Dudley, Lexington Weekly Leader, September 3, 1891
Terror Reigns in the Midst of Georgetown– Wild Rumors About a Negro Outbreak– Fifty Mounted Guards Help Keep Watch– State Troops Wanted by Citizens– But Frankfort Connection Can’t Be Had– Demoralized State of Affairs in General– Armed Men Patrol the Public Streets– And Guard Their Interests Jealously– Report That Three Hundred Negroes– Had Gone From This City to Georgetown– To Help Their Neighbors in the Fight– Homes Burned Down by Dudley’s Friends– Friday Night Begins the Citizens’ Vigils—Two of Them in the Same Night, and Both Discovered to Be the Work of Incendiaries– Latest Details From the Scene of the Threatened Riot. Friday morning after the lynching of the negro Dudley on the Frankfort pike, near Georgetown, the news of the hanging drew crowds of negroes to the scene of the execution. The greatest excitement prevailed, and the feeling of indignation at the lynching of one of their color by a white mob, when two white murderers in the same jail were left unharmed, soon rose to such a pitch that there was imminent danger of an immediate reaction in retaliation on their part. The crowd, however, After many threats Among themselves, dispersed, but groups of them were noticed on the street corners of Georgetown during the day discussing the lynching and vague rumors were afloat over the town that they would set the houses of the place on fire that night. These reports came mainly from the negro women of the place, who were much wrought up over the mob’s work. Even the most intelligent of the negroes were sullen in their demeanor, and the general idea of them all seemed to be that some act of retaliation was necessary to bring the whites to a realization of the extent to which their race was being imposed upon, while the law itself seemed to fail with white offenders charged with the same offenses. Great uneasiness Was felt by the people of Georgetown over the rumors which were constantly coming in of intended outrages, and though none of the inhabitants of the town had been concerned in any way in the lynching, they felt that the retaliatory measures of the blacks would be unreasoning, and make no distinctions in person or property. Towards evening the leading citizens of Georgetown had arranged that the signal for any sudden uprising should be the ring of the fire alarm bell over the engine house. By night the excitement had increased to such an extent that nearly every citizen of the place was prepared to stand guard over his property. The merchants on Main street armed themselves and many prepared to stay in their places of business all night. There were no demonstrations on the streets by either side, and by 9 o’clock everything seemed even more quiet than usual. The fifty men who had been sworn in by the Sheriff as deputies were in readiness to meet at the court house on the first alarm. At 10 o’clock very few negroes were on the streets, and most of the citizens prepared themselves for their troubled sleep. Just before 11 o’ clock, a Bright, Ruddy Glow Illuminated the sky in the direction of Judge George V. Paine’s place, and almost immediately the fire bell pealed it’s alarming notes out over the wakeful town. Instantly there was a rush of many men from different quarters to the place appointed, among whom were Sheriff, J.M. Ford, and Mr. Will Owens, a prominent lawyer of the place. These gentlemen at once took charge of the band of determined men, and they determined that the fire was an attempt on the part of the negroes to draw them out of the business part of the place, so that the houses could be set on fire in their absence. The fire department was sent to Judge Payne’s place, and it was found that his tobacco barn and stripping room were on fire, and also a huge straw rick, had been fired and sending up volumes of flame and smoke. It was useless to attempt to put out the fire, and the firemen started back. At this moment there was Another Alarm, And it was found that Pauline Hall, a dormitory of the Baptist College, had been fired by placing kerosene in the basement. This fire was extinguished by President Dudley and other citizens. About the same time this alarm was given, another came from the direction of Hamilton street, caused by the flames pouring from a rear room of Judge Bates’ house. The window of this room had been prized open and the incendiaries had fired it from the inside. In the meantime Sheriff Ford and Mr. Owens had been arming their force of nearly two hundred men from the three hardware stores of the town. Many of the men had brought arms with them, and those who had not were furnished from the stores. Orders were given with a military precision, and by the time the second alarm rang out a body of over a hundred men were patrolling the town in every quarter. Mounted patrols were also sent out and the watchword was called for and given at every street corner. The electric and street lamp lights reflected from the Glistening Barrels Of Winchesters, shotguns and even Sharp’s rifles, as the patrol walked their beats. The noise of the first excitement had nearly died away. The fires were almost extinguished and the alert sentinels at their posts, when about a square from the court house, a slouching figure passed along the sidewalk, the thick shadow from the trees protecting him from the lamplight. On his shoulder could be seen the dim outline of an old army musket as he neared a corner. “Halt there! Where are you going?” came to him in sharp distinctness, and, looking up the man saw before him one of the patrols. “Lord, sah, I isn’t doin’ nothin’,” was the reply in frightened tones. The slouching figure proved to be a half demented negro named Elijah French, who had heard there was trouble, and the idea that he should be there had floated through his clouded brain. His musket was found to be unloaded, and he was locked up to prevent his being harmed by some mistake during the exciting night. All through the night the armed patrol guarded the homes of Georgetown, and Saturday morning the little town wore a drowsy look. Little groups of men could be seen standing on the street corners, and a feeling of Suppressed Excitement Pervaded the entire place. Groups of negroes were also seen talking together in low tones, and a sinister thing was apparent in the fact that there was little or no conversation between the men of the two races. A waiter in the Lancaster Hotel was asked by a Leader reporter what he knew of the trouble. “Don’t know nothing, boss. I went to sleep at 10 o’clock and didn’t get up.” This reply is characteristic; the race are unwilling to say anything at all about the trouble to anyone who asks, but the rumors were still flying thick that Saturday night would see a scene that would make that of Friday night peaceful by comparison. In the office of the County Judge this Saturday morning ten or twelve of the prominent men of Georgetown were in consultation over the situation. There had been some talk of holding An Indignation Meeting, But the gentlemen present seemed to think that this might be unwise and bring on more trouble. Among those present were Judge George V. Payne, Sheriff Ford, Dr. J.A. and Mr. William Owens. Preparations were being made to resist any outrage that might be attempted, and the organization of the sheriff’s posse is being perfected so as to be of the greatest possible efficiency in the case of an outbreak. County Judge Bates went to Frankfort to consult the Governor about what should be done, and a lot of sixty Rifles Were Ordered And expected Saturday. The people of Georgetown feel justly outraged over the recent bloodshed and mob law in their town, as they are in no way responsible for either of the recent bloody events which happened there. The Jarvises and Kendalls live in the country and made the town their battlefield and killed one of Georgetown’s best citizens during the fight. The men who came in and lynched the negro Dudley