Scott, Russellville Herald-Ledger, July 1, 1898

HANGED BY A MOB.

Approached and Threatened Mrs. Scroggins—Had Planned to Assault and Kill Her.

AN ACCOUNT BY AN EVANSVILLE PAPER

Russellville was again the scene of a lynching Saturday night. The affair was very quiet. Scarcely anybody in town besides the jailer knew about until the next morning. The victim was a colored boy about 19 years of age named George Scott who had been in jail about three weeks charged with attempting or planning an assault upon Mrs. Will Scroggins near Adairville.

Jailer Price was aroused by the trample of horses about one o’clock in the night. He proceeded hurriedly to dress, but before he could put on his clothes the mob which had ridden up at a brisk gait had come to a halt, a part of the men had dismounted and were in the yard calling and knocking loudly at the door. The road was full of men and horses for thirty yards, apparently fifty or sixty men.

“Who are you and what do you want!” called Mr. Price out of the upstairs window.

“We want the negro who tried to assault Mrs. Scroggins,” was the reply, “and we intend to have him if we have to tear the jail down.”

“Wait until I put my clothes on,” and Mr. Price took in his head.

“Break in the door, burst it open, he’s up there telephoning all over town for help,” came the cries from the street.

“Don’t break it; I’ll open it,” said Mr. Price.

As soon as the door was opened the hall rapidly filled up with men armed with double barreled shot guns. They demanded the keys and said they wanted them without delay. Not giving him time to dress the negro was hurried into the hall.

“Cross your hands behind,” said one of the mob.

The boy looked about in a dazed manner, scared out of his wits and not seeming to understand. The order was repeated the third time. Then he quietly obeyed turning his face to the wall. His hands were bound and he was lead [sic] to the gate where a spring wagon was waiting.

“Jump in, we are going to take you riding.”

As soon as it was light Mr Price went to the livery stable and finding Mr. Withers there, they got in a buggy and drove out the Nashville pike. The body of the negro was found hanging on the tree on which Dink and Arch Procter were hanged about a year and a half ago. It is a small cedar about a mile from the court house. The body was hanging to a small limb, the feet barely off the ground. A plank had been torn from the fence nearly and used as a prop to sustain the limb.

There were three bullet holes over his heart and the undergarments, the only clothes he had on were soaked with blood.

An effort was made to notify the coroner by telephone, but it was found that the mob had cut the wire.

Judge Clark then ordered the body cut down and it was placed in the court house at 8 o’clock. At 10 o’clock, he held an inquest, but nothing leading to the identification of any member of the mob was found out.

There was very little excitement over the affair when it became known though the town.

Some surprise was expressed that the mob had waited three weeks instead of coming as soon as the negro was put in jail.

The details of the crime for which Geo. Scott paid the extreme penalty were published in this paper two weeks ago. He was a farm hand working for Mr. Scroggins. He did not make attack on Mrs. Scroggins, but approached and spoke to her in a threatening manner when her husband was away from home and greatly frightened her. Inquiry revealed the fact that he had tried to get a small colored boy who attends Mrs. Scroggins’ children to act as [illegible] while he attacked her. The boy said Scott had often told him he was going to attack Mrs. Scroggins and kill her and kill the children.

A rediculous [sic] account of the lynching was printed in the Evanville Courier accompanied by a two column cut picturing the storming the jail. A mob of cowboys wearing sombreros, carrying guns, pistols, axes, clubs, picks and robes were making a fierce attack upon Mr. Price’s outer defences [sic]. Without the text the picture would have been taken for Roosevelt’s Rough Riders storming Morro Castle. The cut was accompanied by the following account not a single statement of which is true.

One hundred masked men stormed the jail here. Sunday morning, and scaring [illegible] Strog, a negro, took him [illegible] from the city and lynched [illegible].

The enraged men placed the rope around the negro’s neck and dragged him over the rough pike for a mile. He was almost dead when hung.

About a week ago Strog attempted to criminally assault a white woman living near Russellville. He failed and officers chased him to the woods, where he was arrested.

The negro was placed in jail here and his preliminary hearing was set for Saturday, but was postponed because of the absence of a witness for the state.

The people grew tired of the delay of the state in bringing the negro to trial and decided to take the law into their own hands.

All day Saturday crowds of excited men crowded about the jail and court house. They were only waiting for nightfall to carry into execution their threats. Offieers [sic] were powerless to disperse the mobs.

About 3 o’clock this morning the jailor was awakened by a loud noise on the outside. Going to the door he was met by six masked men who had revolvers in their hands. He was given to understand that the mob in the street was large enough to tear down the jail if necessary to get Strog.

The jailor refused to give up the keys were taken from. The desperate men unlocked the jail and rushing into the cell of the negro quickly brought him out into the corridor. He did not speak a word.

The negro was bound hand and foot. A rope was placed around his neck and he was dragged to his death.

The mob marched to the “Hangman’s bottom,” a mile east of Russellville, where the negro was hung to a limb on the “Procter tree.” Strog made no confession of his crime.

The coroner cut down the body this afternoon and his verdict was that the negro came to his [illegible] from the hands of men unknown to him.

“Hangman’s bottom is so known because of the number of lynchings that have taken place there. In February 1897, Dink, George and Art Procter, charged with the murder of Eugene Carter, were taken from the jail and hung to the tree which has since then became known as the Procter tree.

Strog was 25 years old and [illegible]. He did not hear a good reputation.

There are a great many negroes in Russellville and they are greatly excited over the lynching of Strog. They threaten to make trouble, but the authorities say they are prepared to quel [sic] any disturbance. Russellville is the county [illegible] of Morgan county, Ky., and situated on the O & N. [illegible]. It is ninety miles south of Owensboro and has a population of 2,000.