Saturday, February 28, 2015

February 28, 1890: Brown Washington

Our first article comes from the February 28, 1890 edition of The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia):

HE WILL BE LYNCHED.

Brown Washington in Danger of Being Lynched.

MADISON, Ga., February 27.—[Special.]—The negro, Brown Washington, who murdered a nine-year-old girl, after having outraged her, has confessed.

At dark crowds of men were pressing around the jail, and there is no question but that the prisoner will be lynched before daylight.


Our following article comes from the same paper dated a day later:

HE DESERVED HIS FATE.

The Brave Men of Morgan Have Done Justice.

MADISON, Ga., February 28.—[Special.]—The body of Brown Washington, the fiend who was lynched last night, remained dangling from the telegraph pole until 12 o'clock today, when it was cut down, in order that the coroner's jury might hold an inquest. The jury's verdict was death by hanging and gunshot wounds, by hands unknown. The jury also commended the actions of the officers in trying to preserve the life of the prisoner.

The universal verdict in this city and county, is that he met his just deserts and Morgan county has been saved the expense of a trail [sic]. The negroes are loud in their commendation of the action of the lynchers.


I chose the above article because it gave the most details. The only detail it left out was the name of the uncle of the child and that the lynching occurred at midnight. Thank you for joining me and as always, I hope I leave you with something to ponder. 

Friday, February 27, 2015

February 27, 1913: Jim Green

The Mount Carmel Item (Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania) dated February 28, 1913:

Lynchers Burn Victim.

Pensacola, Fla., Feb. 28—Jim Green, colored, was lynched near here and his body burned. Green is alleged to have shot Mrs. Samuel Spicer, Jr., the wife of a planter living near Pensacola. The woman will die. Green had been flogged and was discharged. He returned later and fired a load of buck shot through a window of the plantation house, striking Mrs. Spicer.


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

Thursday, February 26, 2015

February 26, 1901: George Ward

Today we learn of a lynching that is as horrific as the crime Ward perpetrated was tragic. We read about this event through the pages of a rather ragged  Chicago Daily Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) dated February 27, 1901: 


HANG AND BURN INDIANA NEGRO.

Murderer of Teacher Ida Finklestein Suffers Quick Punishment in Terre Haute.

...OB ON WABASH SHORES.

Governor Offers Protection, but Sheriff Thinks He Has "Matter Well in Hand."

BLUDGEON, ROPE, AND FIRE.

...ree Agencies Employed for Expiation of the Crime, While Thousands of Persons Look On.

FEAR TROUBLE AT INDIANAPOLIS.

Terre Haute, Ind., Feb. 26.—[Special.]—Indiana today entered the list of Commonwealths that add burning to lynching. Half an hour after noon, in the heart of Terre Haute, George Ward, the negro who killed School Teacher Ida Finklestein yesterday, was hanged to a beam of a wagon bridge that spans the Wabash River. Then his body was cut down and cast into a fire which had been lighted on a sandbar on the river's bank.

For three hours thereafter the flames were fed by the excited lynchers and the body was burned until only a few scattered remnants of bones were left. Not until these had been distributed as "Mementos" was the morbid fury of the mob appeased. Policeman stood in the crowds and made no attempt to drive away the onlookers or to check the industry of the burning.

The Sheriff of Vigo County made an apparent effort to resist the attack on the jail and Jailer O'Donnell twice fired a shotgun over the heads of the constantly growing crowd, but to no purpose. Governor Durbin in Indianapolis had heard rumors of  the intended lynching and had instructed Sheriff Fasig to protect his prisoner at all hazards. The Sheriff had replied that he needed no militia, but would take the negro to the capital city at 1 p. m. At that hour, as it turned ..., the negro was dead and on a funeral pyre.

Governor Starts Inquiry.

Governor Durbin has since called on the Sheriff for a detailed explanation, and the Circuit Judge, who early this morning summoned the Sheriff into his presence and warned him against the danger of a lynching, ...y proceed to fix the blame.

Tonight the same Judge stated to THE TRIBUNE that the affair would be subject of grand jury inquiry.

There was no attempt at concealment of identity on the part of those who had a hand in the vengeful work. Men, women, and children to the number of several thousand were spectators along the shore of the river and on the bridge while the fire completed the work the rope had begun.

...ys cut off the toes of the victim and hawked them about for souvenirs, and in every possible way the threat for quick punishment of the confessed murderer was ...ked.

Considering the sentiment among the people of Terre Haute, it is unlikely that any effort will be made to punish the leaders of the lynching party. The Coroner has ...n no action regarding the negro's death. ...uld he seek to investigate, no corpus ...cti is at hand for his inquiry.

The young woman for whose death the negro suffered the extreme penalty was the daughter of Mrs. Soloman Finklestein of 545 West Fourteenth street, Chicago. The mother came here this evening to bury her daughter.

Captured in the Shops.

Ward, who was a laborer in the car shops, was arrested while at work at 10 o'clock this morning and taken without any ado to the ...go County jail. The first clew to his identity had been obtained by the police from a ...an living near the Ward home. The informer came to headquarters this morning ...rly and told the police that Ward had been hunting yesterday and that circumstances pointed to his guilt. The description furnished by the neighbor fitted the description given by Miss Finklestein. For an hour after he was put in jail he was undisturbed.

Mob Grows Rapidly.

At 11 o'clock 200 men and boys were about the jail. There was the usual talk that "the nigger ought to be killed," but no one spoke of a lynching. At 12 o'clock the crowd numbered 400 or 500, and there was more talk. Sheriff Fasig from the jail door told the crowd that there was no possibility of the accused man eluding justice. But at 12:30 half a dozen men brought a car girder and with it battered down the outer wooden doors ... the main entrance of the jail. This let perhaps thirty men into the vestibule, and jailer O'Donnell fired two shots over their heads. Some of the shot rebounded from the walls and struck one or two of a half dozen deputies deputies who were with the jailer.

The thirty men now crowded forward to the iron grating that separated them from the interior of the jail proper and gave O'Donnell five minutes to open the door. At the end of that time they broke it open with the battering ram. O'Donnell tried to throw his cell keys away, but they were taken from him. The crowd broke open a side door in the meantime and let in more persons.

Prisoner Beaten Down.

Ward was coming down from the upper tier of cells at the time the crowd was coming in and he was assailed by a dozen men who seemed to desire only the satisfaction of striking him. He fought as best he could, but as he was taken out of the door some one struck him in the head and he partly collapsed.

A rope was put around his neck and twenty men took hold of it. They dragged the half-dead man down the entrance steps of the jail and started toward the river. Ward had fallen on his face and thus was dragged through the street. Someone proposed that he be thrown into the Wabash River, but the river is frozen over. Then another shouted that her should be hanged on the wagon bridge, for, said this man, "everybody can see him there."

Hanged and Then Burned.

The suggestion was accepted. The end of the rope was swung over a beam and the body was drawn up. The man was now apparently dead. It had been swinging in that position for some time when someone suggested burning at the stake as the nearest approach to a proper expiation for the crime. This motion was adopted unanimously and a fire was quickly kindled. Into the fire the body, bearing no sign of life, was thrown, and fagots were piled on it. The fire had barely been started when a man arrived with a can or turpentine, which was fed to the flames.