were a mob from the Peaks Mill neighborhood, and no citizens of Georgetown had anything to do with it. News has been received that general instructions have been issued by the Superintendent of the Cincinnati Railroad that all trains passing over bridges and trestles in Scott county must not exceed a rate of five miles an hour, and that care must be exercised to see that none of these bridges or trestles have been injured before the trains cross. This applies especially to the bridge over the Elkhorn near Georgetown. Flying Rumors All kinds of rumors were rife about the trouble in Georgetown last night and early this morning. It was reported that 300 negroes were on their way from this city to assist the Georgetown malcontents, but this rumor was found to be false. This caused the leaders of the citizens’ guards to telegraph to Lexington asking if they could get communication with Frankfort to ask the government for troops. They were informed that the Frankfort office closed at 8 o’clock and no message could be gotten through. About 2 o’clock this morning another rumor was circulated to the effect that a band of negroes from Midway were enroute to Georgetown. Mounted Guards A dispatch from Georgetown, received at an early hour this morning, states there are two hundred guards on duty, fifty of whom are mounted, and that they have carefully patrolled the city from one end to the other. Echoes in Lexington A Gun Dealer Sells Many Firearms to Georgetown People A Leader reporter, hearing that many Georgetown people had been in Lexington yesterday, interviewed a prominent gun dealer at 9:30 last night, and in reply to the reporter’s inquiries, said: “Yes, a good many people were in today buying firearms. I didn’t think much of it at first, but hearing one of them speak of Georgetown I ‘caught on.’ There wasn’t anything too fine for them. They wanted mainly 88-calibre Winchesters. I sold all I had and then sold the thirty-two’s.” “How many did you sell?” “Oh, I don’t know; I couldn’t tell without looking at my books. I remember I sold one man five. They bought pistols, too. One of the men said that all the firearms in the stores of Georgetown had been sold out. One hardware firm, I believe they said Rucker & Long, have sold $700 worth of firearms in the last twenty-four hours. Another thing they said was that they had spotted the leading negroes who are up to mischief, and at the first demonstration they will be riddled with bullets.” The sentiment among the people of Lexington last night seemed to be that they thought the Georgetown people had suffered enough from trouble which they had in no way provoked, and that they would not be surprised at an extremely bloody ending to the present affairs, if they were forced to it, by more lawlessness Title: Lynched Frank Dudley, the Murderer of John Hughes– An Eye Witness Tells the Story of the Hanging– Taken from Jail at 2 O’clock This Morning– And Swung to the Limb of a Locust Tree– The Kendalls Thought the Mob Was After Them– And Begged and Pleaded For Their Lives– The Murderer Says He Shot Hughes Accidentally– But Gives the Regulators No Trouble At All– Georgetown Furnishes a Series of Sensations– Not the Least of Which Is Last Night’s Work— The Jailer Protests Against Giving Up the Keys When Asked for Dudley, But Is Forced to Submit at the Point of the Revolver– A Curious Coincidence of the Kendall Affair Georgetown was the scene of another sensation this morning, the third within the fleeting limits of a day. John Dudley, the murderer of Frank Hughes, was taken from the jail and lynched by a mob of masked men at two o’clock this morning. About 1:30 a mob of one hundred and fifty men, with their feature carefully concealed, came into Georgetown and went straight to the jail, where they called for Jailer James M. Reed. Poking his head out a window, he said cautiously, “What Is Wanted?” “We want John Dudley, the man that’s killed Frank Hughes,” said a tall formidable-looking fellow, in a deep bass voice. A parley ensued, the jailer protesting mildly against giving up the keys to Dudley’s cell, and begging the mob to let the law take its course. But expostulation was of no avail, and as a host of revolvers spoke louder than the most potent oral arguments, the jailer was finally forced to submit to the inevitable, and gave up the coveted keys. About this time Milton Kendall and his four sons, who were confined in a cell near that of the murderer, began screaming at the tops of their voices, under the impression that the mob was after them. Kendall and his sons, it will be remembered, killed A.J. Montgomery and one of his Jarvis boys and wounded another one. George Kendall Was Particularly Noisy And thought his life wasn’t worth a nickel. On being assured that Dudley was the man the mob was after, he quited down somewhat, but was not at ease until the mob had left the jail. The Kendall’s will never get a worse scare than they had that night. The mob hustled Dudley out to a quiet spot about half a mile from the city, on the Frankfort pike, and there told him if he had anything to say it was about time he was doing it. Dudley said he was innocent of the murder, and that the shooting was accidental. The mob then Hanged Him To A Tree And filled his body full of bullets, after which they all went off in various directions. The mob came to Georgetown on horseback, in carriages, and even on foot. Most of them came from the direction of Stamping Ground, and some from Frankfort and other parts of Franklin county. It is supposed they were neighbors of the murdered man, who was respected by all who knew him. A Lexington boy witnessed the entire lynching, the account of which will be found interesting reading, as it is not often that a lynching is witnessed by an outsider. The young man tells The Story As Follows: “Myself and another friend had been to a party in Georgetown and at 2 o’clock were on our way back to Lexington in a buggy. When we had got about one mile from town we were halted by a man with a pistol, who pointed it straight at us and requested us not to go on. “We didn’t. “The men were in all kinds of vehicles, and it looked to me as if there were about 200 of them, but I might have magnified the number a little bit. The man then said we’re going to hang a man out here in a few minutes and you can come on and Witness The Lynching. “We had no other choice but to go. The men halted near a stone wall, and four of them tied Dudley’s hands and feet together, while a fifth threw a noose over his head. They then lifted him upon a rock fence. Then another big fellow climbed a small locust tree that stood by the stone wall. He pulled the rope up and knotted it around a limb, leaving a little slack, and hollored [sic] out, ‘All right.’ With this the four men below approached the negro and Pushed Him From The Fence. “His body swung clear and he died almost without a struggle. Then began a volley such as I never heard before. Nearly every man in the crowd who had a pistol fired one or more bullets into the poor wretch’s body. “After this the mob came away, I suppose, but we did not wait to see. At the first shot our horse started out, and we didn’t try to hold him, but came right straight on through without any unnecessary stop, believing we had had enough adventure for one night.” … The Murder For which Dudley paid the extreme penalty last night was committed on Monday night, August 25, less than a week ago. Dudley had lived as a tenant on the farm of Hughes for three years and occupied a small cabin there. On the night of the murder, about 9:30, he went to his cabin and, not finding his wife at home, went to Mr. Hughes’ house and accused him of improper relations with his wife, saying that she was in Hughes’ home at the time. Hughes told him to look through the house, but he refused, and going back to his cabin got a shot-gun and returned. He knocked at the door and Hughes came out, when the negro blew his head off.
