Saturday, January 30, 2016

May 21, 1928: Ceodep "Buddy" Evans

Today we learn about a lynching in Texas through the pages of the Miami Daily News-Record (Miami, Oklahoma) dated May 21, 1928:


NEGRO LYNCHED BY TEXAS MOB

Slayer Taken From Two Officers Returning Him After Jail Break

CENTER, Tex., May 21—(AP)—Ceodep (Buddy) Evans, negro, was lynched here about 7:30 o'clock this morning by a mob that took him away from two officers. He was hanged from the same limb of an oak tree in the courthouse yard where another negro was lynched about five years ago for an attack on a white woman. Evans had been charged with murder in a fatal attack on John Wheeler at Canton.

Evans was arrested April 14 at San Augustine for the Wheeler slaying and charged with murder. A speedy trial was promised. He then was brought to Center and placed in the jail for safe keeping.

Saturday at 5:30 p. m. the jailer went to the negro's cell with his evening meal. Evans knocked down the officer with a piece of pipe he had torn from the plumbing in the cell, took the jailer's keys and pistol and locked him in the cell. His escape was not discovered until just before daylight Sunday.

Posses immediately started pursuit of the negro, but did not find him until shortly before daybreak today. He was discovered by Oren Wheeler, son of the man Evans was charged with having slain. The negro fired at Wheeler, who returned the fire, wounding the negro in the leg.

Evans then was put in a truck and taken to Timpson where his wound was dressed.

Sheriff H. H. Burns and Constable Barto Giles of Timpson took charge of the negro and started back to Center with him. When they arrived at Center they were overpowered by a mob of between 200 and 300 white men, who took the negro and with little ceremony hanged him from the limb of an oak tree in the courthouse yard.


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

Thursday, January 28, 2016

March 28, 1951: Melvin Womack

Today we learn about a lynching in Florida through the pages of St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) dated April 3, 1951:


NIGHT RIDERS SEIZE NEGRO IN FLORIDA, BEAT HIM TO DEATH

WINTER GARDEN, Fla., April 3 (UP)—A Negro was fatally beaten last Wednesday night by night riders who may have mistaken him for someone else.

The attack did not come to light until last night. Sheriff Dave Starr disclosed that four unmasked white men invaded a house, drove 26-year-old Melvin Womack into an orange grove near this central Florida town, and battered him on the head, apparently with a pistol butt. Womack died Saturday.

Officers and others said Womack, a citrus grove worker, was not a troublemaker and did not have any known enemies. Constable Carl Sanders recalled that another Negro had been beaten on the street by four or five white men about two months ago. He said Coleman lived just two or three blocks from Womack and that the night riders might have gone to the wrong house.

The kidnapping was reported by Pauline and Dora Mosby, with whom Womack boarded. They failed to recognize any of the night riders and Womack himself told Coroner C. M. Tucker before he died that "I don't know who did it and I don't know why."

Sanders found the Negro in the grove Thursday morning.


The Eugene Guard (Eugene, Oregon) dated April 4, 1951:


Whites Flog Young Negro

WINTER GARDEN, Fla.,—(U.P.)—Authorities revealed Wednesday that night riders not only flogged a young Negro citrus grove worker but blasted him with buckshot.

The victim, 26-year-old Melvin Womack, died in an Orlando hospital Saturday night. The Fact that four white men dragged him from his boarding house and beat and shot him was not disclosed until Tuesday night because authorities first believed his death might have been an accident.

Dr. A. W. Derrick of Orlando, who performed an autopsy, said Wednesday Womack's body had been struck by five buckshot slugs, one piercing his skull.

The victim died without being able to furnish a clue to the identity of his attackers.


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

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

November 20, 1948: Robert Mallard

Today we learn about a Georgia lynching through the pages of The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) dated December 4, 1948:



HINT WIDOW FRAMED TO SHIELD LYNCHING 

Husband Killed By Ga. Kluxers, Teacher Sobs

B-U-L-L-E-T-I-N-!

SAVANNAH, Ga.—A Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent told newsmen Monday that Mrs. Mallard was released Saturday in order to witness the burial of her husband.

By CHESTER L. WASHINGTON
(Courier Associate Editor)

LYONS, Ga.—Is blood-drenched Georgia desperately trying to cover up another infamous lynching?

Mrs. Amy James Mallard charges that her husband, Robert, 37, was set upon and shot to death by hooded Klansmen near Saturday midnight, Nov. 20.

But the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, assigned to the case by Governor Herman Talmadge, white supremacy leader, arrested Mrs. Mallard as a suspect in the killing.

The bureau then released her without requiring bond.

Local residents are now asking why Mrs. Mallard was arrested and charged with the murder.


They also want to know, if the charges against Mrs. Mallard have any substance, why the GBI released Mrs. Mallard without requiring bond and without withdrawing the murder charges.

In the light of obvious efforts being made to shift responsibility for the crime from whites, investigators here have raised the question as to whether or not Mrs. Mallard is being framed, or used, to divert attention from white responsibility.

These and other questions filled the air with mystery and suspense as officials of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation maintained a tight-lipped silence in their probe of the slaying of prosperous Robert Mallard on a lonely country road.

Less than ten miles from where Isiah Nixon was shot down in cold blood in the presence of his wife and six small children a few weeks ago, a band of hooded white men drew up a roadblock, according to Mrs. Mallard, widow of the slain man, and stopped their car.

The ambushers then shot her husband to death as she and her baby, and two young companions looked on in terror, Mrs. Mallard said. The band was reportedly made up of from fifty to seventy white men.

That was near midnight on Saturday, Nov. 20.

It was not until Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 23, that news of the ambush-killing reached the outside world, and then under most peculiar circumstances.

On that afternoon, a Macon, Ga., paper broke the story to the outside world that another murder had taken place in the Telfair zone—traditional home of the Talmadges at McRae. It is reported that the Macon paper had secured its information through a "tip" from a Macon lawyer—who, in turn, had gotten a "tip" from New York City, it is understood.

Rising quickly to keep Georgia's "white supremacy" escutcheon as clean as possible, two significant developments came to the fore.

Toombs County Sheriff R. E. Gray disputed Mrs. Mallard's charge that hooded Klansmen had committed the murder and two separate offers of $500 rewards were posted by white Georgians. One was for anyone who could prove that Mallard was killed by white men; the others were offered for the "arrest and conviction" of the killers. This was an anonymous offer and was left with Editor Ralph McGill of the Atlanta Constitution.

But, with startling suddenness, officials of the GBI—ordered into action by Governor Herman Talmadge—arrested Mrs. Mallard at the funeral of her husband and charged her with the murder. They reportedly found a .32 calibre pistol in her car. The Courier was advised that the gun was loaded when found.

However, advices from Jacksonville reached The Courier this week that photographs had been made of the murder car and that these photographs show a bullet hole in the windshield, placing any grave doubts on any possibility that Mrs. Mallard could have shot her husband since she was inside the car with him and holding their eighteen-month-old baby at the time.

