Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-01-05
HORRIBLE EXECUTIONS.
CRUMAITDY HANGED WITH HIS
THROAT CUT AT EASTMAN.

I uAleGu uuuuF6u peOpI5 assembled 10 VII
ness the execution of James Crummidy.
Just before y O'Clock Sheriff Rawlins
with his posse went to the Jail to take out
the prisoner. Crummidy was obstinate,
and desired to see a great many
people, both white and colored,
to talk to them. He leaned against the
rear wall Of his cell, and when the guard
went to take him out he drew a small
knife and cut his throat three times.
severing the iugular vein and carotid
artery. He then fell back and said:
"You Will never hang me-" Physicians
were summoned and they did all in
their power to Tesuscitate him.
The artery was tied and the wound
! sewed up. Hundreds of people
| stood around anXiOusly awaiting the re-
/ suit. A telegram was sent to the Gov
ernOr asking what to do, but the wires
] were down and communication was thus
cut of. The time fixed for the execution
had nearly expired and Crummidy still
lived, but had lost much blood. 1t was
finally decided to hang him, and lie was
1 carried to the gailows, several hundred
yards in the rear of the jail. He was
seated in chair on the platform, sup
| ported by two men, and at five minutes
! before three O'Clock the drop rope was cut
by the Sheriff and CIummidy was launched
4 into eternity in the presence of several
/ hundred spectators, who maintained per-
feet silence.
The prisoner made a desperate effort to
I kill the Sheriff's assistants and wounded
/ two of them slightly. He was seized by
both hands, but by powerful effort he
wrenched his right arm loose and inflicted
a terrible wound in his throat.
THE CRIME.
Late Saturday night, on the Sth of last
! September, a large number of negroes
I gathered about fire near the railroad
/ depot at Chauncey in this county. One
j James Crummidy, negro fellow Of no.
/ toriOusly bad character, was quarTeling
and seemed about to engage in a fight
with one of his comrades. While the row
was going on Mr.. James A. Mitchell, a
/ quiet young white man, who happened to
/ be passing, walked up near the fire, and
/ in polite way endeavOred to prevent
/ the threatened disturbance, advising the
i negroes not to fight.
Crummidy insOlently asked Mr.. Nit
/ chell ''what he had to do with it," and
/ then, without a moments warning, drew
his pistol and fired ut Mitchell, being
/ within four or five feet of him at the time.
! The ball entered the breast just above the
! left nipple, and Mr.. Mitchell, passing his
! hand to the wound. fell to the ground.
/ Crummidy waved his pistol eXultantlY,
and with an oath cried -'yOu id white
s---, if you are not dead I'll finish
/ your
Nose Bryant, a negro with anything
! but good reputation, who was standing
! by, cried ''shOOt him again. A second
| shot, however, was unnecessary. for the
/ first had done its deadly work. The
! patient died Sept. 13. His body was taken
! to Henry county, where his parents lived,
/ and was buried. Crummidy and his ac-
| cOmplice, Nose Bryant, fled.
/ After the burial Of the murdered man
/ his brother, L. A. Mitchell, determined to
/ have the murderer arrested and brought
/ to justice. He secured the services of
/ w. p. Bussey, Sheriff Of Pike county. and
! together they set out in search of the fugi-
/ tive criminals. BY accident they STUN
/ bled upon the following note:
"ROUNTREE, Ca. Sept. 13, 1888.
M WiIljs HOdgeS. Ch0W9lce5, Ga.
! DEAR SIR am well and getting on well.
Tell Nancy Rogers to send me her love. Tell
Lou Brown to let me know how thev are
/ getting along. Tell me all the news. Yours
truly, BILL JOHNSON.
"Direct your letters in the care Of Pughslev.
