Micajah "Big" Harpe, born Joshua Harper (before 1768 – August 24, 1799), and Wiley "Little" Harpe, born William Harper (before 1770 – February 8, 1804), were

murderer Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

highwaymen A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...

and

river pirate A river pirate is a pirate who operates along a river. The term has been used to describe many different kinds of pirate groups who carry out riverine attacks in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America. They are usually prosecuted ...

s who operated in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

in the late 18th century. They are often considered the earliest documented

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

s in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

history. Loyal to the British Crown during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, the Harpes became

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill th ...

s after the war and began robbing and killing settlers in the remote frontier west of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. The ...

. They are believed to have killed 39 people, and possibly as many as 50. As the Harpes' crimes gained notoriety, vigilante groups formed to avenge their victims, and they were eventually tracked down and executed around the turn of the century. Their savagery has since entered American folklore, appearing to have been motivated more by

blood lust ''Blood Lust'' is the second studio album by British band Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats. It was released in 2011 through Killer Candy Records, and later through Rise Above Records. Background and production Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats member ...

than financial gain.

Early life

Historians note the difficulty of differentiating the facts about the Harpe brothers from the later legends of their exploits, as there are few certain records of their lives from the time period. They are believed to have been born in what is now Orange County,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

to Scottish parents. Micajah was probably born in or before 1768 as Joshua Harper, and Wiley in or before 1770 as William Harper. Though many historical accounts identify them as brothers, it is also possible they were first cousins named Joshua and William Harper who

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

from Scotland in 1759 or 1760. According to this theory, their fathers were brothers, John and William Harper, who settled in Orange County, North Carolina, between 1761 and 1763. Like many Scottish settlers of the American colonies, the Harpers were

Calvinists Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John ...

and avowed

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

loyal to the king. Prior to the

, Big and Little Harpe's fathers may also have served in Tory militias in the

War of the Regulation The Regulator Movement, also known as the Regulator Insurrection, War of Regulation, and War of the Regulation, was an uprising in Provincial North Carolina from 1766 to 1771 in which citizens took up arms against colonial officials, whom they v ...

or "Regulator War" of 1765–1771, during which colonists in the Carolinas took up arms against the continuing royal government interference by British colonial officials. When the Revolutionary War began, the Harpes' fathers tried to join the Patriot American forces but were refused because of their earlier associations with

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

loyalists. The treatment of the Harpe family by hostile Patriot neighbors may have contributed to Big and Little Harpe's feelings of persecution and their desire for revenge against people they considered rebellious traitors who were still the

British subjects The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

. Around April or May 1775, the young Harpes left North Carolina and went to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

to find

overseer Overseer may refer to: Professions * Supervisor or superintendent; one who keeps watch over and directs the work of others *Plantation overseer, often in the context of forced labor or slavery *Overseer of the poor, an official who administered r ...

jobs on a

slave plantation A slave plantation was an agricultural farm that used enslaved people for labour. The practice was abolished in most places during the 19th century. Slavery Planters embraced the use of slaves mainly because indentured labor became expensive ...

. Big Harpe later traveled in the company of two women, Susan and Betsey/Betty Roberts, possibly sisters, both of whom bore him children. Little Harpe married Sarah "Sally" Rice, the daughter of a Baptist minister.

Involvement in American Revolutionary War and American Indian Wars

Battle Of Kings Mountain Painting Yohn II

Little is known of the Harpes' precise whereabouts at the outbreak of the American Revolution. According to the eyewitness account of Captain James Wood of the Continental Army, they joined a Tory "rape gang" in North Carolina. These predatory Loyalist criminals took advantage of wartime lawlessness by raping, stealing, murdering and burning and destroying property, especially the farms of Patriot colonists. The Harpes' gang took part in the kidnapping of three teenage girls, with a fourth girl being rescued by a Captain Wood. The Harpes also served as military

associators Associators were members of 17th- and 18th-century volunteer military associations in the British American thirteen colonies and British Colony of Canada. These were more commonly known as Maryland Protestant, Pennsylvania, and Ameri ...

, who were not provided soldiers' uniforms, weapons, and pay by the British government. Like many other Loyalist volunteers, they survived by

foraging Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavi ...

