The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1889-03-14
TO HANG FOR HANGING.
Three of the Central Lynchers Convicted
and Three Acquitted.
[Greenville News, Sth. |

[Greenville News, 9th.l
The end ofthe famous Central lynch
ing case was reached at Pickens We'd
nesday night, resulting in the acquit-
tai of three of the 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 a crime for
which the same punishment had come
to be meted out as by an unwritten law
in cases where the criminal was ne
gro and the victim white. Manse
Waldrop, a half-witted white man,
was charged with felonious assault on
the -year-old daughter of Cato
Sherman, negro man living near
Central. He was given preliminary
hearing before Trial Justice at Gen.
tral and committed for trial. Late
in the evening of December 3Oth, 1887,
Waldrop was started to 'Pickens to be
placed in jail in charge of two consta-
bles, one of whom was r. Gaylord
Eaton. Within a mile of Central, the
officers were halted by a party of ne
groes and their prisoner taken away
and hanged to a tree by the roadside
until he was dead.
The lynching created great excite
ment in the neighborhood and through
out the county. Very soon after the
inquest over the body of the victim,
Waldrop, a number of arrests of ne
groes were made and one white man,
Gaylord Eaton, was taken into Gus
tody. The case was called at the
spring term of court following the
lynching at Pickens, but was contin.
ued. Negroes throughout the State
had held meetings and collected funds
to help defend the case, and when it
came up John NJ. Freeman, a colored
lawyer from Charleston was at Pickens
in the interest of the colored lynchess.
The lynchers were finally brought to
trial at the summer term of court last
year, and the hearing resulted in
mistrial. The case then came up for a
second trial last Tuesday afternoon, the
six defendants being then arraigned as
follows: Gaylord Eaton, white; Will
liam Williams, Cate Sherman, father
of the girl in the case), Jno. Reese,
Harrison Hayward and Henry Bolton.
The five negroes had been in jairsince
their arrest, fourteen months, but Ea-
tor had been oGt on bond during that
time. The prosecution, which had
been begun in Colonel Orr's term as
Solicitor, was conducted by Solicitor
Ansel. The defendants were repre-
sented by Colonel R. W. Simpson, of
Anderson, Major VIM. A. Williams, of
this city, and Messrs. Child & Carey,
of Pickens. The trial was ended Wed
nesday afternoon, after five hours of
speeches. James P. Carey opened for
the defence and was followed in order
by Messrs. Williams, Simpson and
Child, Solicitor Ansel closing for the
State.
The jury, after being charged by
Judge Norton, went out with the case
about six o'clock. For more than four
hours they were closeted and fears be-
gan to arise Of another mistrial. But
about11 o'clock p. NJ, they returned
with their verdict. They found Gay
lord Eaton, white, and Cato Sherman
and John Reese, colored, mot guilty."
and they found William Williams,
Harrison Hayward and Henry Bolton,
all .colored, "guilty" of the crime of
murder and recommended them to'the
mercy of the court.
1t is said that the verdict was COM
promise, some of the jury favoring the
conviction of all the defendants and
others advocating the acquittal of all.
The trial was watched with the intens-
est interest by large crowd, in which
there were numbers of negroes, but
there was no excitement over the YER
diet and no violence is expected. An
appeal will be taken in the case.
The Recommendation to mercy" in
this case, it is explained, does not limit
the punishment to life imprisonment.
The Judge would be compelled to SEN
tence the convicted men to be hanged,
and the Governor might or might not
act upon the accommodation by COM
muting the sentence to l:fe imprison-