Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-04
NEGROES IN A PANIC
Frightened From Charleston,
No., by Double lynching.
MATTER TO BE PR0BED
Murderers of William Fox Taken
From Jail and Hanged.
SHERIFF'S MEN HELPLESS
Railroad Tie Used as a Battering
Ram to Batter Down the
Door.
MATTER TO BE PR0BED
,HERIFF'S MEN HELPLESS

CHARLESTON, Mo-, July Am ex-
odus in the negro population Of Charles
ton is reported to be in progress follow
ing the double lynching yesterday. when
Robert Coleman and Sam Fields were
hanged by an Infatuated mob for the
murder of William Fox, a Mississippi
county farmer. An investigation of the
affair at the request of Gov. Hadley will
be made by the prosecuting attorney to-
day.
Sheriff Culp and his deputies. whom he
hastily swore in after the lynch1ng
threats were made. were powerless
against the crowd which attacked the
county Jail
No shots were fred on either side.
In the crowd which packed the court
house yard in front of the Jail were many
women and children, and the officers
feared on that account to resort to shoot
ing On the outskirts of the crowd were
several automobiles. their occupants
standing on the seats the better to watch
the attack on the Jail.
Seemingly the mob waited only for a
leader The yells for the officers to give
up the negroes became louder and more
insistent. Then, without warning, about
4 o'clock in the afternoon man seemed
forward. A concerted rush was made
at the Jail, and in moment the front
fence of the yard was trampled down
The sheriff and his men. vainly begging
the men in the van 10 dlSperse' were
brushed aside.
A railroad tie was showed forward as a
battering ram.
Coleman Lynched in Jail Yard.
Coleman was dragged forth and lynched
in the Jail yard while the crowd cheered.
man climbed up tree and put one
end of the rope over limb. The negro
was jerked up and soon swung clear of
the crowd.
While Coleman dangled another Body
of men rushed from the Jail. dragging
and pulling the other negro, Sam Fields.
the mob, shouting. started west along
Court street.
The negro said he would show the men
where Coleman had hidden the revolver
they had used in shooting William Fox,
the man whose death the crowd avenged.
The men in charge. safter--a short par
ley, decided to take the negro to find
the revolver.
The rope still about his neck and
drawn tightly by his captors. Fields was
thrown into a carriage.
Followed by the mob, on foot, in car
riages and automobiles, the carriage con-
tanning Fields started to the scene of
the shooting, half mile south Of town.
After going part Of the way the negro
told the captors he guessed" after all
he could not find the pistol.
Fields Strung Up.
A stop was then made, and Fields was
jerked out of the carriage. Without any
preliminaries the rope was tossed over the
limb of a tree and Fields was strung up.
Yesterday morning the body was still
swinging. Hundreds from the city and
county visited the place, and gaZed curl
ously at the tree and the hanging body.
The body of the other negro was allowed
to hang until 6 o'clock, when IL was cut
down by several persons who wanted
pieces of the rope as souvenirs. For some
time afterward the body lay on the
ground.
Murder of Fox.
William Fox a farmer of Mississippi
county, was driven toward his home, four
miles south of Charleston, Saturday
night. The negroes were walking along
the road and asked Fox to let them ride
He told them to get in. No sooner were
the two in the wagon than they attacked
Fox and demanded his money. Fox tried
to defend himself and was shot down
The negroes escaped.
Though weakened by loss of blood. Fox
managed to drive his team TO a neigh
bor's house. He told what had happened
the news was telephoned to Charleston
and bloodhounds were at once started
out With the aid of the dogs the two
negroes were arrested and put In the
county Jail. They were hurried to the
house where Fox lay wounded and he
identified them. He died after identifying