Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-02
THE LYNCn1NG OF REED.
More About Friday Nights AtrOelty.
People Debating whether Reed is Dead
A Card from Sheriff WhitWOrth and an
Interview with Gov. Porter.

| A great many people, white and cOlOred,
visited the Suspension Bridge yesterday to
get a view Of the place where the murderer
Reed met his doom. The puzzle was to
find the exact point on the bridge whence
lie was precipitated. Some of the more
credulOus may have thought the words,
''This is the place" which were cut in the
railing, designated the fatal spot; and
while in this they may have been mistaken,
the inscription could not have been far
from the place. Owing to the character Of
the river bank below, difference OF a few
feet makes 4 vast difference in the height
Of the bridge from the ground.
As FAR rs we observed or learned no efforts
were made to recover the body from the
water. Many intelligent men who visited
the bridge expressed serious doubts whether
Reed mad been killed, and not a few pre-
! dicted that he would be heard of alive
within a very short time.
Before the lapse of half hour after he
was thrown of, two or three policemen de-
scended the river bank with lanterns to
look for the body. Upon their Ieturn they
reported that they had not found
the remains, but had discovered blood
and hair on a rock at a point
between forty aud fifty feet beneath the
bridge, clear of the water and ofthe danger
of bounding or rolling in. The opinion
was formed from these facts that some Of
the mob had gone down and tumbled the
body into the water. Again, there are those
who say that they heard the negro strike
/ the water and utter grOan as if fstrangling.
| We understand also that a delegation of
| the mob, after they had completed their
| horrible work, went up the river to
/ the landing aud came down TO the waters
edge with lanterns, for the purpose Of
making sure that the negro had not got up
after his fall and sought a hiding place.
Being thrown from the bridge he could
have fallen to the ground at any altitude be-
tween twenty and fifty feet, accord
ing to the distance from the end Of the
bridge. The force Of his fall might have
been broken by some stay wires stretched
! below. These considerations, to
gether with the uncertainty whether
any Of the shots fired at the
victim took effect, inspired much
doubt as to whether the lynchers succeed
ed in their determination 10 kill. The
majority Of those discussing the matter, on
the other hand, we believe, felt sure Of the
death Of the negro and of his burial under
the waves of the Cumberland. At all |
events, while it is highly probable that he
was killed, it is not absolutely certain.
What a commentary on mob violence is
even the suspicion that he escaped.
The scenes of Friday night were, Of
course, the subject Of animated cOnversa-
ton throughout the community yesterday.
There was a great deal Of speculation as to
whether the lawleSs band could have been
successfully resisted. Its proportions seem
TO have been very impertectly understood. |
What degree Of concert there was, and how
many participating, ready to participate, Or
sympathizing, are questions that cannO. be
answered with satisfaction.
The protection Of the Jail was left almost |
entirely with Capt. Y later and the police |
force. All the policemen were present, eX- |
cept two OF three at the wake of the de- |
ceased officer. Capt. YateT had been |
warned of the determination to take Reed |
out, and when he saw the incipient veri- |
ficaiion in the collection Of two or three |
hundred men about the Jail, he thought it |
proper to order the riot bell ung. This |
caused the crowd Immediately to swell to |
thousands, many Of whom were kept from |
approaching near the Jail by officers dis |
posed on Front street, al the direction Of |
one Of the Police Commissioners.
All the doors in the jailOT's tenement |
which proved obstacles 20 the mob were |
broken down before there were very seri- |
Gus fears for the safety Of the prisoners. |
Among the strategemS noticed by our re- |
porter was that Of turning of the gas after |
the outer doors had been shattered, hold |
ing policemen outside, and passing imple- |
ments to the rioters through the windows |
of the office after they had got that far.
CARD FROM SHERIFF WHITWORTH.
We have received the following card from |
Sheriff WhitwOrth:
To the Union and American.
knowing that the action of the mob at |
the Jail Friday night will be attributed 10 |
the neglect Of the Governor, Mayor, and |
myself, as Sheriff, l desire through your |
columns to lay my action before the public, |
and let it judge.
l visited Gov. Porter at the Maxwell |
House on Friday afternoon, about O'Clock, |
and requested him to instruct me in the |
premises, and to lend me what aid he |
thought necessary. He remarked, she |
could be Of no service to me; that there was |
not a single round of cartridges in the city, |
and it would avail nothing to call out the |
Porter Rifles, Jackson Guards, or Emmet |
Guards, without ammunition;" thereuPOn |
l left him.
At about 90 O'Clock, after finding such a
tremendous crowd collected in the vicinity |
of the Jail, again called upon the Govern
or and demanded aid. l asked for the |
United States troops, and he told me he |
had no control over them; that they would /
have to be ordered out by the President. |
He thought there would be no trouble.
1 also consulted Mayor Howell and he |
seemed to be of the opinion that there |
would be no trouble and was confident that |
the police would be equal the occasion.
Marshal Pitman and jailer Heverin told |
me not to be uneasy, as everything was |
safe, they thought.
At the Jail used my best efforts TO quiet |
and disperse the crowd, telling them to al |
low the law to deal out its punishment to |
the prisoner.
A Sheriff of Davidson county, am not /
the custodian of the Jail or the prisoners |
this county differing in this respect from |
all others. E. D. WHITwORTH,
Sheriff of Davidson County.
After receiving the above card, a repre-
sentative of this paper called on Gov. POr-
ter, and in reference to an interrogatOry /
concerning the matter, the Governor made
the following statement:
s'When Sheriff WhitwOrth called to see
me, he did not ask for 'aid;" he was seek
ing instruction in relation to his duty as a
peace officer. l did not say IL could be Of
no service to him." but l urged him
strongly to summon a sufficient number
from the body of the county to protect the
jail and the prisoner; just as he was about
to depart he remarked that Mr.. Wilkinson,
who was at my room with him,
belonged to the Porter Rifles, and
be had asked him why that COM
pany could not assist him. | then re-
marked that the Rifles and Jackson Guards
were nearly armed, but did not have
cartridge, and added that the time had
come in Tennessee when l wanted to see
the law executed without the aid of the
military; that it could and must be done,
and himself and Wilkinson agreed that /
was right.
alt was after 10 O'Clock p. N. that the
Sheriff was at my room the second time.
He did not ''demand said' but excitedly
asked me if l could not order the United
States troops in from the Barracks. l re-
piled that they we're not under my orders,
and that il was then too late, but 10 60
back and find one man who would fire one
shot and l believed that the mob could be
81 10 1,fE with |