Volume XIII
Number 9
July
Г8
1945
THE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
Entered
а»
MCond-cUM matter. June I. 1P3J, at the Poiiofflce at Raleigh, North Carolina, under the Act of March 3. 1B7®.
A Romance of the Mountains
The lale of Sally .Morgan anil Terrell \\.
Taylor is .still liein^ (old in Kill herforil anil
Henderson counties by people whose par¬
ents were observers off some of the inci¬
dents which Miss IJnney tells about.
A MOST interesting story of
romance, murder, betrayal of
trust and intrigue is woven
around the lives of Sally Morgan
and Terrell W Taylor. Details of
this story are found in the version
written for The Charlotte Observer
in 1898 by J. L. C. Harris, who was
an observer of some of the events.
Sally’s father lived in Ruther¬
ford County and she was generally
regarded as the most beautiful girl
in that section. She was sent to
the Hendersonville Female Acad¬
emy and there she became engaged
to Terrell W. Taylor, young law
student of that town, who was
S rally regarded as having a
ant political future ahead of
him. But Sally was a born
coquette. She flirted outrageously,
and Taylor finally became so
angry that the engagement was
broken. In 1870 she married Mar¬
tin Baynard. a handsome man
with a magnetic personality, but a
ruffian and blockader. Together
with Henderson Adair and his two
sons, Baynard brewed spirits and
led a life of colorful daring and
outlawry ten miles from the county
seat.
Л
Wild Life
Sally became a part of this life.
She was more cultured than the
average mountain girl of the day.
and her friends considered that
she had wasted her life by marry¬
ing an illiterate ne’er-do-well like
Martin Baynard. She really loved
Baynard. and there is no doubt but
that she got a thrill out of the
excitement that accompanied their
way of living.
In 1871. Columbus and Goven
Adair and Martin Baynard were
tt
у
KITH LINNKY
indicted for whiskey making. Silas
and Polly Weston were suspected
of having reported them to the au¬
thorities. although Mr. Harris
claims that they were innocent.
A week or two before the trial
was scheduled to take place, the
two Adair boys and Baynard at¬
tacked the Weston Home. Silas
Weston was shot to death. So were
his two sons. David and Stead¬
man. and a little daughter. Theo¬
dosia. Mrs. Weston was shot twice,
and the murderers considered her
dead. They then set the house on
fire and went away.
Mrs. Weston, however, regained
consciousness. A few minutes be¬
fore the whole house was destroyed
by fire, she dragged herself and
her baby, who was still alive, from
the building. She managed to make
her way to the home of a Mrs.
Williams, who lived a mile away.
Murderers Arrested
The next morning, neighbors
visited the scene of the fire. They
found the bones of Silas Weston
THK COVER PICTURE
You should he able to recog¬
nize instantly the location of
that scene. In case you don’t
— it's the last sharp turn you
make before turning on the
causeway that leads to
WrighUville Beach.
and his children in the ruins. That
same afternoon the murderers
were arrested. They protested
their innocence. One of the offi¬
cers. however, informed them that
Mrs. Weston had signed the affi¬
davits. Goven helped to seal their
doom when he exclaimed: ‘'Why,
ain't she dead?"
Rutherford County was so
firmly under the dominion of old
Henderson Adair flint the trial
necessitated a change of venue. In
Henderson County the trio were
found guilty of first-degree murder
and were sentenced to bo hanged.
Appeals to the Supreme Court and
to Governor Tod R. Caldwell were
fruitless. Feeling ran so high
among the mountaineers— one fac¬
tion plotting a lynching and an¬
other a rescue — that Terrell W.
Taylor, who was sheriff of Hender¬
son County, stood guard at the
prison day and night.
Although Taylor had married,
he had not ceased to love Sally
Baynard. Seeing her almost daily
on her visits to her husband helped
to revive the flame of love to its
fullest degree. Leaving her babies
at home. Mrs. Baynard spent most
of her time in the saddle between
Rutherfordton and Hendersonville.
She paused occasionally to ex¬
change a few words with Taylor,
and she saw that he still loved her.
And then, a day or two before the
trio were supposed to hang, she
said to him: “Terrell Taylor, if you
hang my husband, you shall see
me kill myself upon his body!"
Taylor bowed his head and said
nothing in reply.
The night before the law was to
(Continued on page 23)
THE STATE July 28 1045
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