After that the flames leaped higher while the body was slowly consumed.

Great Crowds Assemble.

Meanwhile the people of Terre Haute began to assemble in ever-increasing numbers. The east bank of the river and the bridge on the city side of the draw were crowded with thousands of men, women, and children gazing at the spectacle. The certainty that the wretch was dead did not appease the mob, now watching the bones crumble to ashes.

Now and then some one would announce that the supply of oil was exhausted, and a collection would be quickly taken up and a fresh supply purchased. Crates from a poultry-house were brought and piled on the fire. Weather boarding was torn from the bridge for fuel. As the bones of Ward's body crumbled and fell apart the fragments were drawn from the fire and carried away.Women came to the scene by scores and elbowed their way into the inner circle of spectators, undeterred and apparently unmoved.

It was nearly 4 o'clock when the crowd about the fire tired of renewing it and let it die down. Remnants of the victim's feet were now exposed, and boys began trafficking in the toes they cut from the feet for souvenirs. The exposure of a burned foot had led a bystander to say he would "give a dollar for a toe," and a youth of 14 out with his knife and cut off a toe. Then other toes were cut off and sold.

Efforts to Avert It.

The Sheriff claims he used due diligence in his attempt to prevent this work of Judge Lynch. He had begun making arrangements to take Ward to Indianapolis on the 1o'clock train. Governor Durbin already had sent him this message:  "I am informed you are confronted with a serious situation. Use all the authority you can commend to maintain peace and uphold the law. If emergency warrants call upon the State and all possible assistance will be properly accorded. Keep me advised."

At the same time the Governor sent this message to Captain Thomas of local Company F militia:  "Place your company fully armed and equipped in a position to be immediately ready for duty in response to call from Sheriff."

Sheriff Fasig, having  told Governor Durbin over the long distance telephone that he would be glad to have assistance, the Governor had requested him to notify Captain Thomas, but all this was too late.

Ward Makes Confession.

Ward's confession this morning possibly straightens the confusing story of the struggle yesterday afternoon with Miss Finklestein in the pathway in the woods leading from her country school to the main highway, where she usually boarded a suburban electric car for the city. Miss Finklestein, last night before she died, could not talk clearly with her throat cut, and her story was told partly by speaking a word or two at a time.

Ward said today to Sheriff Fasig:

"I was out hunting yesterday afternoon, and while walking just north from the golf grounds met a young lady. I was walking behind her, when she turned to me and told me not to walk behind her,her, but to walk in front of her. I replied:  'All right, lady,' and started to walk around her. When I was almost even with her, she turned to me and called me 'a nigger.' I pulled up my gun and shot her. I was ten feet away from her and she fell on her face. I pulled out my knife and jumped on her back and cut her throat. I then got up and walked towards the car and came into Sixteenth street, where I got off."

Murder, but No Robbery.

The police now believe that Ward made an improper remark to the young woman and that it was then she told him to go on ahead. She said he called to her to stop and when she did not do so he fired at her with his shotgun, and on his coming up to her she handed him her purse. He had some money when taken into custody today and it was thought to be hers, but at the scene of the struggle her money as well as other of her possessions were found this afternoon.

Shortly before he fell into the hands of the mob the prisoner confided to the jailer that his real name was Robinson. During his five years' residence in Terre Haute, however, he always went under the name of Ward. The report that he was once sent to the insane asylum from here is unfounded, but the police records show that he was arrested in 1899 for breaking into C. T. Arnold's house in Lost Creek Township, just north of this city.

Three years ago he was married. A wife and two children survive him.

Doctor and Judge Talk.

Dr. E. L. Larkins says Ward came into his office yesterday morning to get a prescription for one of his children. "I had known Ward a long time," said the doctor, "but yesterday he acted strangely. He was excited and had every appearance of a man who was demented."

Judge Piety of the Circuit Court tonight said to THE TRIBUNE correspondent:  "The whole community is disgraced. The grand jury will meet a week from next Monday, and I shall see that this outrage on the law is thoroughly investigated."

Governor Durbin's View.

Indianapolis, Ind., Feb. 26.—Governor Durbin said tonight, when asked what he would do in regard to the Terre Haute lynching:

"I don't know yet just what I shall do. So far as I can ascertain from Terre Haute the Sheriff did hid duty as well as he could under the circumstances. However, I have written to him for the minutest details. I presume the proper authorities of Vigo County will at once begin investigation. Lynchings are deplorable."

The lynching at Terre Haute, coming as it does, so soon after the brutal attack on Dorothy Darter, a respectable white girl, in the streets of Irvington on Thursday afternoon has stirred public feeling. Then, too, came the announcement this afternoon of the arrest at Newcastle of a negro answering the description of the assailant of Miss Darter. On receipt of this news many meetings were held throughout the city and plans have been formed to lynch the negro if identified. A photograph of the Newcastle negro is on its way here to be shown to Miss Darter.



Miss Ida Finklestein, for whose murder the negro, George Ward, was lynched in Terre Haute yesterday, was the main support of her widowed mother, Mrs. Soloman Finklestein, who, with seven children, lives at 545 West Fourteenth street, Chicago. A bright and studious girl, when her father was murdered seven years ago by a miner, she devoted all her time to study, and, after graduating at the high school at Terre Haute, entered the Normal School, finishing with honor. For two years she had been teaching in the little country schoolhouse, giving most of her salary to her mother. The rest of the family had grown up and three months ago the Finklesteins moved to Chicago, only Ida remained at Terre Haute.

During the Christmas holidays she visited her mother and sisters and brothers in Chicago, and in her last letter home spoke hopefully of the spring vacation but three weeks away, when she could again join her people.

The news of the murder came on Monday evening and yesterday morning Mrs. Finklestein, accompanied by her oldest son, Otto, and her youngest child, Roy, left for Terre Haute. An aunt of the murdered girl, Mrs. M. Finklestein, went with them.


An interesting article connected to this lynching comes to us from the pages of The Daily Herald (Delphos, Ohio) dated March 1, 1901:

Negroes Fleeing.

Terre Haute, Ind., March 1.—The lynching of George Ward has created wild consternation among the negroes in this section of the state. They are loud in their condemnation of the Terre Haute mob. Many negroes have fled from Terre Haute, fearing a mob may take them in hand. Nearly all who have left this city have gone to Brazil. There is a large colored population there.


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

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

February 25, 1893: Joe Payne

The Saint Paul Globe (St. Paul, Minnesota) dated February 27, 1893:


LYNCHED AT JELLICO,

And Cut Down by the Girl Whom He Assaulted.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 26.—The lynching at Jellico last night of the negro Joe Payne for assaulting Miss Fannie Belle Cecil was in itself a very tame affair. He confessed the crime and was swung up to the nearest tree, without any excitement. The mob pinned a placard on his back threatening death to any one who should disturb the body until 10 o'clock today. At that hour fully 5,000 people had gathered from neighboring towns. Miss Cecil, who was not badly injured, sent word that she would take pleasure in cutting down the body. Her wishes were granted, and with a sharp knife she severed the rope, and the body fell to the ground. She smiled as she cut the rope, and the act was greeted with cheers from the vast crowd. She is a very handsome young woman of eighteen, and is of good family. Len Tye, who ravished Miss Bryant on the same spot last December, has been located in West Virginia, and will be brought to Jellico in a day or two. He will be lynched as soon as he arrives. The negroes of that locality are wrought up over the affair.


