Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1892-02-25
AN AWFUL FATE.
Arkansas Lynchers Burn a Negro
at a Stake.
He Assaults a Woman. Is Captured. Tied
TO a Tree and Saturated with Kero-
sene-His Victim Then APP
plies the Torch.
A FEARFUL DEATH.

TExARKANA, Ark. Feb. 22-Five
thousand people stood on the public
street Saturday afternoon and with
sullen faces, unrppved by anything
savoring of pity, watched while Ed
Coy, a negro, was burned to death fer
criminally assaulting Mrs Henry
Jewell last Saturday. Mrs. Jewell
is the young wife of a respectable
farmer living miles south of town,
and since his crime Coy succeeded in
eluding the officers until Saturday
morning, when he was discovered at
the home of Ed Gaines tcolored)
miles north of here. He had mistress
at the home of Gaines, and it was she
who disclosed his hiding place
After his capture by a posse he was
conveyed TO the Jewell farm where
Mrs. Jewell, without hesitation. identi-
fed him beyond all doubt as the man
who assaulted her. The trembling
wretch was then returned to town and
placed in a room with number of
guards A heavy guard was also placed
outside the building, it being resolved
that he should not be disposed Of until
all the posses that were still out should
be called in.
All the posses We're in by o'clock,
and the leaders, after a consultation,
decided to hang the negro to a tele-
graph pole on Broad street, at the
state line, the most public place in the
city. Coy was accordingly marched to
this point with view to carry out this
1trfV s.1,ar, In.
the rope and OWNED that hanging had
been decided upon there were thun-
ders of protests.
Away with the rope! Hanging is
too good for him! Burn him! burn
him." was the shout that went up
from 5000 Threats. The leaders soon
saw the futility of opposing the wishes
of the mob, but begged that the deed
should take place out of town, and to
this the crowd agreed Half trotting
and half running the crowd rushed
the doomed wretch along with them
east on Clinton street, thence south on
College Hill street until the Iron
Mountain railroad track had been
crossed Here there is a beautiful
grass plot of three or four acres void of
timber or shubbery, save one tree, IS
inches in diameter and broken off at
the top
Coy was strapped to the body of the
tree with iron fastenings and coal oil
was poured over his entire person in
liberal quantities. There was a mo-
ment of silence and then another shout
went up:
Let Mrs. Jewell apply the match
Let Mrs, Jewell set him off,
Walking slowly, very pale but col
lected, the woman emerged from the
crowd. Her appearance before them
set the crowd wild and mighty
cheer went up that almost shook
the ground on which they were
standing The crowd fell back
at her approach, making a path
way for the brutal negro's victim,
who, leaning on the arm of male
relative on either side, walked un-
hesitatingly forward to where the
negro stood pinioned, struck parlor
match and with the utmost deliberation
fired the Negroes clothes in two places
The flames shot high above his head,
curling in waves about his body and
limbs. Coy set his teeth, and through
out the hideous ordeal made little
noise, only uttering a few groans. He
died in about twenty minutes after
Mrs. Jewell set him on fire