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Peaks Mill, Franklin County; Georgetown, Scott County
Marshall and Patterson, Lexington Herald-Leader, January 16, 1911
Body of One Mob Victim Missing in Shelbyville Jim West is Not Thought to Have Escaped– Best Citizens of the Town Insist That Courts Investigate the Lynching of Sunday in Which Three Met Death at Hands of Twenty Armed and Masked Men– All Were Negroes And Had Attacked Women– Unknown Gang Overpowers Jailer and Drag the Helpless Prisoners to Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Bridge Where They Are Strung Up– Rope Breaks as Two Swing From Its Ends Shelbyville, Ky., Jan. 16– A two day’s search for Jim West, the two days’ search for Jim West, the third Negro taken from jail by a mob Sunday morning when a triple lynching occurred here, has failed to reveal any trace of his body. Bloody trails were found in the creek bottom. Some were made by Wade Patterson, while is believed the others were made by West. It is not believed that West made his escape, and the searchers expect to find his dead body at some spot not far from the scene of the lynching. So far no action has been taken by the courts to investigate the lynching, though the best citizens insist that something must be done. They say the mob was made up of hoodlums. Associated Press Story Shelbyville, Ky., Jan. 16– All is quiet here today following the lynching yesterday or negroes Eugene Marshall, Wade Patterson and Jim West. It is believed that in the excitement the mob mistook Marshall, accused of murdering a negro woman, for another negro. That they wanted Patterson and West, charged with crimes against white women, is well known. The grand jury, which will meet next Monday and which was to have taken up the cases of two of the beveled who were lynched, will instead investigate the lynching. West and Patterson were being held pending a probably indictment. Marshall had already been tried and sentenced to death. Story of Lynching Shelbyville, Ky., Jan. 16– A mob of masked men, variously estimated from forty to sixty, forced their way into the jail here shortly after 2 o’clock Sunday morning and carried out three Negroes, shooting one to death, hanging another and completely spiriting the third away to burn him at the stake, some reports have it. One body, that of Eugene Marshall, was found dangling at the end of a twelve-foot rope, suspended from the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad bridge at 7 o’clock Sunday morning, while the other, that of Wade Patterson, was dragged from Clay creek, near the same bridge. A bullet wound in his head and numerous contusions and bruises indicated the rough handling to which the Negro had been subjected before he met his death. That Patterson had attempted to escape from the mob is indicated by several facts discovered during the day by Coroner Bullock. The third man, James West, and the man said to be the main one wanted by the mob, has not been seen or heard of since he was led away from the jail, securely bound, while half a dozen men surrounded him. Clay creek, the stream into which the body of Patterson was either thrown or dropped by the breaking of the hangman’s rope, was searched all during yesterday in the hole of also dragging up West’s corpse. At midnight, when the weary searchers gave up the job, the body had not been discovered. The masked mob did its work quietly, but apparently after making careful arrangements. The first known of it was at 2:10 o’clock, when Ernest Hornback, a deputy jailer, who had not retired, heard the tramp of many feet near the jail. A friend, William Tracy, was with him. A moment later there was a knock on the door of the jailer’s residence. It was answered by Mr. Hornback. He had scarcely opened the door when he found himself looking into the muzzles of a half score of revolvers. “We want the keys to this dump,” said a gruff voice. Mr. Hornback says he slammed the door and called loudly to the jailer, Edward Thompson, who was sleeping in another room. Mr. Thompson took the cue, and seizing the keys, gave hurried instructions to his deputy, and ran to another room, hiding himself in a closet, this course being taken to save the keys from the mob. “Jailer Thompson has the keys and he has gone,” Deputy Hornback told them. “All right, boys,” said the spokesman, “we will not waste time– get busy.” Instantly, according to Deputy Hornback, a score of men, armed with picks and heavy sledge hammers, pushed their way to the inner door of the jail and assaulted the great locks. The resounding blows, said the deputy, were almost deafening. In a jiffy seventeen prisoners held in the jail were awakened. Some of them possibly realizing what was about to happen, began to shout loudly for help. Their entreaties, however, were drowned by the din of blows on the iron bars and locks. The attack on the jail stronghold began at 2:10 and it was 3:45 o’clock this morning before all four locks protecting the poor wretches gave way. “I looked at my watch just after the guard placed over me released me and trailed after the crowd having the Negroes in charge. It was a long and nervous-racking strain for me,” continued Mr. Hornback. “While the men offered no violence to me, they several times told me I must be good or I would follow with the Negroes. Of course I told them I would be good as I saw no sense in resistance further than I had already shown. “After the mob broke through all the locks, secured their men and came down, I saw the three boys I had been keeping guard over led past me by the masked crowd. The boys were making no resistance whatever, but they were trembling in abject terror. “After the three were marched out of the jail and were well on their way down Washington street,” continued Mr. Hornback, “the men who had been holding me said: “‘’Now, old man, we will leave the jail to you— watch out that the other boys we left don’t get out, because I expect the locks up there are in bad shape.’ “With that,” said Mr. Hornback, “the men filed out and followed the crowd. It was then that I looked over at my watch. I then went over the house in search of Jailer Thompson. He heard me call to him and he came out of a closet in the front room. He had the two bunches of jail keys.” The first shot and those some believe meant the death-knell of Jim West, were heard two or three minutes after the mob left the jail. It is the theory of some that these shots were fired at West after he had made an attempt to escape as the aggregation was crossing the Eminence pike bridge, three hundred yards from the jail. Ten minutes later the night stillness was broken by a fusillade of shots, followed a second later by desultory cracks of revolvers apparently some distance from the bridge to which Eugene Marshall’s body was found dangling this morning. The body of Wade Patterson was found in the section from which the noise of the fusillade came, and it is thought that he, too, escaped from his captors and made a dash for liberty. The rumor, though not vouched for, about Shelbyville today is to the effect that Patterson came near making good his escape: that he begged piteously for a time, as he looked upon the execution of Marshall, and that when he realized that all hope was gone, he fought for his life and broke away. This theory is borne out by the statement of J.A. Wright, who lived near the bridge. He was awakened by the firing of the first volley. Mr. Wright said that while he could see nothing he could hear the low murmur of many voices. “While listening and wondering what was going on,” said Mr. Wright. “I heard the voice of apparently half a dozen men simultaneously, shouting: “‘Catch him! Catch him!’ Then I saw the vivid flash of shots. I could hear the men running and could see the flashes of the guns. “At last stillness came again, save now and then a voice. Finally the noises died away altogether and all was as quiet as a graveyard.” (Continued From Page One) This story bears out the theory that Wade Patterson was shot by the men as he fled. A track, as if a body had been dragged across a vacant lot to the bridge on Seventh street, and a pool of blood found on that bridge, which is over the same creek which is spanned by the C & O bridge, also bears out the story of Mr. Wright and the general rumor. Some believe that even after being shot to death Patterson was hanged to the girders of the bridge, but that the rope, a piece of which was found today hanging from a girder; was too small to hold the body, and that Patterson’s corpse, his head shot through and badly beaten, fell into the water, where it was left by the blood thirsty mob. Patterson’s body was found in about five feet of water, a few yards down stream from the bridge. The rope with which Marshall was hanged was what is known as a three-quarter inch rope. The Negro was dropped at least twelve feet. His back was broken and his head almost torn from his body. Coroner Bullock was notified of the grewsome find at an early hour, and he lost no time in having the negro’s body cut down. The Coroner, knowing that two others had been taken from the jail, at once set about locating the other bodies. Men with drags began work, but it was last 8 am before the corrode of Patterson was dragged to the shore. Marshall murdered his negro mistress, Mary Waking, in 1905, almost severing her head. Her body was found several hours after the crime. The case went to the Court of Appeals on a motion for a new trial. This motion is still pending. West was charged with detaining Bunna Coley, fourteen-year-old daughter of B.F. Coley, a gardener, near Shelbyville. This crime was committed the later part of last year. He was held to the grand jury by the Examining Court, and was taken to Louisville for safekeeping, but was returned to Shelbyville a week ago. Wade Patterson is alleged to have assaulted Mrs. N. Rubin and her daughter, Miss Bessie, in December last as they were returning to their home from a school entertainment. He is said to have thrown his arms about Miss Rubin, and that when her mother screamed he struck her a stinging blow in the face and escaped. He had been held to the grand jury and had been brought to Louisville. He was recaptured here several days ago. Two other lynching cases in this county were those of William Lighter, who was mobbed about 50 years ago, near Clay Village, and Jimbo Fields and Clarence Fields, sons of Omer Fields, colored, who were mobbed on Wednesday morning, October 2, 1901, for the murder of a printer, William C. Hart, of Cincinnati. The sudden darkness over the town was planned by the mob. Engineer John Suter, at the power house, declared he was forced at the point of a pistol to stop his engines as engines as well as switch off the current supplying the electric street lights. No attempt to call help could be made from the jail while the mob was busy at the execution of the prisoners, all telephone wires leading from that institution as well as from the home of Jailer Thompson adjoining were cut while the Deputy looked on helpless. While no demonstration toward any of the negro residents of the town occurred today, excitement was high in the colored colony. Trains and cars leaving during the day carried a large number, anxious to escape even the possibility of a race riot. Sunday’s occurrence adds to an already formidable array of lynchings here during the last 10 years. In six previous affairs none has ever been convicted of participation in the work of mobs. Only two policemen were in the night watch. They were Patrolmen B.F. Bennett and Harry Gaines, while Constable Buck Fawkes was with them at police headquarters. These men, according to their statements, heard nothing of the approach of the mob, but first had their attention called to the fact that something was wrong when they heard heavy blows on the doors of the jail. “We drew our revolvers,” said Patrolman Bennett, “and started toward the jail. We did not get far, however, for as we were passing the Courthouse several men hailed us. They pointed pistols at us and told us we had no business down there at the jail. We at once realized what was up. There were a lot of them and we knew it was useless to resist. They ordered us to return to headquarters, and then followed close at our heels to make sure that we did so. “About the time we got back to headquarters the lights went out all over the city. The men did not leave us after ordering us to the station, but stood guard to see that we gave no alarm. “All the while we could hear the pounding of hammers down at the jail. It was a long time before we were permitted to go upstairs, and that was after three or four shots had been fired. “I am of the opinion,” continued Patrolman Bennett, “that the shots were signals for them to release us, as they left immediately after.” What Gov. Willson Says Frankfort, Ky., Jan. 16– “There’s no use for a physician to prescribe for a patient after he’s dead,” said Governor Willson Sunday night, when asked what course he would take relative to the lynching of the three Negroes at Shelbyville this morning. “If the matter comes up officially then I’ll take notice of it; otherwise I don’t know what I’ll do. There’s no use to cross a bridge until you reach it.”
Marshall and Patterson, Lexington Herald-Leader, February 1, 1911
Arm Was Broken Jim West Saved His Neck in Shelbyville Lynching, But Was Hurt in Fall Shelbyville, Ky., Feb. 1–Private detectives who have been at work in Shelbyville for weeks are said to have discovered a mass of evidence as to the operation of the mob, which lynched two Negroes and from which Jim West had a marvelous escape. It is also reported that West, whose present whereabouts are not known, has a broken arm, the injury having been suffered when he fell from the bridge after he had dangled for a time at the end of the rope by which the mob planned to hang him. West, after making his escape, went to the home of his parents, where he spent two days and two nights. The story he told of his escape, which has already been recounted, is one of the most remarkable ever known. The first Negro, Eugene Marshall, was ordered to jump from the bridge. His neck was broken. The second, Wade Patterson, refused to jump and was pushed off, but the rope broke and he tried to get away. All the mob chased him except four or five and it was while they were thus engaged that West, who had managed to grasp the rope with his hand when he was pushed off, worked the rope from around his neck, dropped to the creek bank and got away.
