Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1903-04-16
CoLoRED MAN LYNCHED.

ph pole two blocks from the jail
:, negro was charged with the murder
of Policeman Leslie, who was shot dead
Tuesday night in the yards OF
the Kansas City Southern Railroad
while endeavoring to arrest several
negroes suspected Of theft. Officer
Leslie had ordered several negroes
who had taken refuge in box car TO
surrender, and when they failed to do so
he fired several shots at the car. During
the shooting a negro slipped from the
car, and, coming up behind the officer,
shot him through the head. The negro
then fed, and within short time posses
were after him.
About three o'clock yesterday after
noon Lee Fullerton, aged 2l, located
the fugitive in slaughter-house just
east of Joplin. The negro was al med
with rifle and defied arrest. Fullerton
slipped into the structure unobserved
and crept up behind the negro. Sud
denly he sprang at the unsuspecting
fugitive. and before resistance could be
made had the negro on his back, with a
knife at his throat. The negro then sur
rendered his rife, and, pointing the
weapon at him, Fullerton marched him
out of the building. With the assistance
of another man the negro was taken to
Joplin and placed in Jail.
News of the capture spread rapidly,
and the Jail was speedily surrounded by
hundreds of people. There were cries
of 'Iynch himp" on all sides, and City
Attorney p. II. Decker mounted the Jail
steps and made strong plea in behalf
of law and order This served tempor-
arily to stay the mob, but did not
appease it, and short time after Deck
er's speech the mob started to batter in
a section of the Jail wall. Every effort
was made to prevent the entrance of the
mob, but without avail, and within 10
minutes the men had gained entrance TO
the Jail and secured the trembling negro.
As he was dragged forth City Attor-
ney Decker again interfered and urged
that the negro be given trial. For
half an-hour he talked, and the mob
listened to him, with the negro in their
custody.
At one time it seemed that the city
attorney would win, as members of the
mob began dispensing, but sudden
ly a rush was made for the spot
where the negro was being held,
and he was dragged two blocks from
the Jail, a rope fastened around his
neck, and after the rope had been
thrown ever the crossbars Of telegraph
pole score of men attempted to pull
the negro from the ground. As many
more seized the negro and pulled to pre-
vent him being hanged. For some
moments it was a veritable tug of war,
but reinforcements on the free end of
the rope proved the stronger, and the
negro, despite his protestations of in
nocence, was finally swung into the air
and strangled to death, while shouts of
satisfaction went up from the mob.
A dispatch from Carthage says the
negro lynched was Thomas Gilyard,
aged twenty, tramp. He had con-
fessed that he murdered Leslie, and he
was crippled by a bullet fired by Leslie
in Tuesday nights fight.
The lynching of Gilyard served only
temporarily to satisfy the Indignation Of
the mob, and later last night hundreds
Of men had again assembled and rioted
through the negro section of the city,
burning houses, stoning negroes, and
finally driving every negro from the con-
fines of Joplin. The police were power
less.
The first act Of the mob after hanging
the negro was to demand the release from
Jail of local character known as "Hick-
ory HiII," who was under arrest on the
charge of assaultng negro. In the
hope that this would appease the mob
the prisoner was set free. But the mob
did not disperse. Instead a rush was
made through Main street, the principal
street of Joplin, and every negro was
frightened off the street and fled to the
north part of the city, where the colored
population resides. In this way the ne
eroes were driven from all parts of the
city to the negro section. Then the mob
charged down on the section. Stones
were thrown, doors and windows of ne
gro houses we're broken in, and finally
several were fired.
The fire department responded, but
many of the houses were burned TO the
ground. The mob made endeavors to
prevent the FIRE department from extln-
gushing the flames, and were partially
successful. All the officers of the city,
township and the county were called
out but the mob swept them aside, and
proceeded with the rioting.
Mayor Trigg ran from corner to corner
ana mounting boxes made earnest appeals
10 the mob to cease, but beyond cheering
the mayor vociferously, the mob swept
on, and the depreciation continued.
The saloons were hurriedly closed by
the mayor. After the hundreds of fren,
zied men composing the mob had vented
their wrath in the north end of the citv
they rushed TO the southern end wbere