Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Upon Charges of Out of Clash Races Last STATE OFFER TELLING TE1 Of Two Negroes Beh Party of Whites ar Third Negro Being and Clubbed Vi (Stair Correspondence.) WALHALLA. March 2.-In the court j of general sessions for Oconee coun ty thia morning William T. McClure. J. Woodrow Campbell. Caima C. Kay. | 8. Augustus Jones, John McDonald and William Kay, rosldenta of the Fair Flay section of this county, wore placed on trlul for their Uvea, tho grand Jury having indicted them on charges of murder of Oreen OJbaon, ono of thron negroou who met death ns tho result of an escapade that oc cured In that section on Docemher 20. last. Thu close of the first day's trial of the CQ80 saw tho gtato with probably a little moro than half of lt3 testi mony In. Tho prosecution put up twelve wttnesacH during the day. and of this number two mlgnt be spoken of as "atar" men. Testimony given by tho other ten witnesses waa of minor importance, as compared with that given by tho two principals. Of the largo amount of testimony offered hy tho State on the opening day of thc trial, however, only a portion ot it had bearing directly on tho case nt Ktako, that is. the murder ot Oreen Gibson. The State, lt was announced, is Introducing tnls testimony for a specific purpose, end that ia to show tho state of mind of those charged with murder of Oreen Olbson. Tell Horrible Story. Tho testimony ottered by the prin cipal witnesses for tho State today tells n Blory of alleged brutality auch as this section of tho country proba bly has never heard bofore. Tho testi mony telle Of the beating ot two ne gro mea, George Gibson, a son of,the Green Gibson for whose alleged mur dor tho defendants are being tried, and Tom Splght3. The account of the beating the wltnoises swear was given these two negroos. by the defendants themselves and by three negro men l who woro made to take part In tho heating of thc two negroes, ls horri fying. Tho alleged beating given tho ne groes took placo in the State of Geor gia, and from the effect9 of tha in juries then sustained thn negroos are j said to have died. Dut. as stated int Old outlet, this testimony appears to have no direct bearing on tho case at stake. Tho defonse objected from tho first to the introduction of testimony as to what occured on tho Georgia aide, and as to any treatment given any body but Oreen Olbson. as thc testi mony was irrelevant. Tho State con tended, howover. that lt-was necessary to know what transpired Immediately prccedlng tho death ot Oreen Gibjon In order to show the state of mind tho defendants were in, and to show malice on their,p?rt. The court ruled that th,, testimony waa s.dmlaaablc. and tho hearing of evldenco of thia character continued itcatcn by Ki ghi .Von. The principal wltnoss put up today hy tho State was Alon?o Anderson, a mulla?o. Tho negro testified that he was living on the fawn of Woodrow Campbell laat December, and that on the 20th of that month he saw Colmus Kay. John McDonald and Will Kay at the home of Mr. Campbell. That morning, he stated, he hitched up sev eral buggies at the direction of Mr. . Campbell; that the white men men tioned and himself and two other ne &?o?s got In the buggies and started for Tom Spighfs house. (Bplghts Is one of the negroes who, . lt ts said, was beaten to.death and who after wards died in Hartwell Jail of his injuries.) rpon arriving at Spight'a house, tho witness stated, the white men went In to the house and presently returned >?< with Spighta, who was put In a buggy and driven away in the direction of the Georgia lino. On the way to SpIghtV house, h0< stated, they met H. Augustus Jones, who accompanied the party. He gave the names of th? othor negroes lp the alleged whipping ' party as Moao Turner end/-. Edgar 'White. Knrouto from the home of Tom Kplgbts tn the Georgia line, the wit ness ^:.?ljrttNlr the. party met three, negroes coming hp Oie road In a bug- ? e negroes being George fjlb Boniffhhn. Swinger ?nd another negro, whom he did not Know. TheTwitnh?r ? ?tated that the party of white moy took George Gibson nut of .his buggy, that one or two or the men beat him about ?onie; that they tied Olbson and took hint along with Tom Bpights and went In the direction of Fair Play . end th* Georgia side. At Fair Flay, he stated, they wsre Join-id by. William T. McClure. degree* Airen Beating. The witness described how the party moved ou across the State line, crossing Knox's bridge, and stopping at an old store .'a few yards from the . bridge on th?? Georgia sid?