The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-09-27
THE MOB GETS ITS MAN.
LYNCHING OF THE NEGRO SMITH
AT ROANOKE.
The search for Him Kept I'm Until
the Infatuated Citizens Had His Life
They Hang and Burn Him-The
Town Again Quiet.

ROANOKE. Va, Sept. 2o.-One of the
most dastardly crimes I'm the history OF
the city occurred at about 10 o'clock this
morning. Mrs. Henry Bishop, aged
about fifty years, from Cloyerdale, eight
miles from this city, was enticed by
negro named Thomas Smith from the
market where she had come TO sell pro-
duce into an empty saloon basement,
beaten into insensibility and robbed Of
her pocketbook containing less than two
dollars. The fiend was captured by De-
tective w. w. Baldwin and lodged in
jail. About dark the crowd increased by
hundred men from the vicinity of the
woman's home, headed by Mrs. Bishops
son, a fireman on the Norfolk & Western
railroad. At 8 o'clock portions of the
mob battered at a side door of the jail
where Mayor Trout had retired. The
shooting was commenced by the mob
and the mayor shot in the foot. The
militia were then ordered TO return the
fire and a volley from about twenty-five
rifles We're poured into the mob. 1t Is
thought that about five men were killed
by this fire and as many more wounded,
some Of them fatally. During the excite
ment caused by the volley the negro
was taken from the jail by an officer and
secreted. The dead and wounded were
removed 10 a drug store and to the Of
fees of nearby physicians. The militia
then dispersed and left the scene as
quietly as possible.
Several speeches were made after the
militia retired and Judge Woods of the
Hastings court assured the mob that
the negro, Smith, had been removed
from the jail and accompanied two OF
the crowd through the jail 10 prove the
truth of his statement. His statement
and the speech of ]. Allen Watts, the
democratic candidate for the state SEN
ate, did much to pacify the crowd.
But they hung around the Jail and
adjacent streets for several hours after
ward, many dispensing to search for the
secreted prisoner.
At midnight the scene has ouieted
down and further trouble is not expected.
The militia remain under the mayors
orders, although II is probable that they
viii not be called out again. Mayor
Trout is firm in the position he has as
sumed and declares that he will uphold
the laws.
The List Of Victims.
S. A. WICK, proprietor Of st. James
hotel
WILLIAM SHEETS, a fireman of the
| Norfolk & Western road.
CHARLES wHITMYER. conductor
on the Norfolk & Western.
J. H. TYLER Of Blue Ridge. section
boss on the Norfolk & Western.
GEORGE WHITE, shot through the
leg and bled to death.
w. L. HALL, Norfolk & Western fire
man.
JOHN MILLS Of Back Greek, farmer
and distiller.
GEORGE SETTLER Of vinton. shot
| in the head.
The wounded are: o. F. Fulls. mem
/ Der Of Friendship fire company, NOR
tally wounded; VIII Eddy shot through
/ the groin; George o. Monroe, shot in
the head; Frank Wills, shot in the arm;
/ Thomas Nelson, leg shot off; Leroy
/ White. shot in the back: ]. b. McGhee.
| shot in the leg, flesh wound; - Shep-
/ ard, shot in the leg; l.. j. Small, shot
in the arm; j. f. Powell, shot through
| the body; ]. Z. Wayland, clerk in post
office, shot in the leg; George Leigh,
| clerk at Ponce de Leon hotel, flesh
wound in the leg; Walter p. HUFF,
knocked down and ankle badly
sprained; Mayor II. Il. Trout shot IN
/ the foot; ]. H. Campbell, Edgar Whal-
ing. e. w. Figgall, c. II. North, o. b.
Sparks, T. Il. Neims, Charlie Moten
! (colored); a colored woman. name IN
4 known, shot in the hand; William
/ Berry, shot in the leg.
ROANOKE. Va, Sept. 21.-A squad of
twenty men took the negro Smith from
the police just before o'clock this morn
/ ing and hanged him to hickory limb on
/ Ninth-ave, in the residence section Of
/ the city. They riddled his body with
bullets. and left a placard on il saying:
"This is Mayor Trout's friend A coro-
ner's jury Of business men was sum-
I moned 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 and $3.50 o'clock, when
! the body was cut down. After the jury
completed it's 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 man through the
/ streets. but the Rev. DR.. Campbell of
1 the First presbyterian church and Capt.
{ r. b. Norman, with pleas and by
force of strength, prevented them. Capt
. Norman hired a wagon and the body
was put in il. 1t was then conveyed 10
from the scene of the lynching. Here
the body was dragged from the wagon
and burned. Piles Of dry brush wood
were brought and the body was placed
on il and more brush wood then piled on
| leaving only the head bare The pile
/ was saturated with coal oil and match
applied. The body was consumed within
an hour The cremation was witnessed
! by several thousand people. At one time
the mob threatened to bury the negro in
| Mayor Trout's yard.
There is much Indignation against
| Mayor Trout and the militia, and many
! threats of vengeance have been openly
| made. Capt. Bird, the commander of the
| militia. has left town. Mayor Trout has
also disappeared, and President BuckneT
of the city council is acting mayor Ex-
element is running high now. The citi-
zens are now talking of holding an In
dignation meeting and it is rumored on
| the streets that threats are being made
! to burn the town unless satisfaction OF
some sort is rendered. Crowds throns
| the streets and all the public places
| There is an immense crowd in front OF
Oakley & Woolwine's, the undertakers
where seven of the dead bodies lie.
Acting Mayor r. A. Buckner has sus-
| pended Chief-of-Police Terry, Sergt
| Griffin and officer G. NJ. Lorris, pending
! investigation Of their connection with the
| affair. A coroner's jury has been In ses-
sion all day investigating the cause OF
| the tragedy but as vet has not com.