^{)t Hibrarp of tt)e ^nibersit p of i^ortb Carolina Cnbotocb tip ®f)e dialectic anb ^})ilantf)ropic ^otktiti C 3'^'^' ' <■ '"' ^ ;.Sv-. -WJ"» \' r.>r FOR USE ONLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION I^^J'I'-L^S i££N MICRfiFJLMEO m \ A STUDY OF MOB ACTION IN THE SOUTH John R, Steelman A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of North Carolina in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Sociology Chapel Hill, N. C, 1928 ^■.. CONTENTS Chapter X. The Ivlan and the Mob Page I. Introduction 2 II. Early History of I'ob Violence In the United States yy III. Border Lynchlno: and Anti-Slavery Agitation *. 2q IV. i;ob Violence and Reconstruction 54 V. Lynchlngs: A Statistical Analysis 94 VI . "/omen and ".rhite L:en L:>mched 13P VII. L'Tichings by States and by Coimties: The i:inor Lynching States' 161 VIII. Lynchlngs by States and by Counties: The I.:ajor Lynching States 210 IX. Case Studies of I..ob Action in the South . 282 384 Bibliography 423 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Two points should be emphasized at the outset In this study of mob violence in the South --- the Importance of the general subject throughout the nation and special reasons why such a study relating particularly to the South should be made. Regarding the first, it must be said that the United States is, and has ever been, characteristically a lav/less nation. In all crimes of violence America is said to lead the v/orld. As Judge Tally of the covirt of General Sessions in New York, on inducting into office a nev/ jxirist, said: One of the things that you v/ill come to learn is that you have come on the bench of the greatest criminal court in the world ... at a time when this country is suffering under an indictment which proclaims it to be the most lawless on earth. You will find that the United States must plead guilty to that indie tment.l There are no less than ten thousand miirders annually in this country. Our homicide rate is about twelve times that of England. In 1923 there were 200 homicides in England and Tl Quoted in the New ^ork Herald Tribune. See Literary Digest Vol. 82, Serit. "13, 1924. p. 32, Wales combined, v/hlle In the United States there were more than 10,000, Statistics show that no other country meastir- ably approaches the United States in the jnurderous tendency of its people. If similar comparative figxires v/ere available as to crimes of burglary and robbery, it is thought that our excess over other nations in the matter of murders would fade into comparative insignificance. In 1921 there was 95 robberies in England and Wales combined v/hile in New York, during the following year, there were l,445j and in Chicago, 2,417, These are not our worst cities. Criminal statistics from several southern cities, as well as other facts which we shall note later, ' Indicate that at least in certain re- spects the South is the most lawless section of the country. There are other reasons 7/hy a study of mob violence relating particularly to the South is not Inopportune at this time. At present the South is more largely in the center of attention than any other section of the country. Like the West in days gone by it is that section of our country to which the eyes of many are turned, and where things are "going on" - where development of practically every type is taking place at hitherto unknovm strides. Today the South is recog- nized even beyond the country's borders as the new "Land of Opportunity", It has been referred to as "the last great un- developed section of the North Temperate Zone, its one place left for pioneering on a vast scale, "^ 2« Acierica Discovers Dixie, by Clarence Poe, in Anerlcan Re^ view of Revle\7S, April, 1926. pp. 371ff, To describe the economic development of this section during the Twentieth Century would be to reiterate a story told over and over again during the past decade. That this progress has been no less than phenomenal is recog- nized in all sections of the country. The story of the edu- cational progress of the South since 1900 is v/lthout parallel in the nation, even though much remains yet to be done. Unfortunately the otherwise bright picture of the South is marred by a form of lawlessness which, as it de- serves, brings criticism from not only other sections of the country, but from across the sea as v/ell, Nov/ mob violence - even lynching - is a national and not a sectional crime, but it is characteristically Southern and is becoming more so, While other sections of our country have little occasion for sharply criticising the South in this respect, possibly on the whole such criticism has been beneficial. It results partly from a long- established habit, and possibly in part from hurt national pride. It is true that the disruptive effects upon the individuals and communities where mob violence breaks out is not all that it costs. The horror and frequency of mob violence in the South often brings comments from beyond the bovmds of our coiintry that doubtless injure us as a nation, WTiether the South is in general more lawless than other parts of the country is beside the point: the fact that is is so consider- ed, and that there is enough truth in the accusation to bring it about is what counts so far as the South is a part of a nation desirous of being highly esteemed by others. It is true that, equally with and possibly even more than the phenomenal- ly high homicide rate of the country, southern mob violence is widely known and commented upon abroad more than any other form of American lawlessness. Irrespective of comparisons, this alone means that southern mob violence is a national and inter- sectional problem as well as a local menace. An English writer comments as follows: "Judged by the standards of Britain and the British colonies, the Southern 'ATaite man cannot be regarded as a law-abiding per- son," Such criticisms would come irrespective of the horror of specific cases of mob action in the South because it is so very different from the more common types. In order to imagine the askance with which a distinguished Hindoo recently listen- ed to the story of inter-racial progress in the South, one Y/ill have to remember that America is the only nation. Christian or heathen, v/here lynching is common, and that it is the only civilized country in the v/orld v/here men are burned alive. Not being satisfied with the assurance of progress which v/as showered upon him, he insisted upon more concrete evidence; whereupon he heard, but evidently did not fully understand, the follov/ing story: During the past year*^ less than twenty people were murdered by mobs. Two of these were v/hite, and only one was a woman. Of the total ntimber who met death at the hands of mobs, only two were burned to death, and one was burn- ed after being hanged and shot. No wonder the visitor from a country and a race that we sometimes "look down upon" could 3. The year was 1925, ~~' not understand how such a situation as had been described to hira could possibly be considered hopeful. He had evidently come to the wrong place for information on inter-racial integration. Possibly he would have been more bewildered still had he been informed at the time that two men and a v/oman had just been lynched in South Carolina, and that this episode was "immediately follovired by a determined drive against Sunday golf in that community, backed by the governor of the state and the sheriff of the county," Of covirse, many golfers were arrested but no one was ever indicted for the lynching, al- tho\agh very soon afterwards the Governor knew by name the men who did the lynching,^ Such inconsistencies add to the criti- cism that is deservedly heaped upon the South, In German nev/spapers commenting upon V/oodrow V/ilson»s message against lynchings, it was stated that in America mob murders are common. The St, Louis Republic replied in an article under the caption, "America Pleads Guilty", The comic newspapers of Moscow have compared Africa and America as follows: The former is represented by a group of African cannibals seated around a fire waiting for a helmeted white man to be roasted, the picture being labeled, "In Barbarous Africa", Another picture represents a Negro burning at the stake, sur- rounded by a mob of gleeful whites, and is labelled, "In Cultured America", Says Arthur Ruhl: "This aspect of our 4, W. W. Alexander, Have ;Ve Really Improved as to Lynching? ~ article in the Christian Advocate, Dec. 50, 1927. pTlO, civilization, v/hich puzzles nearly all Eiiropeans, Is an easy target for satire, and every once in so often comes a cartoon of this sort or an editorial on "The Brute v;ith a Veneer of Civilization," An English author recently wrote to an American as follows: •••• "I may be permitted to express to opinion that your country has still something to do to make America safe for democracy and to insure the respect for constitutional methods." The occasion for this letter was the publicly announced and attended burning of Henry Lowery in j\rkansas in 1921, Comment- ing on the same case an editorial from Tokyo, Japan, maintain- ed that the creation of a strong public opinion tliroughout the world will be necessary in order that sufficient pressure may be brought to bear "on the American government to adopt effective measures at once so as to make it impossible for the American mobs to resort to these barbarous excesses,"^ In sharp criticism of the nation generally, the Review con- tinues: "Americans vociferously claim to be the champions of justice and hvunanity yet they do not hesitate to trample upon these very principles and perpetrate the foulest deed ever conceived ••*• It is an indelible stain on the name of America ..•• It goes to demonstrate the utter callousness of hearts of the American public." Unfortxmate as it may be, it is nevertheless in- evitable that foreign discussions of this subject be concerned with "America" and "Americans", Nations see one another as a 5, Asian Review, May-June, 1921. whole and not by sections. Such criticism as v;e have noted is growing in volume. It is not complimentary, and doubtless does some harm. It seems to indicate, along with other facts to be noted subsequently, that mob violence, especially as manifested in the South is a problem of sufficient importance to merit a better xinder standing than our attention to it has yet brought forth. If the Japanese and the Europeans speak of America as a lynching nation and hold all Americans responsible, so are different sections within the nation referred to in little less sweeping terms. With all the means of commumication, it is very largely true that one section of the country does not know and understand what is going on in the other© The pre- valence of the fallacy of tiniversals, possibly as much as anything else would warrant any degree of effort that a better understanding of the causes and nature of mob action in the South might be better xmderstood. Again the time is ripe for any new light that may be thrown on the subject. This is true for at least two good reasons: Mob action in the South is, we have said, very largely an inter-racial matter. The first available statis- tics show that more white men than negroes were being lynched annually. Along with the increasing sectional concentration of mob violence as shown in Chapter V, there has been a steady concentration on the Negro race. Prom 1889 to 1918, 78 per cent of those lynched were negroes. From 1914 to 1918, 81.2 per cent and from 1917 to 1928 practically 95 per cent of all 8 persons lynched were negroes,^ Henry W, Grady long ago pointed out a fact now more generally recognized as such. It Is up to the people of the South to settle the problem of the harmonious adjustment of the two races who do and must live here side by side. The Negro has gradually and increasingly interwoven himself into the fabric of southern life. It has been said that the long- est road ever traveled by a race in three hundred years v/as from Jungle in Africa to Highway in American civilization. The Am.erican Negro has made that journey, for now he is in the Highv/ay - as well as in the By-ways - of our life. He is found, even in the South, in practically every business and profession, 'Aliat is possibly more important still is the general recognition on the part of the more enlightened folk that Y/hatever makes for greater success on the part of the Negro, m.akes for greater v/ealth and happiness for the South as a whole. We are - regardless of the reticence v.dth which some would admit it - racially interdependent. This is not only true in matters economJ.c, and in matters of health and sanitation, but is coming to be so culturally as well. Each year brings added proof that the Negro has his contribution to make to the whole life of the South and the Nation, That the Negro is veritably - and adirdttedly - an indispensable part of our economic structure in the South Is shovm by an Incident v/hich at the same time indicates some- 6. It is interesting to note further that 74 per cent of all whites Ijmched during the past decade met that fate in the South, thing of the nature of the problem of adjustment as yet to "be made complete. During the World War v/hen labor was scarce and wages high in the North, negroes started forth by the thousands. They wanted better wages, but even more than that they wanted justice before the law and better educational opportunities." Some of the southern states exerted great effort to see that the Negroes did not leave. First, "moral suasion", then force v;as employed to impede the movement northward. City ordinances required that labor agents pay as high as .'i[;1000 license fees. In Macon, Georgia, - the state which leads in lynchings - the City Cotmcil raised the license fee for labor agents to ;|^25,000. At Greenvile, Mississippi, trains were stopped. Negroes were dragged therefrom and others were pre- vented from boarding them. Strangers were searched for evidence that might convict them as labor agents, "7 Whereas a generation ago It v/as only the few who realized the importance, or contemplated the ultimate solution, of the vast problem of racial adjustm.ent, today it may be said that all people of any appreciable degree of enlightenment are concerned about it, Rotighly it may be said that the beginning of the Centxxry marked a change in attitude on the part of an ever-increasing number of southern people. Before that time, and often since, inter-sectional accusations interspersed v/ith sharp enough epithets have been the principal contributions of the North and the South toward the problem of racial adjustment. It is true that this has been needed, and has been somewhat 7. Negro Migration During the War, Preliminary Economic Studies of the V.ar, No. 16, Chapter IV, to 10 effective. Such "outside" organizations as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have on the whole done tremendously more good than harm. The only "harm" they are known to have done is that in a few instances they have afforded an excuse for trouble that apparently would have happened anyway, ° It is highly probable that the next generation of Southerners will m.ore appreciate this particular organization than has the present one. Together with many people of the South who have increased in number throughout the past generation, they have helped to bring before the general public a problem hitherto contemplated by the few. The result is that what once soxinded nev/ - almost as if it had fallen out of the skies - is today commonplace, even taken for granted, by a majority of the southern people. In 1906, Hon. V/illiam H. Fleming, said in Athens, Georgia:^ This much seems clear, beyond doubt, that the whites are going to stay in this Southland for all time, and so are the negroes,,. If, then, both races are to remain together, the plainly sensible thing for statesmen of this day to do is to devise the best modus Vivendi, or working plan, by which the great- est good can be accomplished for ourselves and our posterity. Today these v/ords would not bring nev/spaper comment and personal letters from all over the nation. Not so m.uch that they are not appropriate, or needed; they are too common- place for v/ide comment. Today no Southern Governor would make public announcement, to be carried in large headlines hours 8, See Chapter VII, Gases No. 7, 10, ' 9, Slavery and the Race Problem in the South, An address before the Alumni Society of the State University in Athens, Georgia, June 19, 1906, 11 in advance, that he is pov/erless to prevent a lynching. No Southern Congressman v/ould stand on the floor of the United States Senate today and say;-^^ Yes, we have stuffed ballot-boxes, and will stuff them again; we have cheated niggers in elections, and v/ill cheat them again; v/e have disfranchised niggers, and will disfranchise all we v/ant to; we have killed and lynched niggers and will kill and lynch others; we have bxorned niggers at the stalce and will burn others; a nigger has no right to live anyhow, unlesn a v/hite man wants him to live. If you don*t like it you can liimp it. There is not a southern state whose leaders would stand for that sort of "representation" at the National Capital. Once critics at the North ciirsed the South and praised the Negro, The South in t\irn cursed both the North and the Negro - the former for "butting in" and the latter largely as a matter of habit. The time when this was general- ly true is no more. There has come with the passing of the years a diminution of that type of "Americanism" which held, (1) that no issue can have two sides; (2) that if through some grave error of Nature or Man, in a single issue there are two sides, one of them must be eradicated. Today there is a large degree of sympathy and some understanding back and forth across the Mason-Dixon line. When there is an outbreak of mob violence in the North or South, neither objects to the criticism of the other, and generously adds its own. Since the beginning of the Century, and more especially during the past decade the nvunber of southern nev/spapers readily con- 10. See J. E, WTiite, Thinking Y^liite about the Negro in tEe South, p. 124, quoting from a speech by a South Carolina Senator, 12 demnlng mob violence has grown steadily. The time Is £,one, consequently, when the tone of an editorial about southern lawlessness indicates the section, or even the state, from which it comes. Moreover, - and some have claimed this to be the last "tack in the coffin" of lynching - southern women in large groups have repudiated the idea that men are lynched for their protection. They have asked that more stringent law enforcement take the place of lawlessness in their name. Thus it would seem that the time has come when it no longer suffices for the North to call Southerners in general "dastardly murderers", and for the South to ansv/er through a Senator of the type qioted above. When public opinion in both sections is against mob ^iolence, there must be some other reason than a murderous in- tent that is general for its ccntlnuatlon. It is with the hope of throwing some light on the problem thus raised that this study is made. The aim and purpose of the study is to picture the actual situation with regard to the characteristic type of mob action in the South, and to approach an explanation of its persistence in the Tv/entleth Century. Attitude and Method of Approach Irrespective of sectional lines those who today concern themselves v/ith the phenomena of mob action in the South are roughly divisible into two groups. First, there are those who are outraged at the situation, and who, upon hearing of some manifestation of mob violence, vociferously pronounce the whole state or section of the covintry in which 13 It occurs as being "rotten to the core". They then proceed to remedy matters by describing and lambasting in a general way large sectors of the whole population of the nation. The follOT/ing quotation is possibly a fairly representative state- ment from this group: "Let it be clearly known that the lyncher is a murderous dastard, trying to siailk behind a woman's petti- coats, to avoid being known as the vile thing he is. The statistics prove conclusively that the talk of protecting woman- hood by torturing and burning men at the stake is an insolent lie, and knovm to be such by those who most find it convenient to make use of the subterfuge.,.. This is an exhibition of Delev/are morality under the strain of race prejudice, "■'■-'■ If it be granted that every word of the statement is true, they contain little enlightenment for him who would either remedy or understand. From this group, as in the past we have generously received, in the future we may expect, a super- abundance of possibly well-meaning but ill-formed moral enthusiasm, and little else. Then, there are those - apparently much smaller in ntimber - who conceive of hiiman nature as being much the same everyv/here. They believe when a criminal outbtirst, such as an episode of violence, takes place that psychologically this is not different in nature from any other hvunan activity. All behavior is conceived as the response of the human organism to stimuli. This group asks such questions as this: In so far as every single reaction is the normal one, presumably 11, Italics are mlneV 14 the only possible one in fact, for that particular organism to make In that particular situation; where there is mob action which is classed as abnormal and undesirable from the standpoint of present concepts of civilization, is it not because there are abnormal individual, cultural, social, political, economic or other conditions existing in the par- ticular Individuals and communities at the particular time in question? To approach the study in this attitude means that state-wide and sectional generalizations are important only as backgrounds for an analysis of the local situation involved in the particular episode of mob violence under consideration. The method of approach is, therefore, largely that of regional sociology with emphasis on the social-psy- chological. For those who believe in social guidance there Is hope in such a study for a worth-while contribution tov/ard attaining an insight into the proper nature of, hence the proper remedy for, a perplexing social problem. For those who follow the philosophy that "in the long run oxxr iincivi- lized propensities will be outgrown," but that "meanwhile there is no cure," there is yet hope of being able to look ahead and see whither, and at what rate, we are going. Indeed it is not the principal purpose here to discover and elaborate remedies. Rather the aim is to picture as accurately as possi- ble the actual situation with regard to mob violence in the South, especially as it persists in the Twentieth Century, Those more directly concerned with amelioration are continual- ly in need of information concerning the fvmdamental nature of the problem v/ith which they deal. There are, and U ,'iL- &• 15 lllLve long been, many whose concern it is to eradicate law- lessness from the cultural complex of the American people. There is an ever- enlarging group of those especially desirous that the type of lav/lessness exemplified in lynchings and floggings characteristic of the South shall cease to be. Yet among this group there are those who are not far removed from the Astronomer of the Middle Ages who kept an idiot in his observatory, hoping that by his inarticulate mutterings the secrets of science might be revealed. They hesitate, even falter, at the workings of the hxunan mind, v/hich through the ages has remained a mystery still. However, if we are to oinderstand human behavior we must approach it tlirotigh the mental and physical processes involved. The human behavior called mob violence is no exception. To linderstand this type of phenomena permits of no "revelations" such as the astronomer sought, V/e cannot longer expect, for example, to understand why men hang and burn one another, without setting oiirselves to the task of studying these men as reacting organisms in particular social and physical environments, •'•^ They are not "American" or "Southerners," or even "Georgians" and "Mississippians," They are particular Americans v/ith particular behavior- equip- ments coning from particular physical and cultiiral inherit- ances, reacting in specific situations to specific stimuli. It is thus that v;e get particular reactions, - floggings, mobbing, lynching, hanging, burning, etc, 12, Cf« Hollingvvorth, Leta S., ^lie Psychology of Subnormal Children, p. 170'^ ti.-. 16 Approaching the task from the point of view in- dicated, it seems advisable to combine the historical, statistical and case study methods. Through the historical approach v/e may determine the type of situations conducive to the origin and perpetuation of mob violence. We may point out hov/ particular forms of this phenomena arose and hov/ they have persisted. Prom a detailed statistical analysis the extent, general nature and characteristics of mob action :nay be discovered, - facts hardly to be ascertained, otherwise. Moreover, it is from such an analysis that we may discover those particular sections of the South v/here mob action is so characteristic as to require more specific considerationo Having the historical and statistical data before us as a background, through the case-study method we may more speci- fically and concretely get at the nature and effects of particular mob episodes. 17 CHAPTER II EARLY HISTORY OF MOB VIOLENCE IN THE UNITED STATES The theory of the new historian holds true in all social phenomena, A thing is about what it is because of what it has been. Mob violence is not to be understood merely by a study of its Tv/entieth Century manifestations. It is one of the oldest, one of the most deeply rooted of all American practices. In a manner, as v/e shall see, this prac- tice 7/a3 eminently respectable in its origin. It is, possibly because of this fact, yet regarded by its adlierents not as in opposition to the established lav/s, but rather as a supple- ment to them - a species of common law which is as old as the country. Therefore, as a social and cultural background for a detailed consideration of mob violence in the South, it is important that we trace the history of this practice in the United States, Stories concerning the origin of the term "lynch- law" are numerous,-'- Although many of them are apparently 1\ For many years "lynching" was a general term used as "mob violence" is used today. 18 pure fiction, at the same time they throw light on the history of the practices described and for that reason are worth re- lating here. Later we shall relate what seems to he the true story of the origin of the term. Meantime, in clironological order, we take up those which have been offered v/ith more or less evidence at different times. The oldest one of these comes from across the sea, James Pits-Stephen Lynch, Mayor and V/arden of Gal- way, Ireland, is said to have publicly hanged his ovm son in defiance of a mob bent upon rescuing him from the hands of the law. Various versions of this story are/be foiind. The substance of all of them is that the Mayor, who condemned Walter F, S, Lynch to death for the murder of the son of a Spanish friend, v/as determined that the law should take its course. The Mayor *s wife assembled her pov/erful kinsmen who were about to storm his house where the son was confined. Fearing that justice might be diverted, the Mayor took his son to a second story; "there he secured the end of a rope which had been previously fixed around the neck of his son, to an iron staple which projected from the wall, and, after taking from him a last embrace, he launched him into eterni- ty." It is pretty evident that this incident really happen- ed, and, although its connection v/ith extra-legal piinishment in this country is obscure, yet many people have given this as the true origin of "lynch-law". The window from which young Lynch is supposed to have hung is shown to the traveler today. Under it he reads: "This memorial of the stern and unbending justice of the ciiief -magistrate of the city, James 19 Pitz-Stephen Lynch, elected mayor A. D. 1493, who condemned and executed his ovra guilty son, Walter, on this spot, has been restored to its ancient site." It is said that there is contained in the minutes of the council books of Galway this entry: "James Lynch, mayor of Galway, hanged his own son out of the windoy/ for defrauding and killing strangers, v/ithout martial or common lav/, to show a good example to posterity," Concerning its connection with lynch-law in this country. Cutler discounts the Galway story stating tliat it may be dismissed with but little consideration. So far as v;e know the term lynch-law has always connoted a form of stumnary punishment without, or in opposition to, established law. On the other hand, it is pointed out, the Mayor of Galway was the legally constituted authority in whose court his son, presumably"" by a fair trial, was sentenced to hang. Thus the victim in this story was not "lynched", but was executed by a judge of the court. It would appear that the connection of the Galway story with lynch-law as we know it caine after the term had been coined. Although this story is told over and over again, its source is from Hardiman, the Galway annalist, who narrated it in proof of "the unsullied "2. Cf. Chambers Jouj'nal, January 1, 1916. p. 16, 3, James E. Cutler, Lynch Law, p. 15, Cf. Hardiman* s History of Galway, Dublin, 1820. p. 70; London Spectator, April, 13, 1889. Through the ''Miscellany of the Irish Archeo- logical Society", 1846, Vol. 1, pp. 44-80, in possession of Mr, Albert Matthews of Boston, the story can be traced back as far as the year 1674, 4, Cf. H. C. Featherston, Green Bag, March, 1900, 12:150ff. 5 , According to most of the accounts given of the affair. 20 honour, the strict adherence to truth, and love of impartial justice" which 7/as proverbially characteristic of Galway, Commenting on Hardiman's narrative, the editor of "Chambers Journal" has pointed out that his heart was more generous than his head was logical, "for what he calls 'an appalling instance of inflexible justice* occurred in opposition to the wishes of the townsfolk whose love of justice he praises,''^ It is doubtful that many of the early settlers in this country knew this story. "Lynch-law" did not become prevalent in Ireland. There is what is known as the "pirate story" of the origin of the name lynch-law. One named Lynch was sent from England to America about 1687 under a commission to suppress the growing evil of piracy. It is supposed that, due to the difficulty of complying v/ith the usual forms of law, this Judge Lynch "wgs empowered to proceed summarily against pirates", thus giving rise to the term lynch's law,''' Cutler considers this story - in so far as it accounts for the term lynch-law - as "equally fanciful and fictitious but less romantic" than the Galway story. He concludes as follows: "iffhatever the facts may be about the methods employed by this man Lynch to suppress piracy, there is no evidence to show that they were ever known as Lynch* s law, or had any connection whatever v/ith lynch-law." (page 16) At least there was a '6, Op, cit, p. 15. 7. London Gazette. No, 2319, '-February^ 1687; The American Cyclo- pedia (1875 edition), "Lynch Law ; A. G, Bradley, "The Origin in Lynch Law", Chambers Journal, May, 1915; Cutler, op, cit. p. 16. 21 man named Lynch who practiced "lynch-law" v/hether it was so called or not. The story represents the early practice rather than name of the practice, A Tory named Major Beard was hanged on Lynch Creek in Franklin Cotmty, North Carolina, in 1778, The name lynch- law has been ascribed to this incident. A false alarm to the effect that Tories were near is said to have caused the hang- ing to take place prematurely, before an intended court-martial. Afterward realizing the illegality of the hanging, it is re- lated that: The body was then taken down, the court reorganized, he v/as tried, condemned and re-hung by the neck until he was dead. The tree on which he was hung stood not far from Rocky Ford, on Lynch 's Creek; and it became a saying in Franklin, v/hen a person committ- ed an offence of magnitude, that 'he ought to be taken to Lynch Creek'; and so the v/ord ''Lynch law' became a fixture in the English Language, ^ There is also a Lynch Creek in South Carolina, Albert Matthews has found reason to believe that possibly it was here that lynch-law derived its name, Boston newspapers of 1768, dated Charlestown, South Carolina, indicate the ex- istence of "Regulators" at the time, and that they held meet- ings on Lynch Creek, One of their methods of punishment was by whipping. It is true that for many years this was called, along with other more severe forms of punishment, simply "lynching". In Niles' Register we find still another anecdote under the caption, "Origin of Lynch' s law",^^ It is rather 8. John H. 7i/heeler, Reminiscences and Memories of North • Carolina, (1384) p. 172, 9, The Nation, Dec. 4, 1902, 75:439ff, 10, Vol. 48, August 8, 1835, p. 402. 22 Indefinite and in other ways apparently fictitious, but it throws light on the practice under considerationo The follow- ing occurrence, according to the writer, tooljC place "in vVash- ington County, Pennsylvanis, many years ago": A certain vai- popular man had been ordered to quit the coiraminity within twenty-four hours, V^hen he failed to comply, a small group of his neighbors went to his home, tried him "in due form, choosing one of their number, a farmer named Lynch, to be judge," This "judge" pronounced a sentence of three hiindred lashes "well laid on" and an extension of his time for twenty- four hours and then, if he should still be in the community, he was again to receive three hundred lashes, , The first part of the sentence was inflicted on the spot with such good intent as to render its repetition iinnecessary. The culprit m.ade off as fast as his lacerated limbs would permit him. Cutler points out that this was "merely an instance of recourse to summary procedure against an lonpopular indi- vidual", and tliat it may or may not have been known at that time as punishment by Lynches law. Evidence that it was known by this name is lacking. That the practice described was known in Penhsylvanis "many years ago" before 1835, is not to be doubtedo Let us turn now to a somewhat detailed considera- tion of what is known as the "Virginia story" of the origin of the term "Lynch-law", Tories and Desperadoes in Virginia The most generally accepted account of the origin of the term lynch-lav/ - an account for many years \inquestioned 23 on either side of the Atlantic - is that v/hich c enters about one Charles Lynch of Bedford County Virginia, -^-^ The story has reference to the kind of law administered by this Charles Lynch dtiring the latter part of the Revolutionary War, From the beginning there has been a considerable opposition to the movement for independence, and this was especially true in the mountainous sections of Virginia, In Bedford County where Lynch lived there v/as quite a number of Tories, At the time, also, this section of Virginia sheltered many desperadoes. Both Tories and Desperadoes harassed the Con- tinentals and plundered property v;ith impunity. Horse- stealing in particular was a lucrative practice due to the high prices paid by both armies for them. At the time, more- over, the inefficiency of the judiciary m.ade punishment al- most out of the question. The cottnty courts were merely examining coxirts in all felony cases, and the final coxirt for all cases sat at 7/illiamsburg,' more than one hundred mJ.les avmy. To take prisoners there was practically im.possible. Frequently while on the way with prisoners, officers v/ould be attacked by outlaws or captured by British troops. It was under these clrcvmiBtances that Charles Lynch 11. Cutler, op. cit. (pp. 23ff J gives a full accoxint of thfs story, v/hich he takes from the following soTxrces: Julia Mayo Cabelle, Sketches and Recollections of Lynchburg, (1858), pp. 9-23, concerning the Lynch family of Virginia; Thos. V/. Page's article in the "Atlantic L'onthly", Dec, 1901, (88:731ff), and an article in the Green Bag, March 1900, (12:150ff) by H. C. Peatherston with information pertaining especially to Charles Lynch, r - . 1.1 ^±-^z. 24 conferred v/ith his neighbors as to v/hat might be done. The situation was beccinlng vmbearable. After some deliberation they decided to take matters into their own hands, to punish lawlessness of every kind and thereby to restore peace and security to the conmiunity. An organization with Mr, Lynch at the head was formed. Suspected persons were brought to his house where they were tried by an orderly court composed of Lynch as presiding justice, and his three neighbors, William Preston, Robert Adams, Jr., and James Calloway act- ing as associate justices. The procedure of this court is interesting v/hen noted in the light of more modern "lynching". It illustrates the "devolution" of the practice through the years that have passed. The accused was brought face to face v/ith his ac- cusers. He was permitted to hear the testimony against him, and to defend himself by calling witnesses in his behalf. If acquitted, as v/as often the case, he was allowed to go, not infrequently with apologies and reparation. If convicted, he was sentenced to receive thirty-nine lashes on the bare back; and, if found to be a Tory, he must either shout "Liberty Forever"! or else hang^ by the thumbs until he did so. The execution of the sentence always took place immediately upon conviction. Due possibly to Lynch' s u:uaker proclivities, or to his "native sense of humanity", the death penalty was never paid under the shadov/ of the famous old '.Valnut tree on Lynch 's lawn. Page cites evidence to show that "both custom and sentiment were violently opposed to visiting capital , ^^ ,.^. f-l-,. A.-r .ii'.' 25 punishnent upon the detected Tory conspirators," There is said to have been only tliree instances of capital punishment in Bedford County hetv/een the time of its organization and the Revolution, The first of these was a Negro slave, Hamilton, convicted of "Administering Poysonous Medicines to Ann Payne", his master *s v/ife. His value being determined by the court and paid to Payne, Hamilton was "hang- ed by the Neck till dead", after v/hich he was cut into quarters "and his quarters hung up at the Cross Roads. "-^^ Lynch v/as made a Colonel and v/as placed in command of a regiment of militia. Encouraged by the news of the invasion of Virginia by Cornwallis in 1780, the Bedford Tories formed a conspiracy to sieze the stores which Lynch had col- lected. News of the conspiracy, throvigh one of the Tories themselves, according to tradition, reached Lynch and he im- mediately had a number of them arrested. They were considered by Lynch as being guilty of treason against the Revolutionary government. It was true, of course, that the General Coiirt alone had jurisdiction in cases of treason, but Lynch v/as up against a practical difficulty. He v/as about to set out for the front; he could not afford to take the Tories alon^ on a rapid march, and felt it unsafe to turn them loose after > 12, In proof of the contention that at this time race prejudice did not operate against the Negro in the matter of justice before the courts. Page states that during the sam.e year (1756), at the same place, "a negro v/as tried for miorder, another for poisoning, and a third for arson, and all were cleared." Cf, Cutler, op.cit. p. 31, ;x 26 administering the usual thirty-nine lashes and extracting the xin^villing cry of "Liberty"] He therefore sentenced the whole group, including a former fellov/ justice on the county bench, to terms of imprisonment ranging from one to five years. After the close of the War there v/ere threats of prosecution on the part of some of those who had suffered this illegal sentence, whereupon Lynch brought the whole matter be- fore the Virginia Legislature in 1782, After much debate a law was passed, the substance of which is as follows: Although the measures taken by Lynch and his friends Preston, Adams and Galloway, "and other faithful citizens", may not have been strictly warranted by law, they had, by timely and effective measures, suppressed a conspiracy formed by "divers evil-dis- posed persons in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty.., (who) did actually attempt to levy v/ar against the commonwealth." Their measures v/ere, therefore "justifiable from the imminence of the danger". It was enacted that these gentlemen "and all other persons v/hatsoever concerned in suppressing the conspiracy" be exhonerated,''-^ Page says that the lengthy debate in the Virginia Legislatvire about this bill "aroused the interest of the whole coimtry" and that "the proceedings in Bedford v/hich the legislatvire thus pronounced to be illegal, but justifiable, were imitated in other parts of the State, and came to be known by the name of Lyn^h^s law." NTimerous citations from as m.any books and articles v/ritten 13» Quoted by Cutler, from Henlng's Statutes at Large, Vol, XI," pp. 134-135, 5* i ' '-t:frf,(fr 3V ■•h or 5i 27 within the next few years indicate this as the true source 14 of the expression "lynch-law". There is considerable evidence to show that the term lynch-lav/ was not in use, certainly not to any general extent, before this time. This, together with the fact that soon after the legislative enactment the term was in general use, largely discredits the Carolina stories given above. It is true, for example, that "regulating" was known in South Carolina in 1768, and doubtless meetings were held on Lynch Creek as per the nev/spaper announcement referred to above. But "regulating" began earlier than 1768 and far away from Lynch Creek in South Carolina, At least two years earlier the practice was in vogue in Granville, Orange, and Anson counties. North Carolina, In a general meeting held on April 4, 1768 the appelation of "mob" v/hich seems to have been adopted by themselves, was dropped by those who had been tak- ing part in the proceedings and the name of "Regulators" was formally adopted, 15 Moreover, v/hen the practice of "regulat- ing v;as introduced into South Carolina, apparently in the summer of 1767, it was not in the region of Lynch Creek, '-^-liere is little reason to suppose, therefore, that when regulating reached this region its name v/ould have been changed from "regulating" to "lynch-law". ^^ 14. See the nxmerous and lengthy footnotes given by Cutler, op, cit, pp, 30-37, 15. Cf. Cutler, p. 20; Alexander Gregg, History of the Old Cherav/s, (1867) p. 129; F. X, Maxin,1II story of North ' Carolina, (1812) Vol. II, pp. 228, 233; Hugh V/illiamson, History of North Carolina, (1812), Vol. II, pp. 128, 131, 16. J, B. 0»Neal, The Annals of Newberry, (1859), pp, 78-79. an? owct ^ r , . il. 28 Thirty-three years before he wrote the story cited above to show how "lynch-law" became a word of the English language by its use in Franklin County, North Carolina, Wheeler had written in his History of North Carolina an account of the hanging of "Captain Beard about 1778". While by the two accounts, as well as other facts, it is evident that the "Captain Beard" referred to is the same in both accounts, in the first v/ritten there is no reference v/hatevery to the term lynch-law. It would seem that this term had come into use before his second writing, at which time it was added to the account. It is very plausible that, after the Beard incident, the people of Franklin County, North Carolina, - at least some of them - used the expression *he ought to be taken to Lynch Creek', This, however, would not mean that "lynch-law" became "a fixture in the English language", Etymologically the concept involved has been traced much further back of any of the dates considered. To quote from Cutler: On its etymological side the word lynch has been traced to an old /Jiglo-Saxon verb »linch», mean- ing to beat severely with a pliable instrvunent, to chastise or to maltreat, which is said to have survived In this cognate meaning in America, as have many other v^fords and expressions long obsolete in Great Britain, While he maintains that there is no authority for this deri- vation, it v/ould seem that his statement to the effect that all evidence that "such an Anglo-Saxon verb ever existed" is wanting, is a bit extreme. ^"^ C. A. Brlsted, in an Essay on 17, His supposition is based upon the fact that he failed to find the verb 'linch» or »linge» in either Bosv/orthls Dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon Language, or Stratmann's, Middle-English Dictionary, 1 I yX 29 the English Language in America, says that 'Llnch' in "several of the northern- county dialects means to beat or maltreat. Lynch Law, then, would he simply equivalent to club-law. ""^^ He points out that the change of a letter may easily be accounted for by the fact that the name Lynch "is as common in some parts of America as In Ireland", Cutler quotes, to the disfavor of Bristed, the most significant statement made by him in this connection. After Bristed had ingeniously traced lynch-law back to the verb 'llnch'. Cutler points out, he then proceeded to remark that "if there ever was a phrase deemed particularly Trans-atlantic In origin, it Is that of 'Lynch Law' for siimmary and informal justice, "•'■^ It would seem that Bristed, being a linguist, was speaking of one thing while Cutler was concerned with another - and that both were right, except In so far as the latter denied that such a verb ever existed. From English versions of our sub- ject, it would seem beyond doubt that 'llnch* is an old term, and that it carries the connotation nov/ Inherent in it. Thus in "Chambers' Journal" quoted above, after a review of the "Galway story", the writer continues: 7/e may suspect, I think with reason, the various American stories, which profess to derive the v/ord from some Judge Lynch, if we remember that there is a good English provincialism, 'to lynch', 'linse', or 'llnch', meaning 'to beat', and that the phrase 'club-law' means much the same as 'lynch-law', 'To lynch' would not be the first English provincialism to s\irvlve amongst our American cousins with an extended meaning. 18, Cambridge Essays, (1855), p. 60. 19, Quoted by Cutler, Note, No, 2, p. 17, o r ;J 30 There la, however, no direct evidence that the term lynch-law was used anywhere In the world before 1782, Copious private correspondence as well as many historical works give abtmdant evidence for the account nov; most generally accepted; that lynch-law came from Virginia and is directly connected with the actions of Charles Lynch and 20 his neighbors. It is quite clear that within the next thirty or forty years lynching - signifying any sort of summary punish- ment - was knov/n by that name over wide areas of the cotmtry. There are possibly two reasons for this quick spread of the term, both of which have already been clearly indicated. In the first place It seems well within the range of plausibility to grant that the Anglo-Saxon verb 'to linch* was a part of the mental equipment of early settlers in this country. There seem.s to be no reason why Brlsted should have traced the word fvirther back had its origin been American, Furthermore to doubt the North Carolina saying "he ought to be taken to Lynch Creek" is unv/arranted. It is true also that the "regulators" held meetings on Lynch Creek in South Carolina, Moreover, it is possible that many of the Irish in America knew the story of Galway, 'Alien, therefore, the term lynch- lav/ and lynching were used in Virginia after the legislative enactment v/hich was widely discussed, it Is very easy to 20, Due apparently to a statement in Haydon's Dictionary of Dates (1860) to the effect that Lynch-lav/ derived its name after John Lynch who summarily punished fugitive slaves and criminals in the dismal swamp of N. C, seems to have become the accepted story in France. Cf . Revue de Devix Mondes, May, 1891, J. Ob; Jbi 31 understand how the word should have taken hold in these other sections. Wlnen we remember hov; the culture areas gradually extended out from each of the Atlantic states on tov/ard the West, It is not difficult to understand why by 1830 lynching 3 were so called from every part of the country then inhabited by English, The other apparent reason for the rapid spread of the term under consideration is that the practice of which it was the name, was wide- spread. The early history of this practice which was later named lynch- law deserves a fuller treatment, to which we nov/ turn oijir attention. Early American Lynch- Law; The origin of the term "lynch- law" does not mark the origin of the practice which it indicates. The latter might be traced back to the origin of courts, for since that time, in every country so far as v/e Icnow, there has been some sort of extra-legal punishment analogous to the American practice. The Vehmic courts of Germany in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries grev/ out of a necessity not wholly unlike that which brought the practice to America, "Cowper justice" and"Jedburg justice" originated on the early Scotch border where desperadoes are said to have been hanged without a trial. Cutler quotes from and Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish language that "in mockery of justice, assizes were held upon them after that they had suffered", (p. 8) There is an English proverb which runs as follows: "First hang and drav/, then hear the cause by Lidford law," In a dictionary of the Ttr^r 32 seventeenth century, LydTord law Is defined as "a certain Law whereby they first hang a Man and afterwards indite 21 him". Thus the Franklin County North Carolinians v/ho hang- ed Beard and tried him afterwards follov/ed an old precedent. All these expressions are so many different names that characterize the methods employed in various parts of other covmtries for executing popular justice. Like the Vehmlc tribunals in Germany, Lydford law and Halifax law in England, and Cowper Justice and Jedburg Justice in Scotland gradually gave way along with the more effective execution of established laws by the officials, ^^ While Cutler is doubtless correct in maintaining that lynch-lav/ as we know it cannot be traced back to these medieval practices, they were not originally as different in nature from our lynch- law as he suggests. He points out that "These practices differ from lynch-law in not dispensing v/lth all regular pro- ceedings", and that "the death penalty was not at first in- flicted under lynch-law". As for dispensing with regular proceedings, this was a later development; for all early references to sTxmmary punishment Indicate that the common practice was to hold a regular trial "in due form". True, lynching was once synonymous with whipping, but the Con- ditions out of which it came were not unlike those which occasioned Lydford law and Jedburg justice; and siimmary hang- ings, although not so called before 1782, had long been the practice in this country. To these practices immediately the ^1, Qp-oted from The Nev/ World of A'ordSg or A General English Dictionary. (1678, 4th. editlbnr* by Edward Phillips: 22. Cutler, op. cit. p. 5, 6, riv , :« 33 term lynch-law was applied. The dictionary definitions of lynch-law during the first half of the nineteenth century indicate that it meant merely punishing without trial. In the latter half of the century hov/ever the term was taking on a more specific meaning, as is illustrated by the follo\v- ing definitions: To punish without the forms of law; specifically to hang by mob-law. (1885), (Cutler, p, 10), Lynch: To inflict punishment upon, especially death,, without the forms of law, as when a mob captures and hangs a suspected person, (1893), Cutler, p. 11), With the passing of time the operation of lynch-law became more severe, until by the end or soon after the Civil War it was practically synonymous with capital punishment by a mob.^*^ Since the Reconstruction period, therefore, the specific meaning of "lynching" has necessitated the use of the specific terms "flogging", "tarring and feathering", etc. for minor punishments by mobs. Mob-violence is now the more generall;!;ed term covering both categories, as well as such phenomena as strikes and race riots. In the earliest recorded act of mob-violence in the country Negroes played only a minor part. Two men, Bov/em and Morrill, killed ty/o Indians in 1753, v/ho v/ere accused of carrying off two Negroes the year before. The night before these men were to be tried for murder, - on March 20, 1754 - 23, The term ''mob" which we shall discuss more at lenght in Chapter VIII^^ is very old. It is traced back to aljout 1680, and is of latin origin. Its connotation is "mobile", "emotional", "rabble". Encyclopedia Brittanlca, 11th, ed. "Lynch Law", Vol, XVII, p. 169o 34 a mob broke open the jail and set them free, A reward offered by Governor Wentworth, as well as the great ex- citement aroused in the cormminity by the "outrage" failed to affect an apprehension and trial of the murderers, ••In a short time they went openly about their business, vd.thout fear of molestation, and the men engaged in brealdng the jail at Portsmouth, . though well known, were never called to account, but, on the contrary, were considered as having performed a most meritorious act. In fact, some of the most substantial men in the country were engaged in the rescue., and the Government could not have made an arrest had they made the attempt, ^^ About the middle of December, 1763, there occurred what is claimed by some to have been the first instance of lynck-la^ff in this country. The Scotch-Irish who had settled around Paxtang, now Harrlsbxirg, Pennsylvania, had little patience with the Quaker government which treated with con- tempt their appeals for help in dealing with the Indians, The settlers of Lancaster and Cumberland counties, there- fore, formed themselves into several companies of Rangers for the purpose of patrolling the borders and giving protection to their families. Under the leadersMp of one Matthew Smith, the Rangers went out to an Indian settlement. One on the Rangers upon seeing an Indian whom he is said to have recog- nized as the murderer of his Mother, shot him down. Then the "Furious mob rushed into the cabins, and killed all the Indians whom they fovmd there, some six in number," "fe4. Quoted by Cutler from New Hampshire Provincial Papers, VI, 262-266 in possession of Albert Matthews of Boston, 25, Cutler, op, cit, p, 42, 35 Fourteen of the Indians escaped and fled to Lan- caster where they were lodged in jail for protection. Word was received by the men at Paxtang that an Indian who had nnirdered relatives of their number was among those in jail. Under the leadership of Lazarus Stewart about fifty of the Rangers on December 27, marched to Lancaster, broke open the the jail, and "v/ith the fury of a mob, massacred every Indian contained therein, man, v/oman, and child". There are other 27 instances of such summary dealings v/ith the Indians, but it seems that these were after all rather isolated incidents and that the practice of "sximmary justice" had a different origin. There is no sharp break in the counter-atrocities agf^inst Indians from the time of the arrival of the Europeans until after law courts had long been established. It is quite certain that before the earliest cases on record, which we have recited, there v/as a form of sujnmary justice called "regulating". This practice was found, not only out on the boarders, but also in the older and better organized commun- ities. The first record of this type of lynch-law is to be found in the December 18, 1752 copy of the New York Gazette, which intimates that the practice was not old enough to be well known at that time, "Regulars" are mentioned as giving most severe v/hippings to men who were kno'jTn to beat their wives. That these men were not following out the wishes of the community in general is indicated by the fact that they E6. Cf. C. A. Hanna: The Scotch-Irish, (1502) p. 60, 27, Cf. W. H. Smith: The St Clair Papers, (1882) II, 351, 374, 376, 396-97; Culler, op. cit. p. 45. 36 dressed themselves in women's clothes and painted their faces, ^® In the New Jersey Archives (1879) is found a copy of a letter dated December 7, 1753, written by one "Prudence Goodwife", After telling how her husband had beaten her, she says in part: My case being nois'd abroad, induced several generous young men to discipline him. These yoiing Persons do stile, or are stiled Regulators: and so they are with Propriety: for they have regulated my dear Hus- band, and the rest of the bad Ones hereabouts, that they are afraid of using such Barbarity, Mention is then made of certain men, presumably wife-beaters, who had been instrumental in, or had attempted to, "have those dear Regulators indicted", indicating that their actions were considered as lawlessness. Regulating was early practiced in North Carolina, ^^ The purpose was at first that of "regulating public grievances and abuses of power", and especially to resist extortionate exactions of government officials. Their chief method of pvmishing was by whipping. Not unlike later developments of "summary justice" however the "regulating spirit" spread, so that four or five years after the first recorded instances of "regulating" we find lawlessness in the extreme. In September, 1770, an attack was made upon superior court in session at Hillsboro, by about 150 Regulators. Several men who had incvirred their enmity received a severe whipping, and 28, Cutler, op. cit, p, 46, 29. C"f. H. Williamson: History of North Carolina (1812) II, S6^-3; 270-1. J. H. V^-heeler: History of North Carolina, (1851) ii, 306, es «•/■ r* 37 considerable property v/as destroyed. The leaders were later arrested. This broiight on more trouble between the law and the lawless, so that in 1771 Governor Tyson had to call out the militia. After a battle in which each side lost several men the Regulators were defeated and their organization broken up. At least for the time being, and forever so far as the "Regulators" were concerned, the law had won!» 38 CHAPTER III BORDER LYNCHING AND ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION The frontier variety of lynching may he said to have originated in South Carolina,^ Before 1769 there were no courts of criminal and civil jurisdiction except "that which v/as holden in Charles- tov/n." As early as 1752 a need for better court procedure v/as felt,^ Failure to comprehend the real nature of "border conditions, and thereby ignoring this need, resulted in a decided opposition betv/een the frontiersmen and the Government, According to private corre- spondence, and to the South Carolina Gazette"^ "Regulation" in the case of horse theives and robbers seems to have become a regular and necessary practice by the year 1767 in the section around Pine Tree Hill,^ The outlaws are referred to as "The gang of Villains from. Virginia and North Carolina" who 1, Cf. Alexander Gregg: History of the Old Chenaws (18671 cinapter Vix, 2. At this time an appeal of this nature was m.ade to the General Assembly, Loc. cit, 3. May 26 and July 17, 1767. 4, Now Camden, 39 Persisted in horse-stealing, robbery and other outrages "notwithstanding the late public examples made of several of them." The at present range in the Porks between Broad, Saludy, and Savannah Rivers. Two of the gang v/ere hanged last week at Savannah, Viz., Lundy Hart and Obadiah Greenage, Two others, James Ferguson and Jessie Hamberson, were killed v/hen these v;ere taken. 5 That this was no isolated occasion is indicated by an address of the Governor to both Houses of the Assembly on November 5, 1767. Speaking of the "unhappy situation in the Back Parts of the Country" he said: The means to suppress those licentious spirits that have so lately appeared in the distant parts of the Province, and, assuming the name of Regu- lators, have, in defiance of Government, and to the subversion of good order, legally tried, con- demned, and punished many persons, require an attentive deliberation. 6 During the following year "ne?/ irregularities" on the part of the Regulators took place. "Seeming to despair of rooting out those desperate villains", they proceeded "to punish such offenders as they can catch", including "an infamous woman" who received corporal punishment.''' In the year 1769 seven new courts were established in the Interior, v/lth suitable jails and courthouses. "This marked the end of the Regulation movement in South Carolina. The condition of ftffairs v/hich had called it into existence had ceased to prevail and the practice of "regulating" was, therefore. 5. Gregg, op. clt. p, 154. 6. Gregg, op, clt. p. 136. 7. Gregg, op. clt. p. 138. 40 discontinued* 8 The practice of tarring and feathering, was "particularly characteristic" from around 1775 when the "Sons of Liberty" were active around Boston in stirring up resistance to the British Government, This method of punishment had been practiced several years before and no doubt was knov/n by the earlier immigrants before they came to America. H The more modern practice of stripping the clothes from a Negro suspect who is gazed at by women un- ashamed is not new. As an example of this and the fact that "a mob is a mob" irrespective of time or place we quote from the Boston Chronicle for October 26-30, 1769: Last Saturday evening a person suspected to be an in- former, was stripped naked, put in a Cart, where he was first tarred, then feathered, and in this condi- tion, carried through the principal streets of the tov/n, follov/ed by a great concouj?se of people. During the same year there were instances in which svimmary pvuaishment was resorted to in other cases than those of a political natTire,-^^ Before the outbreak of the Revolutionary Weir tarring and feathering was common throughout the Colonies^^^ Although the "Regulators" on the South Carolina borders had disbanded, in the year 1775 there was a "Secret Committee" in Charleston. Eairing that year they tarred and feathered un- popular men, of whom at least two were stripped of their 8. Cutler, op, cit, p. 37; Gregg, op. cit. p. 151-2. 9. Cutler, op. cit. note 1, p. 59, 10. Cf. Boston Evening Post, Sept, 12, 1768 (1720, p. 3); Sept, 19, 1768 (No. 1721, p. 3) 11. Cf. Hakluyt's Voyages, Vol. II, p. 21; Cutler; p. 61. 12. Cutler, pp. 67-69, 13. Cutler, pp. 68-69, 41 clothes and carted throtigh the streets, ■'•^ During the next year- they burned a white man. "John Roberts, a dissenting minister, was seized on suspicion of being an enemy to the rights of America, when he was tarred and feathered; after which the populace, whose fury could not be appeased, erected a gibbet on v/liich they hanged him, and afterwards made a bon- fire, in which Roberts, together with the gibbet, was con- sumed to ashes. "-^^ Stumnary punishment - more than once approved by the Legislature - seems to have been very prevalent in Virginia from about 1779 to 1792.^^ T.^'hile evidence covering the period from then up to 1830 is mostly limited to notes made by travelers, there is little reason to believe that it suddenly ceased or even diminished after 1792, E. W, Gould gives good reasons for mob violence in the Mississippi Valley doiring this time. Pointing out that "no country known to civilization has been the theater and battlefield of more tragic events and bloodc\irdling incidents than has been this beautiful Valley of the Mississippi", he proceeds: Succeeding the treachery and massacres from the In- dians and the bloody battles that so often followed, encoviraged by the French and English authorities, came The OUTLAW, THE PIRATE, THE ESCAPED COIWICT, and the DESPERATE HIGffiVAYi^AN from all parts of the world. So vital a part of the background for later lawless- ness in this section, it seems justifiable to dwell at length on 14. John Drayton: kemoirs of the American Revolution (182li, I, 273-274. Frank Moore: Diary of the Revolution (1875) pp. 90-91, Edward McCrady: South Carolina in the Revolu- tion (1175-1780) (1901), p. 2T. 15. Frank Moore: Diary of the Revolution (1875) p. 359. 