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


Tuesday, February 24, 2015

February 24, 1913: Willis Webb February 24, 1890: Bob Pope and son

Today I am featuring two different lynchings. The first lynching comes to us through the pages of The Indiana Gazette (Indiana, Pennsylvania) dated February 24, 1913:

HANGED BY MOB OF BLACKS

Negro Fugitive Who Kills Four Lynched With Scant Ceremony.

Drew, Miss., Feb. 24.—Willis Webb, negro, was lynched by members of his own race on a plantation in a remote section of Sunflower county, after he had shot and killed two negro women and two negro men.

Webb, charged with the murder of a member of his race two years ago, fled to Arkansas. He returned to induce Clara Love, a negress, and her mother to go back with him, shot them to death. When the elder Love and his son appeared Webb opened fire with a pistol and killed both. A large mob of negroes caught him and with little ceremony hanged him to a tree.


Our second lynching comes to us through the pages of The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) dated February 28, 1890:

THEY WERE OBNOXIOUS CITIZENS,

And as a Consequence They Were Put Out of the Way.

CHARLESTON, S. C., February 27.—[Special.] A special received here from Varnville, Hampton county, tonight, states that Bob Pope and his eleven-year-old son were killed in that county on Monday night by parties in ambush. The two were on their way home from Cummins's mill when they were killed. When the bodies were discovered it was found that Bob Pope's throat had been cut from ear to ear after he had been shot. The special does not say whether the Popes are whites or blacks, but says they were obnoxious citizens, and it is supposed their slayers were white men. These are all the details available now.


This last article is from the Warrenton Gazette (Warrenton, N. C.) dated March 7, 1890:

BOB POPE, a white man of bad character, with his son, eleven years old, were shot dead while riding from Cumming's Mill to their home in Hampton County, S. C.


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

Monday, February 23, 2015

February 23, 1891: Scott Bishop

The State Chronicle (Raleigh, N. C.) dated February 24, 1891:

A NEGRO LYNCHED

HE WAS CAPTURED AT RIDGEWAY, N. C.

His Crime Was That He Assaulted and Robbed a Farmer.

[By United Press.]

PETERSBURG, Va., Feb. 23.—Some days ago Hugh Hancock, a prominent farmer residing at Mellville, Nottoway county, was assaulted and robbed of $30 while passing along a road near Blackstone, a station on the Norfolk and Western Railroad, by a burly negro named Scott Bishop.

Bishop made his escape and remained at large until Saturday night last, when he was captured at Ridgeway, N. C. by officer Maxey, the town sergeant of Blackstone, to which place Bishop was brought yesterday morning. Hammock died from the wounds inflicted by Bishop on Friday last, and as soon as the prisoner was brought to Blackstone, there were open threats of lynching him.

Every effort was made by the authorities to prevent violence being done to the prisoner, but to no avail, and this morning about 4 o'clock he was taken from the officers and hanged to the limb of a tree about half a mile from Blackstone. The negro begged piteously for his life, but the mob was deaf to his entreaties. At 12 o'clock today Bishop's body was still dangling from the tree, and a coroner's jury was being summoned.

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

Sunday, February 22, 2015

February 22, 1898: Fraser B. Baker

Today we are learning about a horrific lynching, one where not even a pretense of a crime was used to justify the lynching. A man and his infant were the victims of this heinous act. We begin our journey in the pages of The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah) dated February 23, 1898:


A REVOLTING CRIME

South Carolina White Men With Hearts of Demons.

MURDER AND CREMATION

FATE OF NEGRO POSTMASTER AND HIS BABE.

Objection to the Man On Account of His Color at Last Found Vent In One of the Most Horrible Assassinations of South Carolina's History—Particulars of Affair.

Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 22.—A special from Columbia, S. C., to the Constitution says:  The most revolting crime ever perpetrated by white men in South Carolina was committed at Lake City, Williamsburg county, at 1 o'clock this morning, when Postmaster Baker, a negro, and his family were burned out of their home, the postmaster and a babe in arms killed, his wife and three daughters shot and maimed for life. Baker was appointed Postmaster three months ago. Lake City is a town of 400 inhabitants and the negro population in the vicinity is large. There was a protest at Baker's appointment, but it was not a very vigorous one. Three months ago, as the postmaster was leaving the office at night in company with several colored men, he was fired on from ambush, but it was not known who the would-be assassin was or whether it was prompted by other than personal malice. Since then Baker moved his family into a house in the outskirts, where he also established the postoffice. Last Tuesday night a body of men, who kept concealed behind buildings and fences in the neighborhood, riddled the building with shot and rifle bullets. They shot high but no one was hurt, and it was supposed to convey a warning.

OBJECTION TO BAKER.

A short time before that Senators Tillman and McLaren and Congressman Horton had asked the postmaster general to remove Baker because of his color, and the request had been refused. Baker did not move his family and gave no evidence of being frightened. He felt confident of protection from Washington.

At one o'clock this morning a torch was applied to the postoffice and Baker's house. Back, just within the line of light, there were over a hundred white men, armed with pistols and shotguns. By the time the fire aroused the sleeping family, consisting of the postmaster, his wife, four daughters, a son and an infant at the breast, the crowd began firing into the building. A hundred bullet holes were made through the thin boarding, and many found lodgment [sic] in the people within.

FELL DEAD.

Baker was the first to reach the door, and he fell dead just within the threshold, being shot in several places. The mother had the baby in her arms and had reached the door over her husband's body when a bullet crashed through its skull and it fell to the floor. She was shot in several places. Two of the girls had their arms broken close to the shoulder, and will probably lose them. Another of the girls is believed to be fatally wounded. The boy is shot. Two of the seven occupants of the house escaped with slight injuries. The bodies of Baker and the infant were cremated in the building. All mail matter was destroyed.

A coroner's jury was impanelled this evening and it visited the charred remains and adjourned until Saturday.

There is general bitter indignation expressed everywhere.


The next article is an example of how a lynching is covered in a southern newspaper. Although the Salt Lake City newspaper repeated an article from an Atlanta newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution was very good at reporting lynching without bias. The following article comes from The Morning Post (Raleigh, N. C.) dated February 23, 1898:

NEGRO POSTMASTER KILLED

He Presided Over the Office at Lake City, S. C.

INSULTING TO WHITE LADY PATRONS

It Is Charged, and Was Lazy, Ignorant and Otherwise Persona Non Grata—But that Is No Defense for the Method Employed In Getting Rid of Him and Will Not Shield His Murderers From Punishment.

By Telegraph to The Morning Post.

Charleston, S. C., Feb. 22.—Fraser B. Baker, the negro postmaster at Lake City, Williamsburg county, was murdered by a mob at 1 o'clock this morning.

Since he was put in charge of the postoffice by President McKinley (in September last), diligent efforts have been made by the white people to have him removed. On one occasion he was fired at from ambush with a load of buckshot, but he escaped.