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

, and the

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

of battlefields. Captain Wood's son was Frank Wood, a Patriot soldier of the frontier

Overmountain Men The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are the leading edge of the Appalachian Mountains, who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in th ...

and the older brother of Susan Wood, who was later

kidnapped Kidnapped may refer to: * subject to the crime of kidnapping Literature * ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson * ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Cam ...

and made the wife of Micajah Harpe. Frank Wood claimed to have seen the Harpe brothers, serving "loosely" as Tory militia, at the

Battle of Kings Mountain The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took p ...

in October 1780, under British commander Major

Patrick Ferguson Patrick Ferguson (1744 – 7 October 1780) was a Scottish officer in the British Army, an early advocate of light infantry and the designer of the Ferguson rifle. He is best known for his service in the 1780 military campaign of Charles C ...

. During the three-hour engagement, Wood took aim at Big Harpe but missed his target. Later, the Harpes served under the command of Lieutenant Colonel

Banastre Tarleton Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 175415 January 1833) was a British general and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolution. He later served in Portu ...

British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

at the Battles of Blackstocks in November 1780 and

Cowpens Cowpens may refer to: * Battle of Cowpens, a battle in the American Revolution * Cowpens National Battlefield, a unit of the National Park Service that protects the battlefield. * Cowpens, South Carolina * USS ''Cowpens'' (CG-63), a guided-missile ...

in January 1781. Following the decisive British defeat by Patriot and French forces at Yorktown in 1781, the Harpes left North Carolina, dispersing with their Indian allies, the renegade

Chickamauga Cherokee The Chickamauga Cherokee refers to a group that separated from the greater body of the Cherokee during the American Revolutionary War. The majority of the Cherokee people wished to make peace with the Americans near the end of 1776, following se ...

, to Tennessee villages west of the

. On April 2, 1781, they joined war parties of four hundred Chickamauga to attack the Patriot frontier settlement of Bluff Station at

Fort Nashborough Fort Nashborough, also known as Fort Bluff, Bluff Station, French Lick Fort, Cumberland River Fort and other names, was the stockade established in early 1779 in the French Lick area of the Cumberland River valley, as a forerunner to the settl ...

(present-day

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

), which would be assaulted by them again on either July 20, 1788, or April 9, 1793. On August 19, 1782, the Harpes accompanied a British-backed Chickamauga Cherokee war party to Kentucky at the

Battle of Blue Licks The Battle of Blue Licks, fought on August 19, 1782, was one of the last battles of the American Revolutionary War. The battle occurred ten months after Lord Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, which had effectively ended the war in the east. ...

, where they helped to defeat an army of Patriot

frontiersmen A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a Border, boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that ...

led by

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

. During the Harpes' early frontier period among the Chickamauga Cherokee, they lived in the village of Nickajack, near

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

, for approximately twelve or thirteen years. During this time, they kidnapped Maria Davidson and later Susan Wood. In 1794, the Harpes abandoned their Indian habitation before Nickajack was destroyed in a raid by American militia. The Harpe brothers would later relocate to Powell's Valley, around

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the stat ...

, where they stole food and supplies from local pioneers. They may have disguised their Tory past from their Patriot neighbors by changing their original name of "Harper", which was a common Loyalist surname in Revolutionary War-era North Carolina. The whereabouts of the Harpes are unknown after the summer of 1795, but by the spring of 1797 they were apparently dwelling in a cabin on Beaver's Creek near Knoxville. On June 1, 1797, Wiley Harpe married Sarah Rice, which was recorded in the Knox County marriage records. Replica Jail CSSHS

Serial murders and atrocities

Sometime during 1797, the Harpes began a vicious crime spree through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois. The Harpes later confessed to the killings of a confirmed thirty-nine people, but the estimated combined total, including unknown victims, may number more than fifty. What follows are the accounts of a few of the murders the two committed. In 1797, while the Harpes were living near Knoxville, Tennessee, they were driven from the town after being charged with stealing hogs and horses. They were also accused of murdering a man named Johnson, whose body was found in a river, covered in urine and ripped open, with the chest cavity filled and weighted down with stones. This became a signature corpse-disposal method of the Harpes' serial killings. They reportedly butchered anyone at the slightest provocation. They even murdered babies. JGarrard

From Knoxville, the Harpes fled north into Kentucky. They entered the state on the

Wilderness Road The Wilderness Road was one of two principal routes used by colonial and early national era settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. Although this road goes through the Cumberland Gap into southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee, the other (m ...

near the

Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its r ...

