The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-12-07
ONLY FOR LIFE
In the Psnitentiary is the Sentence In
pssed On Fsur Men isr
p MOST BRUTAL CRIME

| p MOST BRUTAL CRIME
The Shocking Story of the Murder Of
Young Paul A. Williams by . Lot
OF Circus Toughs on o Train From
Columbia to Augusta Last Octo-
Der.
Four former employees Of the
Hogenback-W Wallace circus were con-
victed at Lexington on Wednesday
OF the murder Of Paul A. Williams,
of Columbia. on the morning Of Oc-
tober 2 while he was riding on Z cir
Gus train from Columbia to Angus.
ia. George Nichols, a white man,
Elijah Clark, Garland Brown and
John Wilson, three negroes, are con-
victed men. They were all s%entenc-
ed to life Imprisonment in the PEN
itentiary. They should have been
hung for their brutal crime.
Nichols and Clark were tried and
found guilty Of murder with recon-
mendation to the mercy of the court.
Judge Gage directed that the same
verdict be found in the case against
Brown and Wilson, who pleaded
guilty and threw themselves on the
mercy of the court.
The evidence which was offered
during the trial o. Nichols and Clark
is best described by the words OF
Judge Gage, who said, In imposing
sentence on the four prisoners: Il
have never heard in any court house
proof Of a more revolving murder
than that which you have been found
guilty of committing"
The evidence in the case Of Mich
OILS and Clark, who were tried first,
conflicted somewhat as to which VI
the four convicted men shot Paul
| Williams. The witness agreed
that three OF them, Brown, Wilson
and Clark, the negroes, had pistols.
Three eye-witnesses, all circus EN-
ployees, laid the guilt on john Will
son. He placed it on Brown. One
witness said that two shots were
lred. The pistol bullet which pierre
ed Paul Williams brain was a .32
calibre.
The two eye-witnesses both said
that, when the shot or shots were
fired, Williams was crouching in a
corner Of a canvas wagon, begging
for his life. James o. Cabe, Of Cop
per Hill, Ca, one of the men in the
wagon, who was "red lighted" after
williams was shot, declared that,
while the boy was pleading, John
| Wilson interrupted with "You are
too d-n hard on US niggers down
South" and fired point plank In his
face.
After Williams was shot. he was
thrown over the side Of the canvas
wagon. His body fell on the edge
of the flat car. The murderers got
out OF the wagon and pushed the
body off the car. Drops Of blood
were found among the crossties 500
yards from where the body was
found. This c~orroborates the state
ments that the body was not thrown
directly from the wagon to the
grounl.
James o. Cabe, who, according to
his statement, was an eyewitness OF
the shooting and was also among
those red lighted, " said be was
from Tanning county. Ga. He join
ed the show a few weeks before the
riot.
'Cabe said that he went to sleep In
a canvas wagon after the train left
| Columbia. He was awakened ly
Clark, Nichols. Brown and Wilson
who demanded his gun. Clark was
standing over him with a pistol In
each hand. Nichols was standing at
the side OF the wagon.
Suddenly, said Cabe, two shots
were fred in quick succession. And
Clark said, Throw him of, Brown"
| Clark looked over the side OF the
wagon and said: "He amt off yet"
Brown jumped out Of the wagon.
Cabe heard him say. "He got me all
over with blood
Alter the bloody work had been
| done, the m%urderers seem to have
turned their attention to Cabe. He
told them that he had nothing.
When they found that this was tho
case, they ordered him to unload"
Cabe said that, as be jumped of the
flat car to the ground, a pistol was
fred.
Garland Brown, one of the ne
groes named in the Indictment for
murder, was the next witness. He
was exceedingly nervous on the
stand. I'VE four, Nichols, Clark,
Wilson and me-" said Brown. got
together on one OF the flats. Mich
OILS was the leader. Clark had two
pistols. He gave me one Of them.
We went down the flats and into the
wagons, waking up the men. We
made two or three Of them jump
off,"
"Uhen wo pot TO Williams way