Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-06-15
Five Members of Black
knights of the Archers''
Hanged In Georgia.
ALL ON SAME GALLONS
A Wholesale Execution Which Was
Conducted BY Duly Acc redited
Officers of the Law.
A Bit of Justice Which Ii l. Thought
Marks the End of Bad
Gang.

Sylvania, Ga, June 15.-The hanging
| of five men upon the same galIows at
| the same moment marked the end of
what is Thought TO have been an or
| ganized gang of murderers here yes
| terday. The men executed We're Ara
| old Augustus. Andrew Davis. Richard
Sanderson, William Hudson and San
uel Baldwin, all negroes. The victims
OF their crime Were Constable Neai :
and Fillmore Harrington, whom they
ambushed and shot TO death, and Cap
tain Wade. whom they seriously
wounded. On at least two occasions
efforts We're made 10 lynch the muir
derers, but by the prompt action of
the officers of the law they were frus-
trated. On one of these occasions the
governor found IL necessary TO order
out three companies of the state mil
itia.
The execution was strongly guarded
by the local militia, because of 4 ~
NOR that an effort would be made Ivy
negroes TO effect the rescue of the con
demned But there was no disturb
ance nor the suggestion of any The
hanging was in private. the stock:te!.
being surrounded by strong Gordon
of troops. Five thousand persons
gathered in the village but only about
40 Were admitted in the enclosure
The condemned men maintained a sto-
zeal reserve, refusing to confess or to
talk about the crime. They were at
tended by ministers of their own race,
who besought them TO ease their con
sciences by making acknowledgment
of their sins. Still they refused to
talk. The five, shackled In chains
We're marched upon the gallows to-
gether When the trap fell the necks
of four were snapped like reeds The
fifth struggled for five minutes and
died of strangulation. The five bodies
We're cut down in a drizzle of rain.
The negroes were convicted of a
murder committed under an alleged
criminal conspiracy by an organized
band Of blacks, known as the knights
of the Archers" The motto of the
organization. ii is said, is Death to
the whites" The murder for which
the men died was the elimination of
a long series of crimes. 1t is common
report that the charter of this oath
bound organization was signed in
blood and the leader, Andrew McKin-
ny, assembled his band only at night
when he swore the members to secre
cy and to deeds of death and robbery.
On a night in October, 1899 Milton
Maars a constable of Screven county:
Fillmore Harrington and Captain Jesspe
Wade started out from Sylyania Ito
serve a warrant for the arrest of Joe
Sanger. young negro, wanted for
some trivial offense. No sooner had
they reached his house than a fusillade
began. From the cracks between the
logs of the cabin and from n thicket
of dwarf trees close by came the flash
of rifles and shotgunS, and the three
men fell. desperately wounded. Wade
managed to crawl to his buggy and
make lys way to Sylvania. where he
told of the shooting.
Harrington and Mears We're literally
shot to pieces. The murderers eScap-
ed, but one after another of these five
Were arrested and placed in Jail here
The others, including McKinny and
the real leaders of the knights. have
never been captured.