Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1904-08-25
TWO NEGROES ARE LYNCHED.
THEY CONFESSED TO KILLING An
ENTIRE FAMILY.
Statesboro, Ca, Is the Scene of Mob
Violence - Negroes Taken
from Jail and Burned
at the Stake.

Statesboro, Ga, Aug. 17-With
clothing saturated with kerosene,
writing and twisting in their agony,
screaming to heaven for the mercy
that the mob would not show, Paul
Reed and Will Cato, negroes, two of
the principals in the murder and
burning of Henry Hodges and wife,
and three of their children, six miles
from Statesboro, three weeks ago,
were burned at the stake yesterday.
At 1:21 o'clock a determined mob
charged on the court house, overpOw-
cred the military guard, secured Cato
and Reed, who had been found guilty
after a legal trial and sentenced to be
hanged, took them two miles from
Statesboro and there burned them
alive.
The forenoon had passed quietly,
the trial of Paul Reed, the ringleader
in the murder, being concluded and a
verdict of guilty rendered. Both he
and VIII Cato, found guilty the day
before, were sentenced to hang Sep
tcmber 9.
In the trial of Reed little delay had
btti4 tutott anu Dil Ilo NbilIlASIOl AllC
prisoners were hustled into the wit
ness room, where a strong guard of
military was mounted over them.
The spectators left the court room
and from the lawn outside many en-
tered the Railways. Shortly before l
O'Clock the crowd was addressed by
man who called on those about him to
follow him. Then Capt. Hitch, of the
Oglethorpe light infantry, realized
that the situation was desperate. He
posted guards on each of the stairways
that led to the floor above, where the
prisoners were confined. With fixed
bayOnets, but unloaded rifles, the
guard stood. The mob surged toward
them, but were repulsed several
times.
At the rear stairway the gravest
danger threatened. Prominent men,
among them Rev. Hodges, brother Of
the murdered man, sprang to the front
and addressed the crowd. They
begged it to disperse.
The crowd caught two of the
guards, wrestcd their weapons from
them and found the weapons were
empty. That was what the crowd
wanted to ascertain. The troops had
been given orders not to load their
rifles. The captured soldiers were
held prisoners. The same policy was
followed with others of the soldiers.
Man after man was relieved of his
rifle and soon the soldiers, though
they fought desperately and inflicted
bayonet wounds upon some Of their
ilaptC y,-ara pyprpDWGrpI
The small guard about the prisoners
withdrew into the room and closed the
door. The mob crashed against it,
bursting it as though it were an egg
shell. The prisoners were at their
mercy.
Reed was taken down one stairway
with a rope about his neck and Cato
down the other, both pleading for
their lives. The doomed men were
dragged along the road leading to the
Hodges homestead.
The heat was so intense that the
crowd wearied when two miles Of the
siX-mile route had been traversed.
Going rs yards from the road the
crowd halted. The two negroes were
made to sit on a log. They were told
that they had but a short time to live
and that they should confess.
Reed confessed, duplicating other
negroes. He denied, however, that he
had taken an active part in the mur-
der. Cato answered incOherently.
To a stump IL feet high the men
were chained with their backs to the
stump. Then a wagon load of pine
wood was hauled to the spot. 1t was
piled around the men and ten gallons
of kerosene were thrown over them.
AS the flames touched Reeds skin
he twisted his head around in an en-
dcavor to choke himself and avoid the
torture. Only once did he complain.
He said: Lord have mercy"
Cato screamed in agony and begged
that he be shot. AS soon as it was
seen that the men were dead the
crowd commenced dispensing.