The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-08-25
After Shooting Over Twenty
People the Battle Ends
TWO VICTIMS WILL DIE
Negro Starts Shooting Without Warn
Ing and After He Is Killed His
Body is Strung Up and After
ward Burned to a Crisp.

j
armed with shotgun and a poeketfu
of ammunition. ran amuck on the streets
here today. Before he was killed by citi.
zens he had wounded 25 men. OF these
two will die, two others are very seff.
ously wounded but the others will gel
we'll quickly. AS soon as the negro fell
shot through the heart, the frenzied citi-
zens seized the body. dragged 1t through
the streets and burned it in the center OF
the town to the cheers of the populace.
The black appeared upon the streets
early today with the shotgun under his
arm Without moments warning OF
! even the semblance of reason, he raised
/ the weapon and opened fire upon citi-
zen standing near. Men in the vicinity
/ who were armed drew weapons and COW
ering him, forced him into a doorway. II
was presumed that he had exhausted his
| ammunition. But as few men ar
preached to apprehend him he sprang
into the open and fired two more shots.
Two men fell and the negro jumped back
to cover ana reloaded his weapon. He
seemed to have a pocketful of shells for
he kept repeating this manouvre until
% men had fallen.
Then as he stepped out again someone
fired and his body fell into the gutter. d
bullet through his heart The four men
who are SO seriously hurt were injured
while trying to rush the negro in his
cover in the doorway. They are
Four Men May Die.
Officer Hugh Bigger, shot in the ab-
domen, fatal.
Deputy Sheriff T. A. Grant, shot in
chest, fatal.
Simon Marks, merchant shot in breast,
serious.
George Mccormick, arm shot off, serious
DIR. A. A. Forsythe, mayor of Monroe,
shot in right leg.
D. A. Breard, banker and president
North Louisiana Single company, shot
in face.
Ed Strong, cashier Southern Express
company, shot over right eye.
Steve Burke, telegraph operator, shot in
shoulder
Joe Thompson, chief dispatcher in Iron
Mountain railroad office, shot in body.
A. A. Grenly, lumberman, shot in head
Manuel Abromowitz, clerk, shot in face
Albert Marx, vice president Southern
Hardware company, shot in head.
c. E. Bynum, Jr., stenographer South
ern Grocery company, shot in face.
j. l., Kendall. trainmaster Iron Noun
tain railroad, shot in body.
D. G. Trousdale, secretary and treas
urer of the Southern Grocery company,
shot in bo6y.
]. w. Merryman, agent Wells Fargo
Express company, shot in hand.
Armand Baer, clerk Baer & Co., shot
in back. arm and hand.
D. Ensell, travelling salesman, shot in
face.
E. P. Davies, clerk Southern Hardware
company, shot in head.
NJ. Braun, blacksmith, shot in body.
Roy Fisher. messenger boy, shot in
E. B. Edwards, steamboat man, shot
in arm.
I. L. Haas, merchant, shot In head
and breast
Herman Abiouer, merchant, shot in
breast.
r. R. Ross, clerk. shot in body.
Fred McGrath, clerk shot in hand.
Three negroes, shot in face and body.
Fine Shot in Shells.
That any of the four seriously wound
ed men is still alive is due to the fact
that the negro used very fine shot in his
Shells The other q injured are painfully
hurt but not seriously. Almost every
man who was on the street or who came
to the scene before the black was killed
received a wound.
When 1t was known that the negro
was dead the streets filed with angry
men and for a time 1t was feared that
they would wreak vengeance upon the
negro population of the town, of whom
there are many. But it was quickly an
nounced that three of the madmans vic
tins were of his own race, who had
rallied to the aid of the whites in the
attempted capture.
At the store where Wade bought the
box of shells the clerk says that the negro
asked for buckshot. He gave him bird
shot by mistake. This mistake probably
saved the lives of a score or more of
men.
The negro, after purchasing the gun,
took position in the arcads of the Bank
of Commerce of Monroe, at Grant and
Desiard streets, the most prominent cor
ner in the city. His first shot was d.
rected at j. ]. Jordan, cashier OF the
hank who was approaching the building.
He missed Jordan, but the load struck
George Mccormick, who was close enough
IN the negro to have his arm badly shat
tered. in spite of the small shot 1t
may be necessary to amputate the arm
The first shot brought many merchants
and clerks out on the street and the ne
gro then began to fire in their direction.
AS fast as he discharged his gun he would
step back into the Arcade, reload, re-
appear and renew his fire.
PatroIman Shot Down.
The second man wounded was Deputy
| Sheriff Grant who was shot before he
could draw weapon. Simon Marks of
| T,uskegee Ala, came out of his brother 8
clothing store to see what the trouble
| was and received a load of shot in the
breast. Patrolman Bigger, who had been
| attracted by the shooting, ran toward
| Wade and was shot down, but arose and
| emptied hN revolver at the negro. 1t Is
| believed that one or more of Bigger $
| shots took effect. The negro continued to
| fire into the crowd, wounding many OF
! them. when Mayor Forsythe, Manager
| Edward Stannard of the local Western
| Union office and Daniel Mcleod came NJ
and returned the fire, Wade finally fall
| ing as a result of the fatal wound in
the heart.
| After the body of the negro had been
| cut down from the pole on which 1t was
swung a crowd of men and boys pro-
! posed that 1t should be burned 1t had
| already been dragged to a nearby square
| and coal oil poured over 1t when Mayor
| Forsythe went to the square and demand
| ed that the body be turned over to the
| authorities He was courteously waved
aside and the torch was applied. In a
few minutes nothing remained but a
| heap of ashes and bones.
Several hours later Tom MILFORD. a
negro, was shot in lunch room neal
the city market house 1t is not definitely
| known whether or not this shooting
formed any sequel to the disorders earlier