Then, again with startling unexpectedness, on Saturday night, the GBI released Mrs. Mallard, who turned up in Savannah, Ga., where she told her story to reporters.

She related how she was released by the GBI nine hours after her arrest, without bond, into the custody of one of her attorneys, Ellis Pope of Lyons.

Bedraggled and thoroughly terrified, Mrs. Mallard told how she had spent most of Saturday night hiding in a thick of woods, protected against a heavy downpour of rain by only a thin raincoat. Her attorney had driven her to the home of friends at Reidsville after her release because she was fearful of violence in the Lyons area. She was to get a bus from Reidsville.

Mrs. Mallard said her release came when she positively identified one member of the mob which she said killed her husband. She also said she identified another man's automobile as one which was at the scene where he was killed. Both the men she named are white.

Two other young people were in the Mallard car at the time of the slaying, William Carter, 18, and Emma Carter, 13, his sister. They were taken into custody, along with Frank Brinson, identified as a white farmer, as material witnesses.

Officials of the GBI refused to make any comment early this week on the progress of the case or further developments and it is understood that the GBI has taken full charge of the probe.

At the time of Mrs. Mallard's arrest, GBI Captain Delmas Jones said he believed that the KKK had been wrongfully accused in the slaying. The widow, when taken into custody, became hysterical, and screamed that her husband was slain "by masked Ku Kluxers, that's who did it!"

The Courier was informed Monday that an autopsy showed that Mallard's heart was burst and that he had a bullet in one leg. 

Motives advanced for the killing ran the gamut.

Mallard had been threatened because of recent political activity, and, like Isiah Nixon, had been told that his life "wouldn't be worth fifty cents" if he voted in the recent Sept. 8 Georgia primary. He was in Savannah that day and did not vote.

A farmer as well as a salesman for several firms, Mallard was also reported to be the object of envy of whites because of his apparent prosperity and his new auto.

He represented the Standard Advertising and Printing Company, Fort Scott, Kan.; the Duval Casket Company, Jacksonville, Fla.; the Egyptian Chemical Company, Boston, and the Schwartz Tailoring Company. His father is a retired Presbyterian minister the Rev. J. R. Mallard of Jacksonville, Fla. He has several other relatives.

Burial services took place in Griffin, Ga., Monday afternoon of this week, with his sister and father present for the final rites.

Meanwhile, there was no indication that the Federal Bureau of Investigation would move into the newest slaying which has shocked the Nation, although relatives of the dead man have said they would seek FBI assistance.

In New York City, Walter White, NAACP secretary, called the slaying "a dastardly deed and a cold-blooded murder." The NAACP has ordered its Georgia lawyers to step into the case.



The Kane Republican (Kane, Pennsylvania) dated December 6, 1948:

Widow of Negro She Claims Was Lynched Swear Out Warrants For Accused

LYONS, Ga.—(U.P.)—Amy Mallard,widow of a negro she claims was lynched, came out of seclusion today to return to the scene of the crime and swear out warrants for the white men she charged with the murder.

The 40-year-old school teacher who had been in virtual hiding since the slaying of her husband, left Savannah, Ga., this morning under protection of Lt. W. E. McDuffie of the state police and an armed trooper.

Aaron Kravitch, Amy's attorney, hustled her into a state car outside his office as the woman nervously watched a curious crowd that had gathered to watch the departure.

Amy returned to Lyons, near where her husband was ambushed and shot to death, after the promise of Gov. Herman Talmadge that she would be protected.

Three young white farmers were lodged in the Toombs county jail Saturday night to await the formality of warrants. They said they were willing to remain in custody until investigation of Robert Mallard's death is completed.

A special session of the grand jury has been set for Friday to look into the case and if it returns indictments, a superior court term will begin Monday.

Roderick L. Clifton, 32, William L. (Spud) Howell, 24, and James W. (Buck) Spivey, 27, gave themselves up voluntarily, said Sheriff R. E. Gray. All are residents of the lower part of the county, where Mallard, 37-year-old casket salesman, was halted at a roadblock and slain on the night of Nov. 20.





Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) dated December 11, 1948:

Georgia Jury Indicts 2 in Negro Killing

LYONS, Ga.—(AP)—Two white men were indicted on murder charges in the ambush slaying of Robert Mallard, Toombs County Negro.

A special grand jury returned true bills after hearing a hysterical account of the slaying by Mallard's widow.

Indicted were William L. Howell, 32, a farmer, and Roderick Clifton, 36.



[Amy Mallard (center), Negro school teacher, was charged with
murder for the fatal shooting of her husband, Robert Mallard,
on a lonely road near Lyons, Ga., but now Sheriff R. E. Gray
says the charges are being withdrawn. He reports his investigation
disclosed she was not implicated in the killing. The widow and
other witnesses said a band of men in white robes halted their
party on the road, and a shot was fired that killed Mallard.
This picture was made when the widow was arrested in Savannah,
Ga., and accused of the slaying. She is being questioned by Lt.
W. E. McDuffie (right) of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
At left is her brother, J. C. James, an attorney, from Buffalo, N. Y.
(A. P. Photo).


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




Tuesday, January 26, 2016

April 13, 1937: Roosevelt Townes and "Bootjack" McDaniels

Today we learn about a lynching in Mississippi through the pages of The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio) dated April 14, 1937:


TWO NEGROES

Lynched By Mob

Of 200 After Pleading Not Guilty of Killing.

Blowtorch Used In Torture Of One In Mississippi—Congress Debates Law.

Winona, Miss., April 13—(AP)—Two Negroes were tortured and lynched by a mob of more than 100 white men near Duck Hill, Miss., this afternoon within two hours after they had pleaded innocent in Montgomery County Circuit Court to a charge of murdering a white man.

A third Negro suspected by the mob of complicity in the slaying of George Windham, a country storekeeper, was whipped severely and run out of the county after narrowly escaping the fate of the other two Negroes.

Roosevelt Townes, who had confessed, Sheriff E. E. Wright said, that he shot Windham, was tied to a tree near Wingham's store and tortured slowly to death with flames from a blow torch.

A Negro identified only as "Bootjack" McDaniels, indicted with Townes in the Windham slaying, was shot by members of the mob, and his body burned.

Townes and McDaniels were taken from Sheriff Wright and two deputies early this afternoon as they were being led from the courthouse to be returned to the jail to await trial Thursday.

The Negroes were handcuffed and placed in a waiting school bus. Members of the mob piled into the bus, and others into automobiles. The caravan sped northward toward Duck Hill as the Negroes screamed for mercy. The bus stopped near the small country store where Windham was shot fatally through a window one night last December. Then the Negroes were tied to a tree and tortured.