. They are believed to have murdered a peddler named Peyton, taking his horse and some of his goods. In December, they murdered two travelers from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

. Next, a man named John Langford, who was traveling from Virginia to Kentucky, turned up dead and a local innkeeper pointed the authorities to the Harpes. The criminal pair was pursued, captured, and jailed in the state prison in

Danville, Kentucky Danville is a home rule-class city in Boyle County, Kentucky, United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 17,236 at the 2020 Census. Danville is the principal city of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which include ...

, but they managed to escape. When a posse was sent after them, the young son of a man who assisted the authorities was found dead and mutilated by the Harpes in retaliation. Cave-in-rock IL

On April 22, 1799, Kentucky Governor

James Garrard James Garrard (January 14, 1749 – January 19, 1822) was an American farmer, Baptist minister and politician who served as the second governor of Kentucky from 1796 to 1804. Because of term limits imposed by the state constitution adopted in ...

placed a $300 reward on each of the Harpes' heads. Fleeing northward, the Harpes killed two men named Edmonton and Stump. When they were near the mouth of the Saline River in southern

, they came upon three men encamped there and killed them. The pair then made their way to Cave-In-Rock, a natural cave on the bluffs above the Illinois bank of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

and a stronghold of the

and criminal gang leader Samuel Mason. A posse had been aggressively pursuing them but stopped just short of the cave on the opposite shore in Kentucky. With their wives and three children in tow, the Harpes holed up with the Samuel Mason Gang, who preyed on slow-moving

flatboat A flatboat (or broadhorn) was a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways in the United States. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it was a large, sturdy tub with a ...

s making their way along the

. While the Mason Gang could be ruthless, even they were appalled at the actions of the Harpes. After the murderous pair began to make a habit of taking travelers to the top of the bluff, stripping them naked, and pushing them off, Samuel Mason forced the Harpe brothers to leave. The Harpes then returned to eastern Tennessee, where they continued their vicious murder spree. They killed a farmer named Bradbury, a man named Hardin, and a boy named Coffey in July 1798. Soon more bodies were discovered, including those of William Ballard, who had been disemboweled and thrown in the Holston River; James Brassel, who had his throat viciously slashed and was discovered on Brassel's Knob; and John Tully. John Graves and his teenage son were found dead with their heads axed in south-central Kentucky. In Logan County, the Harpes killed a little girl, a young slave, and an entire family they found asleep in their camp. In August 1799, a few miles northeast of

Russellville, Kentucky Russellville is a home rule-class city in Logan County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 6,960 at the time of the 2010 census. History Local historian Alex C. Finley has claimed the area was fir ...

, Big Harpe bashed his infant daughter's head against a tree because her constant crying annoyed him, the only crime for which he would later confess genuine remorse. That same month, a man named Trowbridge was found disemboweled in Highland Creek. When the Harpes were given shelter at the Stegall home in Webster County, the pair killed an overnight guest named Major William Love, as well as Mrs. Moses Stegall's four-month-old baby boy, whose throat was slit when he cried. When Mrs. Stegall screamed at the sight of her infant being killed, she was also murdered.

Physical appearances

The second

Governor of Kentucky The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-e ...

, issued a government proclamation on April 22, 1799, in the name of the

Commonwealth of Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

declaring a $300 reward for their apprehension and deliverance back to Danville, Kentucky for trial. Governor Garrard gave a description of the physical appearances of the Harpe brothers:

MICAJAH HARP alias ROBERTS is about six feet high-of robust make, and is about 30 or 32 years of age. He has an ill-looking, downcast countenance, and his hair is black and short, but comes very much down his forehead. He is built very straight and is full fleshed in the face. When he went away he had on a striped nankeen coat, dark blue woolen stockings,-leggins of drab cloth and trousers of the same as the coat. WILEY HARP alias ROBERTS is very meagre in his face, has short black hair but not quite so curly as his brother's; he looks older, though really younger, and has likewise a downcast countenance. He had on a coat of the same stuff as his brother's, and had a
surtout Surtout was a kind of overcoat. A "surtout" was a 17th-century term used to describe a coat worn over another coat, like a waistcoat. Surtout was a new name for it; prior to 1684, it was known as "Suravit" on account of Surhabit (overcoat). Surto ...
coat over the close-bodied one. His stockingsdark woolen ones, and his leggins of drab cloth.

Deaths

The Harpe killings continued in July 1799 as the two fled west to avoid a new

posse Posse is a shortened form of posse comitatus, a group of people summoned to assist law enforcement. The term is also used colloquially to mean a group of friends or associates. Posse may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Posse'' (1975 ...

