Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1897-04-29
LEWIS WILL HANG.

Mrs. Reidel on the Rose Hill Fam
early on the morning of Wednesday,
April 18th, rendered a verdict as
charged in the Indictment. and fixed
the penalty at death. after SIS minutes
elaboration. Their return at that mo-
ment prevented a lynching. A delay
of FIVE minutes more and Lewis would
have been strung up inside the
courthouse and riddled with bullets.
The crowd was on the qui vive and
ready to act.
When the GAZETTE's report of the
proceedings of the third trial closed
yesterday evening Mrs. Reidel was on
the stand. Other witness were exam
ined, but nothing new was developed.
The court at o'clock took recess.
! When the court reconvened ct 1880
o'clock Attorney Ford made brief ar
gument in behalf of the prisoner, and
Commonwealth's Attorney Love spoke
for more than half an hour, going into
the merits of the case. He made q
strong impression upon the jury. He
! asked the members to remember the
women of Virginia, who were becoming
| more and more subject to the fendish
attacks of such brutes as the prisoner
| at the bar.
At S:25 the jury retired while q
crowd waited inside and outside the
| courthouse.
Fifteen minutes was the general
| opinion as to the time within which an
agreement would be reached. Outside
the militia tramped backward, and for
word.
Inside the crowd began to get uneasy.
Everybody feared the jury was again
hung, and it was. Thirty minutes pass
ed and they called for water and by this
time the crowd anticipated that they
would be unable to agree. Things be-
gan to look more serious. During this
time the prisoner sat unconcerned be-
tween guards and appeared at perfect
ease. Sheriff Gordon took his position
behind Lewis to prevent rope from
being thrown around his neck. He had
good cause for alarm. But few steps
away from the crowd stood man with
a suspicious looking bundle. In it was
a rope, knotted and creased, ready for
use. Every man in the crowd carried
pistol, and only waited for the signal.
TWenty-three minutes more passed,
and the report came that the jury stood
eleven for hanging and one for impris-
onment.
This was followed by intense excite
ment. The man with the rope moved
toward the prisoner and the crowd fol-
lowed. In five minutes more Lewis
would have been swung from the bal
cony in the courthouse. Sheriff Cor
don was consulting with Lieut.. Wing
field and the militia was about to enter
the court room. In this five minutes
the jury was advised of the situation.
and promptly reported that they had
agreed, after fifty-fve minutes delibera.
ton.
When the jury had filed in and taken
their seats, Judge Lipscomb requested
that the verdict be received in silence.
His request, however, was only partial
ly needed. There was no other demon
stration except that the people seemed
highly gratified and expressed them
selves jubilantly in and outside of the
courthouse.
Lewis received the verdict without
any apparent emotion or concern and
expressed no opinion, except that he
was innocent.
The troops were promptly formed in
line and the prisoner returned to jail.
1t is said that one of the jurymen held
out awhile for twenty years in the pen
itentiary, but soon came over with the
rest.
The crowd and attorney congratulate
the jurymen.
The verdict puts an end to the tur-
bulent scenes which had been witness
ed ever since the negro was taken
there for trial, and last night for the
first time this week the village was
free from excitement. There is, how
ever, considerable feeling over the fact
that Governor O'Ferrall thought it
necessary to send troops there to main
tain order.
General satisfaction is expressed at
the final outcome of the trial.
At Il o'clock last night everything
was quiet and the militia had been
withdrawn. The company returned to
Charlottesville this morning.
Frank Johnson, of Maple Mills, the
obstinate juryman in the second trial,
was threatened with bodily harm, and
has quietly left the village. He de-
clared at the outset that he would new
err vote for capital punishment, not
even if the victim were his own sister.
The last Jury consisted of WV. Swart,
Jacob Fox, Benjamin Simpson, D. l..
Saunders, A. ]. Cross, George F. Har-
rison, George w. Powell, George Lee,
w. M. Ellison, F. L. Birch, Davis
Gheen and G. n Stewart, residents of
Centreville and Falls Church.
FAIRFAX COURTHOUSE, April 29-12
m.-The military company from Char
lottesvlle left here at an early hour
this morning for their home. They
were just few minutes too late to take
last nights train. Their presence here
would not have prevented Lewis from
being lynched if the Jury had failed to
agree, or if they had brought in any
other verdict. The plan had been ar
ranged. A rope was to have been
thrown over the prisoner and the man
jerked through window, and by the
time he touched the ground he would
have been shot.
Lewis was brought into court at 1870
o'clock this morning and was asked
the usual question: there were any
reasons why he should not be hanged.
He spoke for some minutes and asked