"This terrible thing will be immediately investigated by the grand jury," said Circuit Judge John F. Allen of Kosciusko, who was presiding at the regular criminal term of Circuit Court here when the Negroes were arraigned.

Judge Allen said he would confer with the District Attorney and plans for investigating the double lynchings would be made immediately.

"Two men pinned me from behind and they grabbed the other officers in the same way," Deputy Sheriff A. J. Curtis said.

"It was all done very quickly, quietly, and orderly."

Curtis was asked if the men were masked.

"No, they weren't masked."

"Did your recognize any of them?"

"No, they were behind me, and I couldn't tell who they were."

Washington, April 13—(AP)—The house received reports of the lynching of two Negroes near Dusk [sic] Hill, Miss., today in the midst of debate over a Federal anti-lynching bill.

Proponents immediately seized upon the mob action as an argument in behalf of a proposal by Representative Joseph A. Gavagan, Democrat, New York, to impose heavy fines and prison terms on persons figuring in lynchings.

Peace officers who permit prisoners to be taken from them would be subject to punishment, as well as mob members.

"This lynching is not an indication that the laws of Mississippi condone or approve such acts," Representative John E. Miller, Democrat, Arkansas, declared off the floor. He attacked organizations sponsoring the bill.

"I pity you men who feel you are forced to yield to the pressure of racketeering organizations preying upon the colored people," he said.

APPLAUSE IS REBUKED.

A large gallery crowd, including many Negroes, heard the debate. At one point Acting Speaker John O'Connor, Democrat, New York, halted proceedings after agitators applauded a remark by Representative Hamilton Fish, Republican, New York, that he believed in placing "human rights above property rights." Visitors were warned against demonstrations.

Asserting 5,000 Negroes have been lynched in the United States in the last 50 years, Fish chided Congress because it had not passed such legislation.

"The whole world is laughing at us," he declared.

A Mississippi Democrat, Representative William M. Colmer, interrupted Fish to ask if the measure would ap0ply to "gang murders for which your state is known."

Chairman Hatton W. Sumners, Democrat, Texas, of the Judiciary Committee and opposition floor-leader, criticized proponents for "failing to point out" Southern states had virtually stopped lynchings.

Taking cognizance of today's lynching, Representative John M. Robsion [sic], Republican, Kentucky, asserted they would continue "until Congress responds to the wishes of the American people and the demands of the situation to place the government behind the movement to stop mob violence.


-------------------------------------------

SPEAKS TOO SOON!

Jackson, Miss., April 13—
(AP)—"We are justly proud of
the fact that Mississippi has not
had a lynching in 15 months,"
Governor Hugh White boasted
in an address before the Farm
Chemurgic Conference here
this afternoon. A minute later
he was called from the confer-
ence to learn from his secre-
tary that two Negroes had just
been lynched at Duck Hill,
Mississippi.


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



Monday, January 25, 2016

July 30, 1935: Govan Ward

Today we learn about a lynching in North Carolina through the pages of The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Florida) dated July 31, 1935:



MOB LYNCHED NEGRO AFTER AXE SLAYING

Whites And Blacks In Crowd That Hangs Alleged Killer.

By the Associated Press

LOUISBURG, N. C., July 30.—An angry mob of negroes and white men today lynched Govan Ward, 25-year-old mentally deficient negro known by the nickname "Sweat" for the axe-slaying of a white farmer.

Within four hours after Ward had chopped off C. G. Stokes' head with an axe as the climax of what Sheriff J. T. Moore said apparently was a mad frenzy, the bullet-riddled body of the negro was left swinging from a limb of an oak tree half a mile from where Stokes was slain.

The sheriff, who, fearing violence, was taking the negro from the county was forced to surrender him to the mob ten miles from here.

Moore said there were about 25 men, some white and some negroes, in the armed group which halted his automobile and took the negro from him and a deputy, T. J. Bean, as they were taking him to Rocky Mount for safe-keeping.

The mob carried Ward back to Haynesville township, about halfway between Louisburg and Anderson, and lynched him while national guardsmen and state highway patrolmen, ordered out by Governor J. C. B. Ehringhaus, sped futilely in an effort to halt the mob violence.

While a crowd of several hundred curious milled about in the grove where Ward was hanged and his body filled with pistol and shotgun slugs, Coroner R. A. Bobbitt took the body down and held an inquest. The verdict, rendered in five minutes, was death at the hands of parties unknown.

Solicitor William Y. Bickett, of Raleigh, prosecuting officer for this judicial district, and County Attorney Charles Green both attended the inquest and said their offices would bend all efforts to prosecution of the mob's members if they could be identified.


     Our next article comes from the Statesville Daily Record (Statesville, N. C.) dated August 2, 1935:


REWARD OFFERED FOR LYNCH GANG

Hope To Learn Identity Of Mob Who Lynched Negro

Raleigh, Aug 1.—Governor Ehringhaus has offered the maximum State reward of $400 for the arrest and conviction of the men who lynched Govan (Sweat) Ward, 25, negro, in a grove some ten miles from Louisburg in Franklin county Tuesday, after Ward had chopped off the head of Charles G. Stokes, white farmer of Franklin, and was being spirited away by the sheriff to prevent just what did happen.

Also, Governor Ehringhaus named Judge W. C. Harris, Raleigh, as committing magistrate at a hearing scheduled for 10 o'clock Thursday, at which time Solicitor William Y. Bickett said some 50 witnesses would be subpoenaed.

Quiet prevailed in the adjoining county following the lynching, except that souvenir hunters were busy on the negro's clothing, the lynch tree and other articles and items that were obtainable. Governor Ehringhaus had not been notified officially by Franklin officer of the lynching up to Wednesday.


The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) dated August 10, 1935:


N. CAROLINA GOVERNOR TO PUSH LYNCH PROBE

NO CREDENCE PUT IN REPORT ABOUT NEGROES IN MOB

RALEIGH, N. C., Aug. 8—(ANP)—A reward of $400 has been offered by Governor Ehringhaus for the arrest and conviction of parties responsible for the lynching of Govan Ward, who ran amuck at Louisburg, N. C., and killed a 67-year-old white farmer. In the meantime, the chief executive of the State is trying to ascertain just why the officers of Franklin county were so dilatory in requesting help to prevent mob violence and why it was impossible to recognize any of the members of the mob, although they were unmasked.

The governor learned of the lynching through Associated Press reports and immediately dispatched tro[o]ps to the scene but they arrived too late to deter the lynchers. They found the body of the lynched man suspended from an oak tree and a crowd of men and women milling about the body, expressing approval of the action of the mob and some cutting off toes and other parts of the body for souvenirs. In the crowd were many young women who apparently found much pleasure in viewing the gruesome spectacle and in praising the "heroism" of the lynchers.

When the lynching was first reported it was said that Negroes were numbered among the mob, but little credence is being put in the story and Negro leaders themselves are looking askance at the reports, pointing to the fact that Negroes are law-abiding and are willing at all times to let the law take its course and to the fact that it was due to the act of a Negro that the man, who had been declared insane, was placed under arrest.

