Individual Details

General Gano's father and grandfather were living at their home together in Bourbon County, Kentucky. They owned a large yellow Negro named Ike, who ran away and joined the Federal Army, taking two good mules belonging to William Conn, grandfather of General Gano, which he turned over to the Yankee Army. The Negro left his wife at William Conn's residence and ventured through there one day to visit her, armed with a six-shooter. Mr. Conn, hearing that he was at the cabin, went down there to drive him off the place. On entering the cabin, he said, "What do you mean by coming back to this place, sir?" "I came back to see my wife," he said. "Well, you had better get off this place as quickly as you can and never put your foot on it again, and if you can get Colonel Metcalfe to haul your wife into town, you can have her," Mr. Conn replied. The Negro said, "I will come to see my wife as often as I want to." Mr. Conn, being unarmed, picked up a fire poker near the fireplace, and the Negro, fearing to draw his six-shooter, jumped out the back window into the orchard. Mr. John Allen Gano, fearing some trouble might arise at the cabin, took a double barrelled shotgun and walked down there, reaching the cabin at about the same time the Negro jumped out the window and fled across the orchard. Colonel Metcalfe, a Federal officer, was in command of Paris. The Negro went to Paris and reported to Colonel Metcalfe that Mr. Conn had struck him with an iron poker, for no other reason than that he belonged to the Union Army. Mr. Conn didn't strike the Negro with an iron poker, but struck at him as he went out the window, the poker hitting the window facing. Colonel Metcalfe, the Federal commander in Paris, sent a Dutch captain with a company of cavalry out to Mr. Conn's residence to arrest him and bring him to Paris. Mr. Conn and John Allen Gano and his wife, who was formerly Miss Conn, were sitting in their room at the residence, when the house was surrounded by the cavalry. The Dutch captain went to the door of the room where they were sitting and asked if Mr. William Conn was present. Mr. Conn replied, "That is my name, sir." The Dutchman said, "I am sent out here to arrest you and bring you back to Paris." Mr. Conn said, "Who sent you to arrest me?" "Colonel Metcalfe." Mr. Conn said, You tell Colonel that if he has any business with me he can come out here and see me, I am not going in there to see him." The captain replied, "I have orders to take you to him dead or alive, and I am here to take you there so there is no use in your resisting." Mr. Conn replied, "I suppose you have enough men to kill me, but you haven't enough men to take me alive. I am not going to surrender." Mr. Conn was a very determined man though about 80 years of age. Mr. Gano took his father-in-law, Mr. Conn, into an adjoining room and said, "Mr. Conn, I don't blame you for not surrendering to that old Dutchman, but we can avoid that without your forcing them to shoot. I will just give these fellows plenty of bacon and cabbage . . . give them a good dinner . . . and then hitch up my buggy and horse and take you with me into Paris. We will go to Metcalfe's office, but you will not be taken a prisoner. The Dutchman can follow along behind, if they want to." Mr. Gano then proposed to the captain to give them their dinner, and he and Mr. Conn would go into town with them. They ate very heartily of the bacon and cabbage, and Mr. Gano took his horse and buggy, and he and Mr. Conn started to town, the company following on behind. Mr. Gano said to Mr. Conn, "Now, I am going to have some fun; these Dutchmen are so full of bacon and cabbage that they can't stand very much trotting." Mr. Gano let his horse out at a tolerable brisk trot, the company trotting on behind, trying to keep up, until their faces turned red and the captain said, "Halt!" Gano reined up his horse and the captain said, "What makes you drive so fast?" "I will drive a little slower." They rode on in a very slow trot for some time, then he said to Mr. Conn, "New, we will have some more fun." And he let his horse out a little faster and faster by degrees, until they all got jolted up again, and the captain yelled out again, "Halt!" and came up and said, "What in the devil makes you go so fast? You will trot us to death I tell you!" Gano said, "My horse moves briskly; I will drive slow again." He drove slow again, and then said, "Well, we will give them another jolt; and they did so and were called down again in the same manner. They then reached Paris and drove up to Metcalfe's office on the court house square. Metcalfe's regiment was camped just below the town across a stream called Stony, and the Southern men about Paris had heard that Metcalfe had sent out men to arrest Mr. Conn and Mr. Gano, so they organized over 200 men armed with shotguns and pistols who had gone into Paris on different roads, and some of them were living there. They elected a man by the name of William Rogers as their captain, and were stationed around in all the stores. When they saw a buggy come in with Mr. Gano and Mr. Conn escorted by the Dutch company, Rogers sent orders around to his men that whenever they saw any Federal officer start with Gano and Conn to the jail, a company of six men located near Metcalfe's regiment would charge up the pike and the men from all the stores and houses would pour in their shot from their double barrel shotguns, and they would slay them all. Metcalfe and his men knew nothing of this arrangement. When Gano and his father-in-law walked into his office, the Negro who caused all this trouble was there to be used as witness. Metcalfe asked, "Is Mr. William Conn present?" Conn said, "That is my name, sir." "Well," said Metcalfe, "You are accused of striking one of our men with an iron poker; is it true?" Conn replied, "I struck that Negro there." Metcalfe replied, "I will have to fine you $500.00." Mr. Conn replied, "I wouldn't pay you a dollar to save your life." Metcalfe said, "Mr. Conn, you will have to pay this $500.00 or go to Northern prisons." Mr. Conn replied, "I suppose you have force enough to take me to Northern prisons, but you can't rob me like you have been robbing these other men around here; I won't pay you a dollar." Mr. Gano, who had baptized Metcalfe's wife and mother, supposed that he might reach him by some measure, so he took him in an adjoining room and said, "Colonel Metcalfe, my father-in-law is an old man, and has only one child in the world, and that is my wife. If he were to be sent to prison, she would go also, and so would I." Metcalfe replied, "Well, he will have to go or pay that $500.00." Mr. Gano said, "If you will never let him know anything about it, I will pay you that $500.00, but he means just what he says and he would pay it to save his life." Metcalfe replied, "I will never let him know anything about it." Gano gave him a check for $500.00. Metcalfe went into the other room where Mr. Conn was sitting and said, "Mr. Conn, you are an old man and if you were to be sent to Northern prisons it would kill you; I am going to turn you loose and let you go home." Mr. Conn replied, "I told you that you would never get a dollar of my money." When Gano and Conn got into their buggy and returned home there was no such slaughter in Paris that day as was expected

Birth	7 Aug 1784	Culpepper Co., VA
Marriage	22 Dec 1808	Fayette Co., KY - Frances "Fanny" Webb
Death	7 Aug 1872	KY

Spouse	Frances "Fanny" Webb
Child	Mary Catherine Conn (1810 - 1891)