Burned at the Stake

Title

Burned at the Stake

Source Type

Newspapers

Publisher

The Caucasian

Publication Place

Shreveport, LA

Publication Date

10/04/1900

Transcript

BURNED AT THE STAKE w A Negro's Horrible Fate for At- N for tempted Rape in Alabama. for the BODY SOON IN ASHES. The Negro Confessed the Crime and Revealed Startling Information the That Led to the Arrest of Several Other Negroes, au ha the Wetumpka, Ala., Oct. 4. - Wallace Townsend, alias Floyd, a negro, was get burned at the stake in the little town of Eclectic, five males from this place. bre The negro's crime was an attempted assault on Mrs. Linuie Harrington act whose husband set fire to the brand KM which reduced Townsend's body to ed ashes. ger Monday afternoon about 1 o'clock the negro, a nephew of the negro Floyd w the was hanged in the Wetumpka jail week ha before last for attempted assault, at pit tempted to outrage Mrs. Harrington. To Mr. Harrington was engaged at a cotton Gi gin in Eclectic and lives one mile out of ha town. The negro came to the house and W told Mrs. Harrington that her husband had sent him to get 20 cents from her. She told him she had no change The me negro left the house but returned in about 10 minutes and made the assault The woman's screams were heard by br Bob Nichols, another negro, who was Se passing along the road at the time. He ran to the house in time to see the negro per escape. As soon as Mrs. Harrington tin was restored to consciousness, Nichols be gave the alarm. ho The news spread rapidly. All the co stores at Eclectic were instantly closed; er the ginneries and saw mills shut down; ⑉ the people left their wagons in the road and their plows in the field and gathered for a pursuit of the negro. The me crowd divided, some scouring the woods ear " near the scene of the crime and others went to the penitentiary for bloodhounds The dogs were not brought to the scent until nearly dark. They were taken to Cr where the negro's tracks disappeared L and an exciting chase ensued. The dogs w stopped finally at a tree in front of or Odion's store on the north outskirts of Eclectic. The crowd coming up soon discovered the negro sitting a limb. W He was brought down at once and taken T to the scene of his crime. There he was W confronted by his victim who positively m identified him. co Word was sent to the other searching parties that the negro had been found at and about 11 o'clock a crowd of several T be hundred men was in the little village He was taken to the edge of the village and being surrounded by the mob, shivered with fear. The preparations for the death were quickly made. A rape was cc flung over the limb of a big oak tree and e a hundred men stood ready to lend a hand. Then a halt was called and the manner of death discussed by the mob. To re decide the matter a vote was taken and al the balloting showed a majority of the crowd favored death at the stake. h The stake was prepared and the negro J was bound to it with chains. Pine knots were piled about him and the flames were fired by the husband of the negro's d victim. As they leaped to the wretch's L flesh his wild cries to God for mercy could be heard at a great distance The t crowd looked on deaf to his cries and f half au hour the negro was reduced to ashes. The negro made a confession implicating seven other negroes in his crime. As this is the second white woman assault- ed there within a month, it is now believed by the people of that section that there is a conspiracy among the negroes. One of the negroes implicated in the t confession of Townsend was in jail at Wetumpka charged with burglary and as threats of lynching were made, the negro, Virgil Miller, was brought here and placed in the Montgomery county jail. The deputy sheriff had a wild drive f of 14 miles through the country and had he been 30 minutes later in reaching I here a crowd of men who came by train would have intercepted him. Two other negroes who are implicated in the crime were arrested by the deputy. They are Frank Floyd and Jake Floyd, brothers of the negro Zeb Floyd, who was lynched near Wetumpka on Sept. . A singular coincidence is that Mrs. Harrington is A kinswoman of Miss be Pearson, who was assaulted on Sept. 3, for which Zeb was lynched. It is believed the conspiracy is directed against the members of a whit

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