Some of the facts relative to the lynching that are causing much comment include:

1.  That although it was common knowledge that mob violence was in the making, one sheriff and two deputies attempted to take the prisoner to another county for safekeeping.

2.  That the prisoner was beaten over the head with a blackjack by one of the officers who attempted to kill him by placing a gun to his head and pulling the trigger. his gun had been unbreached when dislodged from the holster during a struggle with the manacled prisoner and the bullets emptied on the floor of the car, hence it did not fire, and this officer then declared:  "I wanted to kill him then and there but the others would not let me."

3.  That the officers did not observe or attempt to get the numbers of licenses on any of the cars carrying the lynchers.

4.  That the governor was not notified by the officers but instead a band of 30 special deputies were assigned the task of rounding up the lynchers.

Governor Issues Statement

In discussing the outrage, Governor Ehringhaus issued the following statement:  "Two horrible crimes have been committed in Franklin county today. The first by an apparently crazed and degenerate individual, the second by a mob of supposedly responsible citizens. The first intimation of either occurrence came to the Governor's office, not through officers of the law, but through the Associated Press and this was to that effect that the wretched defendant had already been taken from the officers by the mob.

"Immediately the Highway Patrol and the National Guard received orders to do all possible to avert a lynching. Both acted with the utmost promptness and dispatch and both were on the scene within a remarkably brief period of time, but too late to prevent the last crime. This office also immediately sought to get in touch with the Sheriff of Franklin county by long distance but could not do so. The Governor also called upon the Sheriff of Vance county and urged that they offer every possible assistance to prevent lynching or disorder. No report of the first crime or any danger or threat of trouble was made to this office by any officer of the law for Franklin county and no request came for assistance. Had we received an intimation that the transfer of the prisoner for safekeeping was contemplated and there was any danger of disorder we could have rendered prompt and constructive assistance, but no such information or request was forthcoming.

"Offense Against Decency"

" I deplore, of course, the original crime, horrible in its details, but I deplore also the second offense against the laws of North Carolina and public decency and feel keenly the shame and reflection which it has cast upon our good name and reputation for orderly administration of justice."

The crime for which Ward was lynched was the decapitating of an aged white man who attempted to stop him from beating his (Ward's) sister with a bottle. Ward was insane at the time and had attacked two others before he killed Charles G. Stokes, the 67-year-old white farmer. An ax was the weapon used by the killer.


The Index-Journal (Greenwood, S. C.) dated September 3, 1935:


REVEAL LYNCHERS

RALEIGH, Sept 3 (AP)—Governor Ehringhaus today received a letter from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People allegedly naming nine persons who were members of the Franklin county mob which lynched Govan Ward on July 30 near Lewisburg but he did not reveal the names.


Our last article comes from The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) dated September 7, 1935:

ROOSEVELT SUPPLIED WITH LOUISBURG LYNCHING FACTS

N. A. A. C. P. Sends President Data on North Carolina Lynching of Govan Ward.

NEW YORK, Sept. 5—Calling attention to the fact that Senator Josiah W. Bailey, a member of his party and a leader in the filibuster against the Costigan-Wagner bill, has threatened that he will filibuster against the Costigan-Wagner anti-lynching bill whenever it is brought up, President Roosevelt was supplied by the N. A. A. C. P. with the facts of the lynching of Govan Ward at Louisburg, N. C., on July 30.

The President is asked by Walter White, secretary of the N. A. A. C. P., "what steps you as President and your administration will take in the next session of the 74th Congress to insure a vote upon the Costigan-Wagner bill.


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


Saturday, January 23, 2016

June 21, 1908: Eleven Negroes

Today we learn about a mass lynching in Texas through the pages of The Washington Bee (Washington, D. C.) dated July 4, 1908:



ELEVEN LYNCHED

THREE WHITES SLAIN IN A TEXAS RACE WAR.
MOB STORMS JAIL, HANGS FIVE BLACKS ON ONE LIMB, SHOOTS ANOTHER

Troops Are Called Out.

Trouble Started by Slaying of White Farmer at Dance in Colored Church.

Hemphill, Texas, June 22.—Eleven Negroes have been lynched and three white men killed in a race war in Sabine county, the State Rangers ordered out to restore peace, armed bands of whites and blacks are facing each other in several places, and several encounters have been reported tonight.

A mob stormed the jail here last night, seized six Negroes accused of the murder of a white farmer, hanged five to one limb and shot the sixth when the noose broke and he was running away. The bodies of three other Negroes were found riddled with bullets this morning. Two others were shot to death last night. Three were hanged tonight near San  Augustine.

Another, arrested with a white man whom he accused of hiring him to slay Robert Wright, is in jail in Center, having been rushed there under extra guard to save them from the mob.

It is reported tonight that the mob has captured a train and is forcing the engineer to run to Center so the prisoners can be captured and lynched.

Rangers Pushed Aside.

State Rangers Lattie and Hamer, stationed at Center, went to Hemphill when the first news of the trouble reached them. They attempted to take a hand. The county officers found aside. The county officers found themselves similarly served when they tried to uphold the law and, unable to dominate the situation, they wired for reinforcements.

The sheriff at Hemphill made an effort to swear in special officers, but none would serve. The few he sought to swear in fled at his approach, fearing that they would be cheated of their revenge.

The frenzied hatred against the Negroes came as the result of the shooting of a white man by Negroes a week ago. At a Negro dance on June 13 William Stimson, a white man, became involved in a row with the Negroes and was killed with a razor. Two Negroes were arrested for the crime.

Last Saturday night Hugh Dean, one of the best-known white farmers, was also killed at a Negro dance. It was proved that he was merely riding by when drunken Negroes set upon him and stabbed him to death.

Six Negroes were arrested and imprisoned in the Hemphill jail. A seventh is still at large and a reward of $550 is out for him.

Negroes and Whites Arm.

The passion stirred up b y the killing of Stimson and Dean within a week was increased by the fact that Negroes grew bold and began to flourish weapons. Six shooters were prominent and open threats made of what would be done in the event that the white men showed any open animosity toward the Negro.

The farmers of the vicinity armed themselves with rifles and shotguns and pistols and started on a systematic hunt after every Negro of known bad tendencies.

The county peace officers found that they were powerless to cope with the situation.

Hurried appeals were made to the Governor, and a squad of Rangers was ordered immediately to the scene.

The Houston Light Guards of Houston were in[s]tructed to hold themselves in readiness to take a special train and will leave tonight.

This was the situation when the news went broadcast that Aaron Johnson, another white farmer, had been shot down while sitting on his gallery with his wife and boy and baby.

His wife, crazed at the desperate act of the Negroes, gave chase, screaming with all her might. White men, raiding the countryside for Negroes, heard her. When they reached her she was sitting beside the body of her husband, insane.

