Petty, Owensboro Messenger, May 27, 1884

[Louisville Commercial]

The colored people of Hardin county, Ky., will make a general exodus to Kansas. Two hundred of them have made arrangements to form a colony near Atchison, and others will locate further west in the same State. An advance party of twelve passed through the city yesterday. They dropped in at the St. Louis Air-line office, and while there attracted the attention of a reporter for the Commercial.

“Hardin county’s too hot for the black man,” said one, as he mopped the perspiration off his brow with a calico handkerchief. “When they said Miles Petty outraged that Miss Vannort, and the mob took him from the jail and lynched him, without giving him a trial, we saw that n___ers wasn’t wanted, and they their necks wasn’t safe. We called a meeting and decided to go somewhere, and now we are bound for Kansas. There’s about 300 of us in all, and we are trying to get fixed up at our new homes in time to make a crop this year.” 

“How many colored men are there in Hardin county?”

“About 600 now, but by the time we get moved there won’t be many left. You see we have only been working this up since the 9th of May, the night after Petty was lynched, and all our people don’t know about it yet.” 

“Are the people of Hardin county hostile to your race?”

“I don’t know whether you call it hostile or not, but when they take to lynching n___ers for nothing it’s time to move.” 

Col. Sid. Gates, the Air-line ticket agent, said that it was true that some 200 or 300 negroes had made arrangements for transportation to Atchison, Kan., over his line.