The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-04-27

Of Campbell county there aud it was
not necessary to take him to Atlanta
This was accedod to, and the negro was
taken Off the train and marched at the
head of yelling, shouting crowd OF
| hundreds Of people to the Jail, There
he was turned over TO Sheriff Brown,
taking a receipt for the prisoner, thus
making themselves sure of the $3.50 re.
| ward.
Sheriff Brown was importuned tc
give up the prisoner and finally, in
order to avoid an assault on the Jail and
possible bloodshed, he turned the wretch
over to the waiting crowd. A pro.
cession was quickly formed and the
,,oy..,'.t negro was mlruh5d nc It's head
through several streets of the town.
Soon the public square was reached.
Here former Governor Atkinson Of
Georgia, who lives in Newman, made
the speech to the mob.
Judge A. d. Freeman, also of New.
man, implored the mob to return the
negro to the sheriff. The speeches did
no good.
Mrs. Cranfords mother and sister are
residents of Newman. The mob was
heading in the direction of their house
md in short time reached the McEl-
roy house, The negro was marched in
the gate and Mrs. McElroy was called
to the front door.
She Immediately identified the Afri-
can and her verdict was agreed to by
her daughter, who had often seen Hose
about the Crawford place.
"To the stake" was agian the cry and
several men wanted to burn him in
Mrs. McElroy's yard. To this she OBJ
jected strenuously and the mob, COM
plying with her wish, started for Pal
metto. 1t was thought soldiers were
coming from Atlanta, so it was decided
to burn the prisoner ut the first favor.
able place rather than be compelled to
shoot him when the militia put in an
appearance.
About one and half miles out of
Newman, a little to the side of the
road, was a strong pine tree. Up to
this the negro was marched, his back
placed to the tree and his face to the
crowd, which jostled closely about him.
Here the negro made his statement.
The clothes We're torn from the
wretch. A heavy chain was produced
and wound around the body Of the ter
ritied negro, clasped by new lock
which danglod at Hoses neck. Here
occurred the cutting off of his ears and
fingers.
The shrieking negro was quickly de-
pTived of other portions of his anatomy
and the words, "come on with the oil"
brought huge can of kerosene to the
foot Of the tree where the negro, his
body covered with blood from head to
foot, was striving and tugging at his
chains. The can was lifted over the
negros head by three or four men and
its contents poured over him. By this
time a good supply Of brush, pieces of
fence rails and other firewood had been
placed about the negro's feet. This
pyre was thoroughly saturated and a
match applied. A flame shot upward
and spread quickly over the pile of
wood. AS it licked the negro's legs he
shrieked once and began tugging at his
chains.
As the flames crept higher and the
smoke entered his eyes and mouth Hose
put the stumps of his hands to the tree
and back of him and with a terrific
plunge forward of his body severed the
upper portion Of the chains which
bound him to the tree. His body,
held to the tree only as far as the thighs,
lunged forward, thus escaping the
flames which roarei and cracked about
his feet
One of the men nearest the burning
negro quickly ran up and pushing him
back, said: "Get back into the fire
there" and quickly coupled the dis
jointed links of the chain.
The road for a distance of half mile
on each side of the burning negro was
black with conveyances and was simply
impossible. The crowd surrounded the
stakes ON all sides, but none of those
nearer than 100 feet of the center were
able to see what was going on.
Yell after yell went up and the prog
ress of the flames was communicated to
those in the rear by shouts from the
eye witnesses.
The torch was applied about 2:30 and
about 3 O'Clock the body of Sam Hose
was limp and lifeless.