December 20, 1903: Eli Hilson

I have noticed a trend in newspapers when reporting lynching by white caps to refer to them as murders or assassinations. The names are still found on lynching lists and of course, every lynching is a murder. The closer the lynching is to 1900 or after, the more likely it will not be referred to as a lynching.

Today's lynching comes to us through the pages of the Belvidere Daily Republican (Belvidere, Illinois) dated December 23, 1903:

NEGRO ASSASSINATED.

Refuses to Heed Warning of Whitecaps and Is Killed—Alarm Over Situation.

Brookhaven, Miss., Dec. 23.—Eli Hilson, a negro, living eight miles from Brookhaven, was assassinated Sunday while on the way from town alone in his buggy. Last winter Hilson was warned by whitecaps to leave, which warning he disregarded. About three or four weeks ago his home was visited in the night by whitecaps and several volleys fired into it. He still disregarded the warning, and remained on his place.

Hilson is the second negro murdered by white caps in that portion of Lincoln county within the last month, and the other negroes are greatly alarmed over the situation.

A year later we learn the fate of the white cappers through the pages of The Waterloo Press (Waterloo, Indiana) dated December 29, 1904:

LONG TERM TO WHITECAPPERS.

Ten Slayers of Negroes Sentenced by Mississippi Judge.

Ten men who were proved guilty of outrages against negroes were sentenced in Brookhaven, miss., to long terms in prison by Judge Wilkinson, who recently declared that the full penalty of the law would be imposed against whitecappers, even if it made every woman in Mississippi a widow. Oscar Franklin was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Eli hilson, a negro; Will Franklin, D. W. Smith, Elias Smith, R. L. Smith and Elbert Gill were given fifty years each in the penitentiary for manslaughter in the killing of Henry List, a negro, and Sam Possey, another whitecapper, must serve twenty years. john Smith and john McNulty, negroes, who were convicted of murder, received life sentences.

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

May 10, 1897: Charles Jackson

Today we learn about a lynching in the May 12, 1897 edition of the Salina Daily Republican-Journal (Salina, Kansas):

NEGRO TRAIN ROBBER LYNCHED.

JACKSON, La., May 12.—Ward Constable F. M. Norworthy left here for Clinton, La., about 8 p. m. Monday, having in custody a negro, Charles Jackson, who was charged with attempting to wreck a train on the Jackson railroad. When about 5 1/2 miles from Jackson, near Redwood bridge, he was halted and surrounded by an armed body of men, who relieved him of his prisoner and allowed the constable to return to Jackson. The body of the negro, Charles Jackson, was found at an early hour yesterday hanging from a tree some distance from where he was taken from the officer. Judge r. S. Austin, of the Third ward justice's court, was notified, who summoned a jury and held an inquest. The verdict was, "hanged by parties unknown."

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

May 8, 1906: Sam Sims

Today we learn about a Mississippi lynching through the pages of the Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia) dated May 9, 1906:

MOB LYNCHED A NEGRO WHO KILLED A HORSE.

Mississippians Hang the Man Because He Shot the Animal While Resisting Arrest.

(By Associated Press.)

JACKSON, MISS., May 8.—Sam Sims, a negro was lynched by a mob six miles from Jackson last night. Resisting arrest he killed a horse under Constable Hendricks and friends of Hendricks captured the negro and lynched him, first tying the constable to a tree to prevent his interference.

The Eugene Guard (Eugene, Oregon) dated May 10, 1906:

Sam Sims, the negro lynched near Clinton, Mississippi, Tuesday for attempting to assassinate a constable, must have felt deeply obligated in that the affair, according to the dispatch, was conducted in a quiet and orderly manner. The gentlemanly conduct and appearance of his executioners must have allayed any suspicion on his part that after his demise they would shoot his body as full of holes as a sieve and finish by burning so the gaudy funeral so dear to the negro heart would be utterly incapable of realization. They might have given him a funeral to start with, then lynched him.

I would like to point out that Sam Sims was not burned. He was discovered hanging from a tree in the morning by a man walking along the road. I read many articles, but none mentioned why Sims was being arrested in the first place.  Thank you for joining me and as always, I hope I leave you with something to ponder.

January, 1883: O. F. Ferral and Evan Griffith

The New York Tribune (New York, N. Y.) January 25, 1883 edition brings us the following lynching:

LYNCHED BY MEN THEY SWINDLED.

RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 24.—Information was received here to-day to the effect that a few nights ago a body of disguised men forcibly took from the jail of Russell County, this State, O. F. Ferral and Evan Griffith, who were locked up on a charge of having obtained under false pretences cattle worth $18,000. It is generally believed that they were lynched by persons who had been swindled.

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

October 9, 1903: Samuel Williams

Today we learn about a Florida lynching through the pages of The Greensboro Patriot (Greensboro, N. C.) dated October 14, 1903:

Lynched Him by Mistake.

Starke, Fla., Oct. 11.—A young white man, Samuel Williams, was lynched at Lawtey, a small place near here, Friday night by an angry mob that was searching for Alta Williams, an older brother, who is accused of maltreating a girl of 14 and another of 6.

Alta was arrested some weeks ago and charged with breaking into a store, and was released on bail. Later the other accusations were made, and scores of armed men were out hunting for him with the openly avowed intention of lynching him. A posse of 25 men, headed by the Sheriff, searching long, but could not find him.

His younger brother Samuel was found, it is said, and the mob sought to learn from him his brother's whereabouts. This Samuel refused to tell.

He was then strung up time and again, being let down at short intervals to be asked if he would give the desired information. But the posse members were too eager, and the last time they lowered him he was dead.

The mob dispersed, but it is reported is again after Alta. The lynching of the wrong man has created a great sensation, and many persons are denouncing the mob's violence in unmeasured terms, and threatening legal punishment. It is hard to get the exact details, as all interested are keeping quiet as to the actual facts. More trouble is feared.

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

September 20, 1913: Henry Crosby

Today we learn about a Mississippi lynching found in the Salisbury Evening Post (Salisbury, N. C.) dated September 22, 1913:

LYNCHED NEGRO MAN FOR STRANGE ACTIONS

Mississippi Mob Strings Up Man Simply Because He Frightened a White Woman

Louisville, Miss., Sept. 21.—Because he frightened a white woman in her home by his strange actions, Henry Crosby a negro, was lynched some time during last night. Officers searching for him found his body hanging to the limb of a tree today. The negro went to a farm house near here and questioned the woman as to whether her husband was present. The woman says that when he learned the husband was away he acted peculiarly and she grabbed up her infant and ran to a nearly house, where she reported the affair.

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

November, 1882: David Lee

Today we learn about a lynching in Louisiana through the pages of The Somerset Herald (Somerset, Pennsylvania) dated December 6, 1882:

Lynched for Stealing Hogs.

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 30.—A letter from Start's Landing, Catahoula parish, says David Lee, a white man, was lynched there some days ago in front of his house, for hog stealing. About twenty white persons have been arrested on account of the lynching affair, and two brothers, Charles and James Smith, arrested on suspicion of having had a hand in it, are threatened, and may be lynched by the citizens.

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