Boston, The Frankfort Roundabout, August 18, 1894
Lynch Law A Negro Rapist Pays The Penalty Of His Crime– Hung Upon The Bridge At Midnight– By a Mob of Five Hundred Men The people of this city and county took the law into their own hands Tuesday night and executed swift justice upon the perpetrator of the most revolting of crimes– rape. The victim of the crime was a white woman and the criminal a brutal negro ex-convict. The circumstances connected with the terrible deed are as follows: Mrs. Martin Nolan, who lives in Choateville, about two miles from the city on the Devil’s Hollow Pike, walked down to the city Tuesday morning to do some marketing and on her way home was met on the road where a ravine comes down from Mrs. Williams’ place into Devil’s Hollow, by a negro man who first demanded money of her and when told that she had none, seized and dragged her into the ravine, where he choked her until able to accomplish his purpose and then left her, coming toward this city. The poor woman, with her clothing nearly all torn off her, went on home, and on the way told a neighbor what had happened. A messenger was sent into this city and immediately an armed posse started out in search of the negro. She described him as being a tall yellow man who had on a well worn black derby hat grey blue pants and striped shirt. She described him as being a tall yellow man who had on a well worn black derby hat, grey-blue pants and striped shirt. While the searching party were still out Judge B.G. Williams was returning from dinner on a street car and saw Marshall Boston, a negro, standing at the corner of Shelby and Campbell streets, who had scratches upon his hands and answered the description given by Mrs. Nolan. Getting off of the car Judge Williams went back and talked to the man, who did not tell a very straight story of his whereabouts during the forenoon, and calling Mr. Sam. A. Parrent to his assistance, took the negro in charge and brought him over to his office. After questioning him further the Judge concluded to send Boston out for Mrs. Nolan to say whether he was the man who had assaulted her or not. Accordingly he was placed in a vehicle under guard and driven out to her home. Judge Williams got in his buggy, drove on in advance and prepared Mrs. Nolan for the coming of the negro, cautioning her to be very careful in what she said when she saw him, as the man’s life depended upon her words. As soon as she laid eyes upon Boston her identification was complete, even to making him open his mouth and expose a long eye tooth, upon which she had struck him, causing the gum to bleed. Those who were present would have taken the negro and hung him then and there, but Judge Williams argued them into desisting, stating that the man was in the hands of the law and it should be allowed to deal with him. Mr. Nolan was absent with a party searching for the negro along the railroad or Boston doubtless would have never left the place alive, but as it was he was brought back to the city and lodged in jail. Further search was made for evidence against the negro, when the pants he had worn that morning were found at his home covered with green burs, similar to those found upon the clothing of Mrs. Nolan, and an examination of the spot where the outrage was committed revealed the fact that the burs grew plentifully there. This evidence substantiating the statement of Mrs. Nolan, excitement ran at fever heat. Large crowds gathered on the streets in the early evening, and it being evident that a mob would undertake to hang the negro, Sheriff Armstong summoned a posse to guard the jail and the Mayor ordered the police to disperse the crowds, in which they were only partially successful, for just as the town clock was striking 11 a crowd numbering several hundred rushed out of Catfish Alley into Main Street and down St. Clair to the Court House. In a few seconds they had overpowered the sheriff and his guards, gotten possession of the keys to the inner doors of the jail, but those to the heavy doors were in possession of Jailer Williams, who would not surrender them, and with sledges and crowbars the doors were broken from their fastenings, eight men went in and brought Boston from his cell, when with a shout he was hurried to the St. Clair street bridge and strung up to one of the heavy overhead cross beams. After he was dead about one hundred shots were fired into his body and the mob dispersed. About 2 o’clock Wednesday Chief of Police Tobin had the body cut down and taken to the Court House where an inquest was held by Coroner Dehoney later in the day, the jury returning a verdict that Boston came to his death by hanging at the hands of parties unknown to the jury.
Henderson, Lexington Herald-Leader, August 21, 1890
Lynched! John Henderson Strangled to Death on the Tree by Masked Men– Taken from the Versailles Jail at 2:30 O’clock This Morning– He Makes No Resistance Whatsoever so Far as Can be Ascertained– And Gives Himself Up to the Men Who Came After Him,– Saying, “I’m the Man Who Killed Satterwhite,” as He Surrenders– Jailor Shipp Compelled to Give Up the Keys at the Pistol’s Point– After Being Induced to Come to the Door for an Alleged Prisoner– The Hanging Occurs on the Farm of G.M. Fishback, Near Versailles– Story of the Unprovoked Murder that Led to the Lynching— How the News Was Received at Midway This Morning– Some Additional Circumstances Concerning the Murder This morning at about 3 o’clock John Henderson, the murderer of Gilbert Satterwhite, was lynched at Versailles. Henderson shot Satterwhite at Midway Monday night, besides fearfully mutilating his body. At the time it was claimed the killing was wholly unjustifiable by the friends of the victim, and it was reported all day Tuesday that a lynching would surely follow the crime. On Tuesday, however, the excitement had apparently subsided, and all seemed to be quiet. But it seems the mob, unlike most such reckless, thoughtless bodies, was biding their time while suspicion was being allayed. Yesterday about noon John Henderson, the victim of the mob’s awful vengeance, was examined by a physician, who Probed For The Ball In his shoulder, which was in all probability inflicted by a messenger from Satterwhite’s revolver, although the friends of the murdered farmer claim that Henderson shot himself to endeavor to make it seem that the shooting was done in self-defense. While the examination was going on it was noticeable that knots of people had congregated in the streets, some of them engaged in the Low, Earnest Conversation That is generally so fraught with significance. In this case it was evidently the first indication that death in the guise of retribution was coming to the man, who all unthinkingly reposed so quietly in the little jail at Versailles. What was particularly significant was the noteworthy fact that many of the Faces Were Strange, And not used to be seen in that village. The ball was successfully extracted, and, although it was done outside of the jail, no harm was offered to the prisoner, who seemed unconcerned as if he had yet many years to live instead of a short span of fifteen hours, before he was put to death in a most swift and terrible manner. The circumstances Are substantially as follows: About 2:30 o’clock this morning Jailor R.W. Shipp was awakened by a loud knocking at the front door of the jail where he and his family reside. He came to the window and inquired what was wanted. He was told that there was a policeman below from Frankfort with a prisoner, for whom a night’s lodging under the protection of the law was solicited. Arousing his deputy, Ed Yagel, the unsuspecting guardian came to the door. Alas! for his future reputation for caution and discrimination. That was an unfortunate moment in his career. The instant the great door swung back on its hinges an unknown man thrust A Pistol In His Face And demanded the keys at once. The unprepared deputy was similarly intimidated. While these two, helpless and dismayed, were held at the point of the revolver, about twenty-five others, all masked, as were their companions, walked into the jail and proceeded to hunt for their proposed prey. It was worthy of comment that everything was done in a most orderly and gentlemanly– if the word can be used in such connection– manner. There was no excitement, no unnecessary noise, no needless violence. Some difficulty was experienced in finding the cell in which the negro was incarcerated, when to the surprise of the party, who had themselves expected to do all the surprising, Henderson came forward and Gave Himself Up, Saying in a firm voice: “I’m the man who killed Gilbert Satterwhite. I suppose you’re looking for me.” “Yes, we’re looking for you,” said a big fellow grimly, with a gruesome accent on the “you,” stepping up and laying his hand on the murderer’s shoulder. The rest is soon told. It is a short, but terrible story. He was unceremoniously hustled out, unresisting, so far as anything can be found about the progress to the scene of execution, not even pleading for his