According to the best accounts obtainable the mob, which was composed of several hundred people, collected in a lonely spot Monday night, and there arranged to kill Baker.

About 1 o'clock they went to the negro postmaster's cabin, which was also used for postoffice purposes, and fired it. The crackling flames aroused the family, and they rushed out.

Immediately a volley of lead was poured into the cabin. Baker was among the first to fall dead. His wife, who was holding one of her children to her breast, had a rifle ball to pass through her hand, which afterwards buried itself in the child, killing it instantly. Two daughters and one son were also struck by the shots, but they will live. The mother was seriously wounded.

Before the shooting ceased the building was covered in flames and the bodies of Baker and the child could not be dragged out. This morning they were found, charred almost beyond recognition. The injured members of the family fled for safety, but they were not interfered with after the murder of the postmaster.

All the mail in the postoffice was destroyed by the flames.

It is claimed that the negro Baker was never a resident of the town, and that he was lazy, ignorant, and very insulting to the white lady patrons of the postoffice.

A number of petitions had been sent to the Postmaster General, asking that the man be removed for the above reasons, but nothing was ever done about it. These petitions were signed by 200 of the leading business men of Lake City.

The murder has been reported to the authorities at Washington.

Later Particulars.

By Telegraph to The Morning Post.

Lake City, S. C., Feb. 22.—Baker, the negro postmaster, shot here today, was appointed three months ago. Lake City has five hundred inhabitants and the negro population in the vicinity is large.

After the first assault, three months ago, Baker moved his residence on the outskirts of the town, where he established the United States postoffice.

Senators Tillman and McLaurin and Congressman Morton, of this district, had asked the Postmaster General to remove Baker, but the request was refused. All the mail matter was destroyed.

The coroner's jury was impannelled [sic] tonight, which viewed the charred remains and then adjourned till Saturday.


We pick up this tale more than a year after the lynching. We start with The North Adams Transcript (North Adams, Massachusetts) dated April 1, 1899:

FEDERAL ACTION

TO PUNISH LYNCHERS

United States Court Will Try 15 South Carolina Men for Killing of Negro Postmaster and His Child.

Charleston, S. C., April 1.—Fifteen prominent citizens of Lake City will be put on trial  in the United States court here next week on the charge of having lynched postmaster Frazer Baker, a year ago, killing his child and burning the Lake City post-office, with its effects. This is the first time the federal government has come into the south to take up a lynching trial. The murder of Baker was the most brutal in the history of the state. A regular band organized to put him out of the way after he refused to heed the warnings and attempted to take charge of the post-office to which he was appointed.


The next article comes from The Wichita Daily Eagle (Wichita, Kansas) dated April 11, 1899:

THEIR WOUNDS IN COURT

Children of the Lynched Postmaster will Exhibit.

Charleston, S. C., April 10.—The trial of thirteen citizens of Lake City for having lynched Postmaster Baker began here to-day before Judge Brawley. There are 150 witnesses to be examined, but the end of the trial will probably be reached in two weeks. Two of the men against whom indictments have been returned have turned state's evidence. They are Joseph P. Newman and Early Posalee. They told of how the mob assembled and of how the plan of murder was mapped out. They told of the midnight search made in the town for oil; how the mob moved stealthily to Baker's humble home; of how the oil was poured on the building, and then of the flames. Then the witnesses told of the wild cries which came from the house when the hapless inmates awoke, half suffocated, to flee and then be shot down.

Baker's crippled family have come here for the trial. The mother of the children was badly wounded when the house was burned and attacked by the mob. She  was holding the baby in her arms when she started for the door. A chunk of lead fired from the mob passed through her arm, broke the bone and then buried itself in the head of the baby. The children who were driven out by the flames moved only to be met by a more deadly rain of lead. The night was bitterly cold. The wounded, bleeding, freezing children crawled far into the woods, where they remained during the night. They were almost dead when rescued after daylight. These children will show their wounds in the court.


This next article tells of one of the defendants and his sweetheart. It is also the only article I have found so far relating a verdict from April. The Manning Times (Manning, S. C.) dated July 5, 1899:

A Pretty Little Romance.

Moultrie Epps, one of the defendants in the Lake City lynching case, was married here yesterday. His bride was Miss Lula Shaw, a handsome young lady of 91 Reid street. The wedding was a quiet but elegant home affair. The ceremony was performed at 1 P. M., the Rev. Dr. Brackett officiating. In the afternoon the bridal couple left the city for an extended trip through the East.

Behind this wedding celebration there is a real romance. Mr. Epps has known the young lady for some time. When he was arrested in Lake City a year ago on a charge of having been in the party which lynched Postmaster Baker, and burned his cabin and postoffice, his promised wife was strongly convinced of his innocence. Immediately after the arrest the prisoners were brought to Charleston and placed in jail, where they remained for a day or two pending habeas corpus proceedings. Miss Shaw heard that young Epps was behind the bars, and she hurried at once to the jail to see him. She called there frequently, and while he remained in jail Moultrie Epps was almost fed to death on ice cream and other dainties carried down to the prison on Magazine street by his sweetheart. He was not forgotten.

The trial of the alleged lynchers came on in April last and continued for two weeks, resulting in the failure of the jury to agree on a verdict. Epps was here all that time. None of the defendants was kept in jail. At night, when the men in the same indictment with him were down on Broad street at law offices, Epps was up in Reid street with his sweetheart. He didn't bother much about the trial, for as he told a reporter yesterday, he was not implicated in the affair, and for that reason felt no worry or concern about the end. His bride-to be looked at the matter from the same point of view, and there was no dark spectre over the love-making.

When the mistrial was ordered in the district court, after the jury had deliberated for twenty-four hours without reaching a verdict, the defendants were sorely disappointed. They knew all the work had to be gone over again, that new bonds had to be arranged, and that a second trial would be necessary to prove their guilt or innocence. Bond, however, was given and the defendants returned home.

It was with this same indictment hanging over his head that Mr. Epps decided to go along and marry. Miss Shaw was not averse to the proceeding. The preparations for the wedding were made and the celebration yesterday followed.

"You see how much worried I am about this case," said Mr. Epps to a reporter on a street car Tuesday night, just after he had announced the coming change in his way of living. "If I thought they would get me I would not have married, but I am not troubling myself, nor is Miss Shaw. Yes," he continued, "we are going away tomorrow afternoon for our honeymoon, so goodbye," he said as he jumped from the car up in the Reid street section.—News and Courier, June 29


We continue to learn about what follows for the Baker family beginning with the following article from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, N. Y.) dated July 17, 1899:

BOSTON WOMAN'S OFFER.

Wants to Import Family of a Lynched Negro in Order to Excite Sympathy in the North.

Boston, July 17.—Miss Lillian Clayton Jewett, a young white woman, addressed a meeting of colored people in St. Paul's Baptist Church last evening on "Lynching in the South," and created a sensation by offering to go to Charleston, S. C., and bring to Boston the family of the murdered postmaster—H. M. Baker, who was lynched some time ago—for the purpose of creating sentiment in the North in favor of the Southern negro. 

The church was packed to the doors, and all the principal colored organizations of the city were present.

