1
10
4
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https://drvk.createuky.net/news-articles/files/original/56efc3d97c767bf3413b46224ad5cb82.jpg
1f7daa0304c91b9a0fc401e36440c32e
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mason County
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Sanders, Maysville Public Ledger, March 12, 1917
Subject
The topic of the resource
Sanders, William
Charge, theft and attempted murder
Mob, shooting
Mob, 200-300 members
Description
An account of the resource
<h3>Posse Kills Negro<br /><br /></h3>
<div dir="auto"></div>
<div dir="auto"><strong>After He Wounds Five Persons With Shotgun, Including Chief of Police— Will Sanders Made To Pay The Penalty At The Hands Of A Large Crowd Of Men For Stealing An Overcoat— Charles Swisher, a Passerby Seriously Injured by a Shot in the Face By Sanders<br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">William Sanders, colored was killed by a large posse, Charles Swisher, seriously injured, and Chief Police James Mackey, Fred Wells, Joseph Owned and Deputy Sheriff Mike Brown were slightly injured, as a result of the dead man stealing an overcoat from the stable of Higgins-Slattery and Dwyer on Market street yesterday morning. The negro was shot after a hunt lasting the greater part of the day, after being surrounded in a barn near Clark Station on the L & N railroad.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>How the Trouble Started<br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">Yesterday morning about 8 o’clock, Sanders, the dead negro, went to the livery stable of Higgins, Slattery & Dwyer on Market street to feed his team and there it is claimed he stole an overcoat from the buggy of Walter Grierson of Ripley, which was standing on the street in front of the stable. The matter was reported to Mr. James Dwyer, one of the members of the firm who immediately began to investigate.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">Mr. Dwyer as soon as he learned the identity of Sanders, set out for his home on East Fourth street. Upon his arrival there demanded the coat from the negro, who denied stealing the coat. Mr. Dwyer threatened to have him arrested but the man still claimed innocence. Mr. Dwyer then returned to the city and going to police headquarters swore out a warrant for Sanders, charging him with the felony.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>Chief Attempts Arrest <br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">Armed with the warrant, Chief of Police James Mackey went to the home of the negro to arrest him. Mr. Mackey did not carry a gun, as it was his habit to go unarmed on Sunday, he going to church and being afraid some accident might happen. Upon his arrival at the house knocked, and the door was opened by Sander’s wife, who inquired his mission. Upon being told she called to her husband that Chief Mackey wanted him. At this moment Chief stepped into the hallway and there saw Sanders. He said, “Sanders, I have a warrant for you.” Sanders reached for his gun, which was standing close to him and raised it to shoot at the officer. Mr. Mackey grabbed at the gun to wrest it from him but the negro shot but did not injure Mr. Mackey further than severe power burns on the chin and neck.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>Borrows Pistol<br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">Mr. Mackey then ran from the house and went to the home of a neighbor of the man to borrow a gun. After several attempts he secured a revolver and returned to the scene to capture the armed man.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">Sanders saw the chief coming and raised his gun to shoot. The officer flourished the revolver and called to him to drop the gun. The negro shot again, one of the small shot taking effect in the chief’s breast and another in his forehead. The chief attempted to use his revolver but the weapon had become rusty, through disuse and he turned to retreat. The negro shot again, one of the shot this time taking refuge in the chief’s neck. The wounded man turned again tried the revolver with better results. He shot once, the negro yelled and ducked behind a barn.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>Shoots Milkman<br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">Charles Swisher, a milkman in the employ of Mr. William H. Newell of the Fleming pike, happened to pass along the road at this time and was ordered to stop by Sanders. The horse, Mr. Swisher was driving became frightened and started to run, when the negro shot at him, the contents of the shell, striking the gentleman in the face.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">Sanders then ran out the Fleming like to the crossroads, and started out the Hill City Pike. Mr. Mackey asked Mr. James Dwyer to return to the city and get some arms and ammunition and to sound the alarm. The negro was followed by Messrs. Neal Dwyer and Max Middleman in automobiles out the pike.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>Injured Man Cared For<br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">Mr. Swisher, who was thought to have been seriously wounded at first was hastily taken to the office of Dr. G. L. Howard on Sutton street where his wounds were dressed. After a thorough examination it was found that he was not seriously injured.</div>
