Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1890-06-25
MEASURES TAKEN
LOUISIANA EX-SENATOR
HANGED TO A TREE.

Tt Aeasufe Taken in Connection with the
f4osent Fight in the Louisiana Legisla.
tese On the Lottery Ouestion--Nsws Of .
Hv from All Quarters.
0Am measures have been taken to dis
counge the Louisiana lottery rechartering
pro5ect. From . tree In East Felicjans
Pas1oh Sunday night there dangled the
bod3 Of George Swsyze, custom house
odaegr and an ex-state senator, and meet
ing lDf negroes, called together to listen to
arguments favoring the lottery, Was with
out leader. 6wayEe WAS we'll educated
nses0. and had been prominent a. re-
puo9can politician for years. The lottery
Doeses issued On iuhAmmatory address to
the HvBsvss vf nass reiNann1, Nnagg. .Ena
election Tor 4 senator came Oh Tuesday,
and sent Il for distribution into that par
ish.s Swayze had charge OF the mat
terri and obtsined leave of absence for
week from the customs department. The
district where the election took place is
codposed Of the parishes OF East and
We Felicians. East Feliciana had one
mob vote in the district convention than
Wett Feliciana, and could haye nominated
anHsandidate it chose but for an agree
met made six years ago that the district
ofn4es should be divided. and that the SEN
stof should be named by West Feliciana.
Heie the sentiment is pro-lottery, while in
Ea9* Feliciana it is anti lottery. Notwith-
stshding the agreement, East Felicisna re-
fusUd to allow the sister parish to name
the nan, and, ss . consequence, each
pasish nominated candidate. East Fe-
liciAua's was Decker, an anti. lottery man,
and West Feliciana's Irvine.
The negroes in West Feliciana favor the
loltsrY, but in East Fellciana il was sup
po6sd that the negroes would be influenced
bytheir white neighbors. To prevsnt this
SyAyss went through East Feliciaqs, dis-
tr( r(buting the following circular aDong tAs
negroes: SIS
An Address TO Colored People of EAst Fs.
Ho1Ana Parish--The contest Of the senatorial
elsction to be held on Tuesday, June IL, is Of
nofnterest to you. On the contrary friends of
tho lottery and anti lottery factions seem to be
agreed only on ono point and that isIto ,elim-
fnate you from the present issue. Now as this
is sstrictly q factional fight amongst democrats
No advise Ill colored people to abstain from
vu4ing. thereby leaving the settlement to the
denoorAts and adording them q chance to az
range their own differences. BY order OF the
cognmittee in West Teliciana.
Swayze was arrested Sunday afternoon
% . suspicious person, but the officers
were st once surrounded by mob of white
men, including many prominent residents.
The prisoner was seized aud told to pre-
pare for death. The offensive circulars
were taken from his pocket and burned,
Swayze shaking with apprehension as be
saw in every move Of his captors evidence
Of their vsngeful disposition.
Az the bundle Of paper crumbled to
ashes . rope was produced and . moose
thrown about the negro's neck. The
leader Of the. mob approached him and
asked il he remembered warnings against
entering the parish that had been given
him. Without waiting tor AZ answer the
signal was given to trio of men who
stood with one end OF the rope in their
hands. The rope was cast over limb,
there was tug and gasp of horror. and
Swayze hung ten feet above the ground
writhing in the agonies OF strangulation.
His legs had not been pinioned. and his
struggles were violent, but long before he
was dead the last Of his executioners had
disappeared.
The caution Swayze had failed to regard
was sent out by East Feliciana parish q
week ago. Tbs people in mass meeting
solemnly warned the world by resolution
that attempts at bribery and masslng the
negroes against the whites would be fol-
lowed by the prompt and stern punishment
Of the perpetrators. A copy OF the resolu-
tlons Was sent to John A. Morris BY order
Of the meeting, Morris being the recognized
leader of the lottery boomers.
II is claimed BY those implicated in the
lynching that when Swayze lived in West
Feliciana fourteen years ago he was sus-
pected Of the murder Of w. d. Winters, a
prominent lawyer of that parish, and two
other persons, and that he has been fuRi-
tive from justice since. 1t is certain, how
ever, that he hes not made any efforts to
sscrete himself, for he has always been
peominent in politics, and since his term
In the state senate has been almost con-
stAntly in the federal service. He could
have bssn arrested at any time had . charge
been made against him.