16. Cutler pp. 71-76. cJl bl 42 this situation which inevitably led to extra-legal punish- ment. The case quoted below is only one of several, or possibly many, that could be quoted from the literature of the period between 1800 and 1830, We may well suppose that in the secrets of eternity are many others. The Crowds Nest In the year 1809 'Island number 94', or Stack Island, or, as it is sometimes called, 'Crov/»s Nest', 170 miles above Natchez, was notorious for many years as a den for the rendezvous of horse thieves, counterfeiters, robbers and murderers. It v/as a small island in the middle of «Nine Mile Reach*. Prom thence they would sally forth, stop passing boats, murder the crew, or, if this seemed impracticable, would buy their horses, flotir, whiskey, etc., and pay for them. Their villanies became notorious, and several years pursuit by the civil officers of the lav/ failed to pro- duce any result in the way of punishment or eradication. But they were at length made to disappear by the appli- cation of lynch law, from several keel boat crews. The full history of this affair has never been ixnfolded, and perhaps never will be. But for terrible retribution and complete annihilation outside of any authorized decrees, it never had its equal in any administration of lynch law, the recitals of which cast so many shadov/s on the West and South, • fov;^.f>„ 43 The autuirin of 1809 had been marked by many atrocities on the part of the bandits of the "Crov/'s Nest". Several boats and their entire crews had dis- appeared at that point, and no traces of them could be found afterwards. The country around, and up and down the river, had been victimized and robbed in almost every conceivable form by depredators, whose movements could be traced satisfactorily toward the Crow»s nest. At one time it occurred that several keel boats were concentrated at the head of Nine Mile Reach, within speaking distance of each other, being detained by heavy contrary winds. The crews of these boats were well informed as to the villanies of those who harbored on the little island a few miles belov/ them. Many of them had friends and comrades on the boats that had been among missing oneso By what means it was brought about, or at whose suggestion or influence, it was never known. But one dark night, a few hours before daylight, eighty or ninety men from these wind-bound crafts, well armed, descended in their small boats to the Crow's Nest and surprised its occupants, whom they secured after a short encounter, in which two of the boatmen were wounded and several of the robbers killed. Nineteen men, a boy fifteen, and two women, were thus captured. Shortly after sunrise, the boy, on accovmt of his extreme youth, and the two women, were allowed to depart, V/hat was the punishment meted out to the men, whether shot or hanged. . I 44 wa3 never ascertained with any degree of certainty. None but the boy, the boatmen and the tv/o women, however, ever left the island alive, and by tv/elve o'clock noon, the crews were back to their boats, and, the wind having calmed the night before, they shoved out, and by svmset were far down the river and away from the scene of the indisputably just, althotigh un- lawful retribution. Two years afterward came the terrible earthquake, which, with the floods of 1811 and »13, destroyed every vestige of the Crow's Nest, leaving nothing of it to be seen but a low sand-bar, and with it passed away from public sight and mind all signs of the bandits, their crimes, and the awful 17 doom that av/aited them. We know that the name and the practice of lynch- law were known and experienced as far Y/est as Indiana by 18 181S, Some time prior to that date an English traveler commented on the rapid development of society "in our new country" and pointed out that the Americans were "anxiously studious of mildness" In forming their laws} that only murder "of the first degree" called for the death penalty in any western state, and according to his belief the same was true of all States in the nation. Due to the fact that they had from the first been accustomed to rely on their own powers, he continued, "they siirrender with reluctance, 17. E. W. Gould, Fifty Years on the y.lsslssippi , pp. 58-59, Nixon- Jones Ptg. Co., St. Louis, 1889, 18, V/. Paiix, Memorable Days in America, London (1823) p. 304-5, ..1 45 and only by halves, their right of defense against every aggression even to the laws which they themselves have constituted," The v/riter pointed out that "savage and ferocious violence" was too common to be abhorred in the frontier states, but that such events v/ould hardly be tolerated in a more settled state like Kentucky, to which he proudly referred with the prediction that soon mob violence v/ould be only a matter of history in Illinois and Indiana, One of the most interesting points to be gained from Blaine's notes is that already in cases of prosecution of those involved in extra-legal punishment, juries "knov/lng the bad characters of the prosecutors" would give but trifling damages, which divided among so many, amounted to next to ?1 nothing for each individual. Concerning his conversation with some of the chief ones among the Regulators the narrator states: They very sensibly remarked that v/hen the country became more thickly settled, there would no longer be any necessity for any such proceedings, and that they should all be delighted at being able to obtain justice in a more formal manner. ^^ In general it may be said that the practices of "summary justice" which the English seem to have brought with them to America, practiced in Colonial and Revolutionary 19, Indem, pp. 96-98, 20, Somev/here In this section and before 1822, the practice of cutting off the ears of the culprit had arisen, 21, Loc, cit. Although lawlessness in the form of extra-legal punishment was considered a necessity these men v/ere con- sistent in that they fined one another. This has not al- ways been the case since that day, 22, An Excursion through the U. 3. and Canada, 1822-23. London 1824, pp, 233,6, 46 times, were then carried westward during the half century after the Revolution where they persisted by necessity and possibly grev; somewhat harsh for the same reason, ^"^ At least in some of the cases an orderly trial was held and no mob phenomena whatever were exhibited. According to Cutler's discussion of the subject it would appear, indeed, that there was generally more order in the extra-legal punishment on the border than in Nev/ England, and later in the other seaboard Provinces, v/here the necessity for such practices was certain- ly less tirgent, ' The subsequent history of lynch- lav/ in the West is a story of the working out of the principle early set forth by the Virginia Legislatxire when it declared that, under peculiar circumstances such as are often met when established law is weak, measures not strictly warranted by law may be justifiable from the immanence of the danger involved. We shall review more reasons ,jtill why this principle was the natviral and often the necessary salvation of the pioneers exposed to the vicissitudes of frontier life. First, hov/ever, we turn attention to a different and very important aspect of the history of lynch-lav/ in America, Anti-Slavery Agitation In the East, as we have noted, svramary practices, although not confined within the limits of political troubles, ^^0 If a thief refused to quit the coirmunity after a v;hipping he was whipped again and his ears cut off, Blaine, pp. 233-6, 24, Cutler, op, cit. Chapter III, j>S .. r_- ki'ii 47 seem largely to have grown out of then. After the Revo- lution there was little excuse for, and little evidence of, svunmary punishment in this section. In the more southern states, however, the frontier gave away slowly. The popu- lation spread out faster than it increased, so that well- organized and thickly populated communities - unattractive to depredators - v/ere more slov/ to develop. Almost before "regulation" had ceased and while lynching was a part of the culttire-complex in these regions, anti-slavery agitation began. Thus while lynch-lav; was moving westward, and before it had been forgotten on the seaboard, there arose an occasion for its revival. This revival was characterized by less reasoning and more emotionality - and, therefore, more heed- less and severe pixnishments. In September 1831, in North Carolina, "three ring leaders of the late diabolical con- fi 25 spiracy v/ere executed at Onslow Court House ,■ The editor of the Liberator, as subsequent history indicates, was doubt- less justified in the follov/ing comment: "^Executed by the people*, doubtless means executed by a mob, on suspicion of guilt, without investigation or trial," That emotionality often had the upper hand - and that such being frequently the case in the South today is not altogether modern - is indicated by the follov/ing incidents: John Lamb of Georgia, in 1831, subscribed for Garrison's anti- slavery paper. He v/as violently taken from his house, tarred and feathered; then oil was poured on his 25, Liberator, Nobem.ber 5, 1831, Vol, I, p. 180, 48 head and set on fire, after which he was ducked in the Pfi river and later whipped at a post, the In Petersburg, Virginia, a man was "lashed on/bare back" for saying, "that black men have, in the abstract, a right to their freedom," He was ordered to leave never to return under threat of being treated "v/orser". During this same memorable year the paranoid Negro preacher, Nat Turner, who had several years earlier decided to "call the attention of the civilized world to the conditions of his race", on a Stmday night, August 21, opened his fajnous insurrection. About sixty whites, men, v/omen and children, were slaughtered by this erratic but sincere Negro and his follov/ers, A letter to President Jackson from a committee of citizens of Southampton, dated August 29, gives some conception of hov/ the incident spread both fear and horror among the white people: ^° ...So inhuman has been the butchery, so indis- criminate the carnage, that the tomahawk and scalping knife have now no horrors. Along the road traveled by our rebellious blacks, comprising a distance of something like twenty- seven miles, no white sovil lives to tell how fiend-like was their purpose,. , The excitement is so great that were the justices to pronounce a slave innocent, v/e fear a mob would be the consequence. Many of the slaves who had rebelled, as v/ell as some who were Innocent, were shot on sight. The heads of some of them were left up on poles for weeks as a dreadful warning 26, Liberator, Oct. 1, 1551 (1;15V), 27, Liberator, Oct. 29, 1831 (1:174); Cutler, op. cit. p. 92, 28, Quoted by W. S, Drewry, Slave Insurrections in Virginia, p. 84, OvS 49 to others who might contemplate rebellion. A negro woman who had attempted to kill a white woman was lynched. Ac- cording to Cutler, "It is said that some of the slaves suffered fearful torture, being burnt with red-hot irons and their bodies being horribly mutilated, before death came to their relief," Ttirner was tortured with pin-pricks, soundly whipped, and put in jail to await trial. Fifty- three negroes connected with the massacre were tried by the courts. Twenty of them were released, tv/elve were transport- ed, and seventeen executed. Turner and his associate-leaders were tried again in Superior Court, Turner and two others were executed. With one exception, all of those who were executed v/ere btiried in a "decent and becoming manner". The body of Nat Turner was delivered to the doctors, "who skinned it and made grease of the flesh." Possibly the total influence of this insurrection cannot yet be written. The general effect was to center attention on the slave question. To the North it brought a more pronounced conviction than ever as to the evils of slavery. To the South it brought intense excitement and fear. New plots were believed to exist in North Carolina. A rumor was spread, and for a while accepted, to the effect that Wilmington had been burned, half the inhabitants killed, and that "the negroes of several counties were on the march for ■^•^^ Cutler, op. cit, p. 95, l-felvlaster. History of the People of the United States, Vol. VI, states that 55 white per- sons were killed, and, concerning the negroes, "A hundred are said to have been shot, 19 executed, p. 74, ,r,2f. Qi ^^S 50 Raleigh," Likewise, without the least foundation, a "plot" was discovered in Deleware and Maryland, While there is no evidence that Turner or any of his followers ever aaw a copy of the "liberator". Garrison and his publication were credited with instigating the massacre. Sharp debates over the question of slavery became more frequent; and prejudice against negroes, slave and free, grev/ more intense. For- getting important parts of the Constitution, some "gentlemen of the first respectability" at Columbia, South Carolina, formed themselves into a "Vigilance Association" and offered a rev/ard of fifteen hundred dollars "for the conviction of any white person found circulating the Liberator, Walker* a Appeal, or any other publication of seditious tendency," In North Carolina the Grand Jiiry brought an in- dictment against Garrison "for the circulation and publication of the 'Liberator' in the county in contravention to the act of the last General Assembly," According to a law of Georgia, a five thousand dollar reward was offered for the conviction of any one concerned with the circulation of "seditious" 32 literature. The Governor of Virginia credited the Nat Turner insurrection, "and the plots discovered elsewhere," to the "fanatics of some of our neighboring states", and call- ed for a revision of the laws "intended to preserve in due Z6m McMaster, loc, cit. p, 74, "*"" 31, United States Gazette, Oct, 12. 1831; McMaster, op. cit. 15, 32, Laws of Georgia, 1831, p. 255, Act approved on December 15, 1831, J5 IS. » • 51 subordination the slave population of our State," An act providing for the removal of free negroes was passed by the legislature. Pressure was brought to bear upon the officials of the states in which "incendiary literature" was being issued to stop it, A sharp cleavage between the pro and the anti slavery factions was drawn in the East, where negroes were treated with contempt. In Boston some of the Christian people were so overcome with rece prejudice that they expell- ed colored members from their churches, "^^ Thus along with the growing resentment between the two sections of the co^^ntry, prejudice became more general in both,"^"* The term "lynch-law" nov/ came into general use, and the practice spread far and wide. In the older states it was administered first to abolitionists, and then - true to the nature of mob violence - it spread out tmtil a stranger, for some offence "unknov/n to the inhabitants was tarred and feathered in true Yankee style, marched out of town and let 35 run," At the same time out on the borders from Vlcksburg to St. Louis, gamblers and robbers were being treated to lynch-law. A whipping with orders to move on generally made up the sentence. In Vicksbvtrg, in 1835, a group of gamblers refused to obey orders to quit the town. This resulted in an attack upon the gamblers in which a highly respected '3S. McMaater, op, cit. pp. 76-79. 54, Chapter VIII gives some conception of how race prejudice in the South has persisted, being often the reason given for a lynching episode, 35<. Q^oted by Cutler from the Liberator, Sept. 27, 1834. — ~e 52 citizen of the town was killed. Five of the gamblers were taken to the common gallows and hanged, their bodies being left suspended for twenty-four hours. About this time an Insurrection in Madison County, Ivlississippi, was suspected. As a result five white men and several negroes, "some ten or fifteen" were hanged without due process of law. In connection with the border conditions and methods of punish- ment, Ingraham makes a significant statement. In discussing the habit of the people "of improving upon the courts by taking the laws into their own hands," he says: "The want of a penitentiary ha^ had a tendency to keep this custom alive in this state longer than it would otherwise have existed. When an individual is guilty of any offence, which renders him amenable to the laws, he must either be acquitted altogether or suffer death. At this time eleven crimes were punishable by death in Mississippi, In May, 1835, two negroes murdered two children in Mobile, Alabama, "with such peculiar circiimstances of barbarity" that, althovigh a trial was given them in which "the Court pronounced the only sentence known to the law" they were immediately afterward burned. The Implication is that they had committed rape, "They were seized, taken to the place where they had perpetrated the act, and burned to death, "38 In April of the next year a free mulatto killed a Deputy Sheriff in St, Louis, Missouri, while resisting 915, J, H. Ingraham, The South-West, Vol. II, pp. 185-187, 37. Cutler, op. cit. p. 101<, 38. Liberator, July 4, 1835, (5:108); Cutler, p. 108, 53 arrest for helping a prisoner to escape. He was captured, locked in jail, and later taken from the jail by a mob who had threatened to tear it down if the officers did not give the mulatto up. He was conducted to the outskirts of the city by the "congregated thousands, seized upon and impelled by that mysterious, metaphysical, and almost elec- tric phrenzy," With a chain around his neck he was fasten- ed to a tree a few feet from the groxind. There he was "roasted alive". ^^ It became the duty of Judge Lawless - according to subsequent criticisms not incorrectly named - to bring the case of the burning before the Grand Jury, At that time he laid down a doctrine as old as Napoleon and one which functioned in countless instances since his day. Law- less said that a crime which if committed by one or two persons might properly bring the death sentence, could be perpetrated by a mob with impunity as an act "beyond the reach of human law," Attempts to curb the freedom of the press were no longer reserved for anti-slavery literatvire; an editor T;ho criticised the doctrine of Lawless had his printing office demolished, 40 The St, Louis case is supposed to have been the occasion for Lincoln's oft-quoted speech on "The Perpetuation of our Political Institutions" in v/hich he gave an account of the general conditions of lawlessness over the whole 39. Nlles Register, June 4, 1836, ^ 50: 234 J. 40, After this the editor turned strongly an ti- slavery in attitude. For refusing to stop his publication which he had again set up in Alton, Illinois, he was killed on the night of November 7, 1837, after his press had three times been destroyed by mobs. f--, .1 r: C^.f. . i' 54 country, and expressed a fear that mob violence would destroy the government. After a long resume in which he dwelled especially upon the Mississippi and the St, Louis cases, Lincoln concluded:^ Such are the effects of mob law, and such are the scenes becoming more and more frequent in this land so lately famed for love of law and order, and the stories of which have even nov/ grown too familiar to attract anything more than an idle remark. Although it was not specifically confined to any section, nor inflicted for any particulsu? offense to the exclusion of others, by 1840 lynch-law was gradually becoming more characteristic of the South and West. In many parts of the latter the law was yet unable to care for the public order, so that thieves, gamblers and desperadoes were "lynch- ed",*^ In older communities, on the other hand, in the South and in parts of the 'West, lynch-law was resorted to in cases where there was strong feeling that the cotirts had not in- flicted p\inlshment in keeping with the crime; or, in cases "when from excitement the majority will not wait for the law II 43 to act, but inflict punishment vi/ith their own hands. Thus, whereasonce lynch-law v/as practiced on the border settlements as a temporary method of suppressing law- lessness until civil regulations could be Effected, it had now turned upon the law which it proposed to protect. This was not always without legal penalty. In Brownsville, 41» Quoted by Cutler from Abraham Lincoln, Works, Vol, I, 9-10. 42, The term still connoted whipping, or tarring and feathering or both. '/Vhen the death penalty was exacted, it v/as always specifically stated. 45. F, Murryat, Diary in America, (1839) Vol, I, pp. 232-233, ■^:i v^MJi- zs.r '.'-'■-, ti <.^ eoft notl , .f-> 55 Tennessee, in 1835, a lynch court convicted one suspected of being a slave stealer, inflicted 500 lashes with a "cow- skin" and branded him on the cheek. A jury In the United States Circuit Court gave him a verdict of $2,000 and costs against five members of the lynching party, ^ Three years later two young men in Payette County, Tennessee, assisted others to ride a man on a rail, during which outrage he received fatal injuries. These gentlemen were fined fifty dollars each and sentenced to three month's imprisonment,^^ In Yazoo, Mississippi, a man was "severely lynched' , v/here- upon he prosecuted two of the mob in circuit court of the county and was awarded a total of $20,000 damages, ° Between 1840 and 1850 there seems to have been an increased tendency on the part of the people to take the law into their own hands, ^' The occasion in the South was general- ly one growing out of the abolition movement,, The negroes v/ere often unmercifully flogged, and for serious crimes put to death. Abolition propagandists from the North were frequent- ly lynched, generally by a severe whipping, and then ordered to depart northward. During the latter part of this decade especially the iiVestward movement was accompanied by such out- breaks of desperadism as to make extra-legal punishment in- evitable. Thus during the following decade, 1850 to 1860, under various names. Vigilance Committees functioned in the 44. Liberator, Oct. 27, 1857, p, 174. ' 45. Llberato"r, Sept, 14, 1838, p. 146, 46. Kiles Register, June 15, 1839, p. 256. 47. Of. Evans, op. cit. p. 167; Ililes Register, 66:428, 320 for lynchings in Texas and Florida, b.& 56 West from the Mississippi to California, "Each new western state, as it began to be settled, attracted thither villains of every dye, who kept the community in constant fear until it purged itself by the swift and sure executions of mob- ocracy or vigilance committees, "^^ The complete story of this decade cannot be written. In California alone, v/here, it is true, extra-legal "justice" became most necessary, Bancroft mentions by actual count over one thousand mxirders and hangings for the years 1850-52.49 According to the Dis- trict Attorney's Report there were 1200 murders between 1850-1853 in San Francisco, and one case of legal pimish- ment,^^ In 1855 there were 538 homicides, with nine legal executions and forty-seven "informal ones". Between 1850- 1856 there were some fourteen hundred murders in ^a.n Francisco alone, "and only three of the murderers hung xmder the law, and one of these was a friendless Mexican, ^^ Truly it was the Axigustan age of murder, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and Nev; Mexico all had their horse thieves, robbers, murderers, - and their Popular Tribunals, floggings and hangings. If law is 48, Popular Tribunals, Vol, I, p« 8, 49, This large voluiae (I) is literally filled with case studies of murder and hangings, more than one per page throughout. It must be remembered too, that thes# T/ere gathered very largely from San Francisco alone, 50, Bancroft, Vol, I, p. 131; Cf. New York Times, Aug, 10, 1919, quoting from the official records, 51, Bancroft, op, cit, p, 749, After reading through tills vol\ime one is not so inclined to disagree with the author as near the beginning of the volume when he read the follow- ing: "Had Herod, for the sla\ighter of the Innocents, been brought before a San Francisco jury at that time he would have been acquitted, Judas Iscariot amongst the California Christians Y/ould have passed unscathed so long as any part of his thirty silver pieces remained with him," 57 "codified htunan sentiment", human sentiment in general was at what would now he called a lov/ level in these frontier territories. In June, 1860, in Carson City Nevada occurred an incident that well illustrates hov/ weak was the law out there where men who killed were many, while those who loved Justice and order were few, A Mexican v,fas accused of attempted robbery and murder by a German couple, a Mr. and Mrs. Hesse, The Mexican v/as arrested and examined before a judge, who held him to ansv/er before the court, Althoxigh the original charges were as stated above, during the examination the woman swore that the Mexican had made im- proper proposals to her. Her reputation was somewhat shady, "Yet when immediately upon the close of the examination Mrs, Hesse drew from under her shawl her cocked pistol, and plac- ing it against the head of the prisoner fired, causing his instant death, neither judge, sheriff, nor the people made any attempt to arrest her, but permitted her to return to her home in peace, as if she had committed a meritorious act,"^ In the year 1865 there v/ere at least one hundred and fifty homicides, and only two legal executions. It was with such a background as this that the later decades were ushered in; and no better explanation of the available statistics of the eighties and later are needed. Gold- diggers, forest-clearers, pralrie-ploughers out beyond the borderline of civilization do not find awaiting their arrival lav/, sheriffs, juries and penitentiaries. Neither Sg» Bancroft, Popular Trlb\xnals, Vol, I, p. 600, ; '..^. 58 do these things come suddenly after their arrival; it takes many years, as history has shown. In 1887 Bancroft stated as follows: "I have given in this voliime many examples. , .but the half has not been told. It is safe to say that thus far in the history of these Pacific States far more has been done toward righting wrongs and administer- ing justice outside the pale of lav/ than within it." Lynch- law where there was no lawj lynch-law where men were left to protect themselves or to die. All quite different from the situation in the South during the decades under con- sideration. Let us turn again to this section and view the situation before the beginning of the Civil War. During the last decade before the V/ar lynching seems to have grown more and more common in the South. Lynch-law was no longer reserved solely for slave ins-ur- rectionists and abolitionists, as is shown by the follov/ing quotation from the "Western Herald" under the caption "Lynch Law in Virginia": "A man named William Hornbeck, living in Lewis County, Virginia, for alleged ill-treatment of his family was lynched by the yoiing men in the neighborhood, one night last week, - Stripped of his clothing, rode on a rail, m.ade to run through a briar patch, a stout paddle used to keep him going, and a coat of tar and feathers applied. "^^ This was in 1856. In the following year there was another instance of the degeneration of lynch-law, A great excite- ment was caused in Barton County, Missoxirl by "a set of 55. Liberator, May 2. 1856. p. 72. 59 of lawless wretches" who, v/hlle pretending to be after a horse thief, "barbarously beat several men until their lives were despaired of, and when v/omen interf erred, some were badly beaten and others violated. , ,."^^ By 1860 it was not safe to be patriotic enough to "hurrah" for Lin- coln, especially if his nane was connected v/ith the abolitionists. For this crime two white men and a mulatto were arrested at "Mosley Hall" North Carolina, After a trial on the spot they were lynched by being whipped and having their heads shaved. ^^ In 1857 a vigilance comraittee in the "upper country" of Texas was busy "raking the country fore and aft and sv/inging every horse thief and murderer" to be fovmd, A traveler reported that he saw twelve bodies suspended from one tree and five from another. 56 This was so much of the border variety of extra-legal procedvire; but Texas was concerned v/ith slavery, and thus at this time had a double occasion for lynching. In the siJinmer of 1860 it is said that twenty-four "insurrectionists" v/ere hanged,^" A natural outcome of the continuation of the abolition movement was an increasing frequency and severity of punishment of the Negroes,^" Only the economic value of the slave made him worth more hxunane consideration than the abolitionist, for whom no punishment was considered severe 54. Liberator, Dec. 4, 1357. 55. Liberator, Dec. 31, 1860, p. 211, 56. Liberator, Oct. 2, 1857, Vol. 27:160. 57. Liberator, Aug. 24, 1B60, p. 160. 58. By the psychological process called "emotional transfer," 60 enough. The "Augustan age of murder" v;as not confined to California} it reigned at the same time in the South* Ac- cording to an editorial in the Liberator, December 19, 1856 (p. 24): "A record of the cases of "Lynch Law* in the southern states reveals the startling fact, that within twenty- years, over three hundred white persons have been murdered upon the accusation - in most cases unsupported by legal proof- of carrying among slave-holders argvuiients addressed expressly to their own intellects and consciences, as to the morality and expediency of slavery," A study of the literature of the period would hardly permit one to doubt that these figures are overdrawn. They are probably conservative, for, although the "Liberator" made a record of every case possible, it is doubtless true that many lynchings by murder were not reported. There seems to have been a considerable amount of crime committed by Negroes after 1830,^^ Masters, overseers, and mistresses were murdered by slaves. During the first decade after the beginning of the abolition movement the law was ordinarily allowed to take its course; but as the move- ment grew, during the next twenty years this was less and less frequent. From 1830 to 1840 one free Negro and three slaves were legally executed for rape; and two slaves, for attempted rape. During the same period four Negroes were burned at the stake, - tv/o at Mobile, Alabama for murdering 59. Cf, Cutler, op, cit, p, 124ff, 61 (possibly after committing rape upon) two children; the free mulatto, Mcintosh, at St. Louis for killing an officer; and a slave in Arkansas for murdering his master. There arc also during the period reports of sximmary punishment, not death, being administered to Negroes who induced white girls to run away v/ith them, or who lived with white women, ^® For the next decade, 1850-1860, the record is different. Forty-six Negroes paid the death penalty for murder. Twenty of this nximber were legally executed, and twenty- six were killed by mobs. Two of the latter were women, one for beating her mistress to death and the other for poisoning her master. Eight of the remaining twenty- four summary executions were by burning to death. For rape and attempted rape upon white women five were legally executed, and tv/elve were put to death by mobs. Four of these were burned at the stake, three of whom were charged with the double crime of rape and murder, "■*■ With the passing of the years under the abolition movement matters became worse generally, Negroes committed more crimes; and the whites, goaded by the abolitionist even more than by the negroes' crimes, tended more and more to tighten the reins on the slave; - to make his life unbearable, yet to lynch him if he did not bear it silently. The general situation in the slave states at the beginning of the Civil War is possibly fairly well described by the following letter, 60, Cutler, loc. cit. p. 126, This was quite different from post-Civil vVar and Twentieth Century treatment of negroes in the South v/ho "cross the color line", 61. Evans, op, cit. p. 157; Cutler, op, cit. pp. 126-127, .IB 62 dated August 23, 1860, Houston, Texas, and written to a friend in Hartford, Connecticut: Tell your abolition friends to go on and soon they v/ill have the pleasure of seeing the negro reduced to such a state of hopeless bondage that they may well pity them, I solemnly declare that today the negro is not as free as he was tv/o or five years ago; and v/hy? Simply because his mas- ter has been goaded to desperation by incendiary acts and speeches, Nov/ he fears the negro, and binds him dovm as you v/ould a savage animal,.,. And so it is all over the country. Men are hung every day by the decision of planters, lawyers judges, and ministers. It is not hot impetuous act, but cool, stern justice. It is the saving of wife and daughter, mother and sister from the hand of desecration. It is the stopping of scenes that would make the Druses and T^l^ks blush with shame, ^^ That this fear of the Negro was largely if not wholly unnecessary is indicated by subsequent history. The Negro had been drilled to obey his master; he knew little else and rebelled only when led, or at least influenced, by others. So generally was this true that during the entire period of the Civil War there is no record of a slave who attempted a rebellion, or who committed a crime against a white woman, ^'5 The records are silent as to the southern white man who feared going to war and leaving his wife and children with the slaves. During all those years they worked on and on feeding the army whose victory v/ould have 6S. Quoted in the Liberator, Sept, 14, 1860, (30:146); and by Cutler, op. clt. pp, 121-122, 63. Cf. Fleming, op. cit. Vol. I, p. 257; George R. Y/illiams, History of the iimerican Negro, Vol, II, p, 414; M, L, Avary, Dixie After the ',Var7 "p. 385, After a careful search the v/riter has been unable to find, even among the most rabid of the Negro's enemies, a single accuser in so far as this period is concerned. Doubtless there were a few cases of rape during the V/ar, but the utter silence of history on the point seems almost a mystery. « » * ^ 63 spelled their doom, and the v/ives and children of the men v/ho"^ held them in bondage. But before this test came, the minds of many of the Aliites of the South against the Negro as to afford an unpromising beginning for the long, perilous process of readjustment necessitated by its outcomco 64 CHAPTER IV MOB VIOLENCE AKD RECONSTRUCTION Reconstruction in the South is a long story, the more fully told the more enlightening on subsequent race relations. In this chapter we can do no more than give a general summary of the most salient factors of the period Yfhich had their bearing upon these relationships, Hov/ever honestly many Americans thought the Civil War would solve the race problem, it really created it. There was no "race problem" as we know it before emancipation. The two races lived side by side in an almost perfect state of accommo- dation under the master-slave regime. This condition of adjustment had taken long years. Now suddenly came a change in status, from master-slave to man-man, A readjustment on this basis would have been long and difficult enough under the best of conditions. Just how long and difficult we shall never know, for such conditions were not present or forth- coming. The South had failed in its attempt to set up a new Government. Civil law was only partially and imperfectly 65 re-established. The "carpet-bagger" - as imich a disgrace to the North as an irritant to the South - swarmed hither, with two results not fully to be measured as yet. First there was naturally a continuation and intensifying of the misunder- standings and hostility between the whites of the two sections, It is probable that the North had more friends in the South during the worst of the War than for many years af terv/ards,-^ Many of the "low- whites" were for the North and against slavery, in the abstract, but they v-ere more hostile to Negro soldiers, policeman, and congressman than were their former masters. They had always hated Negroes; now they hated them more, 2 They were against slavery because they were against the masters, and not because they liked or pitied the slaves. It was their understanding that the latter v/ould be sent out of the country and not to Congress,*-^ Secondly, there was a renev/ed and intensified fear of the Negro, v/hich resulted in greater hostility tov/ard him. The carpet-bagger" was not wholly responsible for this. It was also due to the unv/ise and inefficient Reconstruction policy of the Federal Congress, In response to southern laws that v/ould practically have re-enslaved the Negro, the Freedman's Bureau was established and the best citizens of the South v/ere disfranchised and disarmed,^ 1, ^f . W, L, Fleming, Documentary History of Reconstruction, Vol. II, pp. 369-71). 2, Senate Report on Labor and Capital, Testimony, Vol. IV, (1883) p. 38, 3, Fleming, loc, cit. Vol. II, pp. 273,334, 337. Cf. M. S. Evans, op. cit, p. 47, 4, Fleming, Vol. I, p. 90; Coutler, The Civil War and Read- justment in Kentucky, pp. 442ff. 66 Negro troops were stationed in South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.^ Negro militia regiments were organized in North and South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, and the "Radical" white militia in North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkansas proved even more objectionable.^ In Alabama "the Negro population was very- dense and Military posts were established at intervals of 20 to 30 miles. ""7 In South Carolina in 1870 there v/ere fourteen thousand militia organized into fourteen regiments of one thousand Negroes each.^ The Freednien's Bureau The need for the Freedmen's Bureau cannot be dis- puted; the good it accomplished, however, was soon forgotten, possibly but not necessarily because of the harm it did, 9 For it would have been objectionable under any circumstances; it was outside "interference" - the thing which the Southern man had fought against, 10 The occasion for the creation of the Bureau was the very evident intention of the Southern Legislatures to make the Negro a slave again. The most stringent lav/s had been enacted against the ex-slave before 5, Fleming, Vol. I, pp. 47-49, 6, Fleming, Vol. II, p. 34. 7, Fleming, op. cit. Vol. I, p. 443, 8, Fleming, op. cit. Vol. II, p. 76; Cf. Senate Doc. No. 39 the Congress, 1 session, p. 21, Schiirz's report to the President on Southern labor conditions, 9, "As soon as the Freedmen's Bureau v/as organized, it fed to the limit of its supplies the needy whites as well as the Blacks." ihis has apparently been forgotten by many, 10, Cf. Garner, Reconstruction in i/Iississippi, pp. 261, 265, 67 the end of 1865. H Some of these laws were absolutely impossible to comply with, and meant inevitable re-enslave- ment of the Negroes. 12 in South Carolina, for example, - and laws passed by other southern states, besides Louisiana, were of the same nature, - an ordinance was passed stating that "no person of color shall pursue the practice, art, or business of an artisan, mechanic, or shop-keeper, or any other trade or employment beside that of husbandry, or that of a servant under contract for labor, until he shall have obtained a license from the judge of the county court, which license shall be for one year only." License fees, applicable to Negroes only, ranged from fifty dollars to five hundred dollars. According to a bill introduced into the Legislature of Louisiana, every freed manandv/oman must, within twenty days, provide themselves with a comfortable home and visible means of subsistence. Any colored persons failing to comply with the Act were to be arrested by the sheriff or constable and hired out to the highest bidder for the remainder of the year. If the Freedraen's Bureau answered a need for the protection of the Negro in the community in which it v/as located, at the same time, and partially because it attempted to protect the Negro, it became a source of irritation and trouble. ^'5 It is true that some few of the branches of the 11, Cf. Fleming, The Sequel to Appomattox, pp. 93-97, 12, Gf. Evans, op, cit. pp. 50ff," 13, Cf, Garner, op, cit. p. 265, 68 Bureau did not meet with resistance, but these v/ere ex- ceptional. The popularity, - or unpopularity - outside of the natural disfavor resulting from its being an "outside Invasion", depended very largely upon the Individual officers in charge, -^"^ It has often been said that there may have been an honest man connected with the Freedaian's Bureau, but that he was never discovered. This is too broad a state- ment, but it is largely true. There v/as, on the other hand, doubtless some basis for the report of an official in Louisiana who declared that the v/hites would exterminate 1 "^ the negroes if the Bureau were removed, •^'^ This was certainly not the case in all sections of the South, The following is an account given by Coulter of how, in one case, readjustment was made without help or interference. In 1868 the negroes of Fayette County, Kentucky, .♦held a meeting v/here they made it plain that they stood ready to enter into ( labor j contracts v/ith farmers, "for v/e have been raised to work, and it don't go hard v/ith us." They told their former masters that God had blessed them "with strong arms to till your fields, and if you will give us work to make a living, we will make Fayette a blessing," They appointed one of their number to be a labor agent 14, Cf. Barner, loc. cit. p. 268, 15, Fleming, The Sequel to Appomattox, p. 112, Hr ,r. .^j. 69 through v/hom they should receive jobs from the white people looking for laborers. Many blacks willing to work were present at the meeting, and all adjottrn- ed "with the understanding, that if there was any fault found this year, it shall not be on the part of the colored men". .,« These negroes set August 20, 1869 as a day of thanksgiving for the good treat- ment they had received at the hands of the whites..,. They stated that "the colored men have labored better, and farmers have treated us better, and God has blessed them all better". .. .the whites reciprocated this feeling of friendship and co- operation. ♦ ..The hand of the Preedinen«s Bureau had not entered into these proceedings, and this ex- plains largely the good relationships that were growing up. Without the meddling of the Bvireau and with a more reasonable attitude on the part of the white people to changed conditions, almost complete understanding and accord must have grown up between whites and blacks. ^^ Thus we see an example of readjustment in which the Bureau played no part. Three points deserve note: The v/illingness of the Negro to work for the YJhite; second- ly, the sympathetic attitude and cooperation on the part ■ 16. ^oted from Coulter, op. cit. pp. 346-347. Taken from the following sources: Lexington (Kg) Observer and Re- porter, Dec. 26 and 30, 1868; July 17 and Aug. 14, IbbiJ; V/eekly Commonwealth, February 18, 1870, 1 « * « 70 of the v/hites; thirdly, the absence of the Preednen's Bureau, Unfortunately, in a great many sections of states fiorther South the first two conditions were not present, and, as a result, the third was present. In nxinerous in- stances the Negroes moved to town and refused to v/ork. Some went to politics; and others, into other popular criminal professions of the tirae,^*^ Many Negroes, freed from the tradition of two hundred and fifty years of slavery, took a holiday; some resolved not to work any more as long as they lived, and some even appropriated to their own use the produce of their neighbors. At the same time many of the white men were difficult to deal with. They preferred to re-enslave the Negroes rather than to pay them a fair salary and treat them as "hired hands" on the place, ■."j'hat Coulter relates concerning a county just across from Fayette, in Kentuclcy, was much more true of other sections: But the blame was not all on one side, A Shelby County farmer was franic to state (in 1870) that the farmers of the State showed a too "stubborn indispositin to accept their present situation", and the "prejudice of previous habits." (p. 347), Dr. Fleming points out that especially in Texas and Florida the Freedraan's Bureau proved very obnoxious, due largely to general official incompetence and discrimination in favor of the Negroes. 18 in Virginia it was said that there seemed to be no trouble except v/here the Bureau was in operation. 19 An authority on the history of Recon- 17, Benjamin Brawley, Social Hi's'to'ry of the American Negro, pp. 262-263. 18, Documentary History of Reconstruction, Vol. I, p. 363. 19, Fleming, ftocumentary History, etc., Vol. I, p. 365. 71 struction summarizes the activities of the Freedmen's Bxireau as follows :^'^ It failed to exert a permanently wholesome influence because its lesser agents were not held to strict accountability by their superiors. Under these agents the alienation of the two races began, and the ill feelings then aroused were destined to persist into a long troubled future. Politics and Negro Soldiers Political affairs soon fell into the hands of the "carpet-baggers", Negroes and "scalawags", Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina were represented in part by Negroes in the National House of Representatives. Mississippi had two Negro Senators in Washington. All of the Southern States had Negro members of both branches of the Legislature. In 1872 Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina had Negro Lieutenant- governors, It is doubtless true that these Negro politicians were little less competent than some of the 'Miites elected along with them: They could hardly have been more hated than were the "carpet-baggers"." In the Legislature of South Carolina, in the year 1868, there were one hundred fifty-five members, ninety-alght Negroes and sixty-seven 20. Fleming, The Sequel to Appomattox, p. 117. 21, Cf. J. S. Reynolds, Reconstruction in South Carolina, p. 90, 72 Whites. Twenty-two of the group could not read and write; several could not write more than their names; forty-one signed by an X raark.^^ A South Carolina carpet-bagger, Leslie, from Massachusetts v/as asked a question concerning the reports that the State was paying for a Negro brothel located Just opposite the State House, His reply was: "South Carolina has no right to be a state unless she can support her statesmen." Negro Soldiers The presence of Negro soldiers and militia proved especially Irritating to the Southerners, Fleming points out that without exception the presence of Negro soldiers was resented; that even at their best these troops v/ere obnoxious to the southern Y/hites,23 in 1866 Governor Sharkey of Mississippi said: "The great amount of com- plaints originate from the localities where the negro soldiers are stationed, "2- The presence of Negro soldiers had a bad effect on the Negroes as well as on the v/hites. They were a constant source of irritation to the latter; and their presence served as a stimulus to a certain amount of laxness on the part of the other Negroes of the com:nunity. The literature of the period is replete v/ith evidence con- cerning the prevalence of intense fear on the part of v/hite women. This has formed a part of the social inheritance 22. See note under Frontispiece, Fleming, op. cit. Vol. II. 23. Fleming, The Sequel to Appomattox, p. 21. 24. Report of Joint Committee on Keconstruction, Pt. iii, p. 134. 73 25 of follov/lng generations. The following cases are cited, irrespective of the fact that they may have been, no doubt were, the exception rather than the rule. They constitute - along v/ith many others that could be cited, and possibly still many more not in print - an important part of the social background of subsequent race relationships. Moreover, these cases indicate that the attitudes formed at the time were not altogether without reason. The first is taken from Myrta Locket t Avary's Dixie After the War. We quote from pages 140-142: The Lone Star of Texas Entering Rosemont Cemetery, Newberry, S, C, one perceives on a tall marble shaft "The Lone Star of Texas' and this: 'Calvin S, Crozier, Born at Brandon, Mississippi, August 1840, Murdered at Newberry, S. C. September 8, 1865'. At the close of the war, there were some 99,000 Confederates in Federal prisons, whose release beginning in May, continued throughout the siimmer. Among these was Crozier, slender, boyish in appearance, brave, thin to emaciation, pitifully weak and homesick. It was a far cry to his home in sunny Galveston, but he had traversed three 25. ^f. Fleming, op. cit. Vol. I, p. 91; Vol. II, pp. 270-6; 331-2; 334; 444; Avary, op. cit. pp. 267, 377, 383, 386, North American Rev., (1889) article by '.7. T. Parkers. The Evolution of the Negro Soldier; J. M. Mecklin, The Eu Klux Klan, pp. 87-887 Also, Proceedings at the Ku Klux •Trials, Columbia, S. C. in the U. S. Circuit Court, November Term, 1871, pp. 187, 425, e^' .'in 74 states when he fell ill in North Carolina, A Good Sainaritan nvtrsed him, and set him on his v/ay again. At Orangeburg, S, C, a gentleman placed two young ladies, journeying in the same direction, under his care. To Crozier, the trust was sacred. At Newberry, the train was derailed by ob- structions placed on the track by negro soldiers of the 33d, U. S. Regiment, which, under command of Colonel Trowbridge, white, Y/as on its way from Anderson to Coliambia. Crozier got out with others to see what was the matter. Returning, he found the coach invaded by two half -drunk negro soldiers, cursing and using Indecent language. He called upon them to desist, directing their attention to the presence of ladies. They replied that they 'didn't care a d — 1' One attempted gross familiarities with one of the ladies. Crozier ejected him; the second Negro Interferred; there was a struggle in the dark; one Negro fled unhurt; the other, with a slight cut, ran tov/ard camp, yelling: 'I'm cut by a d-d rebel!' Black soldiers carae in a mob. The narrative, as told on the montiment, con- cludes: 'The infuriated soldiers seized a citizen of New- berry, upon whom they were about to execute savage revenge, when Crozier came promptly forward and avowed his ovm responsibility. He v/as hurried in the night-time to the bivouac of the regiment to which the soldiers belonged, was kept under guard all night, was not allov/ed communication with any citizen, was condemned to die v/ithout even the form of a trial, and was shot to death about daylight the following t I .. . 1 I 75 morning, and his body mutilated'. He had been ordered to dig his own grave, but refused, A hole had been dug, he was made to kneel on its brink, the column fired upon him, he tumbled into it, and then the black troops jumped on it, laughing, dancing, stamping. The only mercy shov/n him was by one huraane negro, v/ho, eager to save his life, besought him to deny his identity as the striker of the blow. White citizens watched their moment, removed his remains, and gave them Christian burial. Military Misrule In Alabama ^^ The Negro population was very dense and Military Posts were established at intervals of 20 or 30 miles. There was one at Greensboro, Ala,, and the Negroes grew Tinder its influence. Impudent beyond endurance. One day a young man, Mr. Tom Cov/an, resented an insolent remark made to him by a Negro passing on Lthe street. Immediately a Yarikee officer stepped up to Mr, Cowan and slapped him in the face. The yoxing man drev/ his pistol and killed the officer and... hid in a little dark closet,,. In less than 30 minutes the street was filled //ith a black, surging mass of howling Negroes, led by the Yankee soldiers, searclalng for the young man. Two of his friends, by the dim light of a candle in that ,. closet, shaved off his mustache, dis- 26, Qyioted from Fleming<s Bocurnentary History etc. Vol, I, 443-4. MS account by Mrs. T. I., Kennedy, (1867), a': 76 guised him completely, and placing him between them, boldly walked out into the mob, and unrecognized went the whole length of the town to a strip of woods, where young Cowan made his escape. The Infxirlated Negroes soon discovered this and In retaliation they entered every white man's house and seized every g\in and pistol thus placing the v/hites at their mercy* They also went to young Cowan's home - dragged his younger brother forth and declared their intention to keep him as a hostage and ..«. to hange him if his brother did not return..,. In viev; of the whole tov/n, a tall gallov/s was erected for the execution of this innocent yoxing boy. The deepest gloom and despair settled dovm over the whole community.,,. By chance, someone remembered having heard that General Marsh, who was stationed at a Post about 15 miles off, was and a Mason, The news soon spread/ the 'Masons' of the town dispatched to this officer, and of course, we do not know by 7/hat means it was arranged, but if the siim of $9,000 was paid the boy would be set free. You can form no idea of the poverty of our people after the War, but there were some who had little hoards hid away,,,. The sum exacted was raised and sent as quickly as possible. It was never known for v/hat purpose it was demanded, unless it was used to buy off Federal officers and soldiers, '-this transaction was not generally known and promptly at the hour appointed, the Negro mob placed a halter around the young victim's neck - and dragged him through the streets to the fatal place, A more pathetic spectacle was never witnessed than 77 that of the grey-haired father, walking by his son, exhorting him 'To die like a man'. Just as the lad was ascending the scaffold, the reprieve arrived, in the shape of an order from General Marsh forbidding the execution, Negro Soldiers and "."/hite Girl In his "introduction" to Mrs, Avary's volume, C. A. Evans says: "In these pages she renders a public service. She aids the American to a better understanding of his country's past and clearer concept of its present," The author claims that most of the incidents related came from first-hand; that is, they were received from observers and participants of these incidents. The truth of Mr, Evans statement does not depend upon the absolute truth of what is related. However rare and exceptional, or even if absolutely untrue at the so\irce, - which it seems reason- able to doubt - yet by the simple process of verbal condi- tioning they have played their part in shaping the history of the South since the Civil War, ^Vom many that could be cited, we quote the following: (p. 267). ^ congregation In another country church was thrown into panic by balls crushing through boards and windows; a girl of fourteen was killed instantly. Black troops swung by, singing. Into a dwelling a squad of blacks marched, bound the owner, a prominent aged citizen, pillaged his house, and then before his eyes, bound his maiden daughter and proceeded to fight among them- 78 selves for her possession. ^Though', related my informant with sharp realism, 'her neck and face had been slobbered over, she stood quietly watching the conflict. At last, the victor came to her, caixght her in his arms and started into an adjoin- ing room, when he wavered and fell, she with him; she had driven a knife, of which she had in some way possessed herself, into his heart. The others rushed in and beat her until she, too, was lifeless. There was no redress*. Possibly the author is fully justified in the statement: "Northerners, and Southerners who did not live in that day and in black belts, can form no conception of the conditions v/hich gave rise to the white secret societies of which the most widely celebrated was the Ku Klux." The Ku Klux Klan and Lawlessness Out of the conditions desci'lbed above, social, political, military, together with the general lawlessness of the times, arose an organization the consideration of which cannot be omitted by him who v/ould understand later inter-racial relationships in the South, The Ku Klvix Klan of the sixties has been characterized in brief as follows: Its beginning was an accident, its grov;th a comedy, and its death a tragedy. Beginning in 1866, in a small Tennessee town as a source of arausesrxent for emotion- hungry young ex- confederates, it spread over adjoining states at a phenomenal rate. 79 During slavery times the movements of the Negro were very largely curtailed, especially at night. After emancipation many Negroes thought it un-Repuhlican not to roam about at night. On the way to and from "Union League" meetings, and others, many temptations arose, not all of which v/ere overcome. And the time soon arrived when irresponsible whites could steal v/ith certainty that the Negro v/ould receive the credit. Petty thievery, Negro soldiers v/ho pushed whites off the sidewalks and not in- frequently committed v;orse crimes, carpet-baggers, Republican domination, and Union Legaues organized into regiments of militia: the Klan was not an organization of entertainment only, for there was "regulating" to be donel Out of the original fraternity of fun- seekers came the bigger organi- zation with purposes social and political. The following quotation from the diary of a southern man doing time in the Federal Prison at Albany as a result of the Anti-Klan Act, indicates the occasion, v;hich was not merely an excuse, for the social-regulatory function of the early Klan:^ ,..*War has left so many thousands of widov/s and defenseless females on isolated plantations' that it became one of the primary duties of the old Klan 'to shield our women and children from the Insolence, rapacity, and brutal passions of vile desperadoes white and black'. Doubtless for a while the Influence of the Klan, so far as this aspect of its functions, was wholesome. Its membership v/as made up of some of the leading citizens of "27, Quoted by J. M. Mecklin, The Ku Klux Klan, p, 87-88. . \ i. 80 the South, at the beginning, 28 'jVherever the Klan appear- ed it is said that the nocturnal perambulations of the Negroes diminished to a quite marked degree, "In many ways", says Cutler, "there was a noticeable improvement in a large class that had higherto been causing a great annoyance, "29 jt seems to have been the political regulating function that led to the degeneration of the Klan. Its good influence was of short duration; for within itself were sources of weakness which made the out- come inevitable. In its name members could v;reak private vengeance. Non-members could do likewise. It soon came to pass that, whether guilty or not, the Klan was charged with practically all the disorder in the country. The records show that this organization was far from being altogether guiltless, 30 This is shown by the testimony of Klan members themselves during the trials in the United States Court after the passage of the Federal Anti-Klan Act, Defenseless men and women, both white and black, were whipped in great nximbers. According to this testimony in particular the Klan in North and South Carolina seems to have been composed largely of yo\ing men and boys, illiterate and ignorant, who could "speak of the number of blows with a hickory, which you inflicted at midnight upon the lacerat- ed, bleeding back of a defenseless woman, without so much as 28« Cf . Garner, op, cit. Chapter on the Ku Klux Klan, 29, Op, cit. p. 144, 30, Mecklin, op, cit, pp, 54-55, BSTf! . ;y 81 a blush or sigh of regret. None of you seem to have the slightest idea of, or respect for, the sacredness of the human person. ""^^ This was in the later stage of the Klan when the former leaders had dropped out. These later members not only whipped; they shot Negroes; they hanged them; they cut their throats; they whipped v;omen, white and colored;*^^ they ravished Negro v/omen, and did worse, if possible, to at least one v/hite woman.'^S The following testimony gives some indication of the depth to which the Klan had descended within two years after its organization. First we give, in an abbreviated form, the testimony of a member of the Ku Klux Klan in the United States Circuit Court at Colximbia, South Carolina, in 1871: (pp. 505-8). Joined Klan in North Carolina, fall of 1867, with under- standing that the p\irpose of the order was >to advance the Conservative party and put down the Radical party*. This was to be done by killing and v/hipping, and crov/d- ing out men from the ballot boxes. First raid witness went on was in December, 1867, Went with members to get the Negro, Roujidtree; were going to kill him. About fifty or seventy-five guns were fired into the windows and cracks of his house. Then burst door down. Round- tree was in the loft. He shot Elija Koss Sepaugh across the breast and also hit him on the v/rist, then jtunped 31, Proceedings in the Eu Klux Trials, U. s. C. Court, (1871) 789, Judge, in lecture to young men who had entered the plea of guilty to the charge of lawlessness. 32, Proceedings, etc, pp. 777ff, 33, Proceedings, etc. p. 508. 82 from the loft and was shot down. Someone of the party walked and kicked him behind and told him '3od damn you, go right on and show where the guns are*. »7.'hen they kicked him I let him loose... and he dropped down on his face*. Sepaugh's brother came up. "^eeing that Elija Ross was shot, the brother drew a bowie knife and walked to where the nigger had been left Xying struggl- ing, 'Some others of them had turned him over on his back, and in a few minutes after Sepaugh went back, some of them came up and said that Henry Sepaugh had cut his throat, I went back to him and seen that his throat was cut. He was dead when we left him'. Under indictment for violating the Federal Anti- Klan Act, D. Lewis Jolly plead guilty, as follows: Said that he belonged to the Limeston Klan; Banks Lyle was Chief of the County; he has rtin away; was on a raid to take a v/hite man out of jail in Spartanburg, who was sentenced to be hung for killing a Negro; also on a raid when Mary Bean was whipped; took her out of bed Y/hipped her a little; whipped her for break- ing the peace between a white man and wife; didn't whip the white man; the white man's wife got the Klan to whip her; he v/as a member of the Klan, and was one of these big wealthy men. Following is an abbreviation of the testimony of Harriet Simril in the same court. Part of this may be prevarica- tion, but other testimony, some of it by Klan members them- selves, tends to corroborate it entirely. It gives an 83 indication of the political activities of the Klan: ^^ The first time they came my old man was at home; they hollered out, 'Open the door', and he got up and opened the door..,. and these young men walked up, and they took my old man out after so long, and they want- ed him to join this Democratic ticket; and, after that, they went a piece above the house, and hit him about five cuts v/ith the cowhide, ...They came back after the first time, on Sunday night after my old man again, and this second time the crov/d was bigger, Q, Did they call for your old man? A, Yes, sir; they called for him and I told them he v/asn't here; then they argued me dovm, and told me he was here; I told them no, sir, he v/asn*t here;... They searched about a long time, and made me make up a light; and after I got the light made up, then they began to search again, and question me again about the old man, and I told them I didnU know v/here my old man had gone... A. Well, they were spitting in my face and throwing dirt in my eyes;... Then they made me blow up the light again, cursing me; and after a wliile they took me out of doors, and told me all they wanted was for my old man to join the -i^emocratic ticket; if he joined the Democratic ticket, they would have no more to do '34. Proceedings, Ku Klux Klan Trials, pp. 501-502. '>• ■■">„ 84 with him; and after they had got me out of doors, they dragged me into the big road, and they ravished me out there.. three of them. .burned her house. Flogging Proves Insufficient Shaffer Bowens, quoted above (on page 81) testi- fied regarding another raid: A. Yes, he had been on one other raid, when they v/hipped John Wright, This was in January, 1868, went to Negro cabins, found nobody in. Saw three persons running across the hill. They went back to v/here a woman by the name of Skates lived in a little cabin; they knocked the door of the cabin down. No one in. Yes it was a white women's cabin. Do not know why they broke her door down. Went from there about two miles to Jane Bohelier's house. Couldn't find anybody in the house; jerked up a planlc of the floor and there v^ere tv/o fellov;s, John and Jake Wright, Jerked up another planlc and there was Red John Moss, Took them up the road about tv/o or three hundred yards from the house; m^de them pull their clothes off. Cut twenty-five good hickories; com:nenced whipping them. After two or three licks Jake Wright and Moss ran, cap burst and gun did not go off; so they got av/ay. Then tooV John Wright, locked his arms aroujid a sapling and tied his hands. Joe Hardin, the leader, then whipped him severely. Then with the butt of his stick knocked him down two or three times. Vrfhen he was satisfied 85 he turned him loose, made him run and shot at him as he ran. Don't think he hit him, Q, Where did you go next? A, They turned and virent back to the houses; said they hadn't got through. They was going to take that woman out; and they had a pot of tar and lime, and was going to pouj? her full of it. She was v/hite; Joe Harding said he was going to have it done; went back and ordered her out; made her lie down and held up her clothes, (Objections) The Court: We might as well let the people hear, and knoT/ what things exist about us. ... A, Made her lie dov/n and held up her clothes; then ordered Elijah Ross Sepaugh to fetch the pot of tar and told him to pour it in; he obeyed. ,, Poured it into her, as much as he could; and took a paddle and rubbed it on her, Q, Poured it in v/here? A, I don't like to tell Then they told me to give her orders to leave in three days.,,, Mr. Harding was afraid they would recognize his voice.,,1 told her the orders. ,,,, then we scattered and went home,,,. Evidence to the effect that the Klan degenerated into lav/less bands of irresponsibles could be piled up. It took the Federal government to disband the organization. In all 1250 v/ere convicted after the Act of 1870, i''or more than a decade after the close of the V^ar there was a general v/ave of lawlessness perhaps not equalled before in the South, and 86 certainly not since that time. Governor Clarke of Miss- issippi early summarized the situation as follows: "The terrible contest which the country has just passed has aroused in every section the fiercest passions of the human heart. Lawlessness seems to have culminated in the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, "^^ It has been estimated that 3500 persons were killed in the South during the first year after emancipation. There were 1884 killed during the year 1868,'^" During the ^Reconstruction Period lynching took on the connotation of death, following the lead of the West, A new tide of immigration had flocked to the latter section, including a goodly portion of thieves,, robbers and murders, many of v/hom were lynched. In the South, when lynching by exacting the death penalty nov/ became much more frequent than heretofore, the connotation of death was fixed, and has so remained. In four counties in Alabama, between April and July, 1865, a total of 17 Negroes v;ere lynched, one of whom was burned. Four of these were woman, "This is only a few of the murders ccram.itted on the ... freedmen of the above named counties" said the official in making the report, "57 in the state of Kentucky violence became "the expected order of the day," In 1868 a newspaper correspondent reported from Lebanon, Kentucky, as if it 35, Quoted by J, Vv. Garner, op. clt. p. 59, 36, Figures cited by Carter Woodson, The Negro in Our History, source not stated. Only an estimate; number unknovm, 37, Senate Document No, 2, 39th, Cong, 1st, Session, 87 were unusual, the following: "l am assured on the best authority that no gentleman has been hung in this neigh- borhood for the past fortnight," The Franklin, Ky,, "Weekly Conmionv/ealth" of March 31, 1871, gave one hundred fifteen instances of violence, such as shootings, hang- ings, whippings, and jail deliveries that had been report- ed during the period between 1867 and 1871,^^^ In conclusion Coulter says of the bands of law- less men in Kentucky during this period: "They left a heritage which has been a curse to the state since, a weakened respect for state authority, Lyncliings continued long as an outcropping of this spirit, though gradually becoming more infrequent; and feuds grew up in the moxintains of the eastern part of the state, spectacular though deadly, to give the state a fame all its own," Increase in Proportion of Negroes Lynched In the South there v/as an increase in the pro- portion of Negroes to the total number lynched, thanks partially but not wholly due to the Ku Kltuc Klan, The desperadoes had moved on toward the Vu'est, and inter- racial conflicts grew in number. The following facts were revealed by an examination of the files of "The New 38, Coulter, op. cit. pp. 360-365, 88 York Times" for the three-year period, 1871-73: "^9 Dur- ing this period there v/ere at least seventy-five lynch- ings. Only twenty-six of these were in the North and V/est combined, while forty-nine were in eight Southern states. Of the twenty- six lynched in the North and West, twenty were whites, four were Negroes; one, a Malay, and one an Indian. Two v/ere charged with robbery, and two v^rith keeping a gambling outfit; two were desperadoes, and one a horse thief. One was charged with rape and eighteen with murder, ^^ Three Negroes were charged with murder, and one (in connection vdth a white man) with robbery. ^^ In the eight Southern states there were tv/enty- one whites and tvifenty- eight Negroes lynched. Of the wMtes, nine were charged v;ith murder, one with rape, and charged three with horse thievery. Of the negroes eight were/with murder, four with rape, and two with robbery. Fourteen, 39, The cases as reported are evldelitly not complete. Cutler, who made the examination of the files of the New York Times, thinks this is particularly true with respect to the figures for the '.Vest; but in the light of the Recon- struction History considered too briefly above, and in the light of the figxires available beginning 1882, it would seem that these statistics are just as likely to be incomplete for the South as for the West. The plausibility of this statem.ent is much enhanced when we note that no lynclaings are reported for Miss,, Texas, Arkansas and Georgia. 40, The only case of rape was that of the Malay who was shot and thrown overboard a ship near the coast of California for ravishing a sick girl, eleven years old. 41, Noticeably throughout our study that the Negro has little trouble due to "crimes against property . 89 TABLE OF LYNCHIKGS FOR THREE YEARS, 1871-75, IN EIGHT SOUTHER STATES According to the New York Times, from Cutler, pp. 151-2, I Alabama: 1 white, shot for murder. Kentucky: 2 Negroes hung for rape, 1 white for rape, 1 Negro hung for murder, 3 Negroes shot by masked men, 1 Negro "murdered by Ku-Klux. Louisiana: 4 Negroes hung for murder, 3 horse thieves hung, Maryland: 1 Negro hung for arson, Missouri: 5 horse thieves hung, 1 Negro hung for rape ("outrage") 1 white hung for murder, 3 whites hung for murder and robbery, 3 v/hites shot for defending and being bondsmen of county officials accused of peculation. South Carolina: 2 whites shot for murder, 10 Negroes shot and hung by Ku-Klux, Tennessee: 2 Negroes hung for robbery and arson, 1 Negro shot and hung for robbery and murder, 1 Negro shot for attempted outrage, 1 Negro hung and shot for murder, 1 white shot for mvirder of wife. Virginia: 1 desperado, horse thief and m.urderer hung. Totals: 21 whites; 28 Negroes, 17 for murder, 5 rape. 90 or one-half the total nximher were lynched "by the Ku Klux Klan" for unknown offenses, 42 Taking the whites and Negroes together, we have a total of seventeen lynched in the southern states for murder and five for rape. Cutler points out that the majority of these cases re- ported are of those forcibly taken from the custody of the law, "in some instances, the jails were broken into, and the prisoners were taken out and hanged or were killed in the jail; in other instances, the prisoners were taken from the officers and put to death before they could be taken to the jail. "45 (p. 152) This report contains two other interesting features: First, whereas before the Civil V-ar pro- secutions against lynchers were apt to bring a verdict, or at least sometimes did bring a verdict in favor of the prosecution, now the situation had changed. Al- though a majority of the seventy-five lynched were taken from jails and officers of the law, there were only tv^o cases in v/hich there was any attempt to take legal action against the lynchers. "In these two instances where attempts were made to prosecute the lynchers", says Cut- ler, "it does not appear that there was any measure of success," Vife note also that one-half, or fourteen, of 42. This is interesting in that it is the beginning", so far as we have discovered, of the practice not yet ended - lynching for"offense unknown". 