Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

ti. i ' L L a 1 [ . E 18 5. NEWBERRHY, S. O., TU RSDAY, NOVEMIEIRI{t2, 100.1. A W E EK.8L50 A YEAR LYNUHINGS IN THE SOUTH A NATI I; OF NE11 11;inv (UiVOE gnis VIEWS IN A NOltTiiE1RN MlAGAZIN1.. Rev.W lillanl Iiayt:o L.iavOli Writes An Ar tie'ie son Lynching In t ao. .t ror "Tho Outlook," arn A 11 ntit Fair Mnia zlnto of the North, Rey. \Villiam 1ltyne lo,nvell, of IHouston, Texas, a native of Nowborry, South Carolina, who received his literary and theological education in Greenville, has contributed a very in teresting and valuable article on lynching in the South to the last is sue of "The Outlook," one of the ablest and fairest of magazines in the North. Mr. Leavell has lived for a few years in New England, and he knows the prejudices and diflicul. ties existing there in the way of a just understanding of the situation in the North when it comes to the social and political relations between the whites r nd blacks, and the editors of "The Outlook" admit the justice and reasonableness of the call made by Mr. Leavell upon the critics of the South to propose some other remedy for the horrible crime of rape than the dernier r:ort of lynch. ing. Mr. Leavell's arol,3 is as fol I dows. Last summer I happened to he spending my vacation at "Cotes worth," the old country home of the late United States Sonator George, about two miles from the town of Car rollton, Miss. During the time I was there I heard one day that on the night previous two defenselm-s old people had been done to death in a nost foul and brutal fashion, and that because of it the people of the county were coming into towt., and tllere was likely to be a lynching of ' eeral negroes who wore suspected of the crime. Never Lofore having een in the immediate nei.ghborhood f a lynching, and wishing to learn omething of the character of these epeated outbreaks, I rode into town to study the situation (cse at hand, 'hoping that something might occur 'which would make it possible to pro vent any violence. I found that three nogroes, a mother with her son and daughter, tenants of the mur dered couple, had been arrested on suspicion of having committed the murder or having guilty knowledge of the facts, and were at that time confined in the county jail. I found present on the streets of the town many young farmers from the county who were carrying rilles, shotguns, or pistols, and mixed with themI a * few of the maturer andi more conser vative citizens of the county, to whom r the young fellows seemed to look for direction. All of them had a serious and determined look upon their faces. I found also that a committee of prominent men, among them the State Senator fromi that district, the District Attorney, and a lawyer who had several times represented the county in the Legislature, had been formed and at the hour of my arrival were at the jail examining the ne groes. The committee was earnestly solicitous to prevent a lynching. It satisfled itself that those three ne groes did not personally commit the crime, but knew who did, and were as yet not willing to reveal their guilty secret. Several times, bo0th individually and as a committee these gentlemen addressed the mob, trying to dissuade it fror violence, and pleading, in the natue of humanity and for the good name of the county4 to let the law take its course, the more particularly because the only apparent hope of learning wvho were the real murdferers was involved in keeping these throo negroes alive. The mob wvas not to 1)e dissuadecd. As the authorities offered practically no resistance, the mob took the ne groes, hanged them just outside the town, and riddled their bodies with bullets. IRealizing that it would be regarded as an impertinent intrusion for me to offer any suggestiion, since I was an outsider, an knowing that there wvas no chance for me to do what well -kaown gentlemen who had tha eena -tidence of their neighbtom lnere faihul to do, I code atwat home' Fsmot tuneu before the lynching took place. -From what I learned of the whole matter. of the circumostances loacding up to the crimo, it soeiled to 1-(' a ease particularly domandmg that tho law should bo pornittod to take iti coltrse. It. was not i qIueetion of t ho rape of a whito