if no other reason appealed to the sober sense of the american people to check the growth of lynch law, the absolute unreliability and recklessness of the mob in inflicting punishment for crimes done, should do so. several instances of this spirit have occurred in the year past. in louisiana, near new orleans, in july, 1893, roselius julian, a colored man, shot and killed a white judge, named victor estopinal. the cause of the shooting has never been definitely ascertained. it is claimed that the negro resented an insult to his wife, and the killing of the white man was an act of a negro (who dared) to defend his home. the judge was killed in the court house, and julian, heavily armed, made his escape to the swamps near the city. he has never been apprehended, nor has any information ever been gleaned as to his whereabouts. a mob determined to secure the fugitive murderer and burn him alive. the swamps were hunted through and through in vain, when, being unable to wreak their revenge upon the murderer, the mob turned its attention to his unfortunate relatives. dispatches from new orleans, dated september 19, 1893, described the affair as follows:
posses were immediately organized and the surrounding country was scoured, but the search was fruitless so far as the real criminal was concerned. the mother, three brothers and two sisters of the negro were arrested yesterday at the black ridge in the rear of the city by the police and taken to the little jail on judge estopinal's place about southport, because of the belief that they were succoring the fugitive.
about 11 o'clock twenty-five men, some armed with rifles and shotguns, came up to the jail. they unlocked the door and held a conference among themselves as to what they should do. some were in favor of hanging the five, while others insisted that only two of the brothers should be strung up. this was finally agreed to, and the two doomed negroes were hurried to a pasture one hundred yards distant, and there asked to take their last chance of saving their lives by making a confession, but the negroes made no reply. they were then told to kneel down and pray. one did so, the other remained standing, but both prayed fervently. the taller negro was then hoisted up. the shorter negro stood gazing at the horrible death of his brother without flinching. five minutes later he was also hanged. the mob decided to take the remaining brother out to camp parapet and hang him there. the other two were to be taken out and flogged, with an order to get out of the parish in less than half an hour. the third brother, paul, was taken out to the camp, which is about a mile distant in the interior, and there he was hanged to a tree.
another young man, who was in no way related to julian, who perhaps did not even know the man and who was entirely innocent of any offense in connection therewith, was murdered by the same mob. the same paper says:
during the search for julian on saturday one branch of the posse visited the house of a negro family in the neighborhood of camp parapet, and failing to find the object of their search, tried to induce john willis, a young negro, to disclose the whereabouts of julian. he refused to do so, or could not do so, and was kicked to death by the gang.
an indiana case
almost equal to the ferocity of the mob which killed the three brothers, julian and the unoffending, john willis, because of the murder of judge estopinal, was the action of a mob near vincennes, ind. in this case a wealthy colored man, named allen butler, who was well known in the community, and enjoyed the confidence and respect of the entire country, was made the victim of a mob and hung because his son had become unduly intimate with a white girl who was a servant around his house. there was no pretense that the facts were otherwise than as here stated. the woman lived at butler's house as a servant, and she and butler's son fell in love with each other, and later it was found that the girl was in a delicate condition. it was claimed, but with how much truth no one has ever been able to tell, that the father had procured an abortion, or himself had operated on the girl, and that she had left the house to go back to her home. it was never claimed that the father was in any way responsible for the action of his son, but the authorities procured the arrest of both father and son, and at the preliminary examination the father gave bail to appear before the grand jury when it should convene. on the same night, however, the mob took the matter in hand and with the intention of hanging the son. it assembled near sumner, while the boy, who had been unable to give bail, was lodged in jail at lawrenceville. as it was impossible to reach lawrenceville and hang the son, the leaders of the mob concluded they would go to butler's house and hang him. butler was found at his home, taken out by the mob and hung to a tree. this was in the lawabiding state of indiana, which furnished the united states its last president and which claims all the honor, pride and glory of northern civilization. none of the leaders of the mob were apprehended, and no steps whatever were taken to bring the murderers to justice.
killed for his stepfather's crime
an account has been given of the cremation of henry smith, at paris, texas, for the murder of the infant child of a man named vance. it would appear that human ferocity was not sated when it vented itself upon a human being by burning his eyes out, by thrusting a red-hot iron down his throat, and then by burning his body to ashes. henry smith, the victim of these savage orgies, was beyond all the power of torture, but a few miles outside of paris, some members of the community concluded that it would be proper to kill a stepson named william butler as a partial penalty for the original crime. this young man, against whom no word has ever been said, and who was in fact an orderly, peaceable boy, had been watched with the severest scrutiny by members of the mob who believed he knew something of the whereabouts of smith. he declared from the very first that he did not know where his stepfather was, which statement was well proven to be a fact after the discovery of smith in arkansas, whence he had fled through swamps and woods and unfrequented places. yet butler was apprehended, placed under arrest, and on the night of february 6, taken out on hickory creek, five miles southeast of paris, and hung for his stepfather's crime. after his body was suspended in the air, the mob filled it with bullets.
