The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1893-09-26

4 10 IL itohU VI OilC uuuCTIdhGTS
shops, where seven of the dead bodie,
lie.
The number of dead last night wa.
exaggerated. 1t is now found tha
only nine men are dead.
The military claim that the mol
was repeatedly warned that thai
there would be shooting, but re
ceived these warnings with jeers
and finally replied with volle,
fired at Captain Bird, who then order
ed . men to fire at the mob, which
was altering down the door of the
Jail.
Trouble is feared, and every effort
is being made to calm the excited
crowd.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF THE LYNCHING
| AND MASSACRE.
| Shortly before o'clock this morn.
ing, while Jailer Watts, Judge Woods
and others were addressing the crowd,
Sergeant Griffin, with two officers,
took the negro from the Jail and spirit
ed him out of town. They carried him
across the river into the woods, but to-
wards daylight they were notified that
squads of men were securing the en-
tire adjacent country. They thought
1T best to bring their prisoner back to
| WV" Civ PioSO iiliii III Ju1l. llcy WStC
proceeding to the Jail and on Franklin
road near Tenth avenue a squad of
men, about twenty in number, rushed
| upon them and took the prisoner.
| With shouts and yells the determined
men rushed the negro to the nearest
tree. He was hanged to hickory
limb and his body riddled with bullets
and horribly mangled. 1t was all over
by o'clock and the small body of men,
| who had done their work we'll, had
dispersed.
With the break of day crowds of peo-
pie began to throng the streets lead
ing to the scene of the latest tragedy
in this terrible drama. The sight was
horrible to behold. Dangling at the
end of q small hemp rope was the dead
body of the negro. His face was
bloody, distorted and swollen. A load
of shot had been fired into his back
literally tearing his coat to pieces
The job was well executed. Tho rope
was tied in the regulation hangman's
knot and the negro's feet were we'll
above the ground.
Coroner Gray and jury repaired
early to the scene of the lynching and
after viewing the body of the dead
man, rendered a verdict that the negro
came to his death at the hands of per-
ooho uIlhuoWh W tllSll.
After the inquest the officers were
ordered to take charge of the body, but
the surging mass Of avenging men
which had by this time assembled
would not let them touch him. A coal
cart passing near by was pressed into
service and the body thrown into it.
1t was then hauled to Mayor Trout's
residence on Campbell avenue, it SEEM
ing to be the intention of the mob to
bury it in his front yard.
AT this critical moment Rev. w. G..
Campbell appeared upon the scene and
told the mob that such procedure would
never do. He spoke kindly to them
and at last dissuaded them from carry
ing out their plan.
The body during this time had not
been removed from the cart, so at the
suggestion of some one in the crowd
they took 1t over to the edge of the
river to burn it. Fences were torn
down, store boxes taken and some one
with an axe cut down several cedar
trees near by. The dry wood was laid
in large pile, but arranged so it would
burn freely, and on this heap the ne
gro's body was laid. On the top of all
this the cedar boughs were thrown and
then just before touching the match to
it two gallons of coal oil were poured
on the dry wood. The match was
touched to it and the burning oil shot
rapidly up. 1t was an awful sight, and
all present felt as if the fiend had met
his just punishment.
1t was not long before the crowd dis
| persed, but all the morning men and
sometimes an occasional woman we're
seen going toward the place of the
burning in squads of three and five.
| Every one that went seemed to wish to
| contribute something to the blaze by
throwing a chip on it. All that was
remaining of Smith at noon was q few
ashes and here and there bone, but
! the fire was still burning fiercely and
| those standing around said that it
| should burn till there was not vestige
| left
Roanoke passed through terrible
| experience last night. AS result of
the armed conflict between authorities,
and large number of men who at
tempted to force the doors of the jail,
and take therefrom Robert Smith,
eight men are dead, more than twenty
five are seriously wounded, some Of
them fatally. The following is COR
rect list of the dead and wounded:
| Killed-S. A. Wick, w. M. Sheets,
Charles Whitmeyer, j. B. Taylor, Geo.
White, w. E. Hall, John Mills and
Geo. Settles.
Wounded-O. G.. Falls, Will Eddy,
George O. Monroe, Frank Willis, Thorn
as Nelson, Leroy White, j. B. McGhee,
0. B. Sheppard, e. j. Small, J. r.
| Powell, j. f.. Wayland, George Leigh,
| w. p. Huff, Mayor Fl. s. Trout, j. III.
Campbell, Edgar w. Haling, w. F.
Figatt, G. p. North, O. B. Taylor,
George Hall, David Ruggles, N. E.
Sparks, N. e. Nelms, Charles Moten,
r.. j. Small, William Berry, and
Susan Doolcy, colored.
After the smoke of battle had clear
ed away, fears for the safety of Mayor
Trout and the determined men with
him were freely expressed by their
friends, as the Indignation of the mob
seemed especially directed toward him
and the soldiers. While the crowd
was making preparations for the
banded and went TO their homes
Mayor Trout, who had been wounded
in the foot with pistol ball in the
melee, was first carried to the Ponce
de Leon Hotel, but owing to the threats
OF the mob, he was removed from there
by his friends, and taken to the coun.
try where he still is. Shortly after his
departure crowd went to the Ponce
de Leon Hotel, demanding the mayor
They were ASSURED Dy the clerk that
Mr.. Trout was not in there, but were
not satisfied until some OF the leaders
had made thorough search of the
premises. Not finding him there, the
crowd went to Mayor Trout's residence
on West Campbell avenue, where 9