Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1896-12-28
FEAR A RACE WAR.
Negroes in the Vicinity of MayTield,
KY, Threaten Vengeance
on the Whites.

st. Louis, Mo-, Dec. 23.-A special to
the Gobe-Democrat from Mayfeld, KY,
says: '"The chances for a race war here
are good. Special trains have brought
armed negroes and whites to town and
they are preparing for fight. An attack
is hourly expected by the whites. Fully
800 whites are armed and, it is believed,
as many negroes.
every white man Of this town who
can carry a weapon is on guard here and
they are being reinforced hourly by citi-
zens from surrounding towns. For
forty-eight hours news has been received
here from different points that the ne
groes were organizing in large bodies for
the purpose of visiting this town and
| wreaking vengeance upon those who
| lynched Jim Stone for an alleged crimi-
nal assault Monday morning, and fol-
| lowed this by "white-capping" some Of
the colored families who lived on the
| outskirts.
"At 9 o'clock kilograms from Walker
! Valley said that the negroes who had
massed there were 200 in number and
| that every one had some sort of a Weap-
on. A half an hour later news Of SIM
liar nature came from Wingo. These re-
| ports. in addition to many of a similar
| IidluI6 ICCt1N0u lIOLu SuIIOu1IulIS lOW lis
during the afternoon, caused the greatest
CONSERVATION and preparations were at
| once made for a battle.
Men first saw to it that their homes
were barricaded as we'll as that could
be done and then they proceeded to the
! hardware stores, where everyone who
could use weapon was handed one
until the entire stock was distributed
"A dispatch was sent from here to
| Fulton as soon as the alarming reports
| began to come in asking aid of the White
citizens at that point. reply came at
once stating that special train would
be chartered and body of armed men
would reach here as soon as it was pos
sihle
"At 10 o'clock the reports had become
so alarming that the fire bell was sound
ed and all citizens assembled in the pub
| lie square, where they remained, expect
ing the attack at any hour.
"a message from Paducah received at
| IL o'clock stated that body of negroes
was being organized there, but that they
will probably not march upon Mayfeld
before daybreak.
SAT 1890 this morning body of citi-
zens from Fulton reached town. They
| report a meeting of 200 negroes. everyone
| armed with a rifle, on the outskirts of
| town. No attempt was made by the
blacks to interfere with the Fulton peo-
| pie, and it was evident the former are
waiting for reinforcements. Guns have
been ordered from Paducah and are eX-
pected here at any moment on special
train.
'At $50 this morning several shots
were fred at three negroes who were
seen on the outskirts. There was no
response and the blacks retreated, evil
IDENTIFY toward a larger body
Louisville, KY. Fec. "a special to
the Post from Mayfeld, Ky, says: cat
4 o'clock this morning a detachment Of
thirty whites from Fulton, thirty miles
away. came into the city, armed to the
teeth and prepared to resist the negroes.
Eddyville. Kuttawa, Wingo. Princeton,
Pa1ucah and neighboring towns have
,, been asked for aid, and companies are
being formed at each of these places.
The Second regiment, Kentucky State
guard, at Paducah has been asked for a
Gatling gun and the piece is now on its
way to this city"
A later special from Mayfeld says
'"rhe body of William Suet, colored,
was found here today lying in a side
street 1t is known now that he was
killed last night by the armed whites
who have been organized for protection
in the race war and were patrolling the
streets last night Suet was pursued
and shot in the back.
''All sorts of rumors are current about
q mob Of negroes coming into town to-
night for vengeance. None of the mer-
chants of this place will sell weapon or
ammunition to negroes. A larger force
of armed whites will patrol the streets
tonight and every precautlon is beng
taken to prevent the general outbreak of
negroes that is threatened. Messages
from Paducah and other surrounding
towns warn the whites here to be on
their guard"