lynched because the jury acquitted him
the entire system of the judiciary of this country is in the hands of white people. to this add the fact of the inherent prejudice against colored people, and it will be clearly seen that a white jury is certain to find a negro prisoner guilty if there is the least evidence to warrant such a finding.
meredith lewis was arrested in roseland, la., in july of last year. a white jury found him not guilty of the crime of murder wherewith he stood charged. this did not suit the mob. a few nights after the verdict was rendered, and he declared to be innocent, a mob gathered in his vicinity and went to his house. he was called, and suspecting nothing, went outside. he was seized and hurried off to a convenient spot and hanged by the neck until he was dead for the murder of a woman of which the jury had said he was innocent.
lynched as a scapegoat
wednesday, july 5, about 10 o'clock in the morning, a terrible crime was committed within four miles of wickliffe, ky. two girls, mary and ruby ray, were found murdered a short distance from their home. the news of this terrible cowardly murder of two helpless young girls spread like wild fire, and searching parties scoured the territory surrounding wickliffe and bardwell. two of the searching party, the clark brothers, saw a man enter the dupoyster cornfield; they got their guns and fired at the fleeing figure, but without effect; he got away, but they said he was a white man or nearly so. the search continued all day without effect, save the arrest of two or three strange negroes. a bloodhound was brought from the penitentiary and put on the trail which he followed from the scene of the murder to the river and into the boat of a fisherman named gordon. gordon stated that he had ferried one man and only one across the river about about half past six the evening of july 5; that his passenger sat in front of him, and he was a white man or a very bright mulatto, who could not be told from a white man. the bloodhound was put across the river in the boat, and he struck a trail again at bird's point on the missouri side, ran about three hundred yards to the cottage of a white farmer named grant and there lay down refusing to go further.
thursday morning a brakesman on a freight train going out of sikeston, mo., discovered a negro stealing a ride; he ordered him off and had hot words which terminated in a fight. the brakesman had the negro arrested. when arrested, between 11 and 12 o'clock, he had on a dark woolen shirt, light pants and coat, and no vest. he had twelve dollars in paper, two silver dollars and ninety-five cents in change; he had also four rings in his pockets, a knife and a razor which were rusted and stained. the sikeston authorities immediately jumped to the conclusion that this man was the murderer for whom the kentuckians across the river were searching. they telegraphed to bardwell that their prisoner had on no coat, but wore a blue vest and pants which would perhaps correspond with the coat found at the scene of the murder, and that the names of the murdered girls were in the rings found in his possession.
as soon as this news was received, the sheriffs of ballard and carlisle counties and a posse(?) of thirty well-armed and determined kentuckians, who had pledged their word the prisoner should be taken back to the scene of the supposed crime, to be executed there if proved to be the guilty man, chartered a train and at nine o'clock thursday night started for sikeston. arriving there two hours later, the sheriff at sikeston, who had no warrant for the prisoner's arrest and detention, delivered him into the hands of the mob without authority for so doing, and accompanied them to bird's point. the prisoner gave his name as miller, his home at springfield, and said he had never been in kentucky in his life, but the sheriff turned him over to the mob to be taken to wickliffe, that frank gordon, the fisherman, who had put a man across the river might identify him.
in other words, the protection of the law was withdrawn from c.j. miller, and he was given to a mob by this sheriff at sikeston, who knew that the prisoner's life depended on one man's word. after an altercation with the train men, who wanted another $50 for taking the train back to bird's point, the crowd arrived there at three o'clock, friday morning. here was anchored the three states, a ferryboat plying between wickliffe, ky, cairo, ill., and bird's point, mo. this boat left cairo at twelve o'clock, thursday, with nearly three hundred of cairo's best(?) citizens and thirty kegs of beer on board. this was consumed while the crowd and the bloodhound waited for the prisoner.
when the prisoner was on board the three states the dog was turned loose, and after moving aimlessly around, followed the crowd to where miller sat handcuffed and there stopped. the crowd closed in on the pair and insisted that the brute had identified him because of that action. when the boat reached wickliffe, gordon, the fisherman, was called on to say whether the prisoner was the man he ferried over the river the day of the murder.
lynching of c.j. miller, at bardwell, kentucky, july 7, 1893.
lynching of c.j. miller, at bardwell, kentucky, july 7, 1893.