] Taryer & Co, ROuntree. Ca"
I Upon inquiry it was ascertained that
/ the women Nancy Rogers and Lou Brown
/ were the sweethearts of Crummidy and
/ Bryant. They had gone to Willis Hodges
Immediately after the murder was com
mitted, and hence the above letter to
! Hodges. The letter was pOstmarked at
! Midwife, Ga, and this fact threw some
| light upon the whereabouts of Crummidy
who had evidently assumed the name Of
/ Bill Johnson. Acting upon this idea,
! Messrs. Mitchell and Bussev hastened to
/ Midwife, in Emanuel county, where they
/ arrived on Monday, September Il, stop
/ ping at the turpentine works of Pughsley.
/ Tarver q Go. Through SPY employed
/ for the purpose, it was here learned that
/ on Thursday, the 18th, two negroes
! and Bryant had arrived there and given
! their names as Bill johnson and
! Tom Jones. Not knowing which one
| Of the numerous shanties these negroes
were in, Mr.. Mitchell ard Sheriff Bussev
decided to make no search that night. but
/ to keep quiet until the next morning.
! They secreted themselves in the bedroom
| of the cOmmissary clerk adjoining the
/ cOmmissary. On Tuesday morning, ac-
| cOrding to a previous understanding,
word was sent to Bill johnson that
! he had a letter at the commissary..
AS he entered the front room and
called for his letter Messrs. Mitchell and
! Bussey came in from the rear room and
/ commanded him to give up, but he drew
| his pistol and would have resisted arrest,
! but Mr.. Bussey knocked him down and
he was disarmed and handcuffed. Mean
while Sheriff Daniels, of Emanuel county,
went to the still and arrested Nose BRYANT,
alias Tom Jones, who made no resist
ance. The two negroes were then
chained together and taken back
to Chauncey, where they had a prelim-
nary trial. They were identified, the
crime was fixed upon them, and they
were committed to Jail to await the ac-
tion of the grand jury.
At the May adjourned term of Dodge
Superior Court, held the fifth Monday in
/ October last, the grand jury returned a
bill of indictment against James Crum-
mildly for murder in the first degree and
against his accomplice, Nose Bryant, for
murder in the second degree. They were
put upon trial at once.
The facts brought out on the trials were
substantially as already recited. There
was not a single justifying or mitigating
circumstance. The murder was cold
! blOOded, unprOvO&ed and brutal. There
was no evidence for the defense. The
States witnesses were nearly all negroes,
and they testified strongly and pointedly
against the defendants.
The case of James Crummidy was tried
first. When all the evidence was submit
! ted and counsel on both sides had con-
! cluded their argument, the jury retired
! under the charge of the court and in the
! course OF a few hours brought in ver-
dict of guilty of murder. Nose Bryaut's
case was next tried, and the jury rem
! dered a verdict of guilty of murder in the
second degree. In pursuance OF these
NerdlctS, tne court passed sentence upon
James Crummidy to be publicly executed
! in the town of Eastman on the 4th day of
| January, 1884
| Nose Bryan was sentenced to life i'm
prisOnment in the penitentiary, but notice
! was given OF a motion for new trial, which
| motion has not yet been heard.
The prisoners were then remanded to
Jail at this place to await the execution of
their sentence.
ATLANTA, Jan. AT 2:30 O'Clock this
| afternoon Governor McDanieh received
! the following telegram from Sheriff Raw
Inns, of Eastman: James Crummidy
tried to commit suicide this morning. He
severed his jugular vein. There is hope
of his recovery. What will l do? Answer
quick"
As this was a very peculiar telegram
| the Governor replied
''Is the condemned man in a condition
to be eXecuted?"
As no reply had come, at ) O'Clock the
Governor telegraphed this conditional or
der: "If the condemned man is not in a
condition to be executed suspend sentence
/ till further orders from me-" About $50
an answer came that it was too late, and
that the execution had taken place.
HUNG AFTER A HARD FIGHT,
Valmer Rector Has to be Bound and
Thrown from the Gibbet.
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. "A dispatch
| al