woman by a negro brute. It was the assasmation of tho aged parents of a young white man who had proviously shot to death the son of the negro mother for attemptod poison. The young man was out on bail awaiting tho action of the Grand Jury. But there was only one way to prevent that lynching. That way was by super ior force, and the constituted author ties did not offer it. In connection with my experience and observation on the day of the lynching, I took care afterwards to discuss the case itself and the whole matter of lynching, as it obtains in the South, with some of the best and maturer and more conservative citi zons of that part of the State of Mis sissippi, to learn whether and how far they approved of lynching for crime. Of course I found some ex tremo mon, who are good citizens in their way, who are yet very nervous over 'he whole question of the negro and tis preponderance in their part of the State, and who assert, that for any considerable crime, of whatovcr nature, committed against a white person by a negro, they would take the law in their own hands and shoot him down as they would a dog. These are extremist. The greater part of the educated, conservative, thoughtful, and, in or dinary situations, more inltiential citizens approve of lynching for the rape of a white woman, but deplore the seeming necessity for it., and are groping helplos,ly in the dark for some way to make lyn'ling unnec essary. They see that it is gradually undermining their civilization, do stroying all respect for law, and, with reference to all sorts of offen ses, is substituting mob law for the ancient forms which have safeguarded ded the liberties of the Eiglish speak ing peoples for centuries. They contomplato the future with some thing akin to terror, and confess themselves tied hand - and foot to a situation from which it seems impos sible to bi-oak away without hasten ing the very thing they fear. They believe that to turn over to the law a black liend who has raped a do fenseless white woman and made over her whole life into a living hell would enevitably ten. to multiply rapos and practically put all our wo mon at the mercy of the lustfnl brutes, Their explanation of the situation as it is now found in the South, may not be entirely satisfactory to the denizens of the cities and the dwoel le amidet a predominant white pop ulation, but I will try to give it as it wvas given to me by some of the most conservative, most thoughtful, and most wvise citizens of the South. I. The natural barbarism of our human nature, whose first impulse is to wreak vengeance for an outrage, is to be alwvays considered, for, as a matter of fact, neither individuals nor communities ever got far away from nature-and that is human na ture. 2. From the earliest time in the South seduction has always resulted in either what is known as a "mili tary wedding," or a homicide, The community basalways supported the flimily of the seduced woman for killing the sedlucer if he would not redeem the situation as far as possi ble by marriage. If that was the re sult where there was "consent," how much more certainly wvould homicidoe be the result where there wvas force used to accomp)lish the ruin of a wo mani-where there was rape? A white man would no mere escape than a negro. If the wvhiite man must pay with his life for raipe, how much more certainly a negro for the rape of a white woman, where in ad dition the revolt of all the instincts of race was involvod ? 3. In many if not the maost rural communities in the South the white pop)~ulat.ion in veriy nmalloIn 'ma red wVithi the nego iepnl: onJJ. Them whites are really at ilhw (cac of the~ blacks, if the latter hut once should got the notion that there is a reason 1l)10 howe (if ('eipo. For tei rl are a!wa's enough vicious u'grte)s in tivey com')1t1ni1nity reiidv to comlrrtl it tho berinos of lust if they c11 (o do iat)i yet ('5e0ap0 justieo or venoge1neo. i;lAeing is resorted.. to noc t rue'r'Iely to wreak VengoRneo but to terrorizo the ul'~ ro. 1. E:very onOl who hindle(s large lodiol; of 1 egro laborers-every (1(0 wit b whoi I talked --1)elievo t hat the average negro fears nothing ro much as force. The whites believe that. the moment the negro ceases to fear the power of the whito man crimes will rapidly increaso-crimves of the most revilting character. Amnong the negroes, criminals, N hen the crime is committed sgainst at white man, attain to a certain heroic char. acter, and are the objects of a certain sort of admiration which they crave and rejoice in. Tho conviction is general that terror is the only re straining influence with the average negro. 