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.