REPORT OF DETECTIVE LOUIS P. LE VIN.
The colored citizens of Chicago sent a detective to Georgia, and his
report shows that Samuel Hose, who was brutally tortured at Newnan, Ga.,
and then burned to death, never assaulted Mrs. Cranford and that he
killed Alfred Cranford in self-defense.
The full text of the report is as follows:
About three weeks ago I was asked to make an impartial and thorough
investigation of the lynchings which occurred near Atlanta, Ga., not
long since. I left Chicago for Atlanta, and spent over a week in the
investigation. The facts herein were gathered from interviews with
persons I met in Griffin, Newman, Atlanta and in the vicinity of these
places.
I found no difficulty in securing interviews from white people. There
was no disposition on their part to conceal any part they took in the
lynchings. They discussed the details of the burning of Sam Hose with
the freedom which one would talk about an afternoon’s divertisement in
which he had very pleasantly participated.
Who was Sam Hose? His true name was Samuel Wilkes. He was born in Macon,
Ga., where he lived until his father died. The family, then consisting
of his mother, brother and sister, moved to Marshall, where all worked
and made the reputation of hard-working, honest people. Sam studied and
was soon able to read and write, and was considered a bright, capable
man. His mother became an invalid, and as his brother was considered
almost an imbecile, Sam was the mainstay of the family. He worked on
different farms, and among the men he worked for was B. Jones, who
afterward captured him and delivered him over to the mob at Newman.
Sam’s mother partly recovered, and as his sister married, Sam left and
went to Atlanta to better his condition. He secured work near Palmetto
for a man named Alfred Cranford, and worked for him for about two years,
up to the time of the tragedy. I will not call it a murder, for Samuel
Wilkes killed Alfred Cranford in self-defense. The story you have read
about a Negro stealing into the house and murdering the unfortunate man
at his supper has no foundation in fact. Equally untrue is the charge
that after murdering the husband he assaulted the wife. The reports
indicated that the murderer was a stranger, who had to be identified.
The fact is he had worked for Cranford for over a year.
Was there a murder? That Wilkes killed Cranford there is no doubt, but
under what circumstances can never be proven. I asked many white people
of Palmetto what was the motive. They considered it a useless question.
A “nigger” had killed a white man, and that was enough. Some said it was
because the young “niggers” did not know their places, others that they
were getting too much education, while others declared that it was all
due to the influence of the Northern “niggers”. W. W. Jackson, of
Newman, said: “If I had my way about it I would lynch every Northern
‘nigger’ that comes this way. They are at the bottom of this.” John Low,
of Lincoln, Ala., said: “My negroes would die for me simply because I
keep a strict hand on them and allow no Northern negroes to associate
with them.”
Upon the question of motive there was no answer except that which was
made by Wilkes himself. The dispatches said that Wilkes confessed both
to the murder and the alleged assault upon Mrs. Cranford. But neither of
these reports is true. Wilkes did say that he killed Mr. Cranford, but
he did not at any time admit that he assaulted Mrs. Cranford. This he
denied as long as he had breath.
After the capture Wilkes told his story. He said that his trouble began
with Mr. Cranford a week before. He said that he had word that his
mother was much worse at home, and that he wanted to go home to visit
his mother. He told Mr. Cranford and asked for some money. Cranford
refused to pay Wilkes, and that provoked hard words. Cranford was known
to be a man of quick temper, but nothing more occurred that day. The
next day Cranford borrowed a revolver and said that if Sam started any
more trouble he would kill him.
