Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-06-02

dence of a violent struggle, indl-
Gated that here the damning deed
was committed. Here her cries for
help were stopped by the hellish
demon with a handful of leaves.
fragments of which were FOUND
on the spot. His fiendish purpose
having been accomplished, the wo-
man seems to have succeeded in es-
Gaping from the seoundrel, and run
on to about seventy yards from the
point at which the hrst sign ola scuff1e
was seen. Here her body was found
in the condition we have described.
About a pint of seed corn was found
scattered about upon the ground at
the place where the woman seems to
have been down the second time. The
meeting, by DR.. a. MCGOWAN, and the
suspicious conduct OF a negro boy,
Bon, living at John Gray's in the
woods, not a hundred yards from the
scene of the outrage and murder at
about the time Mrs. Newman must
have passed that way, together with
the fact that he was set TO planting
corn that morning, in the field near
John Gray's house, and in full view of
the road that Mrs. Newman took in
going to and from the house, and the
fact that the boy had no business in
the woods at that time in the morn
ing, seemed to point to him (the ne
gro boy BOb) as the author of the hor-
rible murder, and on the evening of
the same day he was arrested and
placed in the county Jail.
Great indignation was felt by the
friends and relatives of the murdered
woman, who was a daughter of Mr..
Josiah Reid, living in this county,
and an estimable lady, a loving wife
and fond mother. she was mot yet
thirty years of age; had been married
to MI. Newman about five years, and
had but one child living, a bright,
promising boy, who we have seen, Is
capped so narrowly with his life.
Much excitement prevailed in the
neighborhoOd of the murder, and a
large number of persons visited the
scene of this terrible tragedy. Strong
additional proofs, fixing the boys
guilt beyond a doubt, having been
found on Thursday, intlmationS were
rife that a number of citizens Of the
county, together with the friends of
the deceased, cOntemplatedtaking the
prisoner by night from the custody Of
the taller anu executing summary
vengeance upon him. But an unWil-
lingness to punish a prisoner in the
hands Of the law, until found guilty
by an impartial trial, dictated moder-
alton, ana the jail was not mOlested.
Saturday morning, May nth, the
time set for the investigating trial, the
streets of our town were alive with an
eager but quiet crowd of citizens Of the
county. Just before the hour of the
trial, Mr.. Josiah Reid spoke to the
people from the courthouse steps, ex-
horting and cautiOning them to use no
violence upon the prisoner, as he was
being brought from Ce Jail to the
COURTROOM; that he was interestedfar
more than they weFein the matter, as
the murderer woman was his daugh-
ter, and if ne could keep his hands off
the prisoner, they certainly ought to.
The courtroom vas damned to its
fullest capacity, and the prisoner was
brought before the court, and Justices
AdcOck and Bell presiding. The
prisoner, Bob Gray, had formerly be-
lOnged to Mr.. John Gray, and was
still living with his Old master. He
was about five feet five inches in
hight, OF a dark copper color, and of
strong muscular power. When asked
in court if he had anything to say for
himself, he Stated that he was not
guilty. DIR. Crittenden and Mr.. S. E.
Smith sworn, and made in sub
stance the following statement:
They both visited the Jail, in com
pany, ON the morning of the trial, and
had conversation with the prisoner
for the purpose of eliciting any con-
|feSSiOn he might choose to make.
They stated that he at first denied the
whole thing, then confessed that he
killed the woman, but denied the
rape; and stated that he attempted to
take the life Of the child, and then
murdered the mother; n then, that
he killed the mothG, and al.erward
left the child for den, so that it would
not tell who did it. He equivocated
and contradicted himself in every in
stance. When askC1Wby he commit
ted the murder, he said he had always
wanted to kill some white woman.
Sufficient proof of the guilt of the
prisoner having been adduced, by the
investigation, to send him on for
further trial, he was remandC / back
to jail. But before delivering him
over to the jailer, the County Attor-
ney, b. f. Pittman, ESD, Judge Rick
etts, and Hon. Samuel L. Smith, adj
dressed the crowd, in earnest Ian
guage, in behalf of law and order,
%cautioning and %entreating them to do
nothing violent, but exhOrting all to
retire to their homes and leave the
prisoner in the hands of the law; tall-
ing them that there was sufficient
proof of his guilt to send him back to
Jail, and that precautions against es-
cape would be taken until next Cir
cult Court, when the prisoner would
be tried by ajuIy, and if convicted,
would suffer the extreme penalty of
the law. The muttering sIorm of a
PEOPLES indignation at the enormity
Of the crime had been brewing ali the
morning, and rumors were afioat that
ave hundrtd Determined men of the
county, satisfied of the guilt of the
prisoner, would never suffer him to
go back to jail but intended to take
the law INTO their W hands and
lynch the prisoner. Mr.. Reid again
made a noble appeal to the crowd, in
which he said: at was my daughter
that was murdered. 1t is l that am
interested, more than any of you in
this matter; and if l can bear it sure
ly you should. Harm him not. The
law win deal with him as he de-
serves"
AS the jailer and guard conducted
the prisoner from the courtroom, the
cry of chang hint" was heard on all
sides, and as the prisoner, in charge of
the officers of the law, issued rom the
courthouse, they were met by crowd
of from fifty to one hundred men,
with pistols in hand, who demanded
and dragged the prisoner from the
officers and guard. The scene that
followed beggars description. All
was excitement and turmoil. 1t
seemed to be the intention Of the par
ties TO hang the negro in the court
mouse ya.d, and it is probably due to
the earnestness and bold speakino of
Judge Love, who mounted the fence
and succeeded in ~arresting the atten-
ton of the leaders for a moment. that
they desisted from this course. They
however, dragged him tothe woods |
distant half a. mile from the court
house, and there hanged him by tie
meek until he was dead.
After the body of the negro had
hung suspended by a rope to the limb
of a tree, for an hour OF, more, it was
taken down, the head severed from
the trunk, and the former, all CORY
and mangled, stuck on the end of a
long pole, drought back tost0wpCand
placed Conspicuously in the Court
house yard, from whence it was re,l
mn. cd som after h. hnstiea Adnonk ]