The Mt. Sterling advocate., 1893-09-26
VENGEANCE.
To Secure it a Mob Sacrifices
Many Lives.
Roanoke's (va.) Fearful Expert
ence.

That was frightful experience
through which Roanoke, Va, went
on Wednesday night and Thursday
morning.
The attempt to avenge crime upon
woman by putting to death her as
sailant was the cause which led up to
the wholesale killing at Roanoke, A
brutal assault had been made by Tom
Smith, a negro, upon Mrs. Henry
Bishop, the wife of prosperous
farmer of Botetourt county. While
at the market-house in Roanoke Mrs
Bishop was accosted by Smith, who
bought box of grapes. He asked
her to go with him to get change, and
under this pretense locked her in q
house near by and bound her securely.
Drawing razor, Smith then de-
manded Mrs. Bishops money. She
turned it over, but in doing so grabbed
the razor held by the negro. This en-
ragged the brutal negro. and he choked
and pounded his victim until he
thought her dead, and left. Mrs.
Bishop, upon returning to conscious
ness, made her way to the market and
told of the outrage.
Smith was arrested and crowd
gathered around the Jail. At5o'clock
Wednesday the Roanoke Light In
fantry was called out to guard the
ljail. The crowd kept increasing. At
s O'Clock members of the mob bat
| tered the side door of the Jail, where
the militia and Mayor Trout had re-
tired. The crowd commenced shoot
ing, and the militia received orders to
fire. Only one volley was sent into
the crowd, but that was enough.
The killed were: DIS Wick, hotel
proprietor; Will Sheets, fireman; G.
w. Whitmore, conductor; j. B. Ty-
Ter, George White. w. Jones, engi-
neer; John Mills, distiller; George
Settlers, E. j. Small and George
White, making ten in all. About
twenty persons were wounded.
The negro had been removed in the
confusion that followed the shooting
and secreted by the officers, but early
on Thursday morning his hiding place
was discovered by the mob, who took
him from his guard and hanged him
to hickory limb in the residence
section of the city. They riddled his
body with bullets, and left a placard
on his body, "This is Mayor Trout's
friend"
i A Coroner's jury of business men
was summoned and viewed the body
of the negro, and rendered a verdict
of death at the hands of unknown
men. Thousands of people visited the
scene of the lynching between daylight
aud s :45 g. m, when the body was
cut down.
After the jury had completed their
work the body was placed in the hands
of officers, who were unable to keep
back the mob. Three hundred men
tried to drag the body through the
streets of the town, but the Rev. DR..
Campbell, Of the First Presbyterian
church, and Capt. r. r. Moorman
with pleas and main strength pre-
vented them. Capt. Moorman hired
a wagon and had the body put in it
i 1t was then conveyed to the bank
of the Roanoke, about one mile from
the scene of the lynching. The dead
negro was dragged from the wagon by
a rope about 200 yards and burned on
a pile of dry lumber.
The body was placed upon this heap
and more brushwood was piled on it,
leaving only the head bare. The
whole was then saturated with coal
oil and match applied. The body
was consumed within an hosr. The
cremation was witnessed by several
thousand people. The mob threat
ened at one time to bury the negro in
Mayor Trout's yard.
I