- of th? Murder Growing Between The December. S TESTIMONY RRIBLE STORY ig Brutally Beaten By id Blacks-Also of Shot Down in Duel Hth His Guns. river. He stated that the white met in the party told him and the othci two negroes to take Tom Spights ?ni George Gibaon Into the store; tha they were told to take tho two negri men's clothes down; that this wai done; that two-of the negroes stretch ed Tom Splghta acroaa a countei and held him there while the thin negro man. upon orders from th? white men. beat George Gibson. When tho first ono of the three ne gro helpers had beaten Gibson ht changed who was with one of the ne groes who was holding Gibson acrosr thc counter, and the second negri came around and took the buggy tract and beat Gibson. Having taken his Ul! ot beating, tho second negro chang?e places with the third negro holding i pights across thc counter, and thh third negro carno around und used th? buggy trace on Splghta, When tlu throe negro helpers ' had flnishot beating George Gibson, lt was testi fied, flvo of the six white/men In thc party took turna at applying the bug gy trace to the negro's nakod anatomy This continued, the witness testified until eight different men had applied the lash to Georgo Gibson. Thu wit ness test ?(lcd that tho only man In thc party who did not do any of the whip ping was Woodrow Campbell, who de clared that he did not have to do any of the besting, as ho had brought along his negroes to do lt for him. Hcatcn on Feet. When thc. Gibson negro bsd been disposed of. the testimony went, oin Spights wai placed across the coun ter and Abo lash applied to him In much'tho same fashion as lt was ap plied to George Gibson. The witness stated that George Gibson was obit tr* Btand up u part of the time utter the beating and a part of the time waa not able to stand. Arter Spights had been whipped ?orne, it was stated, Caima Kay spoke' up and said that tho negro had had enough boating. (.reen Gibson t ome* l'p. When tho beating >t' ?leorgc Gibson and Tom Splghta hal be?n rinlshed, the w tnees ?tated, he looked cu: tha door vf the storo and saw Green iHb ion and two other negroes, armed with ? hot guns, approaching tho bulli ng. Hil? matter was reported to thc white men. tho witness ctated. and inmediately they came, out of tho house, with pistols drawn, ind com manded Green Gibson mid tim other :wo negroes to drop their Kuna. Thc witness toatifled thal Green Gibson said. "Gentlemen. If he has dono any thing let the law tako irs course." The negroes were again commanded to drop their guns, the witness steted, the three negroes began backing olf toward th?, bridge. When the negroes backed off. the witness stated, shoot ing between them and thc white men bogan. The witness wan not positive, but thought that john McDonald ?r 3d tb,, nra shot. When on exchange nf some 20 shots had -taken pince, the witness sloted, he and Caima Kay went ovx?r in Geor gia and secured three shot gunn, re turning later to tho bridge, whore the guns > were distributed among the members of the party. H hooting of Gibson. Thc witness described the return from tho Georgia aldo and the trip back toward Fair Play. On the return trip, lt seems, members of the pariy enoountered Green Gibson, who had made his get away after the exchange of shots near Knox's bridge. The wit ness 8tated that he went la the direc tion of firing which he heard and saw Caima Kay and William McClure s hooting at Green Gibson, who wan down in a field. Tho witness described seeing Oreen Gibson shot down and teeing him fire after he was down on the ground. Before Gibson fell he saw him etan running in the direction