Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1904-08-24
MOB BURNS NEGROES.
TWO BLACK MEN MEET SUM,
MARY VENGEANCE.
Are Pat TO Death Where They yrad
Killed Whole Family and Then Fired
Home-GHard of Soldiers Routed Be
cause URarmed.

Dragged from the courthouse, after
a determine qob had oyefpowered a
heavy militia. guard, Paul Reed and
VIII Cato. negroes, two of the prin-
cipals in the murder and burning OF
Henry Hodges and wife and three
children, We're taken to the home of
their victims two miles from States
boro, Ga, and burned to a stake about
? o'clock Tuesday afternoon.
AS the two men, their clothing sat
urated with kerosene. wrlthed and
twisted in their agony aud screamed
TO heaven for the mercy that the mob
would not show, the perpetrators
stood by and cheered as the flames
slowly but surely licked out the lives
of the murderers.
The mob instead OF showing mercy
hurled burning embers at the suffer
ing men every time one of them twist
ed in his efforts to get away from the
fery tongues which leaped upon them
from every side.
Just before the torch was applied to
the brush pile which had been built
about the victims a photographer was
called from the crowd and as the fag-
OTIS were ignited the camera snapped
a picture of the horrible scene.
Troops Have Unloaded Guns.
The moD's struggle to get the men
was desperate and persistent. The
military guard was charged again and
h.1k "A
back, many being hurt. 1t was won
dered at that the troops did not open
fire on the mob, and the reason was
not discovered until one of the mob
grabbed a gun, broke ii open and saw
that it was not loaded. IL was quick
ly passed from lip to lip that the guns
did not contain cartridges and then
the mob, gathering itself together,
made a final desperate charge on the
militia, overpowered the tro, ps, en-
tered the court house and po, need up
on the crouchlng foFlns of rae terror
stricken negroes, dragging them out
into the streets, over rough roads TO
their doom.
The forenoon had passed quietly,
the trial of Paul Reed, the rfngleader
in the murder, being concluded and a
verdict of guilty rendered Both he
and VIII Cato, found guilty the day
before, were sentenced to lang Sep
TENDER 8.
Family of Five Slain.
The murder of the five members of
l,n ,,-I.
and Cato were lyncheI was an ex-
tremely brutal crime. Hodges. was a
resident of Statesboro, and Sad coun-
try home six miles from the town. On
the evening of the murder ne drove
to the home of a neighbOr to get one
of his children, a little girl, who had
been passing the day there. The last
seen Of him and the child alive by
friendly eyes was when he climbed
into his buggy with the little one and
started home. About midnight 1t was
discovered that the Hodges home was
on fire. The blaze had made such
Roadway that nothing could be done
to stop it and the house was burned to
the ground As, none of the mCliaers
of the family was seen about the
place the neighbors supposed that
Hodges had saken his wife and chill
dren back to Statesboro.
Inspection of the ruins next morn
ing brought to light the bodies of the
five victims. The head of Mr.. Hodges
was crushed in, as though he haG been
struck with an ak, and the head and
body of Mrs. Hodges showed marks
of bruises. The little girl had been
horribly mutilated The bodies of the
other two children showed no marks
of violence, their positions Indicating
that they had been burned to death
! while asleep,