Evening star., 1943-01-13
Five Men, Including
JaiIer, Indicted byU.5.
Jury in lynching
Invasion of States
Rights Is Charged in
Mississippi Editorial
Ey the Associated Press.

ey the Associated Press.
JACKSON, Miss, Jan. l3.-The
United States Government took a
Southern Negro lynching to court
here yesterday when district grand
jury indicted five men, one Of them
deputy sheriff -jailer, under civil
liberties statutes.
The first reaction here came from
the Jackson Daily News, which
commented editorially that some
local attorneys frankly say they
regard it as another attempted
Federal invasion Of States rights"
Frank Coleman of Roanoke, Va,
special assistant to the attorney
general, who indicated he expected
test Of the statutes, described the
indictments as based on theory of
law not yet passed upon by the
Supreme Court" which would chart
. new law course in such matters"
William Oscar johnson, a farm
er; Nathanial Shots, employe of a
wholesale firm; Allen Pryor and
Barney Jones, employees Of manu-
featuring plant, and Luther Holder,
Jones County deputy sheriff and
jailer, were charged in the indict-
ments.
Mr.. Coleman said his departments
investigation indicated that john
son, Pryor, Jones and Shots were
leaders of a mob of from so to 100
men which took Howard Wash, 49,
year-old colored farm hand, from
the Jones County Jail at Laurel
and hanged him from a bridge on
the night Of October 16, 1912.
Convicted for Staying.
Wash had been convicted the day
before for killing his white en-
ployer, Clint Welborn, with a milk
pail when Welborn reprimanded
him for being late to do his chores.
Only 2 Of the II jurors voted for
capital punishment. making a life
sentence mandatory.
Jailer Holder was charged with
failure to take any steps to secure
the Jail and Wash "as was his duty
and within his power to do by lock-
ing a single mob-proof steel door"
The other four were accused Of
conspiring to persuade State officers
to deny Wash equal protection
under the law and to inf1ict upon
him unusual and different punish
ment because of his color"
Maximum penalties under tine
civil liberties statutes provide a
fine of not more than 5000 and
Imprisonment for not more than 10
years.
Court officials indicated that the
case probably would be tried In
Hattiesburg in April.
Coleman said this was the first
time in United States court history
that an officer of the law had been
involved in such an indictment and
the second time that such action
had been taken. The first occasion
was in 1904 in Alabama, but the
case was not tried because the
Supreme Court sustained a de-
murrer.
Gov. Paul B. johnson, who de-
plored the lynching at the time, did
not comment on the indictments.
The Laurel lynching followed by
only five days the Clark County |
lynching of two 14-year-old colored |
people who had entered pleas of
guilty to charges of attempted at
tack on a 13-year-old white girl.
Governor Sought Unity.
At that time Gov. johnson asked |
both white and colored residents of
the State for unity, sober thinking, |
sound judgment and patriotism"
A Jones County grand jury was
called into session to investigate
the Wash lynching but reported
without mentioning it.
Investigation of the case, under
taken, Mr.. Coleman said. on recon-
mendation of the civil rights section
of the criminal division, showed that
Mr.. Welborn's relatives had been
told not to expect a conviction OF
murder.
Wash also, the probe revealed, had
expected to be lynched as he had
ki-sed his wife and baby good-by
that afternoon and given the baby
his last dollar.
Deputy Sheriff Lester WEIGH of
Jones County said the day after the
lynching that group of men had
been to the Jail few nights earlier
and demanded the keys, but left
when refused. Precautions were
taken after that, Mr.. Welch said,
with deputies sleeping in the court
house.
Sheriff j. Press Reddoch said the
mob, armed with guns, brushed him
and several deputies aside and took
the cell KEYS from Jailer Holder.