The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1911-08-09
FIVE IN JAIL
An Aiken Comfy Tragedy Causes c,tai
Excitement Near Scene.
man BRUTALLY BEATEN

MAN BRUTALLY BEATEN
Lady Dies From Shock Caused by
Beating Of Husband and Nephew
by Parties Seeking to Prevent.
Marriage Of Young Man and the
Daughter Of One Of the Prisoners.
Five white men were lodged in the:
Aiken county Jail Friday night,
charged with implication in most
horrible affair Thursday night at Mo-
Meta, in that county. The men are:
Dock Cockman, A L.. Holstein, r.
H. Holstein, Sidney Holstein, and J:
c. Holstein all of whom are prom
inently connected.
AS result of the visit of party
Of men to the home of the Spradleys,
near ,Monetta, Thursday night, Mrs.
Nettie Spradley lies a corpse In her
home and her husband Is in criti-
cal condition, with their nephew, CO..
.lumbus Spradley, disappeared.
His whereabouts are not known
He has not been seen or heard OF.
since the difficulty Thursday night,
Whether he was murdered and noW.
lies hidden In the woods or whether;
he was heightened and left the
neighborhood remains only q matter
Of conjecture. ,
No eye-witnesses are known 20 this
awful tragedy other than the parties
involved, and the elder Spradley, not
| having regained consciousness, the
story has not been told and may new
er be unless Columbus Spradley is lo-:
Gated alive, as the physicians do not
entertain hopes Of the elder Sprad-
ley's recovery. .
The story as told Is that Colun-5
bus Spradley was to be married to:
Julia May Holstein. The implicated
men under arrest are the father, u1-,
Gle and cousins Of the girl More .ar.s
rests are expected to follow the COR
oner's inquisition. It is said that
Thursday night a party Of white men
visited the home of the SDradley s.,
the elder Spradley was thrashed into
insensibility, sustaining serious in-s
juries, from which he is not expect
ed to recover. - -.
Mrs Spradley, who was In the:
house was frightened to death. She;
tainted and never regained conscious
ness. Colum bhus Spradley, about
whom the entire affair occurred, can
not be found. His friends believe
that he is dead or seriously wound
ed. Mrs. Spradley gave birth to a
baby five weeks ago and the baby
survives her.
The affair Is one Of the most hor-
rible the county officials have ever
known and particulars are eagerly
sought after, but are hard to get on
account Of the distance from Aiken
and the remoteness in which the
tragedy is shadowed, The coroner's
inquest is likely to Veveal a horr1-
lie state OF affairs.
Both families are fairly well to do
and are prominent in the section OF
the country in which the f1ogging oc-
Cured. When the parents Of the
young lady found that they could not
break up the love match, members
of the Holstein family went to the
Spradley home Wednesday night and
calling Columbus Spradley from the
house took him to nearby field and
began flogging him in merciless
manner, telling him meanwhile that
he would have to leave the commune
ty.
Ben Spradley followed the Hol-
stems and Cockrell to the field, and
when he attempted tc interfere was
treated similarly, being so severely
flogged about the stomach that ne ts
still in an unconscious condition and
physicians say he has little chance OF
recovery. Columbus Spradley has
not been seen since he was beaten.
The affair caused great excitement
in the community where it happen
ed.
Mrs. Spradley, formerly Miss Ettie
Sawyer of Aiken county, was the
mother Of five weeks old baby, and
in her weakened condition, hearing
the screams Of the flogged men and
probably seeing the flogging going
on, succumbed to nervous fright She
was found dead the following morn
ing in the Spradley home The re-
Lport that Mrs. Spradley had been
roughly handled by the mob, Is de-
MED and the statement IS made that
she died of fright after seeing her
nephew flogged.
Close investigation In Augusta
does not bring Columbus Spradley,
nephew of Mrs. Spradley, to light in
that city. Spradley, who is young
man, about % years old, appears to
be very well known throughout that
section Reports received from Mon
netta were to the effect that he had
left that community for Augusta, af-
ter being flogged by the mob. Fri
day night the information was to the
effect that it is not known whether
he left for Augusta OF whether he
was so seriously whipped that he had
wandered off in the swamps some
where, and is either in a semi-con-
scious condition or is dead.
Killed by Lightning.
Henry B. Langston, a farmer HV-
;nn olnn,,& fn11r ,,ni1oe from 0Ianta