Sam, continuing his story, said that on the day Cranford was killed he
(Sam) was out in the yard cutting up wood; that Cranford came out into
the yard, and that he and Cranford began talking about the subject of
their former trouble; that Cranford became enraged and drew his gun to
shoot, and then Sam threw the ax at Cranford and ran. He knew the ax
struck Cranford, but did not know Cranford had been killed by the blow
for several days. At the time of the encounter in the yard, Sam said
that Mrs. Cranford was in the house, and that after he threw the ax at
Cranford he never saw Mrs. Cranford, for he immediately went to the
woods and kept in hiding until he reached the vicinity of his mother’s
home, where he was captured. During all the time Sam was on the train
going to the scene of the burning, Sam is said by all I talked with to
have been free from excitement or terror. He told his story in a
straightforward way, said he was sorry he had killed Cranford and always
denied that he had attacked Mrs. Cranford.
I did not see Mrs. Cranford. She was still suffering from the awful
shock. As soon as her husband was killed she ran to the home of his
father and told him that Sam had killed her husband. She did not then
say that Sam had assaulted her. She was completely overcome and was soon
unconscious and remained so for most of the next two days. So that at
the time when the story was started that Sam had added the crime of
outrage to murder, Mrs. Cranford, the only one who could have told about
it, was lying either unconscious or delirious at the home of her
father-in-law, G. E. Cranford.
The burning of Wilkes was fully premeditated. It was no sudden outburst
of a furious, maddened mob. It was known long before Wilkes was caught
that he would be burned. The Cranfords are an old, wealthy and
aristocratic family, and it was intended to make an example of the Negro
who killed him. What exasperation the killing lacked was supplied by the
report of the alleged attack on Mrs. Cranford. And it was not the
irresponsible rabble that urged the burning, for it was openly advocated
by some of the leading men of Palmetto. E. D. Sharkey, Superintendent
Atlanta Bagging Mills, was one of the most persistent advocates of the
burning. He claimed that he saw Mrs. Cranford the day after the killing
and that she told him that she was assaulted. As a matter of fact, Mrs.
Cranford was unconscious at that time. He persistently told the story
and urged the burning of Sam as soon as caught.
John Haas, President of the Capitol Bank, was particularly prominent in
advocating the burning. People doing business at his bank, and coming
from Newman and Griffin, were urged to make an example of Sam by burning
him.
W. A. Hemphill, President and business manager, and Clark Howell, editor
of the Atlanta Constitution, contributed more to the burning than any
other men and all other forces in Georgia. Through the columns of their
paper they exaggerated every detail of the killing, invented and
published inflammatory descriptions of a crime that was never committed,
and by glaring head lines continually suggested the burning of the man
when caught. They offered a reward of $500 blood money for the capture
of the fugitive, and during all the time of the man-hunt they never made
one suggestion that the law should have its course.
The Governor of the State acquiesced in the burning by refusing to
prevent it. Sam Wilkes was captured at 9 o’clock Saturday night. He was
in Griffin by 9 o’clock Sunday morning. It was first proposed to burn
him in Griffin, but the program was changed, and it was decided to take
him to Newman to burn him. Governor Candler had ordered that Wilkes
should be taken to the Fulton county jail when caught. That would have
placed him in Atlanta. When Wilkes reached Griffin he was in custody of
J. B. Jones, J. L. Jones, R. A. Gordon, William Matthews, P. F. Phelps,
Charles Thomas and A. Rogowski. They would not take the prisoner to
Atlanta, where the Governor had ordered him to be taken, but arranged to
take him to Newman, where they knew a mob of six thousand were waiting
to burn him. It is nearer to Atlanta from Griffin than Newman. Besides,
there was no train going to Newman that Sunday morning, so the captors
of Wilkes were obliged to secure a special train to take the prisoner to
the place of burning. This required over two hours’ time to arrange, so
that the special train did not leave Griffin for Newman until 11:40 a.
m.
Meanwhile the news of the capture of Wilkes was known all over Georgia.