o! one Mose Williams' house. The wit ness testified - that he was given a p!ctol by one of the whitb men and told f> run and head off Green Glb .ou. so aa not to let him enter Moue William?' house. Continuing his testi mony, tbe witness stated that aftor Green Gibson had been phot down he saw Caima Kay and Woodrow ramp hell hit him over Ute hoad with the two guns which he bad carried, both gum* being broken. The wOnes? said that after Green Gibson bad been kill ed the members of the party set off with dogs looking tor other \ hegroes who were implicated in the Picoting. Made an AAldavlt. The witness testified that he came to Anderson witt? Mr. Campbell dar lug Christmas week, that he went with Mr. Campbell to lawyer Dag nail's office, where he was tobi to sign a raper. Asked aa to the contenu of the paper he signed, the wltnets said that the paper stated that he (Al-mxo Anderson) didn't know any of. the negree* engaged In the riet, and that li,, didn't see any of til" even's sur rounding the beating >f the negroes or ?he killing of Green Gibson. Tue witness stated thst at the time he signed this paner hp knew the Matc tnena were not true. Second Star Willi***. The second star wltnexi pul up by the prosecution wau Edgar White, wi o. the former witness swore, was one of the three negras who were compelled to apply the WIHII to George Gibson and Tom Splghts. i:dgur White told practically th? sume story as that told by Alonzo Ander-;o:i. Ile testi fied us to the party of white men go ing to Tom Splghts' house an.l taking him out of bed. taking him tn the store across on the Georgia side and beating him with a buggy trace. Ile said that he would not have applied the lush to Gibson I? he had mt been told by the white men that (hey would "get him" unless he did. Th,, other portion* of the negro':: testimony were practically the same a? that Riven by Alonzo Anderson. Cross t. MI mined. These being thG "iain wltncssoB of the prosecution, ?he. attorneys for thc defense naturally centered their sever est cr'jss examination fire upon them. Both negroes were put through a thorough grilling, and while they were tangled up in eorac instances, their story, in the -nain, v as not shak en. It was brought nut on cross ex amination that counsel for the defense had had both negrw.? put lr. jail, and that while In prison amdavlM were gotten from them with reference to what happened during the rioting period. Both wltnosscn sworn that they had not been prom I-sud immunity from Indictment on condition they made thesn affidavits, and that tney had been offered no inducements oi any other character to give the testi mony that they offered theu. hereabout* of Negroes. lt ."in- not brough*, nut at tho hear ing ycblerday what becami of Tom Splghts and George Gibbon utter they were beaten In the store, tho supposi tion being that they were left there while the members of the party pur snod Green Gibson and the other two negroes who had advanced upon them with shot guns While they were in tho house administering the whippings to the two negroes George Gibson and Tom Splghts. >t wu* not brought out what became of tho two negroes who were with Green Gibson when he advanced upon the party of white men at Knox's Bridge. Thc testimony only chowed that Green Gibson fled back io the South Carolina ?ldc after the exchange of shoto at tho bridge and that he was cngftged by members of the white men's party several miles back on the South Carolina side and killed In a duel with .several ro?mbor<* of tho party, two ot whom took h h abat gun? away from him, after he had fallon, and broke them over h h head. Other Witnesses Other witnesses put tip by ihs pros ecution, and tn the order In which they were culled, were Carrls Splghts. wife of Tom Splghts; Mari? Splghta. stepdaughter of Tom splghts ; Andy Bowers. S. B. Wilburn, John Swing er. Anna Swinger. Alonzo Anderson, Mayor J. H. Godfrey, of Anderson; Edgar White. Prof. Harry SheldOu. Abraham Swinger and W. S. Camp bell. Other Testimony. The testimony offered by Alonzo Anderson and Wilgar White summed up practically all that was