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<div dir="auto">Chief Mackey came to the city and directed a posse which direction to take before securing medical aid. He was taken to the office of Dr. S. H. Harover. After being looked after he summoned a number of men and took up the trail after the negro.</div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>Posse Goes After Negro <br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">As soon as it was learned that the two men had been shot a posse was formed by Deputy Sheriff Mike Brown and they took up the trail of the negro, going out the Hill City Pike. Mr. Neal Dwyer, who had followed the man with Mr. Max Middleman, was compelled to return but Mr. Middleman kept on. When he arrived at the Coughlin farm on this pike, the negro gave his pursuers the slip and doubled back to the crossroads. <br /><br /><br />
<div dir="auto"><strong>Citizens Informed <br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">As soon as it was learned that the negro was heading toward the center of the county, the citizens who could be reached by telephone were informed of the shooting and were warned that the negro was armed.<br /><br /></div>
<div dir="auto"></div>
<div dir="auto">After giving the pursuers the slip, the man was next seen at Summit near the Brodt farm. The news that he had been seen in that section was telephoned to the police headquarters here and the searching parties were notified.<br /><br /></div>
<div dir="auto"></div>
<div dir="auto">The negro was reported headed from Lewisburg and the citizens of that section armed themselves to capture him. He was located near the Thomas Malone farm and being pressed hard by the large number of men following him took refuge in a barn on that farm.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>The Final Scenes<br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">A large crowd congregated in front of the barn, estimated between two and three hundred people. While collecting near the barn Sanders shot into the crowd and injured three men: Deputy Sheriff Mike Brown, who was wounded in the hand; Mr. Joseph Owens of the county, wounded in the face; and Mr. Fred Wells, local restaurant man, in the cheek. All three of the gentlemen were but slightly injured.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">Offers of protection were made to the negro if he would surrender but he replied, “No, damn you, if you want me come get me.” The doors of the barn were opened and those with weapons began shooting into the interior of the structure. Sanders replied with shots several times but did no damage. He remained quiet for some time and the officers investigated, thinking that he might be dead. They found him hiding and he arose and shot into the crowd. This was his last shot as several in the crowd fired at him at this moment. After some delay another investigation was made and Sanders was found dead.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">The man had used up all of his ammunition before he was finally disposed of. He had been shot in the head and chest a number of times. All of the wounds were quite fresh, showing that he had not been wounded until a few moments before the finding of his dead body.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>Coroner’s Verdict <br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">Coroner Charles Slack was called and held an inquest immediately. The following was the verdict of the jury:<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">We, the Coroner’s jury, duly approved by law, do here find that the man whose dead body we have pust [sic] viewed, came to his death from gun shot wounds inflicted by the sheriff’s posse while he was resisting arrest and while said posse was in the discharge of its body. We have been informed that the name of the man was Will Sanders, the place of his death being the barn of Thomas Malone on farm on the Stode Run Pike in Mason county, Ky., the time being about 4 o’clock p.m. on the 11th day of March, 1917.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">John Javier, foreman</div>
<div dir="auto">S.F. Reed</div>
