Monday, May 25, 2015

May 25, 1911: Laura Nelson and L. D. Nelson

Today we learn about a lynching in Oklahoma through the pages of The Salina Evening Journal (Salina, Kansas) dated May 25, 1911:

 LYNCHED NEGRO WOMAN

And Her 16-year Old Son for Murder of an Officer.

Oklahoma, Okla., May 25.—Laura Nelson, a negress and her son, 16 years old, were lynched here today. They shot a deputy sheriff who went to search their shanty for stolen goods.

The woman and her son were taken from the county jail early today by a mob whose members had first gagged and bound the jailer, Lawrence Payne. The bodies were found this morning hanging to the timbers of a bridge across the Canadian river. The Nelsons were placed in jail charged with the murder, two weeks ago of Deputy Sheriff George H. Loney.


The Indian Journal (Eufaula, Oklahoma) dated June 2, 1911:

Governor Cruce received a letter from Blakeney & Maxey of Shawnee, attorneys for Laura Nelson and L. D. Nelson, the negroes who were lynched at Okemah the other day transmitting a transcript of the testimony taken at the preliminary hearing, and asking the governor to take some action in the matter. The attorneys claim that the testimony did not even make out a prima facie case of murder against the negroes and that young Nelson shot Deputy Sheriff Loney as the latter was reaching for a shot gun, believing that the deputy was going to kill his father.


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





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