The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-06-29
4. The Scenes at Their Homes on the
4 Night Of the Murder.
u,sBANDs TAKEN TO THE SLAUGHTER
~ 70 Prevent the Poor Women from Even Making an
P, At a Rescue-State Refused to Permit the De-
P"s seuse to Rest the Case the Record.

OF grief passed over her and the tears
came from her eyes, expressing the pres
ence of the awful recollection which will
live with her always. She gave her answers
In clear voice.
She said she was the widow of Jim Hum
phries; they have seven children; the
Oldest boy was not at home the night of
the lynching; when the party came to the
house all of the family were asleep; she
and her husband were in bed; the parties
came on the porch and called Humphries
and told him to get up; four men came
into the house and the rest stayed outside
they told her to strike a light, and she
did SO; they were curslng and swearing;
they made HUMPHREYS take the lamp and
go upstairs; every one was armed with
gun except one, who had a pistol; they
stayed In the house and then they took
HUMPHREYS out, and she looked at the
clock and saw that 1t was 15 they could
not have stayed at the house longer than
ten Or fifteen minutes; she did not recog-
nize any of the men; she did not think
Humphres recognized any Of the men, she
asked HUMPHREYS If he recognized any OF
them and he said he did not; two n IN
followed HUMPHREYS up the stairs and two
staid at the bottom The noise walked up
the children and some of them sat up on
their pallet. They said they were going
to take HUMPHREYS over to Jim HSn-
were taking him out of the gate. She
looked out of the window and saw the men
taking her husband away; looked to her
like six or seven men went away with her
husband. She got up as soon as they
left, dressed and went out on the porch
and saw man standing there with bis
gun; after awhile another man came out
from behind the smokehouse; these two
followed the others down the road: they
said thew left IN hut "a
news was not sent The two guards re-
manned ten minutes after the party. She
talked to one of the guards and he talked
to her civilly: the man in front of the
house called to the other man and they
went off together.
At this point she was asked who the
guard TALKING to her was, and she said
after pause; ~ think 1t was Walter
Wilkinson who was talking to me; have
known him ever since he was a little boy.
| and 1t was him talking to me-
The witness, continuing, said she stayed
up the balance OF the night; she heard the
party down at the corner of the fence, in
the big road; they were talking, but she
| could not hear anything they said. In a
few minutes the noise stopped; she stayed
at home, because the men told her that
| II she gave any alarm she might be killed;
| she thought she heard HUMPHREYS talking
| down there at the fence corner and heard
| him say: "All right"
Cross-examined by Morris, she said when
the guard was talking to her he said his
name was A. D. Young of Athens and that
the sheriff sent him thcre; she pointed
| out Stephens as the man who came in the
| house with a pistol; also pointed out w.
E. Johns as one Of those there. Two OF
the men came while the light was up
stairs and she did not and could not rec
ognize them.
| On redirect examination she said she had
seen the prisoners in the court room the
| other day; had only been in the court
| house; knows from the paper what John
Greenhaw had testified TO and read what
he said about the persons entering the
house and who they were. The men looked
terribly Sorry" that night They are
! shaved now closer than they were then:
one OF the men had on what looked like
ducking coat and a black hat pulled
down over his eyes; was so excited that
| she did not notice the men particularly
| learned from outsiders that the men had
| shaved; did not want TO identity anybody
| who was not guilty of the crime.
Then the widow rnised her eyes
| and in "A voice vibrating with pas
sfonate feeling said, "There have
been too many innocent men killed
around here now for amy innoceni
man to suffer-
prisoners as she had heard them; could not
describe the costumes of all the men;
stephens was pointed out as the man In
the ducking coat. The next morning she
sent her little boy over to%John Hum
pnries. to see II they had taken John off.
ana while the boy was gone George Hum
phries' wife came over and said they had
taken George off She sent her boy to the
nelghbors', but could find no trace of the
men. Then she sent after her sons-in-
laws and they decided to come to Athens
Ihey came back with the bodies The
cursing in the house was loud and vigor-
Gus; 1t could have been heard forty or fifty
steps.
Mrs. John HUMPHREYS took tire stand
She had baby In her arms, and, like
her mother-in-law, was dressed in deep
black. She remembered the circumstances
OF her husbands removal from home The
mob came to her house between y and !
o'clock; did not see but four men, but
heard more ON the outside; two came in
the house and two staid at the kitchen
door; they remained in the house but a
very few minutes; they told John to open
the door, that they were searching fol
Patterson and they wanted to see if Pat
terson was there; John put on his pants
and lit lamp; they went in the kitchen
and took the lamp there they did no
search anywhere else; then they told Johi
to put on his shoes and get his hat anC
come on and go with them. They were
eursing and told him not to parley tina
the night was running on, that they haC
TO do their work before daylight; the!
hurried John while he was dressing Ate
they LETT she started to get up and a mar
came 10 the window and told her that 1
she raised an alarm she would be killed
She thought she recognized the voice a.
that OF Joe Wilkinson; she did not sci
the man who said that. She did not know
any OF the men, but was most certain
that John Greenhaw was at her back door
Her husband said he did not know a thin
In the world about Patterson and did no
want to go; he said 1t was some OF Jo
Wilkinson's and John Greenhaw's lies, ant
another man said: Yes, by God we tav
got you and YOU have got to 60" Had
never seen the defendants since the crim
was committed till she saw them today il
! the court house. Thought she recognized
Ed Cain as one of the men that wa
there; knew that Cain had been ARRESTED
and released: had never been asked 4