<div dir="auto">A.M. Blevins </div>
<div dir="auto">J. Fred Brodt</div>
<div dir="auto">Charles Rohmiller</div>
<div dir="auto">John Buckley<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">The remains were brought to Maysville later in the afternoon.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">It is to be hoped that we will never again be called upon to witness such another spectacle as that of yesterday.</div>
</div>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-public-ledger/8154165/">Newspapers.com</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The Public Ledger [Maysville, Ky.]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1917-03-12
Contributor
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Micah Lynn
Format
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Image
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Maysville, Mason County
1910-1920
1917
Mason County
Maysville
Micah Lynn
Sanders
Transcribed
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https://drvk.createuky.net/news-articles/files/original/e3c678661a309f58f3c2fab3f264a891.jpg
214aaf396f17c0a5675354c12d42d94b
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mason County
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Sanders, Louisville Courier-Journal, March 12, 1917
Subject
The topic of the resource
Sanders, William
Charge, attempted murder
Mob, shooting
Mob, 300 members
Description
An account of the resource
<h3>Negro, Defying Posse, Killed</h3>
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<div dir="auto"><strong>Maysville Chief of Police Among Five Wounded— Desperado Is Surrounded In Barn On Farm— Held Pursuers At Bay<br /><br /></strong></div>
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<div dir="auto">Maysville, Ky., March 1– William Sanders, a negro, shot and badly wounded Chief of Police James Mackey and Charles Switzer at his home early this morning. He fled into the mountains, but was pursued by a posse and after having wounded three other men was shot to death in a barn on the farm of Thomas Malone, eight miles from here.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">Chief Mackey had a warrant for the arrest of Sanders, accusing him of the theft of an overcoat. With a shotgun Sanders opened fire on the chief, who, however, grabbed the barrel just as the gun went off. Only a few of the shot struck him in the neck, inflicting several bad wounds. <br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">As he turned toward the pike, Charles Switzer drove up in his milk wagon. Sanders fired again at Mackey, but the full charge struck Switzer in the face. Sanders fired two more shots at Mackey, who was seriously wounded in the back of his head. His clothing literally was riddled with shot. Sanders fled into the halls and made his escape. Chief Mackey and Switzer were rushed to this city and given medical attention.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">Sheriff Mike Brown formed a posse of about thirty men, which was augmented by fully 300 more men, armed with rifles and shotguns, and started in pursuit of the negro, surrounding him in a farm on the Malone farm. He held the posse back at bay, shooting at everyone who attempted to approach the barn. Joseph Owens, Fred Wells and Mike Brown were wounded by him.<br /><br /></div>
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<div dir="auto">Finally a rush was made for the barn, after Sanders repeatedly had refused to surrender. A volley from the rifles resulted in Sanders being killed. <br /><br /></div>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal/8154139/">Newspapers.com</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The Courier-Journal [Louisville, Ky.]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1917-03-12
Contributor
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Micah Lynn
Format
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Image
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Maysville, Mason County
1910-1920
1917
Mason County
Maysville
Micah Lynn
Sanders
Transcribed
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https://drvk.createuky.net/news-articles/files/original/b766d2d3b1d54320b23f947d21b172ee.jpg
1b18edfdb9af64f18d049a5ce6be7155
https://drvk.createuky.net/news-articles/files/original/9d10e12a81eeb3ef74ff1c675e5aa85a.jpg
da60893cdbb187c7642001a19df0d6fc
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mason County
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Coleman, Maysville Evening Bulletin, December 12, 1899
Subject
The topic of the resource
Coleman, Richard
Editorial
Description
An account of the resource
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Timely Advice to Colored People</h3>