It was then that the white avengers went forth, and soon the crack of their pistols portended that death had been visited on someone. Later the bodies of three Negroes—Singleton, Evans and Thomas—were found.

Already charged with having a hand in the death of Dean, the three Negroes had met, swearing vengeance when they encountered the white men.

Johnson's death increased the tensity of the situation. The three dead Negroes were known to be partners of a fourth. The latter, Perry Price, would surely have met the same fate of his fellows had not officers captured and spirited him to San Augustine after making a confession that he had been given five dollars by Robert Wright, Johnson's brother-in-law, to kill Johnson. wright was then arrested and is now in jail at Center, Tex.

The jail is guarded heavily, as the rumor has gone abroad that a mob of white men has captured a Houston east and west train and is forcing the engineer to run to center [sic] in order that they may take Wright and Price and hang them.

Break Into Jail.

Last night the white men marched to the Hemphill jail.

"We want those Negroes," said the spokesman.

"You can't have them," replied the guard.

"Well by G—, we will take them," was the answer.

With a savage cry the mob attacked the doors. Other guards rushed out, but were overpowered after making futile resistance.

Into the jail the mob broke, and, rushing to the cell in which the six Negroes were confined, they smashed the door and seized the blacks.

One hundred yards from the jail grows a clump of huge live-oaks. As they reached these the leader spoke again,

"Niggers, say your prayers."

Seven minutes were allowed, and seven ropes descended over the Negroes' heads, one after another. One broke and ran. Immediately a fusillade of lead followed him, and he dropped in his tracks. Meantime the noose had been placed on the heads of the others and Judge Lynch was satisfied.


The article can be a little confusing at times. Surely, it should have been six instead of seven at the end. The big thing is that there were a lot of men lynched who were denied the right of law and had no real evidence given against them. 

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


Friday, January 22, 2016

December 7, 1920: E. F. Lampson

Today we learn about a lynching in Montana through the pages of The Ogden Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah) dated December 8, 1920:


POSSE FIRES CABIN OF DEMENTED HOMESTEADER

BILLINGS, Mont., Dec. 8.—E. F. Lampson, 55, a homesteader near Tuffley, in Golden Valley county, was burned to death in his cabin yesterday after a posse had set fire to it following an all-night rifle and revolver battle and numerous attempts to dynamite the house. Lampson yesterday afternoon perhaps fatally wounded Sheriff Jesse Garfield, of Golden Valley county, who had gone to the cabin to take Lampson for an examination as to his sanity.


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

Thursday, January 21, 2016

July 31, 1902: Charles Craven

Today we learn about a lynching near the nation's capital through the pages of the Chicago Daily Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) dated August 1, 1902:


NEGRO IS LYNCHED WITHIN 30 MILES OF NATION'S CAPITAL.

Mob Takes Alleged Murderer from the Sheriff's Men at Leesburg, Va., and Hangs Him by the Roadside.

Washington, D. C., July 31.—[Special.]—Charles Craven, a negro accused of murder was lynched this afternoon, within thirty miles of the Capitol building.

Craven, who was the supposed murderer of William H. Wilson, a farmer living near Herndon, Va., was lynched one mile east of Leesburg, Va. He was taken from the jail at Leesburg by a mob of 150 men, who overpowered the guard, broke in the outer door, and then entered the cage, using hammers and crowbars. Little difficulty was encountered in this work.

A noose was thrown around the prisoner's neck and he was led down the road in the direction of the scene of the murder. The party had proceeded scarcely a mile when the rope was thrown around a limb of a tree and Craven was pulled from the ground. As soon as the body was raised in the air the mob fired fully 500 shots into the dying man.

The man was given the opportunity to make a statement. He protested that he was innocent of killing Wilson, and also, that he was innocent of burning Smith's barn, for which offense he had been sentenced to jail two years before.

Men, women, and children, who lined the road from the jail to the scene of the execution, cheered the mob.

Gov. Montague was appealed to by the officer of the commonwealth, and he ordered the Alexandria Light Infantry to the scene, but the mob accomplished its work before the arrival of the soldiers.

Craven, who had been pursued by over 100 men with bloodhounds, was captured this morning on a farm, near Ashburn, Va. He was asleep in a hayrack and was seized by three of his pursuers, Ernest Norman, john Higgins, and Henry Bryant, before he had time to offer resistance.

A large crowd quickly gathered and threatened to lynch the negro, but Sheriff Russell succeeded in getting his prisoner on a train and lodged him in jail at Leesburg. He was surrounded by a heavy guard, but the mob soon rushed the jail, overpowered the sheriff's men, and took the prisoner.


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

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

January 15, 1880: Charles Smith

Today we learn about a lynching in Indiana through the pages of the Harrisburg Telegraph (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) dated January 14, 1880:


A NEGRO LYNCHED IN INDIANA.

A dispatch from Walton, Ind. says:  "A colored man named Charles Smith, was hanged about 9 o'clock last night by a mob two miles north of that place. Smith was a native of Virginia and an escaped convict from the Penitentiary at Frankfort, Kentuckey [sic]. He was arrested last Sunday at Rising Sun, Ind., for alleged arson, in burning the barn and stock of Justice Hudson, near Walton, last October. At the time of the hanging he was on his way to Burlington jail in the custody of three officials, who were overpowered by the mob. At the time of writing the dispatch he was still hanging to a tree and was not likely to be taken down before morning. During his examination Smith wrote a letter to his mother asking her for $500 for his defense, and confessing to many of his crimes.


The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio) dated January 17, 1880 informs us about Smith's corpse:


Smith Resurrected. 

The body of the colored man, Charles Smith, who was lynched night before last near Walton, for arson, was buried near the foot of the tree upon which he was hung. Yesterday afternoon, it is said, two Covington physicians left this city in a buggy, went to the scene of the execution, and dug up the corpse. The "cadaver" was found too stiff to double up, as is customary, and it was brought to Cincinnati and the Ohio Medical College last night in a sitting position on the seat of the buggy. On their way home the enterprising disciples of Æsculapius met another Covington physician, and one of them said, "Hello! Doc, you are too late, if you are after this—here he is!" showing their ghastly load. Thus are the ends of science accomplished.—Covington Commonwealth


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

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

June 2, 1894: Alexander McCurdy

Today we learn about a lynching in Colorado through the pages of the Weekly Oregon Statesman and Pacific Agriculturist (Salem, Oregon) dated June 8, 1894:




A COLORADO LYNCHING.

Twenty Men Did the Job by Mutilation and Hanging.