5. The negroes, even the host of then, will ordinarily conceal a fleeing negro, assist him in his flight, and, whenever practicable, protect him, and this without regard to the re quirements of jtbtico or the charactor of his offense. (S. The famously slow )rocesso of the law and the frequent miscar riages of justice. In New Orloans a few months ago a negro xusn ilted a refined whito woman, was arrested and put upo)n his trial. 'l'h woman put asido he- u.odest.yr 21 .1 won: on the witness-stand and testified the facts. The facts were outrigeous and cruel. The lawyer for the de fense succeeded i't doferring t ho case some months upt. t technicality, and later the brute upon conviction got only a three nonths' sentence. One such case as that does away with the confidence ir the law engendered by a hundred cases where justice is ac complished, and the mind of the peo ple turns to lynching as the only cer tain remedy. If you call their attention to the fact that lynching does not 8t.op rape, their answer is, No, but it prevents it more than any other prociss would do. The thinking men of the Sout b re alize the horror of their situation; they see that, mob law is coning to be the law for all sorts of crimes, and that it. is beginning to he used ov m in private quarrels and against the whites theise'ves. They think it is a cruelty to serve them with condem nation, when they need the sympa thy and assistance of that portion of our people who live securely amid a pLedominant white population. It is easy to prIescribe practically im possible premises, but you can by such means get no satisfactory or ad. eqjuate result. It will need1 the best wisdom and the best conscience and the best heart of our whole people, of thre North and of the South, to lead us out of the darkness anti the horror of the present situation. The, 'ub'ic Schiool ExiIb.t. [HIamipton GAuardian.] Tihe State commnission in charge of the $50,000 appropriated by South Car-olinra for an exhibit at the Char. loston Exposition, in compliance with a request of the State Superintendent of Education, has set aside $300 for him to place anid care for an exhribit of the work of tire public schools of the State. A circular letter has just been sent out to the principals of tire more important schools. Superin tendent McMahan hopes that there will be a hearty responrso. CASTOR IA For Infants and Children. The Kind You Have Always Bought farthe llorse iasage - The horses belonging to Buffalo Bill, wich were killed in tire recent wreck at Lexington, N. C., number. iVng I ji. were purcheli'd by '. 'oim at and shipped them North in refrigera tor cars. Bologna sausage will doubt less ba chenner soon. ---Exnhango. INCOtpEErNCY IN PUBLIC OFFICIALS, S~ I- i.1(U- 1" ; ' ! VZA 11t IN 1tt1'5t)1RH ItLI Nil 1tN 1 IN. Tb' Ue ptrt ,- n st u t neIt on- Chikf lrk McG(tit'tt 'n Ta.ka l'Riiy A bout Homeit itf if(tl "1 't,V h* V 110111Y-sAUfrt itlu t,i t he W 1 Recelvr'd fromn It s YerN. ' The St itto, 22ml ] in reply to inl iuiliry as tl the% progresH of the anntial rep 'rt. 1f tie Superintendent of Education, Mr. MeG hoe of the State Superintondent's oflice has given out the following in terestiig facts showing (lilliculties Olcounterodl: "Wo are still having seemingly endless trouble in getting aecur"ate reports from sonm of the County Su perint oldent1 of Education. Several of these reports have been sent back four or live times for nrrteet ion. 