produced by tho State on the first day of the trial. Other testimony was given by other witnesses, but lt was not of an extraordinary nature nor very Im portant to tho ca?e. One of the wit nesses testified thai when the party of whit* men met George Gibson in the road they searched him and ?und a pistol in his pocket Thereupon, they took him on to Georgia, with Tum splghts. and beat him Wednesday Procedure. It is impossible just at this Juncture to predict just when the case wilt be brought to a close. Ir ls probable, however, that all of the testimony will be in by tho adjournment of court to night This being the casu, thc argu ments and the charg,, should he made sometime Thursday, -itiow in.; the mat ter to go to the Jury late that after noon. Crowded Courtroom. The trial ot the tiU realdsaU of the Fair PUy section ls attracting r??."-!dsr-h!e attention throughout Oconee and Anderson counties. The courtroom was packed all day with spectators, a number of ?h?m having come from Anderson. DON'T BE MISLED Anderson Citlseas Should Bead and Heed Th!? Adrice, Kidney trouble is dangerous and often fatal. - Boat experiment with eomehtlng aew and untried. Beata with Dean's Kidney Pilla. Recommended here and every where. An Anderson cltlsen's statement forma' convincing proof. It'e local testimony-lt can be In vestigated. ?rs. W. Taylor, 218 McCully street. Anderson, says: "I had a fall When I waa a child and it weakened my kid ney?. After that I Mitered from eon* .?ant pain tn the small of my Kack. I waa nervous, htngnld and dlaxy and my kidney* acted irregularly: 1 read how others had besa benefited by Doan's Kidney Pills and 1 got a box. The drat few doaea relieved me and one box head me up lo fina shaper Price 50c. at all dealers. Dont sim ply ask for a kidney remedy-gat Donn's Kidney Pills-the asm* that Mi?. Taylor, had. Poater-Mllburn Co., Prop?.. Buffalo. N. Y. WITH TRIAL OF OFJE ISSUES! PANEL SELECTED WITHIN AN HOUR ALTHOUGH VE NIRE WAS EXHAUSTED ASKED VIEWS ON LYNCH QUESTION Jurors Sworn on Their Voir Dire. Those Who Would Not Con vict for Lynching Were Stood Aside ooo o ooooooo oo ooo oo o o THE JURY. o J. A. Zimmerman, foreman, o merchant, o J. C. Seaborn, machinist, o J. P. Waitera, merchant, o W. T. Burton, farmer, o T. C. Burna, farmer. A. M. Brown, machinist. o O. L. Barker, farmer. o Elims Woodall, farmer. o o J. Carroll Lee," farmer. o o R. E. Finley, farmer. o o J. B. Satterfield. farmer. o o W. B. Stevena, farmer. o o o ooo o ooooooo oo ooo oo o One of thc moat interesting Incl danta of thc forenoon session of **furt waa tho drawing of thc jury to alt in judgment upon thc aix men who are on trial. Contrary to general expec tations, little time' waa required to select the 12 men who are to decide thc fate of the defendants. The pro cess of empanelling tho jury requir ed but an hour's time, but it took thc thirty-sixth man of thc venire to com plete .the panel. At the request Of thc solicitor, the turora were sworn upon their voir dire. Of tho 36 names drawn out of thc box. 13 were objected to as jurors by thc defense and Ave bv thc State, whllo six were stood aside by the cnurt for cause. An Interesting phase of the examination of the Jurara waa the question propounded in several instances by the solicit >r as to wheth er the juror would convict a white man of lynching a' negro, it in hts Judgment the testimony showed that there was no reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the. accused. The defense objected to. this ques tion being put to thc jurors because of the lorm of the'interrogation, as sertlng that no such offense as "lynch lng" was to bn found tn the statutes^ and that the defeaoants were not pu trial for otnmlttlrtg'any such offense as that. The court overruled the ob jection, giving as his grounds for so doing that if a juror answered that he would not convict a white man of lynching a negro, no matter how con vincing the evidence, lt showed that thc jnror wea not without bia? . a tue case upon which he wosld bs called, upon to try. Of the 36 tal israel drawn for jury duty bot two made the unqualified