<p>We regret to notice a disposition among the less intelligent of the colored people to attribute the recent expression of public sentiment in regard to the crime of Richard Coleman to the existence of a deep seated feeling of hostility to the colored race. There is no community of whites in Christendom which is as little open to such a charge as the community in which we live. Even in the old slavery days there were no more kindly and indulgent masters than the fathers and grandfathers of the men who meted out to Richard Coleman the penalty demanded by outraged justice for the commission of a multiple crime; and the miserable wretch who suffered this penalty bore witness, even while reeking with the blood of his benefactress, to the kindness which from childhood he had received at her hands. Is Dick Coleman to be deliberately selected by the colored people of Mason County as a representative type of their race? Does not the very suggestion dishonor the memory of the honorable old slaves who rest beside their masters in the burial-grounds of this county? Ought not the true men of the colored race to have been the first (as some, indeed, have been) to step forward and denounce the perpetrator of his horrible crime, or “plexus of crimes,” as a monster too hideous and repulsive to be classified with any branch of the human race?<br /><br />Not many years have elapsed since three incarnate devils, in a neighboring county, outraged and murdered three little girls, and fired the house to consume their bodies and conceal the crime. What was the result? Many lives were lost and thousands of dollars were expended to save these wretches from the same swift penalty which was measured out to Richard Coleman on Wednesday last. All the military forces of the Commonwealth were invoked to rescue from the swift hand of justice these three devils, monsters of lechery and murder who were masquerading in a civilized community in white skins and under Christian names. Did the sympathies of the white race go out towards these wretches? Has their memory been consecrated in the traditions of that race? Have their evil names been inscribed in the Caucasian calendar of martyrs and saints? But this is not all.<br /><br />There was born many years ago of a slave mother upon a Southern plantation a child who, in spite of all that adverse fortune could do to thwart his inborn inclinations for good, has become not only the head and front of the humble race from which he sprang, but a conspicuous and honorable example to the poor and humble of every race. And yet the early conditions of his career (in many respects the same) were far less favorable than those of tho villainous creature who perished in tho gravel pit on Wednesday last. Now these are plain, indisputable facts.<br /><br />If there are men of wisdom in the colored race of Mason County let them speak out boldly to their own people,– in their pulpits, at their firesides, in the schoolrooms, among the laborers in the fields and the loafers in the streets. Is it Booker Washington or is it Dick Coleman that is to be the ideal of your race?<br /><br />The colored Bishop of New Jersey is not well informed nor wise. The civilization of this county will bear comparison with that of New Jersey at least. If Bishop Wallers were as well instructed as a Bishop should be he would not speak so unwisely to on ignorant, helpless, sensitive and unreflecting race. It is evident that the civilization of New Jersey has done but little for him. Does civilization, from the New Jersey point of view, rest upon a basis of education? A Harvard Professor, who is universally known as a scholar and man of science, says in his history of Kentucky that Mason County is “the best schooled county in the State.” Ex-Gov. Brown, a scholarly politician and a political scholar in addressing a public meeting in this place last autumn, said in simple recognition of well-known facts, that the county of Mason has always been as famous for the culture of its people as for the fertility of its soil. If the good Bishop of New Jersey should ever meet the ubiquitous Mason County man he will cheerfully acknowledge the force and justice of these remarks.<br /><br />As to mob law. Well, it is bad enough. Its only justification in that there are many things that are worse. Lord Coleridge, the eminent Chief Justice of the British Empire, has remarked that among the Anglo-Saxon people the so-called lynch law will always be invoked to correct the inevitable defects of ordinary legal administration. It is not merely the wild justice of a mob; it is the rude equity of the criminal law. Its operation is swift, silent, deadly and convincing. It clears the moral atmosphere. It puts all shapes of evil to fight. The virtues of civilization spring up in its footsteps. Peace prevails; public order is secure, and even at midnight helpless innocence may walk in safety upon the loneliest country road.