There was the greatest enthusiasm, and in the speeches that followed the young woman was referred to as the new Harriet Beecher Stowe, as one who had been sent in answer to the prayers of the colored race, and eulogized as the first white woman who had come out publicly as the defender of the colored people in the South.

After the meeting almost half of those in the church went to the front to thank her, and it is a long time since there has been such a demonstration among the colored people of Boston.


The Morganton Herald (Morganton, N. C.) dated August 17, 1899:

A FOOL WOMAN'S HOBBY.

Concord Times.

Lilliam Clayton Jewett, a girl from Boston, has carried out her design to come to Charleston and take back to Boston the family of the negro postmaster Baker, who was lynched last year at Lake City, S. C., for the purpose of exhibiting them throughout the north to arouse sympathy for the negro in the south. She left Charleston for Boston last Saturday with the Baker woman and the five little Baker coons in charge.

Miss Jewett proposes to hold mass meetings all through the north to arouse sympathy for the southern negro, and she will exhibit her charges as horrible examples of the devilish cruelty of the southern whites. She claims to be doing this work in the interest of the down-trodden and ill-treated race, but her step is the carrying out of a cranky idea or has money-making at the bottom of it. Her Boston friends are opposed to her in this work, as we think are a large majority of the northern people. Miss Jewett will no doubt succeed, by putting forward one side of the matter, in arousing a great deal of ill feeling among her hearers, but she will not accomplish anything toward the carrying out of her proposed object.


The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana) dated August 6, 1899:

THE BAKER FAMILY

Will Be Used as a Means of Making Money.

Charleston, S. C., Aug. 5.—Lillian Clayton Jewett, the Boston girl, who recently created a sensation among the negroes of that city by declaring that she would come to Charleston and take north with her the family of the late Frazier B. Baker, who was lynched at Lake City, S. C., in 1897, with a view to beginning an agitation against mob law, has carried out her designs. Miss Jewett arrived here Friday morning, accompanied by her mother and a young man named R. G. Larsen, who is a Boston journalist. She had frequent conferences with the Baker woman and her friends, and as a result left here for Boston this afternoon, accompanied by the entire Baker family, the mother and five children. Miss Jewett said her plans for the future were not as yet formulated, but she proposed to hold a mass meeting throughout the north to arouse popular sentiment against lynching and mob law generally. She did not regard her movement as an issue between the races, but was advocating the cause of humanity irrespective of color or condition. She said she was educated in Virginia and had some knowledge of the southern people, and she was well aware that the better elements in the south joined heart and soul with the better elements of the north in demanding a halt in the commission of the outrages that recently have shocked the world. She said that since her Boston address was made she has received many threatening letters from the south, but to these she paid no heed, knowing they did not come from a source worthy of consideration.

Miss Jewett paid for the tickets of the Baker family from here to Boston, and she also bought a number of small articles of clothing for the woman and her children.

The Rev. J. L. Dart, a colored minister of this city, who has recently spent some time in Boston, returned from the city to-day and opposed violently the removal of the Bakers from Charleston. He declares that Miss Jewett did not represent the better class of white or colored people in Boston. He says that she and those who stand with her merely want to get control of the Bakers to make notoriety and money for themselves.


The Logansport Pharos-Tribune (Logansport, Indiana) dated August 8, 1899:

BAKER FAMILY IS NORTH.

Miss Jewett Is Pushing the Anti-Negro Lynching Movement.

Providence, R. I., Aug. 8.—Lillian Clayton Jewett and the Baker family arrived in Providence from South Carolina yesterday. There was no demonstration at the station. Later a well attended mass meeting was held. At the conclusion of the meeting the Lillian Clayton Jewett Anti-Lynching association No. 2 was formed.

The Baker family is the one that was nearly masacred [sic] in South Carolina because the father had been appointed postmaster by President McKinley. The "regulators" who attacked the family killed the father and wounded several of the others, but all attempts to punish them have failed. Miss Jewett has begun a crusade against lynching and has brought the family north at her own expense. 


The Greensboro Patriot (Greensboro, N. C.) dated August 16, 1899:

The postoffice department has decided to reopen the postoffice at Lake City, S. C., which was abolished after the negro postmaster Baker was lynched. A woman will have charge of the office.


The Lafayette Gazette (Lafayette, Louisiana) dated September 30, 1899:

A FEMALE FRAUD.

Daily States.

When Lillian Clayton Jewett, the rather smooth Puritan adventuress, brought the Baker family of negroes from South Carolina to Boston, she caused quite a sensation and for a time reveled in the notoriety which she gained by the act. The negroes of Boston who had been "taken in" by the gentle Lillian and raised a fund for the Bakers, called her the "White Angel of Freedom," and some of the newspapers lovingly referred to her as "The Female John Brown." The people of Boston, however, have discovered that she is neither the one nor the other, but is simply a female fraud who conceived the scheme of making a pile of money for herself by exhibiting the Baker family in Boston and playing upon anti-Southern sentiment.

Having utilized the unfortunate negroes until they ceased to be an attraction and the box receipts dwindled to insignificant figures, the suave Miss Jewett cast them adrift. The Boston Herald says:

"That is a very homely phrase which describes people as biting off more than they can chew, but it is already demonstrated as applying to the action taken as regards the Baker family of South Carolina in this city. Miss Lillian Clayton Jewett has exploited these unfortunate people in the manner  she has selected until she apparently sees no further use for them in this kind of service. She now surrenders them to the public, and some one writing over Mrs. Baker's signature makes a pathetic appeal of charity to this stricken family. They seem to be appropriate subjects for it, and it is to be hoped they will not be allowed to suffer. It is not their fault that they are brought into destitution in a strange land. They were offered aid and comfort by Miss Jewett, and in their inexperience in knowledge of the world it is not strange that they should have lent a credulous ear to her promise. More reliable persons may now well put them in the way of earning a livelihood without their being used as a spectacle.


Our final article comes from The Morning Times (Washington, D. C.) dated April 3, 1901:

NOT TO BE TRIED AGAIN.

The Baker Case Indictments Go on the Contingent Docket.

CHARLESTON, S. C.,  April 2.—The indictments against eleven white citizens of Lake City, who were held, charged with the murder of Postmaster Fraser B. Baker and his child, and with the burning of the Lake City postoffice, were transferred to the contingent docket in the Federal Court today. This means that the case will not be called for the second trial. Two years ago the jury failed to reach a verdict.

The action of Lillian Clayton Jewett, of Boston, in parading the crippled Bakers through New England prejudiced the case to such an extent here that the Government says that a verdict would be impossible. The citizens indicted were alleged to have been in the mob which set fire to the Baker's home and shot the family as they fled for safety.


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






Saturday, February 21, 2015

February 21, 1893: Richard Mays

The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana) dated February 22, 1893:

SPRINGVILLE.

A Black Brute Lynched.

Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 21.—A special to the Banner says:  At Springville, Ala., a small place, about 115 miles from this city, 28 miles from Birmingham, on the Alabama Great Southern Railroad, a mob took Richard Mays, alias Doc Moore, from jail and lynched him. The culprit was a negro about 19 years of age and the offense for which he was hanged was an attempted outrage on the person of a Mrs. Boyer. The lynching took place at 1 o'clock this morning.