statement that they would not convict white man of lynching a negro. They were promptly stood aside by the court. In another Instance or two the tallsmen were not very emphatic In their opinion On this point,. and were excused by the 8tate. The de fense rejected several Jurors who stat ed that they would not convict a white man of lynching a negro, but aa to whether the objections to the Jurors were made solely on this point, it is not known. At any rate, they accept ed three or more Jurors who stated that they would convict a white man of lynching a negro, proMidod the testimony showed there was no reas onable doubt as to his guilt. The tallsmen summoned' for ser vice on this Jury and the disposition made of each one. drawn are aa fol lows: J. C. Seaborn, accepted. W. H. Hutchinson, rejected by de fense. . J. ' C. Bentley, stated in reply lo question by solicitor with reference to bia views on lynching that he would cOnvlr.t a white ro?n of lynching a negro, provided h? thought tho white man guilty. Rejected br defense . C. K. DuBoae, asked same question as to views on lynching and gave same, answer. Rejected hy defense, T. C. Burns, asked same question as to lynching; gave same answer; accepted. J. A. Durham, rejected hy State. B. J. Marrett. otsod aside by court as he was related within sixth degrcs to ode of the defendants. R. B. Owens, rejected by defense. J. O. Lee. stood aside.ty court as he waa over the constitutional age limit, J. P. Walterr, accented. Otto Shumak^r, lefscted hy defense. J. A. Smith, asked views on lynch Question and replied he would con vict; rejected by defense. T. C. Bibb, asked as to lynch ques tion and gave same re pt?; rejected ? ?y Stute. - I W. T. Burton, accepted. A. M,'Brown, accepted. A. H. Adams! asked views on lynch ing and gave sam? answer that he Would convict. Rejected hy defense, J. D. Bright, questioned ss to views loa lynch question; replied that be [ would hot convict a wWte mao of lynching a negro; stood 'said? by court. G. !.. Barker, replied that be would convict for lynching; accepted. Elias Woodall, accepted. H. J. Sly. rejected by defense. C. W. Ly les, replied he would con vict for lynching. Rejected by State. T. O. Morriss, stood aside on ac count ot age. E. R. Lucas, rejected hy defense. Joe W. Davis, replied that he would f aonvlct for lynching. Rejected hy de fense. W. A. Grant, waft not d?finit., in his Ideas on lynch question, excused by State. J. Carroll Lee, replied that he would convict for lynching. Accepted. F. W. Harbot, rejected by defense. B. W. Mattheson, rejected by State. F. A. Carroll, stood aslde-.J>y court as he was opposed to capital punish ment. R. E. Finley, replied that he would convict for lynching; accepted. C. C. Kelley, rejected by defense. .1. A. Zimmerman, accepted. W. F. Harbin, stated that he would convict for lynching; rejected by de fense. J. B. Satterflold. accepted. WJB. Stevens, r/itcd ne would con vict for lynching; accepted. INTERESTING NEWS FROM WALHALLA Death of Major Leonard Roger?. Interdenominational Sunday School Convention ' ?*'.*' ..';'."*"? > ' 'm l'* 'lariat tu Ila' tntPllisnirer. WALHALLA, March 1.-The Oconee bounty. Interdenominational Sunday ric hool convention met In thc Baptist .hinch on Saturday morn i tig and was n session two days., Mr. J. H. Bor lett vice president, presided on 8at irday In the absence of the president, "hartes F. Hetrick or Walhalla was sleeted president for this year. Dr. 'armen was unable to be. present on iccount of serious illness. Professors Faithful and Williams of Anderson. Mrs. Barts and Miss Hoi snd of Spartanburg were present and HscuBsed various topics to large Ludiences. Mrs. W. P. Reid of Seneca ind Mrs. J. W. Shel or ot Walhalla, luperintendentn of the cradle roll and >rlmary departments delighted the onvention with u real message on the mportance of their departments. Numerous other workers of the coun y took part In the discussion on va loua subjects. Twenty-four Sunday .drools were represented, lt Is gen erally conceded that this whs the best onvention ever beld In Oconee Conn >*? A large