The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1902-07-24
ASHLEY COOKE, PAYS EXTREME
PENALTY FOR MURDER At
a GREENvILLE, MIss.
HIS COMPANION rs SILENT
Before the Execution Both Men Were
Defiant and Violently Abused Every
'one Around-cocke Dies Loudly
Boosting and Bitterly Cursing-six
Thousand People Witness the Exc

cution-Story Of the Crime.
GreenVllle, Miss, July 23.-With
curses on his lips, with eyes bloodshot
and with the expressed wish that the
people of Greenville perish in the fires
of hell, Ashley Cooke died here With
him, but silently, Tom Lauderdale also
met his end. Both were convicted OF
the murder of Engineer G. M. Wray
and were hanged from the same gal
lows and the swing of double trap
sent both men to their doom. The
1atal trigger was snapped at 11:27
a. m. At 11:41 Cooke was pronounced
dead. At l1:43 the pulse of Lauder
dale ceased to beat. Both bodies were
cut down ten minutes later and turn
ed over to their respective families.
Cooke died boasting that he would be
IN nell IN a few minutes, and damning
everything and everybody. He said
that those who had planned his MUIR
der would meet their end and that
1000 had been deposited in a bank.
$1,000 Of which would be paid for the
death of each of the eleven men who
prosecuted him. The execution was
witnessed by 5000 people.
Before the time for the execution.
both men appeared defiant, Cooke
especially being very abusive to every
one around him, while both cursed
continually. Alters the death warrant
had been read to the men in their
cells, Cooke yelled through the win
dow to the great crowd which had
gathered outside to witness the ex-
ecutiOn:
ID you. don't be impatient; we
are coming"
When the sheriff and the doomed
men mounted the scaffold Cooke again
began to berate those about him, and,
turning to the crowd, said:
Its all plot to kill me; d. you
an, d. everybody. I'm going to die
like man.
Says He Will Be Revenged.
Il am killed for nothing, but l am
the bravest man in the state of Mis-
sissippi. There Isl $11 900 waiting for
anyone who will kill the eleven men
who made this plot. I will be reveng-
ed, for every one of this eleven will be
killed, and no questions will be asked.
They have murdered me, but revenge,
revenge, revenge.
Before he could say more the black
caps were adjusted.
Are you both ready?" asked the
sheriff. ,
EYES," yelled Cooke through the
folds of black. D. you people of
Greenville; go to h, all CT you"
The trap was sprung and the men
dropped into space.
The crime for which Ashley Cooke
and Tom Lauderdale paid the death
penalty on the gallows was committed
In a Yazoo and Mississippi Valley rail-
road train about o'clock on the morn
ing of Dec. 80, 1901, near Elizabeth.
Ashley Cooke, Tom Lauderdale, Will
Blackburn and G. M. Phipps boarded
the northbound passenger train. G..
M. Wray, an engineer, was a passenger
on the car entered by Cooke and his
party. Cooke and his companions were
more or less under the influence of
liquor. Phipps fell against Wray, who
Wray asked \Phipps what he meant
and the reply came from Cooke that i
meant that he (Wray) must leave the
coach. AS Wray started to walk out
Cooke, Lauderdale and Blackburn be-
gan shooting at him and he fell dead
In the aisle Of the car. Cooke and
Lauderdale were tried together, con-
victed and sentenced to be hanged
March 81, 1902. The supreme court
reviewed the case of Cooke and Lau-
derdale, affirming the decision of the
lower court and fixing Tuesday, July
%, as the day for the execution. Gov
ernor Longino refused to interfere
with the Sentence Blackburn was
given life sentence on account of his
previous good character. =.