The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1912-11-27
Accused of Assassinatfnu
White Farmer.
NO CLUE GIVEN
AS TO PROOF
Masked Men Meet Magistrates Depu-
ty and Take Prisoner Away mt the
Point OF Pistols. Negr RiddIed
with Bullets and Left Chained to a
Tree.

Newberry. Nov. 23.-Wil Thomas, a
negro, accused of the assassination of
Spurgcon Johnson, a white farmer,
seNeral weeks ago. was taken from
magistrates constable last night by
party of masked men, chained to
tree and his body riddled with bullets.
The lynching occurred about IA miles
from here, while the negro was being
brought to the jail. The constable de-
clares he at first refused to surrender
his prisoner upon the mobs demand
and fired his pistol, but his bluff" did
not work. He says he was then sur
rounded by the crowd, threatened
with death if he resisted, and told to
get down the road. He obeyed and a
few minutes later heard, he says, over
100 shots. The negro's body was
found still chained to the tree this
morning.
Charged With Murder.
VIII Thomas was lynched for the
murder of white farmer, Sturgeon
Johnson, at his home, is miles west
OF Newberry, on the night of October
T. last. johnson was shot through an
open windCw with shotgun by some
person on the outside, while he was
sitting in his room with his family.
Will GogGans, a negro, living near
the scene of the murder, was arrested
ten days ago, charged with the crime
in warrant issued by Magistrate
Dorroh of Floyd township and com
mitted to Jail. The warrant for Will
Thomas was also issued by Magistrate
Dorroh and was given to his con
stable Carey Johnson. Yesterday the
magistrate, while in Newberry. tele-
phoned to his constable to get Thomas
and bring him directly to Newberry.
Surrounded by Masked Men.
The constable went after the negro.
and while returning with him, when
near the Workman bridge, was sur
rounded by mob of masked men
VINO took the negro from him and
told the constable to go on. After
crossing the river, the constable
says, he heard about 100 shots fired
and supposed they were fired into the
negro, but did not go back to see nor
make further inquiries. That his sup
position was correct was confirmed
this morning by persons who came to
town by that spot and saw the dead
negro hanging by a chain around his
neck from the limb of a tree close by
the roadside, few hundred yards be-
yond the bridge.
What sort of evidence there was
against the lynched negro or against
the one now in Jail charged with the
same crime has not been revealed.
The coroner returned this afternoon
from holding the inquest over the
dead body Of the lynched negro. There
was no testimony except that of Mag
lstrate Dorroh. He testified in refer
ence to issuing the warrant and his
telephoning yesterday from Newberry
to the constable to go after the man,
thus accounting for the late hour at
which the arrest was made The testi-
mony of the constable himself was
that about 10 o'clock last night, about
200 yards beyond the bridge, crowd
OF men came Qua of the bushes on the
roadside and demanded the prisoner;
rat he fire his pistol as a bluff, and
was told If he did that again he would
be shot; that they took the prisoner
from him and ordered him to move
on, which he did, and in short while
heard a great many shots. Asked as
to how many were in the crowd he
said the woods seemed to be full of
them.
The constable had the prisoner
tied around the neck with a trace
chain and another chair was fas-
tened to the handouts, and the ends
of both chains were in the constable's
hands. 1t was the cnam around the
neck that the negro was hanged with
suspended from the limb OF tree.
with his feet touching the ground and
MS Knees bent. The body was. as one
said who saw 1t at the inquest. Shot
to pieces" N.@
AS to the evidence against the