Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1899-12-14
BU RNED ALIVE.
a kentucky Mob Cremates a Ne
gro Murderer.
The city of MaysviIIe L. the Scene ola
BarbarOus Act which Equals in
F:endish Cruelty ANY Tor
ture Devised by BLOOD
thirsty Saya2es.

thirsty Sava2es.
Maysville, KY, Dec. 7-Richard
Coleman (colored), the murderer of
Mrs. James Lashbrook, wife of his
employer, expiated his crime yester-
day at the hands of Il mob consisting
of thousands of citizens, by burning at
the stake after suffering torture be-
yond description. The dreadful spec
tacle occurred on the cricket grounds
on the outskirts of this city.
just two months ago Richard Cole
man, the trusted employe of Farmer
James Lashbrook, in a manner peculi-
| arly atrocous murdered the woman
who had been his benefactor. After
being arrested the officers took him
to CoVington for safe keeping. He
was indicted for the murder. Shortly
after his incarceration at Covington
| he made a complete confession of his
crime to the jailor.
The trial was set for yesterday.
Sheriff Perrine determined to leave
| CovingtOn by the train ON the Chesa-
| pcate d Ohio which started at 1880
| Wednesday morning. Coleman had
been told Tuesday night to prepare
| to return to the scene of his crime. He
was stricken with fear and begged to
be permitted to remain in Covington
until after his trial.
Ihe prisoner with his escort arrived
| here at 1920 o'clock. AS the train
| putfed into the station the mob
formed on both sides III two long
| crowds.
1, I, 4 l..
| armed and there was some resistance
as the leaders of the mob iostled
against them and demands were ut
| tered from the outer fringes of the
crowd for the prisoner. Sheriff Per-
rine started to walk from the ear. \
step behind followed the officers with
| Coleman in their midst, seeking to
conceal himself behind his protectors.
Hundreds of stones were thrown and
revolvers and rifles were freely dis
played. The prisoner was frequently
struck and he presented a frightful
appearance, the blood streaming from
wounds on his face and head.
At the court house a mob of over
1000 men, headed by James Lash
brook, the husband, had been hastily
formed. There was a brief struggle
in which weapons were drawn by the
officers and then the sheriff and his
assistants were overcome and the pris-
oner was pulled from their midst by
the leaders of the mob. Up through
the central portion of the town the
man was taken, the prisoner being
dragged along with the aid of ropes
loosely attached to his body. He was
: h, = I,
siles and several times he sunk half
unconscious to the ground while the
crowd pressed forward, striking at
him with clubs, sticks and whips until
his head and body were scarcely rec
ognizable.
The place of execution had been
selected weeks ago. The prisoner was
dragged to a saping and strapped
against the tree, facing the husband
of the victim. Large quantities of
dry brush and larger bits of wood
were piled around him while he was
praying for speedy death. James
Lashbrooll, the husband of the victim,
applied the first match to the brush
wood. a brother of the victim
struck the second match.
AS the flames arose Coleman made
vain efforts to withdraw his hands
from the fire and his eyes rolled in a
frenzy of suffering. The ropes secur-
ing him to the tree were bound and
mis- body finally fell forward on the
burning pile. Even then, although
it was not certain whether he was
living or dead, the vengeful purpose
of the crowd led them to use rails to
push his body back into the flames
While his voice could be heard. he
begged for a drink of water, his
tongue protruding ana his eyeballs
fairly starting from his head. At the
end of three hours the body was prac-
tically cremated. During all that
time members Of the family of Mrs.
Lashbrook had remained to keep the
body in position where it would CON
tinue to burn.
In all the thousands VINO constitut-
ed the mob there was not Il single ef-
fort to conceal identity. No man
wore a mask. All the leaders of the.
mob are well known and there are
hundreds OF witnesses who can testify
81 I,,t, 90.