Cut Down The Body of the Negro Rapist

Title

Source Type

Newspapers

Publisher

Birmingham News

Publication Place

Birmingham, AL

Publication Date

07/14/1898

Transcript

CUT DOWN THE BODY Of the Negro Rapist. Coroner's Jury Rendered the Usual Verdict. The body of the negro. Robert Harris, who was lynched near Coaling. Ala., yesterday. A full account of which was given in the News, was cut down last night and placed in a crude grave dug near where the hanging took place. Harris was a tall, dark mulatto. Six feet in height, and was insolent when the posse overtook him. "Yes, I did it." be is reported as say- ing when the frenzied citizens took hold of "and I will do it over again if you will turn me loose. An inquest was held after the body was cut down and a verdict rendered that the negro "came to his death at the hands of persons unknown to the jury. It seems that Harris came from Perry county. He was accompanied by a younger negro named Thompson, who protested against the develish work of Harris. The latte, however, would not listen to his companion and brutally treated Mrs. Hodges, as was narrated in the News. The younger negro, Thompson, assisted in the search for the rapist and gave the posse other assistance in identifying him. He was not troubled by the angry citizens. The two negroes were total strangers around Coaling and this intensified the anger of the citizens greatly. Harris' body is said to have presented a perforated condition after the posse left it in the tree. There was no evidence before the inquest jury as to who were in the party which strung him up and no other verdict than that they gave could have been rendered.

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