<br /><br />To the casuist and the caviller [sic]; to all who are still unconvinced; who still insist that justice shall always, and in all circumstances, and according to degraded and defective methods, be distributed in quantities to suit purchasers, at the old familiar stands, we have but one reply to make. It is that of a bold and able Republican newspaper of Cincinnati in response to tho snivelling sympathizers with the miserable victim of “Mason County mob law.” The answer is brief, but it is conclusive: “And on the other hand” –says the daring Republican editor– “Suppose it had been your wife!”</p>
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evening-bulletin-white-supremacist-l/119701329/">Newspapers.com</a>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
The Evening Bulletin (Maysville, KY)
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1899-12-12
Contributor
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Micah Lynn
Format
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Image
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Maysville, Mason County
1890-1900
1899
Coleman
Editorial
Mason County
Maysville
Micah Lynn
Transcribed
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https://drvk.createuky.net/news-articles/files/original/ecaebfd5db69fdaa900ac1a542a8ac6b.jpg
1562e559c8bdc1c06f8c2dcf5df95da7
https://drvk.createuky.net/news-articles/files/original/a473bb52db3e118a60a5330e8c788426.jpg
9f768cf90c9fd1c27d6d741869d7a680
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Mason County
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Coleman, Louisville Courier-Journal, December 7, 1899
Subject
The topic of the resource
Coleman, Richard
Charge, rape
Mob, burning
Mob, thousands of members
Charge, murder
Mob, unmasked
Description
An account of the resource
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"> The Latest</h3>
<p>Richard Coleman, colored, the confessed murderer of Mrs. James Lashbrooke, was burned to death by a mob at Maysville yesterday. Immediately upon his arrival from Covington in charge of the officers he was surrounded by several thousand people. On one of the principal streets of the city the officers were overpowered and their prisoner seized. He was taken to a small hollow in the outskirts of town and bound to a sapling. Brush and timber were healed around and over him and set on fire and Coleman was slowly burned to death, the frenzied crowd subjecting him to various kinds of torture before and during the burning, which lasted some three hours. No attempt at disguise was made by the men who composed the mob, which was led by the husband, relatives and friends of the woman murdered by Coleman two months ago.<br /><br /></p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Title: Burned At Stake</h3>
<p><strong>Richard Coleman Meets Death at Hands of a Frenzied Mob– Snatched Away from County Officers– At Maysville and Forced in Helpless Terror to the Scene of Torture– Bound Alive with Ropes to a Tree– And Tortured and Roasted While Thousands Looked on at His Sufferings– Relatives of Young Coleman’s Victim– Took the Lead in the Mob’s Fiendish Work and the Murdered Woman’s Husband Lighted the Funeral Pile– Story of the Crime Which Led to His Fate</strong></p>
<p>Maysville, Ky., Dec. 6.— [Special]— Richard Coleman, colored, the confessed murderer of Mrs. James Lashbrooke, was burned at the stake here today by a mob of several thousand people, who overpowered the officers and seized the prisoner on the way uptown after the arrival of the train from Covington at 10:10 o’clock this morning. It was a scene the like of which probably was never before witnessed in Kentucky; certainly not since the days of Indian warfare has there been a parallel to the three hours’ horrible work of the frenzied mob which tortured and burned the young negro murderer while thousands of people looked on with mingled exclamations of horror and approbation and others turned away sickened by the awful sight. The dreadful spectacle took place on the peaceful cricket grounds on the outskirts of this, one of the oldest cities in Kentucky. The barbarities inflicted upon this young negro by the citizens of one of the most highly civilized cities of the State are almost beyond belief, and can only be accounted for by the intense horror created by long consideration of the atrocious crime, of which full confession had been made by Coleman.</p>
<p>In all thousands who constituted the mob, there was not a single effort made to disguise or conceal identity. No man wore a mask. All the leaders of the mob are well known, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of witnesses who can testify to their participation in the tragedy. They are leading citizens in all lines of business, and some are members of churches.</p>
