1865 Murders of Wolff Silberuagel & Mr. Levi; Morehouse, Louisiana Submitted: by Timothy D. Hudson Date: 28 Apr 2004 Source: 1865 Article from the 'Weekly Telegraph' describing murder of two Bastrop citizens ************************************************* Submitted to the LAGenWeb Archives ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://theusgenweb.org/copyright.htm http:/www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ ====================================================================================== G. W. McCranie founded the 'Weekly Telegraph' in Monroe, Ouachita Parish beginning in September 1865. In November, he decided to change the name to the "Ouachita Telegraph'. The paper continued publication until and the 1890s or later. In this file I have abstracted various articles from this paper mentioning Union Parish Louisiana. ====================================================================================== 7 December 1865 page two ====================================================================================== MURDER - ROBBERY. Bands of desperadoes, with natural instincts for murders and all the other crimes in the decalogue are yet in our midst. The thirst for money has brought many a good young man to crime and shame, and the results of the war have accelerated the march of the wicked in their career of murder and robbery. Scenes like the one we are about to relate, occur daily in the South which has been the battle field between contending armies, and where highwaymen, like vultures, hover around to batten on the wrecks of the conflicts. On last Wednesday, the 28th of November, two respectable citizens of Bastrop, Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, were murdered on the high road, leading from Bastrop northward through Arkansas. One was Wolff Silbernagel, whom we have long known to be a sterling citizen, and a successful merchant; the other a Mr. Levi, a merchant also, with whom we were personally unacquainted. They had been to the East somewhere and were returning home, when within a few miles of the Louisiana line, they were foully murdered and robbed. Mr. Silbernagle was found stiff and stark in his buggy with a mortal wound in his left side; Mr. Levi was shot through the head, and was tied to the buggy underneath, with a leather thong. The buggy and the victims were found about fifty yards from the road side, and traces of blood enabled the neighbors to follow the track which the murderers had taken to conceal and to rob their victims. So horrible was the butchery, that a neighbor remarked, "It looked like a hog had been killed." All their money were taken except $1800, which were found in a sealed envelope in Mr. Silbernagel's coat pocket, the ruffians supposing it to be nothing more than a leter. Their remains were brought to this place for interment. Such are, substantially, the main facts of the case. Our citizens must awake to the impending danger of these times, and must organize a sufficient mounted force to capture these fiends. A small cavalry force in each parish, of twenty men, under a dashing leader will prevent much crime and give assurance that a man's life is safe. Who will take the lead in Ouachita? ##########################################