Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1892-05-19

',late in the afternoon of yesterday that
the. coiored man would be lynched last
night and about o'clock saw men con.
gregating about the Jail yard. ] even was
entertaining one of the men in my room
l had hurried consultation with counsel
and Immediately decided 10 protect the
prisoner. About 5 o'clock heard the tug
Oracle blow for Chestertown. and at once
determined to charter her and take the
men away from here. sent my deputy,
MT. William Rose, master of the tug, the
colored man Taylor and Nose Brown. q
wltness in the Hill murder trial, To the
wharf by way of several alleys and private
yards. and ! soon followed carefully,
me.
THE cHILDs UNCLE PROTESTS.
We steamed down the river as far as
Hnbbard's, when the engineer. ex- Deputy
SlIcox, who is an uncle of the outraged
girl, found out who his passengers were,
and he immediately protested but finding
that j. was useless to protest, he finally
submitted, after much complaining. We
then went on TO Winners wharf, on the
Queen Anne's side, opposite b. N. s.
wilkins place, on the Kent shore, and
there we stayed until go %. m. We
noticed some persons on the Kent shore,
and then started back with our prisoner to
Chestertown, which we reached at $50
q. M, ! went ashore and found about %
men lying in wait for us. ,and Immediately
returned to the tug and Steamed about the
river until 8 o'clock, when brought my
prisoners to Jail uninoested.
BACK In JAIL.
II shall continue to defend them SO
long as they are in my charge. If the
negro had been lynched Sunday night il
would have been no concern of mine. but
since they have brought him to me and
placed him under the law, 1 shall do my
whole duty"
SEARCHING THE JAIL.
All this time the crowd before the door
of the Jail had continued TO swell. The
determined men who composed il were
evidently waiting for the arrival of the
kennedyville reinforcement. composed of
the immediate neighbors of John W.
Silcox, the father OF the injured girl.
kennedyville Is eight miles from Chester
town, towards the northeast, in the in
terror of the county. Then, like flash,
word went through the crowd that the pri.
soner had escaped. This produced intense
excitement and at once stirred the crowd
to action. Without waiting longer for the
party from kennedyville they marched to
the jail and demanded the prisoner.
Deputy Frank Plummer was on duty and,
seeing that resistance would be futile and
knowing the prisoner was safe, he gave the
cell keys to the men and in they went. but
failed to find their man. After coming out
some one suggested search in the meat
house. and stable, and the crowd then
surged into these places, but again met
disappointment.
THE KESNEDYvILLE CONTINGENT.
It was now about half an hour after
midnight. At this time body OF masked
men, marching like soldiers, entered Ches-
tertown. 1t was composed of sixty citi-
zens OF Kennedyville. They came Quietly
into town, marching four abreast, with
slow and soldierly step They went
straight 70 the Jail corridor and demanded
Of Mr.. Plummer the colored man, Taylor.
They were informed that the man was not
there. They angrily contradicted the Off
Ger. The deputy demanded search, and
protested that the prisoner had gone but
the men from Kennedyville would not be
satisfied until they, too, had searched the
Jail. After the search was over, upon
going outside, the men heard that Taylor
had been taken down the river, so down
the county about one hundred men went
on horseback and in carriages and wagons
in hopes Of catching the men, but they re-
turned without them.