43, This aspect of the report indicates that it v/as the cases in which officers of the lav/ -.vere involved that got into the papers. How many others in which they too^ no part, we shall never know. 91 those lynched In the eight southern states were lynched by the Ku Klxuc, It has been said that the death of the Klan was a tragedy, and here we come to an Indication of the significance of the statement. In March, 1869, the Grand Wizard of the Klan,^ declared that in view of the legislation against the order, 45 and in view of the fact that it had largely served its fvmction of protecting life and property;46 furthermore, as some of the members had violated positive orders, and others outside the Klan had committed deeds of violence in its name; therefore, in keeping with the power that had been invested in him to decide questions of paramount importance to the interests of the order, he declared that the Ku Klxix Klan was dissolved and dis- banded, *''' At this time the few respectable citizens who remained in the Klan dropped out; but the Klan was not dissolved. For several years afterv/ard "Ku Klxixing" went on; in some cases by members, and no doubt in others by non-members. The Ku Klux Klan was an effect, a result, of the conditions that brought it forth as a regulator of political and social matters. It was in turn a cause of 44, lien. N.B. Forrest of i-'t. Pillow fame, lliis possibly throY/s more light on the nature of the relations of the Klan and the Negro, 45, In extra session, September, 1868, the legislature of Tenn, passed a stringent anti-PIlan statute, 46, An ironical statement indeed in viev/ of the testimony quoted above; and yet there must have been some truth in it, 47, Cf. J. C, Lester and D, L, Wilson, Ku Klux Klan (1884), 92 untold lawlessness. Throughout the realm of social phenomena effects become In turn causes. Here we have the same vicious circle that has characterized race relationships in the South since the days of Reconstruc- tion: The Negro doesn't do to suit usj he hasn't the right color and the right politics, therefore v/e lynch him and flog him; he is inferior, therefore we do not give him a chance at an education, a chance for improvement; therefore he does not improve even in the qualities where it would he possible - that is, he doesn't improve enough that we can afford to admit his ability to do so; he can't change his color and his past history, and we v/on't admit his right to equal protection before the lav/ until he does soj It was such a logic as this that came out of those hectic days of Reconstruction and the Ku Klux Klan, and it functions today in the minds of many southern men in a vicious circle of cause and effect, effect and cause, to the detriment of that harmonious adjustment of the two races which hangs always in the distance like a mirage, in sight, possible of attainment, but not reached. With the regaining of political pov/er by the southern white man during the seventies, began a new era in southern history. The human material upon v/hich the outcome of the new era depended was composed of four million Negroes, lineducated, without property, largely un-moral rather than immoral, helpless and childish; and about eight million whites, materially ruined, "but resolute to •^4- vt -■('.; - 93 rebuild society, if not on the old lines, on a basis that meant that under no circiimstances v/ould they admit to equality those who had been their slaves and who for a few short years had been their rulers." The method of summary punishment of those v/ho were, believed, or acted, differently had been the contribution of the organization that once meant well - the Ku Kliix Klan, Respect for law on the part of southern white men had been weakened beyond repair for years if not generations to come. The dis- position to settle affairs by extra-legal methods had been strengthened; it had become a thoroughly ingrained trait in the culture-complex of the South; so that law- lessness in general, and flogging and lynching in particular, have since been characteristic of the section. Here was the beginning of a long, slov/, upv;ard trend toward an harmonious adjustment of tv/o racial groups of American citizens to one another in the same physical, economic 1 political and legal, - and, inevitably social] - environment. The darker side of the history of this pro- cess of adjustment of the races to one another, and especially to the socially necessary procedures of lawp will largely occupy oiir attention during the remainder of this study-. Let us first turn out attention to a statistical analysis of mob violence since 1881» _ ' " 94 CHAPTER V LYNCHINGS: A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS There are no comprehensive statistics on flosciiigs. During the present century this form of lav/lessnes has been a negligible factor except in the case of the modern Ku Klux Klan. A statistical study must, therefore, be con- fined to lynchings which, hov/evor, form the major part of mob violence in the South. For our first statistics of lynchings v/e are in- debted to the Chicago Tribune which has, since 1881, kept as accurate figures as could be obtained through the newspapers. Holt, in 1883, and Cutler a decade later, found that newspaper figures must be accepted in view of the impossibility of getting personal information from officials and others at the point of lynchings.-'-^ Through- ' Yl The subject of this organization has recently received analytical treatment by Professor J. M. Mecklin (The Ku Klux Klan, 1S24) . la. George C. Holt, Lynching and Mobs ;'jnerican Journal of Social Science, No. 32, Saratoga Papers 1894, p. 67, Library of Congress; Cutler, LynchLaw, p. 156-157. 95 out this period an annual feature of the Tribune has been the publication of a list of crimes, suicides, lynchings and legal executions. This, as Cutler points out, "gives at least a presvimption in favor of fulness and completeness in the record," Cutler has corrected the Tribune figures up to 1904, it seems, as accurately as it is possible to do» He careful- ly went over the lists of names of the persons lynched as published each year during the twenty- two year period, 1882- 1903. In a few instances he foiind errors in the totals as listed by the Tribune. Some of these errors were due merely to mistakes in adding up the lists; others v/ere due to a failure to distinguish between a lynching and persons lynch- ed. Cases in which a father and son, or five horse- thieves, or two Negroes had been lynched v/ere found to have been count- ed as one. During the period studied by Cutler this distinc- tion between lynching and persons lynched was more important than for later years in that more frequently a ntunber of per- sons were lynched in a single mob episode. In a fev/ notable instances in more recent years a number of persons have perished as a result of one episode of mob action. In this Chapter, hov/ever, we shall use the v/ord lynching to denote a person lynched unless otherv/ise stated. The Chicago Tribtme gives the following facts with regard to lynchings each year: the date of the lynch- ing, the name of the victim, his color and nationality, the alleged crime for which he was lynched, and the town and state v.'here the lynching occurred. In this list are in- Tfslisq 96 eluded, of course, only those who have met death at the hands of mobs. There is no account of the attempted lynchings, or of the persons who suffered injuries as a result of mob violence. During the past fifteen years, however, the Department of Records and Research at Tuske- gee Institute, Alabama, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in New York, have kept records which include attempted lynchings as well as those actually consumated. To these figures reference is made in a later chapter. They are hardly worth consider- ing in any elaborate statistical manner, for they are doubtless more incomplete than figures on actual lynchings, A prevented lynching is often not exciting enough to get into the newspapers, while tills is apparently seldom true of an actual lynching. It must be remembered that on one point the Tribune information is sure to be misleading: viz., the name of the town from which a lynching was reported is listed as the place of its occurrence. It is significant that very few lynchings occur in towns; almost all of them occvir in the country. This does not mean, of course, that it is always rural people who do the lynching; often it is not. This same inaccuracy inevitably gets into the Tuskegee and NAACP records, but not so frequently as these institutions give fuller details from v/hich one can more correctly determine the exact place of a lynching. From all available records it is possible to get figures accuj?ate 97 enough for purposes of statistical analysis. This does not mean that every lynching which occurs gets into the records of all or either of the three sources referred to above. The statistics furnished by the NAACP and by Tuskegee up to the time they began keeping records came from the Tribune. Since this time there is often a slight variance between the figures, especially those of Tuske- gee and of the NAACP. The figures of the latter organization and those of the Tribune are in close agreement. The Tuske- gee figtires are more conservative for the years in 7/hich there is a difference, due largely to a difference in the conception of what constitutes a lynching. For example, a posse of white men out hunting for a Negro supposed to have committed a crime come upon this Negro, or some other Negro, who is shot down. Tuskegee would hardly list this as a lynching, whereas the other organizations would con- sider this a mob murder and would list it. For our ptirposes, therefore, it seems advisable to use the NAACP figures, v/hich are at little variance, after all, with those of Tuskegee. ^ The former organi- zation's figures are themselves conservative as they do not list a lynching unless it appeared in print, whereas even yet in certain southern states there are a few lynch- ings which are not reported in the newspaper s,^ Por the 2, The only year in which there is a great variation is for 1915, in which 27 Mexicans were killed in Texas by mobs. These are not listed by Tuskegee as lynchings, 3, Besides those Negroes killed in race riots, who are not listed as lynching victims, personal letters from both Whites and Negroes indicate the truth of the statement made above. noiJaAonoo 98 years, 1882-1904, the corrections made by Cutler are in- cluded in the analysis, thus somewhat increasing the NAACP figures for those years. Due to the care v/ith which Cutler analyzed the figures up to 1904, and with the vast amount of material available for the period since that time, it would seem that trustworthy deductions and possibly valuable conclusions might be ari»ived at by a careful analysis, to which we proceed. Table I shows the number of persons lynched by section and by month since 1882, The total for the South is 3,939; for the West, 717 and for the East, 134, making a grand total of 4,799 lynchings since 1882, ^ Graph I shows that the curve for the East is fairly smooth, v/ith its peak coming in June, The curve for the 7/est is more irregular v/ith a rise in March and April, then a drop in May and another rise in August, The curve for the South is very irregular, running from 250 for February to the peak at 445 for July, After a sharp drop to 331 in September, there is a slight rise to 342 in October, Graph II shows the total for the three sections of the country during the period, ^The March and October rises come from the South, and are doubtless due largely to the fact that at these periods of the year the whites and Negroes are in closer contact through making arrangements 4, This includes 9 lynchings, month unknown. In this Chapter when "East" is used as a division of the country instead of "North" v/e are, for the sake of comparison, using the divisions as studied for the earlier period by Cutler in v/hich he listed Missoviri as a southern state and Oklahoma as a v/estern state. 99 TABLE I LYNCHINGS BY SECTION AND BY MONTH PROM 1882 to 1928^^ Month South 7/est East Totals January 263 60 9 332 February 253 45 10 308 March 297 63 7 .367 April 281 72 11 364 May 346 54 12 412 June 403 61 21 485 July 445 64 14 523 Aiigust 357 73 14 444 September 331 67 14 412 October 342 63 11 416 November 297 36 7 340 December 324 59 4 387 Unknown month 9 TOTALS 3,939 717 134 4,799 ■K-Compiled from Cutler and from the NAACP files. 100 for work, and dividing the crops, respectively. The peak comes in July, when more cases of rape and murder are alleg- ed, and when both Negroes and v/hltes are more idle, and thus apt to become involved in conflicts,^ Table II and Graph III show the ntimber of persons lynched per month by section from 1900 to 1928. It will be noted that the curves for the East and for the West dur- ing this period are more regular, as v/ell as very low, while that for the South is more irregular than for the whole period for which statistics are available. The rise in March and October is more sharp, while the top of the curve from May to September is more even. The peak comes again in July vd.th 180, but drops only to 179 in Avigust, and 150 in September, with a rise to 176 for October, Table III and Graph IV show the totals for the United States over this period, 1900 to 1928, The drop in the curve for the '.Vest in July and the rise of the curves for both East and West in August result in a noticeable difference in this curve; viz., that the peak comes in August, at 199, ten above the July mark. In October it rises again from 166 to 183, then drops to 148 in November, and to 116 in December, The total lynchlngs per month for the period is 1,878, The month in which 5 lynchlngs oc cured is not known, hence the total of all lynchlngs recorded for the period is 1,883, of which 1,737 occurred in the South, 101 102 GRAPH II LYNCHINGS, BY MONTHS, IN U. S. Prom 1882-1928 I 'XBOA M3N '-00 U3SS3 T T3Jjna)l '3 ^ ^ t 4 t ^ t u 103 TABLE II LYNCHINGS IN THE UNITED STATES BY SECTION BY MONTH, 1900-1928''- Month South West Easi Totals January 118 10 1 129 February 110 2 2 114 March 140 8 1 149 April 109 12 2 123 May 166 13 0 179 June 169 11 3 183 July 180 7 2 189 Avigust 179 15 5 199 September 150 13 3 166 October 176 5 2 183 November 139 7 2 148 December 97 16 3 116 UnknoY/n 4 0 1 5 TOTALS 1,737 119 27 1,883 •K- Compiled from the NAACP files. Cutler maintains that the above figures are in error for the years 1900, to 1903, due to a confusing of "lynchings" and number of persons lynched". He v/ent over the material very carefully and as a result found that there had been 17 more persons lynched than are shovm by the above figures. Thus there have been, according to the correction, 1909 persons lynched since 1900, 8I-. 104 ;41:J!l-tltffi-i-- KTJi- wm llMip } i/M^yyuKj/^ 105 TABLE III LYNCHINGS PER MONTH IN THE UNITED STATES, 1900 to 1928* January 129 February 114 March 149 April 123 May 117 June 183 July 189 August 199 September 166 October 183 November 148 December 116 TOTAL 1,878 (i/Ii 1,878 (i/lonth uiilcnov/n, 5, hence 1883). LYNCHINGS IN THE UNITIID STATES BY I.TOmES. 1900-1928, 106 GRAPH IV Number; 300 60 40 20 U.S. : t>^ >a *, u a ot) u O <i> 5^ ft ss Pi c H •-3 •-a ro (D O i P © <D ,Q O +J O o e © o #—4 Tt-'tH.■H-•-r^-^■t"-H^^■■^l^^l+H~-^h»H^"^H^'.^!-■^ ■H^"f- 1 ^ 0 e © o © p i:;i;i::ir]i Hi; ; . ; ; ; rr ^f 107 TABLE IV NUMBER OP PERSONS LYNCHED, BY GEOGRAPHICiJL DIVISIONS AND STATES, AND BY COLOR, 1889-1928 iection and Division Total Number TVTilte "Other" Per ^ent Negro Per Cent UNITED STATES 3,614 737 20.4 2,877 79.6 THE NORTH 235 121 51.9 114 48.1 New England 1 Maine 1 New Hamt) shire 0 Vermont 0 Massachusetts 0 Rhode Island 0 Connecticut 0 Middle Atlantic 8 New York 3 Nev,' Jersey 1 Pennsylvania 4 East North Central 65 Ohio 13 Indiana 19 Illinois 25 Michigan 4 7\fi3Consin 4 West North Central 161 Minnesota 7 Iowa 8 Missouri 89 North Dakota 2 South Dakota 15 Nebraska 18 Kansas 24 1 100,0 1 100.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 50.0 2 66.6 1 100.0 1 25.0 34 53.3 4 30.7 10 55.0 13 52.0 3 75.0 4 100. 82 50.9 4 57.1 5 62.5 31 34.9 2 100,0 13 100.0 15 83.3 12 50,0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 50.0 1 33.4 0 0 3 75.0 31 46.7 9 69.3 9 45.0 12 48.0 1 25.0 0 0 79 49.1 3 42.9 3 37.5 58 65.1 0 0 0 0 3 16.7 12 50.0 THE SOUTH 3,198 447 14.0 2,751 86.0 TABLE IV (Cont'd) 108 Total Number V-Tilte "Other" Per Cent Negro Per Gent South Atlantic 1,016 86 8,5 930 91.5 Delev/are 1 0 0 1 100. Maryland 17 2 11.7 15 88.3 Virginia 83 11 13.3 72 86.8 West Virginia 32 8 25.0 24 75.0 North Carolina 66 12 18.2 54 81.8 South Carolina 134 6 4.5 128 95.5 Georgia 451 28 6.2 423 93.8 Florida 232 19 8.2 213 91.8 Dlst. of Col, East South Central 1,123 141 12.5 982 87.5 Kentucky 175 45 25.7 130 74.3 Tennessee 207 36 17.4 171 82.6 Alabama 304 35 11.5 269 88.5 Mississippi 437 25 5.7 412 94.3 West South Central 1,059 220 20.7 839 79.3 Arkansas 239 33 13.8 206 86.2 Louisiana 337 50 14.8 287 85.2 Oklahoma 104 62 59.6 42 40.4 Texas 379 75 19.8 304 80.2 THE -/TEST 166 j.54 92.7 12 7.3 Mountain Montana Idaho Wyoming Colorado New Mexico Arizona Utah Nevada Pacific Division Washington Oregon California 115 106 92.2 23 23 100. 11 11 100. 34 29 85.3 20 18 90.0 14 12 85.7 8 8 100. 1 1 100. 4 4 100. 51 48 94.1 17 17 100. 4 3 75. 30 28 93.3 9 7.8 0 0 0 0 5 14.7 2 10.0 2 14.3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 5.6 0 0 1 25. 2 6.4 Alaska and Unlaiovm 15 15 100. 0 (Compiled from figures provided by the N.A.A.C.P,), 0 109 Table IV shows the number of persons lynched by geographical divisions, by states, and by race from 1889 to 1928. Twenty per cent of the total 3,614 lynched, or 737, were v/hites and "other" - including Indians and Mexicans, Thus 79.6 per cent, or 2,877 of the persons lynched during the period were Negroes. More than 50 per cent of all persons lynched in every division except the South v/ere whites. In the South only 14 per cent were v/hite and 86 per cent Negroes, although more than 50 per cent of all whites lynched were in the South, Chart I shows the relative number of persons lynched by geographical di- visions during the period. Of the total 3,614, there were 235 in the North, 166 in the Y/est, and 3,198 in the South.^ Table V shows the number of persons lynched by five-year periods since 1882, by race and by sex. Of the total 781 persons lynched between 1882-87, 490 were v/hites, four of whom v/ere women, as compared to a total of 291 Negroes, five of whom were v/omen. In no five-year period and in no year since that date have more whites than Negroes been lynched. The peak of the totals comes for the period 1892-97 Y/hen 309 whites and 634 Negroes were lynched. This is also the peak for women lynched, when eight v/hite and 18 colored v/omen thus met death. During all but two of the five-year periods since 1882 there has been a decrease in the number of whites lynched. This also holds true for the Negroes, 5. In Table IV and Chart I we have followed the Census method of Divisions, 010 T — I, .. I .. I I I. — r 110 1 1 I i "I '!'!.:. "I"'! 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VX) CM cr\ CTN CM CTN r-i CU O rH CTN CVI CM CJ> CM o cry 0^ rH t^ r— VO r^ r^ CM ^ ^ VX) LTi LPi MD CM VD 2 CM CTv rH O o r-i r-i MD r-i r-i o> CTv CM LfN «3 VO CM MD LfN o rH O OJ r-i CM C7> CM CM rH O O rH (7> O C3> CM rH -d- CTN LO CM CM W3 rH CM CM LjOi OJ rH r^ KN r^ o OJ O CTN r^ r-i CTN W MD ^ ir\ CM rH CM CM tfN CM CTN r^ 1^ CTN MD CM o ^ ^ 1^ KN rH r- CM r^ CTN r-- CM I^ CM 1^ en 150 o> CTN r^ o rH r^ OJ OJ ,-^ kJ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 r- << CM h- CM r- CM r— CM h- CM OJ Eh 160 to cr. CJN o o r-i rH CM CTN O 60 60 60 60 CTN CTN a\ CTN CTN rH E-- r-i r-i rH rH rH r-i rH rH r-i 112 From 1902-1912 there were 86 whites lynched, 43 for each five-year period. Then in the year 1915 there was a total of 43 white lynched, bringing the five-year total to 59, The two exceptions noted in the general decline in the total number of Negroes lynched comes at the half-decades ending in 1912, and 1922. In 1919 alone 79 Negroes were lynched, bringing the total for the period 1917-1922 up to 299. Since 1897 there have been only seven white women lynched, while there have been 44 Negro v/omen lynched. Durir^ 1927 there was a total of 21 lynchings, all males, 19 of whom v/ere Negroes, In the total of 4,799 we have counted 97 for 1902 instead of 94 as listed by the NAACP and the Chicago Tribune, Dr. Cutler went over the material very carefully in 1903 and found that there had been 94 lynchings but 97 persons lynched. Graph V shov.'s the proportion of Negroes and whites lynched for the period linder consideration. The peak for the whites v/as reached during the first period at 490; then there Y,ras a sharp decline to 310, ^Hiring the next period there v/as a decline of only one, but follov/lxjg that time came a very sharp decline to 139, then to 45 for the period 1902-1907. During 1927 only two v/hites were lynched, one in California and one in Florida. Since the first period the number of Negroes lynched has been higher than that of the whites. The percentages for the different periods are shov/n in Table V, The highest percentage of Negroes lynched was for the period ending 1922, when 93,4 per cent of the 329 persons lynched v/ere Negroes, During 113 GRAPH V KUMBER LYNCHED 1882-1927 BY RACE PER^IVE^YEAR PERIODS O KE -ON 'XbOA, MSN '-00 M3SS3 V 13d 114 the forty-five years under consideration the proportion of Negroes lynched has risen from 37,3 to 90,5 while that of the whites has declined from 62.7 to 9.5. During this time there has been a total of 4,799 lynchings, 3,374 of which v/ere Negroes, or 70,5 of the total. Graph VI shov;s the number of persons lynched in the United States since 1882 by race and by years. The line representing the whites reaches its peak at 211 in 1884. The top line represents the total number lynched by years, and reaches its peak at 235 in 1892, Althoxigh there has been a general decline since that date, the c\irves are rather irregular throughout the period. Graph VII shows the nxamber of whites, Negroes, and "others" lynched in the United States since 1900. Mexicans are considered as whites; the six represented by the "others" line were Indians and Chinese. In 1915 a total of 43 whites, 27 of whom were Mexicans, were lynched, comprising the only sharp irregularity in the curve. For the past ten years relatively fev whites - a total of 40 - have been lynched. The curve for the Negroes is very irregular. The peak is at 108 in 1901, then comes a rather marked decline to 59 in 1907. There is a sharp rise to 92 in 1908, which figure has not since been equalled. Prom 48 in 1917 there was a rise to 63 in 1918 and 79 in 1919, The lowest mark is at 1924 when 15 Negroes were lynched. In 1926 there v/ere 26 Negro men and two Negro women lynched, and in 1927 19 Negro males v/ere lynched. ^ ■'f % 115 GRAPH VII NUMBER OP VffllTES, NEGROES AND OTHERS LYNCHED BY YEARS 1900-1928 ^^ '^lu>wii>jtrv— ^/f to \ X > H 5 L 1 ^ <^ /o // >% /^ /r rr /^ n ir it i* 116 Table VI and Chart II shov/ the proportion of lynchings for various alleged crimes from 1889 to 1928, Of the 3,614 v/hites and Negroes lynched during the period 1,354 or more than 37 per cent were charged with mtirder. Of the whites lynched 46.6 per cent were charged with murder as compared to 35.1 per cent of the Negroes. Six- teen per cent of the Negroes as compared to 6.3 per cent of the whites were accused of rape. This does not necessar- ily mean that 477 or more Negroes have committed rape since 1889, As is indicated in Chapter VII, a Negro is frequent- ly charged with rape or an attack upon a woman when it is for an entirely different reason that he is lynched. It is noticeable in this connection that for crimes against the person other than those involving v/omen about the same percentage of Negroes and whites are lynched. The percentage of persons lynched for crimes against property is high for the whites and low for the Negroes while the reverse is true as to the crime of rape. At least a part of this is possibly to be accounted for by the fact that white men can no longer afford to lynch a Negro without some excuse, and it is more and more necessary to have one better than that the Negro villi not pay a bill, or that he refuses to work for a consideration set by the white man. Disputes over property accoiint for many of the murder charges against the Negro, There are, on the other hand, 6. This table follov/s the NAaCP classification of crimes, and is different from that used elsewhere in the study. See Chapter VI et passim. 117 co H E-« <«: E-« 03 Q H El M (D s O p .^ s t-t Q P>3 -d O a Pd oJ «; K m o rH CD CO +J M w O > CO ^25 E-< M w hJ fc • « PQ U4 CO < o (M f- CT >- iH m O Q +» g C7> o «D !S! «) >^ r-l hJ a CO o !s; M O ^ CO a^ H P^ (ci o 0^ H CQ OQ rH ^ r- cd H KN -p -D r^ o *« E-t 1^ 0) • o » CO O -H < o I CO .H :3 (D o t:) o o CD fn c; CO C cd ,i^ •H cd P5 CO s fH o I O -P M fH P^ (U CO C c o •H CO Cd fH hDO) Oj P CQ O cc5 ■p +» * O 0) a 0) PJ pcj CO a O o o ai KN LH CO ^ rH cvj •eo + in rH CM t^ C\J -^ in ISO •60 VD a o Eh 0) •H o ■p 0) CJ a> CO +» -d o CVJ o o ■60 iH KN f^ KN ^ M3 iH CVJ 1^ o rH O o CVJ LT, V£) rH m KN O CD +» CD O 0) Ph CO -d (D >-. CQ Al o cd o cd -d <u -p bD (C Qi ^ rH ■P H a> CO ■p o3 oj ^ ■p CO <u CO cb P! o <u o ^ O -P C(3 <U CO ^ CO fn cd p 0) rH ^ o O •H +J ^ O CO hO cti > C -P «J •H +3 ^ CO o = -p -p CD - c n = -H <D CO cd bO (U bo 0) +^ CD rH r-i Cd (L) 00 -p CO cd CD B •H ^ O Cd ,£3 W bSJ^ cd C ^ 0) o c: CO •H cd ^ CD Qi -P CD -H Cd • o ^ tJ o <D rH -H ■p rH ^ a Cd ^ a CD CO f: -p 0) -H +^ -d cd ;:> -p rH PJ u o p o $3 •H •> ■d Q) (U C Til •p o Cd cd •H a a -p g cd (U p O fH CO •H <U a tM ^ o •tH o Oj C to (1> c; cd a d) H O <a bDxi p: a •H Q) «H CU O •H -d +3 = (D CD > (D x-H -P= -P = (U cd O rH CO -H (U cd "d ^H P = CO -r-a (U 4) - fH = p -d ©^ ^ O O cd 0 fH t>. 02 (d o o :3 CD = rH •d - C <D= 0) -P -d (D o -d C (d rH O C ^ bD Cd &= CD CD i-i cd CJ -p 0) •d cd 0) a •H O Cd 02 c: <u ■H O > ,c! p cd a bD cd a a o fH <tH S: O CD = •H <U -d ^ " > (U -P= -H -P CO -P -P h 0) cd -H QJ -P rH g Ti -rH CD a C xi f-i o :=) &= o * 118 119 "dangerous Negroes", as there are also white men who do not hesitate to take human life, lliere are other Negroes who are goaded to desperation and who actually commit murder when they otherwise would not. Still others are goaded into a fight v/ith a v/hite man and are charged with "mtirderous assault , and thus this crime of fighting with a white man is listed on Table VI as murder. Lynching States and Negro Population Turning attention to lynchings in the South, we note that, since 1882, 3,939 or more than 82 per cent of all lynchings have occurred in this section. Between 1889 and 1918 about 88 per cent of all lynchings in the country occurred in the South and for the past twenty years over 90 per cent of all lynchings have occtirred in the South, Prom 1889 to 1918 about 78 per cent of all persons lynched in the nation were Negroes, According to Table IV, from 1889 to 1928, a total of 2,877 of the 3,614 persons lynched were Negroes or 79.6 per cent. From 1914 to 1918, 81,2 per cent of all persons lynched were Negroes, and during the past decade practically 95 per cent of all persons lynched were Negroes, A total of 2,751 or 86 per cent of all Negroes lynched have been lynched in the South. Four- teen per cent of all persons lynched in the South since 1889 have been whites, while more than 60 per cent of all whites lynched have been in the South. Since 1900, 70 per cent, and during the past decade 74 per cent of all whites lynched have been in the South, Thus it Is seen 120 that in general mob violence of this type is characteris- tically Southern, and is increasingly so with the passing of years. Chart III shov/s the ranlcing of the States of the Union according to the person' lynched since 1889, The first eleven states, with a total of 2,997, are southern. All of these states have had more than 100 lynchings during the period, ranging from 104 for Oklahoma to 451 for Georgia, Virginia with 83, Maryland with 17, and Delev.rare with 1, are the only southern states which have had less tlian 100 lynchings during the period. Of the 235 persons lynched in the North since 1889, 121 or 51,9 per cent have been white. Practically all (154) of the 166 persons lynched in the '/Vest, have been whites and Mexicans, Only three Negroes have been lynched in the Pacific Division, and nine in the Moxmtain Division since 1900. It has been noted that during the present Century there has been a more marked concentration of lynchings in the South than for the whole period for v/hich we have statistics. Chart IV shows the rank of the southern states in the number of persons lynched since 1900, The rank of these states is different from that shown in Chart III. i/?hereas Georgia ranks first for the period 1889 to 1928 it is in the lead of Mississippi by only 14; but during the present Century, Georgia leads all states in the number of persons lynched and is 27 in the lead of Mississippi v/lth 266 lynchings. The whole range is from one for Delev/are to ■^%, CHART IV 121 LYNCHINGS BY STATE IN THE SOUTH, 1900-1928 Ranking of States by Persons Lynched [m;(.uiuu4UUi![ii:ii:iiir!iup:iij/™nn:i jiTjmniHTrmTircii i lui ; riTrTny-yp-jm ■Jl^ (nuM^B^ L \IV (LHBb) Itlii'if Tirnrmr -4 cSiS SJt i£. t^ m. ZlC ■^'^O ■^^^ /-^^J »■"> fii.0 J^g OAa ^irr. ?s-n> a<^. I -aUL. Xi. /J6 ZiL2_ J^jiS- j.:VJ .^jfcfiL 122 293 for Georgia, Whereas Florida ranks eighth for the period since 1882, during the past 28 years It ranks fifth, with 156 lynchlngs. North Carolina has changed its ranlc from the thirteenth to the tv/elfth, Alabama has shifted from fifth to sixth; Arkansas from sixth to seventh; Tennessee from seventh to eighth; and Virginia from twelth to thirteenth. Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Louisana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, West Virginia, Delev/are and Maryland, rank the same for the two periods. Thus on the whole there has not only been a concentration of lynchlngs in the South during the pre- sent century but a gradual shift toward the South-east, It is interesting to note that whereas the center of lynchlngs is moving to the South-east the center of the Negro population is in a different direction. Table VII shows that since 1790 the general trend of the Negro population has been toward the South-west. In 1790 the center of Negro population was in Dinv/iddle County, Virginia, and by 1880 it had moved 443 miles South-west, to Walker County, Georgia. During each decade since that time there has been a slight slilft in the same direction until 1920 when the center had changed to the North-east from Dekalb County, Alabama, back to '.Valker County, Georgia, Table VIII shov/s the total and the Negro population by states, and the per cent Negro of the total population by 123 T.\BLE VII CENTER OP THE NEGRO POPULATION: 1790, 1880-1920 Census Year Location of Center. Approximate location by tOTms Deciennial Movement in Miles 1790 25 miles west-southeast of Peters- burg, Dinwiddle County, Virginia. 1880 10,4 miles east of Lafayette, in Walker County, Georgia. 1890 15,7 miles Southv/est of Lafayette Walker County, Georgia. 1900 10,7 miles northeast of Fort Payne, Dekalb County, Alabama, 1910 5,4 miles north-northeast of Port Payne, Dekalb County, Alabama, 1920 1,8 north-northeast of Rising Fawn, Georgia, 443 miles South- west, 20,5 miles Southwest 9,5 miles Southwest, 5,8 miles West- southwest 21,5 miles North- east, (Negro Year Book, 1925-6, p, 441) 124 states in 1920," < Since 1880 there has been a general, thoiigh small decline in the percentage Negro of the total population. Taking the successive decades in order from 1880 to 1920 the Negro population formed the following respective percentages of the total population of the South: 1880, 36.0 per cent; 1890, 33.8 per cent; 1900, 32,3 per cent; 1910, 29.8 per cent; and in 1920, 26.9 per cent. During this time the percentage Ylhlte of the total population for the decades was: 1880, 63,9 per cent; 1890, 65.9 per cent; 1900, 67,4 per cent; 1910, 69,9 per cent and in 1920, 72,9 per centr] During the entire period the percentage of "others"- Indians, Chinese, Japanese, has been less than one-half of one per cent of the total. The foreign born v/hite population is less in the South than in any other section of the country. Thus the population of the South is almost entirely made up of "native" Americans, white and black. Comparing the rank of the Southern States in Table VTII with Chart III it is shovm that numerically Georgia leads in Negro population, as v/ell as in lynchings, v;ith Mississippi coming second, Alabama ranks third ac- cording to Negro population. South Carolina fourth, Louisiana fifth, Virginia sixth. North Carolina seventh, Arkansas eighth, Tennessee ninth, and Florida tenth. Thus 7, 'i'he 1920 f^lgures are used here for the general purpose at hand. In a later Chapter v/here more definite statistics are treated according as they apply to particular states and counties, population statistics for 1910 are used along with those of 1920, %"■- 125 it is shov/n that there is not a very close correlation betv/een the total number of Negroes in a state and the number of lynchings. I'his is still more noticeable when we note the ranlc of the states according to the per cent Negro of the total population, Mississippi ranlcs first with 52.2 per cent Negro population. South Carolina ranlcs second v/ith 51,4 Negro population, although this state ranks fourth according to the total Negro population, and tenth according to the number of persons lynched within her borders since 1900, During this time, also, there has been only one white man lynched in South Carolina, Georgia ranks third according to the percentage Negro of the total population, although first according to the total number of Negroes, and first according to the niomber of persons lynched, and the number of Negroes lynched. Whereas Virginia ranks thirteenth in the number of persons lynched since 1900, she ranks seventh in percentage and sixth in total Negro population, "hereas Florida ranlcs fifth according to lynchings, she ranks sixth in percentage and tenth in total Negro population. From the foregoing Tables and Charts it is evident that lynchings, although largely concentrated in the South, are not as frequent in all southern states as in some states of other sections of the coujitry. Taking the period from 1889 to 1928 we note tliat Virgina, North Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland and Deleware rank lower in the number of persons lynched than certain states of other sections. In Y/est Virginia where 5,9 per cent of the 126 TABLE VIII TOTAL AND NEGRO POPULATION BY STATES AND PER CENT NEGRO POPULATION OF TOTAL IN EACH STATE IN 1920 Per cent Negro Total popu- Negro popu- in total popu- STATES lation lation lation NEW ENGLAND Maine 768,014 1,310 0.2 New Hampshire 443,083 621 0.1 Vermont 352,428 572 0.2 Massachusetts 3,852,356 45,466 1.2 Rhode Island 604,397 10,036 1,7 Connecticut 1,380,631 21,046 1.5 MIDDLE ATLANTIC New York 10,385,227 198,483 1.9 New Jersey 3,155,900 117,132 3.7 Pennsylvania 8,720,017 284,568 3.3 EAST N. CENTRAL Ohio 5,759,394 186,187 3.2 Indiana 2,930,309 80,810 2.8 Illinois 6,485,280 182,274 2.8 Michigan 3,668,412 60,082 1.6 Wisconsin 2,632,067 5,201 0.2 WEST N. CENTRAL Minnesota 2,387,125 8,809 0.4 Iowa 2,404,421 19,005 0.8 Missoxiri 3,404,055 178,241 5.2 North Dakota 646,872 467 0.1 South Dakota 636,547 832 0.1 Nebraska 1,296,372 13,242 1.0 Kansas 1,769,257 57,925 3.3 SOUTH ATLANTIC Deleware 223,003 30,335 13.6 Maryland 1,449,661 244,479 16.9 District of Col. 437,579 109,966 25. If Virginia 2,309,187 690,017 29. 9C W. Virginia 1,463,701 86,345 5.9 North Carolina 2,559,123 663,407 29.81 South Carolina 1,683,724 864,719 51. 4 'i Georgia 2,895,832 1,206,365 41.7:5 Florida 968,470 329,487 34.0 EAST SOUTH CENTRAL Kentucky 2,416,630 235,938 9.8 Tennessee 2,337,885 450,758 19.2^!) Alabmna 2,348,174 900,652 38.43 Mississippi 1,790,618 935,184 52.2/ I.O TABLE VIII (Cont'd) 127 Per cent Negro Total popu- Negro popu- in total popu- STATES lation lation lation 'iVEZI SOUTH CENTRAL Arkansas 1,752,204 472,220 27,0*? Louisiana 1,798,509 700,257 38.0/ Oklahoma 2,028,283 149,408 7.4 5exas 4,663,228 241,694 15.4 MOUNTAIN Montana 548,889 1,658 0.3 Idaho 431,866 920 2.0 Wyoming 194,402 1,375 7.0 Colorado 939,629 11,318 1.2 Ne^Y Mexico 360,350 5,333 1.6 Arizona 334,162 8,005 2.4 Utah 449,386 1,446 0.3 Nevada 77,417 346 4.0 PACIFIC Washington 1,356,621 6,883 0.5 Oregon 783,389 2,144 0.3 California 3,426,861 38,763 1.1 (Negro Year Book, 1925-6, p. 435) 128 total population Is Negro, there have been 17 persons lynch- ed since 1900, fifteen of whom were Negroes, In Maryland 16.9 per cent of the total population is Negro, and yet only seven Negroes and no whites have been lynched since 1900« In Illinois, on the other hand, where Negroes fvirnished only 2.8 per cent of the total population in 1920 (and it was much less before the great migration during and immediately after the World War), there have been during the past twenty-eight years fourteen lynchings, only two of v/hich were whites. Illinois has long been among the first of the non-southern states in the nvunber of lynchings. Since 1890, ten v/hite men and fifteen Negroes have been lynched in that State, While most of the whites were lynch- ed for murder (5), and rape (4), the last one v/as lynched at Collinsville, Madison Coxinty, on April 4, 1919, for "making disloyal remarks", Negroes have been lynched in Illinois for such crimes as "criminal abortion", and "dis- reputable character". Whereas nearly 14 per cent of the population of Delev/are is Negro, there is only one lynching on record as having occurred in that State, In 1903 a Negro was lynched in New Castle Cotinty, near V/ilmlngton, for the double crime of rape and murder. Kansas, with 3.3 per cent Negro popu- lation has had eight lyncliings, four Negroes and four whites; and Wyoming, with 7,0 per cent Negro population, has had the same number and proportion since 1900, Montana has had 10 lynchings, and California 14 since 1900, only one in each state, however, being a Negro, 129 In 1920 the Negro population of Missoiirl was 5.2 per cent of the total. Since 1900 this state has had 42 lynchings, 37 of whom v/ere Negroes. Missouri has had more lynchings than five of the southern states, including Virginia and North Carolina, each of v/hich has about 30 per cent Negro population, ^ Vi/hereas 92 per cent of all persons lynched are in the South, yet five of the northern and western states have each had more lynchings since 1900 than have two of the southern states in which the relative percentage of Negro population is higher. Thus it is evident that the South, when considered by states, is no more a lynching section as a whole than is Cali- fornia, Missouri, Illinois or Montana, Map I shows graphically that there is not only a concentration of lynchings In the South but a further concentration in particular southern states. Three southern states have had betv/een 200 and 300 lynchings since 1900, and four others have had between 100 and 200, The seven states combined have had 1,347, or more than 78 per cent of the total for the 16 southern states. In the first ten southern states there has been a total of 1,579 lynchings, or about 84 per cent of all lynchings in the Nation, Practically 96 per cent of all l3mchinga 8, Missouri affords an indication that it is not the location of a state, nor altogether the proportion of negro popu- lation, so much as it is other conditions, and attitudes that determine the number of lynchings, *or this reason Missouri is included in the discussion of lynchings by states and co\inties. Chapter ¥11, <?sl 0G6 130 UuiliKl Stales 131 in the South are credited to these ten states. And it is in these states that more tlian 90 per cent of all women lynched since 1900 have met that fate. 152 CHAPTER VI WOMEN AND WHITE IffiN LYNCHED Sixty college professors and graduate students from all sections of the country Interviewed at a con- ference in New York, and twenty professors and graduate students at the University of North Carolina expressed surprise at the nvtmber of women lynched in the South, Quite a majority of the ntimber, including several of the southern group - both professors and students - had the impression that practically all lynchings are due to the crime of rape, and did not know that women were ever lynched*, A total of 96 women have met death at the hands of mobs since 1882. The early statistics are doubtless inaccurate, for there is not a lynching of a woman recorded for the first two years of the period. The slight increase in the nvimber of white women lynched throughout the remainder of the Nineteenth Century no doubt indicates an increased accuracy of the statistics rather than an actual increase in the number of v/omen lynched. During 133 the 45 years since 1882, 24 v/hlte women and 72 colored women have "been lynched. Table IX shows that for every year, excepting 1887 and 1899, to the beginning of the present Century, there was one or more women lynched. Graph VIII shows that up to the beginning of the Century there was a fairly close correlation between the number of white women and the number of Negro women lynch- ed. Since 1900 there have been only t'.vo v;hite vromen lynched, while the curve for the Negroes is irregular, varying from one to four throughout, excepting the years 1905, 1906, 1924 and 1925 when there were no women lynch- ed in the country. Chart V shows the proportion of women lynched for various causes since 1882, -*■ Of the v/hites nine were charged with murder, five with minor offenses, two with theft, one with arson and the crime of seven is unknown. Of the Negroes 34 were charged with murder, 17 with minor offenses, six with arson, one with theft, two with murderous assault, five with complicity in murder, and the offense of seven is unknown. It is interesting to note in more detail the lynching s of women during the a>//entieth Century, To the present date there has been a total of 41, all but two of whom v/ere Negroes, Chart VI shows the nxxmber of women lynched by year and by race since 1900, It is shown that 1, The crimes of women are not listed in Table IX, for the years before 1900, Cutler, p. 172, gives a chart of this natixre covering the period up to 1904 but as his informa- tion is given in summary the separate crimes are not available from this source. 154 TABLE IX WOIvIEN LYNCHED IN THE U. S. FROM 1882 to 1928 By Race and by Crime and Totals^ Year Total 'Miite Colored 1184^ 3 3 0 1885 4 1 3 1886 2 0 2 1888-x^^H^ 1 1 0 1889 3 3 0 1890 1 1 0 1891 5 0 5 1892 5 1 4 1893 4 0 4 1894 3 1 2 1895 13 5 6 1896 1 1 0 1897 4 2 2 1898 6 3 3 1900-:j-^k:- 1 0 1 1901 4 1 3 1902 1 0 1 1903 2 0 2 1904 2 0 2 1907-JHC-JJ 2 0 2 1908 1 1 0 1909 1 0 1 Crime alleged In reports Crimes of v/omen not listed separately in early in- formation, hence not given here until 1900, For totals, women by crime, see Chart V, Crime unknown, N. Implicated in murder. Implicated in murder. 1 unknown; 1 implicated in murder. Both charged v/ith murder. Both "murderous assault," "Threats"; lynched along v^rith her husband and tv/o children. Charged with murder. w Compiled from Cutler, NAACP files. Clippings, etc, *<• No iynchings in 1882, and 1883, according to records, *«-»■ No Iynchings in intervening years. 135 TABLE IX (Cont»d) Year Total '.'Vhlte Colored Crime alleged In reports 1910 1911 1 0 1 1912 3 0 3 1913 1 0 1 1914 4 0 4 1915 1 0 1 1916 3 0 3 1917 1 0 1 1918 4 0 4 1919 1 0 1 1920 1 0 1 1921 1 0 1 1922 0 0 0 1923 1 0 1 (No women lynched, 1924, 1925) 1926 2 0 2 1927 0 0 0 Murder, 1; complicity, 1; Operating disreputable house, 1, (Monroe, La,), Murder, Murder, 2; complicity, 1, Charge, irurder; later found innocent. Murder, 2; Arson, 1; Unknov/n, 1, "Resisting arrest"? "Accomplice to murder" Murder • " Unwi s e r emark s " , 1 ; mjirder, 2; threats, 1, Unknov/n cause. Complicity in mtirder, Unknov/n. Referred to in Gov, Dorsey's pamphlet. Shot by men v/ho were searching for her brother v/ho had refused to pay 10^ interest on 50^, No of- fense stated; relatives had probably committed murder; not knov/n. TOTALS 96 24 72 Summary of Crimes; V/hites, Murder 10; minor offense, 5, unknown, 6; arson, 1; lEEeft, 2, Total, 24, Colored: Murder, 35; minor (or no offense), 17; Unknov/n, 6; Arson, 6; theft, 1; Complicity in murder, 5; murderous assault, 2; Total, 72, 136 GRAPH VIII WOMEN LYNCHED 1884-1928 BY RACE 137 CHART V WOMEN: PROPORTION LYNCHED FOR VARIOUS CAUSES 1882-1928 |'^|:tl:H:l-| 1 : 139 the majority of the lynchings of v/omen during the period occurred between 1909 and 1922, For each of the twenty- eight years except five, one or more women have been lynched. The two white women were lynched in 1901 and 1908, respectively. In Mississippi County, Arkansas, on April 6, 1901, May Hearn, white, was lynched, - charged with murder. At Hickory Grove, Kentucky, on October 4, 1908, a Mrs. David Wallace was lynched along with her husband and two children. The cause of this lynching according to newspaper reports at the time was "threats". It is very probable that the figures on the number of women lynched are conservative, even since 1900, For the first three years of this period Cutler found a record of eight women lynched, while the NAACP report for this period gives only six. Cutler was certainly not inclined to overstate the number lynched, and we may accept his figures as being more nearly accurate as the NAACP was not in existence at the time and their data was gathered some dozen years later. Chart VII shows the proportion of Negro women lynched for various causes from 1900 to 1928, Fourteen of the thirty-nine were charged v/ith mxirder, seven with com- plicity in murder, two with murderous assault, one with arson, seven with a minor offense, while the offense of eight is not known. One Negro girl was shot by a mob of white men while in search of her brother who had insulted a white man - it is said by refusing to pay ten cents Interest on a half dollar which he had borrowed. One •>.-\ I' 1 1 1' 1 1 1 ' 1 1 1 1 1 1 I M-. r .ii\ ^ty^4.^ry\.% (J^jLe^ui^ ■ri ^2yi<i^Ot^ ^ // / J^rlf-/,^Jil. 5^ 141 woman was shot along with her husband who was not spe- cifically charged with any crime at all, but it was thovight that probably he had been implicated in a murder which happened several months previously. Two Negro women were shot for threatening to avenge the death of their brother who had been killed by white men. One was shot in Monroe, Louisiana, charged with "running a disrepu- table house." One was shot by a posse of officers and citizens while "resisting arrest", and another for "un- wise remarks" - concerning the lynching of her husbandl As would nattirally be expected, a majority of the forty-one lynchings of women since 1900 occurred in the southern states. Of the thirty-seven assigned to the South, Mississippi leads with a total of eleven. Then comes Georgia v/ith eight, one of whom was lynched for murder but was later proved to have been innocent of the crime. Texas and Florida rank next v/lth four each; South Carolina and Arkansas with three each; and Oklalioma and Louisiana with two each. The only charges stated against Rachel Moore, of Rankin Mississippi, who was lynched on Arpil 4, 1921, was that she was the mother-in-law of a man who had been lynched. It is in the same states and in the same localities of these states, where men - black and white - are lynched, that practically all of the v/omen who meet this infamous death depart for the unknown. Women have been lynched for the same trivial offenses for v/hich men meet that fate. •• 1 '.' ' ' '•f''*i"»#» 142 White Men Lynched Since 1900 From questioning many persons on the subject one is led to conclude that there is a general impression abroad that white men are no longer lynched since the settliiag of the West and the establishment of courts where- in horse thieves and murderers may be bro\ight to justice. This impression is erroneous in two ways: In the first place the lynching of white men has not ceased with the settling of the West, and in the second place it is not primarily in the V/est that white men are lynched. Thus it seems worth while to dwell upon this aspect of the subject. Graph IX shows the whites lynched by years since 1900, Beginnirxg with 12 in 1900 there was a rise to 28 in 1901, then a drop to three for 1906 and 1907, In 1908 there were eleven whites lynched with a rise to 14 in 1909; then a drop to 9 in 1910, to 8 in 1911, to three in 1912, and to one in 1913, Prom three in 1914 the curve reaches the high mark of 41 in 1915 - the highest nxunber of whites lynched in a single year since 1896,^ There was a sharp drop to six in 1916, since which time there has not been more than eight for any single year. This mark was reached in 1920, There were six whites lynched in 1921, and seven in 1922. In only two years since 1900-1924 and 1925 - is 2, There were 43 whites lynched during 1915 but we have been unable to check up on two of them, hence have omitted them from the list. fta^^ jA^v2/2.^c^ /s^^^^. /^H'/pj^f^ 1/ 1 <^'^^/\AhjU\~. Utltlllllil.;ill::i!|iimtH!HI'l)IIMUlH[HlfWHt'-lf mHH|M!lim!llll!HI!i|llimmi!ii!l!!!!l 144 there no record of a white man being lynched. During the past decade there has been a total of 41 whites lynched; and since 1920, thirty-one. In 1926 there were six, and in 1927 two whites lynched. Table X shov/ the Whites lynched by year and by crime since 1900, There has been a total of 221 during the twenty-eight years, or an average of about eight per year,"^ Before proceeding with an analysis of this chart it is necessary to explain the classification of crimes as causes of lynching which has been adopted and which is used henceforth in this study. The classification of crimes by the KAACP (Table VI) was made for the same pxirpose for which it has been used in Chapter V - that of indicating the actual or alleged offense committed by the victim lynched. For our purposes henceforth this type of classi- faction is inadequate. In any sociological study or psychological explanation of lynchings to take the actual crime cominitted, althoiigh important, is often insufficient. For example, "attacks" upon women as "including all cases in which press accounts state that attacks upon women are made, but in which it was not clear whether rape was alleged to have been consumated or attempted" - this is a superfluous differentiation when the point of interest is that of studying the cultural background and, in short, the psychology of the mob, A headline stating that a 3. The records show a total of 226, but due to inadequate information five have been omitted from the list in this analysis. ose^lriw 2:lujl. 145 woman has been "attacked" - no matter if a Negro snatched her purse, and even though this fact be stated in the account - means rape to those who compose lynching mobs. The same emotional reactions and irrational behavior- patterns are "set off" as if rape had actually been committed. Moreover, for the purpose of this study a classification of certain crimes as "absence of crime", or "no crime" is meaningless, Hxunan organisms, do not react without stimulation; mobs always have a "cause". There is, therefore, always a "crime" in so far as the mob-members are concerned. Thus it is clear that a more adequate classi- faction of crimes must be employed. This means that the work done by the publishers of "Thirty Years' Lynching in the U. S," in classifying alleged causes of lynchings up to 1919 must be done anev/. This is not so unfortunate after all for in this publication there are no analytical tables for different sections of the country, or states according to crime. In view of the advantages afforded for pvirposes of comparison it is fortunate that Cutler in his book on Lynch- Lav/ (1903) adopted a classification of the causes of lynchings that is adequate for the present study - as adequate apparently as could be made. In his analysis of the Tribune record up to 1903 he grouped the numerous causes listed into the following classes: Murder, Rape, Assault, Minor Offenses, Desperad- ism. Arson, and Unknown, For psychological purposes this 146 classification contains some over-lappings but none so important, or so apt to be misleading, as the classi- fication separately of "rape" and "attacks upon women" as discussed above. This is, then, a classification more nearly free from faulty over-lapping of crimes and causes, yet one of such detail as to indicate along with the cause as nearly the exact crime committed as is possible to give in usable table forms. In addition it is a classification which makes possible a comparison of the results obtained with those of the only study of this type ever made, and extending back as far as any adequate statistical data is to be had. The class of Murder embraces the follov/ing: murder, suspected murder, alleged murder, conspiracy to murder, and complicity in murder,^ The class Rape Includes also: attempted rape, alleged rape, attacks upon women, alleged attack upon 7/omen, and conspiracy to rape,^ The class Theft as used includes: theft, larceny, burglary, suspected robbery, alleged robbery, safe breaking, cattle stealing, horse stealing, hog stealing, conspiracy to steal, or to rob. The class Arson includes: barn burning, house burning, arson, incendiarism. Desperadism - seldomly 4» Henceforth when one of the eight classes of crimes is meant the word for the class will be capitalized. This will avoid confusion of crimes and classes of crimes, 5, Due to more various "causes" being listed in the reports since 1900, this class is considerably enlarged from that used by Cutler, Hov/ever, it includes the same "cause" for lynching. 147 reported since 1900 - includes the action of a desperado, outlaw, highway robber, train wrecker, and train robber. The class Assault embraces assault and murderous assault. Fewer and fewer whites are lynched for Assault, As public opinion grows more unfavorable tov/ard mob violence, a higher proportion of Negroes lynched for fighting white men are accused of murderous assault. The class Minor Offenses includes an almost un- limited number, some of which are stated even at the cost of adding to this long but necessary digression: race pre- judice, miscegenation, S and various offenses, such as (for whites) wife-beating, cruelty, kidnapping, turning states evidence, refusing to tvirn state's evidence, sv/indling, political prejudice, giving information, informing, pro- tecting a Negro, giving evidence, mob indignation, dis- resputable character, tlireats, aiding escape of murderer, suspected of killing cattle, prospective elopement; (for Negroes) self-defense, v/ife beating, cutting levees, kidnapping, voodooism, poisoning horses, vifriting insulting letters, incendiary language, jilting a girl, trirning state's evidence, political trouble, gambling, quarreling, poisoning wells, unpopularity, making tlireats, circulat- ing scandal, being troublesome, bad reputation, drunkenness, strike rioting, rioting, insults, supposed offense, insult- 6, Miscegenation is close alcin, psychologically^ ^"rape or attack upon a v/hite woman. The same complex" in the white man is aroused if a v/hite woman goes to live with a Negro as if the Negro "attacked" her. 148 ing women, fraud, criminal abortion, alleged stock poison- ing, enticing servant away, asking white woman in marriage, writing letter to white woman, conspiracy, elopement with white girl, refusing to give evidence, giving evidence, disobeying ferry regulations, running quarantine, violation of contract, paying attention to white girl, resisting assault, inflammatory language, resisting arrest, testi- fying for one of his own race, keeping gambling house, quarrel over profit-sharing, forcing^white boy to commit a crime, and lawlessness. The class Unknown Offense, includes unknown offense, no offense, without cause, mistaken identity, by accident, and no cause given. Frequently the report of a lynching states that a double crime has been committed. In these cases the follovifing rules have been observed: rape and murder are classed under Rape, robbery and murder under Murder, arson and murder under Murder, assault and robbery xinder Assault, and robbery and arson under Arson, Table X shov/s that about 56 per cent of the total 221 whites lynched since 1900 were charged with murder. Next in order come the list for Unknown crimes with 30, and the Minor Offenses, with twenty- three. Thirteen whites have been lynched for Theft since 1900, but no white man has suffered death for this crime since 1915, In 1901 a total of nine whites were lynched for this offense. The Table shows that in general with the passing of years there 149 TABLE X WHITES LYNCHED BY YEAR AND BY CRIME, 1900 to 1928 YEAR Total Murder Rape Assault Minor Desp, ■>"-'-'-'hef t Unknown 1900 12 9 2 1 0 0 0 0 1901 28 6 5 0 2 0 9 6 1902 8 5 0 0 2 0 1 0 1903 15 11 0 0 2 0 0 2 1904 7 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 1905 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 0 1906 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1907 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1908 11 5 0 1 4 0 0 1 1909 14 9 3 0 0 0 2 0 1910 9 6 1 0 0 0 0 2 1911 8 3 0 0 1 0 0 4 1912 3 3 0 0 0 0 0, 0 1913 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1914 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1915 41 28 1 0 1 6 0 5 1916 6 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 1917 3 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1918 4 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 1919 6 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 1920 8 5 0 0 2 0 0 1 Sub- totals 198 114 20 5 18 7 13 21 ■K-Desperado. (■> I.I l: L) 0 <i 0 o 150 TABLE X (Cont'd) YEAR Total Murder Rape Assault Minor Desp. Theft Unknown 1921 6 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 1922 7 2 0 0 1 0 0 4 1923 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1924 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1925 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1926 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 1927 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Subtotal 1921-23 23 9 1 1 3 0 0 9 Subtotal 198 114 20 5 18 7 13 21 1900-20 TOTALS 221 123 21 6 21 7 13 30 ( . 151 is a higher proportion of whites lynched for the more serious offenses. Prom 1882 to 1903, for example, of the 1169 whites lynched 38 per cent were for Mxxrder, Rape ranlced second with 34.3 per cent. On the other hand it is notable that a higher proportion have been lynched since 1900 for Unknown offenses than during the earlier period, almost 15 per cent as compared to 4,3 per cent. This probably indicates that of late years it is more necessary to assign some major offense for the lynching of a v/hite man, but that at the same time white men are lynched for lesser offenses, and in these cases the crime is not stated. That v/hite men are sometimes lynched for very minor offenses is indicated below. Table XI shows the whites lynched by crime and by month for the past twenty-eight years. It is notable that a majority of the whites are lynched in the late stumner and fall months. The peak month is October with 30, a majority of whom v/ere charged with Murder, Then comes July with 26, Aiigust and September with 23 each, and April with 22, A curve showing the whites lynched by month corresponds very closely to Graph III (ante), in- dicating that possibly the whites are lynched for causes corresponding closely to those for which Negroes are lynched. This is more significant when we note where and for what offense the whites are lynched. Contrary to v/hat seems to be the general opinion on the subject, it is not in the North and '.Vest that practically all, or even a majority of the V/hites are a 152 TABLE XI WHITES LYNCHED, BY CRI?.1E AND BY MONTH, 1900 to 1928 Month Miirder Rape Assault Minor Theft Desp"' Unknovm Total January 8 1 February 4 4 March 5 1 April 14 2 May 8 1 June 8 2 July 11 3 August 12 3 September 14 0 October 18 3 November 8 0 December 9 0 Unknown 1 0 0 2 1 1 4 17 0 0 1 0 3 12 1 0 0 0 3 10 0 1 0 0 5 22 1 2 5 0 1 18 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 4 0 8 26 0 4 0 0 4 23 0 3 0 6 (mj -^:- 0 23 1 7 1 0 0 30 1 2 1 0 0 12 2 3 0 0 3 17 0 0 0 0 0 1 TOTALS 120 20 6 24 13 7 31 221 * Desperado Includes "train robber , "train wrecker'*, an3" "highway robber", "banditry". iHc These were Mexfcans, Cameron County, Texas, rr? ^^ f 153 lynched. On the other hand It is in the same states where a majority of the Negroes are lynched, thus indicating that lynching is not only a racial but also a sectional matter. Table XII shows the whites lynched by state and by county since 1900, It shows that of the total 221, 153 or 70 per cent v/ere lynched in the South, while 44, or 20 per cent were lynched in the West, and 22, or 10 per cent in the North, With the exception of Texas, - where over 50 per cent of the "whites" lynched have been Mexicans - and of Kentucky, there is a close correlation between the rank of the different states in the n\amber of Negroes and in the number of whites lynched. Thus whatever the tmderlying cause may be, it is the same states in which Negroes are habitually lynched that the vast majority of white men are lynched. By comparing Table XII v;ith the Maps in Chapters VII and VIII it is to be seen that there is not only a concentration of the lynching of whites in the South, and in particular states of the South, but that there is in general also a close correspondence by counties in the total number lynched and in the number of whites lynched. In- dications are that in many instances it is the same people that lynch both Negroes and whites. This is possibly further indicated when we note the nature of the crimes for which white men are lynched. This is best shown by a detailed list of the crimes rather than by a classification such as has been noted above. i;.^. ■ '■xerV : . 0 n . t ft • evoc 154 TABLE XII WHITES LYlNlCHED BY STATE AITO BY COUNTY, 1900 to 1928 STATE and Nximber STATE and Number County lynched County lynched ALABAMA 6 FLORIDA 12 Baldv/in 1 Alachua 1 Geneva 1 Bradford 1 Jefferson 1 Columbia 1 V/alfrer 1 Hillsboro 2 Unlcnovm Co. 2 Holmes Lafayette 1 1 ARIZONA 4 Madison Monroe 1 1 Penial 1 Taylor 1 Unlcnown Co, 1 Orange Washington 1 1 ARKANSAS 10 GEORGIA 12 Boone 1 Garland 2 Baldwin 1 Jackson 1 Bibb 2 Mississippi 1 Coffee 1 Monroe 1 Fannin 3 Nevada 1 Floyd 1 Pocahuntas 1 Harris 1 Polk 1 Talbot 1 Searcy 1 Toombs Whitfield 1 1 CALIFORNIA 13 IBAEO 2 Los Angeles 2 Modac 5 Idaho Co, 2 Siskiyou 1 Sonoma 3 ILLINOIS 2 Unlcnown Co, 2 Madison 1 COLORADO Perry 1 Fremont 1 IOWA 1 Las Animas 1 Floyd Co, 1 Pueblo 2m Unknown Co, 1 TABLE XII (Cont'd) 155 STATE and Number STATE and Nvunb er County lynched County lynched KANSAS 4 MISSOURI 5 Bourbon 2 Barton 1 Johnson 1 Lafayette 1 Stafford 1 Monroe Platte 1 1 KENTUCKY 18 Unknown Co, 1 lallard 1 MONTANA 9 Estil 1 Pulton 2 Piirgus 1 Graves 1 Lewis and CI, 2 Hardin 1 Ravalli 1 Laren 1 Rosebud 1 Mason 1 Silver Bow 1 Simpson 4 Teton 1 V/ayne 1 Yellowstone 1 Wolfe 4 Unknovm Co, 1 Unknown Co, 1 ITEBRASKA 1 LOUISIANA 10 Cherry 1 Claiborne 2 Pranlclin 1 NEW JERSEY 1 Livingston 1 Morehouse 1 Bergen 1 Ouachita 1 Richland 1 NEW YORK 1 Vernon 1 West Felincia 1 WasMngton 1 Unknov/n Co« 1 NFA' MEXICO 2 MAINE 1 Bernalillo 1 Aroostook 1 Santa Fe 1 MICHIGAN 1 NEVADA 2 Unknovm Co, 1 Nye Churchill 1 1 IvHSSISSIPPI 14 NORTH CAROLINA 4 Bolivar 1 Anson 1 Coalaoma 1 Graham 3 Forrest 1 Jackson 1 NORTH DAKOTA 2 Lauderdale 1 Kidder 1 Lo^^•ndes 1 Williams 1 .4, ± TABLE XII (ContM) 156 STATE and County Nximber lynched STATE and County Number lyncb.ed_ Pearl River Smith Washington Unknown Co, OKLAHOMA Hughes Okfuskee Pontotoc Tulsa Unknovm OREGON Baker SOUTH CAROLINA Kershaw SOUTH DAKOTA Todd TENNESSEE Benton Dekalb Lake Roane Scott Washington Unknov/n Co, TEXAS Bell Caldwell Cameron Edwards Hopkins Jefferson Karnes Lavaca McLennan Tarrant Taylor Terrell Thorndale Unknovm Co 1 1 5 1 2 1 4 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 25m-«- 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 10 8 42 OHIO Licking VIRGINIA Norfolk Pittsylvania ?i/arwick Washington WASHINGTON Lewis Unknown Co, 7/EST VIRGINIA Fayette Randolph WISCONSIN Dane WYOIGNG Big Horn Natrona Y/eston UICCNOWN STATE 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 TOTAL SOUTH'""''"' 221 153, or 70 per cent of total, WEST 44 or 20 per cent of total. NORTH 22 or 10 per cent of -total, -"- All Mexicahs, 4K<- Here v/e have used the Census Divisions, thus excluding Missouri, v/hich would if included make the percentage of all lynched in the South 72 per cent. 157 Table XIII shows that In the North and Y/est where lynchings are less frequent It is In general true that men are lynched only for the worst crimes. There are notable exceptions, such as "disloyal remarks", "prospective elopement", "I. W. W. Leader", and "horse thief", but these are relatively fev/. In the South, on the other hand, while it is true that a larger proportion are lynched for murder than for any other cause, yet it is notable that white men have been lynched for the most trivial offenses. As late as 1920 a white man was hanged by a mob in Hartford, Alabama, "because of remarks he is alleged to have m.ade to a white woman," The detailed list of "crimes" committed by the 153 white men lynched in the South since 1900 reads not unlike that of the Negroes lynched in that section during the period. There are a few more whites than Negroes lynched for Murder and not so many for alleged rape. With this exception there is little difference in the two lists. White men have been lynched for refusing information, strike-breaking, making threats, robbery, suspected cattle stealing, trying to keep mob from lynching a Negro, disloyal remarks, assault- ing a policeman, and wife-beating; and one, for failiire to heed a warning to leave the ranch of v/hich he was foreman. The number lynched in the South for an "unlcnown crime" is notably high. The crime for which almost one- fifth of all whites lynched in the South since 1900 is not fenown. 158 TABLE XIII WHITES LYNCHED, BY STATE AND BY CRIME, Prom 1900 to 1928 THE SOUTH Total Crimes Alabama 6 Arkansas 10 Florida 12 Georgia 12 Kentucky 18 Louisiana 10 Mississippi 14 North Carolina 4 Oklahoma 10 South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia 8 42 4 2 M\ird.er, 3; "alleged remarks to white woman"; 1; crime unknown, 2. Murder, 7; strike-breaker. 1; highvmy- man, 1; "disloyal remarks , 1, Murder, 5; unknown, 1; "murderous as- sault", 1; refusing information, 1; attempted rape, 1; attempted murder, 2; woiinding a deputy sheriff, 1, Murder, 4; rape, 4; alleged rape and murder, 1; alleged murder, 2; unknovm, 1. Murder, 4; unknown, 6; murderous as- sault, 1; killed by night riders, 2; making threats, 4; forcing v/hite boy to commit a crlm.e, 1;, Murder, 3; unknown, 4; rape, 1; shelt- ering murderer, 1; robbery, 1; M\irder, 6; unknovm crime, 3; attempted rape, 1; robbery, 1; suspected cattle thieves, 3, Murder, 1; "Three night riders" in Graham County, in 1915, Murder, 3; unlmown, 2; suspected of killing cattle, 1; complicity in mur- der, 3; "trying Ipo keep mob from lynching a Negro , 1, (Marlow, Okla. Negroes are not allov/ed, ViThite man hired Negro to v/ork as porter in his hotel, than tried to keep mob from lynching Negro), Murder, 1, John Morrison, Kershaw County, Murder, 5; unknovm crime, 1; rape, 2, Mtirder, 10; "fighting v/ith an American',' one, (Mexican); "failure to heed v;arn- in^ to leave the country", 1; rape and mtirder, 2; unknovm crime, 3; rape, 1; attempted rape, 1; pillage and murder, 6; (Mexicans), Y/if e-beating, 1; band- itry, 6; (Mexicans), Train-v/re eking and murder, 10, Mtirder, 2; allaulting a policeman, 1; rape, 1, Murder, 2. (One was murderer of his wife) 159 TABLE XIII (Cont'd) "WTWsT Niamber 5T" Crime Arizona California Colorado Idaho Montana Nev/ Mexico Nevada Oregon Washington Wyoming 4 13 5 2 9 2 2 1 2 4 Murder, 3; horse thief, 1, Murder, 5; unknovm, 1; theft, 5; rape, 1; mistaken identity, 1 - in December, 1927, a boy was placed in jail in Los Angeles, He "favored" Hickman who was then being brought to L« A. for the fiendish murder of little Marion Parker, Those in jail beat this boy, Ralph McCoy, to death, Mtirder, 5, Murder, 1; wife-beating, 1, Murder, 3; unknovm crime, 2; rape, 1; attempted rape, 1; "I. V/. YU leader", 1; resisting arrest for suspected in- sanity, 1^; he was bvirned. Murder, 2, Robbery, 1; race prejudice, 1 (Chinese), Rape, 1, larder, 2, Murder, 4. THE NORTH 22 Crime Illinois Ohio Iowa Nev/ Jersey Kansas Maine South Dakota Michigan Nev/ York Missouri Nebraska North Dakota Wisconsin 2 Murder, 1; disloyal remarks, 1, 1 Mvirder, 1, 1 Murder , 1 , 1 Murder , 1 . 