Golden, Colo., June 2.—Alexander McCurdy, who horribly mutilated his step-brother, Charles Berry, last winter, was this morning taken from jail and lynched, after being subjected to the same treatment he gave his victim. McCurdy was last week convicted of mayhem and yesterday sentenced to the penitentiary for three years, the full extent of the law. At 2 o'clock twenty men arouse[d] Alexander Kerr, the jailer, choked him and taking the keys went to McCurdy's cell. He was dragged to a lawn in front of the building and mutilated the same way as he cut Berry. He probably died while this was being done, but the body was rushed down to Lakewood trestle, over Clear creek, and hanged. The sheriff has arrested John Richweine and John Koch, guards for the lynchers. They have given the names of all the others and a coroner's jury is preparing warrants for them. McCurdy assaulted Berry while he slept, pickled the organs he cut off and sent them to his wife in Indiana. He escaped, and was arrested several weeks afterward in Indiana. Berry recovered. During the trial of McCurdy this week he has been restrained with difficulty from assaulting him. Berry is 18 years old. McCurdy about 30.



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

Monday, January 18, 2016

September 20, 1894: William Cook

Today we learn about an Oklahoma lynching. We start with an article before the lynching found in the September 19, 1894 edition of The Wichita Beacon (Wichita, Kansas):


A Bandit's Marriage.

MUSKOGEE, I. T., Sept. 19.—Deputy Marshal Smith of Fort Smith, who visited the camp of the outlaws under the guidance of the sweetheart of one of the band, to persuade Cook to quit his outlawry, passed through Muskogee, en route west again yesterday. He procured a license from the clerk of court here for the marriage of Bandit Chief Bill Cook, to Miss Martha Pullman of Sapulpa. Their ages  were registered in clerk's office as 22 and 19. Cook is a Cherokee but his sweetheart is a white girl, and under the laws of the United States a marriage license is required.


Our article about the lynching comes to us through the pages of the Lincoln Daily News (Lincoln, Nebraska) dated September 20, 1894:


Indian Bandit Chief Lynched.

GUTHRIE, Okl., Sept. 20.—[Special.]—William Cook, the bandit chief who procured a license yesterday at Muscogee to marry his white sweetheart, Martha Pullman, was lynched this morning at Lincoln, a small town a hundred miles from here. Cook is a Cherokee and an outlawed bandit. Some horses were missing after Cook was known to be in the neighborhood and they fixed it on the desperado and started after him determined to cut short his career. They captured him this morning and hung him in the woods.


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

Saturday, January 16, 2016

February 12, 1879: Alexander McGill

Today we learn about a lynching in Tennessee through the pages of The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee) dated February 15, 1879:


SHELBYVILLE.

Particulars of Wednesday Night's Lynching in Bedford County.

From Our Regular Correspondent

SHELBYVILLE, Feb. 14, 1879.—Nothing has, as yet, transpired to throw any light upon the motive of the masked men in hanging the negro, Alex. McGill, Wednesday night. As they were going to the house where McGill was, they aroused two or three of the nearest neighbors along the road and told each of them that they were going to take McGill out and whip him. In an hour or two the masked parties returned along the road and told the same citizens whom they had aroused as they went to their dark work, that they had hung the negro, and his body could be found at a certain place swinging to a limb. The citizens found the body of a negro hanging to a tree in a strip of woods on the top of the ridge near Clay's store, about 2 1/2 miles southeast from Flat creek village. His body was not molested until the arrival of Coroner James S. Miller in the afternoon, who summoned a jury, and cut the body down.

The facts brought out at the inquest are, in substance, the following:  About the time of corn-shucking fight at James Farrar's, last October, which caused the death of a young white man named Holt, and the negro Sydney Frazier, the negro Alex. McGill, who met a tragic death night before last, was accused of threatening to burn the village of Flat creek, and of indulging in threats against the Ku-Klux in particular. At the same time a number of negroes were accused of similar threats. This caused considerable excitement in the vicinity of Flat Creek village, and counter-threats were made against the negroes. nothing was known against Alex. McGill, but for fear of trouble with the whites he left the neighborhood and went to Coffee county, leaving his wife at her father's, near Flat Creek. A few days ago he returned for his wife, and it was from her father's house that he was taken by the twelve or fifteen masked men, on Wednesday night, carried about a mile and hanged to death as stated. McGill had a bad reputation.


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

Friday, January 15, 2016

September 24, 1891: Hezekiah Rankin

Today we learn about a North Carolina lynching through the pages of The Semi-Weekly Citizen (Asheville, N. C.) dated October 1, 1891:



WAS LYNCHED

HESEKIAH [SIC] RANKIN HANGED LAST THURSDAY NIGHT.

HE SHOT FRED A. TYLER, A RAILWAY ENGINEER.

THE TWO QUARRELED OVER A SMALL MATTER.

TYLER MAY DIE OF THE WOUND INFLICTED.

PERSONS CHARGED WITH THE LYNCHING ARRESTED.

The lynching of Hezekiah Rankin, the negro who shot and doubtless mortally wounded Fred A. Tyler, a white man, at the depot Thursday night, was not only exceedingly unfortunate event for Asheville, but a crime which the authorities ought not and cannot afford to ignore.

It is unquestionably true that the feeling which prompted the act was one which has ever been commended among men. A comrade had been shot down without, to the minds of the men who lynched Rankin, having given an adequate provocation, and before reason had time to act, or judgement to guide, vengeance was taken into their own hands.

In no community where the law is respected as it should and must be if our institutions are to remain secure, can such things be excused or looked upon lightly. They must be punished, or else court houses should be torn down and all criminal proceedings turned over to the will of the individual or the mob.

No one has any reason to suppose that Asheville's criminal court is either indisposed or powerless to inflict just punishment upon all violators of the law, and so long as this is true the law must be maintained and the court upheld.

When the courts fail it will then be time enough to consider whether lynch law is the next best thing.

---------------------------

'Twas a ghastly burden which a white oak on the hill overlooking the French Broad river, south of Smith's bridge, bore Friday morning.

Hanging from the lower limb of the tree, was the form of a colored man, left dangling there by a party of men, who, unwilling to give the man a fair and just trial, took the law into their own hands, and his life was made to pay the forfeit for his crime.

The causes leading to this lynching are as follows:

Thursday between 7:30 and 8 o'clock, Fred A. Tyler, who has been employed as "hostler" on the yards of the Western North Carolina railroad, was putting an engine onto a sidetrack at the round house. It was his duty to take charge of the engines as they came last night, and see that they were put away safely to wait for their next turn out.

How the Trouble Began.

Tyler ran his engine on the sidetrack, and seeing a colored train hand standing at the switch called to him to "throw" it, so the main line would be safe.

The colored man was Hezekiah Rankin, a brakeman on Conductor Zachariah Underwood's train, which was on the siding.

Rankin replied that it was not his duty to close the switch, adding, "If you want it done, do it yourself, you — of a —."

Tyler turned to the tender, and picking up a lump of coal threw it at Rankin, striking him on the head and causing blood to flow.

Rankin then ran up to his boarding house, the home of Maria Friday, a colored woman. Here he washed the black off his face, and told the woman how it occurred.

