The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-11-27
LYNcH1NGs IN TUE SOUTH.
A Southern Mans Views of the
Situation In Northern Maga-
zine.

l. Situation In Northern Mage
zine.
Il Rev. William Hayne Leavell, O
:. Houston, Texas, a native of Newberry
: South Carolina, who received hi
, literary and theological education II
, Greenville, has contributed very in
+ tercsting and valuable article on lynch
ing in the South to the last issue o
The Outlook" one OF the ablest ant
fairest of magazines in The North. Mr.
Leavell has lived for a few years il
New England, and he knows the pre-.
judices and difficulties existing there
III tho way of just understanding OF
the sitaat,on in the South when il
comes to tho social and political rela-
tions between tho whites and blacks,
and the editors of The Outlook s" ad-
nit the justice and reasonablcness of
the call made by Mr.. Leavcll upon the
critics of the South TO propose some
other remedy for the horrible crime of
rape than the dcrnier resort of lynch.
ing. Mr.. Leavcll's article is as fol-
lows
Last summer happened to be
spending my vacation at "Cotes-
WORTH" the old country home of the
late United States Senator George,
about Two miles from the town of Car
rollton, Miss. During the time was
there hcarl one day that on the night
previous two defenseless old people
had been done to death in most foul
and brutal fashion, and that because
OF il the people of the county were
coming into town, and there was like
to be lYnching of several negroes
who were, susI cctcd of the crime.
Never before having been In the i'm,
mediate neighborhoOG of lynchin2,
and wishing to learn something of the
character of these repeated outbreaks,
L rode into town TO study the situation
close at hand, hoping that something
might occur which would make 1T pos
slble to prevent any violence. | found
that three negroes, a mother with her
son and daughter, tenants of the MUIR
dcred couple, had been arrested on
suspicion of having committed the
murder or having guilty knowledge of
the facts, and were at that time con-
fined in the county Jail. L found pre-
sent on the streets of the town many
young farmers from the county who
were carrying rifles, shotguns, or pis-
tolls, and mixed with them few of the
maturer and MOI G conservative citizens
of the county, to whom the young fell
lows seemed to look for objection. All
OF them had a serious and determined
look upon their faces.
found also that Il committee of
prominent men, among them the State
Senator from that district, the District
Attorney, and lawyer who had several
times represented the county in the
Legislature, had been formed and at
the hour of my arrival were ut the Jail
examining the negroes. The com
mittee was earnestly solicitous to pre-
vent lynching. 1t satisfied itself that
those three negroes did not personally
commit the crime, but knew who did,
and were as yet not willing to reveal
their guilty secret. Several times, both
individually and as n committee. these
gentlemen addressed the mob, trying
TO dissuade it from violence, and plead
ing, in the name of humanity and for
the good name of the county, to let the
law lake its course, the more particu-
larly because the only apparent hope
of learning whoswere the real murder
ers was involved IN keeping these three
negroes alive. The mob was not to be
dissuaded. AS the authorities offered
practically no resistance, the mob took
the negroes, hanged them just outside
the town, and riddled their bodies with
bullets.
Realizing that it would be regarded
as an impertinent intrusion for me to
offer any suggestion, since 1 was an
outsider, and knowing that there was
no chance for me to do what we'll
known gentlemen who had the con-
fidence of their neighb0rs there failed
10 do, rode away home some Lime be-
fore tho lynching took place.
From what / learned of the whole
matter, of the circumstances leading
up to the crime, it seemed to be case
particularly demanding that the law
should be permitted to take its course.
1t was not question of the rape of q
white woman by negro brute. 1t was
the assassination of the aged parents
of young white man who had pre-.
viouslY shot to death the son of the
negro mother for attempted poison.
The young man was out on bail await
ing the action of the Grand Jury. But
there was only one wayto prevent that
lynching. That way was by superior
force, and the constituted authorities
did not offer it.
In connection with my experience
and observation on tho day of the
lynchlng, / took care afterwards to dis
cuss the case itself and the whole mat
ter of lynching, as it obtains i'm the
South, with some of the best and
maturer and more conservative citizens
of that part OF the State of Mississippi,
to learn whether and how far they APP
proved of lynching for crime. OF
course / found some extreme men.
who are good citizens IN their way
who are yet very nervous over the
whole question of the negro and his
Il ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IN tbn;r No.i ..f