life, perhaps realizing that such a course would be worst than useless. The Place Of His Death Was situated about one mile from the village on the Frankfort Pike, on the farm of G.M. Fishback. No further circumstances of the hanging are known, save that it must have occurred very near to 3 o’clock. At the jail, after the conspirators left it, was all hubbub. It was not known what direction the little party with its dread mission had taken, and consequently it was useless to give the alarm. It was first heard of in Versailles shortly after 5 o’clock. The news was brought by Mr. Fishback himself, who, on getting up in the morning to go about his farm duties, found the body of John Henderson, wet with rain, and swinging gently in the morning breeze Hanging To A Locust Tree Near the gate by the fence which separates the farm from the pike. It was right over the roadway where all passerby might view it– a ghastly fruit for such an honest tree– not less eerie in appearance because of the fact that it was clothed in a white night-shirt, which, saturated with the shower, clung close to the swarthy form like a shroud. Mr. Fishback states that the body when found depended about a foot from the ground. The Death-Dealing Rope Was what is known as “sea-weed,” a particularly stout sort of cord, and affected to a considerable extent in Kentucky lynching circles. It was of the regulation regulator’s size and did its work well. From the appearance of the face, when the man was found, death had evidently come in one of its most hideous shapes. The eyes were bulging almost from their swollen sockets, the tongue protruded and the complexion, dark as it was originally, had taken on the dull blue shade of suffocation. The man had been Strangled To Death And evidently died in horrible and slow agony, by a torture which even Kemmler’s execution could not have surpassed. When Mr. Fishback came to town he was naturally very indignant over the fact that a man had been hung right in his front yard on his well-kept lawn. His horror having partially subsided his sense of the eternal fitness of things welled up within him and he raised an awful row. He, however, informed Richard H. Gray and Coroner I.H. Parrish, and together they went to the Scene of Retribution And cut the corpse down. It was brought to town and an inquest was held upon it, after which it was conveyed to the undertaking establishment of W.S. Taylor to be properly prepared for burial. The county will pay for the interment, which will take place at Versailles. The Coroner’s Verdict Was short and to the point, and made without hesitation. It was as follows: “We, the Coroner’s Jury, find the body to be that of John Henderson, and that he came to death by hanging at the hands of unknown parties.” It was signed by the following: M.G. Shannon, A.J. Hay, Jefferson Young, Newton Scearce, Nathaniel Stone and John Hackett. The dead man’s wife is in jail at Versailles, charged with being an accomplice in the murder, for which her husband suffered the penalty of a mob’s anger. None of the names of the men, who took justice into their own hands, can be ascertained, but it is well-nigh a foregone conclusion that they were neighbors of Satterwhite’s. The Crime Short History of the Murder for Which Henderson Suffered Death The details of the crime for which John Henderson suffered Haman's [sic] fate are still fresh in the minds of readers of Tuesday's Leader, in which paper it appeared at some length. Monday night about 8 o'clock Henderson shot Satterwhite through the head with a revolver, then fearfully mutilated his victim's body with a razor. There was great indignation at the time, as Satterwhite was widely respected, and it was claimed that the murder was unprovoked and cruel. Henderson's statement was to the effect that he found Satterwhite on the side of the road in a compromising position with his wife. Physicians, however, who made an official examination of the murdered man and the woman Denied Any Intercourse Whatever had taken place. This put matters in a very bad light for the negro. Lynching was talked of at the time and the feeling grew instead of diminished with the result already given. Situation at Midway How the News was Received-- It Did Not Cause Much Surprise At Midway the news of John Henderson's death came with the rising of the sun. In fact, if reports are to be believed, the lynching did not break with that surprise upon the little town half way between here and Frankfort that might have been expected in the natural course of things The Town Was Prepared For it. A gentleman now in Lexington who passed through Midway last night said that as early as 9 o'clock a knot of determined-looking men gathered at the depot and talked in undertones of something which was pretty generally understood to be the lynching of the murderer of Gilbert Satterwhite. Mrs. Satterwhite has returned to Midway from Eminence, where she was visiting the family of James Williams, who married Mr. Satterwhite's sister. She is almost overwhelmed with grief. Nobody in Midway is sorry about the lynching. The negro was generally disliked. As an example of his disposition, a Lexington man, formerly of Versailles, stated to The Leader that he had had Henderson In His Employ And that he was vicious, vindictive, and combative in the last degree. He was soon discharged. His being discharged from Satterwhite's employ is believed to be the true reason why the murder was committed. J.O. McAllister and Robert Wallace, two Woodford county men, who are in the city today, state that several bullet holes have been found in Satterwhite's buggy, showing that the murdered man was shot at before he left his vehicle, and completely disproving Henderson's story of his wife's shame. Satterwhite's Funeral Occured Wednesday at his late house on the Big Creek pike near Midway. It was preached by Elder W.A. Broadhurst, who touched feelingly on the virtues of the deceased. After the services the remains were taken to Frankfort for burial.
Coleman, Louisville Courier-Journal, December 7, 1899
The Latest 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. Title: Burned At Stake 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 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. 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. Violence Was Not Expected 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. 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. 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. Arrival at Maysville 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. 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. The Rush of the Mob 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. 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. Seized By the Mob 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. 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. Rope Around His Neck 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. 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. Taken to the Stake 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. 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. Lashbrooke Lighted the Fire 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. Vitriol Poured Into His Eyes 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. 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. Coal Oil Poured On When the coal oil man arrived the oil was smeared all over Coleman and the flames leapt high in the air. 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.” Women as Onlookers 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. 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.” Grewsome Momentoes 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. 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. Negroes Watched the Mob 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. 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. 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. Court Adjourns 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. Coleman's Crime The crime for which Coleman was mobbed was one of the most revolting in the history of Mason County. 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. His Confessions 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. Previous Attempts at Lynching 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 [sic] impanel a special grand jury to indict Coleman, which appeal was not granted on account of Circuit Court being in session in Bracken county.
Covington, Kenton County; Maysville, Mason County
Coleman, Maysville Evening Bulletin, December 12, 1899
Timely Advice to Colored People 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? 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. 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. 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? 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. 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. 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!”