delegation will go to dewberry to the State convention. Major Leonard Rogers died at his tome near Salem yesterday morning ifter a protracted illness. Major Rogers entered the Conf?d?r ?e service as second lieutenant ot Company C. Orr's Regiment of Rifles ind was promoted during the war to uajor. Major Rogers was born in >conce County ra?re than ninety years g?, and has made bis home contln ioualy near Salem all these years. Ho rae' a man ox' flue character and waa i born soldier. Ho was a command-; ag figure during .the war. being more han Rix '?et in height and was strlk B* ls epps^rance, and had ? voice hat thriiied'hkS men. He waa a mem ber of tho Bap'tst church and his re nales will bo burled thliv afternoon at he family burial grounds six miles lorth of Valhalla, the Masonic fra ero! ty officiating. He leaves one aughter of Salem, and one son, Willam J. Rogers, a newspaper mau if Indianapolis Ind. The preliminary contest to select a peaker to represent Walhalla high chool at tbe Oconee ?Tounty Oratorl al contest meet, was held tn the high chool auditor'um on Friday night. *he Judges. D. J. L. 8tokea. Rev. O. I. Wilcox and E. L. Herndon, Esq.. ecided that Ellison faith had won rat pluceoand Miitrort DnPre second, .here, were eight contestants. The onnty contest will b* held In Wet alla April ?th at which tim? tea chaola et the county wilt participate, hene annual ?vente' have created oo mall interest among the boy orators f Oconee. Large'crowds always at eod theao meeta, and Walhalla ex acts to fill ita large auditorium with scating capacity of more than on? ttousand. " ... ? i,. Old Fiddlers Contention. An old Fiddlers', Convention will he Iren at fountain View, school Fri ar evening. ?March 5, /rem eight un it ten thirty o'clock. Lunches will be served. Tea couta admission. ft? ?i ?mt i i M.i mmmm\ i MWWl i IPI "ft - >. *?* S .PM* >T/x*??j8i?^^ pftLWETTO .TOjJ TODAY'S PROGRAM SOUTHERN BLOSSOMS CO. ftj^ Presents "THE BORGLARS" . A rip roaring; farce comedy See thia show, and if yon don't say that Ute black faced comedian Isn't the heat in the ?South, your money hack if yon want lt. Also see Baby Al ii. Williams the tire year old wonder, af the stage. He certainly bus made a bia: hit here. MOVIES FOR TODAY *SI10BT?'S AUYENTCHKfMN TALE CIT** Broncho two reels.' . ?\AT THE BOTTOM OF THILOS" \ . Reliance. 1 . . THE TROUBLE ABOUT Meal and Acid The trouble about fertilizing with meal and acid Is ?.at you get your uinmoitfa from one source eal y J and that ls meal und ii ail |rJ*e> ?-ct at ojare. .Meal ls meei yeo know. lu on* mixed goods yr-a ?ti the ammonia 'rem meal and tish aed blood and tankage, and Sulphate of AnuubuiH, and ns one of thbae ^amfttenhttCM gires ?U?? ttiio?h% ; comes la se that yea hare your cotton and your wm supplied with plant feed from the time it sprouts la the arenad, all through the norklng seamen aad thropgh the laylng.by season, and uuti? lt ls ready to he gathered. Elah and blotd last longer than meal, and BUL phate ol Ammonia acts more quickly than mea! aad HO hy using these mixed goods of oars yon get e. complete fertiliser. When year meal wives; eut year co tien shed*. The reason cotton sheds is because Jt bas not sufficient plant food. Ho when the men! ls Used np ta the soil your cotton sheds, lt cannot do aaythipg else. And thea oar mixed goods are more thoroughly mixed than the meal and acid will be? Yon could talx lt as thoroughly ss we ?an ff you j were prepared fer li- But JOB are not prepared ant* lt won't pay you > to prepare for St for one farm. We expect to supply a great many 'v.jj&tm* with fertilizer and lt pays a? to prepare to hare our ingred- . lents th?roBfbly mixed. Where an improperly mixed fertiliser is used your crop will he irregular aid rte all knew that the ?rep that torus cfit the cotton ls the crop that rans regular aU through! Wc ? Heve it lu economical to da? the mixed goods Instead ef felling your meal and acid. We will be glad ta sell yen. Anderson Phosphate & Oil Comply Ive believe ear 8-itf-l in the goods fer rotten and corn this year. A great many are buying it. / A. F. ? O, CO,