Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1856-08-23
BRUTAL SLAVE WHIPPING IN LEXING
TON, MISSOURI.

correspondent VINO sp0nt much ot the past winter
and Summer in Western Missouri and Kansas. lie
arrived at Lexington on the Dist of February, 1856
and on the next Friday the following scene occur.
red at the Court House:
Sheriff Withers, having q "niggcr woman
who on the previous day had been neglectful of
her task work, sent for a blacksmith TO come and
chastise her. lie came, bolted the door. tied the
woman's hands together, and dashed them over her
head to the ceiling, and commenced whipping
the screams Of the woman brought her husband
to the rescue. He broke open the door. and with
n butcher.knife in his hand rushed forward to cut
his wife loose. The slave and blacksmith encoun-
tered each other. and in the ARRAY the latter got
his arm cut The slave finally surrendered, and
was led away to jail, while the woman rcceiv-
ed n double whipping. These are the facts in
the case.
News of this "horri5le outrage was soon circu.
lated, and the excitement became intense. One
leading man was heard to saw: "God d-m me If
4 don't sink mn soul 10 hell # | don't put q stop 10
This Stare rebellion. If I can only act three men 10
join me-" When asked how he would do it, he
said, 81 will take this slave and that other one that
is in jail, and hang them both upon the same tree,
and let them hang there a week" Three men
came forward to assist him, and the hour Of four
O'Clock that afternoon was agreed unou for the ex-
ecution. The excitement grew, waxing wilder and
fiercer every hour. until such a storm of passion
ragged as was fearful to behold. At four o'clock,
the mob, numbering two or three hundred, moved
bOWHru tne OOuTt House. Inc 'DOY,' II QuadrOOn
of about 40 years of age, was brought in the build.
ing and placed within the bar. Col. Reed was
called to preside, and Col. Walton explained the
object of the meeting.
lie said "a great crime has been committed
an outrage upon one of our citizens by n Niger.
We have come together not to imbrue our hands
in the common blood of innocence, but rebellion
of slaves is becoming common. Something mus
be done to put a stop to it, to protect orr wives,
our children and our sacred homes"
A member of the Legislature earnestly remon-
strated against mob law and recommended that a
day be appointed to whip the boy, and have all
the slaves of the county present. lie was not
heard through, for the speech did not suit the
mob. A Committee of twelve was appointed to
decide Immediately what punishment the boy
should receive. That committee retired, but soon
returned, with Col. Reed at their head, who read
the following announcement:
"Yourcommittee have decided that the boy shall
receive one Thousand lashes on his bare back, two
bundled to be administered Ibis evening (if he can
bear it, and the remaining eight hundred from
time to time, rs in the judgment of the Committee
his physical nature can bear up under it. Also,
we advise that n ommitte of three physicians be
appointed 10 superihtend the operation. and three
citizens be chosen to whip him. Also. that the
person whose arm was cut BIZ the slave have
the privilege of giving him the last two hundred
lashes."
The report was almost unanimously adopted
tnOSe VOTING nay DclnR IN favor OF hanging him.
The slave was ordered to remove his clothing, and
one article after another was taken off until he
stood with nothing to cover his naked TESS. lie
was then ordered to kneel down in front of Colonel
Reed, while his hands, extending orer the top Of a
bench, were tied to the floor.
Let the rea Ter now imagine Col. Reed upon the
bench, cigar in mouth, three honored physicians
on the right, and three burly Shareholders, (whips
in hand on the left, of Il poor slave who was
kneeling before them, with his whole person barred
to the chilling atmosphere, the thermometer mark
ing zero. Outside the Bar are two or three hun
dred Border RufianS, all eager for blood. Such
was the scene presented in the Court House of
Lexington, in the State of Missouri, on the last
Friday OF February, 1856.
The whipping commenced, Col. Reed sprang to
his feet with curiosity; more than IL hundred heads
were poering in to get Il sight of thei.. miserable
victim. But before II dozen lashes had been ad
ministered, the slave fell to the floor, bic eding and
%writhing in agony. The stakeholder struck the
harder, and ordered him to get up. The physicians
interfered and felt his pulse, and declared that he
could never stand such lashes.
Some one cried out, mine hundred and eighty.
eight yet to come" aud the whipping was resumed.
Lash upon lash was inflicted, until one hundyed
had been given, when his wnolc back, from the top
of his shoulders down to his very feet. was a mass
of blood and mangled flesh.
The whipping was continued without cessation
amid the most 1iteous and Oeseeching walls and
cries, such as, 0! gen'lmen, o. g~en'lmen, have
mercy 80, Lord y 20, Lord! ONE down in
mercy !" 80, gen'lmen." 80, Lord!' 90. Lord"
until they became fainter and died away upon the
car.
When they commenced giving him the second
hundred, l left the room in anguish of spirit. cx-
claiming to myself, 'Oh that | were a dog, that
might not call man my brother
lie was not permitted to rise until the two hun
dred were given. lie was taken out the next day
but it was decided he was too sore to whip. Or
the third day he was taken out and whipped again
in the presence of a large crowd; but when they
had given HIM twenty, his strength completely
failed him.
Whether the whole of the thousand lnshes were
administered, or whether he gave out before re-
ceivlng the complete penalty, | have no means 9C
knowing; but ! do know that some of the leading
shareholders pledged themselves TO each other to
carry lJ through, despite the indignation Of II por-
ton OF the community and of the entreaties of his
master, although at first the master had given
him up to the mob heartily, and was even willing
they should hang him. He also acuulesced in the
Judgment of the Committee.
On the next evening Saturday after the 200
lashes had been inflicted upon the slave, Governor
Shannon arrived en- route for the Territory. A
grand reception supper, costing some $500, was
gotten up for him. The Governor was largely
toasted, and replied in n speech, boasting of the
power he had received from the President, and
how he would COMPEL submission to the laws
lie largely complimented the Missourians and
urged them to come and settle in the Territory,
and said that with such citizens as they we're,
"Kansas, in two years tine, would be one of the
"'loyal States of the Union"
Col. Reed, who on the previous evening had
presided over the naked '~'nigger" and the mob,
presided over this table, with Gov. Shannon on
his right.
Look upon this picture, and then on that!
JAY ELL
Such is Slavery in Missouri. Such or the like
as the penalty in fifteen States of this Union for
interference by a husband for the protection of his
wife FROM the most inconceivable cruelty and out
rage. Such is the system that Northern Democrats,
and Old Line Wings are laboring to extend over
new Territory. Such is the system which tho