4 Miirder, 3; for being a member of the non-partisan League, 1, 1 Rape, 1, 1 Horse-stealing, 1, 1 Prospective elopement, 1, 1 Murderous assault, 1, 5 Murder, 1; unknown crime, 1, 1 Murder, 1, 2 Murder, 1, 1 larder , 1 , AJL ■9 - ■ ■* 160 Thus not only is it true that more than 85 per cent of all Negroes lynched are lynched in the South, and that since 1900 more than 90 per cent of all women lynched have been in the South, but also it is in this section that 70 per cent of the 221 whites, including two women, have been lynched since 1900, In general it is the same states that lynch high proportions of both Negroes and v/hites, and in many instances the same counties. Unlike the conditions in the West described in Chapter III there are now apparent- ly no peculiar crimes or circumstances under which white men are lynched. The lynching of white men as well as of Negroes, therefore, seems to be a part of the culture - pattern of certain localities in the South, The lynching of a white man, for example, for some heinous crime, or for some trivial offense, seems to be a conditioned reaction, possibly more generally verbal, which under proper stimulus occurs without hesitation or shame. Just why this should be is not so apparent as many have tho\ight. 161 CHAPTER VII LYNCHINGS BY STATES AIJD BY COUNTIES IN THE SOUTH It has been pointed out that there is apparent- ly no correlation, either in the southern states or in the Nation as a whole, between the total Negro population or the proportion of Negro population and the number of persons lynched. This, however, would not necessarily mean that there is no such relationship in the localities where lynching s occur. The problem thus raised requires a closer analysis of lynchings in the various states. It may be that certain population or other characteristics peculiar to particular localities have some demonstrable causal relationship with lynchings. Are there, for example, particular crimes characteristic of the worst lynching states which may account for the number of lynchings? Is it true that in these states, or in particular counties of these states, a majority of the persons lynched are Negroes 162 who have coimnltted the crime of rape?^ Is there an even dispersion of lynchings in the states in which they are concentrated, as shown by Chart III and Map I (ante)? Is there, therefore, after all a close correlation betv/een the nmnerical or proportional number of Negroes in the counties where lynchings occur? Or, is lynching apparent- ly only one aspect of the general inter-racial situation which in turn is the result of numerous factors, past and present, in the economic, educational, social, and possibly the religious life of the particular section, state or locality concerned? Some light may be throvm on such questions as these. The Minor Lynching States Turning attention first to the states in v/hlcli\ there have been relatively fev/ lynchings, we find that in general a majority of these lynchings have occ\irred as a result of alleged atrocious crimes, and have been fairly well scattered over the various counties of these states. The higher the rank of the state as regards the number of persons lynched, the less true, in general, is this statement, Delev/are has had but one lynching since 1900, A Negro, George '(Vhite, was lynched near Wilmington in In After quoting some general statistics on this question to an ex-Mississipplan, in New York, the v/riter was assured that if he would "look" he would find that I.Iisslsslppi is different in this respect, that practically every Negro lynched in this state has committed rape, Cf, Chapter VIII. 163 Jxme, 1903, charged with the double crime of rape and murder. Table XIV shows the lynching s in Maryland by crime and by month since 1900, Of the seven persons lynched in that State three were for murder, two for rape, one for assault, and one for arson. Two of these lynchings occurred in March and two in December; one in Jvine, one in July, and one in October, The murders occurred in July, October and December; the cases of alleged rape in March and December; the case of assault in June and that of arson in March, Map II shoY/s the dispersion of the lynchings in Maryland, Only one county, Anne Arundel, in the central part of the State, has had two. One of these was for Rape, in 1906, and the other for Murder on Christmas Day, 1911, In Alleghany County, in the western part of the State, a Negro was lynched for Murder in October, 1907, The lone lynching in Hartford County occurred in March, 1900, The victim was charged with Rape, In the extreme South-eastern part of the State there have been two lynchings, one in Somerset Coxinty, 1907, for Murder, and one in Worcester Covin ty in 1906 for "murderous assault". In Baltimore County, at Rosedale, a Negro was lynched in 1909 for an unnamed offense. There is no record of a lynching in Maryland during the last 17 years. 164 TABLE XIV MARYLAND: CRIMES BY MONTH, \VHITE AITO NEGRO, 1900-1928 Crime Month Murder Rape Assault Mi .nor ■] [■heft Arson Unknown Total January 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 February 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 March 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 April 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 May 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 June 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 July 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 August 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 September 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 October 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 November 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 December 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 Totals 3 2 1 0 0 0 1 7 166 V/est Virginia Table XV shows that since 1900 there have been 17 persons lynched In V/est Virginia, 15 of v/hom were Negroes. Taking these by crimes, nine were for Murder, four for Rape, and two for Minor Offenses, Taking the crimes and lynchings by month we find that five of the nine mxirders occurred in July, two in December, and one each in February and October. Two of the alleged rapes occurred in November, and one each in May and September. Of the total 17 lyncliings, seven occurred in July. Both of the white men lynched met that fate for Murder, one in March and one in July, Map III shows that in West Virginia only one county has had more than two lynchings, Randolph County has had a total of seven persons lynched during the period, one white and six Negroes. Of the Negroes one was lynched at Elkins on July 22, 1901, for Murder; one was lynched on July 25, 1920, at Y/omelsdorf for "mis- taken identity" and foiir for Murder.^ There has not been a lynching in Randolph Govmty since 1909 v;hen Joseph Brovm, white, was lynched at '/.Tiltmore, on March 19, charg- ed with mvirder. 2, Personal letters of inquiry bring no further information than that these Negroes v/ere lynched for murder, and that nov/ Womelsdorf is an incorporated village under that name but that the Post Office is Goalton, '//est Virginia, 167 TABLE XV VffiST VIRGINIA: CRIMES BY MONTH, '/VHITE AND NEGRO, 1900-1928 Month Murder Rape Assault Minor Theft Arson Unknown Total January 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 February 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 March Iw 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 April 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 May 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 Jxme 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 July 6(lw) 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 August 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 September 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 October 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 November 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 December 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Totals 11 4 0 2 0 0 0 17 c ( ) () (•• MAP III 168 PUTNAM 1 ■z.\ H^ O^J 9!i ^V >^° Aii^ ^. J^A> 1. 'c: .o^J JACKSON -%J / CALHOUNi OX ■z-\ %> ^psnukX A on o MARSHALL >v 0 169 Only two other counties of '.Vest Virginia have had as many as tv/o lynchings since 1900, Payette and Logan, In 1902, February 2, a Negro was lynched for "alleged con- juring". On July 25, eighteen years later at Payetteville, Payette County, occurred the next and last lynching. William Bennett, a white man, was taken from jail by a mob and lynched. He had been sentenced to life imprison- ment for murdering his wife. The two lynchings in Logan County occiirred in 1919, at Chapmanville, According to a report in The Nev/ York Times two Negroes, Ed Whitfield and Earl Whitney, were shot to death by a mob on December 15. They were accused of murdering E, D, Meek, a resident of Island Creek, Logan County, They had been arrested and placed in jail at Logan. Crov/ds surrounded the jail but were kept from entering by the Sheriff and his deputies, but it was decided advisable to take the prisoners to Huntington on a special train. Before the train could pull out of Logan the deputies in charge of the prisoners were "overpov/ered". The Negroes were taken from the caboose of the train lined up beside freight cars, and shot to death. Both bodies were thrown into the Guyandotte River, This case indicates that under proper stimulus a lynching is likely to occur irrespective of the past history of the locality. This point is further illustrated in Chapter IX in the case of the lynching of Walter Johnson, at Bluefield, Mercer Coxuity, Guilt seems not to be more necessary in these isolated cases than in the v/orst •^i. o*a 170 lynclilng counties, although, doubtless, in general it is. More noticeable, however, is the fact that in these isolated cases the accusation is more generally of a more atrocious crime. In Johnson's case, for example, guilt was not the question; the mob lynched hira for Rape, This case, and others, indicates that so long as the attitude on the part of the "average working man" is what it is, a lynching is likely to occur at any point where there are Negroes and whites in close contact, Virginia Table XVI shows the lynchings by race, by month, and by crime for Virginia since 1900, There has been a total of 31, four of which were y/hites, all males. It is notable that in Virginia more of those lynched have been charged with Rape than of any other crime. One v/hite man and twelve Negroes have been lynched for that crime, v/hile two whites and eight Negroes have been lynched for Murder, Taking the crimes by month, v/e note that there is a fairly even scatter tliroughout the year. Seven lynchings have occurred in Aiigust, five in March, and three each in April and December, Five of the seven lynched in August were charged with Rape, Three of the murders occurred in March and the remainder were con- concentrated in the fall and v/inter months, with one exception in April, Map IV shows that the relatively fev/ lynchings in Virginia have been widely scattered over the State, 171 TABLE XVI VIRGINIA: CRIMES BY MONTH, 7ifHITE AND NEGRO, 1900-1928 Month Miirder Rape Assault Minor Theft Arson Unknown Total 0 2 0 1 0 5 0 3 0 1 1 2 0 2 1 7 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 3 Totals 10 (2w) 13(lw) Iw 2 1 2 2 31 January- 1 Iw Pet) ruary 0 0 March 3(lw) 1 April 1 1 May 0 1 June 0 1 July 1 1 August 0 5 September 1 0 October 1 0 November 1 1 December Iw 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Iw 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 !_; i;(wl):. 173 Only one county, Halifax, has had more than two lynch- Ings, while eight counties have had two, and eleven counties have had one. The county for one lynching, for Rape, is unknown. In 1901 a Negro was lynched in Halifax County for Arson, and four years later one was lynched on account of "race prejudice". The third and last lynching in that county occurred on August 27, 1920, when Leslie Allen v/as shot and killed in the home of a Negro near Virgilinla hy a posse of "Halifax Coimty citizens" after he had heen accused of insulting two small white girls at Buffalo Springs, During the past decade there have been six lynchlngs in Virginia, The last one occurred in V/ytheville, in Wythe Coiinty, on August 12, 1926, A mob of masked men stormed the County Jail and shot Raymond Bird, Negro, to death, after v/hich the body was taken to the neighborhood where he was alleged to have attacked a white girl, and hanged to a tree. Practically 75 per cent of all persons lynched in Virginia since 1900 were charged with either Rape or Murder, North Carolina North Carolina ranks next in the number of lynch- ings since 1900 with a total of 39, four whites and 35 Negroes, Table XVII shows that a majority of those lynched in this state have been charged with the crime of Murder, About 70 per cent of the total number lynched have been 174 TABLE XVII LYNCHINGS IN NORTH CAROLINA, BY RACE, BY CRIME, BY MONTH, FROM 1900 to 1928 Month Murder Rape Assault Minor Theft Arson Unlcnown Total January 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 5 February 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 March 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 4 April 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 May Iw 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 June 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 July 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 Aixgust 5 4 2 0 0 0 4(3w) 15 September 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 October 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 November 1 1 0, 0 0 0 0 2 December 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Totals 15 (Iv/) 12 2 3 1 0 6(3w) 39(4w) 175 charged v/ith Rape or Murder, there being 12 and 15 respectively for these crimes. The crime of six of the victims is vmlcnown. Included in this number are t}iree wliite men lynched in Graham County in 1915. They are supposed to have been "night riders" and it is not known by whom they v/ere lynched, or why. Considering the lynchings by month it is notable that 15 have occurred in August, five in January, and four in March. It is in the month of August that most of the crimes for both Murder and Rape are alleged as the cause of lynchings. Map V shows the dispersion of lynchings in North Carolina over the different counties. There are only two counties in which more than two lynchings have occurred since 1900, Graham and Rowan. As noted above there have been three in Graham County. The four lynched in Rowan County were charged with murder. One of them, named Gillispie, was lynched in 1902, and four years later at the same place, Salisbury, two other Gillispie' s of the same family, and another Negro were lynched for murder. Personal inquiry from citizens of Rowan Coiinty indicates that the Gillispie's were a "bad family of Negroes who could not get along with anybody" and who "were always in trouble with somebody". It is said by these informants that the Gillispie Negroes, seemingly at the instigation of their mother, murdered a whole family of v/hite people, the Lylery's, for whom they worked, A little boy in the family told all he knev/ when ~\ 177 the mob came after them. For this he was excused to wit- ness the lynching of the others, unharmed. The mother was not lynched but was instead turned over to the "law" and is now said to be "serving a life sentence in the workhouse". Of the two lynched in Mecklenbuig County, one was charged with rape, in 1910; and one with murder, in 1913, The two in -^nson County, one white and one Negro, were charged with murder. An tmnamed Negro is reported to have been lynched in Johnson County, in 1908, by Negroes "for giving poor entertainment". This is the only case on record of this kind, that is, where Negroes lynched a Negro, There have been 18 lynchings in the State during the past decade, but only one during the past five years, Missouri In Missouri there has been a total of 42 persons lynched since 1900, It is notable that the lynching curve follov/s closely along the Missouri River in the upper part of the state and that in the lower part about 50 per cent of the lynchings have occurred along the border of the Mississippi River, with the largest ntunber in Pemiscot Covmty, This is shovm by Map VI, 3. This ntunber includes Thomas Bradshav/ v/ho after Ve'ing sho't five tines by a posse in Nash County, in 1927, fell dead "on account of heart failure from fatigue" according to the coroner *s jury. « f I i 179 In the Sou th-we stern part of the state tv/o counties have had three lynchings each, and one county has had tv/o since 1900, These counties had had few lynchings before 1900 so far as availatle records shov/, and the number and dates of those occurring since that time do not indicate a "lynching habit" on the part of the people. In Lawrence County, for example, there has not been a lynching since 1901, when, on August 19, tliree Negroes were lynched near Pierce City, "suspected of miirder". In the adjoining county of Greene three Negroes were lynched in April, 1906, Two of these occvirred in rapid succession; the first was on April 4, for "alleged rape"; the second, on April 14, for Rape; and the third on April 15, at Springfield for Murder, The two lynchings listed for Howell County occurred at V/est Plains in 1914, A Negro and his v/ife v/ere lynched for an "unknov/n cause". The lynchings along the rivers are more evenly scattered over the v/hole period, Missouri has had only two lynchless years since 1900, one of v/hich v/as 1922; and the other, 1926, In 1927 "there v/as one lynching in the state, in Pemiscot County which has had more lynchings than any other county In Missouri during the period of 28 years. Two of the total six lynchings for this county occurred in 1903, at Caruthersville, and the cause listed by the reports at the time v/as "prejudice". No crime is listed against either of the victims. In 1911 the only two lynchings in the state occurred at Caruthers- 180 ville on the same day, Octoljer 11, the charges being rape and robbery. In 1916 at Hayti, Pemiscot County, a Negro was lynched for "attempted murder", Hayti is a fev/ miles north of Caruthersville, and is just across the River from Lake County, Tennessee, which until 1910 was notably a lynching county. The last lynching in Missouri occurred at Braggadocio, Pemiscot County, a small tov/n a fev/ miles west of Caruthersville, On May 22, 1927 a Negro was lynched after an alleged criminal assault on a white woman. He v/as taken from the jail, hanged by the hands to a temporary scaffold v/hich had been constructed for the purpose, and his body pierced with bullets,^ The two lynchings listed for the adjoining county of New Madrid occurred in 1902 and 1910, One of victims was charged with "assaulting a white man" and the other with "murderous assault". In the case of Mississippi County, second in rank according to the number of lyncliings, it is again to be noted that lynching is more habitual than in the counties av/ay from the river. The only recorded lynching in the state in 1905 was that of Robert Pettigrew at Belmont, Mississippi Co^mty, charged with "kidnapping", 4. Dispatch to the "New York Evening Post", May 23, 1927, 5, It is doubtless true that in both cases a Negro merely engaged in a fight with a v;hite man, vvTiereas "assaulting a v/hite man" could with propriety be listed as the cause of a lyncliing in Missouri in 1902, this v/as hardly true in 1910, With two exceptions there has not been a lynching in Missoujci during the past 20 years without a serious offense being given as the cause, usually m.urder. 181 Five years later, in July, two Negroes were lynched at Charleston for Miirder, Again, in 1924, on December 18, a mob of over 200 men "overpowered" the sheriff in his office at Charleston, took possession of a 20-year-old Negro v/ho v/as "alleged to have attempted to attack a white girl". Members of the mob dragged him across the courtyard and hanged him within 50 feet of the Sheriff's office, "A bullet was fired through the body which was then cut dovra, tied to an automobile and dragged through the streets of the Negro section" of the town. Table }57III shov/s the lynchings in Missouri since 1900 by crlm.e, by race, and by month. Three of the five whites were lynched in May, one in July and one in August, Pour of them v/ere charged with murder, and the crime of one is unlcnov;n, A majority of the lynchings in the State have occurred in the spring and sTommer months, the greatest number, nine, having occurred in May, All but three of the 19 alleged murders which occasioned a lynching occxirred in these months, as well as seven of the 10 Rapes, The three lynched for theft breathed their last d\iring the fall months. Of the total 42 lynched during the period, 19 were charged with Murder; ten v/ith Rape^ fotir with Minor Offenses, such as "attacking a white man", "race prejudice", and "prejudice". The crimes of five, including a white man and a Negro woman, are not knovm, Missouri is not one of the v/orst lynching states; but the practice persists there until the present time, although the Negro population is only 5,2 per cent 182-3 TABLE XVIII MISSOURI: LYNCHINGS BY CRDffi, BY RACE, AND BY MONTH, Prom 1900 to 1928 Month Murder Rape Assault Ullnor Theft Arson Unknovm Total January 2 0 February 1 1 March 2 0 April 4 3 May 2w 2 June 0 0 July 3(lw) 1 August 5(1t0 I September 0 0 October 0 1 November 0 0 December 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Ivr 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 2 3 7 9 2 4 6 1 2 2 1 Totals 19(4w) 10 5(lw) 42 (5w) 184 of the total in the state as a whole, and only 14.5 per cent for the worst lynching county, Pemiscot, Oklahoma Table XIX shows the lynchings in Oklahoma by crime and by month since 1900, Of the total 48 persons lynched dxiring the period 10 were whites. In this respect Oklahoma might well be classed among the western states. During recent years, hov/ever, m.ob action in Oklahoma has been characterized by inter-racial conflict. More than 50 per cent of both whites and Negroes lynched in this state have been charged v/ith murder. Eleven Negroes have been charged with Rape, Only one was lynched for a Minor Offense and two for an Unknovm Offense, The highest number of lynchings in the state occvirred in the months of August with nine, April with six, and December v/ith five. The total number is fairly well scattered throughout all m.onths of the year except February and October, with one each. Especially with regard to the niimber lynched in October, Oklahoma is notably different from other southern states. Map VII shows that the lynchings in Oklahoma since 1900 have been fairly dispersed throughout the East- central part of the state from north to south. Only two counties have had as many as four lynchings each, and three counties as many as three each, during the period. The fovir lynchings in Oklahoma County were scattered over a period of years from 1906 to 1922. Three of the victims 185 TABLE XIX OKLAHOMA: LYNCHINGS BY CRIME AND BY MONTH, 1900 to 1928 Month Murder Rape Assault Minor Theft Arson Unknovm Total January 2 1 February Iw 0 March 1 1 April 5(4y;) 1 May 5 0 June 2 2 July 1 1 August 6(lw) 2 September 2 1 October 1 0 November 2 1 December 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 Iw 0 0 0 0 2(lw) 4(lw) 0 0 0 0 0 6(4w) 0 Iw 0 0 0 6(14) 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 Iw 9(2w) 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 Iw 5(lw) Totals 30{6w) 11 0 2(lw) 0 0 5(3w) 48(lQv/) I«- I 186 OkUhoaa 187 were charged with murder, and the crime of one Is not known, - that of a packing house employer who, in 1922, was kidnapped from his home and hanged to a tree near Oklahoma City, The four persons lynched in Pontotoc County were white men. All were lynched on the same day, April 19, 1909, at Ada, charged with "complicity in murder". Of the three persons lynched in Hughes County, two were Kegroes, and one, and Indian* One of the Negroes and the Indian were charged v;lth murder; and the other, with "attack upon a v/hite woman". The three lynched in Okfuskee County were charged with murder. One, a white man, was lynched in 1910, In 1911 a woman and her son met the same fate. The three lynchings in Wagoner County occurred in 1913, 1914, and 1915, The first and third mob victims were charged with rape and attempted rape, and the second with murder. The Tulsa Race Riot result- ed in a substantial addition in the niunber of mob murders to the single lynching recorded in Tulsa County. While the official record listed 10 v/hites and 21 Negroes, officers estimated that about 50 whites and 100 Negroes were burned or shot. South Carolina While the next three states in the order of the ntimber of mob victims during the past 28 years have had less than 100 lynchings, it is only by this arbitrary 188 method of division that they may he termed "Minor Lynching States", as contrasted to the seven states with more than 100 victims of moh action during the period* As is indicated in Chapter IX, some of the most notorious cases of mob action in recent years have occurred in these states. Table XX, therefore, is inserted for considera- tion in connection with South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee, as well as with the "Major" lynching states* This table shows some of the population characteristics. For each state it shows the total ntimber lynched during the period, the percentage white population in 1920, and percentage Negro population in 1920 and 1910, Also the percentage of the total number of all Negroes and v/hites ten years of age and above who were illiterate in 1920 is given. The same information is given for each covmty in v/hich six or more persons have been lynched since 1900, and in addition the total number of whites and Negroes residing in these counties. Table XXI shows that since 1900 a total of 69 persons have been lynched in South Carolina, Only one of these was white. The highest number of lynchings have occurred in June and July with ten each, while eight occurred in October and January, and seven in November and December, The cases of alleged rape are scattered throughout all the months except February and March, with the greatest niimber in August, January and September, A -'d.'i.av ♦ aox -i-OIjE ■HiC EOdX' ^ -\ B! ♦ .■10 vx 189 TABLE XX LYNCHINGS AND POPULATION CHARACl'ERISTICS IN THE SOUTH BY COUNTY (Compiled from the U. S, Census Reports of 1920) STATE and County WHITi Per ' Negro Number Popula- Cent Popula- Ismched tlon 7;hlte tion 1900-28: 1928 1920 1920 Per cent Necro Illlterac Per cent In 1920 1920; UP Negroes ARKANSAS Arkansas Phillips Hempstead ALABAMA Covington Jefferson Mobile Montgomery FLORIDA Alachua Columbia Duval Hillsboro Holmes Jackson Madison Marion Orange Polk GEORGIA Bibb Bleckley Brooks''''* Bulloch Coffee Columbia Decatur Lov/ndes '""*'■ Mitchell Oconee Dodge •K- Since 1910 *-K- Brooks and 1900. See 124 15 6 6 129 9 8 6 10 156 13 8 6 7 8 6 7 7 9 12 293 7 6 18 8 7 6 6 18 6 8 6 72,2! 15,944 74.2 5,190 11,181 25.1 32,929 17,363 54.9,14,176 60. 9| 30,067 171,727 57,677 31,572 16,896 7,201 60,583 56,472 11,807 56,472 11,807 17,867 8,008 10,698 15,609 25,536 37,534 5,900 10,264 16,070 12,701 3,460 15,237 12,846 11,487 6,348 15,482 27. Oi 28.1 24.2 26.5 73.9 78.6 44.9 49.8 38.4 42.5 78.9 7,987 21.0! 24.9 55.4 130,291 42.0 40.0 57.6 39,667 39.6 42.9 39.0 48,463 59.9 69.2 61.5 53.3 50.4 53.4 64.0 91.9 57.2 48.5 44.6 68.4 73.8 57.8' 52.6 56.0 41.8 61.5 68.1 29.5 47.9 48.6 44.9 57.4 59.8 34.0 41.0 14,573 6,999 47,989 16,588 1,034 13,320 8,492 12,887 5,464 9,359 33,025 4,615 14,247 10,034 5,902 8,251 16,490 13,535 14,067 4,719 46.0 49.0 42.3 18.8 8.0 42.7 51.4 53.8, 27.51 24.2 55.7 47.5 49.6 21.0 10.3 47.8 55.6 60.8 39.8 30.7 41.7' 45.1 this County was formed, out Lowndes counties have had 18 Case No. 3, Chapter IX. 43.8 43.8 58.1 38.4 31.6 70.2 51.9 51.0 55.0 42.6 40.0 48.5 59.1 40.0 35.2 74.6 57.6 53.0 52,7 46.5 42.0 21,8 19.0 19.2 20.3 31.3 29.9 20.8 23.8 29.5 21.5 26.8 12,6 11.4 12.3 33.3 36.0 41.1 15.7 14.0 21.1 29.1 25.6 43.2 35.6 19.7 23.0 37,7 28.7 22,0 39,6 36.5 28.0 er cent Vifhites 4,5 2.1 1.4 2.5 6.3 9,1 2.2 2.0 1.1 2.9 3.3 2.1 0.9 1.4 11.2 11.5 5.9 1.6 1.0 1.2 5.4 2.3 7.9 4.5 3.6 8.0 4.4 5.2 3.0 6.4 6.1 7.5 of a part of lynching s c Pulaski, ombined since TABLE XX (Cont'd) 190 ATiite Per Negro Number Popula- Cent Popula- Per cent Illiteracy in 1920 STATE and lynched tion Vi/hite tion Negro 1920 1925 '10 Per cent Per cent Covuity 1900-28 1928 1920 Negro //"hites KENTUCKY 77 90.3' , 3.3 3.2 1 8.8 0.6 Butler 10 42,125 96.1 262 0.6 0.6 11.1 0.5 Fulton 6 11,905 78.3 3,220 21.2 23.8 17.4 3.4 LOUISIANA 167 1 58.5 38,9 43.1 38.5 10.5 Bossier i 12 6,455 29.0 15,730 41.1 77.0 42.8 3.7 Caddo 23 43,837 52.6 37,801 45.4 62.1 21.0 0.8 Ouachita 17 15,863 52.3 18,897 45.8 54.8 32.7 3.3 Rapides 8 33,260 56.0 24,992 42.0 48.1 33.7 5.2 Richland 11 8,714 41.8 11,996 57.5 66.4 41.5 5.4 Tangipohoa 8 20,372 64.8 8,892 28.3 31.3 33.9 6.6 MISSISSIPPI 266 42.2 52,2 . 46.2 29.3 3,3 Bolivar 7 9,528 16.5 ■ 47,533 82.4 87.4 26.7 2.5 Carroll 7 8,956 44.1 11,353 55.9 58.2 25.8 1.6 Clarke 6 10,652 49.4 7,218 40,3 69.8 29.3 3.6 Coahoma 7 5,820 14.0 35,205 84.8 88.8 29.7 1.4 Desoto 8 5,878 24.1 18,438 75.7 76.0 35.5 4.1 Harrison 6 23,869 72.6 7,856 23.9 30.7 16.2 4.3 Jackson 6 13,884 72.3 4,850 25.2 35.4 20.7 4.0 Kemper 8 8,410 42.9 11,080 56.5 57.5 30.0 3.9 Lauderdale 6 26,853 58.5 18,749 40.9 46.6 27.1 2.4 Nev/ton 6 13,640 65.8 6,957 33.6 38.8 33.8 2.2 Noxobee 7 4,880 20.6 18,803 79.3 84.0 36.3 1.8 Quitman 7 4,780 24.1 15,051 75.8 76.5 29.4 3.1 Smith 6 13,576 83.9 2,594 16.0 17.5 26.1 6.0 Sxinflov/er 8 11,687 25.2 34,397 74.2 80.9 29.8 3,0 Tallahatchee 6 10,527 29.3 25,317 70.4 69.4 34.8 2.3 Tunica 11 2,129 10.4 18,207 89.3 90.7 50.0 4.4 Warren 6 11,526 34.5 21,313 63.9 69.9 24.2 1.1 Washington 10 8,783 17.2 41,640 81.5 85.0 33.2 2.0 Yazoo 7 10,408 28.0 26,627 71.3 76.1 26.7 2.1 MISSOURI* 42 89.3 5.2 4.8 12.1 2.0 Pemiscot 6 22,667 85.1 3,865 14.5 7.8 : ^^ ■ — rim 36.1 trr — ^,V-f 7.6 4A i-» 4- y^ the Census divisions of the Country. Only this one county in Missouri has had as many as six lynchings since 1900, and this county is located down in the South-east corner of the State on the Mississippi River, TABLE XX (Cont'd) 191 .Vhite Per Negro Niunber Popula- Cent Popula- Per Cent Illiteracy in 1920 STATE and lynched tion 7/hite tion Negro 1 -er Cent Per Cent County 1900-28 1928 ; 1920 1920 1920 TTO Negro ■.Vhites SOUTH 1 CAROLINA 69 48.2 1 51.4' 55.2 29.3 ^ 6.5 Aiken Co, 7 21,425 47.0 23,988 52.6 54.6 28.9 8.1 Orangeburg 8 22,060 34.0 42,718 65.8 65.8 25.7 3.7 TENNESSEE 85 80.0 19.3 21.7 22.4 7.3 Dyer Co. 6 24,502 81.7 5,432 18.1 20.5 21.8 6.4 Lake 9 6,011 66.2 3,051 33.6 37.5 31.3 10,5 Lauderdale 7 12,540 58.3 8,929 41.5 45.3 32.5 5.3 Marshall 7 14,277 82.2 3,089 17.8 20.2 23.1 3.4 TEXAS 213 76.3 ( 15.9 17,7 17.8 3.0 Brazoria 11 12,484 60.6 6,574 31.9 46.9 21.8 3.0 Cameron 25* 25,183 68.7 771 2.1 0.3 48.8 20.1 Harrison 12 16,428 37.7 28,856 61.7 63.6 24.4 0.9 McLennan 9 60,926 73.5 17,575 21.2 23.5 14.3 1.6 Montgomery 7 10,474 60.4 6,358 36.7 45.3 20,6 4.1 Sabine 9 9,520 77.4 2,616 21.3 19.6 26.6 5.2 Walker 7 8,418 45.4 9,741 52.5 55.3 23.6 3.8 Jefferson 7 29,687 68.0 19,586 26.8 28.0 22.2 3.2 fill but one lynched in this county since 1900 v/ere Mexicans, The other was a white man, foreman of a ranch. There are 3,459 native whites ten years of age and above in the county who are illiterate. There is a total of 9,578 foreign-born, practically all Mexicans, in the County, and 4,766 of these were illiterate in 1920. Harrison Coiinty had a total of 4,783 Negro illiterates in 1920, Walker County had 1,778 illiterates, and an excess of 1,221 males over females in the total population in 1920, 192 TABLE XXI SOUTH CAROLINA: LYNCHINGS BY GRIME BY MONTH, 1900-1928 Month M\irder Rape Assault Minor Theft Arson Unknovm Total January 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 7 February 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 March 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 5 April 0, 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 May 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 June 4 2 1 1 0 1 1 10 July 6 1 0 3 0 0 0 10 Axigust 0 4 0 1 0 0 1 6 September 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 4 October 5(lw) 1 0 1 1 0 0 8(lw) November 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 7 December 4 1 0 2 0 0 0 7 Totals 27(lw) 19 3 12 1 5 2 69(lw) 193 total of nine of the 69 victims were accused of a crime in connection with a white woman - that is with rape, attempted rape, or an attack upon a white v/oman. Five of the victims were charged with arson and one with theft. Combining these with the high ntimber of 12 who were lynched for a Minor Offense, over 25 per cent of the total were lynched for what may correctly he terraed a minor crime. Map VIII shows the dispersion of the 69 lynchings in South Carolina over the various counties. Two coiinties have had six or more lynchings since 1900, - Aiken v;ith seven, and Orangehtirg v/ith eight. One county, Barnwell, has had four lynchings, and six counties have had three lyncliings during the period. In Aiken County, on July 20, 1903, two Negroes v/ere lynched for "mistaken identity". There was not another lynching in this county for more than 18 years. On September 8, 1921, two Negroes v/ere shot to death by an Aiken County mob. Five years later, on October 8, 1926 a mob stormed the jail, took out Demon Lowman and his sister. Bertha, and Clarence Lowman, a cousin, and shot them to death. Judge Latham had just declared Demon Lowman not guilty on the charge of "conspiracy to murder". In 1920, as sho';m by Table XX, there were 23,988 Negroes and 21,425 whites in Aiken Coimty. The percentage Negro population decreased from 54,6 per cent in 1910 to 52,6 per cent in 1920, Of all whites ten years of age and above, 8,1 per cent, as compared to 6,5 per cent for the state as a v/hole, could not read and write. Of the Negroes, ;;j::;a3^- UvTv 195 28,9 per cent were illiterate in 1920 as compared to 29.3 per cent for the state as a whole. Table XXII shows tliat this state ranlcs lowest of all the southern states with regard to the amoiint in- vested in public school property per Negro school child. Of the $66,02 invested in public school property per school child for the two races combined, more than 9/lO of the amount goes to the white children and less than l/lO to the Negro children. Thus according to the literacy test the Negro children of Aiken County are apparently provided for a little better than the average in so far as educational opportunities are concerned. Possibly there is only one more county in the state in which a Negro is in greater danger of being lynched, and in no other county within recent years has a Negro and those arrested with him been lynched after a verdict of not guilty of the charges for which he was arrested. In Orangeburg Coxinty eight persons have been lynched since 1900, Here the percentage of Negro popula- tion is much higher than in Aiken, and the percentage of illiteracy is lower for both v/hites and Negroes, V/hile more than 25 per cent of the Negroes are unable to read and write, only 3.7 per cent of the v/hites are so handi- capped. In the county 64 per cent of all farms, or a total of 170,000 acres are tended by 866 native v/hite tenants and 2,553 Negro tenants. On July 1, 1903, three Negroes, suspected of murder, v/ere lynched at Norway, Lji.i' 196 TABLE XXII INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC SCHOOL PROPERTY PER CHILD OF SCHOOL AGE: FOR raiTES AND NEGROES STATE District of Columbia Missouri Deleware West Virginia Oklahoma Kentucky Maryland Texas Virginia Tennessee North Carolina Florida Arkansas Alabama Louisiana Georgia Mississippi South Carolina WHITES NEGROES tl47.00 ;i];l27.00 109,46 104.33 93.00 78.00 67,50 59,00 70,53 30.00 35.00 29.00 59.30 25.00 79.88 23.20 73.83 23.10 35.53 19.00 52.08 12.90 78.22 12.80 32.23 9.00 40.92 8.70 74.24 8.20 48.02 7.00 32.57 6.00 60.12 5.90 (Compiled by Tuskegee Institute). 00 »v ■y;^ 197 Orangeburg County* Six years later two Negroes v/ere lynch- ed at Branchville, charged with murder. In December, 1912, Henry Fitts was lynched in Norway for "refusal to pay a note". In 1914, July 13, Rose Carson v/as lynched for Mvirder, She was the second of the three v/oraen lynched in South Carolina since 1900, the first being a llrs, Wideman, of Greenwood County, who was lynched with her husband on December 27, 1902, charged with miirder. The last lynching in Orangeburg Coujity occurred in 1924, On April 12 of that year Luke Adams, accused of attacking a white woman, "was fotind lynched". He had met his death "at the hands of parties unknown" - to the coroner's jury, probably, Kentucky A relatively high proportion of the persons lynch- ed in Kentucky have been whites. Of the total 59 Negroes lynched in that state since 1900, more than 1/3 were charged with murder, while about 18 per cent of the total n;araber lynched, and about 23 per cent of the Negroes, were charged with rape, or attacks upon v/hlte women. The crime of 12 Negroes and eight white men lynched in Kentucky is not known, v/hile eight Negroes and five whites have been lynched for minor offenses, such as "expressing sympathy with a Negro v/ho had been lynched", "making threats", and "forcing white boy to commit a crime". Table XXIII shows that about one-half of all lynchings in Kentucky have occurred in October, November and April, Four of the whites lynched in October for a Minor Offense were the ■10 ,^ ■y-ror' 198 TABLE XXIII ICENTUCKY: LYNCHINGS BY CRIME AND BY MONTH, 1900 to 1928 Month Murder Rape Assault Minor Theft Arson Unknovm Total January 3 1 0 2 0 0 Iw 7 February 2(lw) 1 0 0 0 0 Iw 4 March 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 4 April 3 1 1 0 0 0 5w 10 May 2 0 Iw 0 0 0 0 3 Jujie 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 July 2(lw) 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 August 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 7 September 4(lw) 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 October 4 3 0 6(5w) 0 0 1 14 November 2(lw) 1 0 0 0 0 11 14 December 0 0 0 1 0 0 Iw 2 Total 25 (4w) 14 2(lv/) 13 3 0 20 (8w) 77(18w) ui Wt 0 (.1 0 0 c I II- 199 the Wallace family, in Hickory Grove, in 1908, for "mak- ing threats". Map IX shows that the lynching of Negroes in Kentucky has been largely restricted to the western half of the state. In Shelby Coiinty, in the North-central part of the state five persons have been, lynched since 1900, In the psychological sense of the term there have been however, only two lynchings in this county. On October 2, 1901, two Negroes were lynched at or near Shelbyville, for murder. There was not again such a mob episode until January 15, 1911, when three Negroes were lynched near Shelbyville; one was charged with murder, and two v/ith "insulting white women". For more than 17 years there has not been a lynching in Shelby County, Kentucky, Povir ujilcnown whites v/ere lynched at Campton, in Wolfe County, for an unknown cause on April 15, 1911, Since this time the county has been free from this type of mob action. The four persons lynched in Simpson County were the Wallaces referred to above, Ballard County has had five persons lynched since 1900, but no lynchings for the past 12 years. In 1901 three Negroes were lynched for Lfurder, and two years later another for the same cause. In 1915 a white man, named Molindro, v/aa lynched at Love- laceville for an unknown cause, Logan County has had one 6, Through an extensive correspondence, mostly but not al- togehter one-sided, the v/riter has been unable to obtain any further details of the fate of this man, wife, and tv/o children* 1 TVV MAP IX 200 X ^j / if EU'.^ii Ik :r!_ii n E-x ^ ^ • i s^ 2 1 J MARSH IvT ^><^ 1 •-\/^^"^ ^^^ °-^s — _ ^ :i !l (ENTUCK SCALE -STATUTE MILES ^ • ^ ^ "^ • r7%< #A'\ >^ If > VliW -— f T ^\* S. /-' toS ^i / i\ j^ "^X -i\ KEN ^ ^^^t -X y-^ .arY^.,o9/vv.^..,2rv I $f v^ 15^ r^ 201 lynching but foior persons lynched since 1900, On August 1, 1908, apparently as a result of an emotional transfer from a murderer to whom they could not get access, a mob of men lynched four Negroes at Russellville for "expressing sympathy v/ith the murderer of a white man," Two counties in Kentuclry have had six or more persons lynched since 1900, Pulton with six and Butler with 10, All of those lynched in Butler County were Negroes, They were lynched on a single occasion in 1908 by "night riders" for "an unknovm cause" near Rochester, in the western part of the county. Thus in this county with a high proportion of literacy for both whites and Negroes, and a small proportion of Negro population, there has not been a lynching for the past 20 years. Pulton County, on the other hand, has a Negro population of 3,220 or 21,2 per cent of the total. The six lynchings in this county occurred over a period of 16 years. In February, 1920, a Negro v/as lynched at Pulton for "suspected murder", and another two months later for Murder, Two years later, at Hickman, a Negro was lynched for "alleged rape" after which there v/as not another episode of this nature in the county for more than a decade. On September 10, 1915, Claude Johnson, v/hite, was lynched at Hickman for Murder, Two years later, on May 20, Lawrence Dempsey, v/hite, v/as lynched at Fulton for "murderous assault". On December 16, 1918, the last 202 lynching in Pulton Gotmty occurred v/hen Charles Lewis was lynched at Hickman "for beating the Sheriff", During the past ten years Kentucky has had seven lynchings, the last of v/hich occiirred in 1927, at Whitesburg in Letcher County, On November 30, Leonard Woods, alleged slayer of a mine foreman, was lynched by a mob said to have been composed of citizens of Kentucky and Virginia, The Negro v/as taken out of tov/n, hanged, and his body riddled with shots by many members of the mob. Tennessee Tennessee ranks eighth as to the ntunber of persons lynched since 1900 with a total of 85, eight of whom were v/hite. One of the white men was lynched for an unknown cause, tv/o for rape, and five for miirder. Table XXIV shows that about 42 per cent of the total number lynched have been charged with murder, and that a relatively high proportion have been charged with Rape, Y/hile no lyncliings have occurred in this state as a result of Arson, eight persons have been lynched for Theft, and eight for minor offenses such as "making threats", "aid- ing in the escape of a murderer", and "testifying for one of his own race". The highest ntimber lynched met that fate in October, Map X shov/s the dispersion of the lynchings in Tennessee over the various coiuities, A majority of the total have occurred in the v/estern part of the state along 203 TABLE XXIV TENNESSEE: LYNCHINGS BY CRIEffi AND BY MONTH, 1900 to 1928 Month Murder Rape Assault Minor Theft Arson Unknown Total January 4 0 0 February 6 2 0 March 3 Iw 1 April 4 2(lw) 0 May 2 3 0 June 2 2 0 July 2(lw) 1 0 August 0 1 0 September Iw 7 0 October 7(3w) 3 0 November 4 3 0 December 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 5 0 8 0 8 0 6 Iw 7 0 4 0 5 2 4 0 8 2 17 0 7 0 6 Totals 36(5w) 26(2w) 2 8 8 0 5(lw) 85(8wj 205 the Mississippi River, Four counties have had six or • more persons lynched since 1900. Three of these border on the Mississippi River, - Lake, Dyer, and Lauderdale, Marshall County, in Middle Tennessee, has had seven lynchings since 1900, but none since 1903, At Caney Springs, on January 9, 1900, four Negroes were lynched for Theft, In November, 1902, one was lynched at Lewis- bvirg charged v/ith murder. In the following August the last lynching in the County occxirred at Lewisburg v/hen two unlcnown Negroes were lynched for unknov/n offenses, Marshall is now one of the leading counties in the state in v/ealth and in other respects. It is a diversified farming section with a population of 14,277 whites and 3,089 Negroes, Only 3,4 per cent of the whites as com- pared to 7.3 per cent for the state as a whole are illiterate, Bedford County borders Marshall on the east. On February 19, 1912, three Negroes were lynched in Bedford for Murder, There have been three lynchings in Franklin County, which is South-east of Marshall. One of these was that of a Negro in 1901 for Murder. In 1918 occurred the last lynchings in the County v/hen, en February 10, a Negro was lynched for "aiding a colored man in escape", and, on February 12, Jim Mcllheron, Negro, was tarred and feathered, then burned at Estill Springs, He v/as charged with having wounded tv/o v/hite men v/lth whom he had previously had "trouble". With the exception s^il , jl;b3 206 of this outbreak, practically all of the lynchings in Tennessee during th*e past tv/enty years have occurred in the western counties along the Mississippi River, Dyer Covin ty has a population of 24,502 whites and 5,452 Negroes, The percentage of Negro population decreased from 20,5 per cent in 1910 to 18,1 per cent in 1920, Illiteracy in the county for both whites and Negroes is belov/ the average for the state as a v/hole« This county has had six lynchings since 1900, scattered over a period of 16 years, Tv/o of the six lynched in the county were charged v/ith murder, tv/o v/ith rape, one with attempted rape, and one with "shooting an officer". There has not been a lynching in Dyer County for the past twenty years. In Lauderdale County, which ranks higher in the ntimber of lynchings since 1900 has not had an outbreak of this type of mob violence since 1906. Of the seven lynchings in this county four occiirred in 1900, two for Murder, one for "aiding in escape of murderer", and one "for testifying for a member of his own race". These lynchings were all within the vicinity of Ripley, where in 1903 another Negro was lynched for Miirder, and in 1904 another as a result of "race prejudice". The last lynching in Lauderdale was that of George Estes at Hales Point, in the northern end of the county, on October 29, 1906, charged v/ith miirder. In 1910 the proportion of Negro population in Lauderdale v/as the highest of any county in the state, being 45,3 per cent. In 1920 there 207 were 8,929 Negroes and 12,450 whites being thus a de- crease of the proportion Negro population to 41»5 per cent. VvTaile only 5,3 per cent of the whites as compared to 7,3 per cent for the state as a whole vieve illiterate, 32,5 per cent of the Negroes or 10 per cent more than the average for the state were illiterate. In Lake County, on the other hand, where the proportion of Negro population is much lower than in Lauderdale there has been a total of nine lynchings since 1900, more than in any other county of the state, V/hile there was in 1920 a lov/er percentage of illiteracy among the Negroes of Lake than of Lauderdale County, a total of 10,5 per cent of all whites in this covmty were illiterate. Of the nine persons lynched in Lake County since 1900 one was a wliite man, Issac Fitzgerald, charged with rape, at Tiptonville, on March 17, 1901, In 1900 a Negro was lynched for Robbery, and in 1907 two were lynched "for fighting a v/hite man". On November 24, 1908, three Negroes were lynched at Tiptonville for Murder, and in 1910 two for "attempted rape", -^'his was the last lynching in the county, which is located just across the River from Pemiscot County, Missouri, which had its last lynch- ing in 1927, Shelby Coxinty, Tennessee, has had six lynchings since 1900, the last of which occurred on September 28, 1927: "The bullet-riddled body of Thomas V/illiams, alleged to have attacked a fifty-year old v/hite woman, was found 208 In Pleasant Union Churchyard, two miles from the scene of the crime" - near Memphis, During the 28 years no East Tennessee County has had more than one lynching. Of the seven lynchings which have occxirred in this sec- tion, five were for llixrder, one for Rape, and one "for making threats". The last lynching in this section of the state occurred in 1921 when Berry Bowling, white, was hanged by a mob on May 7, 1921, at Huntsville, for an unlcnown offense. It is notable that of the total 85 lynchings in Tennessee since 1900, 36 occurred before 1908, Duj?- ing the past 20 years Tennessee has had a total of 49 lynchings; and driring the past decade, 15, On the other hand there have been ten persons lynched in this state since 1920, Moreover, in addition to the situation described in the Case in Chapter IX - "The Burning of Ell Person" - which could hardly be totally alleviated v/ithin a short while, the lynching record in Tennessee during the past year indicates that this state is not yet free from mob violence. Two of the three Negroes lynched in 1927 were taken from jails. On June 17, Sheriff T. D. Caldwell was killed by Joseph Upchurch at Paris, in Henry County, A Deputy Sheriff placed Upchurch in a cabin which was "riddled with bullets by a posse of about 50 men," Some of the bullets hit and killed the Negro, 7. For a further analysis of Shelby County lynchings see Chapter IX, Case No. 10. 209 The last lynching in Tennessee v/as that of Henry Choate, 18 years old, on Armistice Day, 1927, Choate, alleged to have attacked a white girl, "was taken from the jail by a hand of 250 men", and, like young Lynch of Galway long ago, was hanged from the second story windov: of the courthouse building. 210 CHAPTER VIII LYNCHINGS BY STATE AND BY COUNTIES: THE MAJOR LYI^CHING STATES It has been noted that in seven southern states, - Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, and Arkansas - there has been a total of 1,348 persons lynched since 1900, This number constitutes 62 per cent of all lynchings in the Nation and 78 per cent of all in the South, Three of these states, - Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, have had between 200 and 300 lynchings; and the other four, more than 100 each during this period* Thus we have called these the "Major Lynching States" as dis- tinguished from those having less than 100 persons lynched during the past 28 years. In these states there are 339 coiinties in which no lynching has been recorded since 1900 while in 60 counties of the seven states there have been six or more persons lynched during the period. In these counties a total of 553 persons have met death at the hands of mobs during the Tv/entieth Century. 211 Arkansas In this group of Major Lynching States Arkansas rariks seventh, with a total of 124 mob victims since 1900« This number does not include the victims of the Elaine Race Riots, the ntunber of which is not known. Map XI shows that the lyncbings in Arkansas have been largely concentrated in the southern and eastern portions of the state. More than 90 per cent of all lynchlngs in Arkansas have occurred in the South-eastern half of the state. The counties in which the highest number of lynchlngs has occurred are those along the Mississippi River, and to a lesser degree along the southern end of the state from east to west, Arkansas Coiinty has had the largest number of persons lynched since 1900, but only three lynching episodes. Of the 15 persons lynched in this county, 13, all Negro men, were lynched on the same day, March 26, 1904, The cause of this lynching, according to the re- ports, was "race prejudice". There was not another lynching in the county for more than 12 years. On August 9, 1916 an unnamed Negro was lynched at Stuttgart for Rape, On October 9, of the same year, the last recorded lynching in this county occurred when Frank Dodd, a Negro, was lynched at Dewitt for "attempted rape". In 1910 the proportion Negro of the total population of Arkansas County was 26,5 per cent. In 1920 fl'X '}r i-'ze. 7.1 a.- liv: 213 there had been a slight drop to 24.2 per cent. At this time there were 5,190 Negroes and 15,944 whites, 'Ahite males were more than 1,000 in excess to females, and there were also more Negro males than females. In 1920 the proportion of illiterate Negroes and v/hites in Arkansas County was less than that for the state as a whole. The farms in this county are relatively few and large. It is the great rice section of the state, where a majority of the Negroes on farms are day laborers who come in close contact v/ith few white men. In this county, which is one of the largest in the state, there are only 666 white tenants and 356 Negro tenants. There has not been a lynching in the county for 12 years. In Phillips County there have been six persons lynched since 1900, The last lynching was that of a Negro on June 16, 1927 at Helena, Owen Fleming, charged with having killed a white man who tried to force him to work while sick, was shot to death by a posse of about 200 white men. The only other county in the state which has had six persons lynched since 1900 is Hempstead, These lynchings were scattered over a period of 17 years, the last having occurred in 1922, On April 20, 1905 a Negro was lynched at Spring Hill for JTurder and four years later, on January 18, a Negro v/as lynched at Hope for "insulting white girl". On October 20, 1911 a Negro was lynched at Hope for "insulting women"; and another, on 214 June 15, 1915 for Murder, The last lynching in Hem- stead County occurred on July 28, 1922 at Guernsey v/hen John West was lynched as a result of a quarrel between a white man and himself over a drinking cup, Ashley County has had five lynchings since 1900, the last of which occurred in 1927, On February 19, 1904 at Crossett - a sawmill town - a Negro was lynched for Murder and on September 5, another for "assaulting whites". In 1908 the only lynctiing in the state was at Parkdale, Ashley County, Earnest Williams was thrust into eternity by a band of men who were "outraged" at him for "using offensive language"'. On May 30, 1909 a Negro was lynched at Portland for Murder, The last lynching in Ashley County occurred on August 26, 1927, Winston Pounds was "taken from a posse of deputy sheriffs" and hanged to a tree one and a half miles from Wilmot, charged with having "attacked a yoimg married woman". Table XXV shov/s the total lynchings in Arkansas since 1900 by crime, by race, and by month. Of the total 124 lynchings during the period 23 occurred in March, 14 in October, 12 in August, 12 in May and 10 in June, The high mark in March is explained by the Arkansas County episode on March 26, 1904 when 13 Negroes were lynched as a result of "race prejudice". With this exception the high lynching months are, as is rather general in the 1. New ¥ork World, August 27, 1927. 215 TABLE XXV ARKANSAS: LYNCHINGS BY CRIME AND BY MONTH, 1900-1928 Month M\xrder Rape Assault Minor Theft Arson Unlcnown Total January 2(lw) 0 February 2 1 March 4(lw) 0 April 4(lw) 2 May 3 5 June 5(lw) 2 July 3 2 August 2(lw) 4 September 1 4 October 3 4 November 5(2w) 1 December 5 1 0 2(lw) l*w 0 2 1 0 0 2 14 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 1 1 1 5(lw) 0 0 1 3 0 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 . 1 0 0 1 6 0 6 2 23 0 7 1 12 0 10 0 9 0 12 0 9 3 14 2 9 0 7 39(7w) 26 11 33(2w) 4(lw*) 2 9 124(10w) * This white man was charged with "highway robbery". 216 southern states. May and June, then August and October. A relatively low proportion of those lynched in Arkansas have been charged with Murder, 31,5 per cent. About 21 per cent of the total number were charged with rape, alleg- ed rape, attack upon a woman, or "assaulting white woman". Combining the number lynched for Theft (3) and Arson (2) with those lynched for a Minor Offense, we have 38 or 30,6 per cent of the total. Minor Offense in Arkansas includes such "crimes" as "race prejudice", "insulting white women", "using offensive language", "disloyal remarks", "strike breaker" and "eloping with a v;hite girl". During the last decade Arkansas has had 34 lynch- ings; and in the past five years, nine. Two of the three lynchings in the state in 1927 have been mentioned. The other was that of John Garter, on May 5, 1927, Carter, a feeble-minded Negro, was accused of "assault of a white woman and her daughter". He was hanged by a mob several miles out of Little Rock after which his body was tied to an automobile, dragged throvigh the streets, then saturated with gasoline, hanged to a telephone pole on one of the principal corners of the "Negro Section" and burned, Alabama In addition to being noted for pig-iron, child labor and illiteracy, Alabajna ranlcs sixth among all states of the Nation in the number of persons lynched since 1900, Table JvXVI shows the number lynched by race, by crime and 217 TABLE XXVI ALABAMA: CRIIvIES BY MONTH, WHITE AND NEGRO, 1900-1928 Month Murder Rape Assault Minor Theft Arson Unknown Total January- 5(lw) 3 1 3 0 0 3(2w) 15 February 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 6 March 3 5 0 1 0 0 1 10 April 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 8 May 1 4 0 5 1 0 0 11 June 2(lw) 2 0 1 0 1 1 7 July 1 3 5 2 0 0 0 11 August 6 3 0 5 0 0 1 15 September 5(lw) 5 0 Kw) 0 0 0 11 October 1 8 2 0 0 0 1 12 November 10 2 1 1 0 0 0 14 December 5 0 0 4 0 0 0 9 45(3w) 42 10 23 (Iw) 1 1 7(2w) : L29(6w) 218 by month during this period. There have been 15 lynch- ings in January and August, 14 in Novemher, 12 in October, 11 in May, July and September, and 10 in March. The total of 129 is about equally divided among the four seasons of the year, the highest nvmber coming in the fall 'with a total of 37. The crime for which 45 were lynched was Murder - about 35 per cent of the total. It is notable that in Alabama 42, or 32 per cent of the total have been lynched for Rape, Ten, all Negroes, were lynched for Assault, The crime of seven, including two v/hite men, is not known. One was lynched for Arson and one for Theft, while 23 were lynched for Minor Offenses. In Alabama this group includes such "crimes" as "race pre- judice", "mule poisoning", "threats to kill", and "creat- ing a disturbance". Map XII shows that one- third of the lynchings in Alabama have occurred in four counties, - Covington, Jefferson, Mobile and Montgomery. These counties with a total of 33 lynchings are the only ones that have had more than six persons lynched since 1900, according to the records. In Covington County nine persons have been lynched, over a period of 20 years. Three of the number were "unknown Negroes" lynched on the same day, December 6, 1901, because of "race prejudice". On February 20, 1906 a Negro was lynched at Andalusia for Rape, and on April 29 another at Rienzi for M-urder, The other four were lynched in 1907, 1910, 1918 and 1920, all for Rape, 219 10 20 30 'to SO i« V -.i* 220 Two were charged with rape, one with "assault of a white woman", and the last. Jack Waters, "was found hanging to a telephone pole riddled with bullets. He was lynched after an alleged attack upon a white woman." The Negro population of Alabama is concentrated through the South-central part of the state. It is notable that three of the counties with more than six lynchlngs lie outside this area, Covington, for example is one of the southern border counties. In 1910 the Negro population of Covington County was 24,9 per cent while in 1920 it had decreased to 21,0 per cent. At this time there v/as a smaller percentage of illiteracy among the 7,987 Negroes of the county than among the Negroes of Alabama as a v/hole, while 9,1 of the v/hites ten years of age and above as compared to 6.5 per cent for the state were Illiterate, Jefferson County lies north of the Alabama "Black Belt" Prom 1910 to 1920 there was an increase of 2 per cent in the proportion of Negro population, no doubt due to the large influx of Negroes into Birmingham during late years. Illiteracy Is relatively lov; for both whites and Negroes, There have been eight lynchlngs in this county since 1900, On May 11, 1901 an unknown Negro was lynched at Leeds, by mistake. On August 2 of the same year and at the same place, Charles Bentley v;as lynched for Murder, There was not another lynching in Jefferson County for more than six years, when on September 3, 1907 Jerry Johnson was lynched near Birmingham for Rape, On August 6 of the 221 next year a Negro was lynched at Brighton "for dynamit- ing". On April 25, 1909 a Negro named Thomas v/as lynch- ed near Birmingham for Rape, The next lynching in the county was that of a white man, John Candler, at Bessamer on January 28, 1912 for Murder, On the following November 2, at Bessamer, William Smith was lynched for Murder, The last lynching in Jefferson County occiirred in 1923, Will McBride was arrested on a charge of "assault". Some school children had seen him walking along the road and had be- come frightened at him. There being no evidence against the 60 year old Negro of good reputation, he was dis- missed by the Judge, on July 12, That night he was taken from bed in his home and beaten to death by a mob of "unlcnown men". Mobile County has had six lynchings since 1900, On October 6, 1906, two Negroes were lynched at Prichard for Rape, and on the following September another was lynched for attempted rape. On January 22, 1909 Doviglass Robertson was lynched for Murder, and another Negro v/as lynched at /ocis on August 1, 1910 for Rape, There was not another lynching in this county for nine years, v/hen the last one occurred on June 6, 1919 at Prichard, There was "trouble" between white and colored v/orkers in a cotton mill, and James E. Lewis, Negro, was shot by a group of white men,^ 2, Birmingham News, Jxine 8, 1919, 222 Montgomery County, with a Negro population of 48,463, or 59,9 per cent of the total, lias had more lynchings than any other Alabajna County since 1900, This county is located in the heart of the Alabama "Black Belt" but several other counties have a higher proportion of Negro population. There are eight counties in the state with more than 75 per cent Negro population - and in these counties combined there has been only 15 lynchings dviring the past 28 years. Three Alabama Counties - Hale, Meringo and Perry - have a Negro population of between 62,5 per cent and 75 per cent. In only one of these has there been a lyncMng since 1900, In Meringo County, at Magnolia, on December 20, 1909 Clinton Montgomery was lynched for M\irder, By Comparing Map XII with the population map of Alabama (Vol, III, 1920 Census Report) it is readily seen that there is a closer correlation between the number of lynchings and a Negro population of 12,5 per cent to 50 per cent than between the number of lynchings and a Negro population of more than 50 per cent, Montgomery County is the only one v/ith more than 50 per cent Negro population that has had as many as five lynchings since 1900, Among the 39,0 per cent white population in the county only 1,1 per cent of those ten years of age and above are illiterate, while 29,5 per cent of the Negroes are thus handicapped. It is interesting to trace the lynching history of this county for the past 40 years. The first lynching 223 recorded was in 1890 when "a desperado" met death at Mont- gomery, Between this date and 1897 three Negroes and one white man were lynched at or near Montgomery, all charged with murder. There was not another lynching in the county for 13 years, when John Dell was lynched at Montgomery, on October 9, 1910 for Murder, Then in 1915, on August 17, at Hope Hull three Negroes were lynched for "poison- ing mules". On September 29, 1919 three more were shot at Montgomery, There had been a "rov/" following a dance, and Policeman John Barbere attempted to arrest three Negroes, One of them named Temple resisted the arrest and, after first being v/ounded by the policeman, shot him. Temple v/as shot to death in a hospital that night by a band of 25 whites, and the other two were taken from the officers on the way to the State Prison at 7/etumka, and shot. The charges against the Negroes as reported in the "New York Sun" was "assaulting white women". In 1920, at Legrande, V/ilbur Smith, alleged to have attacked a 6 year old white girl, had been arrested by a citizen who was taking him to jail. Six "masked men forced the citizen" to give up the Negro who was taken to the woods and shot to death. Two years later, on October 3, 1922 John Brown was taken from his home at Montgomery and lynched by a mob; for what crime it is not known, Dxjring the past decade 25, and during the past five years three lynchings have occTirred in Alabama, The last lynching in the state v/as in Montgomery County, On vr 224 December 15, 1925 at Montgomery, "incensed over an Insult by him to a white woman. Grant Cole was shot to death by unidentified parties. Progressive deterioration in lawlessness: first they lynched for murder; then "masked men" and "unidentified parties" lynched for "un- known offenses" and "insults", Florida Florida has been one of the leading states in the number of persons lynched as far back as statistics are available. Since 1889 there have been 232 lyncliings in this state, including 19 white men, and three Negro women. During the past 28 years there have been 156 lynchings in the state, including 12 v/hites and 144 Negroes, three of whom were v/omen. During the past decade there have been 56 lynchings in Florida, and for the past five years, 26, Table XXVII shows that the majority of lynchings in Florida since 1900 have occurred in the spring and summer months. The highest number happened in July and it was in this month also that the highest number of persons were lynched for Minor Offenses, The highest niimber lynched for Mvirder met that fate in May with 13 Negroes and one white. It is notable that of the total 156 lynched since 1900, 81, or about 51 per cent were charged with Murder, This number included 66 2/3 per cent of the whites. One white man was lynched for Rape, one for 225 TABLE XXVII FLORIDA: LYWCHINGS BY CRIME BY MONTH, 1900 to 1928 Month Murder Rape Assault Minor Theft Arson Unlcnown Total January 4 2 0 2 1 0 0 9 February 3 4 0 1 0 0 0 8 March 7(2w) 2 0 2 0 0 1 12 April 5(2w) 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 May 14(lw) 4 1 3 0 0 2 24 June 7 4 0 0 0 0 1 12 July 9 5 1 4 0 0 1 20 August 11 (Iw) 2 1 2 0 0 2 18 September 10(2w) 3 0 1 0 0 0 14 October 4 2(lw) 0 Kiw) 0 0 0 7 November 4 5 l(w) 6 0 0 1 17 December 3 1 1* 0 0 0 4(lw) 9 Totals 81 (8w) 35 (Iw) 5(lw) 22 (Iw) 1 0 12(lw) 156(12) ^ A "desperado". N' n 0 226 Assault, and one for a Minor Offense - "refusing in- formation". Thirty-five of the total nvtraber or 22 per cent v/ere lynched for attempted rape, alleged rape, attacks or upon white v/omen/alleged assault upon white women. Twelve of the number lynched in Florida were for an "unknow cause". Combining this number v/ith those lynch- ed for a minor charge v/e have a nvimber equal to that of those lynched for Rape, or 22 per cent of the total. The Minor Offenses for which men have been lynched in Florida include such "crimes" as "refusing information", "popular prejudice", "refusal to give up farm" and "bringing his mother to tov;n after she had been flogged for selling whiskey," Map XIII shov/s the lynchings in Florida since 1900 by county. Practically every county in the state has had one or more lynchings, and 10 cotmties have had six or more during this period. One of these counties has had 13 persons lynched during the period and another 12; one has had nine; tv/o, eight lynchings, and three, seven lynchings. The total for these counties is 83, not count- ing all of the victims of the race riot at Oconee on November 2, 1920, Table XXVTII shows the lynchings in Florida in the counties having six or more since 1900, by county, by race and by crime. Also the date of each lynching by county is given, A glance at the Table indicates that in some of the counties the lynchings are scattered over many 228 TABLE XXVIII LYNCHIHGS IN FLORIDA BY COU?flY AND BY CRIME, 1900-1928 Numi- County ber Date ALACHUA 13 2 1 Iw 1 6 9/1/02 1/15/04 3/5/O8 7/21/15 8/19/16 1 1 1/25/23 12/27/26 COLUMBIA 8 Iw 6 1 11/27/00 5/21/11 11/28/19 Crime for v/hlch lynched DUVAL HILLSBORO 1 2 1 5/9/09 9/8/19 8/24/23 1 12/29/23 1 12/30/23 7 1 12/5/03 2 3/7/10 1 3/8/10 2w 9/20/10 1 4/15/12 at Newberry for Murder. at High Springs, for rape, at Newberry, for niurder, at Trenton, "popular prejudice", at Nev/berry, tv/o women and four men, "alleged accessory to murder". at Newberry, cattle stealing. at Ti/aldo, attempt to collect debt at Lake City, "murderous assault", at Lake City, "murder". Ten miles out of Lake City, "alleg- ed to have insulted a young white woman," "foujid lynched". Duval Co, for Rape. at Jacksonville, Murder. at Jacksonville, "suspected of peeping into window of young girl". According to reports received at the Sheriffs office later Indicated innocence. Near Jacksonville, "victim of death code oj^" the Duval County moonshiners. Same as victim of Dec. 29th. Near Tampa, attempted rape, Tampa for murder. Tampa for murder. Tampa" attempted mtirder". Near Tampa for Murder, 229 Num- County ber Date HOLMES 8 2 4 1 Iw 7/30/10 8/2/10 7/7/13 4/16/16 JACKSON 6 1 1 6/10/00 6/10/00 1 1 1 7/1/05 9/2/10 9/2/10 1 3/5/11 MADISON 7 2 Iw 1 1 1 1/7/01 3/19/03 II/9/O6 2/2/08 3/13/19 MARION ORANGE TABLE XXVIII (Cont'd) Crime for v/hlch lynched 1 1 1 1 1 1 12/5/22 1/16/01 11/14/12 11/19/12 2/17/15 1/28/19 1/12/26 9 Iw 8/12/15 1 11/2/20 5 Same At Bonifay, Murder. At Bonifay, "Complicity in I.