, organized by John Leiper, which included the avenging husband and father Moses Stegall. While the pair was preparing to kill another settler named George Smith, the posse finally tracked them down on August 24, 1799. The posse called for the Harpes to surrender; they attempted to flee. Micajah Harpe was shot in the leg and back by Leiper, who soon caught up with him and pulled him from his horse, subduing the outlaw with a

tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Eur ...

in a scuffle. As he lay dying, Micajah Harpe confessed to twenty murders. While Harpe was still conscious, Moses Stegall slowly cut off the outlaw's head. Later, the head was spiked on a pole (some accounts claim a tree) at a crossroads near the Moses Stegall Cabin that is still known as "Harpe's Head" or "Harpe's Head Road" along a modern-day highway in

Webster County, Kentucky Webster County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,017. Its county seat is Dixon. It is the southernmost county in the Evansville, IN–KY Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county ...

. Wiley Harpe successfully escaped the confrontation and rejoined the Mason Gang pirates at Cave-In-Rock. Four years later, Wiley Harpe might have been captured along with the rest of the gang but went unrecognized because he was using the alias of "John Setton" or "John Sutton". Both Harpe and Samuel Mason, the gang leader, escaped, but Mason was shot. Afterwards, Little Harpe and another gang member,

Peter Alston Peter Alston (after 1765 - February 8, 1804) was an American coin counterfeiting, counterfeiter, horse thief, highwayman, and river pirate of the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. He is believed to have been an associate of serial-killer, seria ...

(who went by the name "James May"), son of the

counterfeiter To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

Philip Alston Philip Geoffrey Alston is an Australian international law scholar and human rights practitioner. He is John Norton Pomeroy Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, and co-chair of the law school's Center for Human Rights and Globa ...

, tried to claim the bounty on Samuel Mason, although it is unclear whether Mason died from the wounds sustained during the escape or whether Harpe killed him.Wagner, Mark and Mary R. McCorvie, "Going to See the Varmint: Piracy in Myth and Reality on the Ohio River, 1785–1830", In ''X Marks The Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy'', edited by Russell K. Skowronek and Charles R. Ewen, pp. 219–247. University of Florida Press, Gainesville. Regardless, as they presented Mason's head, a Kentuckian recognized Harpe and Alston as outlaws themselves and the two men were arrested. The two soon escaped but were quickly recaptured, tried, and sentenced to be hanged. In January 1804, Wiley Harpe and Peter Alston were executed by hanging. Their heads were cut off and placed high on stakes along the

Natchez Trace The Natchez Trace, also known as the Old Natchez Trace, is a historic forest trail within the United States which extends roughly from Nashville, Tennessee, to Natchez, Mississippi, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi rivers. ...

as a warning to other outlaws.

Harpe women

According to Jon Musgrave, the Harpe women, after being freed from cohabitation with the brothers, led relatively respectable and normal lives. Upon the death of Micajah "Big" Harpe in Kentucky, the women were apprehended and taken to the

state courthouse but later released. Sally Rice Harpe went back to Knoxville, Tennessee, to live in her father's house. For a time, Susan Wood and Maria Davidson (a.k.a. Betsey Roberts) lived in Russellville. Susan Wood remarried later, and died in Tennessee. Her daughter went to Texas. On September 27, 1803, Betsey Roberts married John Huffstutler and the couple lived as tenants on Colonel Butlers Plantation. They moved to

Hamilton County, Illinois Hamilton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. At the 2020 census, its population was 7,993. Its county seat is McLeansboro. It is located in the southern portion of the state known locally as " Little Egypt". History Ham ...

in 1828, and had many children; the couple eventually died in the 1860s. In 1820, Sally Rice, who had remarried, traveled with her husband and father to their new home in Illinois via the Cave-In-Rock Ferry.

In popular culture

In the 1941 film ''

The Devil and Daniel Webster "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1936) is a short story by American writer Stephen Vincent Benét. He tells of a New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to the devil and is later defended by Daniel Webster, a fictional version of the noted 19th-c ...

