The Penn's Grove record., 1903-06-26
BURNED At THE STAKE
a Negro Lynched in Delaware For
MefdsFing I Girl
CONFESSED CRIME TO THE MOS

Wilmington, Del.-Dragged shrieking
from the workhouse near Newcastle at
ailate hour by 1000 furious men and
youths. after q hot fusillade between
mob and guards. George White. the
negro who killed Helen Bishop, the
pretty ana modest seventeen4yearsoh
daughter OF the. Rev. q. A. Bishon wa
pushed to the place OF his crime, where,
having confessed his crime, he wa1
dashed to asstake and burned to death
the body being riddled with bullets
Ahe lynching, begun at $50 p. m. by ID
attack o n the building, IN whfchaif@
l4orsemen wearing women's gowns ovS
fheirfown clothing played-a e0nspicW
ouHf part was not carried to its fragfe
end until nearly midnikht. 8
hsNas As3H O'Clock Mhen Chief Of Po-
lice Black, Of this city. receivedla tele-
phone message from Chief Warden Ne
serve that a mob was gathering about
q Workhouse, and asking that help ~
hurried from Wilmington.
sChief Black called In thirty men from
their districts and sent them to the
WOrkhouse in a special trolley car.
They found fully 1000 men congrH
gated about the place. Many wet
armed. but they offered no violence.
yNs1OAdfSpefse BuGh&aab0dy was out 0f
the question, and the officers cooper
ated with the guards on duty about the
grounds andsawaited Developments. gns
fAs on Sunday morning there were
TWO distinct bodies OF men.
The first. who came from the section
surrounding the home OF Miss Bishop.
c~ongregated at Prices corner, near the
scene Of the crime. Most Of these were
armed and several carried coils OF rope.
They We're not masked, and on arriving
at the place walked quietly about and
made no demonstration.
The other mob ~congregated about the
workhouse. Many Of these were from
Marshalltown and this city. In the
main they were young men and boys.
and nearly all were armed.
The first move made by the mob was
about 10 O'clock, when the telephone
wires between the workhouse and this
city were cut.
1t was shortly after that hour when
about fifty h0rsemen, dressed in wom-
ems attire and wearing masks, rode up
to within q stones throw OF the work
house. This appeared to be a signal,
and the mob made q rush for the build
ing. u
The men had nearly reached the
porch when some one In the second
story fired into the crowd. Chief OF
Police Black and several Of the guards
rushed out and tried to quiet the men,
h1Jf %hn,v mi IA = = H~@A ~ lfAS nSIxAL
into the porch they crashed in a door
and gained the first corridor, while 9TH
ers swarmed 0ver an unfinished part
Of the building.
A second section Of the mob waited
until the first rush was over, and then
ran to the front OF the workhouse.
They dragged a battering ram after
them and crashed in the heavy doors
leading to the rotunda.
The mob, seeing that the electric
lights surrounding the workhOuse were
interfering with their work, shot out
the lights with shotguns, leaving the
grounds in total darkness. They then
made another rush on the workhouse.
and there a a lively fusiIlade be-
tween them and the guards.
Peter Smith, seventeen years old.
was shot through the breast. Three
other men were slightly wounded. sTT5
Five steel doors led from the main
corridor to the cell IN which White was
locked, and these the mob battered
down with railroad ties. Some Of the
mob crowded the handful OF guards
INTO a corner. Those who remained
outside surged about the grounds, scat
ter1ng the police aside like chair.
When the main corridor had been
gained q man who was said to be q
Vfrginian, called for SIX men to "stick
closer to him than a brother" This
was hailed with cheers, and more than
100 81 followed him down the corri-
dor.
The leaders quickly smashed in the
cell door. and White, begging in vain
for mercy. was dragged out, pushed
and hauled through the corridor and
finally taken out Of the building.
AS the lynchers appeared with their
prisoner the crowd outside howied with
delight. A procession was formed,
and, headed by the fifty mounted men,
marched White to Prices Corners, near
the scene OF his assault upon Miss
Bishop. a;4
A stake was driven into the ground
and the negro raj bound to It with
chains. Kerosene was poured over
him and the match applied. As the
flames started up White confessed his
guilt. Il 0enx
The mob that lynched White was In
cited to do the deed by the sermon OF
a local minister. At a large open air
meeting the Rev. Robert a. Elwood,
pastor Of the Oiivet Presbyterian
Church. displayed a cluster Of leaves
stained with the blood of Helen Bishop,
and In d sermon entitled SHOULD the
Murderer Of Miss Bishop Be Lynchedy''
roundly denounced the Judges FOR re-
fusing to hold a special session OF court
for the trial Of White.
The failure Of the county court to
give White q speedy trial is In a great
measure responsible for the nights
tragedy. The citizens Of Wilmington
wanted a speedy trial. The court, how
ever, did not consider haste expedient,
Oregon Flood Victims Reach 1877.
AT Heppner, Ore, eight more bodies
Of food victims were received at the
morgue, making q total Of 1877 re-
ceived. Several were found below