^tirder". At Bonifay, Rape. At Bonifay, Murder. At Sneads, "suspected murder". At Sneads, "Complicity in mtirder . " At Cottondale, Murder. At Graceville, Murder, At Graceville, complicity in murder, ^t Marianna, "threats to kill". At Madison, for Murder. At Madison, for Murder. At Madison, for Rape. At Greenville, "suspected murder". At Greenville, shooting a Watch- man. At Madison, a Negro was lynched by a mob; no charges were given. At Dunnelon, "trainwrecking". At Ocala, for Murder. At Ocala, for Murder, ' At Sparr, "insulting v/omen". At Ocala, Rape. 18 miles out of Ocala. He had been jailed on suspicion in connection with attack on a white woman. At Osceola, first lynchirig in Orange Co. since 1892. Murder. At Oconee, shooting tv/o men after they had refused to let him vote. Burned to death in a house set after shooting referred to above. (See Chapter IX). » -t b-y:.. LSA 3 TiK 230 TABLE XXVIII (Cont»d) County POLK Niom- ber Date Crime for which lynched 11/26/25 At Orlando, wounded detectives. 12 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6/27/00 5/30/01 5/3/03 5/20/03 5/20/04 8/21/06 2/13/09 7/9/10 5/9/20 3/14/21 12/20/25 At Mulberry, for Mtirder, At Bartow, for Murder, At Mulberry, Muxder, At Mulberry, for Murder, At Mulberry, "unknown offense", "murderous assault", for Rape, "attempted murder", Negro porter on the was accused of in- sulting a Y/hite woman. Taken from train; later "taken" from officers and shot. At Eagle Lalce, hanged for un- knovm crime. At Haines City, Murder, At Mulberry, At Lakeland, At Kathleen, At Lakeland, A. C. L, Ry, 231 years while in others there were several lynchings near the beginning of the Century with few since that time. Still other counties had no lynchings until near the the middle of the period but have had them rather regular- ly since then. In Alachua County, for example, the first lynch- ing was in 1902 for Murder, The last lynching in the county was that of George Budding ton near Waldo, on Decem- ber 27, 1926, A white woman accused him of drav/ing a pistol in an attempt to collect an alleged debt from her for v/hlch he was locked in jail, "Unknown parties" broke the lock, took the 55 year old Negro several miles from town and shot him to death, Columbia County had its first lynching of the Century in November, 1900, when a white man met death for "murderous assault". There was not another outbreak of mob violence until 1911, On May 21 of that year six Negroes were lynched for murder. It was more than eight years be- fore the next, and last, lynching in the county. On November 28, 1919 Sam Mosely was lynched about 10 miles south of Lake City "by a party of young men enraged at an insult alleged to have been made upon a young white woman of Coltunbia County." The first lynching in Duval County was in 1909 for Rape, and the second Y/as that of two Negroes lynched in 1919 at Jacksonville for M\irder, The last thj?ee lynch- ings in the coxinty occiirred in 1923, One of the victims. 232 thought later to have been entirely Innocent, was "sus- pected of peeping into the 'bedroom of a girl". On December 29, near Jacksonville, "the headless body of Edgar Phillips v/as found in a creek. He was said to have been the victim of a 'death code' of Duval County moon- shiners." On the following day, near Jacksonville, Exigene Burnam was shot to death by a band of white men. He v/as said also to have been a victim of the "death code" of the moonshiners, IZ'he seven lynchings in Hillsboro County were scattered over the nine year period ending in 1912, The first lynching in the county was for Rape, The other five were for Murder, including two whites lynched for "attempted murder". Seven of the eight lynchings in Holmes County one have been for Murder, and/for Rape. The last lynching in the county occurred in 1916, One-third of the 1,034 Negroes, and 11,2 per cent of the 11,807 whites in the county were illiterate in 1920, Of the six persons lynched in Jackson County, two met that fate in 1900, on June 10, v/hen one was lynched for ' suspected murder" and another for "complicity in mxirder". Five years later, on July 1, Do.c Peters was lynched at Cottondale for Murder, In 1910 two Negroes were lynched, one for Murder and the other for "complicity". Six months later, on March 5, 1911 Galvin Baker was lynched for "threats to kill", Jackson has the highest illiteracy ^ji;ix_ r r t~, ... •.. v.. , 233 rate for whites and next to the highest for Negroes of any county listed in Table XX, There is a Negro popu- lation of 13,320 and a white population of 17,867, In 1910 the Negro population was 47,8 per cent of the total, while in 1920 this percentage had dropped to 42,7, There has not been a lynching in this county for the past seventeen years. In Madison County the first two lynchings since 1900 were for Murder, then one for Rape and another for "suspected murder". Eleven years later, in 191S, a Negro was lynched for "shooting a watchman". The last lynching in the county occurred on December 5, 1922, at Madison when "Cupid Dickson was lynched by a mob. No charge was alleged," More than 50 per cent of the population of the county is black, and 41.1 per cent of these cannot read or v/rite their nar.ies. In Marion County, on the other hand, with a higher proportion of Negro population but with a much smaller percentage of illiteracy, white and black, there has been the sam.e niimber of lynchings as recorded for Madison, seven. The first lynching in Marion County since 1900 was for "trainv/recking", and the next two for Murder; then one for "insulting v/oraen" in 1915, and another for Rape in 1921, The last lynching in the county occurred on January 12, 1926, "A band of masked men took Nick Williams from two officers, bundled him into an automobile and lynched him at a lonely spot 18 miles from Ocala, William.s to 234 had been jailed on suspicion in connection v/ith an attack on a white woman near the spot where he was lynched. When seized he was being taken to a hospital to be 'identi- fied by the womsLn."'^ Six of the nine persons lynched in Orange County met that fate in 1920, and the last person lynched there was Arthur Henry, on November 26, 1925. He had been arrested and placed under guard at the Orange General Hospital; was seized by three unknov/n men and carried off. The men disarmed a policeman who was on guard. Later he was found shot to death, " Henry was alleged to have woxind- ed two detectives when they went into the Negro section to investigate a shooting affray."*^ The 12 lynchings in Polk County were scattered over a period of 25 years, beginning in 1900, For the first fovir years of the period as many Negroes were lynched, one for an "unknovm offense", one for "murderous assault", one for Rape, and one for "attempted murder". There was not another lynching until April 9, 1920, On that date "an unidentified Negro porter on an Atlantic Coast Line Train, who was charged by a white woman passenger v/ith having insulted her, was taken from the train by a mob; an officer was sent back from Bartow, Florida to get the Negro, He was overtaken by three automobiles. The Negro taken from him and shot to death."* 3. Supplement to the "Thirty Years Lynching", NiiACP, 4, Eleventh Annual Report, NAACP, 1920, p. 36, 235 The last lynching in Polk County occurred on December 20, 1925, when a Negro alleged to have shot and killed Owen Higgins, President of the Haines City Fiance Company, was shot to death by police and citizens. In the three counties of Florida with more than 62,5 per cent Negro population there have been only three lynchings since 1900, Gadsen County has had one, in 1918, for "throv/ing white man under train"; and Leon, tv/o, - one in 1909 for Murder and one in 1920, According to a dispatch from Tallahassee it was believed that this Negro "was the victim of an attack in Gadsen County, election day - that his body drifted over in the Leon County line," In 1927 there were two lynchJ.ngs in Florida, According to the Florence, South Carolina, Review on March 20, "Berry Allen (white) is reported to have been seized by a mob and throvm into the Suv/anee River while being taken to a hospital suffering from wounds sustained when his barricaded home was dynamited by a sheriff's posse after he had shot and killed 7i/ill Brock, a range rider, and seriously wounded a deputy sheriff", at Mayo Florida', - The last lynching in the state occurred on July 21, 1927, at Chiefland, in Levy County which has had three lynchings during the 28 years, "Albert Williams, charged v/ith assault on a turpentine operator, was shot to death by a mob. The trouble is said to have arisen over a debt which 'Williams ov/ed the v/hite man,"^ 5. Bronson, Florida, Nev/s, July 22, 1927, 236 Florida: "a paradise for invalids, sportsmen and natnirallsts", but for the Negroes, "the best of the bad states"; where about every other month one of their re^ce must pay the death penalty without a trial to establish his guilt or innocence; where since 1900, 35 have been lynched for either an "unknov/n cause", or else some such minor offense as "popular prejudice", "refusal to give up a farm", or "bringing his mother home after she had been flogged", Louisiana Table XXIX shows that in Louisiana since 1900 there has been a more even distribution of lynchings over the various months than in any other state, August leads with a total of 22, including nine for Rape, Next comes September with 16, including four each for Mvirder, Rape, and Theft, In may, June and July each there have been 15 persons lynched since 1900, and in February and October 14, The relatively high rank of February in the nxunber lynched is unusual. Six of these were for Murder, two for Rape, one for Assault, three for Theft, and the crime of two - one Negro and one v/hite - is unknov/n. Of the 10 .vhites lynched in Louisiana during the period, three were for IviXirder, one for Rape, one for Theft, one for "shelter- ing a miirderer", and the crime of four is unlcnov/n. Of the total 167 persons lynched dviring the period 65, or 39 per cent met that fate for Murder, and 38, or 22 per cent for Rape, Tv/elve v/ere lynched for 237 TABLE :OCIX LOUISIANA: LYNCHINGS BY CRIME AM) BY MONTH, 'MEITE AND NEGRO Prom 1900 to 1928 Month M^^rder Rape Assault Minor ' Theft .<lrson Unknovm. Total January 5 1 0 2 0 0 Iw 9 February 6 2 1 0 3 0 2(lw) 14 March 5 4 0 0 1 0 Iw 11 April 3(lw) 2 1 4 0 0 3 13 May 2 6 0 6(lw) 1 0 0 15 June 7(lw) 5(lw) 2 1 0 0 0 15 July 6 0 2 2 1 3 Iw 15 August 7 9 2 2 0 0 2 22 September 4(lw) 4 3 0 4 0 1 16 October 6 2 1* 2 2(lw) 0 1 14 November 4 3 3 1 0 0 0 11 December 10 0 2 0 0 0 0 12 Total 65(3w) 38 (Iw) 17 20 (Iw) 12 (Iw) 3 12 (4w) 167(10w) * This Negro was said to be a "desperado". I ; ' 238 Theft, threo for Arson, and 20 for IJlnor Offenses, - 35, or 21 per cent of the total. Minor Offenses for which men have been lynched in Louisiana Include: "making threats", "keeping a gambling house", "disorderly conduct", "insulting lady", "bringing suit against white man", "keeping disreputable house , "intimacy with white woman", "vagrancy", and "living with a v/hite woman". Map XIV shows the distribution of lynchlngs in Louisiana over the various Parishes, While there is no section of the state In which no lynchlngs have taken place since 1900, the Map shows that the vast majority of the lynchlngs have occ\irred In the upper half of the state. It is in this part of the state that the majority of the Negro population resides. Again, however, this does not mean that it is in the Parishes with the highest Negro population that the greatest number of lynchlngs occur. Of the five Parishes with a Negro population of more than 75 per cent, tv/o - East Carol and Tensas - have had no lynchlngs; Madison has had one; Concordia, three; and West Felincia, tv/o, Ouachita County, on the other hand, with a Negro population of 54,8 per cent in 1910 and 45,8 per cent in 1920 has had 17 lynchlngs. On the whole the Parishes having the greatest number of lynchlngs are not those with the highest numerical or proportional Negro population. These Parishes, on the other hand, had from 30 to 75 per cent Negro population in 1910 and from 25 to 60 per cent Negro population in 1920, 240 Table XXX shows that Louisiana ranks second only to I.iississippi in the percentage of Negro children who were out of school in 1924. This state ranks fourth from the bottom in the sunount invested per Negro school child in public school property. While Louisiana ranks fourth from the top of the southern states in the length of school term for white children it ranks third from the bottom in the average length of school term for the Negro children. In 1924 almost one-half of the Negro children of school age were not in school. While the white illiteracy for the state was 10.5 per cent in 1920, the range in the percentage of illiteracy for the leading lynching Parishes was from 0.8 per cent to 6.6 per cent. The percentage of illiteracy among the Negroes of the state was 38.5 and for the Parishes with more than six lynchings the range was from 21.0 per cent to 42.8 per cent. Table XXXI shows the lynchings in Louisiana by year, and by crime for those parishes having more than 10 persons lynched since 1900, This table gives the specific crimes as stated in the newspaper reports at the time the lynchings occurred, rather than as classified in Table XXIi, A clearer conception of the interracial history of these four Louisiana Parishes so far as lynching is concerned can be gained from this Table, In Bossier Parish, for example, 12 persons have been lynched since 1900, over a period of 22 years. Three of the number were charged with murder, three with "murderous assault". ••f^r, 241 TABLE XXX PER CENT WHITE AND NEGRO CHILDREN IN SCHOOL AND OUT OP SCHOOL IN THE SOUTH, 1924 STATE YifHITE NEGROES Out of Out of In School School In School School Texas 93.7 6.3 88.7 11.3 Oklahoma 87.3 12.7 88.0 12.0 North Carolina 85.1 14.9 83.8 16.2 Missouri 81.4 18.6 78.7 21.3 Georgia 89.5 10.5 74.2 25,8 Virginia 84.8 15.2 72,7 27.3 Tennessee 80.3 19.7 71,6 28.4 W. Virginia 80.6 19.4 70.8 29.2 Arkansas 73.4 26.6 69.6 30.4 Deleware 70.1 29.9 67.1 39.2 South Carolina 77.2 22.8 65.8 34.2 District of C, 65.5 34.5 61.9 38.1 Maryland 69.5 30.5 61.2 38.8 Florida 81.3 18.7 60.9 30.1 Kentucky 65.0 35.0 60.9 39.1 Alabama 84.9 15.1 58.8 41.2 Louisiana 70.3 29.7 57.9 42.1 Mississippi 68.9 31.1 53.0 47.0 (Negro Year Book, Stati3ti ,cs, 1925-6 Voltune, p. 292). 242 TABLE XXXI LOUISIANA: LYNCHINGS BY PiiRISH, BY CRIIffi, AND BY YEAR, Prom 1900 to 1928 PARISH Number Date Place Crime Bossier 12 1 5/4/01 At Alden Bridge, "keeping gambl- ing house," 2 6/20/01 At Bossier, Mtirder. 1 10/16/03 At Taylor Town, "threats to kill," 1 11/2/03 At Taylor Tovm, Murder, 1 5/3/07 At Bossier, Rape. 3 11/28/12 At Benton, "murderous assault." 1 1/26/18 At Benton, "living with whit© woman," 1 2/14/19 At Bossier, Murder. 1 8/30/22 Near Benton, "assault on white woman." Caddo 23 rap©,' 1 11/24/01 At Shreveport, Murder, 1 3/5/01 At Blanchard, Rape, 1 5/4/01 At Rodessa, Rape. 1 7/26/03 Near Shreveport, Miirder. 1 5/23/06 At Blanchard. Robbery. 1 8/3/O8 At Bethany, "attempted 1 11/27/09 Shreveport, Rape. 1 4/9/12 Shreveport, "insulting whit© women, " 2 12/16/13 At Blanciiard, Murder, 1 3/12/14 At Shreveport, Rape, 2 12/2/14 At Sylvester Station, Murder, 1 12/3/14 At Sylvester Station, Murder, 2 12/11/14 At Mooringsport, Murder, 1 12/12/14 At Shreveport, Murder, 1 8/29/16 At Vivian, "attempted rape." 1 5/11/17 At Shreveport, "intimacy with white woman," 1 10/23/19 At Shreveport, unknown crime, 1 1/3/23 At Shreveport, "associating with white women," 1 4/15/21 At Rodessa; unknown, 1 8/4/26 At Lachute, "attack upon a 10 year old girl," "killed while trying to escape," 243 TABLE XXXI (Cont'd) PARISH Number Date Place Crime Ouachita 17 1 8/26/06 At Calhoun, "attempted rape." 2 3/15/07 At Monroe, for Murder, 1 8/24/09 At Monroe, "mvirderous assault," 1 8/25/10 At Monroe, a Negro woman, "for keeping disreputable house," 1 10/22/13 At Monroe, "insulting white woman, " 4 8/7/14 At Monroe, 3 for Murder, and one for "suspected murder," 2 3/I6/13 At Monroe, "attack on white woman,' 1 4/22/I8 At Monroe, "shooting white man," 1 1/30/19 At Monroe, Murder. 1 4/29/19 Near Monroe, "accused of writing insulting letters to white woman, 1 9/6/19 At Monroe, "charged with a crimi- nal assault on farmer's wife," Iw 2/6/21 At Monroe, an unknovm white man burned for crime unknown. Richland 11 1 7/15/01 At Girard, Theft. 1 9/8/09 At Mangham, Rape, 1 11/20/09 At Delhi, Murder. 1 3/14/10 At Rayville, Murder. Iw 7/10/10 At Rayville, "cause unknown." 1 11/8/11 At Delhi, Murder. 1 4/25/12 At Delhi, "unnamed offense." 3 2/26/18 At Rayville, "stealing hogs." 1 7/I8/I8 At Mangham, Murder. xc 244 one with "threats to kill"; one. Rape; one, "keeping a gambl- ing house", and one v/ith "living v/lth a white woman". The last lynching in the Parish was on August 30, 1922: "The body of Thomas Rivers, said to have confessed to an assault on a v/hite woman, was found hanging from the limb of a tree. He was taken from officers by a mob as he was being trans- ferred to Benton, Louisiana, for safekeeping,' The 23 lynchings in Caddo Parish have been scatter- ed over a period of 25 years. The longest time in v/hich there has not been a lynching in the Parish was a little over three years. In those years in which there were lynchings the number ranged from one to nine. Seven of the victims were charged with rape or attempted rape, and the same niunber v/ith murder. Other crimes for which lynchings occurred were Robbery, "insulting white women", "intimacy with white woman", and "associating with white v/oman". The latter case v/as that of Lester Leggett who "was lynched by a party of men who kidnapped him. His body was foxind riddled v/ith bullets. The police claimed that complaints had been received that Leggett was associating with white v/oman,""'' The last lynching in Caddo Parish occurred on August 4, 1926 near Lachute, "John Norris, 24 years old, was sur- rounded in a cotton field and shot to death by a posse seeking him for an attack on a 12 year old girl. He was reported killed v/hile trying to escape,"''' 6, Thirteenth Annual Report, NAACP, p. 37, 1922, 7, Supplement of ihirty Years Lynching, NAACP, 245 The 17 lynchings In Ouachita Parish occurred between 1906 and 1922, In 1910 the Negro population of the Parish was 54.8 per cent and in 1920, 45.8 per cent. In 1920 there were 398 illiterate v/hites, or 3.3 per cent of all whites above 10 years of age, while 32.7 per cent of all Negroes of that age, or a total of 3,587 v/ere illiterate, A study of Table XXXI indicates what seems even more evident when one reads detailed accounts of the lynchings in Ouachita Parish: That inter-racial friction is of such a nature that some of the charges against Negroes are "trumped up" and thereby false. Although not one person lynched in Ouachita Parish has been diarged with rape, more than one- third of the member have been lynched for a "sexual crime". It is not usual, for example, to lynch a Negro woman for "keeping a disreputable house", and reports ciirrent in at least one of the adjoining states indicate that white men in Monroe Louisiana do not lynch all v/omen who "keep disreputable houses". Another case suggesting the character of some of the charges against those lynched in Ouachita Parish is that of George Holden who was lynched near Monroe on April 29, 1919, According to the "Memphis Commercial Appeal" of April 30, Holden v/as taken from a stretcher on a baggage train, and shot to death. He had been vraxinded in two previous attempts to lynch him, He^ was accused of writing an insulting note to a v/hite woman. The Coroner* s jTiry reported that the Negro "came to his death at the rrT4' 246 hands of parties unknown," On May 12, 1919 a reputable citizen of Shreveport wrote that the accusation against Holden was a "frame-up" because he had contracted to paint and paper a number of houses. Certain white men had wanted the job, Holden, he said, was not guilty of the charge of Virrlting an insulting note, for one good reason: He could not v.Tite, The last lynching in the Parish v/as that of a white man, 7«'e have been unable to learn the crime against him, - and his name was not known by those who lynched him. During the past decade there have been 33 persons lynched in Louisiana, and in the past five years, six. The last lynching occurred in the South-western part of the state, in Beaugard Parish, which had never before had a lynching in so far as the records extend. In 1927 a Negro, whose name was not given - presiimably a stranger at Dequincy - was taken by a mob from the jail v/here he had been placed for a crime that is not known. The Negro v/as beaten, then shot in the back. He died in a Lake Charles sanitarium, Texas It has been said, "Of course Texas would rank high in lynchlngs, it is such a big state." Texas is a great state - especially in size: It is larger than Germany, or Prancec It is as large as Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and New York combined. A Dallas 247 attorney has also claimed for Texas, "more brass-bound Democrats and Democratic officeholders; more Ku Klux Klansmen, killings and lynchlngs" than any other state. While it is true that Texas has been the leading state in the number of persons lynched during some of the 28 years under consideration, it is not the leading state in this respect over the whole period. This the attorney later admits v/ith what is possibly the true explanation. He says: "Texas lynches, mutilates, and burns Negroes; but ••• other southern states rank ahead of us in this pastime - they have more Negroes to lynch," Some of the most notorious lynching episodes of recent years have occurred in Texas,° Table XXXII shows the lynchlngs in Texas by > crime and by month from 1900 to 1928, During the period 213 persons have thus met death - 171 Negroes, 35 Mexicans, and seven whites. Three of the v/hites were lynched for !.!urder, tv/o for Rape, and the crime of tv/o is unknov/n, Tv/enty-fotir of the Mexicans were charged with Miirder, v/hile two were lynched for Minor Offenses, two for an unknown cause, and six for Banditry'-, Sixty- six o about 39 per cent of the 171 Negroes were lynched for Murder; 58, or 34 per cent were charged v/ith Rape, and 26 v/ere lynched for lylinor Offenses - "race prejudice", "marrying a white woman", "race trouble , "disagreement 8. See Chapter IX, Cases 7, 15, 248 TABLE XXXII TEXAS: LYNCHINGS BY CRIJIE AND BY S¥A¥e FROM 1900 to 1928' Bandl- Murder Rape Assault Minor Theft try Unknown Total Month January 5 1 P ehrxiar y 4 ( l"'*'" ) 5 ( Im ) March April May Jtme July Aiigust 2 4 9(1*) 19 (3m) 6 6 8 4 5(lm) 10 (r^-) 11 (6m) 6(1'"') Septem.ber 10 (3m) 4 October 14(10m) 4 November 8(lin) 2 December 2(1^^) 2 1 1 0 0 0 8 1 0 1 0 0 11 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4(1^) (1'"") 0 14 10 0 1 1 0 1 20 2 7 0 0 2 34 1 3 0 0 0 19 0 3(lm) 0 0 2 22 2 0 0 6m 3(lm) 25 0 6 0 0 0 24 1 5(lm) 0 0 2 18 0 0 0 0 4(1*) 8 Totals 93 58 10 26 18 213 •JHJ- •M-* Note: Negroes, 171; Mexicans, 35; 'ATiites, 7, •» Those marked with "m" are Mexicans, and those marked (-"-) are whites. U 1.. 249 with white man", etc. The crime for v/hich 14 Negroes have paid the death penalty is unlcnovm. More lynchings have occurred in June than in any other month, September and October also rank high as lynching months in Texas. Map XV indicates that the size of the state has little to do with Texas lynching statistics. More than 200 of the lynchings in the state since 1900 have occurred east of the ninety-eighth meridian v/hich is less than one- third of the way across the state from east to west. More- over, 88 of the lynchings occurred in eight counties. Two of these have had seven lynchings each; one has had eight; and two others have had nine each. The other three, Brazoria, Harrison, and Cameron, h-ave had 11, 12, and 25 respectively, Cameron County leads in the number of lynchings with 25, not one of v/hich was a Negro, All were Mexicans except one. In 1920 there v/ere 10,670 foreign-born, practically all Mexicans, in the county, or 29.1 per cent of the total population. There were 3,459 native white illiterates and 4,766 foreign-born illiterates. Practical- ly one-half of the small number of 771 Negroes are ignorant laborers, unable to read and v/rite their names, but not one has been lynched. Eight of the Mexicans v/ere charged with Miirder, and the remaining 17 were lynched for "train- wrecking and murder", and "banditry". The v/hite man - the last person lynched in the county - was foreman of a ranch. He v/as shot to death on February 2, 1922 after his -o friiJ/X Oal 251 refusal to heed a warning to leave the covuatry. "A'hy, and by whom he was v/arned and shot is not knovm. In Brazoria Cotmty 11 persons have been lynched. These lynchings were scattered over a period of 17 years, beginning in 1903 when two Negroes v;ere hanged for Miirder, Every person lynched in this county - all Negroes - has been accused of murder except two and they were lynched for "aidj.ng inurderer in escape". This is the only county in the South v/ith as many as ten lynchings since 1900 in which not one of the victims was accused of any crime in connection with a woman, Fovoc of the 11 persons in Brazoria County met that fate for murdering the Sheriff of the adjoining county of Vi/harton, Two Negroes were charg- ed with the murder, and two v/ith aiding them to escape. All were lynched just across the Brazoria line. In 1920 there v/ere 6,574 Negroes in this county - a decrease since 1910 from 46.9 per cent to 31.9 per cent of the total population. There has been a gradual in- crease in farm tenancy in the county since 1900, Three per cent of the whites and 21.8 per cent of the Negroes are illiterate. The last lynching in the county occurred more than seven years ago. On September 16, 1920 Oscar Beasley was taken from the jail at Angle ton and lynched by a mob of 300 m.en. He had been indicted by the grand jury for murdering sheriff Joe Snow of Brazoria County, In Harrison County 12 Negroes have been lynched since 1900, I/Iore than 60 per cent of the population of 252 the coxinty during this period has been black. In 1903 Walker Davis was lynched for Murder, On April 27, 1909 a Negro v/as lynched for Rape, and three days later three were lynched for Mvirder, On February 25, 1923 a Negro was lynched near Marshall for Murder and another at Karnach a fev/ miles away for "horse stealing". On Avigust 22, 1917 Charles Jones was lynched for "attempted rape". The last lynching in the county occurred on June 17, 1919 when Lemuel liValters v/as shot to death by a mob at Longview. He was taken from the jail, dragged through the streets to the suburbs, and tied to a tree. His body was riddled with bullets, after which it was left naked by the roadside. The cause of the lynching is indicated in a newspaper report dated from Longview: "a prominent v/hite woman is reported to have said to friends that she loved Walters and would marry him if she were in another state. This was repeated to the authori- ties who arrested him without charge. Sheriff opened jail to the mob," The nine persons lynched in Sabine County, Texas, all met that fate on Jiine 22, 1908, at Hemphill for Murder, In Walker County a Negro was lynched in 1905 for Rape, The other six persons lynched in the county since 1900 met that fate in 1918, at Huntsville, when a woman and her five children were lynched for alleged threats to avenge the killing of her husband, who had been shot "while resisting arrest". 253 Of the seven persons lynched In Jefferson County, two were charged v/ith murder, one with "murder- ous assault", one with rape, and one was lynched by "mistaken identity". Since 1913 there have been only two lynchings in the county, one in 1917 for an vmknown cause, and one in 1918 for "attacking a white girl". The eight Negro victims of mob violence in Montgomery County since 1900 v/ere lynched in three of the 28 years. On February 28, 1908 occurred the first lynching on record for that county. Clem Scott was lynched for "attempted rape". Less than a month later, on March 24, three Negroes were lynched, one at Conroe and two at Magnolia, for the same alleged offense. Fourteen years passed and on May 17, 1922 the body of a Negro named Earle "was found swinging to a tree" at Conroe, He had been arrested following screains of a young white girl, placed in jail, but later escaped. He v/as lynched "by unknov/n men". Three days later "Joe Winters, said to have been identified as the assailant of a white girl, was burned to death in the courthouse square". On June 23, 1922, at New Dacus, '.Varren Lewis was hanged by a mob of 300, It was said the 18 year old Negro confessed that he attacked a white woman. The last lynching in Montgomery was that of a Negro in 1927 who was charged with "assault to murder" a white man. This was the only case in which a lynching had ever occurred in the county without some charge in connection with a white woman. Possibly this means that 254 they only lynch for this offense; possibly it means that this is the best charge to bring against a Negro v/hom it is desired for any reason to lynch. That no actual case of rape has ever been alleged may indicate the latter, McLennan County has had eight lynching s and one biirning after murder since 1900, scattered over a period of 22 years. Five of the eight Negroes were lynched at Harrison in 1901 "as a result of a quarrel over profit- sharing". In 1905, August 5, a Negro was lynched at Y/aco for Rape, Eleven years later the next lynching in the cotmty occurred when Jessie Washington was burned in front of the Mayor's office for rape and murder,^ In 1921 a white man. Curly Hackney, was hanged near Waco, crime unknovm. The last "lynching" in McLennan was a postmortem act of mob violence at Vt'aco, On May 26, 1922, Jess Thomas was charged with attacking a white girl after having shot her escort. The girl's father shot Thomas down, fatally. His body v/as removed to an Undertaking establishment from which it was taken by a mob and burned on the public square. During the past ten years Texas mobs have taken the life of 55 men and women, Vdiile a high proportion of these have been charged with Murder and Rape, some were lynched for such offenses as "\inknoTm cause , "alleged threats", "refusing to leave the country", and "dis- agreement v/ith white man". During the past five years 9, See Chapter IX, Case No. 77 « • 255 nine persons have been lynched in Texas, One was lynched for "reckless driving" in which he injiired a Mexican woman. His hands and feet were cut off, after which he was bxirned to death. One v/as charged with "attacking a white girl" and another with rape. One was shot and two - a man and his wife - were burned to death for re- fusing to leave the house in which they lived, "It is believed that the killings were meant as revenge for the slaying of Wallace Growder, a white man, near Houston, The slain Negroes, however, were not directly connected with the white man's death," One of the nine met death for an unknovm cause, and another for Mvirder* The last lynching in Texas occurred near Willis, in Montgomery County, on February 1, 1927, Tom Payne had been arrested, charged with "assault to murder" in connection vdth an "attack" on a white sav/mill worker. Fearing mob violence, two officers started to Huntsville with the Negro "for safekeeping". They were surrounded and "disarmed" by an unmasked mob of white men near V/illis, Payne was suspended by the neck from the limb of a tree,-^ Mississippi It has been said that "Mississippi is a state that appears at the bottom of the list in most tables of statistics," Not so with regard to the ntiraber of men and v;omen victims of mob action. In this respect Mississippi 10, Gathered from press reports, 11. Dispatch, New York Times, February 3, 1927. ij ul. 256 stands second only to Georgia, Mississippi has held this rank, since 1882, and possibly since the early "fifties" when the "Avigustan Age of Murder" belonged to California and the West, and when white men were hanged for as trifling offenses as Negroes have been lynched in Mississippi since 1900. Since 1882 a total of 437 per- sons have been lynched, 25 of whom were v/hite men and women and 412, or 94.3 per cent of whom were Negro men and women. Since 1900 Mississippi ranks next to Georgia in the total number of persons lynched and first among all the states in the nvunber of women lynched. The numerical Negro population is 935,184. Mississippi is second to Georgia in this respect, but first in the proportion of Negro population, with 52,2 per cent, which, although distributed throughout the state is concentrated in the cotinties along the River. In 13 of these counties the Negro population ranges above 75 per cent; in seven more, above 62, per cent; and in five others, above 50 per cent. Three counties on the eastern border of the state have a Negro popu- lation of above 62,5 per cent. Mississippi ranks second to the lowest among all states in the Nation in the percentage of total tax levy devoted to education, in the value of school pro- perty per school child enrolled, in the annual salary paid to school teachers, and third in both v/hite and Negro illiteracy. She ranks first in the percentage of 257 children of school age, vifhite and black, not in school, and first in the number of counties in which six or TO more persons have been lynched since 1900« Some counties with a Negro population of 75 per cent have had no lynchings. Others with as low as 16 per cent Negro population have had from six to 10 lynchings. In the state as a whole 29»3 per cent of the Negroes and 3,3 per cent of the whites are illiterate. Apparently, hov/ever, there is no relationship between the number or proportion of illiterates and the niimber of lynchings in particular counties. This is indicated by Table XX in Chapter VII, The range in white illiteracy in the counties listed in this Table is from 1,1 per cent to 6 per cent; and the range for the Negro population is from 16,2 per cent to 50.0 per cent. In the same counties the percentage of Negro population in 1910 ranged from 17,5 to 90,7 and in 1920, from 16,0 to 89,3, In Smith County which has had six lynchings since 1900 the numerical Negro population v/as 2,594, v/hile Bolivar Co\mty with a Negro population of 47,533 has had seven lynchings during the period. Table XXXV shows the lynchings in Mississippi by crime, by month and race since 1900, During this period 14 white men, 11 Negro -,vomen, and 241 Negro men - 12. Cf. Table XXII, Chapter VII; Negro Year Book, 1925-5, up, 292-293; Table XX , Chapter VII (infra); Biireau of Education, Bulletin No. 90; Vol. Ill, Biennial Survey of Education, pp. 145, 154, 198, quoted in "These United States, E, Gruening, "First Series", p. ZW, •£; : r^j :ffj 258 TABLE XXXV MISSISSIPPI: LYNCHIKGS BY CRBffi, BY MONTH, AND BY RACE, Prom 1900 to 1928 Month Murder Rape Asaault %nor Theft Arson Unknown Total January 9 4 1 0 0 0 3 17 February- 14(lw) 4 0 0 0 2 1 21 March 6 5 0 3 0 4 3 21 April 8(lw) 3 0 0 0 0 4 15 May- 7 4(lw) 2 8 0 1 1 23 June 19 7 4(1-"-) 3 0 0 3 36 July 8(lw) 6 2 4 4(3w) 0 3w 27 August 8 4 2 1 0 1 2 18 September 12 6 0 3 0 1 3 25 October 16(2w) 6 2 1 4 0 0 29 November 7(lw) 7 2 1 Iw 2 0 20 December 10 2 1 1 0 0 0 14 Totals 124(5w) 58(lw) loCr-") 25 9(4w) 11 23(3w) 266(14w) ^' This victim was listed as "a desperado", at Chunky, Nev/ton County, Mississippi, June 16, 1911; name, William Bradford, Negro, 259 a total of 266 persons - have been lynched in the state. Of this niimber 124 were charged with Murder, One wlxLte man and 47 Negroes were lynched for rape, attempted rape, or "attack upon a white woman". The cause of the lynch- ing of 20 Negroes and three whites is not knovm. Twenty- five Negroes were lynched for Minor Offenses, and tv/enty others for Arson and Theft combined. iJVhlle more lynchings have occurred in June than in any other month of the year, the total number is more evenly distributed throughout all months of the year than in any other state except Louisiana,, This is shown graphically by Chart VII, The highest number were lynched in June v/ith 36, The lynchings for imarder are highest in June and October, which possibly indicates a relation- ship betv/een lynchings and "crop settlements". It is notable that in this state the charge of rape against mob victims is more evenly distributed over all months than in any other state. Map XVI shov/s the dispersion of lynchings over the different counties of Mississippi. The majority of these have occurred along the Mississippi River and along the eastern border of the state, from North to South, The least number of lynchings have occtirred in the North- central part of the state. There are only 18 counties, of the total 82, in Mississippi, in which there has not been one or more lynchings since 1900, In 19 counties with six or more lynchings diiring the period, a total of 135 persons have thus met death. The coiinties in which rtj: C^.<Liy2.-iLyL^l.^ty<^ '. nT>PJyLlU|IUl[lllUII!l|l|lll|.'ll|l/TXl ,.ll! nil ■ 260 tl*At:0f^ yj ccwvi-ti-/^-- 50 ■|-::_:-rn-Ttn--f Trtl"rH^ir?t:t-ni'^t+H..iM,H-iH+t--^-HH----tt'-H).).-hH44-H^it-M~HmW-mtt--t^i-H^11^^-;HtiH-----tH The I B« ProhfbttH CopyInK or Rciirn:Iut lion It? Anj I'rocciiti lor Pfmonnl I «c or Rmnlr. Miitistippi The l.n« Prohibits Copylnp or Bcitrotlucilon I>j Any ProccsM (or PrrwonnI I'nv or V.eMnXe, 262 there have been no lynchings are scattered from one end of the state to the other and apparently have no rela- tionship to the proportion of Negro population, Jackson County in the South-east corner of the state has had six persons lynched since 1900 but only three mob episodes. Two of the number were lynched in February, 1901, one for Murder and one for Rape, The next and last lynching in the coTonty was that of four Negroes in 1908 for "incendiarism". The North-west county of Mssissippl is De Soto in which there have been eight persons lynched over a period of 27 years beginning in 1900, Of this nvunber one five were charged with murder, two with rape, ancywith theft. The last lynching in the cotinty occvirred on March 22, 1926, "An \inidentified Negro v/as lynched by an unmasked band of white men for an alleged attack on a young white woman," Sheriff Thompson reported that he was unable to establish the identity of the members of the mob. The lynching occurred on the farm of William Lauder- dale, a white man. He reported that the Negro was lynched while he had gone to telephone the sheriff, ^"^ Kemper County, with a Negro population of 56,5 per cent and a Negro illiteracy of 30 per cent, is one of eastern border coxxnties about midway of the state north and south. In this county eight persons have been lynched 13, Supplement to the "Thirty ^ears Lynching", NA^CP, 263 over a period of 19 years beginning in 1906. Five of the number were lynched for Murder, one for Theft, one for "alleged rape", and one for "attempted rape". The last lynching in the county was that of Harry Shelton at Scoba, on July 20, 1924, He was charged with attempt- ed rape, and placed in jail. Later a mob took him from the jail and hanged him outside of town. In Noxubee Covinty, the next north of Kemper, seven Negroes met death betv/een 1901 and 1927 at the hands of mobs. In 1901 tv/o Negroes were lynched for Arson, after which there was no lynching in the county for 12 years when C. W, Edd was hanged for Murder, In 1915 another Negro was lynched for Murder, Again there were no lynchings for 12 years, when in 1927 three Negroes thus met death. On April 2, two unknown Negroes accused of murder were burned to death at Macon, The last lynch- ing in the cotmty was on May 20, 1927 when Dan Anderson, "alleged to have confessed that he killed a young v/hite farmer was lynched by a mob which took him from officers. More than 200 shots were fired into his body, "•'■'* Of the eight persons lynched in Sunflov/er County seven were charged with murder and one v/ith "attempted assault". There has not been a lynching in the county for the past 15 years. In Q:uitman County, on the other hand, four of the seven persons lynched since 1900 have been charged with 14, Nev/spaper clipping. See Chapter IX for Case (No. 12) in Clarke County, on the eastern border of the state, which has had six lynchings since 1900, 264 Rape, the last of whom was burned at the stake on Axigust 23, 1922. Two were charged v/lth murder, one in 1902 and the other in 1913, On November 8, 1919, according to the "Memphis Commercial Appeal", Robert Motley was lynched as a result of a dispute over a crop settlement between himself and P. P. Cassidy. "A llr, Slvely went to Cassidy»3 aid on the dispute and was shot by Will Motley, brother of Robert, who escaped, Sively died as a result of his wound. Robert Motley was taken to jail on November 7 where he remained until the night of the 8th, when an armed mob forced its way in and hanged him,-'-^ Washington Coiinty has a Negro population of 41,640 or 81,5 per cent of the total. Since 1900 there have been six lynching episodes and 10 persons lynched in this coTinty. In 1901, on July 11, three "suspected cattle thieves" were lynched at Erwin, and two other white men were lynched for an unknown cause, probably also cattle stealing. In 1903 a Negro was lynched for alleged rape, and another in 1905 for Murder, ^n August 17, 1909 William Robertson was lynched for an "unnamed cause" Three yee^rs later a Negro was lynched for "attempted rape", and in 1914 the last lynching in the county occurred at Leland when Sam Petty was shot on February 24, for Murder, Of the persons lynched in Tunica Govmty, seven met that fate for Murder, three for burglary and one for 15, See Commercial Appeal, Movember 11, 15, 19, 265 "attempted rape". There has not been a ^-jnching in this county for 20 years, Harrison County has a high percentage of v/hite illiteracy and a relatively low percentage of both Negro population and illiteracy. In this coxinty six persons have been put to death by mobs over a period of 23 years beginning in 1900, On June 10, 1900 a Negro was lynched for "suspected murder", and in December another for Murder, In 1903 Samuel Adams was lynched for Rape and in 1904 an unlcnown Negro v/as lynched for Murder, In 1908 Henry Leidy v/as lynched, on November 10, for Rape, There was not another lynching in the county for 14 years. On March 22, 1922, Alexander Smith, "said to have been the operator of a house of ill-fame from which two white girls had been removed, was hanged from a bridge" near Gulf Port, Chart VIII shows graphically the proportion lynched in Mississippi for the 28 year period for various offenses. Of the 266 persons lynched in 64 co\inties in of the state since 1900, 124 or 46,6 per cent were charged with Murder, This number includes six of the 14 whites lynched. The crime for which three of the whites were lynched is not known; four were lynched for theft, one for Rape and another for being "a desperado". Forty- seven Negroes and the one white man make a proportion of 21,7 per cent lynched for Rape - including "attempted rape" and "attacks upon white v/omen". It is notable that about I 267 10 per cent of the total number in Mississippi have been charged with I.Ilnor Offenses, and that about 7,5 per cent were charged with Theft and Arson combined. Among the Minor Offenses, which have precipitated mob action in Mississippi are the following: "race prejudice", "race rioter", "striking a six-year-old white girl", "threats", and "lawlessness". Since 1917 there have been 71 lynchings in Mississippi, an average of 10 per year. During the past five years 22 Negro men, one Negro v/oman, and on© white man have met death at the hands of Mississippi mobs. The white man, "Doc" Jackson, was lynched for Murder, The Negro girl was lynched by a mob in search of her brother. There were no charges reported against her personally. Of the total number lynched during the past five years, 11 v/ere charged with murder, two with rape, five v.'ith "attacks" or "attempted attacks" upon women; another v/as lynched "for entering the room of a v/hite woman", one for fighting an officer, one for stabbing a Y/hite man, one for striking a v/hite child, and another for "beating a board bill". The latter case was that of iernice Rasberry v/ho v/as taken from the jail at Leakesville on May 25, 1927 "by a masked band of about 100 men and strung up to a tree. His body was then riddled with bullets. He had been arrested on a charge of beating a board bill after which the sheriff v/as informed that he was Y/anted at Bothv/ell, Mississippi, for alleged improper exio 268 conduct with a white woman." In 1927 Mississippi had the highest number of lynchings that had occurred in that state since 1922, There was a total of seven, five charged with Murder, one with beating a board bill (Rasberry case), and one v/ith "attack upon a white woman". In April tv/o Negroes accused of murder were burned to death in Macon, Mississippi, On June 13, at Louisville, Mississippi, "Jim and Marx Pox, brothers, accused of having slain Clarence Nichols, a sawmill superintendent, were seized by a mob, paraded through the streets and then taken a short distance from town, where they were tied to a telephone post, . saturated with gasoline, and burned to death. The men were taken from officers who were taking them to Jackson, for IV safekeeping," The last lynching in Mississippi occurred near Yazoo City, Joe Smith is alleged to have "attempted to attack a young white girl". On July 7 his body, "full of hot lead", v/as found hanging to the limb of a tree, Georgia Georgia has more Negro population than any state in the Union, but this population is decreasing. From 45,1 per cent in 1910 there v/as a decrease to 41,7 per cent. Table XXXIV shows the lynchings in Georgia since 1900 by 16, See Mobile, Alabma, Register, May 26, 1927, 17, New York Times, June l2, and July 8, 1927. 269 TABLE XXXIV GEORGIA: LYNCHINGS BY GRIME AND BY MONTH, WHITE AND NEGRO From 1900 to 1928 Month Murder Raroe Assault Minor Theft Arson Unknown Total January 11 3 5 1 0 0 2 22 February 8 8(3w) 1 3 2 0 1 23 March 10 5 1 1 0 0 3 20 April 3 7 2 2 1 1 1 17 May 26(lw) 5 2 5 0 0 0 38 June 16 11 1 0 0 0 3 31 July 6(2w) 9(lw) 3 4 2 0 Iw 25 August 15(lw) 7(lw) 1 7 1 0 1 32 September ■ ll(lw) 10 1 0 3 0 0 25 October 9 6 3 7 1 0 1 27 November 9 3 1 3 0 0 0 16 December 6(lw) 0 0 1 0 1 6 14 Unknown 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 Total 130 (6w) 74 (5w) 21 34 10 2 22 293(12w) 270 race, by month and by crime. Twelve wlalte men, 273 Negro men and eight Negro women have been lynched during the period. Of the total 293, 130 have been lynched for Murder, 69 Negroes and five v/hites for Rape, 21 Negroes for Assault, ten for Theft, two for /irson, while the crime of 21 Negroes and one white man is not known. Thirty-four Negroes have been lynched for Minor Offenses, The highest number lynched per month v/as in May, with 38, Next comes August with 32 and June with 31, Chart IX shows that the greatest proportion of all persons lynched in Georgia since 1900 have met that fate in the spring and summer. Twenty-five lynching s have occurred in September and 27 in October, Map XVIII shows the distribution of lynchings in Georgia over the various counties, VVhlle no section of the state has been free from this type of mob action, the fewest lynchings have occurred in the South-east and North-v/est portions. In the latter section Negro popu- lation is very low. The Georgia "Black Belt" reaches across the South-eastern part of the state at a point ' below the line of the worst lynchings counties. The counties in which most of the lynchings have occurred have on the average about 50 per cent Negro population, although again there is no apparent correlation betv/een the ntimerical or proportional Negro population and the number of lynchings. This is shovm by Table XX, Chapter VII, This Table indicates that the percentage of Negro illiteracy • cfn- ^i^jfyi/^-ii^^-i^^^^f^-- 'Su-^ , /T| (5-aA>-^X_' 273 Is higher, on the average, in the lynchings counties, but that this is not true of the v/hites. The percentage of Negro population in those counties having six or more lynchings since 1900 ranges from 35.2 to 74.2, and the Negro illiteracy in these counties ranges from 19.7 per cent to 43.2 per cent as compared to 29.1 per cent for the state as a whole, Vrtilte illiteracy in these coujities ranges from 2.3 per cent to 8.0 per cent as compared to 5,4 per cent for the state. The two eastern coTAnties with six or more mob victims since 1900 are Bulloch and Columbia. The six in Bulloch County v/ere lynched over a period of eight years, beginning in 1901 when Kennedy Gordon v/as shot at Portal for attempted rape. Three years later two Negroes were lynched at Statesboro on April 16, for Murder, and on the following day two more, a man and his son, for "race prejudice". On A\:igust 50 of the same year, 1904, Sebastian McBride v/as hanged at Portal en account of "race prejudice". The last lynchings in the county occurred 20 years ago. On February 17, 1908 a Negro was lynched at Statesboro for Rape, and on February 24 another for the same offense. He was proved innocent of the charge - but too late. The six lynchings in Columbia County, on the other hand, were scattered over a period of 23 years. On May 13, 1900 Alex v;hitney was shot at Harlem for Murder, and on the following day a Negro was lynched at 274 Grovetown, for the same offense. In 1904, on May 15, a Negro was lynched at Appling for Rape, The next lynch- ing in the county occurred on February 20, 1910 when Dan Lumpkin met that awful fate for 'alleged complicity in murder". Five years passed, and on February 4, a Negro was lynched at Evans for Rape, The last lynching in Columbia County v/as on March 12, 1922 near Harlem, Alfred Williams, charged with having shot a v/hite farmer with whom he had engaged in a dispute, v/as being taken to jail by officers and citizens. A mob "took" Williams from them and lynched him. In South Georgia five counties have had six or more persons lynched since 1900,"^° Coffee County, with a Negro population of 35,2 per cent in 1910 and 31.6 per cent in 1920, has had seven over a period of 27 years. On May 4, 1900 Marshall Jones was shot at Douglas for Murder, after which there was not a lynching in the county for 18 years. In February, 1918, Ed Dansy killed tv/o officers and v/ounded two others at vYillacoochee, for which a mob promptly lynched him. On August 28, 1919 Eli Cooper v/as shot in a church house by members of a mob who had brought him from Laxorens County, The church in which the body was left v;as biirned, along with other churches and a lodge building. Cooper was alleged to have been a "leader among the Negroes" who were said to 18, For an analysis of the 18 lynchings in Brooks and Lov/ndes counties, see Chapter IX, Case No, 3, 275 bo "planning to rise up and wipe out the white people". In 1920, on November 18, two Negro men and a Negro woman were lynched by a mob of 150. The Negroes had been arrested for killing a white man, and v/ere being taken to jail by the Sheriff and two Deputies, The mob "demanded" them of the officers, and shot them. The last lynching in Coffee County was that of Dave Yv'right, a white man, on August 30, 1928, at 7/aycross', He was in jail, charged with the murder of a Mrs, Sophie Rollins on August 28, Tv/enty-five men "overpowered" Sheriff Tanner, took his keys, removed IVright from the jail and lynched him. Of the 12 persons lynched in Decatur and Mitchell cotmties since 1900 two were charged with murder, four with Rape, two "crime unknown"; one v/as lynched for Arson, and two for "disputing white man*s word". The latter case was that of Collins and D. C. Johnson, brothers, at Sale City, Mitchell County, on November 17, 1917, One of the twelve was lynched presumably to cover up a "mistake". On November 23, 1920 a Negro shot and killed James E, Adams of Worth County in a quarrel about a road across the Adams plantation. On November 24 the body of Curly McKelvey, brother to the Negro who killed Adama, was "hanged to a tree and riddled v/lth bullets". The reports of the affair indicate that a member of the posse in search of the murderer shot his brother, after which he was hanged to the tree and his dead body riddled with bullets. In Bleckley, and Dodge counties in the center of 276 the state 15 persons have been lynched over a period of 20 years since 1900. Of this number two v;ere lynched for Murder, three for Assault, two for Rape, three for an "unknown" crime, one by "mistaken identity", and one for "having a message for the Negroes". This v/as the cas« of an \inldentified Negro v/ho was taken from a passenger train at Cochran on August 4, 1919, and placed in the "City Barracks", The next day his body was "Found sv/ing- ing to a tree 50 yards from Cochran and Eastman line". According to Associated Press reports the Negro v/as taken from the train when word vms received that he had come from Chicago with a "message" for the Negroes of Geoi'gia. Members of his own race are reported to have said that the victim boasted the Negroes of Georgia were going to do what they had done in Chicago. He was lynched "by uji- knovm parties". The eight Negroes lynched in Oconee County all met that fate at Watkinsville on June 29, 1905. Seven v/ere charged with Murder and one with Rape. The seven lynchirjgs in Bibb County occurred over a period of eleven years. The first was that of Charles Pov/ell, on February 4, 1912, for "assault and robbery". In 1915 two v/hites, Valliam Green and son, v/ere lynched at Macon for "alleged murder". A Negro was lynched near Macon for Mxirder on February 12, 1916 and on Septem.ber 3, 1918 John Gilham v/as lynched for "attacking a white woman". On November 3, 1919 Paul Jones was taken from 277 two officers at Macon and burned to death for "attacking a white woman". The last lynching in the county was that of a Negro v/ho was accused of murdering a Deputy Sheriff at Holton, on August 1, 1S22. Chart X shows graphically the proportion of all persons lynched in Georgia since 1900 for various crimes. Of the total 293, the highest number were lynched for Hiurder* Six, or 50 per cent of the whites, and 124 Negroes, or 44 per cent of the total were lynched for this crinif. It is notable that five of the 12 whites were accused of Rape, Of the total 281 Negroes, 69 or 23 per cent were charged with Rape. Twenty-one of the Negroes or 7 per cent were charged v/ith Assault - v/hich usually means fighting with a white man. Especially since 1910 one rarely finds in the pages of any southern newspaper a re- port of a v/hite man and a Negro engaging in a "fight". It is the general rule to state that the Negro "assaulted the white man", or that he attempted "murderous assault" upon the white man. Ten Negroes have been lynched in Georgia for Theft and 21 others for an "unknown cause", since 1900, A total of 34, or 11,5 per cent of all persons lynched during the period met that fate for Mnor Offenses, In Georgia Minor Offenses mean: "race prejudice", "labor troubles", "conspiracy to do violence", "window peeping", "disputing v/hite man's word" and "jtunping labor contract". During the past decade 82 Negroes and two whites have been lynched in Georgia, while diiring the last five 0 " '•;o'.L ..aiiOi. \,-- Oj Oi-vJ iO •i&q i-=^ 'lii ■ ! ; ri r ^r> , Jt^^y^L^yo^ <Y ^!a>-^. /7^^ T-)ur m U-l!UIJ!ilHM!l!!HIK'HI!!l!!!llll!!!!-!RWRffl UMtJ^- a ai-/vA/0^ — \ /^>^uuiU/V-- ifj|iill!IIH!l!-|tt (1 \ iUL<A.O/\jW> .ii /c io 3 0 i-t> it'o jo 70 to 9 0 /aj //j y^-J /.Xd 0\ *ir~ JiXL. ^P Jl-O. 1^ /f tf /-ij 279 years nine Negroes and two whites have "been lynched. In contrast to some of the other states there is very little if any increase in the proportion of those lynched for such major crimes as murder and rape. During the decade while still the majority of lynchings have been caused hy Murder and Rape, others have resulted from such minor of- fenses as "boasting he had a message for the Negroes", "leader of Negroes", "circulating incendiary literature", "jumping labor contract", and intimacy with white woman. In 1922 on July 14, "Shake" Davis, accused of "long- standing intimacy with white woman who gave birth to a child and named him as the father", v;as hanged by a mob of white men. In 1927 Georgia had her first lynchless year since before 1882, During the previous year two white men and one Negro were lynched. The crime of one of the whites is not known; the other, Dave Wright, had killed a white woman, -^^ The last lynching in the state occiirred in December, 1926, at 7/est Point, Troup County, in which there had been only one lynching since 1900 - in 1913, A Negro boy was killed by members of a mob while in search of another Negro who was charged vilth having shot and killed a white man in an adjoining county. Chart XI shows the proportion of all persons lunched in the Major Lynching States since 1900, Of the 19, The leader of the mob that lynched Wright was given a life sentence in the penitentiary, and others of the 17 indicted v/ere given sentences of from four to 20 years. 280 281 total 1,348, 60 white men and 517 Negroes, or 43 per cent were lynched for Murder, Eleven whites and 320 Negroes, making a total of 331, or 24,5 per cent were accused of Rape, One white man and 89 Negroes or 6,6 per cent were lynched for Assault, and 103, or 7,6 per cent of the total were lynched for an "uhknovm" cause. Nineteen Negroes were lynched for Arson, while five v;hites and 33 Negroes v/ere lynched for Theft, Seven white men and 176 Negroes, or 13,5 per cent of the total number lynched in the seven worst lynching states met that fate for Minor Offenses, Let us turn attention to certain southern mob episodes, A consideration of these cases may add to the picture presented by the statistical analysis, and give some conception of the psychological, economic, and social factors involved. 