Tragic Suicide of L. C. Brock, _alias_ Joe Jackson--He Leaps from the Fourth Story of the Prison into the Open Court, Sixty Feet Below, Causing Instant Death--His Last Statement 176 CHAPTER XXII. Rube Smith’s Trial for the Buckatunna Mail Robbery--An Unsuccessful Alibi--Perjured Witnesses--Masterly Speeches--Conviction and Sentence 185 CHAPTER XXIII. Conclusion 191 RUBE BURROW. CHAPTER I. LAMAR COUNTY, ALABAMA--THE HOME OF THE BURROW FAMILY--BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF RUBE BURROW’S ANCESTORS. Lamar County, Alabama, the home of the Burrow family, has become historic as the lair of a robber band whose deeds of daring have had no parallel in modern times, and the halo of romance with which that locality has been invested has converted its rugged hills into mountain fastnesses, its quiet vales into dark caverns, and the humble abodes of its inhabitants into turreted fortresses and robber castles. The county of Lamar, divested of the drapery of sensationalism, is one of the “hill counties” of northern Alabama, and takes high rank in the list of rich agricultural counties of the State. It possesses a charming landscape of undulating hill and dale, watered by limpid streams, and amid fertile valleys and on the crests of its picturesque uplands are found the peaceful and prosperous homes of many good and law-abiding people, thus proving that good people are indigenous to every clime and land where the hand of civilization has left its kindly touch. “It does not abound in grand and sublime prospects, but rather in little home scenes of rural repose and sheltered quiet.” Lamar County was formed in 1868 from the most fertile portions of Fayette and Marion Counties, and has changed its name three times; first it was called Jones, then Sanford, and, finally, it was named Lamar, in honor of the distinguished statesman and jurist who now adorns the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States. This section of the State, though not until the last decade possessed of the advantages of development which more fortunate sections have long enjoyed, has always had an excellent citizenship. Here, in the olden time, were found ardent followers of the political faith of the founders of the Republic, and while the bonfires of the zealous pioneers of that day and time lighted the hill tops, the valleys of that section of northern Alabama reverberated with the campaign songs of their enthusiastic compatriots. From this section, no less renowned in war than in peace, a large company of soldiers was sent to the Creek war, and a full quota of gallant men went forth to the Confederate army, three companies of which were in the Twenty-sixth Alabama Infantry, one of the most superb regiments in the Army of Northern Virginia.