The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-06-22
Was in Her Power.

Was in Her Power.
Then I began to realize l was In
the power of a fool OF a woman and
a desperate one at that. If l didn't
obey her, one word from her that !
had insulted her. and it meant strung
up, burned alive or something else.
You know how much of show man
of my race has down there. She fin
ally decided to kill Lawrence. l beg
ged her not to do it; 1 suggested d.
vorce, run away; then she wanted me
to go with her, and l begged, telling
her / couldn't leave my family. Then
she determined to poison him. Not
knowing the dose she tried it on the
dog and killed it. She gave her hus-
band a dose and he threw 1t up.
Then they had to send for a doctor
when he did not die. Lawrence was
subject to sinking spells and the doctor
said 1t was one of them. So one even,
ing she said she would smother Law
renee but l had to stay outside and
be ready to help her If she needed me.
She got him to bed as he wasn't feel
| ing we'll. l waited outside the door.
Pretty soon 1 heard a struggle and
floor with q blanket over his head and
| it was fierce. She said. I'm pretty
near all in, chip in and help mel" and
we finished him. Then we dressed
him, carried him out and put him UNI
der the mules in the barn and went
| to a meeting which l was to attend.
Later in the evening she gave the
alarm that he was found dead in the
barn. Everybody thought it was
straight, even the coroner's jury, and
nobody would have known any differ
ent if the woman had stayed away
from me. She would stop me on the
street or wherever she saw me and
| talk, and l couldn't keep her from it.
White Woman Jealous.
"Once a number of ladies came out
from town to pick cotton, for the day
| their earnings to go to some charita-
| BILE society. I was weighing their cot
ton and helping them. and Mrs. Ma
thews was so Jealous and made so
many cracks about it that 1 drove up
town to get away"
| Reporter-"Where were the chill
dren on the night of the killing?"
''She had sent them out for all night
for that purpose
well, the court took action to take
| her children from her because she
was immoral. And they got a grand
| jury after her and would have landed
here but one night fellow took a
member of the grand jury down to
her house and he stayed awhile and
the next morning the grand jury let
/ her out"
when it began looking cloudy for
me 1 got out and went to Edmonton,
and wasn't there long until Mrs.
Mathews showed up and said we
would live as man and wife and we
signed UP a contract. We went to
keeping house at 606 Manage avenue.
When Mrs. Mathews shipped her
! carload Of stuff up from Saltwater, her
brother came with the car and put me
wise about this fellow K-who helped
her fix the grand jury. I found she
was fixin' to throw me for him, and /
don't know what might have happened.
When Mr.. Fox got u.s. the, judge up
there wouldn't extradite her because
the coroner's jury said her husband
died of heart failure, but he gave me
| up because ! am a negro-so you can
see what am UP against.
when we pulled into this town Sun
day night had my shackle off and as
I thought my way was clear the train
started. The conductor and brakey
tried to get me- but / says, this is
where 1 get OFF. and out / went. ]
\ landed right on my hands and knees
dropped my overcoat, but was afraid
Fox would shoot me, so kept right
on going until ran into the lake. II
was dark and / didn't know what ]
was into. hit the track by the water
tank and followed to the electric light
plant, then on up the lake a piece and
across the country. II came daylight
i and lay in an open field Two fellows
were Flowing and stopped within q
rod of me. / saw they would be on to
me before dark. so when they started
/ 4 got up and walked the other way
Some fellows in an auto were close
enough to spit on me. l stopped 81
evening for a drink at q widows Mrs