American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-07-22
"My God! Yes, that's him." said
Miss Hooper, and tainted.

a lawyer of the town volunteered in his
defense, if any defense could be found.
But early Saturday forenoon 1t was
known that the lynching would take
place that night. All that afternoon
husbands, fathers and brothers gather
ed in from the country, until in this
town of $500 people 4 crowd of $500
surrounded the doors of the Old Town
Hall. | went to see the Old Town Hall
yesterday. used to go to school in it
years ago.
HOW THE LYNCHJNG WAS DONE
has already been reported in the Com
inerctal The door was locked and
guarded by Constable Fitzpatrick. He
| is no coward, but Constable Fitzpatrick
had business in another part of town
| about dusk Saturday e:ening. The
door of the building was wrenched
open, and then the crowd went at the
iron cell inside. This gave them much
more trouble. There are two cells,
built of iron, and like the Station-house
cells in Cincinnati. 1t took twenty
minutes to open the cell, with the aid
of axes, iron bars and chisels.
Spa had to get a crow bar"-said n
sweet little girl to me.
Hush-sh!" said mamma.
| The prisoner ate his supper and rel
ished it, with that whole surging crowd
around the Old Town Hall. L saw the
bread crusts he threw away lying still
on the floor of the cell. He was a dain-
| FL III
like crusts.
GO Hang him to the tree across the
street," cried the crowd. But the own
er of the tree objected, and they finally
concluded it would not be well to hang
him in the town limits, and so, with the
rope around his neck, they took him
back to the hillside, a third of a mile
away. They choked him considerably
on the way out, and at the foot of the
hill he asked for drink of water. They
brought it to him.
"It's the last you'll ever get!" shout
ed the crowd.
He took his chew of tobacco from his
mouth, drank the water, and put has
tobacco back in his mouth, not five
minutes before he was looking up a
rope with his feet on nothing. He was
as cool as the devil, all through the
whole horrible scene.
If the men who made up that crowd
had not been able to wrench open the
cell door, they had cans of kerosene all
ready, and would have poured it on the
woodwork and set fire to it, and burn
ed up the prisoner and the Old Town
Hall together.
The turnpike back of the town winds
around picturesque hillside, and is
dug into the hill. Some 200 yards up
the hill two small elms grew upon the
steep hillside, overhanging the pike
somewhat. One of these had been
girdled and deadened. This was the
tree over which the rope was drawn
what forward. Just in the crotch of
this stout limb the rope wore the bark
off as it was drawn across. saw it,
too, yesterday.
A ditch is between the pike and the
hillside Just beside this ditch they
gave the prisoner a moment to speak.
"Where is Mary Hooper," cried the
crowd.
"She is in the second piece of woods
back of Pond Rum he answered.
HEAvE HIM Up
shouted the crowd. He was jerked
over and thrown into the ditch. They
think now that at last he meant to tell
the truth, and direct them correctly
about the body of Mary Hooper. He
was probably nearly dead down in the
ditch before he was drawn up into the
tree.
At this point were manifested the on.
ly exhibitions of coarseness or real bru-
tality observable through the whole pro-
ceedings. Some of the rabble, not the
leaders of the party, but roughs who
hung upon the crowd, sang:
Gwen hang George Mangram to dead elm
tree" etc.
Then the same fellows gave three
cheers, and some one shook the corpse
by the leg and told it to &C balance all!'
But, except just that, there was nc
rowdyism of any sort. After the hang.
ing the throng dispersed Immediately
to their own homes. There was nc
drunkenness and no disorder. In an hou1
after there was scarcely a sound in town
except the chirping of the tree-frogs.
Next morning the rope was cut and
the body tumbled down into the ditch
Then " Growers quest" was held,
and the verdict rendered that the de-
ceased came to his death at the end OF
rope, g at the hands of parties I'M
known" The body was hauled away
and buried on the river shore.
al sat up in bed,'' said Amanda Alb
bolt, land saw them hauling him off on
dray, like he was dead hog or some
thing"
Miss Abbott is recovering. She has
grievance, however. "The Enquirer
reporter said I was brunette" said
she, ssand I've got blue eyes and brown
hair.''
When is woman any thing less than
a womanp Miss Abbott would be no.
ticed anywhere as very pretty girl.
She is very fair, with abundant brown,
curling hair and blue eyes, very large
and bright.
Where was Mary Hooper? When at
length, towards noon of Sunday, her
boIv was founJ the SiUht of IT. was Sucl