282 CHAPTER IX CASE STUDIES OP MOB ACTION IN THE SOUTH That more lynchings result from mujcder than from any other crime, and that a large majority, thoxigh not nearly all lynchings are caused by Murder and Rap© combined has been pointed out. In this chapter we shall consider cases in which these and other crimes served as stimuli to mob violence. Some of the crimes, ranging from murder to minor offenses, and the consequent mob episodes are given in detail so that a psychological analysis of mob action may be undertaken in a later chapter. Other cases which serve as illustrative material are stated more briefly. The fact that, in spite of all attempts at correction, yet a majority of the people are apparently under the impression that rape is the crime for which most lynchings occur makes this aspect of the subject especially worthy of consideration in the case studies. riftij 283 By selecting the cases from widely scattered localities we may add to the picture as presented in the statistical analysis. Through the cases we may be able to point out certain of the causal factors in mob actionj and through a psychological &p.pi*oach additional light may be thrown on the nature of this type of social phenomena. An attempt is made to present cases for as many different crimes and from as many localities of the entire area studied as possible. It must be remembered, hov/ever, that ordinarily it has been the cases of an \inusual nature that have brought forth investigations and detailed publicity. From the standpoint of a psychological analysis of mob phenomena- this selection of cases is not an invalidating circiimstance. On the other hand there is one tendency to be guarded against if the reader would gain an accurate picture of the situation: The cases as presented are likely to leave the impression that burning to death and other extreme forms of torture are more frequently resorted to by mobs than is actually the case. While there has been upwards of 100 Negroes burned to death in the South since 1882 - the exact number is not known - it is true that practically all mob victims meet death by hanging or shooting. Moreover, as we have pointed out, about 32 per cent of the lynchings in the South since 1900 were for crimes other than Murder and Rape, Although specimens of these cases are given, for the reason noted above the proportion is not maintained. .:;;jt;JO 284 Practically all cases of mob action for which there is sufficient data for a case study either resulted from atrocious crimes, or were characterized by extreme torture. The same is not true of all mob episodes* Case One gives some of the background out of which the particular series of lynchings occurred. It shows that under such circ\ira3tance3 emotional transfer on the part of mob members may be so facilitated that a number of lynchings result from a crime committed by an individual. Case 1 Alachua County, Florida; The Newberry Lynchings Alachua County, Florida has the highest lynching record in the state, with a total of 13 since 1900, The total population of the cotmty in 1920 was 31,469, Of this number 14,573, or 46,0 per cent were Negroes, In 1910, 55,7 per cent of the total population were Negroes, In this coxinty 3,3 per cent of the whites were illiterate in 1920 as compared to 2,9 per cent of the whites of the state; and, 26,8 per cent of the Negroes as compared to 21,5 per cent of all Negroes of the state. The 13 lynchings since 1900 occurred over a period of 25 years beginning in 1902 when two Negroes were lynched at New- berry for Murder, In 1904 a Negro was lynched at High Springs for Rape and in 1908 a white man, John Long, at .o; 285 Newberry, for Murder, The next lynching In the county was that of H, M. Owens In 1915 at Trenton as a result of "popular prejudice". The follov/ing year two women and four men were lynched at Newberry for "alleged accessory to murder", after which there was not another lynching for seven years. In 1923 a Negro was lynched near Nev/berry for "cattle stealing". The last death in the county by mob action was that of George Budding ton at V/aldo on Deceinber 27, 1926, He was shot by "unknown parties" for attempting to extort at the point of a pistol and alleged debt from a white woman," Thus the lynching record of this county possibly indicates that the writer was not alone in the attitude expressed in a letter to Ivlr. Villard of Nev/ York, The latter had made a speech in Boston, that was featured by the press, in which he suggested that the Negro is a hiunan being entitled, among other things, to legal justice and an education. He stressed the latter point and referred to the fact that in the South Negroes are not allov/ed in Public Libraries, Among several letters which he received was the following from Newberry, Florida. Dear Sir: Replying to your statement ... will say the reason the libraries in the Southern States are closed to the lov^ dovm Negro eyes is because he is not worthy of an education. All the mean crimes, that are done are committed by some educated Negro and fvirthermore, can you tell ■ me what a Negro is? If you can you can do more than anyone else, for I have been dealing with Negroes for the last fifteen years and the only thing I can tell that he is a Negro and always will be as far as I have any pov/er. n c. * *• 286 I would like for you to tell me where the n«gro first originated, ^f you will look in the bible it will tell you that he first originated from an animal. And we Southern people don't care to equal ourselves with animals. The people of the South don't think any more of killing the black fellows than you would think of killing a flea. So you have my opinion of Mr, Negro and if I was to live 1000 years that v;ould be my opinion and every other Southern man. Hoping you v;ill \inderstand what a negro is by this letter and resign yoxzr position, (Signed) Wm. Cowart, The mob episode of 1915 in which six persons, including two women, were lynched near Newberry is given below, as adapted from a report of an investigation made immediately after the occurrence, A few changes have been made in conformity to facts learned from later so\irces, especially the records of the Special Term of Circ\iit Court, Gainsville, Florida, 1915: The town of Nev/berry was started when the phosphate fields were being worked around there. The phosphate fields shut down about five years ago, one mine after another, Nov/ Newberry is just a perfectly bleak, bare, dismal, dreary, little town of small houses, with almost no shade trees. Most of the houses are vacant, and there is not one decent public building, such as schools, etc. About two- thirds of the inhabitants are colored people who hire out to white farmers. Most of the v/hite people seem to live by little stores which they have there. The road that runs from Gainesville to Newberry % '■ ■'J-^LJ' 287 is perfectly charming for about 18 miles. There are truck farms, four big farms and many little ones. These are owned almost entirely by colored people v/ho seemed fairly prosperous and much respected. About five miles from Newberry is Jonesville, Here is a blacksmith shop and a little store. All along little roads branch off leading to other towns. It was between Jonesville and Nev/berry that the rioting occurred - just a little beyond Jonesville is a group of houses on a little rise of land belonging to Boise Long and Dennis, Boise Long was adopted into the Dennis family when he was a little boy and brought up with the Dennis children, and has lived with them ever since. In the little group of houses where Long lived were his family and some of the Dennis family. His uncle had a farm of a hundred acres several miles away. The white farmers around there and in Nev/berry accused the colored farmers of stealing their hogs. Hog raising here is pretty important because there is a new firm in Gainesville v;hich buys the hogs and ships them away to Georgia. The hogs run loose all through the pines and along the roads. There are fences but apparently the hogs are not in bounds. The story is that the sheriff v/ent to serve a warrant on Boise Long at tv/o o'clock on the morning of August 13, which seemed an extraordinary thing to do - :Yson- tj_ -.ir.u-^ 288 to go out on a lonely road to arrest a man at this hour. The reason given is that he got the warrant in Jacksonville and came out on the train at 12:30 at night to Gainesville, where he took an automobile. Why he should he coming out on that train, or why he should come out at that time, is not known. With him went Dr. Harris (white). Some say that Dr. Harris was the owner of the hogs and had had the warrants sworn out,-^ They got to Long's place and the sheriff went in to arrest Long. There again no one knows what happened except that it is clear enough that Long shot the two of them. They were rushed to the automobile and taken back to Jacksonville and at Jacksonville the sheriff died. There seems to be a good deal of controversy as to just how the shooting occurred. Their going back to Jacksonville gave Long a chance to escape. The Newberry people came down to 1, This case was reported by the NAACP in the October, 1916, Crisis substantially as given here. It was the impression at that time that the Sheriff went to serve a v/arrant on Boise Long, who shot the Sheriff in resisting arrest. In the light of the Circuit Court records the following correction is to be made of the Crisis article and the report of the investigator: The white men v/ent in search of a Negro named Mills, v/hom they thought to be at the house of Long. It was after Long failed to inform them of the whereabouts of Mills that they attempted to arrest him. They did not serve, or attempt to serve a warrant, but told Long at 2:00 o'clock in the morning to put on his clothes and go v/ith them. The Negro grabbed his gun and "started to shoo tin' and runnln". Iw 289 Long»s, and since he had escaped, they took his wife, Stella, and the wife of Dennis, They were put in jail on the ground that they refused to give informa- tion. It is said that they were tortvired for informa- tion. Some time during the day the Newberry people came back, ,,, Here the sheriff sort of drops out and it is the hogs they are fighting about. They found James Dennis down at Jonesville and shot him, apparently for the sole reason that he belonged to the Dennis-Long family. His brother, Bert, went up to Newberry to buy a coffin and when he got there the men threw him in jail, Bert Dennis, Mary Dennis, and Stella Long were then in jail, ,,, Then they met on the road coming from Nev/berry John Baskin, a Negro preacher, who had a farm about two miles away. It seems that he had been accused the year before of cow-stealing and arrested, but was dis- charged because there was not evidence enough to try him. Meeting him there, these men took him in an automobile back toward Newberry and lynched him. That was the first of the hanging. He was later accused of being the leader of the whole gang of hog- stealers. Where the hangings took place there is a little plot of trees, bays, water oaks, etc., a charming place, within about a mile of Newberry, It seems queer that they should have chosen this exquisite spot, but it is 290 said that in former years other lynchlngs occvirred there, ••• that v/henever the Newberry men treated themselves to a lynching it was at this same spot ••• known as "Hangman's Island", Having lynched Baskln, the men went up to the jail and took out the two women and man and lynched them* Then it v/as over. The people of Gainesville do not like it, Gainsevllle is proud of its reputation. The whole town is beautiful, and the people love it, both the vfhite and the colored, and they feel that this is a disgrace. All through Gainesville the feeling is that It is demoralizing, and that something ought to be done about it. Case 2 The Lynching of Bud Johnson This case is given nainly for the purpose of showing some of the correspondence which followed betv/een the NAAGP and the Governor of Florida, Some of the facts concerning the lynching are indefinite. The newspaper account sent out from Castle- berry and the sworn testimony of one who claims to have been an eye-witness are contradictory as to the cause of the burning, Johnson v/as a rettirned soldier. One account is that he attacked a v/hite woman; another, that he was 291 lynched for refusing to give up a farra recently left to him by his deceased father, and that the accusation of "attempted assault" was decided upon after the lyncliing. It was thought by mob members, according to the report, that lynching an ex-soldier would create considerable discussion and might lead to their arresto Thus it would be necessary to have "a good excuse for the lynching." The following dispatch sent from Castleberry gives the newspaper account in brief: ..,, A delegation of prominent citizens called on the county officers early today. They informed them that they composed a reception committee appointed to enter- tain Judge Johnson, a gentleman of color, in their custody. The coiinty officers claimed that he was a prisoner charged with having attacked a white woman and had confessed. The delegation demanded that he be turned over to them. The officers refused, so the delegation proceeded to "take" Johnson av/ay from them, which was neatly done v/ithout the loss of a single life or gunshot. It is needless to say that the delegation proceeded to "entertain" Johnson, who, without any Tinique cerem.ony, was burned to death. As stated the burning was not particularly a unique ceremony. According to the affidavit referred to, it was as follows: They shouted "get ropes, get coal oil and gasoline and let us bxirn this Negro up. He is bigoty. He is saucy. He tliinks he is a soldier" ,., They had a rope about his neck which had been thrown over the limb of a tree and by which they raised him up from the ground at intervals. They were choking him and he was bleeding and kicking. He had on his soldier clothing ,.. One said "Let's burn him", another said, "Let's tie him. up ,--r^ r- 292 to a limb. The way to stop Negro soldiers is to burn them." Then they drew him up to a limb iintil a man could go up to the little store by the mill and get two buckets of kerosine each bucket holding probably two or three gallons. We stood there looking at it ••• There were a few electric lights near the mill ,,, (a man) came out, supposed to be a Baptist preacher. He begged those men not to burn the Negro, that he had done no wrong. Bud said that if they would not take his life they might have his father's place... By this tim-e they had gotten him out of Florida, probably 10 feet over the line into Alabama, The line v/as ascertained by Ivlr, , surveyor.,, V/hen they had gotten him into Alabama the old man again insisted that they should not burn him, "If you v/ill do any- thing", he said, "give him a good whipping and let him go away." But they said, "Not so. You v/ould spoil this Negro.,, He is sullen," ... One said, "When v/e get this one v/e will get all the Negroes".,, Then they took the rope from the limb and dragged him up to a stump... and fastened his hands behind the stum.p. They .,, tied his feet. They poured kerosine ,,, on his head and let it run down ,., then one bucket of gasoline, and then had a yovmg lady, a cousin of , light a nev/spaper with a match and set it to the body which. In about two minutes or less, v/as wreathed in flames. As the flames v/ent up they ,,« shouted "This is the way 293 we do all Negroes v/ho refuse to do what we want done," The newspaper account seems to have been general- ly accepted in Florida, and of course it was the only one knov/n in other sections of the country. The NAACP sent to Governor Catts a telegram calling his attention to the lynching of Johnson and another Negro, They pointed out how the lyncliing record of Florida was a disgrace to the Nation, and asked that the Governor prevent further dis- grace by seeing that the lynchers were punished. Then the following correspondence, of the nature referred to in Chapter One, passed between the parties named above: First, the Governor replied, by letter: John R. Shillady, Secretary, etc. Sir: I have your telegram, calling my attention to the lynching of two negroes in this State, As you doubtless know I have exerted every effort possible to keep down lynching in this State, I was not cognizant of the lynching at Madison until I sav/ an account of it in the papers. In regard to the one at Milton, I v/as called up at midnight and told about the crime committed by this man and had him carried to Pensa- cola and put in Jail there; next morning the Sheriff of Pensacola called me up and stated that he v/as not safe there and I ordered him taken to Montgomery and sent down to Jacksonville for safekeeping, but Sheriff Harvell was overtaken and the man punished by death at the hands of an inforiated mob from. Santa Rosa County, You ask me to see that these lynchers are brought to trial. This would be impossible to do as conditions are now in Florida, for v/hen a negro brute, or a white man, ravishes a v/hite woman in the State of Florida, there is no use having the people, who see that this man meets death, brought to trial, even if you could find who they are; the citizenship will not stand for it. You state that the man in Madison was burned to death and that it adds to the horror of lynching and 294 disgraces not only this State but the whole United States, Your race is always harping on the disgrace it brings to the State, by a concourse of white people taking revenge for the dishonoring of a white v/oman, when if you would spend one-half the time that you do, in giving maudlin sympathy, to teaching your people not to kill our v/hite officers and disgrace our yihlte women, you would keep dovm a thousand times greater disgrace, I do not like the tone of your telegram at all, because you tacitly commend the crime your people com- mitted while you abuse our people for resenting the wrong which your race has done, I have tried to be fair to your people at all times but I do not believe in such maudlin sentiment as this. If any man, white or black, should dishonor one of my family he v/ould meet my pistol square from the shoulder, and every white man in this South, who is red-blooded American, feels the sam.e as I do. Therefore, you had best, as you say you are com- posed of 180 branches of 48,000 people in 38 States, spend some time in teaching the wanton, reckless negroes of your race, who v/ander from City to City, County to County and State to State, doing all the devilment they can. We do not have any trouble from negroes who are settled, own their homes, have their own property, cattle and horses, but it is the roving, transient, irresponsible and unmarried element of tramp negroes v/ho bring all this disgrace on the coujitry, I, as a representative of one million people, both white and black, urge you to send out your missionaries and get your race to stop this kind of wanton and disgraceful ravishing of the white people of the South, or the Governors of the South will not be able to keep the mobs down, which I have used every effort possible to do in Florida, Yours very truly, (Signed) Sidney J. Catts, Governor of Florida, Ten days later the matter of the two lynchings was closed, when the Secretary of the NAACP replied to the Governor as follows: 295 Hon. Sidney J, Catts, Governor, Tallahassee, Florida, Sir: I have your letter of the 18th in acknowledg- ment, reply and criticism of my telegram of the 15th, First, I wish to commend the attempts made by you to safeguard the prisoner at Milton, May I m.ake it clear that in the telegram addressed to you we are not directing criticism against you as an individual but are speaking to you in your representative character as Governor of the State of Florida, Do you not think that when you ordered the sheriff of Pensacola to take his prisoner to Montgomery in order to have him sent to Jacksonville for safe keeping. Sheriff Harvell should have knovm, as an experienced and responsible officer of the State, the mind of the citizenship of v/hom you speak in your letter and v/ould have been prepared with sufficient officers to protect any prisoner at the hands of the mob, no matter hov/ infuriated? The experience of Governor Stanley of Kentucky who himself protected a prisoner, and of the few other brave officers of the law, warrants the belief that mobs which form in violation of the lav/ will not attempt to carry out their purpose if they are met with strong resistance on the part of officers of the lav/ who realize the meaning of their oaths and are determined that prisoners shall be tried in the courts and not by mobs on the highways. Your assertion that the citizenship of Florida will not stand for seeing men who ravish white women tried in the couj?ts is a serious commentary on our laws. Burning to death is so horrible that we can hardly believe, if we did not read yo\rr own words, that you as Governor of a great state find it possible to apologize for burning at the stake. This Association does not apologize for crime or condone it in any way. Your gratuitous assumption that I personally "tacitly commend the crime" committed is absolutely unv/arranted. In order to protest against the burning of a human being at the stake, we did not feel that anyone would expect that we must begin such protest by disavov/al of sjrmpathy with the crime. You speak a good deal about the horror of the crime, Y.'e think the crime is horrible, but we insist, as v/e believe all right-minded citizens of the United States are coming more and more to insist, that it is a greater crime for the governor of a state or the sheriff of a county to stand by and see the laws m.ade by the people ignored and flouted. \'!e do not believe that it is a justification for this lynching of the law to plead the wickedness of the criminal. Laws are made 296 to deal with such and the question Is whether In this crucial time of the world's history American states shall flaujit their disregard of law in the face of President V/llson at Paris while he is endeavoring to promote the peace of the world. All the arguments you make about the horror of the one crime do not touch the other - the man was only accused of shooting a v/atchman, a crime which, certain- ly, it was easy to punish in the coDurts. Speaking of educating, you suggest that ovir Association spend time teaching wanton, reckless Negroes, May I suggest that as Governor of the State, you yooor- self take up the task of providing proportionate school facilities for the education of Negroes in your state. According to the report of the United States Bureau of Education, the relative per capita expenditures in Florida are; teaching white children, |ll,50, and for the colored children; $2.64. Incidentally, though it is not a point of importance, may I remark that I do not happen to he a Negro myself, as you seem to asstime throughout yo;ir letter. Sincerely yours, etc. Case 3 A Lynching Series in Georgia, 1918 The series of lynchlngs in Brooks and Lowndes counties, Georgia, which extended over a period of five days in May, 1918, brought forth considerable publicity as well as an investigation, the report of which was requested by Governor Dorsey. TiVhile all available sources have been considered the case as given is taken largely from this report v/hich gave more details than the nev/spaper accounts, and placed the total victims at eleven. It was said that a total of 18 were lynched but the investigator could not verify the number. The immediate exodus of 297 Negroes from the counties made a check-\ip impossible. Brooks and Lowndes counties are in the richest agricultural section of the state, in the southernmost part near the Florida line. In both counties the Negro population is in the majority. In 1920 the Negro popu- lation of Brooks County was 58,1 per cent, and in Lowndes, 51,0 per cent. There had been a drop of 1,0 per cent and 2,0 per cent, respectively, since 1910, There is a high rate of farm tenancy in both counties, as well as a number of large plantations on v/hich hired labor is employed. In the state as a whole 29,1 per cent of the Negroes above 10 years of age are illiterate, and 5,4 per cent of the whites. In Brooks and Lowndes counties 35,6 per cent and 22,0 per cent respectively of the Negroes are illiterate. Of the whites 4,5 and 3,0 per cent respectively are illiterate. Thus the Negro illiteracy for Lovmdes and the white illiteracy for both cotmties is lower than for the state as a whole. The covmty seats are Quitman with a population of about 4,500, and Voldosta with 8,000, In each the Negro population is about 50 per cent. The lynching history of the two counties r\ins back for at least 38 years, A Negrowas lynched at Voldosta in 1890 for Rape, In 1894 the lynching victims in Georgia nxjmbered 20, 17 of whom v/ere lynched in central and south Georgia, In Brook Covmty, on December 23, seven Negroes were lynched for Murder, There was not another lynching in either county until 1901 when an unknown Negro v/as lynched near Quitman, for R8.pe, and another at Voldosta ■lY 298 for "murderous assault". Seven years later an unknown Negro was lynched at Voldosta for "conspiracy to do violence". In 1915 a Negro was lynched at Voldosta for Theft, and in 1916 another for alleged burglary. Six months before the mob episode described below, Jessie Staten was lynched at Quitman for "insulting a iiiiite woman" , In Brooks County, near Barney several miles north of Quitman, Hampton Smith owned a large plantation. He seems to have had considerable trouble from time to time with his Negro employees. As a result of difficulty in securing sufficient farm help he had adopted the policy of going to the courts, paying the fines of Negroes con- victed of crimes, and allowing them to work out the amount on his plantation, Sidney Johnson was fined ;|30,00 "for gaming". He was unable to pay, so the amount was advanced by Smith, for whom he went to work. After a time Johnson asked for some money, claiming that he had more than earned the amount of the fine. Smith refused, A few days later Johnson failed to report for work and, when questioned, claimed he was sick. Smith whipped him and the Negro threatened his life, A few nights later, according to statements made by Johnson before being lynched, he shot Smith through a v/lndow, A bullet also struck his wife, who was not severely injured. Smith died instantly. This v/as on Thursday, May 16, 1918, Posses were immediately formed to search for "> ^i f- cctmX ' ") ^r>.l 299 Johnson, for it was kno'^n that he had threatened the landlord's life, A report was now circulated - by whom it was started is not knovm - to the effect that there was a conspiracy among a ntunber of Negroes to kill Smith, It was said that Hayes Turner had also threatened Smith for beating his wife, Mary Turner, So the report was that the conspirators had met at Turner's house. On Friday morning about 8:30 a posse of citizens catight Will Head, a Negro of the community. Later in the day another Negro was arrested and both were placed in the jail at Voldosta, 'i'hat night they were taken five miles out of Voldosta, where they v/ere hanged and shot. In this mob, according to a member, v,'ere many citizens of Quitman, Voldosta and the surrounding country. Of the 17 who were known and recognized by this member, fotu? were close relatives to Hampton Smith, five were farmers, one was a postal clerk, one a furniture store clerk, and one a stock dealer. The two leaders were from Quitman - one a professional man and the other a merchant. These names have never been published; to do so nov/ y/ould be both useless and embarrassing'. On Saturday morning Hayes Turner was placed in jail at Quitman, Later in the day the Sheriff decided to take him to Moultrie, but was overtaken when about three miles out of Quitman, and Turner v/as hanged. The body remained there until Monday yUaen it was cut down by some county convicts and buried about 50 feet av/ay. 300 During Sunday ,,, hundreds of automobiles, buggies and Wagons bore sight-seers to the spot while many more tramped there on foot. Another Negro - probably Eugene Rice - was lynched on Saturday afternoon. His connection with the crime v/as not stated by any of the reports and the investigator could find no one, white or black, v/ho knew why he was lynched. That night trro other negroes were called from their homes and were not seen again. About a v/eek later three bodies of unidentified Negroes v/ere taken from Little River, a few miles belov/ Barney, It is thought - though not knovm - that these Negroes were also lynched on Saturday, May 18, The bodies disappeared soon after being taken from the River, hence were not identified, Hayes Turner's wife said that her husband was not guilty of conspiracy to murder, and tlireatened to have members of the mob arrested if she could find out who they were. On Sunday, about noontime, she was taken by a mob and lynched in a unique manner, near Folsom's Bridge a few miles from Barney, on Little River. '.Vith her anlcles tied together, she was hung to a small oak tree, head dovmward. Gasoline was poured on her and a match applied. After her clothing was burned away, it was said by a member of the mob, a man cut her open and an unborn infant dropped to the ground. Hundreds of bullets v/ere then fired into the body and the lynching was over. The mob dispersed to search again for Jolinson, the criminal. No one had thought to search in Voldosta for 301 him. The newspapers had said that he was hiding in sv/amps near ic^itman. On Monday Johnson went to the homo of a Negro and asked for food. This was readily given after which the officers were immediately notified,^ Johnson said that he alone was responsible for Smith's death, and boasted that he would never be taken alive. Soon a large crov/d gathered, and, under the leadership of Police Chief Dampier, surrounded the house to which the Negro had fled. When firing began from both sides the Chief was wounded in the hand, and another man was struck in the neck. The firing was accelerated for a few minutes after which Johnson dropped dead, V/ith a rope around his neck his body was dragged behind an automobile through Patterson Street, one of the City's business thoroughfares, out near the scene of the murder. There the body was burned to a crisp. No one was arrested. Within tv/o months it was estimated that more than 500 Negroes had migrated from Brooks and Lov/ndes counties, and others expressed intentions of leaving after crops v/ere gathered in the fall. 2, Instances in which Negroes have thus cooperated with the officers of the law are numerous. The statement, heard over and over to the effect that "there never v/as a Negro who would not conceal another in a crime" is not wholly true. 302 Case 4 A Lynching In Bertie County, North Carolina Lewlston, In Bertie County, North Carolina, has a population of 244 people. It is a rural village sur- rounded by farms occupied mostly by Negro tenants. There had never been a lynching in Bertie County, although within the past fev/ years there had been one at Kinston and another at Goldsboro, both two counties distant to the South-west, According to press reports on March 23, 1918, a Negro boy 19 years of age was accused of "assault on a white woman". He was lynched fifteen minutes after being caught, ,,, "None of the mob was masked, the lynching created no excitement, no attempt has been made to as- certain the citizens that hung the Negro, and it is pre- sumably a finished job," Of course the people were surprised at this incident, and regretted its occurrence. Moreover it could hardly be repeated, just as it occurred on that date and with the same results, anyv/here in the state. However the case indicates the psychological and social background out of which under the proper general state of emotional excitement as existed in 1918 a Negro may be lynched suddenly and with no after effects of a legal nature, r u Later incidents in North Carolina, including one during the past year which was widely discussed by the press, indicate that this Bertie County lynching was not altogether an isolated case. 303 Case 5 The Burning of Lloyd Clay at Vicksburg V/arren County, Mississippi, borders on the river and is located in the "lynching section" of the state. In three of the counties v/hich border on Y/arren there have been 17 persons lynched since 1900, and six have been lynched in '.Varren County during the period. In 1903 two Negroes were lynched near Vicksburg for Murder, and in 1907 another for the same offense. Then in 1915 Edward Johnson, charged v/ith murder and cattle stealing, was lynched near Vicksburg. The next lynching in the county was that of Lloyd Clay, but violence toward Negroes was not unkno'Am there during the War, This is indicated by correspondence sent to and received from the Treasiiry Department and the Department of Justice at Washington, as well as through correspondence directly with former residents of Vicksburg who had been "run out ot tovm". During the 77ar some of the more wealthy Negroes - business and professional men - were forced to leave, A Negro doctor was tarred and feathered; they told him it was because he did not subscribe for ^1000,00 worth of V^ar Savings Stamps, A Negro pharmacist was also ordered in the name of the V/ar Savings Stamp Committee and by "officers aad citizens" to leave Vicksburg. He owned property on one of the "main corners" and for some time white men are said to have tried to buy it from him, A Negro business man who had gone to Nev/ Orleans 304 on a "fall-buying trip" was ordered not to retxirn to Vicksburg, About the time he got to Chicago, and as soon as he had sold his business - at a great loss it is claimed - he was ordered back for military service. It was maintained that as he had sold his business, and as he had sufficient money to support his family for the duration of the War, therefore it was proper to change his military status from Fourth Class D to First Class and to call on him to report immediately. With this much of the history of Vicksburg before us, possibly the only surprising thing about what happened in 1910 is the method of punishment meted out to Lloyd Clay; and that was no unusual occurrence within the culture range of the citizens of Vicksburg, In no other state is burning a more favorite method of lynching. We are informed by an eye-witness, white, who now resides in another state, that the case of the burning of Lloyd Clay as reported by the New Orleans Times Picayune was substantially correct. She states that the bloodhounds trailed the Negro to a box car v/here he had "attempted to conceal himself",^ She does not know about the claim that he v/as not "the right Negro", for "everybody said he was the one". He was 19 years old instead of 24. She also corrects the statement that he was put "on a truck" S. There are conflicting reports as to where and hov/ Clay v/as located, Cf, Seligmann, "Protecting Southern V.'omanhood, " The Nation, Vol. 108, op. 938ff. 305 and taken to the tree from which he was hanged, shot and turned. Instead "they tied him to the end of one of the trucks and dragged him over town practically rendering the Negro dead," Yvith these corrections we quote the case as reported by the Times Picayune; Vickshurg Mob Lynches Negro and Burns Body: Storms Jail and Breaks in Three Steel Doors to get Prisoner: Black Caught After Bloodhouns Chase: Attempt on ^Alhite woman was One of a Series of Such Crimes: Vicksburg, Miss., May 14, (1919) ,.,. Lloyd Clay, Negro, 24 years old, was lynched and burned here at 8:30 o'clock tonight by men v/ho stormed the jail, threw the Sheriff, Prank Scott, into a corner, pinning him to the floor, broke through a heavy one-inch steel barred windov;, then broke a heavy iron door from its hinges, and took the prisoner from his cell. The Negro was charged v/ith attempting criminal assault upon a vdiite girl shortly after 5 o'clock this morning. Two white men were shot and another seriously injured by a blow during the strtiggles attending the lynching. The Negro entered the home of Eelly Broussard about 5 o'clock this morning and made his v/ay to the room of a young girl boarder, apparently locking the door behind him. The girl, ay/akened by his presence, screamed and fought him off, Broussard, awakened by the screams, v/as unable to get into the room. The girl, hearing Broussard, sought to hold the Negro but •?' 0 306 failed, the black breaking loose and making good his escape, John Gantt and his bloodhounds of Crystal Springs were secured and they took the scent at the Broussard home and after making a circuit of several blocks ran to the Alabama and Vicksburg depot where they bayed the Negro, Clay. He was arrested. The girl was taken to the Jail, but did not positively identify him, A large mob quickly gathered about the jail and refused to be dispersed by the officers. They v/ere informed that it v/as the wrong Negro, but this had no effect. Some few left, but others took their places. Judge's Promise Vain Judge Brien said if there v/as any evidence against the Negro he v/ould call a special term of court and organize a special grand jury. But this did not dis- perse the crowd. Shortly after 6 o'clock the mob was a\igmented by men from different parts of the city. Sheriff Scott swore in a dozen special deputies v/ho went inside the jail. At 7:45 o'clock a mob came into the street in front of the jail, ITiey had a piece of railroad track 16 feet in length and began to batter a jail v/indow. Sheriff Scott attempted to talk to the crowd but the men crowded close about him so he could not lift his hands and quietly lifted him from his feet, then threw fiiU^r 307 him over to a corner and forced him to the floor. His efforts to resist were vain, M, G. Cockrell, a contractor, who had been sworn in as a deputy, vms rammed in the stomach by the railroad iron and fell to the floor. He may be internally injured. The men turned their attention to the powerful steel bars and after hammering for twenty minutes the steel was broken and the parts imbedded in the wall were forced out. The breaking of the other doors was a matter of short work, as the mob went at it with a determination to get their man, Negroes Cower in Terror In the meantime the Negroes in the jail were shrieking and Clay cowered in his cell, V/hen the men reached him he exclaimed: "Give me a minute and I'll tell you who the other Negro is." But the crowd did not temporize. They took the Negro out to the street, put him on an auto truck, and 40 men boarded the truck. The Negro was taken two blocks south to Clay street and then four blocks east to Farmer and Clay streets, within a shot distance of the Broussard home, A rope v/as fastened about his neck and thrown over a tree limb 20 feet from the ground. Some oil v/as poured on the Negro's head and he was pulled into the air. He attempted to haul himself up on the rope v/ith his hands. Then his hands were tied. The next move was to apply the match to liis 308 oil-soaked head. A bonfire was started under his feet, which dangled four feet above the ground, A fusilade of shots was fired into the body and into the air. In some v;ay, Charles Lancaster, an onlooker, was hit in the head with a bullet inflicting what may prove a fatal v/ound, Lancaster is an engineer for the Anderson Tully Lumber Company, A young man named Bennis Stafford v/as shot in the arm. There vms a great crowd present, including many women, v/ho looked on in silence, The lynching is the culmination of a series of attempts on women and young girls v;hich has continued for weeks. Women and girls had become so apprehensive they feared to retire at night. Two Negroes arrested three v/eeks ago were spirited to Jackson, where they are nov/ held for safe-keeping. Thousands viewed the body roasting over the fire and then v/ent home. The letter in which oxir informant verifies the case as related above closes as follows: The un- pardonable sin among southern people is for a Negro to assault a white girl. In many communities the whites see no llmJ.t as to the punishment such a fellov/ deserves. The mob (at Vicksbxirg) was v/hat we v/ould term a "mad mob". It v/as one of the most horrible things I have ever v/ltnessed. The lynching occurred Immediately after luiss Hudson, the girl boarder at Brossard^s, "said the word". 309 although she had previously failed to identify Clay as her assailant. So far as we can discover the statement of the Vicksburg Evening ^ost has not been contradicted: "Brought before Miss Hudson, she declared he v/as not the man v/ho attaded her last night," On the other hand it is said that Miss Hudson "positively identified" a Negro who for several days prior to and including May 14, had been in jail,- The jxa*y, headed by Coroner Crichlow, found that Clay met death by mob action, "the said mob being unknov/n to the jiiry," There are other interesting side-lights in the case. The Evening Post pointed out that the mob (estimat- ed at 1500) must have been an "amateur organization". After Miss Hudson had "said the word" this mob "picked the first tree v/hich came handy, which unfortunately, was in the center of the city, siirrounded by residences of citizens whose sensibilities were shocked by the occurrence," Even the "sensibilities" of the Vicksburg Herald imist have been shocked. In an editorial on May 16 this "organ of public opinion" pointed out that the evil inter-racial condition is "aggravated if not actually provoked" by such movements as the "negro country v/ide cam.paign for equal right", and that although a "more kindly and just" race relationship "all may strive for", yet "never in the v/ay 4. See The Kation, loc^ cit. ■ t nt ns c3:l ^ 310 of race equality in political and civil rights" as call- ed for by certain "New York race propaganda". The tree which the amateurish mob selected for the burning happened to be in front of the residence of Mrs, Ida M, Keefe, She asked of one of the men that the tree be cut down. "Madam", he replied, "the tree is a monxoment to the spirit of manhood of this commtinity who will not tolerate crimes against their women folks. What was done here last night was done for you and for every woman and girl in Warren County," This viev/ v/as concL\rred in by Mrs. E, P. Shaw, of Vicksburg, To her this maple tree was "a monument to our young manhood and we women and girls should stand behind men in a thing like this." Case 6 A Straggler Strangled at Jonesville Jonesville, Louisiana, in Catahoula Parish, has a population of 1,029, a large majority of whom are v/hite. In 1907 a cotton gin belonging to a Capt, J. W, Swaynzoe was burned down at Jonesville, "and the following night two Negroes were hanged to a pecan tree within the tovm limits for the crime. "^ They were Sam Jones and Arthur Gardner, Press reports at the time stated that a third Negro v/as shot for the same offense, but the investigator 5, This case is taken from a report sent in by a former Graduate student of the University of North Carolina, •JC-r 311 could not verify the statement. Nor was he able to find out why the Negroes v/ere charged with the burning of the gin. Information from those who remember the affair at all is to the effect that a small niomber of men did the lynching before the people in general knev/ what was happening, and it seems that no one v/as interested to the extent of inquiring how the Negroes were knovai to be guilty. The general attitude seems to have been that those who hanged the Negroes must have had some reason for doing so, and that it did not matter particularly just what this reason was. Apparently this attitude as regards the im- portance of the Negroes life and of his place in the community has changed but little since that time, A resident of the town states that the Negroes and the whites get along fine in Jonesville "as long as the Negro stays in his place", but when he takes some "biggety" or "radical" move the whites "don't mind waiting on him". Generally speaking the Negro respects the whites and the whites "have a feeling of guardianlsm and protection" for the Negro just so long as he "acts as a Negro should". The little chores and gardening jobs around the white's homes are usually done by some "Uncle Charlie" or "Aunt Susie", or even a young Negro boy or girl. The merchants don't mdnd crediting a Negro if they know him any more than a white man "and in many cases they had rather". But they don't like Negro strangers and stragglers in Jonesville, 312 Such a memlDer of the Black Ulysses tribe came to tov/n on or about August 30, 1919. He v/as not only a stranger and a straggler but he utterly and egregiously failed in that fundamental of all requirements: he did not "stay in his place"; and he did not "act as a Negro should". This vinknov/n Negro v;as found in the house of a Mr, Davis, '.Vhy he v;as there, of course, v/ill never be known* It may have been for the purpose of stealing food or clothes. If he had possessed intelligence enough to be "responsible" for his acts he would hardly have come for the purpose of attacking Mrs. Davis while her husband v/as there in the house with her. It is thought that he was in the house when the Davis couple entered, whereupon he hid under the bed in one of the rooms, St any rate Mrs. Davis v/as first to discover his presence whereupon she called her husband who had gone into another room. He came quickly with a shot gun and held it on the Negro until some neighbors could arrive. "A number of whites made up a gang, took the Negro to the outskirts of town and hanged him to the limb of a sycamore tree. He remained hanging there until late the following day v/hen he was taken down by some members of his race." The investigator v/as informed that "the person who tied the knot around the victim's neck was a Negro of v/ealth and high standing in Jonesville, He did it of his ov/n accord, too." The Negro is well liked by the whites of Jonesville, He said on the occasion of the lynching: "I will help hang any Negro that would step J13 so lov/ dov/n and mean as to try to do harm to any white lady in this town," Thus peaceful Jonesville where there is "a feeling of guardianlsm and protection" tov/ard the Negro had an outbreak of mob violence on this hot August night: An unknown straggler v/as strangled without being question- ed as to why he did not stay in his place and act as a Negro should. Case 7 The Lynching at y.'aco Texas The city of waco, Texas, is the county seat of McLennan County, Situated on the Brazos River, about half way between Dallas and Austin, it is the junction point of seven railways. The city is in a fertile agricult\iral region with grain and cotton as the chief products, and with nearly 200 manufacturing establish- ments, representing some 70 different industries. From a population of 14,445 in 1890, Waco had grown to be a city of 26,500 in 1910, The v/hite popu- lation in these 20 years had almost exactly doubled, v/hile the colored population had increased from 4,000 to 6,000 forming thus 23 per cent of the total population. Practically three-fourths of the population is native white of native parentage, Waco is well laid out. The streets are broad. 514 over 60 miles of them being paved in 1916, There was also an excellent sev/age system of 100 miles and a fine city owned water system, as v/ell as city parks of which the progressive citizens were justly proud. There v/ere 39 white and 24 colored chiirches: Baptist 14; Methodist, 9; Christian, 4; Presbyterian, 3; Jewish, 2; Evangelistic, Ij Lutheran, 1; Catholic, 1; Christian Science, 1; and the Salvation Army, 1, The colleges are: Baylor University, Baylor Academy, the Catholic College, the Independent Biblical and Industrial School, all Y/hite; and the Central Texas College and Paul Qiuinn, colored colleges. High schools and National Banks were also as numerous in 1916 as was required for ample provision in these respects. Near the country town of Robinson, some six miles from \'/aco, lived a v±iite family of four - the Pryars - who ov/ned a small farm. This they cultivated themselves v/ith the help of a "hired man", a colored boy of 17, named Jesse Washington, Jess was a big, well- developed fellow, but ignorant, being unable either to read or write. His teacher, a college graduate, stated that she was unable to teach the boy to read or write. From other facts to be noted below, he was evidently feeble-minded. The Crime On Monday, May 8, 1916 while Mr, Fryar, his son of 14, and his daughter of 23, v/ere hoeing cotton in one 315 part of their farm, the Negro boy was plov/ing and sov/ing cotton seed near the house where Mrs. Fryar was alone. He went to the house for more cotton seed. As Mrs, Fryar was scooping them into the bag which the Negro held, she scolded him for beating the mules. He knocked her down with a blacksmith's hammer which he had placed nearby. Then, according to his later confession, he criminally assaulted her, after v/hich he killed her with the hammer. He threw the hammer into a nearby briar patch. In his confession he v/illingly told officers where it was. After committing the crime the Negro returned to the field, finished his v/ork, and went home v/here he lived in a small cabin v/ith his father, mother and several brothers and sisters. Vi/hen the murdered woman v/as discovered suspicion pointed to Jesse Washington, and he was found, after having eaten supper, sitting in his yard whittling a stick. He was arrested and immediately taken to jail in Waco. Just before midnight a mob, composed of Robinson people and farmers, visited the jail. They came in with about 30 automobiles, each crov/ded beyond capacity.^ There was no noise, no tooting of horns, the lights were dim, and some had no lights at all. They looked, but could not find the Negro who had been taken away to HlllsborOo There the sheriff obtained a full confession without any 6, These facts v/ere given by Vi'aco officers. 316 third degree methods, according to the lav/yers who de- fended Washington, A part of the mob v/ent to this county- seat to get the Negro, but he v/as again removed; this time to Dallas, Later a small group of business men from Waco gained the pledge of the Robinson people that they would not lynch the boy, provided the authorities v/ould act promptly, and if the criminal wou.ld vmive his legal rights to a change of venue and an appeal, A second confession in v/hich the Negro v/aived all legal rights was obtained in the Dallas jail. The Grand Juvj indicted him on Thursday, and the case was set for trial on Monday, May 15, Of course not all of the Robinson people v/ere in on the pledge made to the Waco business men, and, under stimulus of the nev/spapers, certain elements in and around '.Vaco became more and more excited as the day of the trial drev/ near, when the Negro would be brought back to Waco, On Sunday, at midnight, he v/as brought back and secreted in the office of the judge. There was practically no doubt whatever of his guilt, and even less doubt that on the next day, if the lav/ took its course, he would be tried, condemned and hanged. There had not been a lynching in Waco for 11 years, when in 1905, on August 8, Sank Majors v/as lynched for Rape, The news v/ent out that 7/ashlngton would be in Waco, ready for trial on Monday morning, and the crov/d began to gather in from the surrounding country on Sunday, When court opened Monday morning, according to 317 rough estimates, 1,500 crov/ded into the court room - the capacity of which is about 1/3 that number - while 2,000 waited outside. The district judge of the criminal court elb07/ed his way through the crowd to the desk. The Negro was brought in from the Judge's office where he had remained secreted since the sheriff brought him from Dallas in the middle of the night. His entrance was a tense moment, the attention of the entire group centered directly upon him, and "emotions ran high". As the jurors v/ere called, members of the crowd yelled, "We don't need any juryj" The trial was a hurried affair, for, although six lawyers defended Washington, and his confession was questioned and debated, the jury had been out three minutes and returned by 11:22 A, M, with the follov/ing verdict: "V/e, the jury, find the defendant guilty of murder as charged in the indictment and assess his punishement as death." (Signed), W. B. Brazelton, fore- man, "Is that yovir verdict, gentlemen?" asked Judge Munroe. "Yes" was the answer; and as the defendant had waived all legal rights, there v/as no appeal, and he was to hang at three that afternoon. The Lynching There was a pause of a full minute while the judge made the entry: "May 15, 1916: Jury verdict of guilty." Meanwhile the court stenographer, according to his later statement, knowing v/hat v/as soon to happen. 318 slipped back of the sheriff and out of the room, "The sheriff slipped out too", says the court stenographer* The sheriff claimed that he was under no further obligations after he had brought the defendant to the court room safely. At the end of this tense minute of absolute quiet, a big tall 7/aco citizen, driver of an Annheuser brewery truck, yelled from the back of the court room, "Get the nigger." The mob surged forv/ard and took the Negro be- fore the court could pronounce judgment. They rushed him dovm the back stairs into the crowd outside and tied him with a chain to an automobile. The chain was put into his mouth "so he would not choke too soon". Many had come a long way "to attend this part and they didn't v/ant it to end in a minute". Everybody seemed happy; they shouted and sang like a bunch of fans at a ball game, according to a 7/aco paper. The Negro's clothes were cut up and distributed as souvenirs. Somebody cut off one of his ears. The Waco Times Herald published the same afternoon said, "On the way to the scene of the burning people on every hand showed their feelings in the matter by striking the Negro v/ith anything obtainable; some struck him with shovels, bricks, clubs, and others stabbed him and cut him until when he was strung up his body v/as a solid color of red, the blood of the many wounds inflicted covered him from head to foot," They took Washington to a tree on the City Hall 319 lawn just outside the window which the Mayor shared with the photographer to whom we are indebted for pictures of the scene, A chain was throvm over the limh of this tree, and while the fire was being lit, the bloody victim was drawn up from the ground. As the chain tightened around his neck, he reached up to grab it and his fingers were cut off, A member of the mob unsexed the Negro, To quote agains from the Times Herald; "Fingers, ears, pieces of clothing, toes, and other parts of the negro's body were cut off by members of the mob that had crowded to the scene as if by magic when the word that the negro had been taken in charge by the mob vms heralded over the city. As the smoke rose to the heavens, the mass of people, ntimbering in the neighborhood of 10,000, crowding the City Hall lawn and overflov/ing the square, hanging from the windov/s of buildings, viewing the scene from the tops of buildings and trees, set up a shout that was heard blocks away. Onlookers were hanging from the windows of the City Hall and every other building that command- ed a sight of the burning, and as the negro's body commenced to burn, shouts of delight went up from the thousands of throats, and apparently everybody de- monstrated in some way their satisfaction,.," The body of the Negro v/as burned to a crisp, and was left for some time smoulderir-g in the remains of the fire, "Women and children who desired to view the scene were given a chance to do so, the crov/ds parting to let 320 them look on", says the newspaper account. One man who held his little son on his shoulder where he could get a good view, said later: "My son can't learn too young the proper way to treat a rdgger," By 12:00 o'clock the crov/d began to disperse. About an hour later a cowboy v/ho had ridden in off the range tied the remains (as shown by picture No, 4) of the Negro and rode over town with the skeleton dangling at the end of his lariat. He then rode out to Robinson and back to Waco, still dragging the skeleton, Hov; it was finally disposed of is not known. It is said to have been throvm into an ash can. The links of the chain with which the criminal was hanged, as well as his teeth, were sold as souvenirs by some small boys. The small town and country people from around 7/aco went back home. By Saturday hardly a person wanted to talk of the lynching. The people were again busy; life was going on in the normal v/ay. Newspaper men, lawyers and judges thought the best thing to do was to "forget it". Soon afterwards the photographer v/ho made the follov/ing photographs of the affair, vn?ote a letter to one Y/ho inquired about the pictures saying, "V/e have quite selling the mob photos. This step was taken because our 'City dads' objected on the grounds of 'bad publicity', As v/e wanted to be boosters and not knockers, we agreed to stop all sales," "Fix it up as well as you can for Waco" said an ex-mayor to a reporter from another city, "and make 321 Picture 1. THE CRO^^IVD AT WACO /■r7^r-A #7^^- 322 Picture 2. THE BURKING I'f7^7 D % . T Picture 3. ONLOOKERS 323 /^^^7'S Picture 4. AFTER THE BURNING 324 325 them understand that the better thinking men and women of Waco were not in it." The Philadelphia Press discussed Texas, Russia, Turkey and Germany in the same editorial, and pointed out that primitive red Indians could not have outdone the Texas Mob. Commenting upon the headline: "Over 15,000 men, women and children see Negro boy lynched in Texas", the Chicago Evening Post remarked: "This, if v/e remember rightly, is the noble State that is always hollering to be allowed to 'clean up barbarous Mexico'", Mrs, Fryar and a Negro moron ?;ere gone; and by a busy world soon forgotten. Case 8 Mob Action at Princeton, '.vest Virginia: The Lynching of Robert JohnsonV According to the records there has been only one lynching, at least during the past 45 years, in Mercer County, West Virginia, The only information which we have on the case is the report by Oppenheira, It is too late now to verify the facts as stated, or to deny them. In the light of cases given above the report is stiggestive, and is given here for v/hat it is worth. 7, Adapted from the report of a personal investigation by James Oppenheira, "The Independent", Vol, 73, (1912) pp» 823-827. 326 In 1912 Bluefield West Virginia was "a rail- road yard v/ith houses all around it," Its iiiain street looked down on coal cars and sv/itch engines and up on the other side at splendid cliffs on the top of which were immense billboards advertising talcum pov/der and the Appalachian Power Company, The latter sign, il- liiminated and in motion, dominated the tv/inkling valley by night. Seventeen hundred people dwelled there in an atmosphere of soot, among the white vapor, the trundling of wheels, the alarm of bells and the incessant sound of escaping steam. The little valley is distributing center for the adjacent coal region, and necessarily Bluefield was a town of workers; a tov/n of railroad and coal men, with the shops, hotels, jails, churches and saloons that de- pended upon them. Life died there with sundown for those inhabitants v/ho were not drawn to the bars, the prayer-meetings and the moving pictures, Bluefield had a fascinating human mixture, reminis- cent of border days; there v/ere the natives, the lanky lovable Virginians; there Y/ere the Yanlcees and '/Westerners; a few Slavs and Germans and Italians; a non-descript shifting populations of rough laborers; and, an immense number of Negroes, In fact there were so many Negroes that the county was divided in its government; the Judge, for instance, being a Republican, the prosecuting attorney a Democrat, The investigator v/as reminded further of border days by the tales of the feuds, and the swift 327 pulling of guns and the assassination of citizens. It was undoubtedly the presence of the Negro that gave the town some of its dominant characteristics. There was a sharp social cleavage, a sharp industrial cleavage, as well as political division. The white Railroad workers, objected to doing teamv/ork with Negro firemen; and socially the Negro was shut into his own part of town, A member of the local government said to the investigator: "We lost a great war, and saw our ignorant nigger slaves put in power over us and our women insult- ed. Every spot in the South has its woman or two brand- ed for life. And the worst riff-raff of the North came down to lord it over us. What could we do? Our only way to win back power was through o\ir Ku KItix Klan - through lynch law. There was no other law to help us. And nov/ the niggers must be kept do\vn. I'm a humanitarian all right, but the nigger must know his place," As one of the ministers put it: "There is no trouble so long as they know their place, I've preached in their churches for them; and I 'm friendly as anyone to them. You know vie have a colored institute down here where they are giving the niggers training. That bunch is all right. You can phone over there and a fellow will drop his book of Latin or Algebra and come over and scrub the floors for you. That's the proper spirit," A few days before the time in question, at 328 Princeton, a town ten miles away, the rumor went forth that a Negro had insulted a white woman. He escaped unpunished, as there was no evidence against him. Just the same "White Womanhood" had been "in- sulted", and feeling ran high for a day or so, then began to subside. Such is a sketchy outline preceding the morning of September 4, 1912, Gordon White v/as a construction foreman in the railroad yards, a stocky back-bent mountaineer, quiet and passionate, very pleasant with his neighbors, but hard on the Negroes, He believed "in drlvin' the niggers with a v/hip and sweatin* the work out of them, for "they are a good-for-nothin« lazy lot," He had a neat house on Caroline Avenue, and here, recently he had lived alone v/ith his daughter Neta, his v/ife being away on a visit to his other children in Virginia, Nita was 16; an attractive, blossoming girl, with the hearty mountaineer freshness and vitality, and, as one of the policemen put it, "with more than the usual run of nerve," She worked alone in the house while her father was in the yards. He left her, as usual, at seven on the morning of September 4th, At a quarter to nine Neta flung open one of the sitting room windov^s and screamed for help. Neighbors rushed in and found her lying on the floor in a "distraught condition", A doctor was called and found that beyond the shock, the girl had not been harmed, the assailant, - if there had been one - probably fleeing when the dog began to bark. One who 329 saw her two weeks later stated that there v/as hardly evidence even of shock; she seemed sparkingly alert and animated, though there were times, the doctor said, when she was seized v.ith nervous chills and the mention of the word "nigger" sometimes brought these on. The story which she told was as follows: At about 7:30 there was a knock at the front door. She opened it and a Negro stepped in. She thought she had seen this Negro before; that he had called several weeks previously to get a coat for her father. This time he said that her father had sent him for the tape-line, Neta turned to the stair-case; whereupon the Negro seized her and attempted to stifle her cries by forcing a large bandana handkerchief into her mouth. At the same time he dragged her into the sitting room. She screamed, hov/ever, and was answered by the loud barking of the dog in the basement. She lost con- sciousness then, and when she awoke, crawled desperately to the windov;, raised it, and called for help. In spite of the speed and excitement of the occurrence she gave a vivid description of her assailant. He was quite black, about five and a half feet tall, medium slender, heavy moustache, looked as if he had a week's growth of beard, dressed in overall jacket, light hat, blue overalls with bib coming over breast, v/ore watch chain across breast to pocket in overalls, dark or dirty shirt, had red bandana handkerchief, and low cut shoes. 330 About nine o'clock, then, the alarm was given, and soon citizens and officers, afoot, on horseback and in automobiles were making a search of the vicinity. Two Negroes were arrested, Walter Jackson and Robert Johnson. Suspiction immediately attached to the latter. Although he did not tally v/ith the description - he wore black trousers, a fresh shirt, and a small growth on his upper lip in place of a moustache, and he was a large, heavy fellow - yet he "spoke between his teeth" and showed great sullenness, refusing at first to answer questions. According to the statements of several who were present, "he had a guilty look about him", and as one discerning citizen put it: "Now he mightn't a done the crime; but there's no doubt in my mind that the nigger did do something." Questioned by the local magistrate, however, he said he had come to Bluefield that morning from Graham, a village three miles distant; that as his underwear and shirt were in a soiled condition, he stopped at a store and bought a new set; and that he had then gone to a cornfield not far from the White house and there made the change. He had previously been working at Jaeger, and had come over to Graham in box-cars, Johnson v/illingly took officers to the cornfield and the clothing v/as found. Then he and Jackson v/ere taken to the V/hite house in an automobile. The father was nov/ at home in a frenzied condition, but not so far gone but that he could precede the suspects to his 331 daughter's room and assure her, before witnesses: "Neither of them niggers ever v/orked for me. They ain't got the right man." The Negroes v/ere brought in, and Neta failed to Identify either. After further questioning, however, she thought possibly Johnson "reminded" her of the assailant, but the assailant had been dressed different- ly, YvTiereupon the two Negroes v/ere taken back to jail, and the search continued. In the meantime the news spread throiigh the town, excitement grew, and "something had to be done". Doubt- less the police felt this, for v/hat they next preceded to do v/as quite amazing. They made Johnson put his dirty clothes back on, then took from another Negro overalls Y/ith a watch chain across the breastj and these, too, were put on Johnson. In other words, they dressed him to fit the description. According to one v/itness, Johnson then cried out: "I'm ruined - now I'm ruined." It vms late in the day nov/ and the streets were filled with excited crov/ds. The officers took Johnson in the automobile through the main thorofare. By this time Neta v/as in a bad nervous condition, a condition bordering on hysteria. And when Johnson v/as brought into her bedroom she threv/ up her hands and shrieked: "That's the manj that's the manl" At once the officers put Johnson in the automobile again, and breaking the speed limJ.t, shot through the tovm, and away to the town of Princeton, ten miles off. 332 This vms a bold advertisement to all of Bluefield that the "rapist" had been caught. A great crowd set off at once to lynch the prisoner. Of course Princeton v/as "ripe for exciteicen-lf^'^ The Negro v/ho vms supposed to have insulted a v/hite v/oman v/as remembered, A great crowd surrounded the jail; the sheriff v/as disarmed; a search v/as made inside, but Johnson had been "spirited" away to some other hding point, presumably to Berkley. After waiting nearly all night the crowd dispersed, and Princeton quited doT/n» The following headlines appeared in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph the next morning: Negro Fiend Attacks Bluefield Girl and Entire City is Stirred as Never Before, - Prompt Action by Officers and Citizens Results in Capture of Man Be- lieved to be Guilty One... iinraged Citizens Gather to Wreak Vengeance on Negro accused of the Crime, Hov/ever, the Daily Telegraph pointed out in its nev/s colujnn that there was some doubt that the right man had been caught, and counseled further search. But evidently few of the Princetonians had any doubts; for, learning that morning that Jolinson was in the tov/n of Rock with tv/o police officers, a crowd of railroad men asked the railroad officials for the loan of a special train to give chase. The loan was refused them, whereupon the men "took" a road engine and two coal cars and hurried av/ay for Rock, They v/ere a bit late, however, for the officers had again attem.pted to move the prisoner. They side-tracked the train and v/ent on afoot, on trail of the officers and prisoner, who v/ere 333 soon overtaken. The officers v/ere "intimidated", end the prisoner brought back to Princeton on a freight train. The train reached Prioeton at 7:30 P, M, But the news had preceded its arrival and an enormous crowd, many members of which no doubt were from Bluefield, swayed around the depot. This crowd followed the rail- road men and Johnson to the courthouse. They v/ere met here by Judge Maynard, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Ross and the Rev, Dr, Hamilton, Neta VvTiite's pastor. Judge Maynard blocked the doorway and made him- self heard. He said that there v/as considerable doubt about the identity of the Negro, and. Indeed there was. There is absolutely no legal evidence that Johnson com- mJLtted the crime, nor even that such a crime v/as com- mitted. There is merely the word of a sixteen-year-old girl who could not identify Johnson the first time he was brought before her, and only accused him when he v/as dressed to fit her description; a girl who said seriously that she lay an hour and a half in a faint, who stated that a bandanna had been stuffed in her mouth, a bandanna not aftery;ards found on the premises. As for Johnson, legally he had an alibi proved by himself, by the father and daughter. He may in some strange and inexplicable way have been guilty, but v/hat evidence did they have that he v/as guilty? V/hat they did have all tended to establish his innocence. These questions were never asked, much less answered; (1) Had 334 Johnson ever v/orked for Gordon V/Tiite? (2) W'hj did Neta l/\'hite allow her assailant in the house if she did not knov/ him? and if she knev/ him so v/ell that she recalled his coming a couple of weeks previously, why was it so hard for her to identify him a few hoiirs later? (3) If Johnson never worked for Gordon V'lTiite how could he so soon master the following facts: that Neta was alone at home; that V»hite was in the habit of sending for various articles; that he might send for such a thing as a tape-line? (4) Had Johnson been v/ork- ing, as he said, at Jaeger? (The investigator was told, but this was hearsay, that the Jaeger time-books prove this. The fact could easily have been ascertained), (5) If Johnson had been guilty would he have so willing- ly shown liis captors where he had discarded his dirty clothes? And is it conceivable that he would have lingered so near the scene of the crime when he made the change of clothes? Judge Maynard pledged a speedy trial, promising that he would convene court the next morning. He pleaded with the mob, doubtless vrfLth much sincerity, and finally introduced R, Hamilton, who said in part: I am not here to save this negro. This young woman wo was attacked is a member of ray Sunday School. A few months ago I stood at the altar and received her into my church. She is a bright sweet girl and is as close to m.e almost as one of my own family. If this prisoner did what he is charged with, he ought to die, and I care not how soon. I am not here to save the negro, but to save this sv/eet girl from, a serious responsibility. She must say the v/ord that v/ill mean life or death to him. If it should t'orn out that she 335 is mistaken it would be a terrible memory for her to bear through life, I am not trying to save this negro, but to save you men from a terrible mistake, if it be a mistake and to save you from a crime, for it is a crime to take the law in your own hands. In short, it must be said that the officials of the county and the girl's pastor met the issue courageously and squarely. And their v/ords had such effect that the judge was able to swear in members of the mob as de- puties to protect Johnson in the jail. The prisoner v/as then placed in a cell and the crowd began to disperse. At this point Neta 'ifvliite's father arrived in an automobile from Bluefield for the purpose of "identifying the man" - this, after his positive statement the day before that no such man had ever worked for him. Ac- cording to '(rliTiite him.self : "I was took into the jail, and there was niggers in different cells, I seen Johnson in one of them, and the minute I set eyes upon him I knowed he v/as guilty, I knowed it, I just knov/ed it, I could tell by the v/ay he looked. And v/hen he seed me lookirg at him. he says, 'Boss, I never v/orked for you, did I, now?' But I give him a look, like this, and I passed on around to the other cells. And then I come back to Johnson and I give him a look again, and I knowed it was he I just knoY/ he was guilty. Any- way, I done as v/ell as any man could in the circum.stances, I blame them, I blame them for taking me over there when I was crazy v/ild. Of course if I'd a had two days to cool dov7n inj But I hadn^t slept a v^ihk the night before, V/liy did he say 'I'm ruined' v/hen they put the 336 other nigger** clothes onto him? .... I'm just sure he was guilty. Couldn't look at me in the eyes, he couldn't. I seed it the minute I got sight of him... So I said it was he and I said I v/anted him lynched,,". Now suddenly the large crowd changed into a seeth- ing mob, members of v/hich leaped after the Negro, He screamed to the officers begging them to kill him, to shoot him, not to let him fall into the hands of the mob. Many hands dragged him and beat him; "and a great hoT/ling spread over the street, like so many wild animals aroused in the jungle; and there were curses and screams and shrieks, and the eddying and surging and clashing of many bodies; and in the center, gradually working down the electric-lit street, the screaming Negro. Knives were jabbed into him, he was stoned and beaten with clubs. Then a chain was put around his neck and they tried to hang him to a trolley support and failed. Next a man climbed a telephone pole with the chain, the Negro was raised up, shots were fired into the body, and the crowd paraded round and round, yelling and shotting and mutilating." In less than 48 hours the Bluefield Daily Tele- graph printed the following headlines: "Not Certain that Mob Victim Was the Guilty Man. County Official Bases Grave Doubts on Train of Circumstances," The Governor, of course, was aroused and asked for action; the prosecut- ing attorney and Judge Maynard began work at once; the grand jury was convened, but no indictments were found. I t 337 As one of the citizens put it: "The nigger's dead; we can't bring him to life again. Quiet has been restored. What's the use of making more trouble?" Another expressed the opinion that no jury in that region would find any man guilty in a lynching affair. One of the officials said to the investigator "in grave earnestness": "The whole thing was wrong and the guilty parties ought to be brought to justice, i^d I'm going to help to bring them to justice. I can't tell you now badly I feel about it. For why didn't they lynch him in the regular way - between midnight and dawn, v/ith masks, and no fuss about it? But this way it's a disgrace to the town, and it's called us all into notice. Dov/n south of us you never hear tell of a lynching. And why? Just because they've got the sense to follow the old traditions." I saw the effect of the lynching upon old man White, says Oppenhelm. I saw him two weeks after he had sentenced Robert Johnson to death because he "just seed he was guilty". He sat in a low rocker in the sitting room where the attempt at assault had been made; he was in his stocking feet, his great shock of dark hair stood startllngly up from his wrinkled forehead; and his face had the sort of expression I have seen among the insane on Randall's Islarri. . The eyes were burning bright. And he could not be still a moment. Though several of us talked across the room, he did not listen to us, but continually broke in, in a 338 harsh, lov/ voice, repeating monotonously: "I just know he was guilty. V^hy did he say I'm ruined' when they put the overalls on him?" And again: "I done the right thing and I knov/ it. All the people here know I done the right thing," And over and over again: "I blame them. They shouldn't a taken me over that night," Case 9 The Person County Lynching While in a majority of lynchings the guilt of the victim is not questioned, it is probable that the Negro hanged and shot in Bluefield was not guilty. If courts, after longer deliberation, make mistakes it is hardly to be doubted that mob members are at times in error concerning the guilt of their victim. The follow- ing case, for example, indicates that an innocent Negro was lynched in North Carolina in 1920, and shows the danger of quick action based upon circumstantial evidence. On July 7, 1920, Ed Roach was taken from the Person County jail, at Roxboro, and hanged to a church- yard tree. His body v/as then riddled with bullets. The Negro was accused of attacking a v/hite woman near Mount Tersa station that afternoon between two and three o'clock. Roach v/as employed by a Roxboro contractor. The follov/ing 339 statement signed by his employer and published in the Raleigh Times on July 12, strongly indicates the Negroes Innocence: ....V-Tien this negro v.