'Tho most flagrant errors app.'ar in thom; as, for instance, the filiinre of columns to balance; giving t oal ex ponditures one amonlt on one sH'ot and another amount on another shoot.. One county superintendenlt had an or ror of somnething over $,)0,0O0 in ad (lition-theso in spite of the faet that the report of the county supe rintend ent lits ben1l rtI vv mneh i-impliied and Supt. McM\ah tan had printed very explicit directions for making out t1eso reports. The county superin tendents received on anl aver age of four copies of these direct 10in at four (iff'remt titn.es. In ad tintion to these, l ters iumilnerahle and lengthy have been written ex plairing points which it is hardly possible not to know 'it h1out expla nat ion. For intalee, i,, has been necessary to i'xp-laia in m nome cases that the total OYpon1dituies for teach. ers' salaries plis the total e'xpondi tures for all other putr1pooss make the total expendp -:e for everything; and that all the reoipts for the county less all the expenditures for the county will leave the balance on hand. "As an example also of the care lessness with whhcli nome of these reports are made out, fully one half of the reports had to he sent back for the addresses of the chairmen of the boards of trustees, altho .'ii this was specitically al ked for, ant, only a matter of a few minutes in some casos to give. "To illustrate further and more specifically: in one county there are nine districts. The county Superin tendent reported the receipts from various sources for each one of these districts. Whon it came to the State Superintendent's office tihe nine addi tions of three itemas each were made, and it w,as found that tihe county Superintendent had live of these nisne adiditions incorrect. In this same re port there wvere 11 errors in mnakinig out averages. "Several rep6rts were sent in with out the addi'.ions being made at all. Of course these wvere immediately sent back. When they returned the additions were incorrect. After bo ing sent back several times somne of these are finally in shape to he given to the printer. "Such a state of affasrs is truly doe plerable, and wve have in this an il lustration of the gross incompetency in some of our public oflises. It seems however, that the grossest and most criminal incompetency is shifted off into the educational linoe. It is a public duty, it seems to mte, devolv ing upon everyone who has an inter est, even the most remote, in the oid ucatiob of tihe youth of our State, to make efforts to banish from thie conm trol of our schools cheap-.john poli ticians. Nothing is meant horo against that class of good, well-mean - inig men, distinguished for psety and past services, who by being pu:t into oflice thus draw a pension for what they used to be, or w,hsati they wVould1 be if they could-except that they should be relieved of the manage mont of the schools." Ol11418' IAN TE'.MtPER1ANCE, wOnIKEIC An oilleIal HeI(3trt tif Sihe Thtird Annual M thug R''. , , - ' 5 ( rtenvnt e. Spartaniuir. . . ---i ..6: eixerciss of tile thlird annuiual meeting of thes Christian Temperance Work. Nov. I1, 1901, 7.il p. m1. Retv. ). D.'odly, t pattrt, (--)n dllcltd tho dcvt:ti(.mtt t"x(oelis":, ats sitted by Nov. (. TI. iLti n iL oIv. I1r. lite("hol, repIre iln rl g tice Mle'thodist.l tnd I'p iscop)al cIu1rcher Adderes+s of wol(' woro madelt liv )r. Cody, Rev. Mr. Mitcbel, liov. 1r. laurmor, Rv. M1r. Spairk and alsoy Il)' v. .v.l r. \ vo of the Soo. mtti l'resbyt.: an b: i, '.d'1 .l lou. J.\A. MicCullough}. Their au)dre'Sses welr i ftl Iof 111 couragceent and advico. \Ir:;. 1-' , 1lerbert responc'ed in (the a.ne :"o Mrs. J. 1t. W\hito of Jt)hursonlw wats provonted from attending. 1lr3. Vlitu's respoisas Wr lecoived ltext day andtl road by Mrs. Andrews. Mlrs. ilerbert road her report of tho year's work, which showed that. Hho had organized at (n"angeburg, Columbia, Dillon, Florence, Darling ton, Sumiter. l ;pworth orphanage, Abbovillo, Jaurons, (I reenwood, (3 roonvillt', V illiamston, Ilonea Path, Prosperity, Contral, Pickens, Paco lot, Rich Hill, Glendale, (Ireors and Piedmont. Some of those societies have failed for lack of oarnott load ors. The report of St ate Superintendent of Band of 0lop was road, showing a total membere,hip of 1,170 non. bers, in 21 bands. Tlhesn busmss nootings on Satur. day were hold in Buncoubo street Met hodist chulrch, and were well at temIle(1. There were :10 delcgatos from out side the city. Fraternal messages woro received frou other r("ligiolui organizat ions, sucb as King's Daugh ters and Missionary Bands. Mis. Sweeney of Spartanburg told of her mission work. liss Anna l!inst rum of Columbia gave an interesting account of her Door of Hope work and was followed by