The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1889-03-20
TO HANG FOR HANGING.

TO HANG FOR HANGING.
Some Of the Central LyncIiers Convicted
and Sentenced.
GREESv1LLE, S. c., March 6.--TLe
end of the famous Central Lynching
case was reached at Pickens Wednes-
day night, resulting in the acquittal
of the three men charged with the
lynching of the white man, Manse
Waldrop, and the conviction of three
others.
The case is familiar, having been
published far and wide at the time of
its occurrence as furnishing the first
known instance of the lynching of
white man by negroes for crime
which the same punishment had come
to be meted out as by ar unwl1tten
law in cases where the criminal was a
negro anl the victim white. Manse
Waldrop, a half-witted white man,
was charged with felonious assault on
the thirteen-ye old daughter Of Cato
Sherman, a negro man living near Cen
trail. He was given a preliminary
hearing before trial justice at Cen
trail and committed for trial. Late in
the evening Of December 80, 1887,
Waldrop was started to Pickens to be
placed in Jail in charge of two consta-
bles, one Of whom was R. Gaylord Eat
on. Within a mile of Central, the Of
fcers were halted by party OF ne
groes and their prisoner taken away
and hanged to tree by the roadside
until he was dead.
The lyncbing created great excite
ment in the neighborhood and
throughout the county. Very soon
after the inquest over the body of
the victim, Waldrop, a number Of ar
rests of negroes were made and one
white man, Gaylord Eaton, was taken
into custody. The case was called at
the spring term of court following
the lynching at Pickens, but was con-
tinued. Negroes throughout the
State had held meetings and collect
ed funds to help defend the case, and
when it came up John N. Freeman,
a colored lawyer from Charleston,
was at Pickens in the interest of the
colored lynchers
The lynchers were Snally brought
to trial at the summer term of court
last year, and the hearing resulted in
mistrial. The case then came up for
q second trial last Tuesday afternoon,
the six defendants being then ar
raigned as follows: Gaylord Eaton,
wLite; William Williams, Cato Sher-
man Gather Of the girl in the case),
Jpo. Reese, Harrison Heyward, and
Henry Bolton. The FIVE negroes had
been in jail since their arrest, fourteen
months, but Eaton had been out on
bond during that time. The trial was
ended Wednesday afternoon, after five
hours OF speeches.
lhe jury, after beng charged by
Judge Norton, went out with the case
about six o'clock. For more than
four hours they were closeted and
fears began to arise Of another mis-
trial. But about II o'clock P NJ. they
returned with their verdict. They
found Gaylord Eaton, white, and Cato
Sherman and John Reese, colored,
'not guilty and they found William
Williams, Harrison Hayward and
Henry Bolton, all colored, guilty Of
the crime OF murder and recommend
ed them to tbc mercy of the court.
1t is said that the verdict was q
compromise, some of the jury favor
ing the conviction of all the defen-
dants and others advocating the ac-
quittal of all. The trial was watched
with the intensest interest b. large
crowd. William Williams and Har-
rison Hayward were sentenced to be
hanged on the 5th day CT April, and
Henry Bolton was granted a new
trial.