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—and said to him that they would kill him, both of them presenting pistols to him and snapped them at him and demanded of him his money, they then searched his pocket, and took out his pocketbook, which contained his money amounting to between thirty five and forty dollars and then rode back towards the house from whence they came, the Six Mile House—the deponent then came back to Charleston—the deponent doth not know the names of those persons who hath so cruelly beat him and robbed him but that he hath just cause to believe that among them was William Hayward, John Fisher and his wife Lavinia Fisher, Joseph Roberts and John Andrews.

    First page of John Peoples’s statement. Courtesy South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

    Second page of John Peoples’s statement. Courtesy South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

    Third page of John Peoples’s statement. Courtesy South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
    Some interesting things to note about Peoples’s affidavit are that it is written in several different forms of handwriting and his name is spelled both as “Peeples” and “Peoples.” It is signed “John Peoples.” Included on the affidavit is a list:
    6 Mile Housemen
John Fisher
Lavinia Fisher
Wm. Hayward
Joseph Roberts
Wm. Andrews
Seth Young
James McElroy
John Smith
F. Davis
James Sterrett

    Side note on Peoples’s statement listing Six Mile Housemen. Courtesy South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
    Davis’s first name is unreadable, and his arrest is undocumented. It appears that these names were added to the affidavit much as James McElroy’s name had been added to Ross’s affidavit. Both affidavits were sworn out at the same time by the same judge. Since the signature is different in spelling than the actual affidavit and the handwriting is different, it is obvious this statement was written for John Peoples. It is also in the same handwriting as David Ross’s affidavit.
    With two victims, the sheriff was now moved into action where he had failed to take action before. With a fairly large “Party of gentlemen,” as the Charleston Courier would later report, the sheriff, Colonel Nathaniel Greene Cleary, set out to the Six Mile House. Upon surrounding the house, the occupants surrendered without a fight and were taken into custody, even though they had been armed with ten to twelve muskets and a keg of powder. Many accounts state John Fisher opted to surrender rather than risk injury or death to his wife, Lavinia. That is one account. Another version is apparently the large group surrounding the house put a quick end to any thoughts of resistance. Regardless of the reasoning for lack of resistance, John and Lavinia Fisher, James McElroy, Seth Young and Jane Howard were taken into custody, loaded into the paddy wagon and taken to the City Jail on Magazine Street. While searching the property, the sheriff’s group located the hide of a cow that had been killed recently. The hide had been hidden inside an outhouse. It was indeed identified as a cow belonging to Stephen LaCoste, one of Charleston’s citizens. He had been correct in his belief that it had met with a very unpleasant fate.
    The sheriff’s group then set fire to the Six Mile House, and it was burned to the ground, including all outbuildings. No one was allowed to remove anything. Absolutely everything was burned, just as the Five Mile House had been burned the night before.
    Located behind the Old City Jail on Magazine Street is a very large iron paddy wagon that had been used in Charleston since the 1700s. This wagon would have been used to bring the prisoners to the jail. The enormous weight of the paddy wagon required at least eight large draft horses to pull it. The open cage allowed spectators to throw rotted fruit and garbage at the accused as they were taken to jail. The six-mile ride back to Charleston in the cold