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

Friday, February 20, 2015

February 20, 1901: Peter Berryman

The Kansas City Gazette (Kansas City, Kansas) dated February 21, 1901:

COLORED MAN LYNCHED.

Eight Masked Men Take Peter Berryman from Jail and Hang Him for Brutally Kicking a Girl.

Mena, Ark., Feb. 21.—Peter Berryman, colored, was lynched near here yesterday morning by eight masked men. Berryman was arrested Monday night for brutally kicking Essie Osbourne, aged 12 years, in the abdomen because she told him not to come in their yard after water. He was placed in the county jail for trial yesterday. Shortly after midnight Officer Jones, while making his rounds some distance from the jail, was accosted by eight men, who forced him to throw up his hands and took his keys and pistol. Two guarded him while the others went to the jail, took Berryman out and hanged him to a tree. They then returned and released the officer, who gave the alarm. The body was not found until daylight. Nothing has been learned as to the identity of the members of the lynching party.


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

Thursday, February 19, 2015

February 19, 1904: Glenco Bays

Today we start with an article connected to yesterday's lynching. We learn about it through the pages of The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) dated February 21, 1901:

FIVE HANGINGS GIVEN TO NEGRO

But in Spite of Torture He Refused To Confess.

KING'S HORRIBLE STORY

He Alleged That Negroes of Dyersburg Had Formed a Plot To Assault Five of the Best Young Women of the Town.

Dyersburg, Tenn., February 20.—A mob took Bebee Montgomery from the jail here last night and swung him up to the limb of the famous "Mike Lynching tree" five times, letting him down each time he was hauled up, to make him confess his complicity in the assault with Fred King upon Miss Alice Arnold.

The negro denied his guilt. Finally the mob carried him back to jail more dead than alive and delivered him to the jailer.

The mob was led by an organized vigilance committee. The mob decided not to lynch Montgomery until the third guilty negro is found, whom King implicated in his confession. This negro is being sought for by detectives. The vigilance committee swears when he is found that the two will be lynched together.

In his confession King said that they had slated five of the best young women of Dyersburg for assault, and this horrible plan is the cause of the spirit of vengeance among the citizens. A number of negroes were whipped out of Dyersburg last night.


Our featured lynching is brought to us through The Scranton Republican (Scranton, Pennsylvania) dated February 20, 1904:

WAS HIDING IN A WELL.

Negro Murderer Hunted Down by Arkansas Mob and Lynched.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Feb. 19.—Glenco Bays, a negro hunted down by a mob, was burned at a stake early today near Gross Set. He was charged with the murder of J. D. Stephens of Ashley county. Stephens, a wealthy planter, had a few words with Bays yesterday. Later the negro secured a shot gun and killed Stephens. The negro then beat the body with the gun and escaped.

Blood hounds were brought on a special train from Lakeville. They traced the murderer to his father's house, where the negro was found hiding in a well. A mob, several hundred strong, dragged out the murderer, who confessed. With hands and feet tied, he was bound to a stake in his father's yard and slowly burned to death.


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

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

February 18, 1901: Fred King

The Scranton Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania) dated February 19, 1901:

COLORED MAN LYNCHED.

Fred King Tracked by Bloodhounds and Hanged.

By Exclusive Wire from The Associated Press.

Dyersburg, Tenn., Feb. 18.—Fred King, colored, was lynched today for assault, Saturday night upon Elise Arnold, daughter of a prominent physician. Bloodhounds trailed King from Dr. Arnold's home to King's room, where a hatchet covered with blood was found. Miss Arnold had been struck with a hatchet by her assailant and on this evidence King was arrested. A mob at once formed to lynch him, but Mr. Arnold prevailed upon them to wait for further identification.

They were restrained until this afternoon when they took King from jail, tried him before a jury selected from the crowd and sentenced him to be hanged. He then broke down and confessed, implicating another negro, Beebe. King was at once hanged and it is altogether likely Beebe will be similarly treated.


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

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

February 17, 1901: Thomas Jackson

Lawrence Daily Journal (Lawrence, Kansas) dated February 18, 1901:

A FIEND LYNCHED.

A Negro Hanged by Mob Near New Orleans for a Devilish series of Crimes.

New Orleans, Feb. 18.—A negro named Thomas Jackson was lynched yesterday at St. Peter, a station on the Texas & Pacific road, about 20 miles above this city, for a fiendish series of crimes. Yesterday morning at eight o'clock he visited the home of Alexander Bourgeois, the engineer of the drainage machine on Belle Point plantation, some distance from the plantation quarters, going there on a railway tricycle. He told Bourgeois the manager wanted him and the engineer mounted the tricycle with the negro. A little further on Jackson stabbed the engineer in the back and threw the body into a ditch. He then returned to the house and butchered Mrs. Bourgeois and her two babies and ransacked the house. Two boys were visiting the family and when they caught the first glimpse of the attack on Mrs. Bourgeois they hid in the woods. After the negro's departure the boys went to St. Peter and gave the alarm, returning with a mob of several hundred men. The negro was traced to his home and fully identified by the boys. He was hanged and his body riddled with bullets before the sheriff arrived.


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

Monday, February 16, 2015

February 16, 1902: Louis F. Wright

The St. Louis Republic (Saint Louis, Missouri) dated February 18, 1902:


RIOT IN THEATER LEADS TO LYNCHING OF NEGRO MINSTREL

Louis F. Wright, Member of Richards and Pringle Company, Hanged at New Madrid, Mo.

TAKEN FROM JAIL BY MOB.

Had Been Arrested After the Performance at the Theater Had Ended in Fusillade of Shots.

TWO MEN WERE WOUNDED.

Trouble Was Started by Two Youths Snowballing Three of the Negro Entertainers on the Street Saturday.

REPUBLIC SPECIAL.

New Madrid, Mo., Feb. 17.—As a result of a riot in the opera-house here Saturday night between members of Richards & Pringle's Georgia Minstrels and men and boys in the audience, Louis F. Wright, a negro minstrel whose home is in Ottawa, Kas., was lynched late last night by a mob of masked men.

He was hanged from the limb of a big elm tree which stands by the Big Prairie road, just north of the railroad tracks on the edge of town. 

The riot in the opera-house resulted in the shooting of one minstrel and one man in the audience. Several other had narrow escapes from being wounded, bullets passing through their clothing. 

Wright and several members of the minstrel company were arrested Saturday night and locked in jail. The mob which marched to the jail last night and compelled the Sheriff to give up his keys, did not attempt to take any of the prisoners but Wright. It was known that he had done most of the shooting from the stage into the audience, and he was held chiefly responsible for the whole trouble. 

MINSTRELS WERE SNOWBALLED: CURSED WHITE YOUTHS.

The Richards and Pringle Minstrels, twenty four in number, arrived in New Madrid Saturday morning, and appeared at the opera-house that evening. During the afternoon several of the negroes, flashily dressed, paraded the streets of the town and became the target for the gibes and the snowballs of young men and boys on the streets.

Three of the negro entertainers were walking by the Courthouse when two young white men—Richard Mott and Thomas Waters—began snowballing them. It is claimed that none of the minstrels were hit by the balls, but they became angry, and, it is alleged, one of them turned and cursed the white boys. 