-as lynched as innocent a man was murdered as could have been, had you or I been the victim of the mob ••• Roach v/as working for me and was a quiet, hard-v;orking, inoffensive, humble negro. On Monday he came to me and stated that he was sick and wanted to go with me to Durham that night to see a doctor. Instead I arranged for him to go Tuesday night to Roxboro. He continued his v/ork all day Tuesday until 5:30 (bear in mind that the crime for which he was lynched occurred between two and three o'clock that afternoon), when he asked permission of his fore- man to stop and go to Mount Tersa station to catch the train for Roxboro. Permission v/as given him and he left for the station walking. At 5:45 he passed the State's bridge crev/ (white men), and two men who were out searching for the guilty negro saw him and follow- ed him up the road to Mount Tersa station, where he sat down and waited for the train, 'These two men sat dov/n on the railroad near him. ?/hen the train came he got on and paid the conductor his fare to Roxboro, and got off the train there. He v/as not arrested until he go off the train. I am advised by the chief of police that he asked what they had him for and told them he had not done anything, but he was not told utnil he got in jail v/hat they had him. for. He asked 340 to be taken to my office to see my superintendent with whom he had arranged to carry him to the doctor, but permission was refused him,,,, A negro man about Roach's size canie to my camp on Sunday night, was employed on Monday and v;ent to work Tuesday morning. About 8:15 A, M. he drove my team out to the side of the road and had been gone twenty-five minutes v/hen my foreman missed him. My foreman took out one of the mules and went to look for him, saw him going up the road towards Mt, Tersa, the Negro saw him. and broke and rvm over on the east side of the railroad, going tov/ards Lynchburg, This was about 10:30 A, M, Tuesday morning and in approximately three-quarters of a mile of the scene of the crime. This man v/as dressed practically the same as Ed Roach, y/ith cap and overalls, was about the same size, but a little darker in color,,,, I make this statement in the interest of truth and justice, yet with the full knov/ledge of the odiiim I am bringing down upon my own head in doing so, but with the hope that this fearful crime may so shock our people as to make its like again an impossibility, •« 341 Case 10 The Ell Person Lynching In Chapter VII it was stated that there have been six lynchings in Shelby County, Tennessee, since 1900, This ntunber included tv/o Negroes lynched for attempted rape and one for rape before 1917, During this year, on May 22, Ell Person was lynched for alleged rape and murder. Three months later a Negro was lynched near Memphis charged with larceny. The six lynchings mentioned also included one in 1927 for alleged attempted attack on a v/hite v/oman. To this number must be added two other mob victims, thus making the total for Shelby County at least eight. According to a report in the New York Times of February 3, 1903 a man and his wife v/ere burned at Memphis. One Incident in connection with the lynching is strikingly similar to an incident that occurred 14 years later - the forcing of a Negro boy to witness the burning. The follov/ing is quoted from the Times: A colored man, Luther Herbert, and his v/lfe were burnt at the stakes at Memphis, Tennessee, for murdering a white man. Before the mob separated seven Negroes had been done to death. The sixteen-year-old son of the colored couple was forced to attend and witness the burning. The case of the burning of Ell Person near Memphis on May 22, 1917 is given belov/ at length. It shov/s how the members of a community were gradually brought to a state 342 of high emotionality through continued publicity; how, from such uncertainty concerning the guilt of a Negro that he was twice turned loose by officers, the mob came to be so certain of his guilt that they burned him; hov/, in the face of a public announcement beforehand, the officers made apparently no attempt to stop the lynching; hOY/ mob members treated the name of the sheriff as a joke at the lynching. The case also indicates the part played by women - that a woman said burn the Negro, and that many said, "they burned him too quickly." The case as given is adapted from a report by James //eldon Johnson, which was taken directly from the Memphis papers. Re- porters from several different papers "covered" the affair. At least three of them were eye-witnesses to the burning and their vivid descriptions are significant, and, apparently, fairly accurate. On Monday, April 30, near six o'clock, Antoinette Rappal, 16 years old, got on her bicycle to go to school. She lived with her mother on the outskirts of Memphis, and it v;as her custom to ride her bicycle two and a half miles down the Macon Road to the house of her uncle, William Wilfong, each morning and there wait for the wagonette which carried her to the Treadv/ell School on Highland Heights, six miles from her home. She never retiirned. On Wednesday, May 2, the "Memphis Press" printed 343 a story of the missing girl under the headline, "Y;ar Lures Girl of 15 to Leave", and containing an account of Antoinette's oft expressed desire to join the Red Cross. The girl's mother was reported as believing her daughter had left home for that purpose. The Memphis papers of Ihuj-sday, May 3, published accounts of the finding of Antoinette in the 7;olf River bottoms. The girl's head had been severed from the body with an axe. The only clues were: Dents of an ax in the soft ground, filled with blood; a man's white hand- kerchief with the corners torn off, and fresh automobile tracks nearby. Later, the detectives found a white vest or coat near the scene of the murder. The theory held by the police was that the crime had been committed by two men. This theory was held because Antoinette was strong and athletic, weighing 130 pounds, and because the position of her body indicated that more than one man had abused and slain her. Suspicion fell on Negro wood choppers, a number of whom worked in the vicinity. One of these was arrested but was released v/hen his v/hite employer testified that he had been at v/ork all day on the date of the crime. The papers of Thxirsday morning also carried an account of an attack on a white v/oman by two unicnown white men, who got av/ay. On Thursday night Sheriff Tate arrested a deaf and dumb Negro named Dewitt Ford, who claimed to have witnessed the tragedy. Ford was taken to the scene and there he went through a detailed pantomime of the crime. 344 and accused Dan Armstrong, a Negro timber cutter, of being tiae criminal. Ford also went through his panto- mime at police headquarters, taking a photograph of the girl and a cardboard ax made by the newspaper men and showing hov/ the head had been chopped off and thrown to one side, Armstrong was arrested, but P, 0. Stockley, his white employer, clearly established that he reported to him for work at six o'clock Monday morning and had worked all day; so Armstrong v/as released. The Memphis papers of Saturday, May 5, reported that the city detective force did not agree v/ith the sheriff's office on the theory of the crime. The detectives held that the crime had been committed by a white man. They suspected a "queer acting" white man dressed in white duck. The following paragraphs are from the "Memphis Press" of May 5th: Detectives and Sheriff Split of Case Detectives are near the breaking point v/ith sheriff Tate, on the ^appal murder mystery. Although no official cognizance has been taken of any impending break between the sheriff's forces and the detective department, murmurs of unrest are emanating from the city sleuths, ,,, City Detectives Brunner and Hoyle, who have had long experience v/ith criminals of all sorts, particular- ly Negroes, admit that the right man may be in Jail now. But they have theories v/hich have some substantiation that the murder was committed by a v/hite m.an who, they believe, was mentally deranged. The detectives have not been given free rein in the case. They have oeen detailed to -.vork under Tate's direction, ,., Other old and experienced detectives have express- ed the same idea about the crime that Brunner and Hoyle hold. 345 The follov/ing paragraphs regarding the break between the city detective force and the sheriff *s office on the theory of the case are from the "Com- mercial Appeal" of May 5th: Detectives on Case Brunner and Hoyle, city detectives, viho were assigned to assist the sheriff's office in investigat- ing the Rappal murder mystery, have thus far kept their discoveries to themselves. It is understood at detective headquarters that they are working on the theory that a white man, and not a Negro, may have com- mitted the crime. There are some circvunstances that bear out this theory. The girl's bicycle, when it was found, v/as leaning against a tree only a hundred feet or so from the bridge and the public road. The basket in front contained her school apron, her books, a package of lunch and a small bouquet of flov/ers. The officers argue that if the girl had been seized as she was riding that these articles would have been thrown from the basket, and the wheel v/ould probably have been dragged away and thrown out of sight, .,, A handkerchief v/as found nearby. It did not be- long to the girl. Yesterday the sheriff found a v/liite coat, such as barbers or v/aiters wear. It v/as some distance away and bore no bloodstain. No Negro, it is argued, would have such a coat. Few Negroes of the class to which the tv/o suspects who are in custody be- long ever carry a v/hite handlcerchief , The theory held by the detectives was given some substantiation when it was learned that a "queer acting" v/hite man dressed in v/hite duck had been seen in Wood- stock, a neighboring town, tv/elve hours after the com- mission of the crime. The account of this "strange" man was given as follows in the "Memphis Press": Authorities are seeking a white man, clad in v/hite duck coat and trousers, as the ax fiend v/ho assaulted and beheaded little Antoinette Rappal, 15-year-old school girl last Monday morning. They had his trail up to Mon- day night, 12 hours after the murder. The man they are hunting v/as seen in '.Voodstock at that time. The search for a white-clad nan began yesterday afternoon, v/hen the sheriff's posse and detectives found a white duck vest near the scene of the murder. On information telephoned to Chief of Detectives John M. Couch, this morning, by Station Agent J. H, 346 Blaine, of Woodstock, Sheriff Tate arranged by tele- phone to have all station agents watch out for the white-clad man. Sheriff Tate said he thought a trip to Woodstock was useless. He said the phone served as well as a trip and was quicker. The trail at '.Voodstock was cold, he thought, because the suspect last had been sighted Monday night, a few hours after the murder, Blaine 'phoned that his night telegraph operator, M, I, Druggitt, talked with an apparently crazy man, shortly after 6 o'clock Monday night. The man was a stranger, and wore v/hite duck coat and trousers. He acted queer ly, pacing back and forth in the depot. Finally, he came to Druggitt 's chair and leaned over, as the operator v/as taking a message, "\\liat do you want?" Druggitt asked him, "Nothing, nothing", was the answer. "I'm going to Newbern to marry her," Druggitt turned his attention to his instrument for a moment, '.Vhen he looked around, the stranger was gone© No trace of hira has been reported since. The "white man" theory of the detectives gained such strength that Chief Couch obtained legal permission to disinter the body of the victim in order to photo- graph the eyes of the dead girl in hope that the last object her eyes rested upon was the murderer and that his image v/ould be revealed. Publicity of the order for this gruesome operation and the reasons for grant- ing it were published in the "Memphis Press" of Llonday morning. May 7th, The following excerpts are from that account: The case had resolved itself into a scientific problem of crime education, A week had passed since the girl was slain. If the film of death is not too strong over her eyes, '.Vaggoner thinlcs he may be able to bring to light the features of the murderer. One other hope holds out from the disinterment. The matter beneath the finger nails of the dead girl will be examined, Antoinette was a sttirdy, strong girl, and detectives believe that she made a frantic fight for life, and scratch- ed her victim with her finger nails. Chemists easily can determine v/hether this skin 347 is white or black. This will be a big determining factor in the ultimate verdict the peace officers send in on the case. One man had been located who was present v/hen the body v/as found, who declares that she had tissue resembling white skin under her finger nails at the time her body was discovered. Indications, according to city detectives, point to the fact that Antoinette Rappal left the Macon road voluntarily, on the morning that she was murdered. ... The condition of the bicycle would point to the fact that the girl was not dragged from the embankment from her wheel, for the bicycle is not scratched, nor marked as though it had been dragged. Sleuths say it looks as though it had been placed carefully against the clump of swamp willows where it v/as found. Certainly no white girl would permit a Negro to lure her into such a place, the detectives reason. A white man, known to her, would excite no such suspicion in her mind. Detectives vow that criminal assault v/as not the only motive, ... They are backed in their white man theory by Dr. Lee A, Stone, resigned head of the Associated Charities, and local practicing physician. Dr. Stone claims that the deed unquestionably is the crime of a white man. He terms the man a necrophilia - one v/hose object v/ould first be the death of the victim. He also stated that in medical history certain abnormal men have been found who first kill their victims. Such cases are quite numerous in criminal annals. Dr. Stone says: "It is practically a certainty that this terrible crime has been committed by a white man." On S\inday, May 6, Ell Person and George Know, two Negro v/oodchoppers, v/ere arrested on suspicion. The clue leading to Person's arrest is stated in the follow- ing paragraph clipped from the Memphis "Scimitar" of Monday afternoon. May 7th: As ax, bearing suspicious stains, which deputies found at the home of L. Persons, a Negro living a half mile from the scene of the murder, was tiirned over to City Chemist Mantel for examJ.nation by Sheriff Tate, Monday. He v/ill endeavor to ascertain if the stains v;ere made by human blood. Persons is locked up in jail. On Tuesday morning the Memphis papers announced that Ell Person had confessed to being the slayer of Antoinette Rappal, Person, with other suspects, had 548 been in tlie sheriff's custody twice before, and twice had convinced the officers that he knew nothing of the crime. But the girl's uncle, William Wilfong, was not satisfied. After Person's second release, Wilfong and his brother-in-law, Gus Hanky, themselves seized Person and turned him over again to the sheriff, Hov/ Wilfong had his suspicion against Person aroused and how he came to be convinced of his guilt is thus related in the "Memphis Press": E. J. Brooks, of Berkeley, Tenn, , is the first man to accuse Ell T. Persons of being the ax murderer v/ho chopped off the head of little Antoinette Rappal, on the morning of April 30, Together with Chief John Sailors, of Bingharaton, he connected the links in the chain of evidence against the Negro, and laid his findings before Sheriff Tate, This morning Brooks told, in simple but dramatic language, the story of hov/ he v/as led to accuse Persons, This Negro was working for m.e last February, and had been for eight months'^ said Brooks, One morning, early in February, he v/as busy churn- ing, and my vrife was in the same room with him. All of a suddent he quit churning, sprang up, and began staring wildly at ivirs. Brooks, He was in a quiver all over, "I had a dream about you last night", he said, and as he spoke he made like he wanted to lunge at my v/lfe. She ran av/ay in a terrific fright, and told me how the Negro had acted. My first impulse was to put a hole in the fiend, but rather than cause any trouble, I fired the Negro and ordered him to stay away from my house, I wish now I had killed him. I have seen him off and on in the neighborhood several tim.es since, v/orking as a wood chopper, V/hen I first heard the nev/s of Antoinette being murdered, the thought flashed into my mind that the murderer v/as the same Negro v/ho had acted so strange before my wife. I took the matter up with Sheriff Tate. I told him how this Negro had done, and he ordered the black man arrested, but soon released him. Then it was that I took the matter in m.y own hands and determined to prove that I was right. Sailors, at Binghamton, Joined m.e, and we spent sleepless nights since last Thursday, on the trail of that Negro, He traced him to the bridge near v/here the crime 349 was committed until 6 o'clock Monday morning. Then v/e lost trace of him until 8:30, v/hen v/e found that he had applied at the home of J. G. Moffett, near Berkeley, for v/ork. This went to prove that v/e were on the trail of the right man. Then next we went after some clue as to his clothes* Sailors hired a Negro to scout around Person's house, and see what he could pick up. At midnight, Sunday, while exploring the premises of the murderer's house Sailors' Negro found a blood- stained pair of shoes under a stack of cornstalks. He also discovered a pair of trousers in Person's house which had been washed. They bore the xmmistakable signs of blood-stains near the bottom, Y/e gave the shoes and the trousers to the sheriff, Monday morning, continued Brooks, and he arrested the Negro again. This, of course, completed the evidence needed to mark Person as the guilty Negro, ,., The alleged confession of Ell Person v/as obtained by "third degree" methods. How these methods v/ere used on Person was thus told in the "Memphis Press"; There's Blood on Your Shoes The sheriff, with Brunner and Hoyle, past masters in the art of the third degree, cajoled, beat, whipped, threatened, pleaded, with the Negro to no avail. But finally, at the psychological moment, when the black man's resistance v/as worn to the breaking point. Detective Hoyle pointed suddenly to the Negro's shoes, "There's blood on your shoes nowj" he said, Sharp- ly, accusingly. Person faltered. He looked down. True enough, spots were on his shoes. Before he had time to gather his scattered wits. Sheriff Tate and Detective Brunner seized the clue, "The city chemist can tell if it is himan blood", said Tate, "Take off those shoes," Person complied. Tate and Brunner left the third degree room, taking the shoes with them, Hoyle remained with the prisoner. About an hour later Tate and Brunner returned, Hoyle had refrained from questioning Person, "It's human blood", Tate said dramatically, as he entered the room. Person's eyes widened. He shuffled lower in his chair. He gazed down at the floor, llien he half 350 whispered the words that cleared the most atrocious murder mystery in the history of this country. "I DID IT; I KILLED HER!" were Person's words. In the same issue of the same paper there appeared on the front page, printed in heavy-faced type, the following paragraph; No Blood Is on Clothes and ^ix City Chemist Mantell reported this afternoon that he had failed to find any blood on the trousers, shoes or ax of Ell Person, confessed murderer of Antoinette Rappal, The alleged confession of Person was annovmced in the morning papers of Tuesday, May 8. In the "Scimitar" of Tuesday afternoon. May 8, there appeared the following paragraphs relative to the results obtained after the disinterment of Antoinette Rappal 's body. Under the direction of Chief of Detectives Couch, Paul N. Waggoner, Bertillon expert of the police depart- ment, photographed the pupils of the murdered girl's eyes, in hope of obtaining an image of the m.urderer on the retina. An examination of the photograph under high power lenses reveals the image of an object that appears to be the upper part of a man's head. The forehead and hair seem to be plainly visible, but the features are in- distinct. Police say that the image is a likeness of Persons. The grand jury of Shelby County immediately in- dicted Person on the charge of murder in the first degree. ... Prom the moment of the publication of the alleged confession of Person, there v/ere threats of mob violence, and the prisoner was spirited away to the state penetentiary at Nashville, All that day a mob of 351 500 men surged around the jail in Memphis demanding that the hiding place of the prisoner be divulged. This mob would not be satisfied with the statement that Person was not in the jail. Finally, Chief Perry of the police force, addressed the mob and invited them to appoint a committee to search the jail, A committee of three from the mob searched the jail for an hour then announced to the crowd that Person v/as not there. The mob then vented its anger in denouncing the sheriff for sending the prisoner out of their reach. The mob spirit v/as fanned by "scarehead" articles on the frontpages of the papers, especially of the "Press". In the paragraphs quoted below from the "Press" it is worth while to note the less than delicate hint that in capital cases a certain amount of corroborative evidence must be submitted to the jury, even v/hen a prisoner pleads guilty, indicating that there was still a slight chance that Person might not be convicted. Add to this the information that though a change of venue were granted, the prisoner v.-ould have to be brought back to Memphis and be present in person in the local court to ask for the change. Add the still further in- formation that no militia could be called out. One Indictment No indictment for criminal assault, v/as retiirned against Person for the reason that officials have his confession to miirder, and are certain that the death 352 penalty will be inflicted. In capital cases, a certain amount of corrobo- rative evidence must be submitted to a jury, even v/hen a prisoner pleads guilty, as Person is expected to do. In case the defense should ask a change of venue, so the Negro's trial might be held in another county, it still will be necessary that Person be brought to the local courthouse. Under the law, when a change of venue is asked and granted, the prisoner must be in the court- room. No Militia The state militia is not subject to call, even though an appeal is made to Governor Rye for aid. The national guard of Tennessee nov/ is in the service of the United States government and is not subject to the governor's orders. The following published statement of the Attorney- General is also Y/orthy of attention: Attorney-General Hunter Wilson today declared against the third degree method of obtaining a confession, But he said the Person case is an exceptional one, and that any method of getting the brutal murderer to con- fess was justified, "Ordinarily, I v/ould not let a confession obtained by the third degree go to a jury", he said, "But this Rappal murder was so horrible that I think the officers were justified in the means they employed." The mob spirit continued to grow, yet no effort was made to let it be known that the officers v/ould uphold the law, i»o declaration of even the v/eakest kind was issued that mob violence would be resisted. 353 On May 15, Sheriff Tate mysterionsly disappear- ed from Memphis. The papers printed such scareheads as, "Sheriff Tate Reported Kidnapped," "Tate May Be Prisoner", etc. It was generally reported that the mob was holding the sheriff so as to have a free hand to deal with the prisoner whenever he might be brought back from Nashville. On May 18, Sheriff Tate reappeared in Memphis and made the statement contained in the paragraphs below, taken from a Memphis daily: Sheriff Iv'ike G. Tate is back, safe and sound. He arrived about 1 o'clock this morning. He made his first public appearance about 11:50, when he stepped into Mayor Ashcroft's office, at the city hall. There he cleared the m.ystery of his two day disappearance. Sheriff Tate's reasons for his absence are two- fold. He fled from Arlington, Wednesday morning to avoid trouble with the mob. To use his words: "I was informed by Arlington people that several mobs were between Arlington and Memephis, They v/ere reported, in some instances, to be drinking, I didn't v/ant to hurt anyone, and I didn't want to get hvirt. So I went south into Mississippi, I remained there until last night." The statement of a sheriff that he did not want to hurt anyone in a mob organized to defeat the lav/, and did not want to get hurt himself, aroused no un- favorable public conmient among the citizens of Shelby County, The papers especially the "Press", continued to print f rort page accounts of the probable time of the prisoner's return to Memphis and to give the details of the activities of the mob. The "Scimitar" of May 19 carried a long article containing the follov/ing paragraphs: Not since the days of the Ku-Klux-Klan, v/hen the 354 white-robed horsemen galloped over the same roads that the mob squads patrolled '.Vednesday night have such conditions existed in the country. An unknovm and dominant leader, who gave evidence of a positive genius for handling a large body of men, issued orders which were carried to the various squads by couriers in fleet automobiles. This is borne out by the fact that every squad which the deputies encountered were fully aware of v/hat was being done over the entire countryside. Scores of automobiles, each loaded with five and six men v/ho carried shotguns betv/een their knees, rode up and down the highways throughout the night. Every time one of these automobiles encountered one occupied by the officers they searched the latter 's machines to make sure that it did not contain a manacled Negro, They openly stated that they were determined to mete our summary vengeance if the prisoner was found, "We're going to get that Negro, Ell Persons, yet," they vowed, "and make him pay for murdering Antoinette Rappal. Yoii men from. Memphis don't knov/ hov; v/e feel about this out here. He should not have been taken out of Shelby County in the first place, but at any rate we are going to get him," The activities of the mob continued. Each train coming into Memphis was stopped and searched. Plan for the lynching v/ere perfected. The place where Person was to be burned v/as prepared; yet, during this whole time, the Memphis papers did not contain one v<ord in behalf of law and order. Not one word of protest was publicly uttered by a single minister or prominent citizen. Nor did any official take an adequate step tOY/ard making provisions for upholding the law. "Extras" on Monday, May 21, announced that Ell Person would be brought to Memphis that night, and thousands of people, going out in automobiles and on foot gathered at the place that had been prepared for the incineration. 355 Prisoner Under IVo Guards Person was being brought back from Nashville under the guard of two deputies. He v/as taken from the train at Potts Camp, Mississippi, and placed in an automobile. The men in the automobile and their escort then started for the spot that had been prepared on the Macon Road, just outside of Memphis. A terrific rainstorm delayed their progress and they did not arrive until early Tuesday morning, but many people waited through the night. How the mob and a crowd who came to look on waited all Monday afternoon and through the storm at night until the prisoner v;as brought in Tuesday morning was graphically told by Ralph Roddy, a reporter on the "Memphis Press", in a long, special article headed, "Thirty- six Hours With the Mob, or How the Press Told It First," Roddy v/ent out early Monday afternoon to "cover" the event for his paper. In his article he relates how the crov/d waited and continued to grow; hov/ the women sang ragtime and popular songs, but, as the sharp lighting flashed across the sky and the storm gathered, they changed to "Near My God to Thee". He tells how at 9 o'clock Monday night the leaders of the mob received news by telephone and relayed by a messenger that Person had been removed from a train at Potts Gamp, and the men bringing him would arrive about midnight. He tells 356 of the crowd waiting all night through the storm until Person v/as brought in at 8:30 the next morning. He tells of the arrival of Person, v/lio from being ill used, beaten and mutilated in a nameless way, was too weak to stand on ""-is feet. Since Roddy was an eye witness, it is well to quote his exact words on the "last confession" made by Ell Person: The car in which the girl's mother was riding was pushed alongside of the car containing the ^-"egro. He was assisted to his feet by tv/o men and informed that within a few minutes he would suffer a horri'ble death. He was asked if he wished to confess to the crime. In a low, hesitating voice the Negro admitted that he killed the Rappal girl. Under pressure he was asked if anyone else was connected with the killing of the girl. The Negro hesitated, but v/ith much leading on the part of the mob leaders, accused Dewitt Ford, Negro deaf mute, and Dan Armstrong, Negro woodchopper, of being accomplices in the crime. The confession of guilt was voluntary on the part of Person, but the mob really accused Dummy and Armstrong before the Negro had a chance. V.Tien the mob asked if Dummy and Armstrong were there, he merely stated "Yes". He was then asked if Armstrong planned it, and again stated "Yes". 357 It appeared to me that the Negro v/as lying in order to kill time and in the hopes that someone else would accompany him to death. Possibly he thought he would get a short respite while they v/ere searching for the other tvi/o negroes. ... On Tuesday morning Ell Person was b\irned» ... Let me give the account in the words of Edward T. Leach, a special writer on the "Memphis Press": ... The^;- burned the ax fiend to death this morning. Fifteen thousand of them. - men, women, even little children, and in their midst the black-clothed figure of Antoinette lappal's mother - cheered as they poured the gasoline on him and struck the m.atch. They fougiit and screamed and crowded to get a glimpse of him, and the mob closed in and struggled arovmd the fire as the flames floared high and the smoke rolled over their heads, Tv/o of them hacked off his ears as he burned; another tried to cut off a toe, but they stopped him. They crowded in and crowded out, so that all might see the burning body. And they were still surging around it when the flesh had been burned from the bones and the withered form of v/hat v/as once a human being lay crackling in the flames. ... Call for Other Two The mob called for the other tv/o negroes and a triple execution, but hundreds who were tired from an all-nig}it wait wanted the burning of Person to take place at once. They had waited till they were weary: they saw the object of their long vigil almost fulfilled, and they wanted to burn him at once and get "Dummy" and Armstrong later. Finally these persons prevailed, and Person was taken from the auto and burned. It was a holiday on the Macon Road this morning. Hundreds of men and some v/omen, too, had spent the night at the bridge over which Antoinette Rappal rode on her bicycle just before her murder. But most of the watchers had gone home and started to return early this morning. From every direction they cane, v/ithout breakfast. Men and women, som.e of them with their children, gathered by hundreds. ... 358 For a mile and a half up the road the autos v/ere packed in an endless string by 9 o'clock, 'I'hose on foot strufjgled among the cars. Mothers carrying children staggered from exhaustion as the word spread that the posse bringing Person had almost reached the bridge. An old man on crutches hobbled and bemoaned the fate that might keep him from arriving in time. Makes Confession Then came word that the Negro wanted to make a confession, and the crov/d surged av/ay from the tree v;ith the rope and back to the road. Around an auto on the west end of the bridge stood dozens of men with rifles and shotguns. The crowd surged around and fought for a viev/ of the victim, !uarshal Sailors of Binghampton pleaded with the crov/d to be orderly. Sailors, knowing the determina- tion of the mob, did his best to prevent any disorder and succeeded in doing so. Sailors stood up in the car and beside him stood the Negro, The murderer Y/as calm, but his eyes rolled white, for the cro?/d screamed when it saw him. Leaders tried to get silence, and finally they succeeded, "Person has a statement to make", shouted Sailors, But the Negro could not speak, and the marshal spoke for hira, "Person says that 'Dvu-imy' and Armstrong were in it with him" said Sailors, "He says that Armstrong framed it up, and that 'DvLmmy' was in it, too. He says iirmstrong hit the girl first and that he (Person) cut her head off. He says 'Duimny' was in it as much as they were," The crciud screamed for 'Dummy' and Armstrong, but leaders again quieted them, and Sailors continued: "The nigger knows that these are his last v/ords, that he cannot escape death. He says that after the crime, 'Dummy' and Armstrong v/ent to y;ork, and he went and chang- ed his clothes and then went to tovm" .... "Has the mother of the girl anything to say?" someone asked. Statement of the Mother The crov/d became instantly quiet as the stout woman in black, her face hidden by a heavy veil, spoke to a man v/ho stood on the running board of her auto, "The Mother wants the nigger burned and wants everyone to see it", the man said. The mother nodded I I 359 assent, "She doesn't v/ant anyone to fire a gun", the spokesman added. . . • Someone suggested time for prayer, and a man in a dark suit sprang to the log and got silence, "He didn't give the girl any time to pray and we oughtn't to give him any time for prayer", the speaker said. Another man jumped up, "That's Brother Royal, a preacher", he called out, "I Y/ish we had more like him" ..., Where's Tate? "iffliere's Tate?" someone yelled, and there was loud laughter and many jesting remarks. Then the Negro was dragged to the pile of wood and laid flat against the post which rested on the fallen tree. He y/as chained to the log so he couldn't move, and someone called for gasoline, A woman near me screamed not to use gasoline, "He'll burn too fast; he'll burn too fast", she cried, over and over again, and others took up the shout..,. Someone produced a ten-gallon can of gasoline and it was poured on the Negro, Then those in the back start- ed pushing and those in front began yelling, and amid a scene of tremendous disorder the flames suddenly shot over the heads of the crov/d and those on the outside knew that the ax fiend was burning.,,, A ten-year-old Negro boy was placed on the other end of the log, "Take a good look, boy", someone told him, "Wa want you to remember this the longest day you live, 'i.his is what happens to niggers who molest white women." Two men darted in and v/ith knives slashed the Negro's ears from his head. Other men fought the crov/d back to keep it from follov/ing their example,,,. The Negro lay in the flames in the center, his arms crossed on his chest. If he spoke, no one ever heard him above the shouts of the crov/d. He died quickly, though 15 minutes later excitable persons still shouted that he lived. When they saw the charred remains move as does meat in a hot frying pan. Burned too Quick "They burned him too quick; they burned him too quick," was the complaint on all sides. The universal sentiment seem.ed to be that too much gasoline had been used. When the fire had almost died doYoi and no stretch of the imagination could have pictixred the clmrred mass in the midst as the remains of a human being, men and 360 particularly women still struggled to get near for a glimpse. Thousands left. They walked and twisted and scrambled in and out among perhaps 3,000 machines that were parked so close that drivers could not move them in some cases for hours. And all the way to Memphis those who were leaving passed the crowds which were just coming. These bemoaned the fact that they were too late, but seized on every little cloud of smoke they saw as an indication that the fire was still burning, that some portion of the spectacle might still be left for them,,,. After Ell Person, the ax fiend, had been b\irned to death, many members of the crov/d helped to mutilate the body. One man, his hands covered with blood, cut out the heart and the lungs and ox'fered them as souvenirs to the crowd..,. And finally the head was severed from the body and placed on the bank leading to the road so all might see.,,. The severed head of Ell Person, Negro ax fiend, who v/as burned at the stake this morning was thrown out of a speeding auto at Beale Ave, and Rayburn Boulevard, at 12:30 this afternoon. The foot and leg of the lynched Negro up to his knee v;as tlirown out at Beale and Third as the party sped on. The actions of the autoists in throwing the mangled parts of the Negro's body caused a sensation which border- ed on to a riot in the heart of Memphis Negrodom, . . , The lynching was over. On the follov/ing day news- paper editorials indicated the usual reaction. It was pointed out that all were to blame for the shame that had come to the city of Memphis, "Let's not be cowardly enought to put it off onto someone else, claiining that we were at home attending to business," said the "Memphis Press", "Public opinion burned Ell Person - the minister of the gospel, the lawyer, the doctor, the newspaper editor, the man who talks to others on the street corner or the street car - he shared in it .,. unless he protested and there v/ere few protests. The majority approved. The minority kept silent, and silence gives consent. 361 "And so, today, when the reaction has come and we shudder at the story of the man who cut out the heart of the half-roasted fiend, of the men who severed his head and sped to tov/n to throv; it into the street, let us stop and see v/hat part we played in it..." On the following day. May 24, the "Memphis Press" reported a resolution made by the Ministers of the City.- "V/e, clergymen of the city of Memphis, met in solemn assembly, do hereby resolve that v/e, as clergymen and citizens, confess our dereliction of duty in not having warned an in- flamed public opinion against mob violence when it was apparent to every reader of nev/spapers that preparations had been made for lynching the brute who had committed an unspeakable crime." Case 11 A Lynching in Kentucky; Grant Smith For a number of years Grant Smith had been employed by a white farmer in Fleming County, Kentucky. In January, 1920 he left suddenly without notifying either his wife or the farmer for whom he worked. The last time he was seen was when the farmer and his wife went to Fleming sburg on a shopping trip and left him working around the house. They left their daughter at home. '.Vithin a few days it became known that Smith had attacked th< 8. Taken from several newspaper. reports, i-icture, courtesy of International News Service. 362 girl, and had intimidated her into silence by threats of death. According to the Negro's confession to the Chief of Police in Pontiac, Michigan, three months later, the girl's story was true. He made his way by night to Paris, took a train to Louisville from which he went to Pontiac. For over a month he had been working at the Du Pont Camp, He v/rote a letter back to his wife, at Plemingsburg, The letter v/as intercepted. The Negro was arrested and Governor Morrow issued requisition papers for Ms return to Kentucky, Within a few days officers from Kentucky reported to the Oakland County jail and the Negro was turned over to them. Smith agreed to plead guilty and the officers promised protection. Letters and code telegrams passed betv/een the officers indicate earnest intentions of giving the Negro a trial,, but they failed. The picture on the follov/ing page verifies a part of the special dispatch to the Lexington Herald from Maysville, on March 29: The body of Grant Smith, assailant of Ruby Anderson, tonight was left deserted, hanging by a gregigrass rope from telephone pole No, 787, on the Maysville-Lexington pike, in Fleming County, six and a half miles from Mayslick, Mason County, Members of the mob that lynched the negro disappeared v/ithout being viell enough for recognition by residents along the road. The body had not been harmed, A v/atch fob was hanging from the negro's clothing. His hands still v/ere in handcuffs and his arms had been bound to his body by a small wire, A cap still v/as on his head. The rope was tied in a regular hangm.an's knot, showing that whoever v/as in charge was familiar with hanging. The body hung over the middle of the main road. It was learned from persons who had passed the road before and after the lynching that the prisoner of the mob must have been hanged about 9 o'clock. t * 363 0 A. 364 It was asserted by persons who said that they talked to mob leaders that the hanging took about 15 minutes. The negro is said not to have made any statement. Nine automobiles were in the procession which took the negro to the scene of his death, according to persons v/ho saw the men pass the road, but did not know at that time who they were or what was their purpose. All the members of the mob, it was asserted, were from Fleming County, and it is believed that the majority of the men -were from the neighborhood that the assault took place. Case 12 Four Lynched at Shubuta, ..iississippi Dr. E. L. Johnston had retired from the practice of dentistry and moved to his father's plantation. Tv/o Negro girls and two Negro boys, all between the ages of 16 and 21 years, worked for Johnston. The boys were there for the purpose of "working out" a mule which their father had bought from the doctor. It seems that Johnston had objected to the older couple "going together", and had threatened to kill Major Clarke. It was generally known in the neighborhood that there had been trouble betv/een them. On the morning of December 10, 1918, Dr. Johnston went to the barn, where, according to press reports, he was shot from ambush. He v/as taken into the house by Clarke, and died that night. In viev/ of previous trouble as Y/ell as the fact that the Negroes were the only ones 9. Adapted from a Report by .V. F. 'ATiite and newspaper accounts 365 found near the scene of the shooting, suspicion was immediately attached to the four Negroes, The tv/o girls and the younger Clark "boy were arrested and taken to Quitman, 12 miles from Shubuta, and Major Clark was taken to the jail at Meridian, 38 miles away. On December 20, after Major Clark had confessed, the four Negroes v/ere brought back to Shubuta for a preliminary hearing, Nev/s spread over the county that a lynching would take place at nightfall. Automobiles lined the streets. At about 6:30 in the evening a mob v/ent to the jail. The Deputy Sheriff was handcuffed and his keys taken from him. No one was injured at the time. The Negroes v/ere placed in an automobile. The tov/n lights as well as those of the automobiles were turned out. The place of the lynching was already known, so that the large crowd set out for the little covered bridge that spanned the Chickasawha River a short distance from town. Pour ropes were tied to the bridge, then around the Negroes* necks. One of the girls "fought like a tiger" and was knocked down with a monkey v/rench. Then the four were throv/n from the bridge. During the next day the colored people of Shubuta v/ould not "cut them down". The bodies hanged to the bridge luitil some white men v/ent and broiight them in to an undertaking parlor. Then the colored people refused to let the bodies be buried in their grave yard. The white folks had lynched them; nov^ they could btiry them. Just outside the white grave yard, in two graves, the 366 four bodies were buried. People of the tov/n later told a visitor the reason for v/hich each of the Negroes was lynched; Major Clark, killing Doctor Johnston; Maggie Howze, instigating the murder by urging Clarke to conimit the crime; Andrew Clark, standing in the road to watch and give warning in case anyone should approach at the time of the mvirder; Alma Hov;ze, purchasing two cartridges vilth Y/hich the dentist was killed, 'i'he case brought forth considerable comment from the press, and has been called the "economic lynching" - the only lynching on record the cause of v/hich was ad- mitted to be economic. Although the reasons stated above are evidently more nearly correct, A dispatch sent out from Shubuta on the morning following the lynching read as follows: The theory is advanced that the lynchers acted be- cause of the fact that the next term of co\irt was not due to be convened until next March. It is hinted that the idea of the county being forced to care for and feed four self-confessed assassins of a leading citizen might have aroused the passion of the mob, Johnston had recently had trouble with a v.'hite man of the community, and his parents thought tliis mad had killed their son. Members of the mob would not heed the father's suggestion, That the Negroes v/ere guilty was the general belief, and, although the father of the mxirdered man plead with the m.ob not to lynch the Negroes until an investigation could be made, the lynching was carried out -without questioning them concerning their guilt. All are said to have denied the murder until the 367 last. It does not seem that the colored citizens refused to bury the victims for fear of bringing themselves into trouble; certainly this is indicated by the fact that they refused to let the y;hite people bury the bodies in their grave yard. It seems probable, then, that the Negroes of Shubuta considered the mob victims as being guilty of the murder. The NAACP sent to Governor Bilbo a telegram similar to the one discussed in Case No, 2 above, A newspaper reporter called some days later and asked the Governor if he intended to reply, and if he had any conmient to nake. The Governor said: "No, not tonight, I might give you a little advance information to the effect that I will tell them, in effect, to go to H,..". The statement was published widely and received editorial comment from all sections of the covuitry. In the North there was "atonlshment" that a governor would treat so lightly an inquiry concerning a ouar duple lynching. Several southern editors v;ere m.ore nearly in agreement v/ith the Governor, An editorial appeared in the Houston Post under the caption, "The Polly of Butting In", It was pointed out that although "the Governor greatly deplores,,,, the crime alluded to" and "possibly feels indignant that the lav/s of Ivlississippi v/ere so ruthlessly trampled under foot , yet he "does not relish having any organization in New York making any demands v/hatsoever upon him, nor will anybody else in Mississippi ,.•• No Governor v;ho is 368 worth his salt would yield to such pressure In any sort of case," Sufficient evidence for indictments and arrests v/as not found*. The subsequent lynching history of the county is as follows: On July 5, 1920 James Spencer, a Negro postal clerk, v/as hanged by a mob at Enterprise, He had serious- ly stabbed a v/hite postal clerk on a Nev/ Orleans and North- eastern mail car three days before. Officers v/ere on the way to Quitman v/here the Negro was scheduled to be tried in court. The last lynching in Clarke County, Mississippi was that of Will Echols at Quitman, on September 13, 1920, The Negro had recently been convicted of the murder of Henry Davis, an aged watchman at a Ixmber plant. He was sentenced to be hanged on September 10 but his execution was stayed at the last moment through an appeal to the Mississippi Supreme Coiirt, On the night of the thirteenth he v/as taken from the jail by a small party of men v/ho carried him two miles into the country and shot him to death. VuTio these men were is not known. There were no indictments following either of the tv/o 1920 lynchings. 369 Case 13 A Deleware Lynching There is only one lynching record as having occurred in Deleware, In 1903 a Negro, George V/hite, murdered a white woman. Miss Helen Bishop, The Negro was in jail, awaiting the proper time for trial. It has been said that a Christian Minister "caused" the lynching. The evidence for the statement is given below. Between the date of the above murder and the lynching the Rev, Robert A. Ellwood, Pastor of the Mount Olivet Presbyterian Church, preached a Svmday morning sermon which is thus reported: "He advocated moderation, and then drew an agonizing pictiire of the mvirder of Ivliss Bishop, He counselled patience, and then denoiHiced the Supreme Court, declaring that by refusing to depart from the regular procedure to try ^Vhite, it was setting an example in patience for the people. He drew a forecast of precisely v/hat happened, and sternly laid the blame at the feet of the Judges of the Court, and added a final appeal to the passions of his audience by dramatically waiving over his head blood-stained leaves from the thicket in v^hich Helen Bishop had been killed, and which had been especially obtained for the purpose by one of his elders. The people went from the chiirch livid v/ith passion, and 370 early this morning the deed was done.' Evans also quotes from the report of the case the follov/ing: "After the man was dead by burning, throngs of v/omen siirrounded the smouldering embers. Some hurled on more wood to keep the fire going so as to reduce to dust the reianants of the body of the Negro," Case 14 A Lynching in Louisiana According to the records nine Negroes were lynched in Louisiana in 1918, Three of the total were accused of attacking white women; three, stealing hogs; one, living with a white v/om.an; one, shooting a white man and one, murdering a wliite man. The following case, which is not in the list, shows that there was one more lynching in the state during that year. The case as given below is adapted from a report sent to use by a former teacher in Caldwell Parish, - a graduate of a southern State University, The case is interesting in that is shows something of the type of Negro involved, and indi- cates the attitude of some of the v/liites of the Comirainity toward Negroes, IQ. Quoted by Evans, op. cit. pp. 172-173, 371 At a Negro country church in June, 1918, near Columbia, Louisiana, in Caldwell Parish, several v/hite men went out to the church to make a speech on "War Savings Stamps" after a lodge meeting at the church v/as over. Some drunken Negroes canie up and vi/ere trying to "break up" the lodge. Both the whites and the blacks tried to quell the bad or drvmken Negroes without very much success. The driinken Negroes shot several times,,. The other Negroes and the whites were ujiarmed, A "stray" bullet from, one of the drunken Negroes' pistol hit a yoiing white man named Warner and killed him. Seven Negroes v/ere arrested and tried for the murder and distrubance, some sentenced to a fev/ years, some to more. None were electrocuted so far as I can dis- cover. The sheriff of Caldwell Parish, v/here the tragedy occurred, was taking the prisoners to the State Penitentiary down the Ouachita River, when he v/as "hailed' by some m.en one night and told that they wanted Sampson, the one supposed to have fired the shot that killed young Warner, The sheriff, , yielded and the Smith Negro was hanged near the banks of the river in a swamp. Nothing was ever done about it, I have been told that it was "made up" with the sheriff that the mob v/ould stop the boat, but I don't say it was so, - probably so though. Things like that have happened,,. The other Negroes were taken on to the State Penitentiary.,,, This trouble at the Negro church was not 372 anticipated, I think the drunken Negroes brought it all on. One of them. Smith, made this remark the afternoon before: "Som.ebody's goin''to die before daylight",,. Naturally after his saying this the whites desired to hang him as he v/as in the shooting fracas. Smith had been working "around", but most of the time he worked for an uncle of the hoy killed at the chvirch. He (Smith) was about 23, unmarried and had not given any marked amount of trouble before.,. The attitude of whites tov/ard Negroes in this Parish is fairly good. The whites and Negroes get along all right - but when a Negro does a crime that infringes upon the whites, the whites don't "see it so v.Tong to hang him," Probably several of the v/hites that assisted in the hanging could not get along v/ithout having Negroes to do their work. The whites say, "the Negro is all right but he must be made to stay in his place," The general attitude is one of protection toward the black if he is in the right, Vfliites will fight whites for offenses done to Negroes belonging to them - those working on their places, etc. However, if a Negro does v/rong, he isn't looked upon as a white. He is considered to a great extent to be "something like a mule" as they often say. I am sorry to say too, that as a rule the Negro does not get as fair and impartial trial in court as does the white. For example, if a 373 Negro is catight bootlegging with a white man, the Negro often gets "jugged" heavier than the white. I believe the Negro is coming to the front in having a fair trial in court, but yet there is lots of room for improvement, , ♦« After a lynching the blacks and whites seem to get back on a normal footing v/ith each other. • . • You must remember, however, that many planta- tion owners and "bosses" who work Negroes don't mind beating and whipping them in the least. They say "a Negro has to be whipped like a mule to get along with him,"... Case 15 Triple Burning at Kirvln, Texas The source material for this case includes the written reports of three men v/ho witnessed the burning, and a fourth report by an investigator who went to Kirvin a v/eek afterv/ards. The investigator, it may be pointed out, is descended from a Civil War veteran, v/as born and reared within 30 miles of Kirvin, and v/as educated there and in the University of Texas. "I think if I v/ere prejudiced", he v/rites, "my prejudice, from my birth, education and training, would rather lay against the facts" as presented. "I believe ... the things I say to you are based upon a candid examination of the evidence 374 that I was able to secure by speaking to more than a hundred people, talking vifith the sheriff and many of those who proudly proclaimed that they had taken part in the biirning," He studied the case with a view to arriving at causes and effects,, while the newspaper men were more concerned with a description of the burning. The case as given below is adapted from his report with a few descriptive interpolations from the other sources. "OhI Lord I'm comin' home. Goodbye, Mr, Otis, 0 Lord, I'm con" - Fire leaped into his face and his sentence was never finished, "Mr. Otis" King was City Marshall of Kirvin, Texas, and Snap Gurry had been a laborer on his farm. At this moment Curry was seated on the last plow he would ever ride, Kirvin, Texas, in 1922, was a town of about a dozen stores scattered rather aimlessly along a branch- line railway out of Corsicana, The population is 288 many of v^hom turn out twice each day, once to see the south-bound train from Corsicana, and once to see the north- bound train from Hempstead and Navasota, Before the date in question these citizens of Freestone County had never witnessed a lynching at home, although it is probable that some of them had been in Waco on such occasions. "Those of you from the South know v/hat type of tov/n it is. It is just at the beginning of the backwoods section of 375 Texas." Few of the people, apparently, have been out of the county; some spoke of having once visited the Dallas Fair. The Kirvin Comnuiiity consists for the nost part of white landlords and Negro tenants. There are some of the "variety which are commonly called the poor whites who undertake to work for themselves on their own farms, but most of the work is done under the tenant system, - the share-crop system by which the owner furnishes the tools, the house, the land and the eqaipment. The tenant does the work and they share up half and half on the pro- duce; but it is weighed on the ovmer's scales; tiie cotton is classified by the owner, and often the tenant ends up by being in debt to the owner at the end of the year. I left 7/aco a week after the burning of the three men, says the Investigator. Pour days after, the fourth was lynched, and the fifth disappeared a day or tv/o after I got there^... I came in the guise of a newspaper man ... because I was going to ask questions, and you had to have a very good reason for asking questions there. I first went to Mr. John King, grandfather of the girl who v/as murdered. Briefly his story is tills: On Friday afternoon about four o'clock Eula should have been home from school. She rode a pony to school li. Although it is generally understood at Kirvin that there was a fifth lynching, the NAACP records, nor those of Tuskegee, show it. 376 every day, a distance of three miles to the beautiful brick school house... "No, there Is no school in this section of the county for niggers., ," As Eula did not arrive home at the usual time the old man became nervous and called up his neighbors. She had been seen passing this house and that house, but no further could they trace her. She passed a house a bit over a mile away but did not pass the next one across the big ravine. The 70 year old grandfather, wealthiest landlord in the community, called out Ben Gibson, a Negro tenant, and said: "I want you to go and find my granddaughter." Gibson soon found the girl's pony tied to a tree, but he could not find the girl, I asked, "Jtr. King, did you suspect that some- thing had happened to your granddaughter?" He said: "I knew something had happened." I Inquired why, and he said, "Because I have been afraid of something for tv/o years," Then he told of a feud that existed between his family and the neighboring family, the Prowls, They were also landlords in the community, proud and high-tempered just as was the King family. Two years previous the Prov/ls and Mr. King's son had engaged In an argum.ent in which the former v/as accused of cheating in a cattle deal. Two of the Prov/ls jumped on King's sonj he was cut badly with knives, sent to the hospital and recovered, although maimed for life. But this was an tmjust penalty for his crime: he had accused them of SY/lndllng, and it called for a heavier penalty. 377 So the Prov/l boys left the county but said to the Kings, "We v/111 make you feel it and will make it hurt you where it hurts most," "The minute she did not come I thought then that those Prowls had done something foul". King said after relating hov/ his v/hole life was centered about the girl v/hose parents were dead. He had purchased her an automobile, a pony, and everything she wished. His supposition was strengthened v/hen he learned the follov/ing: Soon after Ben Gibson returned to his house after finding the girl's pony the y;ife of one of the Prowl sons came to the Negro and asked him what business v/as it of his to go dov/n and get that horse - a question involving knov/ledge -.vhich she was never asked to explain, A general alarm was nov/ given; the King sons and neighbors, excepting the Prowls, started a general search. That night after dark an uncle of the girl foirnd her body about 100 yards up the deep ravine from where she had been stopped on the road. The body v/as horribly mutilated with 26 deep gashes, and her head had been stamped into the ground. People were already coming in from tovms and the country for 40 miles around, and now crowds v/ent furiously in all directions in search of the murderers. Although the doctor »s examination led him. to state definitely that the girl had not been "criminally assaulted" this was soon forgotten, 378 If a white girl had oeen "assaulted", to the crowd it meant only one thing- she had been raped, and that by Negroes, While bloodhounds were being bro\ight by an airplane and the crowd was increasing in size and excitement, old man King, according to his statement, "v/ent down there and got on a wagon and I talked with them and pleaded with them to go slow because at that time I felt those Prowls had done it and I did not want them to lynch any innocent Negroes, I knew they would suspect Negroes and I went there and told them to be sure they got the right man before they did anything," One posse went to the Prowl boys' home but found that they had left the comrminity; there v/ere fresh tracks leading to their home from the thicket in which Eula Awsley was found, and they did not care to remain for an explanation. Now Snap Curry was busy helping in the search for the mvirderers. He v/orked for one of the Kings, was a "good negro" upon whcrn there had fallen no suspicion. But some of the crowds were busy going all through the community checking up on every Negro to see v/here he had been and what he had been doing. Snap Cvirry vms not in the crowd that happened to make a "check" on his house, and, whetner guilty or not, the fact that his v/ife was greatly "at outs" with him proved his undoing. His not being at home led the crowd to apply what they 379 admitted were "third degree methods" on his v/ife, after which she said he had come home v;ith some blood on his clothes the day before - for it was now early Saturday. She named two other Negroes who might have been with him on Friday, With this information Sheriff Mayo started in search of the Negroes, and fotmd Curry with whom he and some deputies started to the county jail. On the way to the jail, under "third degree" methods Curry was forced to say v/ho had been v/ith him the day before, and he named Mose Jones and Johnnie Cornish, saying, according to several who heard him, "they are as guilty as I am," That night the Negroes were "taken away from" the Sheriff and brought back to Kirvin shortly before daybreak. The avengers were \inmasked, according to a newspaper reporter. They worked sv/iftly and methodically^ Snap Curry was the first to be burned. He displayed almost superhujnan courage and appeared as cool and collected as his captors ,., Curry was held upright while members of the mob mutilated him. He did not flinch or make outcry. One of the mob then stepped in front of him and plunged a knife into the negroes abdomen, slashing clear across,. , A tall, powerfully built man, about 60 years old, v/ho seemed to be in command, asked Curry if he realized he was about to be burned to death, "Go ahead and btirn me, I'm not afraid"... Curry v/as then bound with ropes and chains to the seat of a middle«buster plow that had been dragged to the center of the square. Hundreds of v;illing hands heaped cord v/ood and broken boxes about him. Next his body, still partly clothed, was drenched with oil ,., The leader (the implication is that it was old man King who had been told that the Negro had confessed) of the mob applied the torch, and flames shot upward, OhJ Lord, I'm coming home. Goodbye Ltr, Otis .., Oh Lord, .,, and the flames must have seared his lungs, for the sentence was not finished. Death came Speedily, 380 "Will we get that too", asked Cornish, and Jones replied, "No, what have v/e done?" The other Negroes were surprised v/hen they were asked to take their turn at the fire. They died without confessing, although being commanded to do so until the last breath left them, Mose Jones had been named by Curry *s v/ife as well as by himself as having been with Curry on the day of the murder, v/hile Cornish v/as not mentioned by the v/oman. Thus Mose was called to take his seat on the plow next after Curry, He was consiimed too quickly to suit the mob, so they v/orked out a new plan for Cornish, They tied a big rope, which had been soaked in water, around his neck and another around his feet. They threw him into the flame for a moment, then pulled him out; then they thew him in again and pulled him out, continuing this alternation until one of the ropes burned "and he clasped his arms around the plow and refused to be dragged away, meeting his death as soon as he could." Aftermath On the following morning Shed Green - who had been implicated by Gurry's wife - was found hanging to a tree. Evidently a small group from the original mob desired to "finish the job". About a week later another Negro who, in the meantime, had somehow been implicated "disappeared". The investigator saw vultures flying over the trees of the thick, almost impassable bottom where 381 the girl v/as killed. Upon asking what they thoiight was dead over there some of the Negroes said that very- likely "that is Tim Barry, killed and left out there to rot without even a decent funeral," The morning after the burning the sheriff found the Prov/1 boys, arrested them, and asked that they explain the tracks leading from where the girl v/as killed. After the tracks were measures the boys re- luctantly admitted to the sheriff that it so happened that they actually had been there making bran mash for the purpose of distilling alcohol. They were released. To press the case would be to say that a mob made up of men who elected him had made a mistake! "Did you in- vestigate if there was any bran mash in that thicket" the sheriff was asked? He said he did not investigate, "Do you believe that they are innocent?" "after asking me v/hat the hell business it was of mine, he said that enough had been punished for the deed already." One week after the burning the entire Prov;l family moved out of the community. The sheriff said he thought Mose Jones was innocent. According to all the evidence not more than three v;ere involved in the murder, so that two innocent persons, at least, were lynched. The people of the commvmity had little or no interest in the affair a week after it occurred. They had no particular interest in the fact that at least two innocent Negroes had been . j-ono 382 lynched. Some of them began by saying: "Well, I don't believe Mose Jones was guilty, but Snap Curry wanted him to go on the trip v/ith him," Apparently no one v/as moved by the fact that the Negroes had not been proved guilty before punishment. None seemed to think of it as having been a dishonor upon the community. The investigator went again tliree weeks after the bvirning, "I asked Sheriff Mayo v/ould there be a grand jury investigation and he seemed utterly astonished that I should ask such a question. He looked at me and said, »By God, I don't believe you are from Waco,"' During the three weeks, old man King had "aged ten years. His heart, his spirit v/as all broken," On the v/all of his home v/as an enlargement of Eula's picture "at which he worshipped as though it were a shrine," 'ihe old man said: "I believe still, although those rascals, some of them (lynched), may have been Implicated, they could not have thought of such a deed, I still believe those Prowl boys are the ones who did it," Talking to several who v/ere in the mob, the investigator was impressed v/ith the fact that they were proud of the way justice had been upheld v/ith sv/ift hands, and they had had an active part. He asked one man if Mose Jones v/as related to any of the others? "Well", he said, "he v/as in pretty close relations to them on the night of the burningj" 383 "Will five gallons take me back to 7/aco?" he asked at the filling station across the street from where the burning occurred. A man answered: "I guess so, fifty gallons took three niggers to hell the other night." 