Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1900-07-26
NEGRO. PRISONER LYNCHED.
AIabamS MOI Smokes Sheriff Out
OF the Jail.
USE DYNAMITE ON PRISON
A Negro Accused of An Assault Upon a
Little Girl Is Identified by Her as the
CuIprit, and the Mob Then wreaks
Summary Vengeance Upon Him.

Huntsville, Ala, July 25.-At the
hands of quiet and orderly but de-
termined mob of 1000 men, Elijah
Clark, negro, 20 years old, paid the
extreme penalty of a criminal assault
upon a white girl, Susie Priest, 13
years old The negro was taken out OF
Jail after the sheriff had been overcome
by smoke and an attempt to blow up
the Jail with dynamite, carried to the
girl and identified, and then taken to
Moore Grove, near Dallas, and swung
to limb, his body being riddled with
bullets and shot. The body is swing
ing to limb in a deserted grove, left
as warning to other negroes who may
have an idea of committing this crime.
Clark was guilty of one of the most
dastardly cases of assault ever com
mitted in North Alabama He caught
Susie Priest and her sister, Nellie, out
in lonely field and grabbed the for
mer by the throat, threatening to cut
her head off if she made resistance.
Nellie Priest escaped and gave the
alarm at Dallas. Within a few minutes
the entire male population was in pur-
suit of the negro who fled into the
mountains. The search was continued
all night.
Capture Him In Bed.
Deputies were also after him. and he
was captured by Deputies Phillips and
lamar at the home of relatives. near
Merdianville. eight miles from the
scene of the crime. Clark was In bed
with two cousins. and they made an at
tempt to conceal him. He was hustled
out and brought to the city at an early
hour this morning. Clark confessed to
the deputies that he was the negro who
assaulted the girl. and said that. know
ing that she was a poor factory girl.
he thought nothing would be done with
him. When the news spread over the
town that the negro was in Jail, the
male population of Dallas suspended
work, causing the Dallas mill to shut
down, came to town. and surrounded
the Jail. The men brought rifles, shot
guns, and pistols with them, and were
ready for any kind of trouble. Sheriff
Fulgham was requested to hand over
the keys. He refused, saying that the
mob would have to kill him to get
them. A strong guard was placed at
the Jail, armed with Winchester shot
guns. The mob then began to make
preparations to break into the jail
The front door was burst open and a
rush made for the line of deputies in
the hall. The deputies opened fire
and one man, Will Vining, an electric
light trimmer, was shot in the Shout
der. This checked the mob for a
while, and the leaders decided to go
about accomplishing their object in
some other way. Several pounds of
/ dynamite were secured and placed
against the walls of the Jail. The
sheriff was again asked to surrender
/ the keys or have the Jail blown up,
! but he refused again. Prominent
citizens, among them Capt. Wilton
Humes, Capt Daniel Coleman, John H.
Wallace. and others made speeches in
an endeavor to pacify the mob, but
they were hooted down.
Mob Uses Dynamite.
Shortly after noon a large stick of
dynamite was thrown up the main
stairway of the jail The explosion
damaged the stairs and broke every
window In the front part of the build
ing The sheriff was warned to come
out with his deputies and prisoners,
/ but he again firmly refused. The mob
then made plans to smoke the officers
out of the Jail. A barrel of oil, large
amount of tar, and several bushels of
feathers were placed on the cement
| ground floor of the Jail and set afire.
A suffocating smoke arose, and the
sheriff was compelled to take refuge in
the third story of the Jail, the deputies
and guards seeking the remote Cor
ners. The negro was forcibly taken
from the Jail to the home of Susie
Priest. who identified him.
He was then taken to the woods
mounted on a horse and asked if he
had anything to say. He replied that
he had not and the horse was led
from under him.
In ten minutes the negro was dead,
and then his body was filled with bull
let's from half a hundred guns No
member of the mob made any attempt
Il