Louisiana Vengeance Negress Who Poisoned Miss Lizzie Dolan Lynched

Title

Source Type

Newspaper

Publisher

The Progress-Advertiser

Publication Place

Lexington, Mississippi

Publication Date

07/30/1903

Transcript

LOUISIANA VENGEANCE
Negress Who Poisoned Misa Lizzie
Dolan Lynched.
HAD COMMITTED ANOTHER MURDER
Th« Female Fiend Fed Poitou to the
Beautiful Young tilrl lu n i*la»a of
Lemonade- FI rat Women Drer
Hanged In the Mate.
Shreveport, La., July 26.—News
that the
reaches Shreveport tod:
negress, Jennie Steer, who admin.s
tered poison in a glass of lemonade
to Lizzie Dolan, the 16-year-old daugh
ter of John Dolan, from the effects
of which Bhe died, was lynched by an
Infuriated mob about sundown last
night. The lynching occurred on the
Beard plantation, near the spot where
the woman's crime was commute 1,
Jennie Steer was stubborn to the last,
denying her crime. But the proof
against her was direct and conclu
sive and precluded the possibility of
her innocence.
It is claimed that the negress fled
from the Dolan household as soon
as she discovered that her crime was
known. She was pursued by a posse,
who found her crouching In a hayloft.
She refused to come out and had to
be dragged from tbe place,
why she poisoned Miss Dolan, the
negress indignantly denied the com
mission of the crime. She was taken
to the Dolan household and fully Iden
tified as the woman who had placed
the poison in the lemonade.
The mob then took her to a nearby
tree, placed a rope around her neck
and again asked her to confess. She
was stubborn to the last, however,
and was strung tip without making
any admissions. While the body was
dangling in midair several bullets were
fired into It by the enraged citizens.
Asked
Young Girl Poisoned.
The poisoning of Miss Dolan created
intense excitement In the neighbor
hood of the crime. The victim of
poison was a beautiful young girl who
was not known to have an enemy in
the world. She died in horrible ag
ony, a fact which accentuated the rage
of the mob. The funeral of Miss Do
lan occurred this morning, and it \vas
attended by persons for miles around.
There is a growing suspicion that this
negress was connected with the mur
der of Mrs. Frank Mattthews, whose
horrible death startled the people of
this section several months ago. She
was a negress ol forbidding aspect, but
a good servant, and Mrs. Matthews
kept her against the protests of her
son and daughter. On the morning
of the murder she was the first one
to notify the inmates of the house of
the commission of the crime. How
ever, suspicion was not directed to
her, as it was believed at the time
that Mrs. Matthews had been assault
ed and the crime was placed at the
door of a man.
Another Mysterious Murder.
John Matthews, son of Mrs. Mat
thews, said today that subsequent
developments Inclined both his sister
and himself to the belief that his
mother was murdered by a woman
and robbery was the motive for the
crime. Thirty dollars Mrs. Matthews
had in the house at the time was
missing after the murder, and the
condition of Mrs. Matthews' body in
dicated that she had been struck by
a woman, as the gashes were not
deep, such as a man would have been
able to make. Neither Mrs. Mattthews
nor her daughter were assaulted.
The arrest of Jennie Steer for de
liberately poisoning a young girl in
clines the Matthews to the belief that
if she did not commit the Shreveport
crime she certainly knew something
about It. It is a source of some re
gret that the woman was not Inter
rogated on this matter before her
death. The chances are, however, she
would have refused to talk. Every
thing is quiet in the vicinity of Bayou
Lachette today. There is no appar
ent sympathy for the negress among
the law-abiding blacks of that sec
tion. As far as is known this was
the first negress ever lynched in this
section of the State.

Sources for

Jennie Steer