<p><strong>Violence Was Not Expected</strong></p>
<p>Yesterday when Circuit Judge Harbeson ordered Coleman to be brought from the Covington jail to stand trial today the consensus of opinion was that the law would be allowed to take its course. Indeed, Judge Harbeson had assurance from some of the leader’s of today’s mob that no violence would be attempted.</p>
<p>There was no call made upon the Governor for troops to protect the prisoner. Yesterday Sheriff Perrine, under orders of Judge Harbeson, with four assistants, went to Covington, expecting to return with Coleman last night, but after reaching Covington the Jailer at Maysville wired him not to attempt to bring the prisoner into Maysville at night.</p>
<p>Sheriff Perrine determined to leave Covington by the train on the Chesapeake and Ohio, which started at 8:30 o’clock this morning from Cincinnati. Coleman had been apprised last night to prepare to return to the scene of the crime. He was instantly stricken with fear, and begged piteously to be permitted to remain in Covington until after his trial. He said he expected to die, but he dreaded the vengeance of a mob. When he was handcuffed, on leaving the jail in Covington, he was almost paralyzed with terror, and had to be assisted to the patrol wagon. The crowd about the jail there and at the Covington depot added to his fear. On entering the train he seemed unable to sit down until one of the guards forced him into the seat.</p>
<p><strong>Arrival at Maysville</strong></p>
<p>Court was in session this morning when the train from Covington arrived bearing Coleman, in the custody of Sheriff Perrine, Deputy Roberson and Detective Edward W. Fitzgerald. </p>
<p>Last night a crowd of several hundred met the late train that was expected to bring Coleman, but the assembly was considered to be more out of morbid curiosity than hostile intent. The Coleman crime had aroused general interest throughout the county, and the presence this morning of an unusually large crowd did not cause much apprehension among the court officers.</p>
<p><strong>The Rush of the Mob</strong></p>
<p>When the Sheriff and his posse were nearing the courthouse and there was a rush for the street, everybody about the building thought it was curiosity to see the negro. The people did not know just when and over what route Coleman would come; some were at the Chesapeake and Ohio depot, some at the Front-street station, and some at the jail.</p>
<p>At the C. and O. depot the officers fooled the crowd, making it believe they would get off at Market street. When the crowd started for Market street, the officers started in the rear with Coleman. Everything looked safe until Sutton street was reached. There the crowd at the jail could be seen, and the Sheriff and posse went on up Second to Court street, moving rapidly for the courthouse.</p>
<p><strong>Seized By the Mob</strong></p>
<p>Then the people seemed suddenly to swarm from everywhere, and blocked all travel. When right at the courthouse, James Lashbrooke made a sudden movement and grabbed Coleman. Immediately strong and willing hands laid hold of the officers. Some one of the guards pulled a pistol. Coleman tried to hold onto a telephone pole, but was jerked and pulled toward Second street. Hundreds of people soon stood between Coleman and the officers. Coleman was rushed up Second to Market street. The officers tried to follow, but soon realized the folly of trying to protect the prisoner.</p>
<p>The mob was in the heart of the city on the main business street, and the scene was tumultuous in the extreme. At Market street the mob paused and called for a rope. Several well-known citizens appeared with ropes in their hands. The mob moved on to Limestone street and stopped. Some one tried to get a rope over a long distance telephone pole, when the mob again started for Limestone creek bridge, dragging Coleman along by a rope that some one had thrown around his neck.</p>
<p><strong>Rope Around His Neck</strong></p>
<p>The frenzied crowd pushed and jostled and clamored to get at the hapless wretch. All who reached him struck him with their fists, prodded him with sticks, pounded his face and in every way they could added to the suffering of the terror-stricken brute, who, with eyes wide-distended with fear, and with hands clutching helplessly at the rope around his neck, could scarcely keep his feet in the crush.</p>