Rev. (1. T. Harmon, in an excel lent talk concerning the inlluonco thrown around the children by their mothers in the home. Greetings wore received from W. C. T. U. State convention in Now l,'rry in respoinse to a noto sont them by Mrs. Herbort. Mrs L. M. Gentry, of Spartanhurg, State superintendent of prison work, gave a very interesting account of her labors, telling the prisoner who dated his conversion to one of the mootings of the Christian Jonper anco Workers committees. As Mrs. Herbert positively do elined reelection on account of feeble health. She was 1tao - honorary president nutd organizer. Mrs. Joel E. Brunson of Smio'er was elected State p)residenMt. This wvas a wise eboice a'i sh ei actively engaged in the work m.d well qjualiflod for the imxporumt 1po. sition. She was unable to be precsent I e cause of a previous engagement at u missionary meeting of her church (the Baptist) in another part of the State. She Bent an excellent paper, which was read, and from which we quote one sentence, which might well servo as a motto for the Workers (during the comning year: "Let us bring to this work the highest of all motives, love to God and our fellow man); a desire to follow the example of Him who came to seek and save the lost.." Mrs. J. 11. Cleveland was elected treasurer; Mrs. J. WV. Wilson, recor d ing secretary; and Miss Jiulia V. Smith corresponding secretary. Mrs. WVhite sent reports of press work. The papers of tihe State have been very kind in publishing articles sent. Two rep)orts are worthy of special notice--the P'acolot band, only two months old, which is "rich on good works," and the Glendale band, which in two months increased from 1'7 members to nearly 100. Mrs. WV. R1. Richardson'a paper on "Use of unfurmented wine at com-. mnunion table" and Mrs. W. B. Mont gomery's paper on "Intemrperanc'' wvoro full and instructive. Hw>'911jluin of t hanks wereO ten-. daed to the 1)1 imators for thoeir inter o. u aa e -uragueent Tio M\lrs. E:. S. Herbert for ber liberal gift of labor andl money, traveling over thle State nt. her own exnpnns also to the fII t Mtli t. Ji. ). W ht, ti t f Ileston, I utjII in; it(g the Work rs to ex prlX din ar to tiets onL100'4 to th o xposit. iot ly by ak rit;inI votutt, acdl a commtitt ws Itaointeo to tak to itll of t )Il t;l,ngis 01 ;rliinj; suvoril Otliuis t')rt 1'ed'nera -mer anotIloo tiormotns in it th ' I.ftetto i s nt l i ootiug wr !i-ld .,r childrn and young poo. pl it ieomt o troot 1othodit c'hurch. Inu tili everal laiot t too < part and Mrs. Ilorbrt. thlko, ad(] prttoetted badgots to Band of Illop)t It would takeo too long to toll of tho good things said at. theo meeoting, but. fi genraerdl veiot is that i was i great sue a d ttltl is hint tho begin n hing of bettor thingH. As Oo 1m.. bhriait, "I amd anxiouls for tho noxt annual mooting to comno." TJ.he Christian 'Tonliperanco Wor-k tr hwvo no conntci iln wilth womllan) sura~o or politics. Thoir on dlo. siro is to hol to inswer t hoir own dctily prayers, "Lwtl.T us not. into tonp)tation, bu t de'li\v4r ns from ('vil, andl Thy kingdtomt cotno. Mirs. .1. W. \V i l yon, Corresp)ondltig Necrrtary C. T. W. 'L 1.1.1AN o N oc) i1 . 1(1ti ( ttlu)1 atl t 10. t(r rttt. gt t o t , the.I lr-aa Cratat ihla u h.ra,u iaiu Chicago, Nov. I'.- Sonttttr 13. R. Tillman of South Carolma, tutn.1king to tho rstudonlts at La(os,Hse oin u (t lie Negro P)roblom from the Sonthorn Point of View," ait: "tosidents m0 the Northren Statos do not realizo the importance of this ra1co qltuestionl. T('hcy Soo b:utt little of tho negroos, Who are not d11umt0r Ouls up1 he(ro to be of any acco1unt, ta peoplo up hero aro givon to te rising onl the niegro <tustion, I say they aro not familior with th Cn dititons or they woul fa dtime the len in the Solhl le. "h T oroltii negro i hI hrt sti e rot longing, but ntarly hIt)peless ,.to that. somlo day he hay etn the imle gamlation of the two taces. Tehistit is just what tho phin down Sotlh Itr Lighting inirst. "You have, p)orbitps, hoeardl ft taid that tucatioln will solvo te negro paromt wilel n asy lng as the loeroesi in tieound. lcaof the ngol Inyuve him o the sjtough >ari hlisf tact ehs aite thogt. nt (lar. to b:hIorgial. morolYu "Whatldove th ik of Presidentsvl inol no is with him woustd this: Southen peolo bye oing t. r hyoap(l oieti toiovlt sawiv tomot. Atinri the nealurvicof the pctacu as omohis atth Forav, he thh io an an origina. Foreonally, Ia hbrieo thak to Proidentoo ovolt courlde ndovivs ar ie wl dero. nouned den a,de by thysicaan nd , ed lay apparnty thed or twe. ht aDatr (Ay a,No.2.