The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-08-23
MOB LEADER SLAIN
ATTEMPT TO LYNCH A NEGRO
RAVISHER CAUSE OF
PITCHED BATTLE
sHERIFFs MEN STOOD FIRM
Action of the Mob Was Without Ex-
cuse, as the Criminal Had
Already Been Sentenced
to Hang.

ASHVILLE, Ala, Aug 22-One man
was killed and another probably fatally
wounded in battle here today to save
the negro, Jim Brown, from the venge
ance of a mob after he had been tried
and sentenced to be hanged on Sept. 20
for rape.
Killed:
WALTER BLANKENSHIP.
Wounded:
Arthur Blankenship.
A small boy the son of James Hanley,
slightly wounded.
The Blankenships were brothers, and it
Is said have been in town since Monday
trying to stir up the trouble. Walter died
within two hours after being shot, and
Arthur is in precariouS condition
The attempt of the mob to gain pos
session of the negro followed one of the
swiftest and fairest trials ever witnessed
The judge and court officials were on
the defensive to suppress the rising anger
of the crowd as detail after detail of the
crime was told by the witnesses for the
state. There was no evidence for the
defense. AS Brown said afterwards in his
confession there was nothing the wit
nesses he had summoned could say in his
behalf.
FATHER COUNSELED PEACE.
The clash with the sheriff came in half
an hour after Judge Pelham had pro-
nounced the sentence. By a ruse the
courtroom was cleared of half of it's
angry occupants. The remaining half
was surly and seemed bent on mischief.
At the request of Judge Pelham, ]. l..
Garrett, the father of the girl outraged
by Brown, mounted a table and spoke,
counsehng peace He had hardly ad-
dressed the assembly as his friends and
neighbors before he broke down and
wept. In concluding his appeal he said:
IF you have any respect for my feel
ings, if I can have any weight in your
hearts, let me urge you as good citizens
to go home and obey the law, and I will
never cease to thank you from the bot
tom of my heart"
After some difficulty the courtroom was
cleared. Sheriff North thought it unwise
to attempt to take Brown to the jail a
few blocks away, for the crowd was
rapidly increasing around the front door
of the courthouse. Twenty-eight deputies,
armed with pistols and shotguns, were
stationed in the front hall and at the
windows of the courtroom
MOB's FIRE RETURNED
The first sign of an outbreak came
when one man from the outside, with a
pistol in his hand started to mount the
stairway. He was followed by two or
three others. Several shots were exchang
ed and the mob leaders retreated to the
outside, when two members began firing
into the windows Arthur Blankenship
was hit first. and his brother was shot
while emptying his revolver in the d.
rection of the windows above
A hard rain began falling. The bodies
of the wounded were removed, and the
al In of fIo
stores across the street. The officers took
advantage of this lull and spirited the
negro away in charge of two special dep
uties. He was gotten safely aboard a
freight train for Birmingham
The crime for which Brown wifi hang
was committed on May 7, near Spring
vile, within a quarter of a mile of the
house of the CARROTS. Brown left the
vicinity at once first going to Birming-
ham, then to Annison and Atlanta, and
finally to Charleston, S. c., where he
was captured.