<p>When the bridge was reached the mob halted. Hanging him from the bridge seemed too commonplace to suit the savage mood of the furious thousands. A brief pause, and again the mob moved. Out the railroad (?) it marched to a small section house, and again stopped. The leaders hurriedly conferred, but the tossing crowd was growing impatient, and various cries of “Hang him” came from hundreds of throats.“Burn him,” roared a big voice somewhere out in the seething mass of people, and “Burn him” echoed hundreds on the instant. The mad mob caught at the word eagerly. That was what it wanted. That suited them better than hanging from a bridge. “Burn him,” roared the multitude, and the leaders acted on the word. </p>
<p><strong>Taken to the Stake</strong></p>
<p>Swiftly then was the dreadful work done. Of one accord the crowd crossed over to the Kentucky Central roundhouse, where a few feet in the rear nature had formed a hollow square with a high bank nearly all the way around. Several thousand people soon stood on this bank, which was so situated that about one-fourth of the population of the city could see from their homes the awful tragedy about to be enacted.<br /><br /></p>
<p>The leaders of the mob, representing mostly the relatives of Mrs. Lashbrooke, assembled within this square while Coleman was being pushed over this bank. He was pulled by the rope around the neck to the center, where there grew a small sapling tree, around which the rope was securely wrapped and Coleman’s body pinioned to the tree. His breeches were pulled off and an effort made to strip him, which the tight ropes partially prevented.</p>
<p><strong>Lashbrooke Lighted the Fire</strong></p>
<p>Some one yelled for coal oil, and quick as a flash runners started out for it. A prominent Maysville business man gathered an armload of weeds and threw at Coleman’s feet. Others took the hint, and in a few moments Coleman was covered in weeds and brush. He had fallen to the ground and pieces of stumps and railroad ties were piled on the weeds. Several persons made efforts to apply the match, but they were brushed aside and James Lashbrooke, the husband of Coleman’s victim, lighted the funeral pile.</p>
<p><strong>Vitriol Poured Into His Eyes</strong></p>
<p>The weeds burned like straw, while the mob gazed on with fiendish satisfaction. Before covering Coleman with weeds a relative of Mrs. Lashbrooke rushed forward, and, while companions held Coleman’s head, poured into the negro’s eyes and nose and mouth a bottle of cayenne pepper and vitriol, which caused the blood to run all over his face.</p>
<p>When the flames began to burn Coleman wriggled his head outside of the line of heat. As soon as the crowd noticed this they made a rush and shoved and pulled him back into the fire. Coleman was evidently in such a state of mental and bodily agony that he collapsed after he was tied to the tree and from the moment the mob took him from the officers until he was burned to death no sound of terror, pain or anguish escaped his lips. The mob stirred up the burning coals and logs about Coleman with no more feeling than a stoked making his fire under a steamboat boiler.</p>
<p><strong>Coal Oil Poured On</strong></p>
<p>When the coal oil man arrived the oil was smeared all over Coleman and the flames leapt high in the air.</p>
<p>Even school children were seen gathering weeds to throw on the fire. Strong men on the bank with tears in their eyes were heard to exclaim: “My God, this is awful,” which was met with the response: “Yes, but not more terrible than Coleman’s treatment of Mrs. Lashbrooke.”</p>
<p><strong>Women as Onlookers</strong></p>
<p>Strange to relate many women looked on at the work of the mob, and it is a significant fact that from the commission of the crime, October 5, some of the best women of the county demanded that Coleman be mobbed.</p>
<p>At the depot this morning a woman of higher standing said to a gentleman who met her, after the crowd had gone up town without taking Coleman: “I thought you Maysville men had some courage.”</p>
<p><strong>Grewsome Momentoes</strong></p>
<p>When it became certain that Coleman was dead the persons present began securing momentoes of the awful occasion. They took buttons from his clothes, pieces of clothing, twigs from the sapling and some took out their knives and cut off fingers and toes, which they wrapped in paper and stowed away carefully in their pockets. A few knocked out teeth from the dead man’s mouth for grewsome keepsakes. The mutilation of the body by relic hunters was sickening to behold.</p>
<p>Coleman;s remains burned for several hours before Squire Jacob Miller, the acting Coroner, proceeded to hold an inquest over what little was left of Coleman by the mob, the flames and the relic seekers.</p>
<p><strong>Negroes Watched the Mob</strong></p>
<p>While the mob was at work the negroes of Maysville stood off in small groups looking on. Some were very sullen in their manner, and after it was over a few expressed the opinion that a white man would not have been treated that way. The better class of negroes, however, say that Coleman got no more than he deserved.</p>