384 CHAPTER X THE MAN AND THE MOB Allport iias suggested that wliat is needed v/ith reference to the problem of lyncliing Is not righteous indignation "but a deeper psychological understanding of the v/hole matter." The stated purpose of this study was to picture as accurately as possible the actual situation with regard to this type of mob violence in the South, through a study of its origin, nature, and extent. It seems proper to close the study with an attempt to follow Allport' s suggestion by bringing to- gether the information at hand in a manner that would lend to a fuller understanding -of the psychological factor's involved in this type of social phenomena. There is no blanket explanation knovm as to v/hy men and women commit the crimes for v/hlch they are lynched. From the viev/point of the psychologist, of 1. F. H. Allport, Social Psyc ology, p. 397^ 385 course, there are as many "causes" as separate crimes - and the criminal act is not different from other conduct. This is a problem for treatment by the criminologist and lies outside the scope of the present study. Likewise in the case of the Individuals who compose mobs, - strictly speaking, there are as many causes for mob violence as there are mob members. In a psychological analysis of any particular mob episode such general mob characteristics as have been noted in preceding pages must be traced to and accounted for in individual mob members. This means theoretically that a complete and accurate psychological explanation of a mob v/ould require a separate study of each individual involved. The extreme difficulty thus raised possibly accounts for the nature of some of the literature on the subject. More than this, however, the metaphysical explanations sometimes offered for mob phenomena are likely called forth by the peculiar reactions of individuals v/hen in mobs. Early students of mobs, and some who have discussed them later, have been much impressed by the great difference between the reactions of men in mobs and outside of them. Their discussions of the phenomena act entirely different from the v/ay they act outside of mobs, therefore, some different explanation must be found. Thus Le Bon ascribed to the crowd an entirely distinct type of thought from that of the Individual. Regardless of who the persons 386 composing a crowd may be, the fact that they have become a crov/d puts them in possession, or rather under the dominance, of a "collective mind". This "mind" makes these individuals feel, thinlr and act quite differently from what they would feel, think and act were they in isolation. Le Bon proceeded to an analysis of crowd and mob action by stating general characteristics; but, having posited his "collective mind", it seems not to have occurred to -lim to study the individuals composing these groups. Likewise Ross discusses - without defining - the "mob mind", stating general characteristics of crov/d and mob 2 phenomena. McDougall maintains that the proper field for Social Psychology is the discussion of the phenomena of crowds and organized groups, basing liis argument upon the assumption that the treatment of such phenomena in- volves reference to a unique mental process - the "group mind". This author differs from Ross, Le Bon and others in that, after developing with great care ris concept of the "group mind", he proceeds farther and attempts to account for, as well as to describe, the observed phenomena. In this he succeeds without the use of the "group mind concept. He accounts for group phenomena with the principles of general psychology. No definition of psychology is extant which would justify using the term in connection v/ith any sort of 2. E. A. Ross, Social Psychology, Chs . 5, 4, 5. 3. William McDougall, The Group Mind, "Introduction". 387 metaphysical explanation of mob phenomena. To say that tliere is a "collective mind", "mob mind", "group mind", or "group consciousness" wholly different from Individual "minds" is to beg the question and to posit an existence of which those who have done so have offered no evidence. It is generally agreed among psychologists that conscious- ness is dependent upon - at least always correlated with - the functioning of neural structure. Moreover, the emotions and impulses common to members of a mob cannot be isolated, even introspectively, from the experiencing organisms involved. Considering in the same manner the activity of mobs, it is evident that the actions of all are nothing more than the sum of the actions of each taken separately. But there must be some sort of mob mind that dominates the group, some general spirit that invades the v/hole atmostphere, we are told, because the behavior of mobs is \in thinkable for the men involved were they in their"right mind^' and in isolation. Possibly not one in a thousand v/quld burn a Negro, or even punish him without evidence of his guilt; flog a white man for saying, "Hurrah for Lincoln"; shoot a girl whose brother lad com- mitted a petty crime; burn tliree Negroes and hang another for a crime only thought to have been committed by one of the number.^ Because mobs have done these tilings T". CFI Allport, op. clt. pp. 4, 5. 5. Cf. 7/. G. Sumner, Folkways, p. 21. 388 does not prove - logically needs not suggest - a "collective mind". It merely means that Individuals react differently In different situations - a matter of common observation and knowledge. A "mob" is an abstraction, a term useful only for purposes of general discussion. It is the man In the mob with which the psychologist is concerned. To say that a crowd or mob is excited, de- termined, "hungry for blood", irrational, impulsive, emotional, can only mean that the individuals that compose the group are so affected. The explanation of the be- havior of a mob, therefore. Involves a consideration of the reactions of the individual under the particular situation. Tilhile the implication is theoretically sound, it is practically impossible to make the study thus re- quired for any individual, much less for a wnole group. Any attempt at a psychological analysis based upon this type of study is outside the scope of the present study. It seems v/ise, however, to summarize available infor- mation follov/ing such an outline as would be used in a strictly psychological analysis. The following outline has been used in the field of social psychology. ^ (i) A study of what may be called the constitution of the individual; (2) conditions of the formation of the con- course out of which the mob developed; (3) change from b. Englisn Bagby, Lectures on Social Psycholon-y — 55 — ^^ff Also class notei"li ' " -^^jL' -f-f > 389 a concourse to a croY/d., then to a mo-o; (4) the precipi- tating stimulus; (5) the resulting mob behavior. This division, if somewhat arbitrary, needs hardly to be defended. The first - a study of the constitution of the individual - is required because different persons react differently in similar situations. Every psy- chologist v/ould admit that v/hat the individual is when he comes into a situation plays its part in determining the particular reaction made in that situation. The other divisions are merely different phases throvigh which, in general, a nvimber of individuals pass in a mob episode. These divisions may be considered as points about which the phenomena under consideration may be grouped for pur- poses of discussion. They are yet sufficiently broad as not to lend to a priori description and reasoning, for they require consideration of all the phenomena in question, as is indicated by the more detailed case studies in the preceding chapter. Pacts presented throughout this study indicate general social factors in the South that lend to mob action. The historical data reviev/ed, the story of the origin and past history of mob action is suggestive. Some of the case- studies offer added information on the general characteristics of the individuals that compose 7, English Bagby, Lectures on Social Psycliology, pp. 52ff. Also class notes. 390 the particular lynching mobs. V/hlle it would be invalid "reasoning in a circle" to base conclusions at t'^iis point on mob behavior itself, this behavior may be suggestive in that the reactions of an organism in any situation are indicative of the general character of the organism - its neural structure, habits, emotional nature. Thus v/liile it is recognized that scientific conclusions as to the psychological explanation of mob action would require more detailed and individual study than has been found possible, yet it is believed that, in view of the historical, statistical and case data presented, valuable indications concerning the nature of mob action in the South and some of the various factors involved may come frona a con- sideration of available data according to the above out- line. p In reading case-studies of mob action one is struck by the similarity between them in many respects. In a study of southern lynching mobs the variations are generally slight as regards the conditions of concourse, the emergence of a crowd, then the mob, and the resulting mob behavior. A Negro shoots a white man or "assaults" him, "insults a w'-dte woman", aids a criminal to escape, or is suspected of burning a cotton gin. if for any reason a concourse of people is already gathered they immediately become a crowd by beginning to react to one another in the general situation - the crlme-and- the- criminal. If there is not already a concourse, it is a crov/d that soon 391 gathers. One or more leaders emerge. Throiigh continued inter- stimulation the crowd members begin to react with exaggerated emotions; the mob emerges; and the lynching ^ results. Recent Factors Conditioning Emotion The ease with wriich a mob emerges - leaving for later consideration the "constitution" of the members - no doubt depends largely upon the nature of the crime, but is influenced also by recent factors fixing the emotions. It is noted over and over that if a lynching occurs in a community, possibly for an atrocious crime, others may follow for lesser or no crimes. Mob members may decide "to get all the Kegroes", to 'V/ipe out the whole bunch of hog-stealers", to "lynch every nigger that had anything to do with it". But a previous lynching is not the only recent factor that functions in conditioning mobs. UV/hile no doubt it is often a rationalization, mob members frequently maintain that the courts are uncertain and inadequate. If they can point to a recent case in v/hich a criminal v,'?.s released on some technicality, even though his guilt v/as evident, apparently mob violence is more likely to occur J In Case One, for e:<anple, it v/as in- dicated that the negro preacher v/as lynched because he had been in court a year before and had "come clear". It seems not improbable that the neighbors, v/ho appear to have done the lynching, v/ere emotional toward this Kegro 392 partially tecause they nad considered the court decision as unfair. Such expressions as "he ought to have a visit from a mob" or "the Ku Klux ought to have handled that case" are sometimes heard among "average citizens" while discussing the uncertainties of the courts, it is doubtless true that the precariousness and inefficiency of the courts play a minor part in conditioning certain individuals to join in mohs. Possibly the greatest recent factor in conditioning the emotions 'of large numbers, especially in cases of crimes committed by Negroes, is the nev;spaper. Crime in general is more highly featured in the American press than any other current news. ^In the South newspapers have featured Negro crimes in a way certain to play a part in exciting numerous individuals. The tv/o most conspicuous instances in v/hich the newspapers seem to have featured in bringing atout mob action on a large scale were the Elaine, Arkansas, and the 7/ashington race riots J In Araknsas, for example, as was later shown in court proceedings, certain landlords v/ere holding Negroes in virtual slavery. They repeatedly refused the tenants a "settlement" and would not present them with itemized statements of their ac- counts. A group of Negroes employed a lawyer to handle their grievances, and held lodge meetings at v/hich these were discussed. According to Chief Justice Holmes who handed down a final decision on cases growing out of the riot, v.-hlte 393 men fired into one of these meetings. Indiscriminate shooting followed and one of the whites v/as kijled. On October 4, the "Arkansas Gazette" explained that these white men had been on their way to arrest a white boot-legger, and that they "had trouble with their car" and stopped at the Negro chvirch. It was said that the straase coin- cidence of a car breaking dov/n immediately in front of the Negro church at the time a lodge meeting was in session proved unfortunate; for the Negroes "opened fire, killing Adkins ("special agent" for the Missouri- Pacific Railroad) and severely wounding Pratt" (deputy sheriff). On October 5, a dispatch from Helena stated that a wide-spread uprising had evidently been planned, that at Hoop Sptir (where the first shooting occurred) "there were one hundred armed Negroes in the church at the scene of the shooting". The Little Rock Gazette asserted that some of this armed group were Negro women "carrying automatic revolvers in their stockings" (Oct, 6, 1919). On the same day tlii s leading paper of the State carried a conspicuous account of 50,000 rounds of arami- nition being "found" at a colored school in Pine Bluff, half v/ay across the State from Elaine. This "finding", it was asserted, hacs led "authorities here to believe the contemplated uprising was of more than a local nature, possibly planned for the entire South". Although a 394 subsequent dispatch, inconspicuously printed, showed that the ammunition at Pine Bluff was government property and had no connection with the Elaine affair, the story had its effect. Tliere was a tenseness in far away sections of the State, and no doubt in other States, that would hardly have been without this story. The Memphis "Commercial Appeal" fou.nd that "Negroes Had Planned General Slaughter" and the Arkansas "Gazette" carried the large type headlines: "Vicious Blacks Were Planning Great Uprising - All Evidence Points to Care- fully Planned Rebellion". Nev/spapers from other sections helped to scatter abroad the fullest details of the "plot" of the Negroes. The New York "Evening Telegram." of October 6 annoimced: "All VvTiites Marked for Slaughter"; and the "Times" gave details under the headline: "Planned Massacre of 7/hites To-day". The New York "Tribune" announced: "Negro Plot to Massacre All Whites Found". While rioting on the day follov/ing the shooting at .loop Spur v;as not conditioned by publicity, it seems safe to conclude that the later outbreaks would not have occvirred without the publicity. Even if they had, the soldiers sent in from Little Rock would doubtless not have used so freely their machine guns. The soldiers were sent to restore order, but - according to a "saying" in Arkansas - "mowed dov/n niggers like they were rats". Southern nev/spapers have at times gone even fxirther than to spread "news" destined to create a state of 395 emotionalism. They have suggested lynchlngs and announced that no troops would be available; they have featured a Governor's statement that he was powerless to prevent a lynching; they have displayed bold headlines announcing the exact ho\ir at v/i ich a lynching would occur, and how many persons were expected to be present; they have fea- tured under large headlines the details of a lynching program. The following photostats, while frankly selected and certainly extreme instances of inflammatory newspaper publicity, indicate to what extent southern newspapers have functioned in conditioning individuals to mob violence. That the newspaper has pretty generally played a vital part, especially in tiie cases of mob action occurring from one to several days after the crime, becomes con- vincing upon a study of the subject) In addition to general factors and agents making for high emotionality, there are doubtless less general conditions and incidents affecting smaller groups, and still others affecting individuals. In Case Two, for example, it seems to have been the feeling that Bud Johnson deserved burning because "he thinl:s he is a soldier", etc. Throughout the report there are indi- cations that the mob members were not only burning the Negro for the alleged crime but also because they "had it in for" Negro soldiers. It is notable in Case Eight that the Negro was brought to Princeton to be lynched. t'- 'x.i^^ii-T'i/ij':^ ^mKmm. MEMfHIS. TtHH rftlCE THRCr CENTi WEDNESDAY T he M e mphis Pre s s fina c TROOPS ORDERED TO NODENA. ARK. GOV. M'RAE MAKES FRIHIIISS lfS"iI!LSSL*?r NEGRO TAKEN FROM TRAIN AND "fMHHK HURRIED TOWARD CRME SCENE; tance telephone this afternoon that he has not ordered a^mglf^ |iriinrnO AT I HOAI UnTri r/a.s"Jb„'chSsreV.„st" ''"■■ '" "' "' MOB MEMBtRS AT LOCAL HOTEL . who is to be lynched at Nodena, Ark., tonight, other al- WBmammM mWmMMMMmiMmm tiMflgjimii he on his job7 It's the wo:.t o^^trage in the world to put a dined at Hotel Jeabody today upon me fo liltllinHiTII^SiU!! Arkansas' and taken him direct to the penitenitairy at Little Rock. , „ . ■ "I had heard that the negro was taken off a tram at Sardis, Miss., this morning, but I didn't know they were bringing him back to Arkansas." — o The Memphis Press D.i!, erc^l S«dv y>J MEMPHIS PRESS CO. l»d.- k 1» p..<l.nl PotilkOr, Fio..ciJlT. C<>»m«ci.llr. Enltr.d .1 M»pkii P-lWfic. u S.c.»d.Cb.. M«a IUtl«r. Which U the Better Way? r VN a railroad traJn ils a negro in the custody ot officers of the law. The alleged members of the mob were met at the them were gathered in the hotel lobby, laughing and talk- The five men who have Lowry passed Millington at noon ep route to Richardson's Landing, Tenn., where they ai-e,:lo.;x:ros3 the river on » ferry. Nodena, Ark., is just opffosite. Reports rcceivpd here indicate that Lowry and three or four other hegroeg — perhaps even more — are to be lyViched at Nodena tonight. "The other negroes arc al- feged to have aided Lowry to escape to El Paso, Tex., after he had killed two w'hite persons and wounded two others at Nodena on Dec. 25. No Street Parade. J. J. Greer, from whom tho pris The mob leader announced at oner was taken by the mob at th( Sardis. Mlsa.. this morning that train stopped at Sardis, minglec Lowry would be paraded thru with the crowd in the hotel lobby Memphis streets and taken across They were met here by Shcrif the Harahaii bridge here. Blackwood of Mississippi county Police immediately guarded all Arkansas, who wa4 to have acconi ronds entering the city to prevent panipd ihem to Osceola with ih< them from bringing the prisoner prisoner tonight, here. The mob must have learned None of tho men in the Peabod; win pav the proper penalty for his crime. Armed men board the'train. From the officers of the law they take the negro. They put him into an automobile and carry hira thru pans of three states to the scene of the crime. With bravado it is announced that he will be lynched at a certain hour. The crime ot which th? negro is accused is atrociou*. .Such a slayer should himself meet death as quickly as legal process will allow. There is no doubt but that he will quickly come (o legal death. Another nogro committed a murder that is oven more atrocious. If possible, than the first. He is arrested at his home. There arc many people around, somr of them close friends of the victim's sor- rowing family. There is every opportunity for Jiidge Lynch to claim this second negro. But the second negro is today all^e in a peniten- tiary cell, awaiting tho seemingly certain Verdict of electrocution. Which is the better way? they neared Memphis Lowry was turned over to five men in a closed car, who skirted tho city. The other men. it Is alleged, drove their nutos into Memphis and went directly to the Peabody hotel. Deputy Sheriffs B. H. Dixon and mumbera of the mob that boarde< the train, but several of then evaded the question in a laughlni manner. Some of the, men were miidd; and appeared to be travel-staine( as the result of a long automobll trip over muddy roads. sf y SiOOO WILL BURN NEGRO Fnnk SimonJ 1 NEW ORLEANS STATES ' nw omkMMm. ia From the Jncksou, Mis.s., Daily Xeii's. Thursday, June 26, igiQ. 27lh YEAR JOHN HARTHELD WILL BE LYNCHED BY ELLISVILLE MOB AT 5 OUOCK THIS AHERNOON Governor Bilbo Says He Is Powerless to Prevent It- Thousands of People Are Flocking Into Ellisville to Attend the Event— Sheriff and Authorities Are Power- less to Prevent It. HATTIESBURG, June 3<J.— Jolin Haitfieltl, the negro alleRed to have assaulted an Kllisville. yoiinR yoinan. has been taken to Ellisville ami i. Rua.ded by olViee.. .n ^^^^^^ of Dr. Carter in that eit.>. He is v%ounded in the shoiildei hut not seriously. The otlicers have aftrtnd to turn h.ui ovei to the people of the eity at * o'eloek this afternoon ^vhen .t js expect€Hl he will he burned. The negro is said to haxe niadt a partial confession. ,,^^^. j,^.^.„ „„., r.iW. BII.BO «4YS . MK l<« FOWKHMCSS. Wnr"Vi!;^'i!!u»: w.s M,own the l-n .03Po,-.t.d .0 ^^J^^^^:^^^ r liove ilisij.'iirh anJ askfd what ation, if ;iiiy. ho iiitcndfil to lake Co prt-VfiU tin- affair, lii; said: I am jjDWiTltss to pri'Vent It. 'W* hav.- KUiis for ;;tato imlitia. but no nun. It i.-« impossible to ■«-no iroops to tlio scene for the obvit. !■< ii-ason llial wu have no trnoiih -S*' ral '• ivs Ti-'O. •>■•• '"'oatin" for 111.- lyn.hlne J>;>« "O*^' ''*'^" '^"''^ for five l>. ni . . . :....« ^t i;>ii!>:villi> tilizcns has arr.inKoments for tl..- event, and the mob IS i.lcdKfd to art in conformity with tlics.- arranjrfnienlB. Rev L. O. Gales, pastor of the First Bapti.-t .liurch of Laurel, left here at one oelock for -Kllisville to entreat the mob to use discretion. THOl S\.\U» *-•'"* '■ NEGRO JERKY UNDSULLEII To Be Taken to Scene o( Crime and Stood Be- fore Crowd F.LI.ISVU.Ur. M»»».. Jun« ?(L — <<iprrl>l>— .\.o four «'rlark m^ proarhw .totin Narirtold. M>»il- ani of Ot» KIIUvlU* i»hU» i>rt. U b»lnf r»r»«ull> tu»rd«id In Iho •rrw «( I>r. Cwnmt of thta .^»y. Tli» mnvn&f* ixwre haa fO€». rtMMl and »••»"• »»ry iMr\o«»^ DUsMitlon !»•». b"*™ »"« to »h»l t«»p»»««fc<n made af Ihr prU««o»r. II I. *aJd a>r n*tra wtll fca takrn I*. Ih« «r»n» W hla rf'i"*; ,^r the ElttaTin. ^n»M'»'« trark>. where he allarked .Mi" .Meek, and will be M c«eryhod> ran »ee •""• , ,. Some of •IM' »n*r) clUaen*. It I* aald. want IUrin«*d Ijnrha* , while otlwrH wani btan bam«4. KLLISVIIXK .Mia... Juna M.— WUI It4»«en.. iwo larmer*. niemi>er. •» the BO.-e *•«• •hot HartlleM In the .hauMcr. and af- feeled hi« r.»p«ure. Thr»» ihou»»i»tl »lr»nfB»» ar» li KUIii\lllr io<;a,» I" wiloeaa Iha dia- •Milwn of John llarlftcld. nefro I^Zailarl ol Mlaa Maah. OOloeni ara anabla U oMCral tba rraad*. lIATTir.SRl RO. XUaa.. Jatt* ML of aa F.ll»»ill» >oun* keen brou(hl l« t.Ml»«-llle ftvm rolling joil i> ituirded by atnrrea ill the «fn<e of r>e « arter In I'.iat U* \% aouiMtcO ifi the ^miMcr him ov»r 10 1 . . IhU a/u^nonn «-H«a U U eipert^d he win bo burned. HtMrHU, Tiim. WEDNESDAY JANUARY ». ini The Memphis Press nuci Twiu ctmi NobrTEwnw umno PWM uiivici LYNCHING PARTY ON WAY TO ARK. TO PASS THRU MEMPHIS Negro Who Killed Two On Christinas Day Taken From Officers At Sardis, Mississippi Henry Lowry. negro murderer, was taken from officers on a train at Sardis, Miss., at 5 a.m. today by a mol) of he»^'ily armed men who arc now enroute to Memphis in 'automobiles, according to word re men epokc. a word, apparently' by order. "We've got 50 automobiles spot- ted out along the road between here and Memphis, and when we gel to Memphis wc are going to The mob, it Is said, is taking st.. before we cross the bridge," Lowry back to. Wilson, Ark., near the leader continued, where he shot and killed two The train's Whistle was heard, white persons on Dec. 25, and Is to and at a command from thei* cross the Harahaji^brldge over the leader the men left the hotel and Mississippi river here. .. followed him to the depot. On the Parado Do>™ Main St. ""-^platform they formed in single "We are goUig to parade hj=: til^.-, thru Main st. when we pass thru Disarm Offi<*rs. Memphis," the Icarie,- of thc"*nob ^h^ moment the train stopped boasted at Sardis. ';Then we are|p^^y^j,„ ^^^^. ^ ..evolver and the ... . , J .... „ er boarded the negro coach. tliut. will bo the end of him. fbUowed closely by the others. Not -.Sltho the roads are in very bad ^ ^.^^^ ^^^ spoken. condrtloB..ti.e mob i8.e.xjj.ected here Lowry was handcuffed to Dep- before noon. As the roads to the , ^ ^ , ^„ Helena ferry are impassable there ^J jjixon stood guard >s no other route by which they [ Approaching them from behind, can cross the nver. - ,^ the mob members sef^ied the depu- • ly after the murders, fled to E ;— "took the handcuff keys from BPtiV.'<|»'f^K\^1f M4ii*f^liI^<Mti1iHi*'lhl illJ.iffiJ.til I yew Orleans, last night with their .""'' V,- lZi^,-k^ rpri.-!Ouer orfHllnois Central Train »?>» """«" ^«»»"»«- ! is'o. 2. Take Deputies Off Train. then they all drew them at. once. Some of them had two guns. None Wear Macks. "Several other negro passengeri got up and moved to the other end of the coach when the mob enter- ed. And those feUows wore all men, too — Ihero wasn't a boy in the crowd. None of them wore masks." During his conversation at the h&tel the mob leader stated to Marshal Johnson that he had been appraised by a telegram from New Orleans that the officers and the negro were on that train. Apparently nobody but the mar- shal and the telegraph operator knew the mob was (n Sardis. Deputies Greer and Dixin came to Memphis on the next train that left Sardis. They gave Lowry's overcoat, which the mob left be- hind, to the marshal as a souve- nir. Christmivs Day Crime. The mob did not return the deputies' revolvers. On Christmas Day Lowry shot and killed O. C. Craig, 72, wealthy [Planter residing near Wilson. Ark.. ljlislMiJ;lmlflBUBM!IW<iW Crttlg. J i"^^-'""«r uu li.mu.s v«....ai. ..a.u DcDuOes Off Train '^^'' "^^ro escaped a mob which No- 2. lake Deputies on train. scoured the country for a week. I Tells Plans to Marshal. Just as the train started off and fled to El Paso, where ho was } Thirty minutes before this train 1 "gain, the mob leader commanded located by means of letters which was due in Sardis at 4:56 this I ConduJtor Sitton to stop it. He be wrote to relatives in Wilson. He morning, five or six muddy andl^'ld- „ _, • , was preparing to flee into Mexico. travel-stained automobilesTolled I Deputies Greer and Dixon were El Pa.so police arrested Lowry and into the little town. Several menjUien made to leave the train, al- held him until Arkansas officere alighted from each auto, and went jtho they begged to be allowed to arrived to take him back. to the Illinois Central depot. uroceed to Memphis. "We are here to take that negro "No." the mob leader said; off the train and carry him back "you'll sUy here and wait for the to Wilson, Ark.." the leader of the jnext train. It will be »long at 6:39 mob said as he approached ITlght o'clock.'' Marshal W. E. Johnson, "ini we Waiting until the officers alight- hopc^ we wont have to cause any ed and the train pulled out., the trouble hero." mob placed Lowry in one of the Behipd him were about 15 grim automobiles and departed. They and determined-looking men, none were driving northward when last of whom said a word. seen. ... Marshal Johns onlnvited them "It was the coolest job I ever across the street to the Sardis saw." sa-id A. I. Campbell, night hotel, to wait until the train ar- telegraph operator at the depot, rived, and built a warm fire for who witnessed the scene thru one them. of the coach windows. ! "Our names." the mob leader "Not a word was spoken, except I continued as they sat around the by the leader, and every man seem- Ifirc, "arc Smith, Brown and ed to kno win advance Just what ! Jones '• he was supposed to do," Campbell The -leader chatted with the. said. "They didn't draw their pls- MTiarshal, but none of the other tola until thfe train arrived.' and 400 LOWRY LYNCHERS ANNOUNCE PROGRAM NEGRO TO PAY MOB'S PENALTY FOR CRIME lOPAYS NEWS IBOAV MSOCidit^Mtss'stimct liaTEMtTIOIu'liEWS SERVICE r Price Three Cents Ctje ^t\xiiS Price Three Cents iinceinrec \^enis I f^w^^Tli r r FINAL C I T Y . ctmvtar Leditioh MKMi'iii^. ti:nn. .lAM AHY Ji;. I'lJI AVENGERS SET 6 O'CLOCK AS LYNCHING HOUR Husky Arkansas Men Take Henry Loivry, Craig Slayer, From Train and Whisk Him Away. MILLINGTON, Tenn., Jan. 26.— A party of seven in two automobiles with Henry Lowry, negro murderer of two mem- bers of the Craig family on Christmas day, stopped here at 12:30 o'clock Wednesday afternoon on the way from Sardis, where they took the prisoner from officers, to Richardson's jandmg, where they will cross an! be joined by a party wait- ing on the Arkansas side, prepared to lynch Lowry promptly at 6 o'clock. The party stopped at Fowler's restaurant for lunch. The negro was taken into the restaurant and kept under observ»- tion while the party ate. The negro said nothing, but showed the strain he was under. He realized that he was on his way to death. A num- ber of Millington citizens were attracted to the restaurant, and a few accompanied the party to the landing. They are not ex- pected to cross 'the river. Nothing occurred to mar the serenity of the joumev. The party ate leisurely and after finishing went to E. A. Harrold's store, where a quantity of rope was purchased. It was said thar* the rope would be used in place of chains for the automobiles. The road is very bad and slippery at the approach to the landing. The cars apparently were making very good time. About one hour and a half before they reached Millington it is thought that the same machines passed through Whitehaven. Very likely the men drove to Memphis, around the Parkway and out the Millington road. Citizens at Raleigh said they did not re- call seeing cars of this description. Wilson and Nodena arc. across the river from Richardson's Landing. NEGRO BURNED AT STAKE ITODAY'S NEWS TODAY mecitTtP niEit'sEiiiricE IITEMtTIOatL IE« lEniCE Price Three Ccnts^ ^. rrice i nree v^nis. j IP T T? S HP r , pnrct TfwEC ants, cimitar leditjon IITEMtTIOatL IE« lEniCE ^^^ %^ V (7 VVW^ VOLUME 41.^ ■ MWII'IUS. TliN.N.. •illXTtSO.Vk .U li;il.N(«».N. .lAM AHV •-•;. 1! 500 WATCH SLAYER ROAST FOR 30 MINUTES 401 A fev/ days before the time in question, at Princeton, a town ten miles av/ay (from the scene of the alleged crime), the r\:unor went forth that a Negro had insulted a white woman. He escaped unp\inlshed as there was no evidence against Mm... "".Thite woman- hood" had been Insulted, and feeling ran high. . . In addition to this conditioning factor came the head- lines in the Bluefield "Daily Telegraph": Negro Fiend Attacks Bluefield Girl and Entire City is Stirred as Never Before. Enraged Citizens Gather to Wreak Vengeance on Negro Accused of Crime. In Case 10 it v/as shovm how, through continued publicity, a whole community became so aroused that doubt changed to certainty and a Negro was burned before thousands. The Memphis "Press" especially was doubt- less responsible in part for the great excitement. It was hinted that with all the evidence - even the alleged confession - there v/as yet a possibility that the Negro would escape pvmishment. The announcement was made that regardless of a change of venue the victim would have to be brought to Memphis. That no militia would be called was also made plain. Long before the Negro was brought back to I,Iemphis anxious crowds gathered at the station to meet trains from Nashville. It was pointed out in Case 13 that after the minister's sermon, "I'he people went from the church livid with passion, and early this morning the deed was done". There had been the crime, then the aggravating delay in court procedure. On Sunday morning the preacher "Drew an agonizing picture of the murder of Kiss Bishop... 402 denounced the Supreme Coiirt... drew a forecast of precisely what happened and sternly laid the blame at the feet of the judges of the court, and added a final appeal to the passions of L:is audience by dramatically waiving over his head blood-stained leaves from the thicket in which P.elen Bishop had been killed" . If in some cases of mob violence no recent experiences conditioning the emotional reaction are necessary, it seems evident that such experiences as discussed above, including the reading of exciting publicity, are some- times at least contributory factors. The Precipitating Stimulus The precipitating stimulus to mob action varies with different cases. In many lynching episodes it is difficult to determine just v/hen the mob, as distinguished from the crowd, emerges. The latter is defined as a group of individuals reacting to one another; the former signifies a number of individuals responding with exaggerated emotion to a more limited field of stimuli. Whatever it may be, then, that brings the change from general inter-group stimulation and reaction to a more centered attention and a more specific and exaggerated emotional response is the precipitating stimulus, 'ffiille mob action may begin some time before the lynching is accomplished, technically it is no doubt 403 true that more often the mob emerges immediately be- fore the lynching. Often the precipitating stimulus is difficult to to determine, while in some cases it may be clearly distinguished with suggestive indications concerning the constitution, and especially the emotional condition, of the crov/d members at the time. Prom this viewpoint the subject would prove interesting were it possible to study at first-hand numerous mob episodes. In a majority of availa'.-jle case-studies the precipitating stimu.lus is not stated. From these cases it may well be supposed that in many instances it v/ould have been diffi- cult or impossible to know just what tills stimulus v/as - whether the actual crime Itself, the words of some highly excitable person, or the appearance of a calculating individual bent upon capitalizing the general implicit emotional state of the crowd. Under proper conditions the statement, "Get ropes, get coal oil and gasoline and let's burn tiiis Negro up... He thinlrs he is a soldier" may precipitate mob action, or stimulate further and hitherto uncontemplated violence. In Case Seven it is not improbable that the big driver of the beer truck from whom the precipitating stimulus came was less excited than calculating. There is some evidence that the lynchlnc was partially deliberate on the part of some - for political purposes, xiowever this may have been, the setting was perfect at the 404 moment for the truck driver's loud cry from the rear, "Get the nigger I" Exaggerated explicit emotional be- havior was the result. In the case of the "Delaware Lynching" it mifjht almost fce said that it was a mob that left the church on Sunday morning after the minister had "drawn an agonizing picture of the murder of Miss Bishop", recited a "forecast of precisely v/hat happened", and "added a final appeal to the passions of his audiences by dramatically waiving over his head blood-stained leaves from the thicket in which Helen Bishop had been killed". It seems not improbable that only the conventionalized restrair.ts on explicit emotional behavior delayed the lynching until night. Darkness greatly removes restraint. There is v/isdom in the old saying of Plato that if man could become invisible at will, no virgin would be safe, no strong box unrifled. A clear example of the important role of the precipitating stimulus in mob action is shovm above in Case Eight. While it is not stated why the railroad men took Johnson to the court house, the implications are that they were bent upon lynching him immediately. The speech as reported from the Rev. ..amilton could hardly have been better worded by a trained psychologist. He used the terms that would strike at the "complexes" or sentiments of the crov/d - "Sunday school", "alter", "church", "bright sweet girl", "family", "this sweet girl" - then ventured to suggest that he v/as trying "to save 405 you men from a terrible mis take. . .and from a crime", - o that of taking the lav/ into their own hands .. . The crowd began to disperse and the Negro was placed in jail \inder guard of members of the crov.'d v/hio had been sworn in as deputies. That the Negro v/ould have had a trial in court seems certain but for what occiirred just as the crowd began to disperse. Neta V.liite's father arrived in an automobile; he came to "identify the man" . According to his statement he was highly emotional, "crazy wild". He "saw that the nigger was guilty". "So I said it T/as he and I said I wanted him lynched". Tlien suddenly the crov/d changed into a seething mob v/nich perpetrated the only lynching ever to occur in that part of '.Vest Virginia. Thus far, the discussion evidently embraces only minor factors in an explanation of the conditions por- trayed in the four preceding chapters. In all countries of the v/orld there are those 7^0 fail to adjust adequately to the group standards - tliat is, there are criminals. In all states of .anerica there are presumably those who murder, commit rape, insult v/omen, commit assault "v/ith intent to kill", cornj-2lt theft, burglary and other minor offenses. But lynching mobs do not function in all countries, ;'jor in all states of .^unerica; they are largely and increasingly concentrated in a fev/ states of the South, and in a relatively fev; counties of these states. 8. Cf. Giddings, F. H., Elements of Sociology, pp. 123ff. ; Allport, op. cit. pp. 96-97; Hart, The Psyciiology of Insanity, pp. 62ff. 406 / Wlxy VO per cent of all whites and more than 90 per cent of all women lynched in the Nation since 1900 have met that fate in the South; why 62 per cent of all lynchings in the Nation, and 78 per cent of all lynchings in the South have occurred in seven southern states - evidently these facts are hardly to be accounted for on the basis of the crimes carmnitted, lack of respect for the courts, and inflammatory nev/spaper publicity. The latter two factors would appear to be effects as well as causes, and not as peculiar to the South as the particular type of mob violence under consideration. Moreover the precipitating stimuli to mob action in the South, as indicated in the discussion of this topic, grov/s out of and takes effect because of the peculiar constitution of those individuals who become members of lynching Ljnobs. It is hardly conceivable, for example, that in a majority of the states a man would ever think of crying out in a court room, "Get the nigger", as the latter TfiSiS being sentenced to hang in less than four hours. On the other hand it is evident that such a statement would appear ridiculous in any but a most peculiar situation. The factors discussed thus far have been, for the most part, those noted by students of mobs in general, irrespective of country or of locality. Upon the presumption that our outline is inclusive there is, then, one explanation left for the frequency and nature of 407 southern mob action as it differs in these respects from mob violence in other sections. The Constitution of the Mob Members What is the constitution of the persons involved in lynching mobs? This is the fundamental question to be answered, the one on vmich in the very nature of the present study little definite information has been gathered, and yet a question on which it seems altogether possible to throw considerable light. The constitution of the individual from the psychological viewpoint has reference to his fundamental nature, - neural structxire, emotions, habits, attitudes. This involves broadly heredity and environment; more specifically, in addition to heredity, all remote experiences conditioning emotional reaction. Recent experiences for conditioning emotion may be considered, psychologically, as a part of the mob episode itself, hence are not properly considered under this topic. While many reports of southern mob action state that "prominent citizens" were present, it has been noted in late years by practically all students of the subject that it is the "lov/er elements" who actively participate. As we have seen, this was not alv/ays the case with re- spect to American lynching mobs. In later years, how- ever, expecially since about 1900 when public sentiment 408 against the practice of lynching began to grow, it has been the general assumption or statement of practically every writer on the subject of southern mobs that the mob participants are among the more unstable of the population. V/hile no definite study had been made to determine this point scientifically the similarity of the statements with those of students of mob action in general, some of them students of other countries, is striking, p Le Bon long ago pointed out that the crov/d "is a servile flock that is incapable of ever doing with- out a master"; that the leaders of crov/ds are often the most emotional and unstable of the group. They are men of action, not thinkers. "They are especially recruited from the ranl-:s of those morbidly nervous, excitable, half -deranged persons who are bordering on Q madness" . A southern writer recently pointed out that southern mobs are largely made up of people from r\iral districts, and commented on the fact that "The whites of the rural districts in the South are unfortunately much given to sensationalism in religion"; thus suggesting v/hat is called high emotionality. As indicated in previous chapters of the present study it is true that a vast "5^ Le bon, Gustav, op. cit., p. 134. 10. See The Texas Review, Vol. IV, p. 217. 409 majority of the lynching mobs are composed of rural or sraall-tovm people. This v/riter states further that many mobs are composed largely of young fellows, often of good families, "who are seeking a sensation". The Chicago Race Commission quotes the coroner's jury which conducted inquests into the 38 riot deaths in 1919: Hoodlioms are the nucleus of a mob - the young, idle, vicious, and in many instances degenerate and criminal, impatient of restraint of law, gather together and when fortified by sufficient numbers start out on a mission of disorder, lav/-breaking, destruction, and murder. Mobs, white or colored, grov/ a:out a nucleus of tiiis character .-^-2 Judge Stephenson of North Carolina closed a paper on the subject of how mob action might be pre- vented in the South by suggesting that the Judges refer specifically to lynching in charging the Grand Jury. His suggestion was based on the theory that "the crowd that hangs around the court house never read or hear other speeches". He stated that "this group is the one that does the lynching" .^"^ C. M. Bishop maintains that tlie mob is always made up of the lower elements of the community but that among the followers are often "other- wise respectable citizens", v/omen and children. '-Re- ferring particularly to Southern mobs Martin suggests the type of personnel as follows: 11. Indem . 12. The Negro in Chicago, p. 17. 13. Lawlessness or Civilization, p. 21. 14. "The Causes, Consequences, and Cure of Mob Violence", Report of the Southern Sociological Conference, 1916-1918, pp. 195ff. 410 And it must be said that In general the kind of people whose feeliigs of personal superiority can find no other social support than the mere fact that they happen to belong to the white race - and I think it will be found that the mobs who attack Negroes are uniformly made of people who belong to this element - naturally find their self-feeling injured if "a nigger puts on airs". -^^ J Without quoting others who stress the point that it is the more unstable of the community v/ho participate in lynching mobs, suggestive indications may be gathered from the case-studies presented. In Case One the letter quoted from Nev;berry, Florida, shows the writer to be from what would be called the lower \xn thinking element of the population. He not only states that a Negro is unworthy of an education - a statement which might possibly come from more eminent southerners - but continues: "All the mean crimes that are done are committed by some un- educated Negro. ..it (the Bible) will tell you that he first originated from an animal. We Southern people don't care to equal ourselves v/lth animals... The people in the South don't think any more of killing the black fellows than you would think of killing a flea. So you have my opinion of ?^r. Negro and if I was to live 1000 years that v/ould be my opinion and every Southern man...". The lynching record of the county from which the above letter came implies that others there must have had some- what similar feelings tov/ard the Negro. 15. Ivlartin, Sverett Dean, The .-iehavior of Crowds, p. 122. 411 In Case Two there is evidence of instability, especially on the part of those who mad'^ such remarks as: "Let's tie him up to a limb." "The v/ay to stop Negro soldiers is to burn them." ";vhen we get this one we will get all the Negroes." "This is the way we do all Negroes who refuse to do what we want done." Al- though the leaders in one of the lynchings in Brooks and Lowndes Counties, Georgia (Case Three) v/ere "professional men" from Quitman, their reputations are apparently not of the highest type. The punishment meted out to Mary Turner is s\iggestive of abnormally developed sadistic tendencies on the part of the tormentors. In the Vicksburg Case the leader is quoted as saying finally, "Have you had enough fun, boys?" "Yes, cut him down," was the reply. In addition to the numerous indications of this sadistic tendency on the part of lynchers, the follov/ing quotation from the Memphis "News -Scimitar" - one among many of similar con- tent which could be cited - is suggestive; All waited patiently. Women, v/ith babies, made themselves comfortable. At last the irons v/ere hot. A red streak shot out, a poker in a brawny hand was boring out one of the Negro's eyes. The Negro bore the ordeal with courage, only low moans escaping him. Jbiother poker was working like an auger on the other orbit. Swish. Once, twice, tliree times a red hot iron dug gaping places in Latidn Scott's back and sides. "Fetch a hotter one," somebody said. The execution went on. Now some one had another poker - jabi^ing its fiery point into the ribs of the doomed black. Then rubbish was piled about the agonized body, squirming beneath its load. More and more wood and rubbish 412 were fed the fire, but at three o'clock Latlon Scott was not dead. Life finally fled at four o'clock. V/O'ien scarcely changed countenance as the Negro's back Y/as ironed with the hot bands. Even the executioners maintained their poise in the face of bloody creases left by the irons, - Irons which some housewife had been using. Three and a half hours were required to complete the execution. In a high proportion of the reports of lynchings something is said of the gathering of souvenirs by mob members and onlookers. Tliis is probably a significant index to the nature of these individuals. The following excerpts are quoted from reports received from several students in a southern college on the subject on "Lynching Souvenirs". Names are omitted by request. Case 1 Reported by II. P. S., an Eyewitness Near Prosperity, , a mob placed a Negro, who had shot a white farmer, between two trees and made ready to lynch him. First, several men fired at him from a distance with shot-guns. The negro was uninjiired, however, and merely pulled 1-is cap over his face to shield it from the shot. Then more than a hundred men formed a half circle a few yards from the i'^egro. They fired a volley. The man's body was sjiot almost into a pulp. Before all of the powder smoke had lifted, a number of the mob had rushed forv/ard to the body of the 413 victim. There the^' fell upon their knees beside the torn corpse and struggled with each other for such souvenirs as bones, fingers, teeth, etc., which they eagerly picked up or cut off from the body with their pocket-knives. Case 2 Reported by J. W. H. , T/hite man, Vifho lives about 14 miles from Fairfax, , has in liis possession a dried toe of the Negro - , who was lynched in County about 1916 or 1917 after having been killed in by a posse. His dead body was then hanged and riddled with bullets. For some time L. B.'s father, b. B. , carried this toe upon '^.is v/atch chain. B. B. is now dead... (Student has seen the toe which appears to be a valued possession. ) Case 3 Reported by C. P. P. A Negro named v/as lynched in County, . The leader of the mob was Mr 16. The reports were that he was killed while resisting arrest, hence r.is name does not appear in the list of those lynched. 414 a lawyer. For some months after the lynching Mr. carried In his pocket, and proudly exhibited, the little finger of the Negro. ISr, was himself shot and killed not long after in a dispute over a case in court. Case 4 Reported hy H. C. B. About 1917 a Negro named was pursued by a mob in County. The Hegro was accused, probably falsely, of attempted criminal assault. (the Negro) killed several of the mob and escaped to . There a sheriff's posse shot him - probably after he had surrendered. His dead body was then brought to County, strung up, and riddled with bullets. His and (sex organs), preserved in alcohol, were some months afterv/ard exhibited upon the streets of one of the towns of the County... Case 5 Reported b:, D. F. H. In 1925 a white man near , had as a v/atch charm several teeth of a negro v/ho had been lynched after "killing several persons". Holes had been bored in the teeth; they v/ere then strung upon the v/atch chain. It is not at all certain, r^owever, that every 415 lynching in the South is committed by wliat would be called "the rabble", 'i'he conclusion that different types of persons go to make up the lynching mobs of the South seems warranted. Some of the cases cited indicate that what we call the average citizens, under proper stimulation, may make up what proves to be an extremely vicious lynch- ing mob. If this be true, there must be other factors by which southern lynching mobs can be accounted for ttian hereditary instability and abnormally developed morbid impulses of a sadistic nature. Whether or not these factors are more common in the South than in other sections is doubtful, and must remain so until unfo\inded dogmatic statements are superseded by known facts. It seem.s altogether possible that the phenomena in question may be accounted for without these particular facts; that this may be done on a culture basis. It v/as for this purpose tliat the historical chapters were included. On the basis of these chapters let us summarize briefly the background, the remote factors for conditioning southern individuals to the type of reactions made in mob violence. Accounts of the origin of lynch-law indicate that the practice is not indigenous to this country. ^Vhile it seems altogether probable that there is some connection between this form of mob violence in Ireland and England and the early practices in America, it is not 416 certain. It seems significant that the earliest form of "lynching" was ver'j similar to the behavior connoted by the old Anglo-Saxon verb "linch". Hov/ever this may be, it appears that the practice sprung up in the early history of America as a natural result of imperative conditions. Lynch law had its origin where communities were lacking in organized government. At the time it v/as practically the only "law" to v/hich an outraged citizenry could appeal. It was not a defiance of law but a substitute for a better law. It was an attempt to correct defects in an Inchoate society, and was uncontaminated v/ith race prejudice. For many years the most frequent victims of mobs were white men, who would be lynched no less speedily than Negroes or foreigners. Starting in the colonies, the practice spread to the border States where outlav/s congregated and courts were weak. V/hen courts were firmly established in the colonies lynch-lav/ seems generally to have waned, although there Hre instances of its degeneration to the regulation of morals and family relations .-'■'^ In some of the colonies, and m.ore especially in the nev/er states there v/as a struggle betv/een the law and the advocates of extra- legal regulation as the former gradually developed. This seems to have been determined not only by the local conditions but by tlie type of settlers. Many of the people 17. Chapter 11^ 417 had come to escape l&vi; they were slow to come again under its domination. They considr^red themselves a law unto themselves. To use the words of the English traveler: They surrender with reluctance, and only by halves, their right of defence against every aggression even to the lav/s wliich they themselves have constituted. The attitude was handed down. The conception of "democracy" held by many Americans, possibly today, is that "v/e make the laws, therefore we can unmake them". This statement has been made by members of mobs bent upon taking criminals from officers for the purpose of lynching them. "If we say what the judge can do, v/hy can't we do this thing ourselves when we want to?" is the attitude sometimes expressed. Cutler points out that "this is the spirit exhibited, the vague and perhaps iinconscious attitude tov/ard the lavir, which seems par- 18 ticularly to pervade the United States". No doubt such an attlt-ude played its part ±n the early history of mob violence and is a partial explanation for the general lav;lessness characteristic of America until today. (^ In Chapter III we have noted hov/, in early days, lynch-law was practiced in the South. The practice of lynching was greatly increased during the anti-slavery agitation, and it was at this time that the Negroes began to be involved to an appreciable extent. Tliey committed more crimes, apparently, and the masters tightened their hold on them by making "public examples" of criminals. It is doubtless true, too, that som.e of the 18. Op. clt., p. 269. 418 concentration of punishment on the Kegro at tliis time 19 was in the form of a rage reaction against the abolitionist. It was at t' is time also that fear of the Negro arose in the South. Previously he had been docile, scarce- ly ever an individual criminal, and never known to rise in an organized group to strike against his master. The Nat Turner insurrection, especially, left behind both fear and hatred. Under the spur of anti-slavery agitation other uprisings were planned and still others were thought to have been contemplated. Rumors later found to have no foundation were spread abroad; and doubtless played a part in creating added fear and hatred of the Negro. The term - and practice of - "lynch-law" now came into general use in the South. First Kegro insurrectionists, criminals, and abolitionists were lynched in increased numbers; then the practice having . become habitual spread to strangers - "\inknown to the inhabitants" - who were "lynched and sent out of town". Between 1830 and 1860 y/hen there was a marked increase of crimes by Negroes, the practice of burning was begun in the South. This was not, of course, the first punishment by burning. Heretics were btirned during the Middle Ages. 20 The precedent for burning Negroes seems to have been set in New .ork. "As early as 1712 New York T^T^Cf. Letter from ilouston, 'IqX&s, quoted in Chapter III. 20. 3umner, W. G., op. cit., p. 244. 419 hanged and burnt slaves and left some in chains to starve to death. And in 1741 the city of New York burnt 14 Negroes and hanged twenty-one. "^l For the double crime of murder and rape two Negroes v/ere burned at the stake in Alabama as early as 1835. During the decade between 1850 and the Civil War lynch-law was increasingly practiced in the South. It was during this time that the term came more and more to signify death. After the V/ar the terra "lynching" soon came to connote s\ammary punishment by death. Previously the Negro's economic value had insured nis life save in cases of outrageous crimes. Nov/ his economic value to the white man was gone - he was theoretically "free and equal". It was during the Reconstruction Period, therefore, that an actual "race problem" took shape. Whereas before the two races had lived side by side in a state of almost perfect accomodation, there now came a sudden change which brought about marked disorgani- zation. This would have been a difficult situation under the best of conditions - but these were not forthcoming. The "carpet-bagger" came South in large numbers; Negroes turned from cotton pickers to politicians - some of them apparently were less corrupt than the "carpet-Baggers" only in proportion to the difference in education. Negro soldiers, policemen and Congress- '>.^ . Duncan. H. 6.. Changing Relationships etc., p. lUl. 420 men were distasteful especially to the "low whites", some of whom had been against slavery itiOre because they disliked the masters than because they liked or pitied the slaves. The Freedraen's Bureau, i<egro soldiers, and crime renev/ed and intensified the fear of the Negro v/hich had been somewhat allayed diiring the Vfer. It may be signi- ficant that some of the worst lynching states today v/ere those in which Negro troops were stationed. The influence of Negro crimes committed during these years, and rore especially such stories circulated about them as "The Lone Star of Texas", "?,1ilitary Rule in Alabama" and "Negro Soldiers and White Girl" as given in Chapter IV cannot be measured. That both the incidents and the recitals of them v/ere influential in conditioning southern people to fear and rage reactions to the Negro seems certain. The Ku Klux Klan emerged quite as naturally as lynching had long before. At first it was an organi- zation that attempted to fulfill a real need. Inherent in it, however, were vi^eaknesses that spelled failure and worse. There were "vile desperadoes Vi^hite and black" whom it was desirable to regul te for public safety, but the failure made by the Klan to accomplish this purpose might v/ell have been foreseen. As shown by the cases cited in Chapter IV, some of the vilest of criminals 421 soon tecame Klansmen. During the decade following the War there was an unrivaled wave of lawlessness over the South. If the Klan was an effect, it was also a cause of law- lessness. It left as a part of the social heritage for futvire southern generations the practice of handing together under cover of hoods and darkness to wreak vengeance on criminals or others who had come into dis- favor. For years after its official disbanding news- paper reports of lynchings would read: "by the Ku Klux." There was a marked increase in the number of prosecutions of lynchers. Respect for law had been weakened for years to come. "Thus lawlessness, or an attitude of denial and defiance of law, became an irremovable element in the antagonism of the races. "22 Race prejudice first became a vital factor in inter-racial relations. The disposition to punish criminals, especially Negroes, extra-legally iiad become a habit to be handed dovm from one generation to another. Thus Professor Sumner has pointed out that "respect for law" is not in our mores, while physical pain in the form of lynching has been employed "to en- force comformity, and to suppress dissent from current mores" of society. 23 By the process of conditioning, the natural response for the small boys shovm in the following 22. Bishop, Charles 11., op. clt. p. i^'^. 23. Sumner, W. C-., Folkv/ays, pp. 115, 221. 422 photograph to make in later years when a Negro comrnits a crime would be to lynch him. This response not only carries the sanction of their elders; it is a tense emotional experience. ^ vVhile by no means all southern children actually see lynchings there are per- haps none who fail to read about or hear them discussed. So long as children read or hear their elders repeat such expressions as, "He ought to be lynched"; "It was what he deserved"; "Burning is too good for him"; the natxiral thing to expect is the "lynching" response when a corresponding situation arises.^ This perhaps Accounts largely for the surprising statistics in Chapter VI; shows why it is in the South that 70 per cent of all v/hites and more than 90 per cent of all wom.en lynched since 1900 have met that fate. Given crime, there is a vicious circle that conditions the "lynching" response in each generation. There are evidently other aspects of the remote experience factor in conditioning southern individuals to the type of mob action characteristic of that section. We are now three generations removed from the Civil Vifar. The lynching statistics treated In this study were made by the second and third generation after the "nightmare 24. The original of this and a fev/ other photographs Y/hich we have collected siiggests clearly the high emotionality of children in viewing lynchings. Ntimerous case reports state that women and children were present. Cf. Allport, op. cit., pp. 96-97. 25. Cf. Allport, op. cit., pp. 76, 249. 423 S A. M x^ \ ,;■:■■ --i^ ? r^\.^ 424 of Reconstruction". By this time, unless there were other aggravating factors, the impetus to mob violence gained at that period would doubtless have waned more than it has. It is significant that since 1882 the proportion of Negroes to the total niimber of persons lynched has increased from 37 to 90 per cent. The well-knovm fact that no crime for which men are lynched is charactc-lstic of the Negro alone suggests marked significance for the racial factor per se. That a i'iegro is much more likely than a white man to be lynched for Murder, for fighting a white man, for theft, for throwing stones, for failure to turn out of the road; for rape, attempted rape, insulting a v/hite woman, contemplated elopement with a white woman, or for misceiigenatlon, - this fact is usually explained by "race prejudice", as ordinarily used the phrase is a blahlret term signifying an attitude of antagonism toward the Negro. "Race prejudice" say Park and Burgess, "may be regarded as a spontaneous, more or less instinctive, defense reaction, the practical effect of which is to restrict competition betv/een races" . ° Bogardus speaks of race prejudice as "an antagonistic attitude of members of one race toward those of another", and adds, "It is usually a non-scientific pre-judgment".^'^ In a discussion of the subject Young 26. Op. cit., p. 62. ~" 27. Fundamentals of Social Psychology, p. 321. Cf. Lximley, F. E., Means of Social Control, pp. 126-127, 425 stresses what is intimated in the statement by Bogardus - the non-personal experience basis of race prejudice. "Prejudice is, in short, a name for a group of mental patterns which become thoroughly ingrained in the in- dividual from infancy. "2® Now race prejudice of a more or less marked degree is practically universal. 'A'ithout aggravating circum- stances, however, the race prejudice against the Negro in the South - v/hich, on the part of some, sanctions lynching for the most trivial of offenses - would hardly persist. Without constant experience factors this "group of mental patterns" would not be "thoroughly" ingrained in infancy for succeeding generations. Young emphasizes this aspect of the subject as follows: ^^ It should be clear at once that prejudice is connected with the in-group attitudes in reference to out-groups. ...It bespeaks, on the one hand, the attitudes of superiority and class domination. On the other hand, it reveals fear, jealousy and concern over the rising competition with the other- or out-group. ^ Broadly speaking it may be said, then, that the attitude of antagonism is kept alive by the different types of culture in close juxtaposition. in an article on race prejudice Professor Dewey says:^^ The qestion is not primarily one of race at all, but of the adjustment of different types of culture to 28. Young, Kimball, Source liook for Social Psychology, p. 482. 29. Loc. cit. 30. "Racial Prejudice and F'riction," The Chinese Social and Political Science Review, March, 1922, pp. 23-24. , < i 426 one another. These differences of culture include... differences of speech, manner, religion, moral codes, each of which is pregnant with causes of misunder- standing and friction... Ihey include also economic and industrial differences involving differences in planes or standards of daily life on the part of the masses, '^at is called race prejudice is not then the cause of friction. It is rather a product and sign of the friction, which is generated by these other deep- seated causes. Like other social effects, it becomes in turn a cause of further consequences; expecially it intensifies and exasperates the other sources of friction. . . This attitude of antagonism kept alive in each generation by economic competition and the differences in cultiire is thus passed on to the next. It is a part of the constitution of the individuals who exhibit the lynching reaction when a Negro commits, or is supposed to have com- mitted, a crime. This no doubt explains, at least in part, the extremely high proportion of Negroes lynched in the , South where 85 per cent of the Negroes live. The Next Step If the increasing concentration in the South of all lynchings, black and white, men and Yvomen, and the increasing concentration of this form of mob violence against the Negro race is accounted for on the basis of the factors discussed in this chapter, there are yet other facts that call for further study. That there are vast differences in some of the conditions leading to mob action in different localities is clearly shov/n in preceding chapters. 7lhj 78 per cent of all lynchings in the South ■Jh 427 are concentrated In seven states, three of which have had betv;een 200 and 300 mob victims since 1900; v/hy these 1,348 lynchinjs are fxorther cor.centrated in a few counties of the major lynching states in v/!:^ich there are wide dif- ferences in the proportions of Illiteracy, farm tenancy, and Negro popvilation; why there is a variation from state to state in lynchings per season and per month; why striking differences in the reported "causes" of lynchings are noted from state to state and from county to county, - these facts indicate differences in local conditions which are beyond the bounds of the present study to determine. If we have succeeded in picturing with a fair degree of accuracy the situation in the South as regards its characteristic type of mob action; if we have succeeded in pointing out the general background from which this type of social phenomena comes and the general factors involved in its persistence into the third decade of thse Twentieth Century, our purpose is accomplished and the next step is clear. 428 BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Adler, A. Allport, P. H. Angell, Norman Aschaffenburg, Gustav Avary , M . L . Bagby, English Bancroft, H. H. Beard, Charles A. Boas, Franz Bogardus , E . S . Bonger, W. A. Brawley, Benjamin Bryce, James Nfti^rotic Constitution, wloffat. Yard and Co., N. ^.,'"1917 . Social Psychology, Houghton Mifflin Co., K. Y. , ly^ii. The Public Mind, E. P. Dutton and Co., N. M., i^"S7. Crime and Its Repression, Little, Brown and Co., Boston, 1913. Dixie After the •.Var, Doubleday, Page and Co., N. Y., 1906. Lectures on Social Psychology, wlaitlock*s Book Store, liev/ iiaven. 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Nev/spapers, Reports, and General References References under this category actually drav/n from are listed. To list all of the newspaper clippings and articles cearlng on the subject is impractical. Files of Birmingham ITews Files of Boston Evening Post Piles of Bronson Florida Mews Files of Bureau of Education Bulletins Files of Commercial Appeal Encyclopedia Brittanica, 11th edition, "Lynch Lav/", Vol. XVII Files of Green i:.afe Hampton Institute, "Lynching: A National Menace", reprinted from "Tiie Southern V/orkman", 1919. Files of Lexington, Kentucky, Herald. 437 Piles of Liberator (Library of Congress) Files of Literary Digest Files of London Gazette Files of London Spectator Files of Memphis Press Piles of ivlobile, Alabama, Register National Association Advancement of Colored People, nuinercxis articles from the Crisis, various supplements to the "Tlirty Years Lynching", reprints, and correspon- dence files. Files of New York Evening Post Files of Key; York Times Files of Nev/ York V/orld Files of Hiles' Register Personal Correspondence Files of Raleigh Times Report of Joint Committee on Reconstruction, Vol. Ill Senate Document Senate Report on Labor and Capital, Testimony, Vol. IV Files of The Nation U. S. Census Reports ^ -'«^»i«» m 1 'ffi'tfN*'^;' 4^to.