The St. Paul echo. [volume] (St. Paul ;) 1925-1927, 1926-11-06

lynchers and full details of the lynch
ing of one colored woman, Bertha
Lowman, and her brother and cousin,
at Aiken, South Carolina, in the ear
ly morning of October 8, have been
obtained in an investigation on the
spot by Walter White. Assistant Sec
retary of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People,
and all the facts submitted in let
ter to Governor Mcleod of South Car
olina.
A lawless reign of terror in the
State of South Carolina in the vicin-
ity of the lynching city of Aiken is
disclosed by the daring investigation
just completed by the N. A. A. C. P.
Assistant Secretary, which brings to
light the following startling facts:
1. The lynching was planned and
executed by members Of the Ku KluX
Klan.
2. Officers of the law took part-in
the lynching and number of them
acted as Official executioners" of the
mob victims.
3. The prisoners were turned over
to the mob by the Sheriff and his as
sistants, who were parties to the
crime.
4. Reputable white citizens living
in that vicinity are in terror of their
lives from the lawless Ku Klux Klan
ring and go heavily armed, bar their
doors at night, and have been "pray-
ing to God" for some person from
outside the state to come in and bare
the facts.
White Returns. ,-a-.
Walter White, who has just re-
turned to New York, made the fol-
lowing statement:
II went to Aiken for the National
Association for the Advancement of
Colored People and as Special Cor
respondent of the New York World.
l found a situation in South Carolina
which beggars description. Among
the persons with whom l talked
were some of the best known and
most respectable white citizens of
South Carolina, including lawyers,
newspaper editors, farmers and busi-
ness men. l found them heavily
armed and terrified because of the
activities of the Klan and allied
criminals. The predicament of col
ored people can easily be. imagined.
Early in 1924, Sam Lowman, his
wife, Annie, and their children moved
from Saluda County, where they had
lived all their lives on the farm of a
white man named Hartley, 13 miles
from Aiken. AS a result of a quar-
rel between this man and another
white man, the latter sought to en-
barrass Hartley by notifying the
Sheriff that the Lowmans were sell
ing whisky.
people and without exception they
declared that the Lowmans were an
entirely industrious, law-abiding and
respected family. AS a result of the
anonymous letter to the Sheriff,
Sheriff H. H. Howard and Deputy
Sheriffs Nollie Robinson, R. L. Nc
Elhaney and A. D. Sheppard went to
the Lowman home on April rs, 1925.
Two weeks earlier, on Sunday
night, a crowd of Klansmen robed
and hooded had called Demon Low
man, 22-year-old son, from his home
and whipped him.
No Badges Shown.
When the four white Sheriffs in
plain clothes, and with no badges, ap-
preached the Lowman home, Mrs.
Annie Lowman, the mother, SIS years
old, was making soap in the back
yard and her daughter Bertha, 27,
was sweeping the yard. Sam Low
man, the father, had gone to the mill
to have meal ground, while Demon
Lowman and Clarence Lowman, IA
years of age, and his cousin, who had
been raised by Sam Lowman and his
wife, were plowing in a field 100
yards away.
when Mrs. Lowman and her
daughters saw the white men ap-
preaching the house they thought it
wisest to go inside until they had
passed. The Sheriffs drew guns and
started running towards the house
to surround it.
Bertha Lowman screamed. Demon
and Clarence ran to the house as the
Sheriffs rushed into it.
Sheriff Howard and Bertha Low