Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-09-01
HOMICIDE AND RIOT.

picnic on the ]. A. Latta place, two
miles west Of Yorkville last Friday af-
ternoon, and the successful efforts Of
a half dozen law-abiding Negroes to
arrest the slayer came near bringing.
about a bloody. riot. -,
Alexander Lee was killed by Eph
Leech. There were more than a thou
sand Negroes on the picnic grounds,
and probably a hundred or more wit
messed the shooting; but 1t Is impossi-
BILE to get at the facts. No two Of the
Negroes with whom the reporter talk
ed, seemed to be able to agree as to
any Of the main details. =,
Lee was a member of the committee
on ORDER according to one story, and
told Leech to put up pistol that he
was .fourishing in a reckless and.
manner. Leech declined to
put up the pistol and when Lee took
hold Of it, the weapon was fired, the
bullet entering Lees abdomen. An
other story has it that Lees wife COM
planned to him that a Negro had step
ped on her toe, and while Lee was
talking to the alleged offender, Leech
stepped up and took part in the con-
troversy. Suddenly a concealed pistol
was fired from Leech's coat pocket and
Lee went down. Still another version
has it that Leech and Lee rolled to the
ground in holts and the shot was fired
while the two men were in that posi-
ton.
The first news Of the disturbance
was brought to Yorkville by a Negro
boy who :cameto Magistrate Conner, for
He explained as we'll as he
could that one man had been killed.
that the man who did the shooting had
been arrested and another big crowd
was trying to take the prisoner, away
from his captors. Constable Peters
hurried to the scene as soon as he was
able to saddle a horse, and found
great crowd Of Negroes clustered to-
gether and seething with excitement,
and threatening to exterminate each
other. It developed that Eph Leech
was in the centre of the crowd, firmly
held by three or four determined Ne
groes, and that the mob around was
flourishing knives and pistols.
Il drew my pistol" says Constable
Peters, land told them to open the way
for-me. About this time two Of three
Of the men who had been guarding
Leech helped to make the crowd stand
back, and as soon as Leech saw me, he
said, Nov I am surrendering to this
white man; you niggers turn me loose
He submitted without any further
trouble, and made no objection to my
putting the handouts on him."
From statements that seem to be re-
liable, it appears that shortly after the
shooting of Lee, Leech left the scene
and went to the house Of Henry Jones,
about 300 yards away. He got shot
gun here and stood at bay against
half dozen or more pursuers. AS the
pursuers came up he presented the
gun; but somebody grabbed 1t. from
behind and the other Negroes closed
in on him. He fought desperately and
made wicked threats as to what he
would do when he regained his free
dom. Wrenching loose one hand, he
struck John Wheeler, one Of his cap
tors, a stinging blow in the face. AS
Wheeler drew back to return the blow,
John Smith drew big knife and said,
IF you hit him I'll cut your heart out"
Other Negroes surged around with base.
ball bats, knives and pistols and for
a time it looked as If the: half dozen
men who were trying to hold the pris-
oner would be annihilated.
Presently quiet was partially restored
and some Of the leaders among the
rescuing party held conference as
the result of which a dozen Of them
left the ground and stationed them
selves at a convenient point on the
road to Yorkville. They had decided
that the captors Of Leech would final
ly attempt to take him to town and 1t
was their intention to fall on the party
from ambush on the way and effect a
rescue.
1t was only the timely arrival of
Constable Peters that put an end to
further trouble. He saw some of the
ambushed Negroes on his way to the
picnic grounds, and was on the lookout
for them as he proceeded to Yorkville
with his prisoner. He had no trouble,
however, the would-be rescuers evil
IDENTIFY deciding it best not to attack
the constable.
Leech was quite talkative on his way
to Yorkville. He did not appear to be
much concerned about the killing; but
explained it to Constable Peters about
like this: THAT niger caught hold of
the barrel Of my pistol, and white man
you know 1 amt going to let loose the
handle while any niger has hold Of
the barrel" Leech went on to say
that he gave up the shot gun at Hen
ry Jones's because it was not loaded.
And If I had only had two more pis-
tolls" he asserted, Il would have clean
ed every niger off that hill" He ap-
peared to be very proud Of the manner
in which he had acquitted himself
the whole affair and OBJ
served that If these niggers don't quit
having picnics they will all get killed"
There Is no doubt that the disturb
ance was due largely to too much
whisky. Leech was drunk at the time
of the shooting, and quite number of
others who were mixed up in the dis
turbance were also drunk.
Leech has a reputation as bad Ne
gro. He has for years been a terror