October 29, 1905: Gus Goodman

Today we travel to past to Georgia through the pages of The New York Age (New York, N. C.) printed November 2, 1905:

LYNCHED FOR KILLING SHERIFF.

Gus Goodman Riddled With Bullets While His Victim Died.

BAINBRIDGE, Ga., October 29.—At 1 o'clock this morning 300 white men stormed the jail. got Gus Goodman, an Afro-American held for shooting Sheriff Stagall, and lynched him. Goodman, begging for mercy, was dragged through through [sic] the streets to the banks of the river, swung to a tree and riddled with bullets. The body remained hanging all day and was viewed by hundreds.

Goodman, late yesterday afternoon, killed an Afro-American woman. Sheriff Stagall attempted to arrest him and was shot.

At midnight the physicians issued a bulletin saying the sheriff would die, and thirty minutes later Goodman was lynched. The sheriff died while Goodman was being lynched.

Our next stop is through the pages of The Minneapolis Journal (Minneapolis, Minnesota) dated October 30, 1905:

LYNCHING LAID TO "THE CLANSMAN"

Georgia Mob, Wrought Up by Dixon's Story, Hangs Negro Murderer.

Journal Special Service.

Bainbridge, Ga., Oct. 30.—Wrought up to a high pitch of anger against negroes by the presentation of Thomas A. Dixon's play, "The Clansman," last week, a mob of 300 men stormed the jail at midnight, took out Gus Goodman, a negro who fatally shot Sheriff Stegall, and lynched him. The lynchers were not masked.

Goodman, on Saturday afternoon, shot and killed a negro woman, and when Sheriff Stegall attempted to arrest him, wounded the official. Another officer arrested the negro. A number of men held a meeting and determined to lynch the negro if the physician found the sheriff's wound proved fatal.

A mob formed, and when at midnight, the doctors declared Stegall would die, it moved on the jail at once, and thirty minutes later the negro was lynched. The sheriff died as the negro was lynched.

The feelings against negroes, never kindly, has been embittered by the Dixon play, following which stories of negroes' depredations during the reconstruction period have been revived, and whites have been wrought up to a high tension.

Our final stop is brought to us by the Altoona Tribune (Altoona, Pennsylvania) dated October 30, 1905:

Lynched by a Mob.

Savannah, Ga., October 29—A special to the Morning News from Bainbridge, Ga., says that Gus Goodman, a negro, was taken from the jail at an early hour this morning by a mob of 300 men and lynched on the bank of the river, a short distance from the town. Earlier in the night Goodman shot Sheriff Stegall, who was attempting to  to arrest him for the murder of a colored woman a few minutes before. Although wounded, Sheriff Stegall shot Goodman twice and the prisoner was placed in jail. A special train was sent to Thomasville for a physician, and after his announcement that the sheriff could not recover, the mob went to the jail, relieved the deputy of his keys and dragged Goodman from his cell. Goodman was strung up with a rope and fully 1,000 shots was fired into his body.

Thank you for joining me and as always I hope I leave you with something to ponder.