Immediate trouble was averted by the Town Marshal, who advised the boys to go on home, and told the minstrels they would be wise to get off the streets to avoid any trouble. 

When the hour for the evening performance arrived the opera-house was packed and jammed. The show began on time, and almost immediately signs of trouble appeared. Several men and boys sitting near the stage began to make remarks to the performers on the stage, and the minstrels would reply in tones loud enough to be heard over the entire house. 

BAD FEELING BETWEEN PERFORMERS AND SPECTATORS

The remarks that were exchanged between the performers and men in the audience were at first good-natured, but they became more and more personal and offensive as the performance progressed. 

Jeers, catcalls and hisses punctuated the entertainment. Sentimental ballads were received with laughter; the funny gags and jokes brought forth groans. Some of the minstrels made no effort to please and frequently addressed personal remarks to member of the audience. 

Older heads saw the danger of the situation and endeavored to restrain the thoughtless in the audience from carrying the matter any further, but in vain. 

Just as the performance closed and before many of the audience had left the building, half a dozen young men started to go upon the stage to find the negro who had insulted the white boys in the afternoon and force him to apologize. 

SHOTS FIRED INTO THE HALL FROM THE STAGE.

As they were going through the narrow passageway to the stage, one of the members of the minstrel company opened fire with a revolver. In a moment, half a dozen pistols were being fired at random by the negroes and white men. Panic ensued in the hall, and men, women and children rushed pell-mell from the building, screaming and crying. 

Twenty shots were fired and one negro received a bullet wound in the leg. Clay Hunter, sun of A. B. Hunter, one of the most prominent men in town, received a scalp wound. Four bullets passed through the clothing worn by Wint Lewis. A ball passed through the collar of Tommie Water's coat. A shot passed through the back of Hal Hunter's overcoat, just grazing the skin. Two bullet holes were found in Miss McLelland's dress after she had gone home. 

Older men in the hall and members of the company who had all along been trying to prevent the trouble, finally stopped the shooting. The minstrels left through the stage door and went directly to their car on the side track. The crowd at the theater gradually dispersed and, when it was learned that the negroes who did the shooting were under arrest, it was supposed that the trouble was ended. 

FIVE MEN TOOK THE PRISONER FROM THE JAIL

Yesterday, however, groups of men collected on the street corners, discussing the shooting at the theater. About  midnight five men went to the jail, took Sheriff Stone unawares and overpowered him, secured the keys and went upstairs to the cell wherein Louis F. Wright was locked. 

The negro pleaded with the men not to take him out of the jail, but they would not listen to him. Outside the jail the five men were joined by others, who assisted in the lynching. The body of the dead negro was cut down this morning by the Sheriff. The men who composed the mob are not known. 

WRIGHT WELL KNOWN IN OTTAWA. 

REPUBLIC SPECIAL.

Ottawa, Kas., Feb. 17.—Louis Wright, who was lynched at New Madrid, Mo., for shooting into a crowd at a theater, has been a member of the minstrel company for several seasons. He was a singer of considerable local note before going on the road. His parents lately moved to Chicago. The boy was last here last September. He was about 19 years old. 

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

Sunday, February 15, 2015

February 15, 1892: Walter Austin

The Bismarck Weekly Tribune (Bismarck, N. D.) dated February 26, 1892:

TIGHTENED A NOOSE.

A Negro in Florida Shoots a Deputy Sheriff and Is Lynched.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb. 18.—An Arcadia, Fla., special says Deputy Sheriff Bert Harde made a raid on a gang of negro gamblers and while attempting to arrest them a big burly negro named Walter Austin emptied the contents of a Winchester rifle into the officer's body, killing him instantly. The negro escaped but was captured Sunday night and lynched. Harde was highly esteemed by all who knew him. His remains were sent to Wadsworth, O., for internment. 


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

Saturday, February 14, 2015

February 14, 1893: Andy Blount

On this Valentine's Day we learn about a lynching of a possible innocent man on a Valentine's Day 122 years  ago from the pages of The Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) dated February 15, 1893:

LYNCHED ON A BRIDGE

Summary Punishment Dealt Out to a Chattanooga Negro.

CHATTANOOGA, February 14.—This city is intensely excited to-night over a fiendish outrage committed here this morning upon Mrs. M. A. Moore, a highly respected widow, by a negro, who found the lady alone in the house. His victim is 51 years old and the mother of seven grown children.

A negro named Andy Blount was subsequently arrested on suspicion, but Mrs. Moore is in doubt whether he is the man. Neighbors, however, believe him guilty. The negro protests his innocence, and an investigation by a number of leading citizens indicate that he speaks the truth.

At 10:30 to-night an infuriated mob battered down the outer doors of the County Jail and finally forced their way into the cell where Andy Blount, the suspected negro, was confined. Despite the protests of the jail officials and many leading citizens, they took the negro down to the bridge which crosses the Tennessee river.

His lifeless corpse now dangles from one of the arches. Sentiment here is almost evenly divided as to the man's guilt.


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


Friday, February 13, 2015

February 13, 1912: George Sanders and Mary Jackson

The Waxahachie Daily Light (Waxahachie, Texas) dated February 15, 1912:

TWO NEGROES LYNCHED TO THE SAME TREE

Negro Man and Negress Swung Up in Panola County Tuesday. No Details are Given.

Associated Press Special.

Marshall, Texas, Feb. 15.—News has reached here that two negroes, George Sanders and Mary Jackson, were lynched to the same limb of a tree in Panola county Tuesday. They resided in the same house with the negro, Tennie Sneed, who is accused of killing a white man, Paul Strange, a few days ago near Elysian Fields. Sneed is now in the penitentiary at Rusk for safe keeping.


It is sad that these two people appear to have been lynched for nothing more than sharing a house with the murderer. Thank you for joining me and as always, I hope I leave you with something to ponder.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

February 12, 1898: Whit Dillard

Fort Wayne Daily News (Fort Wayne, Indiana) dated February 14, 1898:

MURDER QUICKLY AVENGED.

Posse Overtakes the Guilty Man and Shoots Him to Death.

BLUE RIDGE, Ga., Feb. 14.—An Urbanite named Rawlins, attended church here Sunday. He was unmercifully guyed by the rustics. A native named Frey imagined some remonstrance from Rawlins was addressed to him, and he cursed the stranger vigorously. Angered because Rawlins failed to resent the treatment, Whit Dillard, a kinsman of Frey, shot and killed him. The congregation speedily scattered and amid the confusion Dillard escaped. A posse was organized under 'Squire Calloway. After a chase of about two miles Dillard was cornered in a ravine and commanded to surrender. This he refused to do. The members of the posse fired simultaneously, terribly tearing his body and killing him on the spot.


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

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

February 11, 1906: Bunkie Richardson

The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, California) dated February 12, 1906:


ALABAMA MOB LYNCHES NEGRO

Masked Men Put to Death a Prisoner Accused of Crime Committed in July Last

TAKE HIM FROM JAIL

Third Black to Be Executed for the Fiendish Murder of a Woman at Gadsden

GADSDEN, Ala., Feb. 11.—Bunkie Richardson, a negro charged with the assault on and murder of Mrs. Sarah Smith here on July 15 last, was forcibly taken from the jail here at an early hour this morning and hanged to a bridge of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad across the Coosa River. Twenty-four masked men went to the jail, overpowered the Sheriff and jailer and made short work of the prisoner.

