The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-08-26
A NEGRO BURNING
Draws Crowd of 5000 People
in Tennessee.

Chattanooga, Tenn. Aug. 26.-Henry
Noles, the negro who criminally as
saulted and shot to death Mrs Charles
Williams, wife of prominent farmer
near Winchester, Tenn, last Friday,
was captured at a water tank near Co
wan, Tenn. He was taken to Win
chester by his captors and placed in
the county jail. Sheriff Stewart made
haste to try to barricade the jail and
protect the prisoner. Soon an angry
mob of several hundred men gathered.
Assistant Attorney General Matt N.
Whitaker appeared and made a speech
to the crowd He appealed to them to
assist him in a1lay1ng excitement and
UNFOLDING the majesty of the law. He
promised to reconVene the grand jury
to indict the negro and have him
speedily tried at the present term of
court, assuring the crowd that his con-
victiOn and legal execution were a fore
gone conclusion. This appeal was sup
plemented by Judge J. J. Lynch, Cap
tain W. P. Tolley, Jesse H. Littleton,
Foster Ramsey and others.
No sooner had their appeals been
made than several hundred citizens ar
rived from the neighborhOOd where the
crime was committed and augmented
the crowd to thousands. They swept
forward upon the jail, oVerpoWered the
sheriff and his deputies, took the pris-
oner and started for the scene of the
crime, u miles distant.
The mob was orderly but determined
It seemed that the whole population
for miles around had turned out to see
the fate of the wretch. A procession
three miles in length followed the mob
to the Williams home. Arriving at a
point in sight of the scene of the crime,
the negro was placed upon a. stump ana
given a chance to make a statement.
IL TOD hn cf41 or q md
laughed as he began his statement He
said:
TELL all my sisters and brothers to
meet me in glory. 1 am going to make
that my home Tell my mother to meet
me where parting will be no more.
He was then asked as to whether
anyone else was implicated in the
crime. Noles stated enphatically that
there was no one implicated but him
self.
Why did you kill Mrs williams2''
It just done that because had moth
ing else to do
He finished his statement, was taken
from the stump, carried to a tree near
by bound to the tree by chains and
his body saturated with oil
A match was applied and instantly
the quivering body was enveloped in
the burning body and soon life was ex-
tinct. The negro made no outcry at
any time and died as stolidly as a stole.
There were no disorderly scenes about
the burning body. At least 5000 peo-
pie witnessed the horrible fate of the
negro. Many remained until nightfall
feeding the blaze until the body was
entirely consum ed. They then depart
ed for their homes quietly.
Lying on the floor of the family room,
her face splashed with clotted blood
and the oaken planks stained with the
same drops. Charles Williams found
his devoted wife Friday afternoon
when he returned from marketing his
wheat in the little town of Maxwell.
A bullet had gone through her head,
life was extinct and her two baby chill
dren were crying alone in their grief
and fear. The Oldest boy, aged s. told
what had occurred. The young mother
Noles, q negro hand upon Williams
place. AS the mortally wounded WO-
man sank to the floor, NOles shot at
the baby. the bullet grazing the child's
head. Then he fed to the woods VIII
liams' neighbors were stirred to the
pitch of exacting merciless and sum-
mary Justice On receipt of news of
the crime Sheriff Steward departed
for the scene with bloodhounds A
posse of determined citizens, well
armed and provided with rope, was
also on Noles' trail. 1t is reported that
was obtained by the murderer. Mr.
Williams is a farmer, well to do and
one Of the most prominent residents of
his section Of Franklin county. The
dead woman was a member of one of
the Oldest and most respected families
in the county
of the two children. the Oldest is just
years old. They were the only wit
nesses of the tragedy.