Harpe brothers

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Micajah "Big" Harpe (circa 1768 - August 1799) and Wiley "Little" Harpe (circa 1770 - January 1804) were murderous outlaws who operated in Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois in the late 1700s. Unlike those of most outlaws, their crimes were motivated more by blood lust than financial gain. As such, some identify them as the nation's first true "serial killers". There are so many versions of their story that it was difficult to separate fact from the legends of 250 years ago.

The Harpes are believed to have been brothers (some sources claim cousins), born in North Carolina of Scottish descent. There is some debate as to whether or not they were born in America or were brought out as small boys. It was said that their parents were Tories who fought alongside the British during the Revolutionary War. Big Harpe had two wives: Susan and Betsey Roberts. Little Harpe married Sally Rice.

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[edit] Atrocities

For a time they lived with renegade Creek and Cherokee Indians, who were committing atrocities not only against whites, but also against their own tribes.

In 1797 the Harpes lived near Knoxville, Tennessee. They were driven from there on the accusation of stealing hogs and horses. They were also accused of murdering a man named Johnson, whose body was found in a river, ripped open and weighted with stones. This was to become a characteristic of Harpe murders. The Harpes made no discrimination between age or sex in their victims, often butchering anyone under the slightest provocation including babies. Some sources[1] claim that Micajah bashed his infant daughter's head against a tree when her constant crying annoyed him. This would be one of the only crimes he would later confess genuine remorse for.

From Knoxville they fled north into Kentucky. They entered the state on the Wilderness Road, near the Cumberland Gap. They are believed to have murdered a peddler named Peyton, taking his horse and some of his goods. They then murdered two travelers from Maryland.

[edit] Deaths

In August 1799, Big Harpe was shot in the head by a victim of his atrocities, Moses Stigall. Stigall then decapitated Harpe and stuck his head on a pole, at the location still known as "Harpe's Head," on the border of Hopkins, and Webster county, Kentucky.

Little Harpe eluded the authorities for some time, until finally being caught in an effort to get a ransom of his own on the head of outlaw Samuel Mason. He was captured in 1803 and hung following his trial in January 1804.

[edit] Descendants

After the atrocities committed by the Harpes, many members bearing the family name changed their name in some way to disguise their family heritage. Some went by "Harp" merely removing the final "E", but leaving the pronunciation the same. Others changed the name significantly. Wyatt Earp is a famous example said - though unconfirmed - to have been a member of the Harpe family.

There are still descendants of the family today, including those that have changed their surname back to the original spelling.

[edit] Appearances in literature

The Harpe brothers, identified as "Big Harp" and "Little Harp" are among the characters in the stage musical The Robber Bridegroom, written by Alfred Uhry and Robert Waldman. In this musical, Big Harp has already been decapitated at the beginning of the story, but his disembodied head is still alive: the head is portrayed by an actor whose body is concealed behind the scenery.

Robert Hayden's poem "Theory of Evil" takes the Harpe brothers' crimes, and Big Harpe's demise, as its explicit subject.

Born Wolf, Die Wolf and Resurrection are historical fiction novels about the Harpe brothers written by author and Harpe descendant E. Don Harpe.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Ohio by R.E. Banta