The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-28
coLLEToN CASE UP IN COURT.
ALLEGED SLAYERS OF kEARsE
ON TRIAL AT AIKEN.

| Judge Earle That the court HAS
JurisdIctiOn-A Jury Already Sc
cured-IntimidatiOn of Witnesses
For the Prosecution Alleged.
Aiken, s. c., Oct. 27.-The celebrated
| Broxton bridge lynching case came up at
! this place to-day. The four men. w. B.
Alderman Wyman Hears, Frank Jenney
and Frank Brant, tried in WATERFORD
last February, charged with the killing
of Hannah Walker and acquitted, were
arraigned, charged with the murder Of
Isam Kearse.
Before going to trial a tilt occurred
| between the solicitor and counsel for the
! defense, the solicitor claiming that the
| notice Of appeal to the supreme court in
| regard to a change Of venue acted as a
| stay The defense showed that no return
! had been made and that the appeal had
! been abandoned. Judge Earle held tRat
! the court had jurisdiction.
A jury was then drawn, as follows: W.
| w. Tole j. S. Machey John H. Redd, ].
! S. Garvin p. J. Williams, D. K. CAN'T,
]. 1. Taylor. H. p. Johnson, l. P. Kitch-
| ings, A. II. Asbel, B. e. Corley and B.
| F. Vann. The state objected TO five tales
men and the defense to eighteen. The
! trial Will likely last several days.
1t is understood that the defense will
| contend that Isham Kearse had attempted
| to assault a white woman about a year
| before the killing, that he fed the country,
| and on his return was killed by party of
men, but that the defendants had nothing
to do with it.
The evidence Of Sandy Campbell was of
! particular Importance in this case as it
| gave the state the first direct evidence
| that the accused arrested the deceased.
| Campbell was expected to give this evil
| dence at the first trial, but when put on
| the stand failed to do so. To-day he
said that he had been told by p. H.
HERS, one of the defendants, that if he
told all he knew he would not leave the
court yard alive. Campbell Identified FIVE
of the six accused as the men who had
| seized Kearse and himself on the road
the night of the murder. They released
him, but tied up Kearse and took him off.
Subsequently DR.. Alderman and Jake
Folk came to his house. where Rosa, the
| young wife of Kearse, was staying, call
| ed her out and carried her away. He
had attempted to follow but had been
| warned by Folk to stay in his house. Folk
refused to testify al the former trial, "for
fear of discriminating himself. He will
take the stand tomorrow as state 5 wit
ness. 1t is doubtful whether he will tell
| what he knows
Rosa Kearse will testify to the actual
whipping to death of her husband and
mother-in-law.
Inc trial OF the ITSL -FOUR men DdAACQ
above Tor the murder of Hannah Walker,
was reported at the time in the Morning
News but some of the leading features of
! the case will recalled with interest.
About Dec. /, of last year, party Of
Barnwell county men crossed into Colleton
county and taking Hannah Walker, Isham
| Kearse and Rosa Kearse-the latter the IT.
! year-old wife of Isham, with 5-months
old baby-from their house, dragged them
by ropes behind buggies to swamp.
some two miles distant, where they were
whipped with buggy traces. ISham Kearse
was accused of stealing Bible from
| church in Barnwell. He denied 1t, and the
| women were whipped because they would
| not acknowledge that Isham was the
| thief There is little doubt that the whip
| pers were under the influence of liquor at
| the time and did not realize the extent OF
| the punishment they were fnflicting.
Two days after the whipping, 1T being
| generally known in the community that
| there had been wrong done, search was
| made in the swamp. The body OF lsham
| was found, where he had fallen under the
| strokes of the lash, and a few yards on, in
! a pool of water, was found the naked body
of old Hannah Walker, Isham's mother.
An inquest was held, eleven of the jurors
being white men from the neighborhood.
| The evidence at this inquest was that
while Frank HERS, white man from
| Colleton was in the party that committed
/ the outrage, he had implored them to de-
| sist from whipping the negroes. HERS
| acknowledged being present, telling the
| story of the whipping and giving the
| names of DIR. Alderman, Jenney Folk and
Brant as in the party that came over the
! line from Barnwell. On that evidence the
Jury rendered a verdict against the Barn
well men. A shallow grave was dug in
the swamp, and the two bodies put into 1t.
1t was reported that the woman had been
drowned, so ten days later, at the instance
| of he solicitor doctors with Detes-
tive Newbold all heavily armed, drove
thirty miles across the country, and al
midnight exhumed the bodies and held
post-mortem Their testimony was given
at Walterboro last February, when the
defendants were tried for the murder OF
Hanna Kearse, and was to the effect that
the woman had died of shock there be-
ing no water in her lungs and two-thirds
of the body's surface being bruised, the
flesh having been crushed. In February
last, at Walterboro, Alderman, Jenney,
HERS and Brant were brought to trial
for the murder of Hannah Walker, thar
being considered the least conclusive
| case, and II was perhaps desired to test
the temper of the Colleton juries. When
the case came to trial 1t was evident the
sentiment against conviction in the pre-
| dominant class was powerful Threats
were made against the physicians who
testified for the state, and the life of So
! licitor Belhnger being considered in dan
ed an armed deputy to keep near the per-
son of the states prosecutor. Newspaper
men who attended the trial were under
. stood to be in danger it being said that
they could never return to that town. The
detective who had obtained evidence for
the pros ecution was attacked on The
streets Of the town one night during the
trial Those in the community who were
favorable to conviction remained num-
Local physicians refused to give their
opinion on the stand. So 1t was manifest
how public sentiment stood
The only eyewitness to testify at the
former trial was Rosa Kearse and her
testimony In this case will probably be
practically the same.
The prisoners We're not put on the stand
but the jury found a verdict of not guilty
This was received by a storm of protest
from the press of the state such as had
never before been excited. All parties
and factions united on this issue The
state then applied for a change of venue
and after hearing, in which the defense
2 A.. loo ~