the sheriff of ballard county informed him, sternly that if the prisoner was not the man, he (the fisherman) would be held responsible as knowing who the guilty man was. gordon stated before, that the man he ferried across was a white man or a bright colored man; miller was a dark brown skinned man, with kinky hair, "neither yellow nor black," says the cairo evening telegram of friday, july 7. the fisherman went up to miller from behind, looked at him without speaking for fully five minutes, then slowly said, "yes, that's the man i crossed over." this was about six o'clock, friday morning, and the crowd wished to hang miller then and there. but mr. ray, the father of the girls, insisted that he be taken to bardwell, the county seat of ballard, and twelve miles inland. he said he thought a white man committed the crime, and that he was not satisfied that was the man. they took him to bardwell and at ten o'clock, this same excited, unauthorized mob undertook to determine miller's guilt. one of the clark brothers who shot at a fleeing man in the dupoyster cornfield, said the prisoner was the same man; the other said he was not, but the testimony of the first was accepted. a colored woman who had said she gave breakfast to a colored man clad in a blue flannel suit the morning of the murder, said positively that she had never seen miller before. the gold rings found in his possession had no names in them, as had been asserted, and mr. ray said they did not belong to his daughters. meantime a funeral pyre for the purpose of burning miller to death had been erected in the center of the village. while the crowd swayed by passion was clamoring that he be burnt, miller stepped forward and made the following statement: "my name is c.j. miller. i am from springfield, ill.; my wife lives at 716 n. 2d street. i am here among you today, looked upon as one of the most brutal men before the people. i stand here surrounded by men who are excited, men who are not willing to let the law take its course, and as far as the crime is concerned, i have committed no crime, and certainly no crime gross enough to deprive me of my life and liberty to walk upon the green earth."
a telegram was sent to the chief of the police at springfield, ill., asking if one c.j. miller lived there. an answer in the negative was returned. a few hours after, it was ascertained that a man named miller, and his wife, did live at the number the prisoner gave in his speech, but the information came to bardwell too late to do the prisoner any good. miller was taken to jail, every stitch of clothing literally torn from his body and examined again. on the lower left side of the bosom of his shirt was found a dark reddish spot about the size of a dime. miller said it was paint which he had gotten on him at jefferson barracks. this spot was only on the right side, and could not be seen from the under side at all, thus showing it had not gone through the cloth as blood or any liquid substance would do.
chief-of-police mahaney, of cairo, ill., was with the prisoner, and he took his knife and scraped at the spot, particles of which came off in his hand. miller told them to take his clothes to any expert, and if the spot was shown to be blood, they might do anything they wished with him. they took his clothes away and were gone some time. after a while they were brought back and thrown into the cell without a word. it is needless to say that if the spot had been found to be blood, that fact would have been announced, and the shirt retained as evidence. meanwhile numbers of rough, drunken men crowded into the cell and tried to force a confession of the deed from the prisoner's lips. he refused to talk save to reiterate his innocence. to mr. mahaney, who talked seriously and kindly to him, telling him the mob meant to burn and torture him at three o'clock, miller said: "burning and torture here lasts but a little while, but if i die with a lie on my soul, i shall be tortured forever. i am innocent." for more than three hours, all sorts of pressure in the way of threats, abuse and urging, was brought to bear to force him to confess to the murder and thus justify the mob in its deed of murder. miller remained firm; but as the hour drew near, and the crowd became more impatient, he asked for a priest. as none could be procured, he then asked for a methodist minister, who came, prayed with the doomed man, baptized him and exhorted miller to confess. to keep up the flagging spirits of the dense crowd around the jail, the rumor went out more than once, that miller had confessed. but the solemn assurance of the minister, chief-of-police, and leading editor—who were with miller all along—is that this rumor is absolutely false.
at three o'clock the mob rushed to the jail to secure the prisoner. mr. ray had changed his mind about the promised burning; he was still in doubt as to the prisoner's guilt. he again addressed the crowd to that effect, urging them not to burn miller, and the mob heeded him so far, that they compromised on hanging instead of burning, which was agreed to by mr. ray. there was a loud yell, and a rush was made for the prisoner. he was stripped naked, his clothing literally torn from his body, and his shirt was tied around his loins. some one declared the rope was a "white man's death," and a log-chain, nearly a hundred feet in length, weighing over one hundred pounds, was placed round miller's neck and body, and he was led and dragged through the streets of the village in that condition followed by thousands of people. he fainted from exhaustion several times, but was supported to the platform where they first intended burning him.
the chain was hooked around his neck, a man climbed the telegraph pole and the other end of the chain was passed up to him and made fast to the cross-arm. others brought a long forked stick which miller was made to straddle. by this means he was raised several feet from the ground and then let fall. the first fall broke his neck, but he was raised in this way and let fall a second time. numberless shots were fired into the dangling body, for most of that crowd were heavily armed, and had been drinking all day.
miller's body hung thus exposed from three to five o'clock, during which time, several photographs of him as he hung dangling at the end of the chain were taken, and his toes and fingers were cut off. his body was taken down, placed on the platform, the torch applied, and in a few moments there was nothing left of c.j. miller save a few bones and ashes. thus perished another of the many victims of lynch law, but it is the honest and sober belief of many who witnessed the scene that an innocent man has been barbarously and shockingly put to death in the glare of the nineteenth-century civilization, by those who profess to believe in christianity, law and order.