'' (or '' All That Money Can Buy''), Big and Little Harpe are part of the "jury of the damned" that

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...

must convince in order to free an innocent Jabez Stone. In the 1956

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

television series '' Davy Crockett and the River Pirates'', the Harpe brothers are portrayed by American actors

Paul Newlan Paul Emory Newlan (June 29, 1903 – November 23, 1973) was an American film and TV character actor from Plattsmouth, Nebraska. He was best known for his role as Captain Grey on the NBC police series '' M Squad'' and for his roles in films inc ...

as Big Harpe and Frank Richards as Little Harpe. The 1975 Broadway musical '' The Robber Bridegroom'' featured two characters (Big Harp and Little Harp) based on the Harpes. Big Harp is presented as a "cut off head" in a trunk, rescued by his brother when he was put to death for thieving. He's also the smarter of the two brothers. The Harpe brothers were the inspiration for Big and Little Drum in

Lois McMaster Bujold Lois McMaster Bujold ( ; born November 2, 1949) is an American speculative fiction writer. She is an acclaimed writer, having won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record (not counting his Retro Hugos). Her n ...

's 2008 novel ''

Passage Passage, The Passage or Le Passage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Films * ''Passage'' (2008 film), a documentary about Arctic explorers * ''Passage'' (2009 film), a short movie about three sisters * ''The Passage'' (1979 film), starring ...

'', part of '' The Sharing Knife'' series. Wiley Harpe is also the subject of a song on

Bob Frank Robert Landis Frank (February 26, 1944 – July 18, 2019) was an American musician, singer-songwriter and composer. His debut self-titled record was issued on Vanguard Records in 1972 to critical acclaim and is a collectors itemRuhlmann, Willia ...

and John Murry's 2006 album ''World Without End''. In 2015, the

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. As of February 2015, approximately 86 million Amer ...

television channel series ''Evil Kin'' aired an episode about the Harpe brothers called "Something Wicked in the Woods". A short narrative of the Harpe brothers' lives appears in Selah Saterstrom's 2015 novel ''Slab''. Tiger, the novel's main character, grows up with her family near the Mississippi River on the land of Wiley Harpe's estate off the Natchez Trace where Wiley Harpe "would dismember the corpses and make arrangements from their parts, ornamenting the land around his humble plantation". Tiger's grandfather installs a tire swing on a tree, to which he also affixes "a historical plaque: LITTLE HARPE HANGED HERE".

References

* Coates, Robert M. ''The Outlaw Years: the History of the Land Pirates of the Natchez Trace''. 1930. *Gordon, Maj. Maurice Kirby. ''History of Hopkins County, Kentucky'', published by the Hopkins County Genealogical Society. *Hall, James. ''The Harpe's Head: A Legend of Kentucky''. New York: Key & Biddle, 1833. *Magee, M. Juliette. ''Cavern of crime''. ''Livingston Ledger'', 1973. *McDowell, Gary D. and Ruth A. McDowell. ''Mississippi Secrets: Facts, Legends, and Folklore''. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2007. *Musgrave, Jon. "Frontier serial killers: The Harpes". American Weekend, ''

The Daily Register ''The Daily Register'' and ''The Eldorado Daily Journal'' are sister daily newspapers published in Harrisburg, Illinois, United States. They are owned by Paddock Publications, and managed locally by Southern Illinois Media Group (SILMG). Both p ...

'', Harrisburg, IL. October 23, 1998. * *Rothert, Otto A. ''The Outlaws of Cave-In-Rock''. Cleveland 1924; rpt. 1996. *Smith, Carter F.
Gangs and the Military: Gangsters, Bikers, and Terrorists with Military Training
'. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. *Thrapp, Dan L. ''Encyclopedia of frontier biography, Volume 4''. Arthur H. Clark Co., 1988. *Ward, Harry M. ''Between the Lines: Banditti of the American Revolution''. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2002.

External links

* ttp://www.illinoishistory.com/cave-in-rock.html Outlaws of Cave-In-Rock, Southern Illinois History Pagebr>A Bloody Legend, Sketch of Big and Little Harpe, Henderson County, Kentucky
* ttp://butchersfloor.blogspot.com/2006/05/harpes-americas-1st-serial-killers.html The Harpes: America's 1st Serial Killers,? The Butcher's Floorbr> "Fearsome twosome had a reign of terror in these parts,"
'' Henderson (Kentucky) Gleaner'', March 27, 1988
"Big Harpe and Little Harpe," ''Murder by Gaslight'', October 24, 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harpe Brothers 1804 murders in the United States 18th-century American criminals 18th-century pirates 19th-century pirates 19th-century American criminals American highwaymen American outlaws American people of Scottish descent American pirates American serial killers Brother duos Criminal duos Criminals from Kentucky Criminals from North Carolina History of Kentucky History of Tennessee Loyalists in the American Revolution from North Carolina Male serial killers People from Orange County, North Carolina People of pre-statehood Illinois