Maxey, Lexington Herald-Leader, June 3, 1909
Lynched on Capital Bridge Mob at Frankfort Hangs John Maxey And Then Riddles His Body With Bullets– Victim Had Fatally Shot Bert Bowers, Of Kansas, A Director Howe Circus– Lexington Detectives Save Man From Probable Death Earlier in the Night, But Later Masked Men Overpower Jailer Bridges, Take His Prisoner to Viaduct Over River and String Him Up. Frankfort, Ky., June 3– A mob of seventy-five masked and armed men overpowered Jailer Bridges at 2:30 o’clock this morning, took a Negro prisoner from the Franklin county jail and under the glare of the electric lights, hanged him from the bridge over the Kentucky river. The Negro was John Maxey, who shot and perhaps fatally wounded Bert Bowers, one of the directors of the Howe Shows, which exhibited here yesterday. The mob, which was orderly and determined, appeared in the vicinity of the jail without any previous intimation of its coming. While the main body waited about the jail where the prisoner was confined, a committee of about a dozen called for Jailer Bridges, saying they wanted to speak with him. Not suspecting their intent, Jailer Bridges came out and was quickly told by the members of the mob to surrender the keys to the jail as they wanted Maxey, the Negro who had shot Showman Bowers. Jailer Bridges refused to give up the keys, and the leader signaling his followers, they speedily overpowered the jailer, and searched his clothing, securing the keys, and bringing out the culprit, who begged piteously for his life. His appeals however, fell on deaf ears, for he was marched down St. Clair street until the Kentucky river bridge was reached. Here a rope was produced and he was swung up to a cross arm of the overhead bridge work. An iron column of the bridge was so close to the suspended Negro, that he grabbed hold of it several times. To shorten the work the lynchers then fired a volley into the dangling form, which ended the agony of the victim. The work of the mob was done so quickly and determinedly that within fifteen minutes after Jailer Bridges was called out of bed, Maxey was a corpse and lynchers had dispersed before even the police had time to reach the scene. None of the members of the mob were recognized. Shortly after the mob had gone, the police aroused by the volley of shots which had ended the life of the Negro, hurried to the scene only to find a dead body swinging from the bridge. The Coroner was notified and a few minutes afterward the body was cut down by his directions and taken to an undertaker’s establishment. Hundreds of persons passed over the bridge this morning from South Frankfort past the very spot where the lynching took place, without knowing what had been done there by the mob a few hours before, as there were no grewsome [sic] signs left to tell the tale. It is probable that Maxey would have been lynched earlier in the night had it not been for the intervention of Chief of Detectives Malcolm Brown and Detectives Dudley Veal and Thomas Donlan, who happened to be in Frankfort and who rescued Maxey after a fierce fight, from a crowd of showmen who had taken his trail after the shooting of Showman Bowers. The shooting was nothing short of a desperate attempt on the part of Maxey to assassinate Showman Bert C. Bowers of Wichita, Kansas. Bowers is one of the directors of the Howe Shows. While walking through the lot from one tent to another he saw the Negro ripping the tent of the main show. He told the Negro to stop and went to get a policeman to arrest him. When he returned Maxie raised a revolver he was carrying and fired on him four times, one bullet penetrating his abdomen. The surgeons do not know yet whether the wound is fatal. Bowers is an Elk and is in the hands of the Elks in this city, and will be well cared for. After shoot [sic] Bowers, the Negro ran toward a hill, but was pursued by a lot of Negro employes of the show. Maxey was hit in the head with a stake and dazed. When the employes caught him, they put a rope around his neck and he would have been hanged to the limb of a tree in ten seconds, but for Chief Brown and detectives Veal and Donlan, who ran in and after a fierce fight with the showmen rescued Maxie, who was later hurried to the county jail. Maxey was an ex-convict and a desperate Negro. He was shot in the neck by Policeman Johnson, during the pursuit, but not seriously injured. Showman Bowers was operated upon at a local hospital, and while the full extent of his injuries are not known yet, his condition is regarded as precarious. There is no apparent excitement here this morning as a result of the lynching of Maxey, but hundreds of people visited the river bridge to view the scene of the mob’s work.
Maxey, Lexington Herald-Leader, June 4, 1909
Nothing Likely to Be Done About the Lynching of John Maxey, a Negro, By a Mob at Frankfort Thursday– Governor Willson Denounces Work of the Masked Gang, But the State is Powerless– Those Who Took Part in the Affair Are Believed to Have Been Composed of Young Men, But all Who Profess to Know Anything of the Affair, Say They Were Present as Spectators– One Man Shot in the Leg– No Inquest Held Over Body. Frankfort, Ky., June 4– No steps have been taken by any officials of the county to bring to justice the members of the mob which lynched John Maxey, a Negro, here Thursday morning. No application will be made to the Governor for the offering of a reward for the capture and conviction of members of the mob and it is very probable that nothing will ever be done. Governor Wilson issued a statement Thursday afternoon in which he said that he stood ready to offer a reward and do anything in his power to bring to justice the men who participated in the lynching. He denounced the crime and the men who were guilty. Governor Willson’s statement was as follows: “Between 1 and 2 o’clock last night, Governor Willson was wakes up by a telephone call and informed that a reporter in the office of the Kentucky State Journal wished to say to him that a Negro had been hung on the bridge in Frankfort, Ky., and wished to know whether he had anything to say about it. The Governor had heard nothing of the shooting affray which preceded this and knew nothing of the case, and thinking that the legal authorities, charged by law with the prosecution of crimes, should take the proper action, and that the Governor had no authority over the matter matter or over their action, except to offer a reward when applied for according to law, answered that he knew nothing of the case and had nothing to do with it at that time, and not knowing did not wish to say anything about it then. “The duty of arresting and prosecuting those guilty of this crime is not reposed in the Governor by our law, and he has no control whatever over the police or court or prosecuting officers, but he is authorized by law to offer a reward for the apprehension and conviction of those guilty. “The Governor, in speaking of the matter, said that there was no excuse, much less justification, for the crime of murdering this young Negro. If he had committed a crime there was absolutely certainty that the law would punish him in the proper way and at the proper time, with no possible chance to escape punishment. A mob took the law into their own hands, and murdered this young Negro. Every person who took part in it is guilty of the crime of a wicked, cowardly murder, with no legal defense if he did take part in it, and with no possible excuse, and the Governor will uphold the officers of the law in the prosecution of every person guilty of it, and will do all in his power to aid, encourage and extort the officers of the law to punish this crime and uphold the law and the honor of the State. “The Governor stated that if he had any warning of intimation of any kind of the shooting of the white man by the Negro, or anything that indicated any danger of a mob, effective measures would have been taken to prevent it. “There is no law or custom which subjects the Governor to being called up at midnight to express his views on a case about which he has no knowledge, but the reporter demanded such an expression, and the Governor felt that it was improper to say anything about a case of which he knew nothing except the bare statement that a man had been lynched, lest it be taken as a reflection upon the authorities who were entitled to confidence in their doing their duty.” The mob, which, it is said, was composed of the young men of Frankfort, many of them whom probably never had a revolver in their hand before, took John Maxey, a Negro with a bad record, from the county jail about 2:30 