Just then another colored man, Ben Barrett, came up to the house from Rankin's "shanty," and gave him a pistol, which belonged to Rankin.

Rankin took the pistol, and going down to the engine came up to where Tyler was standing, he having came [sic] down out of the cab.

The Shooting.

Statements as to what happened there conflict. Friends of Tyler say that no words passed between the two men, while others who were there say Tyler abused him.

At any rate, Rankin pulled out his pistol, a 38-caliber weapon, and fired at Tyler, the bullet entering his body about two inches above the navel.

Tyler fell to the ground, and Rankin started to run. He did not get any distance away, however, before he was caught by Tyler's friends in the roundhouse, who had heard the shot and ran out to see the cause.

Tyler was taken charge of and removed to his room at Mrs. France's, not far from the tragedy.

Telephone messages were sent up town to the police station for officers and also for physicians to attend to the wounded man. Drs. W. D. Hilliard, John Hey Williams and E. C. Starnes went down and rendered all aid possible.

Officers went down to the depot, but could see or hear nothing of the negro who did the shooting.

But in the roundhouse there was suppressed excitement. There was hot blood there among the comrades of Tyler. What transpired there is told by a colored railroad hand, Virgil Friday, who was in the round house and saw the actions and heard the men talking. Friday told THE CITIZEN what he knew of the matter.

An Eve Witness' Account.

"I was present when the men caught Rankin. They brought him into the house, and began striking, cursing and beating him. They had his hands tied behind his back, and a rope just the size of a bell cord around his neck.

"The most of the men wanted to lynch Rankin, but a few among them Mr. W. V. Lowe, the foreman, tried to argue to them that it would be best to give the man up and let him be dealt with by the law.

"What Mr. Lowe said did not seem to have any effect on the men. In a few minutes Mr. Lowe went up to see Mr. Tyler, and while he was away the men took Rankin out and down the track toward the bridge.

"Woody Allison, a flagman, was also there and tried to get the men to give up Rankin, but they drove him away with threats."

Later, Friday gave Coroner McBrayer the names of Erwin Allison, T. M. Bumgarner, W. H. Mayo and Brooks Moore, as parties who talked strongly of lynching.

The Body Found.

Officers were searching all night for Rankin, whom everyone supposed to have been lynched. No trace whatever could be found of him.

On Friday morning, Deputy Sheriff J. M. Morgan and Officer Caleb Leonard went down early and took up the search. They went up to Carrier's bridge, crossed over and came down the river, searching everywhere. They found nothing until they got down to the Sulphur Springs road, when, on looking toward the hill to the road, they discovered the body of a man suspended from the limb of a tree.

The officers ran across the flat and climbing the hill found Rankin's body cold and rigid. The tree is a tall white oak, on the crest of the hill overlooking the French Broad, several hundred yards west of the river, and about a hundred yards from the road leading to Sulphur Springs. The ground is part of the Lyman estate, known as Tahkeeostee farm.

It was 9:15 when the body was found. THE CITIZEN was on the spot a few minutes later, and viewed the body before it was cut down by the coroner.

Under the Tree.

Rankin's corpse was standing perfectly upright, with both feet on the ground. His hands and arms were pinioned tightly behind him. A half-inch rope had been tied about his neck, the knot tied in true hangman's style, but he had probably struggled until he got the rope above his chin. There it remained, pressing the under lip into his mouth. The eyes were half open with a wild, terrified stare, while the tongue was doubled up by the pressure from the lip, almost touching the roof of the mouth, which was wide open.

The rope had been passed over the lowest limb of the tree, and then fastened around the trunk, and tied in a hard knot. There seemed to be no bullet wounds on the body, but there was a knife wound in the right shoulder. A coupling pin was lying near the body. It is probable that Rankin had been swung up off the ground, but his weight strained the rope until his feet rested on the ground.

The news of the finding of the corpse spread rapidly, and a large crowd gathered around the body. Coroner L. B. McBrayer was notified at once and went to the scene. He summoned the following jury:  W. J. Worley. R. M. Deaver, M. T. Triplett, D. C. Clapp, and J. W. Farrell.

The body was then taken down. It was stiff and cold. A partial examination was made, a number of witnesses summoned, and the coroner returned to the city, after adjourning the inquest until 4 o'clock this afternoon in the court house.

About 12 o'clock the body was taken charge of by Blair & McDowell, and brought up to their undertaking rooms, where it will remain until the relatives apply for it.

Tyler's Condition.

Drs. E. C. Starnes, John Hey Williams and W. D. Hilliard went down to Mrs. France's before noon today, and made a close examination of Tyler. They found that the bullet had penetrated the bowels, ranged to the left side, and lodged about three inches below the armpit. The bullet was not taken out. The intestines were found to have been cut by the bullet in seven places. The operation was not completed until after 12 o'clock. Then under the influence of opiates Tyler went to sleep. The physicians say his chance of life is very thin.

Who The Men Were.

Frank A. Tyler, the wounded white man, is a native of Maryland. He has been employed on the Western North Carolina railroad for two or three years as fireman. Lately he had been working as "hostler" on the yards. He was never considered a man of ill-temper, and W. V. Lowe, the foreman at the roundhouse, gives him a good name. He is about 23 years of age, and unmarried.

Hezekiah Rankin, the lynched colored man, is about 28 years of age, and is a native or Iredell or Rowan county. He has heretofore borne a good record so far as his work as a train hand goes.

Under Arrest.

On the strength of the evidence given the coroner by several witnesses, warrants were issued for W. H. Mayo, Erwin Allison, and T. M. Bumgarner, railroad men, charging them with taking part in the lynching of Rankin. The warrants were executed by Deputy Sheriff H. C. Jones, who brought the men before Justice A. T. Summey.

A hearing was to have been given them at 1 o'clock, but because of the fact thas [sic] the coroner's jury had not considered the case, the hearing was postponed until Saturday morning. The accused were remanded to jail. Their attorneys are Jones & Shuford.

The Coroner's Inquest.

Coroner L. B. McBrayer and the jury appointed by him to investigate the lynching of Hezekiah Rankin, colored, near this city, on Thursday night, went to Blair & McDowell's undertaking rooms at 4 o'clock Friday afternoon to examine the body.

A close search for wounds of any kind was made, but with exception of the knife wound in the shoulder, spoken of in THE CITIZEN nothing was found.

The inquest began in the court house at 4:40. The room was crowded with people some time before the examination of witnesses was taken up. A considerable proportion of those present were colored.

W. H. Mayo, T. M. Bumgarner, and Erwin Allison, the men charged with the complicity in the lynching, st with their counsel, Jones & Shuford, near the clerk's table.

The jury then was sworn in by the coroner, and the examination was begun by Solicitor Eugene D. Carter.

Virgil Friday's Story.

