The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1901-08-30
BURNED ALIVE.
That IS the Fate Melted Out to the
Murderer Of Mrs. Chas. Williams.
In Vain officers Plead for the Law tc
Take Its Course. The Infuriated
Citizens Give No Quarter.

Chattanooga, Tenn, Aug. %. Henry
Knoles, the negro who criminally
assaulted and shot to death Mrs.
Charles Williams, wife of prominent
farmer, near Winchester, Tenn, last
Friday, was captured early this morn
ing at Water Tank, near Cowan, Tenn.
He was carried to Winchester 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 hun
dred citizens gathered about the Jail.
Assistant Attorney General Matt N.
Whitaker appeared at the Jail and
made speech to the infuriated citi-
zens He appealed to the citizens to
assist him In allaying excitement and
upholding the majesty of the law.
He promised to reconvene the grand
jury tomorrow to promptly lndict the
negro and have him speedily tried at
the present term of court, assuring the
crowd that his conviction and legal
execution was foregone conclusion.
This appeal was supplemented by
Judge j. ]. Lynch, Capt. w. P. Tolley,
Jesse M. Littleton, Foster Ramsey
and others.
No sooner had their appeals been
made than several hundred citizens
from the neighborhood where the crime
was committed came up and aug
mented the crowd to thousands. They
swept forward upon the Jail, over
powered the Sheriff and his deputies,
secured the prisoner and started for the
scene of the crime, twelve miles dis
tant, at 1915 a. m.
The mob was orderly, but grimly de
termined. 1t seemed that the whole
population for miles around had turned
out to see the fate of the wretch. A
procession three miles in length, follow
ed the mob to Williams home.
Arrived at point in sight of the
crime, the negro was placed upon a
stump ana given chance to make a
statement.
Tie mounted the stump stolidly and
laughed as he began his statement. He
said:
"Tell all my sisters and brothers to
meet me in glory am going to make
that my home. Tell my mother to meet
me where parting will be no more "
He was then asked number of ques-
tions Interrogated as to whether or
not any one else was implicated in the
crime, Knoles stated emphatically
there was no one implicated but himself.
"Why did You kill Mrs. Williams?"
was asked.
II just done that because I had moth
ing else to do"
Dies Without Cry.
He finished his statement at 1:35 o.
m. He was taken from the stump, car
ried to tree nearby. bound to the tree
by chains and his body saturated with
oil. Five gallons of kerosene was pour
ed on the wretches body.
At lao p. m. match was applied and
instantly the quivering flesh was en-.
veloped in flames. Rails were pitched
about the burning body and soon life
was extinct.
There we're deafening yells from the
mob while the wretch was burning
|, Members shouted that was the fate OF
all committing such crimes. The crowd
. then began dispensing and in about ar
hour there we're only a few on the scene
The body was burned to crisp, moth
| ing remaining but the trunk.
, After the fire died down there was q
, rush for souvenirs. The chains holdiEe
the charred body to the tree were cut of
and the links divided out among those
J present One man took out his knife
9 and cut out two of the negros ribs
{ which he took with him. The rope with
which the negro was bound were alst
| cut into fragments and divided amons
{ the men.
After the body was taken from the tre
8 it was placed on the burning wood anC
3 was left iu the smouldering mass. [
g had not been removed to night, and wa
} almost completely burned.
= There was no effort on the part of an,
members of the mob to disguise them
selves.
There we're no disorderly scenes abou
the burning body. At least 5000 peopl
/ witnessed the horrible fate of the negro
Many remainded until nightfall, aug
menting the blaze until the body wa
entirely consumed, They then departe