-ae Wino xord lrt t! tilcksmith, nrrow et ecuaped fobtueing dalivie toay whore hesrevived ially igno buntdr for aprun.y ded ortoigt T1i; GaLNT THIRD. t'tI 'M0t 1.1It..N r l,V 'I11 'I T RHIn i11 AII'1'SUIo. w1 . . t i 1% . ; Cu. tu y it. (iIyi to10ne r(oitn Ia tdt"r"..tl i wttI' 'IN Of ,the MOVA. nanitsl oft iit Renz,ttiInt--No Relgi ,isit Ih Iao Is ervice IIautIlert l tttor. [Atlant(t Journal, 1(ith.] We Crosled tho I'otoino river near Sh(eppil rditowin onl the morning of Septemhor 17, 182, about sunrise. Aftlr a fow muin otes Htop for break fist we wore hurriod to the front. Wl'u atlvancod int lin0 of battle to wards hO little stone church, but changed front to the loft andcroosed tho road from the churt h to Pifer's house into tiomeo woods. Here we met tho Fed'(oral infantry and drovo them back. At thit time a Fodoral battery opened on our right flank, and a line of infantry caino towards us from the lagertjtown pike. Our regiment again ehangod front and advanced against and drove back this line of infantry and drovo the gunners from the bat tory. \Vhon we reached the crest of tho ridge we found thous. andi of 'eloral infantry in our front noar and along the I1agorstown pike anrtd not anothor Confederate regi 1uent ii.) sight to right., loft, or rear. Colonel Nance gave the order to libout. face, and we imlarched back to the vots. W took position in a ravine tntl so0ing no other Confod oritt"e t ro. p t, wo n.trehod (i igonally acro"ult the woods and to the rear, conlitig out of the woods into an open itolb. A. courier camne from G on. T J . .J Jackyo,, aud ordered us to go back into the woods and to hold the onom y in chock. At this tiuo (ap'tt.. \Villiain Farley came up and told Colonel Nance to take pos s'it n of a lodge of rock and hold the posit ion. This m e did, then Gen oral J ackson sent, to us again to come bach to a foneco and took position be hind it. I urin;g this time we had not seen it Confederato regimtent. The Fed orals wore shelling uH and had our o.xnct range, and their infantry had cuoitnuncedtl to tdvance on our posi t ionl. Aimt t this ti io I we small (keorgia rl'gihinints ( I"'ighth and Ninth Geor gia) cantt ip our lino fromt the left. T.het wt"ro tlto irsit Confodorate tioopts we hadt swon in it long time. Colon(l NaInen 1rl,Soptsd throo cheers for the Eighth aund Ninth Georgia. We gavo t heml wit al."t will. Then hey gave Iibrt cheers for the rg . inenit (tattdcorod themoi. This choorinig stojpped the atdvani.ce of the ledorali infant ry, but gave them our poured onl 11w, bu1t we held the posi tion unitil otherw troops camon up and our line again formed and the day was~ atved. We p)rossed our skir misherst to the front anmd took charge of the fild-took off our wounded arid buried our dead the next day. Whileo1behind the fence, two shells killed and wounded nine men in my company. The third regiment cov ered herself with glory that day. I wasM with thle regiment in every fight f roms First Manlassas until the 6th of M[ay, 1801, at the Wilderness, and our regiment wats one of the hest in the Army of Northern Virginia; but I never satw a regiment handled bet. Ior thlan the Third Sonth Carolina was that day. Colonel Nance han (lied his regiment that day as if it ws on dress paradoe. We killed some of the bravest oficers McClel lan had in is his army that day. The ollicors would bring out the colors with the color guard and beg the muon to come. We would shoot dlown the oflicers and color guard and the Federal troops would refuse to come. Colonel Nance was killed at the Vi ildlernss, near the plank road, the 0th of May, 1864. W. (G. PE'rERaoN, Co. B3., Third S. C. Rlegt. Motenced t) Everlasting Famie, T1he American people have tried Schley befort. the bar of public oim&ini, foun rd him~ guilty of having won ai na,val battle seconld only to . r i. ve r' at Maunila, andl sen tonced him to everlasting fame. No court can reverse that verdict or commute thatt sentone--W. J. Bryan in Trhe CommonQr.