Virgil Friday, colored, sworn:  Live near car shed, on Western North Carolina railroad. Know Rankin. Up to Thursday night, had not seen him for several days. On that night, I saw him bound and with a rope around his neck. Allison and Mayo and a crowd of 25 or 30 had charge of him. Bumgarner came up later. Someone said, "Hold on, let's see what Ed Bright says." They sat on the track a little while and then got up and went into the sand house. Directly four or five of them took Rankin out of sand house. Didn't know any of them except Brooks Moore, who was following along some distance behind, with what looked to me like a gun. Heard Rankin begging the men not to kill him. They cursed and told him  they were going to swing him. Mr. Lowe seemed to advise them to turn the man over to the sheriff. All this occurred between 8:30 and 9 o'clock. A few of the men had torches. Am certain Allison and Mayo were holding the rope, at one time but don't think Bumgarner had hold of it at all.

Witness was cross-examined by Jones & Shuford but nothing new was brought out.

Maria Friday's Statement.

Maria Friday, colored, next sworn:  Am wife of Virgil Friday. On Thursday night near my house near railroad heard Rankin begging for mercy. A crowd of six or seven went down the railroad with Rankin. Mayo and Allison were behind about 50 feet, and did not see them have hold of rope. Saw Brooks Moore follow them down the track with a gun. Knew none of the men except Allison and Mayo.

On cross-examination the witness said a colored man named Ben Barrett gave Rankin the pistol with which he did the shooting. She asked Rankin not to go back to the roundhouse, but he said he would go. Barrett did not tell him what to do with the pistol.

Mr. Lowe's Testimony.

 W. V. Lowe, white foreman of motor power on the Asheville yard, was next called:  On Thursday night was at round house and heard report of pistol. Shortly after Tyler came up to me and told me he was shot. Went up to boarding house with him. After awhile heard they had caught the man. Thirty minutes later heard that they were bringing him back. Then saw Rankin on the track opposite the sand shed. Told the men it would be best to give the man up to the sheriff.

Mr. Lowe at first could not remember the names of any of the men in the crowd, but finally said that among others were E. S. Bright, W. H. Dicks and Allison. Mayo was on duty. Witness continued:  Didn't remember seeing Bumgarner. Someone said they would wait until they found out that the man would die, but did not hear anyone say "Lynch him!" Saw Rankin sitting on the track, his hands tied behind him and then fastened to the rail. When I saw Rankin I advised men to take him away as the train was due soon and he would be killed. Was then taken up. Don't remember who stood around Rankin. A half-hour afterward saw Moore, Allison and others, but didn't know where Rankin was.

Here Solicitor Carter put a direct question to Mr. Lowe, and asked for a direct answer. Said Mr. Carter:  "There has never been a more outrageous murder than this, and everything must be done to bring the guilty parties to justice; now Mr. Lowe, do you mean to say that you do not remember those of your own men who stood over the bound negro?"

Mr. Lowe said he did not remember, because everything was so excited that he could not notice everything. He remembered that he did not hear anyone say afterward what had become of Rankin.

Mr. Lowe was cross-examined by Mr. Jones, and then recalled by Mr. Carter. The solicitor asked Mr. Lowe about a conversation he was said to have had with Judge Carter and Locke Craig, esq. It was said those gentlemen asked Mr. Lowe if Rankin had been taken down the road. "No," was the reply, "he went up the road." "But they say he was taken down the road." "No, by —!" Mr. Lowe said, "I tell you he went up the road." Mr. Lowe said he didn't remember saying that.

McCoy's Part.

Calvin McCorkle, colored, next sworn. Was at round house and saw Rankin with Tom McCoy hold of rope. Rope was around Rankin's neck. Saw Bumgarner and Mayo in the crowd.

William Morgan, colored, had seen the crowd around the round house, but didn't now any of the men.

Brooks Moore, white, sworn. Just as I got to car shed heard that Tyler had been shot. Ed. Bright and I went up to Glen Rock and called up a physician. Saw the negro at the crossing above the tank. He might have been tied. Saw nobody except Bolch. Didn't see Mayo, Allison, or Bumgarner. Mr. Foster was there. Heard somebody say something about giving the man up to the sheriff. Don't know who had charge of the negro.

Woody Allison, white, was sworn and led the coroner and solicitor on by a long story of the engines and couplings, ending in saying "that's about all I know about it." Mr. Carter said that the witness evidently supposed the case was against one of the engines on the yard and asked the witness to stand aside.

The Concluding Evidence.

Thos. McCoy, white, swore that he saw Mayo taking a pistol out of Rankin's hand, saying "He's going to shoot me." Mr. Lowe came out and told the men to take the negro up to the sheriff, and they said they would do this. Didn't see Allison, Mayo or Bumgarner at the scene.

Alphonso Bailey, colored, seemed to know something, but did not want to talk very much. He admitted that it was dangerous work to identify people just now.

Jake Burkhart, colored, was the last witness. Jake saw the crowd at the round house and walked over. Heard someone say to Mr. Lowe, "they're going to take the man away." Saw the crowd near the sand pile. Heard a voice which sounded like Brooks Moore's say "Let's stop here." Saw a man jerk Rankin across a ditch. Rankin's wrists were tied, and he complained that the jerking hurt him. The reply to this was "Don't mind about your wrist, you — of a —; it will soon hurt your — neck." While they were sitting down Lum Bolch walked away in a hurry, but soon came back running to the crowd, perhaps twenty or thirty, saying, "Take him on—take him on." and motioned down the track. Bolch did not go with the crowd. Didn't know any of the men in the number.

The Verdict.

At 6:30 the case was given to the jury, which retired to make up the verdict.

At 8:05 they returned with the verdict which is as follows:

"We the undersigned jurors find that Hezekiah Rankin came to his death by strangulation on the night of September 24, 1891, at the hands of parties unknown to us, and that W. H. Mayo, Lum Bolch, Erwin Allison and Tom McCoy are accessories before the fact.

L. B. McBrayer, Coroner,
R. M. Deaver,
W. J. Worley,
J. W. Farrell,
D. C. Clapp,
M. T. Triplett.

A sigh of relief followed the coroner's reading of the verdict and the crowd soon left the court room.

Released on Bond.

In accordance with the finding of the coroner's jury, Bumgarner was released at once. Mayo and Allison were taken to jail, where they spent the night. This morning Tom McCoy and Lum Bolch were arrested, and they, with Mayo and Allison, were taken before Justice A. T. Summey for a preliminary hearing. They waived examination, gave bond in the sum of $300 each for their appearance at the next term of the criminal court, and were released.

Tyler Dead.

Frank A. Tyler, the wounded man, passed a reasonably easy night, and Saturday morning showed a slight improvement in his condition; but in the afternoon he began to sink, and died at 10 o'clock p.m.

The body of Rankin, the colored man who was lynched, was taken to his old home at Elmwood, N. C., on the 2:15 p. m. train Saturday afternoon.


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