The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-06
BROWN TO BE HANGED in JUNE.
QUICKLY CONVICTED OF THE MUIR
DER OF TOMMY BENTON


No Evidence Put Up for the Defense,
and Brown Did Not Even Make n
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Evil
dence Outside of His Confession to
the sheriff Established His Guilt.
! The Negro Brought to Savannah
for Safe Keeping-The Negro Was
superstitious and Had "A Queer
Vision.
William Brown, the 1s-year-old negro
boy who murdered Young Tom Benton, a
14-year-old white boy in Bryan county on
Monday. April %. has been sentenced to
be hanged Friday. June II.
Browns trial was concluded in Bryan
court, at Clyde, at a late hour Wednes-
day night, and the court officials, Judge
FalIigant. Solicitor General Osborne, Col
George T. Cam and others, returned to
the city yesterday.
Brown practically confessed his crime
to the sheriff of Bryan county before the
trial, but there was enough clrcumstan-
tial evidence to convict him, it is said
without that. The evidence showed that
Station by his parents to get some goods
and had been given SIS with which to pay
the freight. Brown had also been sent
on an errand by his father and both he
and young Benton We're driving wagons /
They met on the road, but just how 1t
came about that Brown stopped Benton
and learned of his having the sl5, the evil
dence did not show. At any rate it was
learned that he chased the boy into the
woods, and it seems that Benton stumbled
and fell over log. Brown was upon him
in a moment, and with the boys own
knife cut his throat from ear 10 ear and
left the knife sticking in his neck A
missing hamestring played an important
part in the evidence. There was no hame-
string in the harness the Benton boy had
when it was found, but there was a
| hamestring In the road near where the
killing took place. Two parties saw the
negro after the killing driving young Ben
| tons team. There was no direct witness
of the crime, but there was plenty of cir
cumstantial evidence of this kind which
left no doubt as to the negro's guilt
In the next place, there was Browns cen
fession of the crime to the sheriff, which
was not denied. In fact, Browns attor-
neys did not even put him on the stand to
make a statement and there was no evil
dence whatever put in for the defense.
Messrs. w. B. Stubs of Savannah and
p. w. Williams of Hagan, Bryan county,
made an able defense of their client. Aft
er he had been sentenced notice of a
motion for new trial was given. An
effort win be made to have this motion
disposed of finally before the date set for
Browns execution, so that he will not
have to be re-sentenced. In case it can
not be gotten through the Supreme Court
within that time, it will of course act
| as a supersedeas until finally passed upon
There was considerable suppressed OK
element at Clyde before the trial. and
at one time 1t looked as if an effort would
be made to lynch Brown. The excitement
was kept down, however, and during the
trial guard of a dozen special bailiffs
| sworn in for the occasion kept guard
| around the jan. They were there to pro-
tect the negro, in spite of his horrible
crime, though the duty was disagreeable
! one TO them.
| Yesterday Brown was brought to 'sa-
vannah and placed in Chatham county jail
for safe-keeping. He will remain here tn
! Ill the date set for his execution which
| will, of course, take place in Bryan coun-
ty.
| An interesting story is told in connec-
| ton with the case. Brown had the rellg-
| ious superstition which attacks a great
many of his race, and like them was go
| ing around with his eyes to the ground,
cautiously avoiding laughing or whistling,
or any levity of the kind, in order to 1ual-
| ify himself to be taken into the church.
| A necessary prerequisite to the church
membership among some of the negroes
1 in Bryan is that the applicant must first
have a vision. They do not take the ap-
| plicants in on any sort of a vision, hut
| it must be a genuine, hair-rdislng, blood
| curdling vision. On Sunday Brown had
| his vision, which was that he had cut the
throat of a white horse, and he described
! it wildly to several of his friends. He
was about ready then to be taken into the
| church. but the next day, unfortunately
| the white horse he had seen in his vision
was white boy, and it was a white boy
| whose throat he cut, and left the knife
| sticking In it.
| When he was brought to Savannah
Brown preserved the silence he has main
/ tanned throughout. He did not make any
statement on the witness stand, and he has
not made any statement since practically
refusing to talk.