The Springfield herald., 1908-08-21
RACE WAR ON
IN SPRINGFIELD
NEGRO ASSAULT FROVOkES
MoBs, ARSON AND MURDER
IN ILLINOIS CAPITAL.
TROOPS CALLED OUT
AGED AND PEACEABLE NEGRO
TORTURED TO DEATH BY
eLoopTHIRsTY RIOTERS.

Springfield, Ill.-A bloodthirsty mob,
bent on wreaking vengeance on the
negro Inhabitants of Springfield, be-
cause of an assault committed FRIDAY
| by negro on a white woman, started
through the streets Friday night, beat
ing negroes and disregarding the sol
diers of Troop b, First cavalry, or
dered out by Governor Deneen to pre-
serve order.
The governor by telegraph ordered
out two companies of militia and one
troop of cavalry from Peoria, and
troop of cavalry each from Blooming
ton and Pekin.
Negroes in various parts of town
have been attacked by the mob and In
two instances the negroes have turned
with considerable effect upon their
assailants.
In one mixup a trooper attempted
to separate the combatants and was
nearly overwhelmed by those in pur-
suit of several negroes. "A call for help
brought several other cavalrymen TO
the scene, but they were all disarmed
and their guns carried away by the
rioters.
Most of the members of Troop B of
Taylorville were placed on guard
around the Jail, whence George Rich
ardson, the negro who Is alleged to
have assailed Mrs Earl Hallam, was
removed in the evening to Blooming
| ton.
The rioters who had gathered In
front of the Jail following the incarcer-
alton of Richardson were enraged by
the ruse practiced by the sheriff in re
moving him.
Finding that the negroes were gone.
the mob amused itself for time by
| looting negro resorts in East Washing
ton street. The amusement OF the
rioters was tragedy for the negroes,
many of whom were roughly handled
and beaten with pieces of their own
| furniture.
In protecting a negro. Eugene w.
Chafin, candidate for President on the
Prohibition ticket, was struck on the
head with a brick.
J On Saturday, with one more victim
added to the roll of fatally injured in
the race riots which began here Fri
day night, Springfield spent the night
in anxiety.
Apprehension of more serious trou-
Bile was modified, but not stilled by the
presence of $500 national guardsmen
from various parts of the state under
command of Major-General Young, l.
n. C.
Saturday nights victim of race pre-
judice was an aged negro, William
Donigan. Donigan was a cobbler and
respected as simple and inoffensive
citizen. His shop was within two
blocks of the state house.
In the absence of a patrol, mob set
fire to the shop and the venerable ne
gro was compelled by the smoke to
run into the street. His appearance
was greeted by a shower of stones and
bricks. AS he staggered under the
| fusillade, he was seized and his throat
! cut A rope was then run through the
wound and the victim bound to a tree.
There he was found later, unconscious
and all but dead. Doctor Tuttle, who
dressed the wound, reported that death
was matter of hours.
A witness to the firing of the shop
turned in an alarm but when the fire
men appeared the blaze was out. 1t
had not gained enough headway and
had been extinguished by some of the
cooler-headed members of the mob.
| A crowd gathered and threatened to
storm the state armory, but was dis
persed.
General Young was kept busy an
swering calls for guards all night, and
while he thought he had control of the
situation, asked the governor for more
troops.
When General Young heard of the
Donigan affair, two companies of in
fantry and a troop of cavalry were
rushed to the scene, and at their ap-
.proach the crowd ran helter-skelter
down the street and dispersed in all di-
rections when they reached the CAPT
tol grounds. Six arrests were made.
Coincident with the attack on Doni-
gan a less serious disturbance oc-
Cured in front of the new state ar
mory. A crowd gathered and threat
ened to storm the place wherein were
sheltered number of negro refugees.
Two companies of the fourth infan-
try and Troop B of the cavalry came
on the scene quick and charged the
crowd with bayonets leveled. AS in
| the previous event, the mob fled pre-
cipitately at the sight of cold steel and
the business-likc appearance of the
men in Khaki.
Soon troops had to be sent to Camp
Lincoln, where large number of ne
groes We're sheltered, and the negroes
were brought to the arsenal. a company
was sent to Spaulding, seven miles out,
to protect colored miners.
| Governor Deneen responded to Cen
eral Youngs call for troops by calling
out the Second regiment of Chicago
and ordering the Fighting Seventh"
of that city to hold itself in readiness
to call for arms.