January 7, 1895: Spencer Costello

After two hours of finding lynchings and then finding that they did not occur on the 7th as originally stated, I finally found a lynching for today. Sometimes, I could find out nothing about a lynching or the reports contradicted each other on date or the date was a day or two earlier. The one I finally settled on is reported to us through the pages of The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana) dated January 8, 1895:

FLORA.

An Ex-Convict Lynched for Burglary and Attempted Murder.

Jackson, Miss., Jan. 7.—Spencer Costello, a negro burglar and desperado, was lynched to-day near Flora, thirty miles west of here. Last Saturday night he entered the store of E. H. Green, at Green's Crossing, and asked to see some article. While the clerk, a young man named Dewees, was showing him the same, Costello dealt him a terrific blow on the head with a hatchet. Costello then robbed Dewees' pockets of $3, the drawer of $15 and left the store, believing Dewees dead. Later Dewees recovered sufficiently to crawl to a neighbor's house, near by, and tell what had happened. Costello was known in the neighborhood and a posse was at once organized and started in pursuit. The hunt was kept up all day Sunday, and late in the afternoon Costello was captured near Pocahontas, within a few mile[s] of the scene of his crime. A close watch was placed over him, but in some manner he succeeded in escaping, but was again captured to-day near Flora and hanged by the infuriated friends of Dewees. Costello was an ex-convict, and has been guilty of numerous robberies. There is no hope of Dewees' recovery.

The source where I originally learned about this lynching can be found here. Thank you for joining me and as always, I hope I leave you with something to ponder.