<p>The coroner’s meeting was largely attended by the negroes, and a few seemed anxious to tell the jury what they saw. There was very little evidence introduced, as most of the jury were eyewitnesses to the tragedy.</p>
<p>There was no political complexion to the mob, and all citizens say the punishment meted out to Coleman was no more horrible than his crime.<br /><br /><strong>Court Adjourns<br /><br /></strong>Judge Harbeson has adjourned his court until next week. To-day's doings have shocked the community as it was never shocked before, and no one is thinking of anything else. The ugly affair is is greatly deplored by the court officials, but they are blameless, as every one knows that they did what they could without shedding innocent blood. To-day's mob was composed of the leading citizens of the town and county. The leaders were representative men. While Mr. Lashbrooke's neighbors inspired the mob, many well-known business men were active participants in its work.<br /><br /><strong>Coleman's Crime</strong><br /><br />The crime for which Coleman was mobbed was one of the most revolting in the history of Mason County.<br /><br />On the evening of October 5 Coleman, the trusted employe [sic] of Farmer James Lashbrooke, in a moment of depravity and savagery not equaled in the annals of crime, murdered the woman who had been his benefactress. Coleman was not only employed on the farm, but had been installed as a house servant, and was trusted implicitly by both Mr. Lashbrooke and his wife. On the day of the murder Mr. Lashbrooke was at work some distance away from the house Coleman was left in charge of the house. Mrs. Lashbrooke had driven to Maysville and returned, when Coleman asked her to enter the cabin to look at some work at which he had been engaged. The negro locked the door on the inside. Mrs. Lashbrooke became frightened and screamed, Coleman struck her on the head, knocking her down, but not stopping her cries. He then seized a razor and cut her throat. He picked up the bleeding body and placed it on the bed. He then left the room, but returning, heard her groaning, and, with an ax he struck her repeatedly on the head until he was sure she was dead. Without any show of alarm or remorse for his crime, the negro calmly washed the blood from his hands and clothing and went to where Mr. Lashbrooke was at work in the field and told him that he had better come to the house, as someone killed his wife. Mr. Lashbrooke did not take the matter seriously until Coleman insisted that his wife was dead. Even then, so great was the confidence of Mr. Lashbrooke in Coleman, no thought occurred that he was the murderer. It was not until after officers arrived that suspicion was directed against Coleman. Blood spots had been found on his clothing, but he accounted for that by saying he had been killing chickens. <br /><br /><strong>His Confessions<br /></strong><br />That night, however, at Maysville, a partial confession was obtained, and, knowing the result if that fact should become known, the officers moved him to Covington for safekeeping. He was indicted for the murder. Shortly after his incarceration at Covington he made a complete and horrible confession of his crime to the jailer. The story of his revolting crime, including worse than murder, was told without any appearance of feeling by the prisoner. This confession becoming public, roused the feelings of indignation that culminated in to-day's horror.</p>
<p><strong>Previous Attempts at Lynching</strong></p>
<p>On the night that Coleman confessed a mob made a futile attempt to get him out of the Mason county jail. The next day County Judge Newell sent Coleman to the Covington jail for safekeeping. The train taking the prisoner to Covington had just left the depot when a large party of farmers rode into Maysville on horseback for the avowed purpose of lynching Coleman. Circuit Judge Harbeson was then appealed to to [<em>sic</em>] impanel a special grand jury to indict Coleman, which appeal was not granted on account of Circuit Court being in session in Bracken county.</p>
<p></p>
Source
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<a href="https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-courier-journal-story-of-richard-col/30318418/">Newspapers.com</a>
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The Courier-Journal [Louisville, Ky.]
Date
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1899-12-07
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Micah Lynn
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Covington, Kenton County; Maysville, Mason County
1890-1900
1899
Coleman
Covington
Mason County
Maysville
Micah Lynn
Transcribed