he knew Harpe was guilty of crimes for which he (Mason) had been accused, and he hoped to one day trick him into publicly confessing to them. Mason's son John also took the stand and painted Harpe as the villain.

The judges in the trial weren't sure who or what to believe. On January 31, 1803, they sent the accused, along with the evidence and transcript of the testimony in the trial, to New Orleans, where they requested that the Spanish Governor General finish conducting the trial. Because the crimes had been committed in American territory, however, the Spanish refused the request. In March 1803, they sent the accused and the evidence up the Mississippi River to Natchez. On March 26, the boat was rocked by a storm near Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, and the prisoners were able to escape.

In October 1803, Harpe and another member of the gang beheaded Mason. Hoping to claim a two thousand dollar bounty on Mason, the men packed the head in clay and traveled back to Natchez. While waiting for the magistrate to verify their claim, a passer-by recognized that the men's horses as having been stolen from him. Almost immediately thereafter, a man named Stump – a relative of the Stump the Harpes had killed in Kentucky – identified the man called Setton as "Little" Harpe. Both men were imprisoned, and a general call was made for anyone who had known "Little" Harpe to confirm the identification. A Knoxville man named John Bowman claimed he had wounded "Little" Harpe on the left breast. The man called Setton was stripped of his shirt, and a scar was found exactly where Bowman had said it would be.

Following Harpe's identification, both prisoners escaped, but were apprehended in Greenville, Mississippi, where they were tried and convicted. They were hanged at Greenville, Mississippi on February 8, 1804. "Little" Harpe was beheaded, and his head was placed on a pole north of Greenville on the Natchez Trace.