o’clock Thursday morning and hanged him from one of the large girders supporting the St. Clair street bridge, shooting him to death after they had forced him to climb up the girders to his death. R.J. Weindel, a well-known young man, who is in charge of a dry goods store in Frankfort, was shot in the leg by the accidental discharge of a revolver after the lynching. Weindel narrowly escaped bleeding to death before a physician could be secured to stop the flow of blood. He went to the bridge, attracted by the lynching, when a revolver was dropped and went off. The bullet struck Weindel in the left leg, near the ankle, and ranged upward. No inquest was held over the body of Maxey. Lyman Graham, the Coroner, did not feel it necessary to hold an inquest, he being cognizant of the manner of the death of the Negro. He returned a verdict that Maxaw [sic] came to his death by hanging on the bridge, at the hands of unknown persons. The body was taken down shortly after the mob dispersed and is now at the undertaking shop of Graham, where it is being held for the members of the family, if there are any. Two attempts were made to hang Maxey but the rope broke the first time. The Negro was taken onto the bridge, the rope, which was a weak one, was placed around his neck and the other end run over a beam at the top of the superstructure. The Negro, pleading with the mob for his life, was swung up, but the rope broke and he dropped to the bridge. His hands had been tied behind his band with a piece of cord and he lay inert after his fall, moaning feebly. Cries and advice of all kinds came from the crowd around the Negro. One sugestion [sic] was that he be thrown into the river and given a chance to escape if he could. There were also cries of “Shoot him” and other cries of “Hang him!” The mob leaders fastened the rope around Maxey’s neck a second time and to prevent the rope breaking again ordered the Negro to climb the iron girder. He obeyed and climbed up for a few feet, the men who held the rope giving him slack enough to permit him to climb. The main body of the mob, numbering, according to the best information, some two hundred, lined upon the west side of the bridge, the real lynchers being on the east side. After Maxey had climbed up the girder several feet the rope was drawn tight and the Negro cried out “Lord have mercy on me.” Several members of the mob, it is presumed, then pushed the Negro loose from the girder to which he was clinging with his feet and the mob began shooting at him. About thirty shots were fired, but only four hit the Negro, one going through his heart. The body hung there after the dispersal of the mob until the coroner arrived when it was taken down. The rope was not cut but simply untied from the beam and the body lowered to the floor of the bridge and placed in the undertaker’s basket. Mr. Weindel said Thursday morning that he was attracted to the bridge by the excitement and was mingling with the crowd when someone dropped a revolver. He felt a pain in his left leg and blood began to run down into his shoe. He sat down on the abutment of the bridge and removed his shoe and sick. He was bleeding freely, and someone, he does not know who, picked him up and carried him to the Jeffer’s House, where he was put to bed and received medical attention from Dr. Hill. The injured man was removed to his home this morning. The bullet is still in his leg, but no serious results from the wound are anticipated. It is stated by those who were up at the time of the lynching that the circus had left Frankfort at the time of the hanging and that none of the circus men were in the mob. Only those who went to the jail, it is said, wore masks. But little resistance was offered, the mob at the jail Thursday morning. About a dozen men, all masked, went to the jail and knocked on the door. The jailer was asleep, not having had any warning that a mob was forming. Although there had been talk of a mob earlier in the night but little attention was paid to it. Jailer Bridges went to bed about 10 o’clock. When he was awakened by the pounding on the door, he looked out the window and asked what was wanted. He was told to come down at once. He went, thinking that some one had a prisoner for him. As soon as he stepped outside he was seized by several men, who held him securely. The keys to the jail were in his coat pocket and they were taken by a member of the mob. While several men held Bridges, the others entered the jail. The [sic] found Maxey in the corridor, on a cot. He was undressed and had been asleep. He was seized, his hands bound and the mob then started for the bridge, joining the large body of lynchers who had remained in the street. The march to the jail was made silently and there was but little confusion after Maxey had been secured and the mob had begun the march toward the bridge. Maxey had a bad record. He had been convicted of several thefts and was known to the police as a bad Negro. He was drunk and disorderly all day Wednesday, trying to pick a quarrel several times on the circus grounds during the afternoon. Bowers, the man who was shot during the process of the Howe circus Wednesday night, and whose shooting caused the lynching, probably will get well. It was found that the bullet did not penetrate the intestinal cavity and the wound is not now regarded as a serious one. He probably will be out of the hospital in two weeks or so. The Elks lodge at Valdosta, Ga., where Bowers is a member, Thursday telegraphed your the local lodge of Elks to care for him and do anything that is needed. It is probable that the next grand jury will investigate the lynching, but it is improbable that anything will be done, as it will be hard to get evidence to prove the guilt of any one who connected with the mob, Those who profess to know anything about the lynching Thursday say there were there merely as spectators.
Maxey, Lexington Herald-Leader, June 5, 1909
Lynching Denounced In Bishop Penick’s Resolution, But It Is Tabled At Frankfort– He Stated That all Male Citizens in Frankfort Were Placed Under Suspicion by Murder of John Maxey. Frankfort, Ky., June 5– The Citizens’ Improvement Association, consisting of the ministers, society women and other leaders of Frankfort Friday night, in meeting assembled, laid on the table by a decisive vote a resolution denouncing the lynching of John Maxey in this city Thursday morning. More objective was made against the wording of the resolution than to the idea of denouncing the lynching. Bishop C.C. Penick, record of the Episcopal Church here, an old Confederate soldier, a former missionary to Africa, arose toward the close of the meeting and said the time had come to “do something.” “I have a resolution here,” he said, “which I desire to offer,” and it follows: “Whereas, By the lynching of the Negro, John Maxey, in the city of Frankfort, on the morning of June 3, the lynchers have placed all of our male citizens under more or less suspicion of being murderers or conniving at murder, for thereby a useless and lawless murder was committed in this, the capital city of Kentucky, and whereas, we, who claim to be good loyal and bloodless citizens of the Commonwealth, claim our right and duty to defend our names and character against such a terrible accusation as the perpetrators of this lawless deed laid us liable to; “Therefore, we, the members of the Citizens’ Improvement Association and together for betterment and righteousness, disclaim and pronounce against this murder with a deep sense of the sham it brings upon us and of the crime committed.” Judge Ira Julian moved that the phraseology of the resolution should be changed, for, he said, he did not believe any one thought the good citizens of Frankfort had anything to do with the mob. Judge James H. Hazelrigg, former Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals moved to table the motion. “In suggesting a postponement of action of this resolution,” said Judge Hazelrigg, “I want to suggest, that in the most emphatic terms, all commissions of crime, especially the dastardly murder recently committed in our midst, referred to in the resolution, meet the unqualified condemnation of the meeting. “But, Mr. Chairman, to admit by these resolutions that this body of workers for the uplift of our citizenship feels called upon to avert a suspicion that, without the resolution we are to be classed with those condoning or approving such a crime, or were participants in, it seems to me, at present, unnecessary.” The motion to table the resolution was then seconded and, when out to a vote, was carried by a large majority.