Four negroes were charged with the crime against Mrs. Smith, one of the most fiendish ever committed in the State. Two of the accused have been legally executed. The third, Will Johnson, was recently convicted  and sentenced to death, but last week Governor Jenks, believing there was strong doubt of the prisoner's guilt, commuted the negro's sentence to life imprisonment.

Richardson, the man lynched this morning, had not been indicted, but was in jail awaiting the action of the Grand Jury.


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

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

February 10, 1908: Eli Pigot

The Ocala Evening Star (Ocala, Florida) dated February 11, 1908:


SOLDIERS DIDN'T SHOOT

So the Men of Brookhaven, Miss., Lynched a Rapist in a Hundred Yards of the Courthouse

Brookhaven, Miss., Feb. 11,—Eli Pigot, the negro who criminally assaulted Miss Williams, a young white woman, near here several weeks ago, was taken from the custody of the Jackson military company and a posse of deputies yesterday and hanged from a telegraph pole within less than a hundred yards of the courthouse.

The military and the police were overpowered by a mob of two thousand citizens. Several shots were fired during the melee, and two members of the mob were wounded. The soldiers drove off the mob at first with clubbed muskets and started for the courthouse with their prisoner. The mob was reinforced, however, and making another attack, secured the prisoner and hung him.


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


Monday, February 9, 2015

February 9, 1886: R. T. Garrett

The Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) dated February 9, 1886:

A LYNCHING BEE AT PARIS.

HANGED TO A TREE IN THE WOODS.

A Mob Wreak Vengeance on R. T. Garrett, the Slayer of Deputy Sheriff Clay Davis.

Special to The News.

PARIS, February 9.—This morning about 1 o'clock a mounted party of about 75 to 100 men rode up in front of the county jail, on North Main street, and drew up in line opposite the jail and court-house. While the cavalcade remained mounted, a dozen or more of the party dismounted and went to the front door of the jail, where the leader knocked for admittance.

G. S. BALDWIN,

the jailer, went to the door and opened it, when two or three men sprang inside, Jailer Baldwin drew his pistol, but it was thrown up by the leader, who -----hed Mr. Baldwin, the ball passing through the ceiling, and pinioned him to the wall,

CHOKING HIM

until he relinquished his pistol. The rest of the party then forced the door open leading into an inner room where R. T. Garrett, the wounded desperado, was confined, charged with the murder of Deputy Sheriff Clay Davis, some five or six weeks since, Garrett was in bed with his wife who had risen and closed and barred the door, and then assisted her husband out at the south door into the back yard. When the mob broke into the room they found it vacant. Then they went into the back yard and found him, dragged him back through the front room, carried him out and placed him in a wagon.

THE PROCESSION

of mounted horsemen then took up the line of march after the wagon, and when it reached the edge of the timber, about three-quarters of a mile north of the s----re, a halt was ordered. Garrett was taken from the wagon and carried about twenty yards into the woods and

HUNG TO A TREE,

where the body was found early this morning by Sheriff Gunn and posse that had started out in search of the body. It was hanging by a common halter rope, his feet touching the ground. His hands had been tied behind his back, and death had apparently occurred by strangulation. Deputy Coroner J. P. Ryan was notified, who immediately summoned a jury and repairing to the spot had

THE BODY CUT DOWN

and removed to the court-house, where an inquest was held this morning with the verdict given below. The mob was evidently well drilled, and every man performed his part to perfection. All the streets leading to the jail were patrolled, and when Policeman Jas. Shankson [?] and the ------ appeared in response to the alarm at the jail yard rang by Mrs. Baldwin, they were covered by several men and ordered to stand still. This act was performed in elegantly good shape by them and also

A NEWS REPORTER,

who rushed to the jail when the alarm was sounded. Deputy Sheriffs Hamp Sanders and John Booth, who occupied a room in the court-house overlooking the jail-yards, were also held, as were several other parties. The mob threw Jailer Baldwin's revolver into the jail yard, where he found it after the mob had left, and fired two shots to arouse the citizens. When THE NEWS reporter reached the jail Mr. Baldwin could only speak in a whisper so tightly had they choked him. One of the party dropped his hat in the hall and this is now in the possession of the authorities. The body, after inquest was

PLACED IN A PLAIN COFFIN

and placed at the disposal of Mrs. Garrett. We learn that she is trying to raise enough money by subscription to send the remains to Magnet Cove, Hot Springs county, Ark., for interment, that being the place from which Garrett came to Lamar county. The crime for which Garrett suffered death at the hands of Judge Lynch is well known. Some six weeks ago he was arrested on Shockey prairie by Deputy Sheriff Clay Davis on a warrant for disturbing a meeting. Davis permitted him to go into his house to make a change of clothes, when Garrett seized a gun and

SHOT THE DEPUTY DEAD.

Sheriff Gunn and a posse started in search of him and surrounded him in a thicket not far from his place of residence. A number of shots were exchanged, during which Deputy Sheriff Anderson received a wound in the hip, while Garrett's body was pierced by fourteen bullets. He was brought to town to die, as was expected, but instead of doing so he insisted on getting well. The mob this morning accomplished the work that 

FOURTEEN HOLES IN HIS BODY

failed to do, and so he died as he had lived—a desperado—but unflinching to the very last. To-night a meeting of the citizens was held, at which resolutions were passed denouncing the action of the mob, and expressing full confidence in the ability of the criminal courts to deal with all crimes.


I apologize for any mistakes I made in transcribing this article. It was very difficult to read and I thought I would show you an example of it.


I tried to be as true to the article as I possibly could. Also, I never did find what the Coroner's inquest decided. Thank you for joining me and as always, I hope I leave you with something to ponder.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

February 8, 1913: Dibrell Tucker

As promised, we follow the lynching connected to yesterday's lynching through the pages of The Caucasian (Clinton, N. C.) dated February 13, 1913:

TWO NEGROES LYNCHED.

One Was Tied to Stake and Tarred and Match Applied—Had Murdered Woman.

Houston, Miss., Feb. 7.—Andrew Williams, a negro was lynched by a mob to-day. William was suspected of murdering Mrs. John Williams, the Deputy Chancery Clerk's wife, who was found dead at her home yesterday. Robbery was the motive.

Houston, Miss., Feb. 8.—Dibrell Tucker, thirty years old, a negro, in whose possession a diamond ring was found, said to have been the property of Mrs. J. S.  Williams, murdered in her home here Thursday last, was lynched late to-day by a mob in the court-house square.

The negro, who was captured earlier in the day, was taken to the square about 2:30 o'clock and chained to an iron post.

A kettle of tar was poured over him and faggots piled around the trembling man. He was allowed to talk for a short time, and then a brother of the dead woman touched a match to the dry wood.

Tucker had hardly begun to feel the effects of the heat when the father of Mrs. Williams, it is said, ran up and shot him four times. The second shot, it is believed, caused his death.

The negro, according to responsible citizens, admitted the crime and said Andrew Williams, the negro lynched on Friday, took the body of the dead woman out of the house and threw it into the pit where it was found.


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