The age-herald., 1901-12-23
FouIest Crime That Ever Be- snlrched the EScutcheon
 of Jefferson County
TWELVE CITIZENS KILLED
Woman Who Was Convicted With Hawes Was Pardoned on Request of Judge Samuel Greene and
 Prominent Citizens.

The release from servitude yesterday or Fannie Bryant. the negro woman who has served twelve years of a life sen tence in the State penitentiary Tor com plicity in the murder of Mrs. Hawes' re- calls a crime that for depravity and in humanity ranks as the foulest and most fiendish that ever darkened the escutheon of Jefferson County-terrible not only on account of the sickening murders them- selves, but also for the blood that was shed and the lives that it cost before the curtain was finally drawn on this bloody drama,
 The crime for which this negress has been serving her life sentence, stated briefly, is as follows;
 Just thirteen years ago this month, the body of May Hawes, the eldest daughter of Dick Hawes, was found in East Lake. Investigation showed that Mrs. Hawes, wife of Dick Hawes and mother of the girl found in East Lake, and their youngest daughter, Irene, were also missing. Suspicion at once being aroused, an investigation was immediate ly instituted, and after several days of tireless and unceasing search, the bodies of the mother and youngest daughter were found at the bottom of .he lake at Lakeview. At the coroners inquest sus- picion pointed so strongly to the guilt of Dick Hawes. the husband and father, that a warrant was issued for his ar rest Hawes was apprehended the next day as he alighted from passenger train, accompanied by his bride whom he had just married in Columbus, Miss. By this time, the atrocity of the crime had fully dawned on the public mind, the guilt of the prisoner firmly established, the hot passions of men had been stirred and excitement ran riot, This condition prevailing. the inevitable result follow ed.
 The Mob.
 As night came on, the streets began to fill with people determined on swift and retributive vengeance. The Sheriff of Jefferson County. Joseph Smith, had foreseen the danger to his prisoner and had organized, armed and stationed his deputies inside the unfinished court house which was then under construction, and which commanded full view of the ap- proaoh to the jail. Soon after nightfall the mob having selected its leaders, be- gan It's march on the jail. As they swept into the alley that leads from Twenty first street to the County Jail where the prisoner was confined, they were ordered by the sherin to stop but the order went unheeded. Some claim that three times the sheriff commanded the mob to stop, but in the excitement of the times however, this was neither proven or dis proven. The order to fire was given to the deputies, the rafters and timbers of the unfinished court house, where they were concealed lit up for an instant from the flames of their deadly rifles. the mob hesitated, wavered and fell back a short space, apparently not realizing the terrible meaning of the order Quickly reorganizing again, they made a second charge and not until those in the lead had stumbled over the lfeless forms of those who fell at the first fire, and a second volley poured into their ranks from the concealed deputies, did the full and terrible meaning dawn upon them, and a wild rush was made for protection from the leaden death. Twelve men were killed in this assault on the Jail, many of whom were not part of the mob and were blocks away. Among these was the then Postmaster Throckm norton, one of the most popular citizens of Birming- ham. Hawes was subsequently, tried, con- victed and hung.
 Fanny Bryant's Case.
 On December 12, 1889. Fannie Bryant