The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1876-06-08
LYNCH LAW.
civ Murderers Shot to Death at Edgefeld.
South Carolina.


civ Murderers Shot to Death at Edgefeld,
south Carolina.
rAbberyille tS CO. Cor Charleston News and
Oourier.l
From eye witnesses of the lynchlng of
the murderers of Mr.. and Mrs. Harmon,
T Gather some further details that will be
of interest to the readers of the NeaOs
and COus Ter. 1t seems that the lynch
ing was the direct result of the formal
verdict of the jury of inquest upon the
murdered couple. The jury found that
the Harmons were deliberately murder
ed by Stephen Lake, Larkin Holloway,
Marshall Perrin, Austin Davis, JEFF. Set
ties, Jesse Lake, Bette Perrin and Tilda
Holloway, all negroes. These parties
had previously been arrested, and when
the inquest closed were delivered into
the custody Of Sheriff Richardson for
commitment to jail. But Immediately
the Sheriff was seized by the crowd,
which numbered about 600 persons, his
head was hastily covered with bag, and
he was carried off by force and confined.
The hour of retribution for the fiends
vino had so me cilesslY butchered Mr..
and Mrs. Harmon had now arrived. All
of the prisoners we're taken by the
crowd. which was composed of both
black and white citizens, and marched to
a point about half mile from the
scene of the murder. There the SIX
mon who had committed the crime were
tied firmly together in row, and five
minutes were given to them to pray, at
the expiration of which time vOlleY of
100 shots were fired, and the six wretches
fell dead to the ground. About 300 men
took part in the last act of the lynching.
They were variouslY armed with rifles,
shot guns and pistols. No masks were
worn by anybody, and there was no ex-
hibition of any excitement of any kind,
no loud talking and no whisky. Pre-
vious to their execution Austin Davis
and Stephen Lake had confessed that
the party had been concocting the muir
der for several weeks. Stephen first
knocked the victims on the head Hol-
loway turned the bodies over and
Stephen cut their throats. After the
murder the house was Quilted of every
thing valuable, and part of the goods
were recovered in the hands of Austin
Davis. The two women were turned
loose AMI told to leave the county.
THE VICTIMS OF THE MURDER.
Harmon was an old man, owning
farm and keeping a small country store,
living alone with his wife, with not even
a domestic in the house. Within one
hundred yards of the dwelling was the
house of the cook, and within two hun
bred yards the dwelling of laborer and
his family. They, Of course, were first
Intercepted. and their contradictory
statements gave the jury of inquest, one
of unusual intelligence and earnestness,
the clue that led to the arrest of certain
parties. The bodies were found the
morning after the murder upon the floor
of their dwelling, weltering in pools of
blood their skulls crushed by q blud-
geon found near by /; their Threats cut
almost from ear to ear, and an incislon
of an inch in length made, as if with a
sharp instrument, In each of the temples |
of the husband. The evidence of pre-
meditation and deliberate execution |
crimes of the day An old man, full of |
years and honor, struggling daily alone
with a faithful old life partner to render
their latter days comfortable, retiring to |
their humble dwelling at night, feeling
secure In their moderate circumstances |
and the consciousness of being at peace |
with the world, brutally assaulted and |
slain upon their very hearthstone It |
is too horrible to contemplate!
The bodies were found near each 9th |
er on the floor, which had kerosene oil
poured upon it, and in some places was
8corched and in others burned through. |
The devils attempted to join arson to
murder. The bodies also were satura-
ted with oil, but, as on the floor, the
blood had SO mingled with it that the
fire was extinguished. The body of
the wife was d sickening spectacle-the |
skin actually coming off in fakes when
the stifened crimson garments were
removed. Harmon still clutched in his |
hand pencil, a1d an old envelope, OH
which were some simple calculations,
was found on the table, showing how
utterly unconscious of danger they were.