The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-05-15
THEY LYNCHED HIM ANYHOW.

The correspondent of the Green
Vile News gives the following account
of the lynching of the negro Willie
Lcaphart, at Lexington, S. c., on the
9Th inst: "Willic Lcaphart, convicted
of criminally assaulting Miss Rosa
Cannon, was lynchcd here this morn
ing The lynching party numbered
about ono hundred. Some were from
the country and Somo from town. It's
members make no effort to conceal
their identity and openly acknowl<
edge and discuss tho matter on the
streets. The bogus detective, Foster,
was i'll the cell with Leapkart when
the mob entered. He was shot in
| the arm and had narrow escape
from death. BY desperate fighting
II" freed himself from Leaphart's
grasp and got in another cell The
mob forced themselves in the cell
c"rrld"r and poured volloy after vol
| ley in the cell with little effect, Leap
hart kcrp,ns III Il corner ut the en-
trance Three lamps were brought
and he Sh!vcrcu them to pieces with
II stick. Five men succcssively at
tempted to enter the cell and we're
cr'tckcd over their hcads.Aftcr several
hundred shots had been fired u
bullet struck Lcaphalt in tho head,
hurllng him to the floor. He was
| then dragged out and sixteen balls
| from Il winchester were fired into
| hlm. The intention was to hang him
| III Graham yard, but the mob had
to kill him to get him out of the cell.
lhr lNnrhlng was caused by Il rumor
to tn" effect that Graham and DcDu-
tH lnltCd States Marshal Miller had
obtained Il further respite and had
given the papers to Sheriff Drafts
yesterday and that Lcnphart was to
ID" transferred to Columbia. Gra-
ham and Miller left hero this after
noon for Columbia on foot to ask the
protection Of the Governor. The
matter is very cnollv discussed here.
/ h" NIt'lntl"n is marked by total
AbS"ncr OF excitement. The lynch
"rs seem perfectly willing to take the
consequences of their act"
THOSE AFFIDAvITs.
Governor Richardson has made
public the ntliunvits on which Leap
heart 5 respite was based. One is
from W. }. Miller, United States
Deputy Marshal. alleging "that after
the trial and conviction of Willie
lcaphrau. Charlie Cannon, brother
OF the young lady, stated t. dcpon-
"n' IN tn" presence of other witnesses
that h" did not J., licvc Willie Leap
l.nfi nSSaultr! his sister. and that
he believed thut she had been per
hunIEd bv rcrtilih. persons to state
that tn" negro llnu committed the
crime in order to convict him"
There are also two letters from
MISS Cannon to her mother, stating
that Lcaphart did not hurt her ANY
mtlucr except when he caught her
hy thcthroat
Startling Statement.
tuI.rMHlA, :. G., May T.-Ihrrr il
now very strong reason tobrlirvc that
the atlilHvitS and letters which sc-
cured tn" respite of Lruphart were
f"rgrrl"S. In regard to the affidavit
with ('haillc tnnnons signature ut.
lach'd and alleging to have been
sworn before j. u. Bodic, notary pub
lie, April 2Sth. Bodic haa written u
letter for publication in which ho
says: ~" made no such affidavit
b"!rr" me. | did not even see Mr..
Cannon on that day." This affidavit
was to the effect that Ruth Cannon
d"rlarrd that Lcaplart had not at
tempted to assault her and only in
tended robblng the house.
Capt. j. B. Wing..d, the attorney
who assiStrdin the prosecution OF the
case on behalf OF Miss Cannon, ar
rived here to day and said that no
visited Miss Cannon this morning,
VIII" stated upon her word of honor
that she did not writo line to her
mother and that nll the letters pub
II hNI ,11 t,, l,,, l.,
and corroborating the alleged state
m"nt to her brother, wore forgcrics
and that she would make affidavit to
that effect Mt Lexington to day. Cap
tam Wingard said the nt1idavits wero
pure fabricntions, hatchcd by Lawyer
Graham and Deputy Marshal Mil
lrr and if they had been made known
affidarlts IN rcbuttal from unim-
pcachablc people could have been
presented.
Nor" startling Statements.
COLUMBIA, 5. G., May S.-NLattcrs
III the Lexington tragedy have taken
n new turn. Fresh developments oc-
cur almost hourly and more arc eX-
pccteIAttOlmcy GcMclnlEallcw wentt to
Lexington last night, and as II result
tins morning warrants were sworn
out Tor the arrest OF Il. &. Cnughman,
Pcarrc Taylor and a. Marks as being
concerned i'll the lynching of Willie
lIcnphart. The parties have not vet
b, ell arrested as they were not in the
village Caughman swore out war.
rant Tor the arrest of Attorney Gra-
ham, charging him with forgery and
Ofpcrjury. Graham was
here to day and his attorney,
John BauSkctt, sued out u writ of
habcas corpus before tho Supreme
Court tins evening. Bail wtss grant,
eel IN the sum of 81 900. Miller has
made an affidavit in which no denies
having mage the original affidavit
whcrcupon the respite w1s granted.
Tie stated to the Attoln y General
that he was drunk ut tho timo and
that Graham wrote aNd he (Miller)
signed it unawarcs.
Governor Richardson, however,
states that Miller brought the affida-
vi to him and affirmed it's genuine