It was known in Atlanta in the early morning that the prisoner would not
be brought to Atlanta, but that he would be taken to Newman to be
burned. As soon as this was settled, a special train was engaged as an
excursion train, to take people to the burning. It was soon filled by
the criers, who cried out, “Special train to Newman! All aboard for the
burning!” After this special moved out, another was made up to
accommodate the late comers and those who were at church. In this way
more than two thousand citizens of Atlanta were taken to the burning,
while the Governor, with all the power of the State at his command,
allowed all preparations for the burning to be made during ten hours of
daylight, and did not turn his hand to prevent it.
I do not need to give the details of the burning. I mention only one
fact, and that is the disappointment which the crowd felt when it could
not make Wilkes beg for mercy. During all the time of his torture he
never uttered one cry. They cut off both ears, skinned his face, cut off
his fingers, gashed his legs, cut open his stomach and pulled out his
entrails, then when his contortions broke the iron chain, they pushed
his burning body back into the fire. But through it all Wilkes never
once uttered a cry or beg for mercy. Only once in a particularly
fiendish torture did he speak, then he simply groaned, “Oh, Lord Jesus.”
Among the prominent men at the burning, and whose identity was disclosed
to me, are William Pinton, Clair Owens and William Potts, of Palmetto;
W. W. Jackson and H. W. Jackson, of Newman; Peter Howson and T. Vaughn,
of the same place; John Hazlett, Pierre St. Clair and Thomas Lightfoot,
of Griffin. R. J. Williams, ticket agent at Griffin, made up the special
Central Georgia Railroad train and advertised the burning at Griffin,
while B. F. Wyly and George Smith, of Atlanta, made up two special
Atlanta and West Point Railroad trains. All of these gentlemen of
eminent respectability could give the authorities valuable information
about the burning if called upon.
While Wilkes was being burned the colored people fled terror-stricken to
the woods, for none knew where the fury would strike. I talked with many
colored people, but all will understand why I can give no names.
The torture and hanging of the colored preacher is everywhere
acknowledge to have been without a shadow of reason or excuse. I did not
talk with one white man who believed that Strickland had anything to do
with Wilkes. I could not find any person who heard Wilkes mention
Strickland’s name. I talked with men who heard Wilkes tell his story,
but all agreed that he said he killed Cranford because Cranford was
about to kill him, and that he did not mention Strickland’s name. He did
not mention it when he was being tortured because he did not speak to
anybody. I could not find anybody who could tell me how the story
started that Strickland hired Wilkes to kill Cranford.
On the other hand, I saw many who knew Strickland, and all spoke of him
in the highest terms. I went to see Mr. Thomas, and he said that
Strickland had been about his family for years, and that he never knew a
more reliable and worthy man among the colored people. He said that he
was always advising the colored people to live right, keep good friends
with the white people and earn their respect. He said he was nearly
sixty years old and had not had five dollars at one time in a year. He
defended the poor old man against the mob for a long time, and the mob
finally agreed to put him in jail for a trial, but as soon as they had
Strickland in their control they proceeded to lynch him.
The torture of the innocent colored preacher was only a little less than
that of Wilkes. His fingers and ears were cut off, and the mob inflicted
other tortures that cannot even be suggested. He was strung up three
times and let down each time so he could confess. But he died protesting
his innocence. He left a wife and five children, all of whom are still
on Colonel Thomas’ premises.
I spent some time in trying to find the facts about the shooting of the
five colored men at Palmetto a few days before Cranford was killed. But
no one seemed to be able to tell who accused the men, and as they were
not given a trial, there was no way to get at any of the facts. It seems
that one or two barns or houses had been burned, and it was reported
that the Negroes were setting fire to the buildings. Nine colored men
were arrested on suspicion. They were not men of bad character, but
quite the reverse. They were intelligent, hard-working men, and all
declared they could easily prove their innocence. They were taken to a
warehouse to be kept until their trial next day. That night, about 12
o’clock, an armed mob marched to the place and fired three volleys into
the line of chained prisoners. They then went away thinking all were
dead. All the prisoners were shot. Of these five died. Nothing was done
about the killing of these men, but their families were afterward
ordered to leave the place, and all have left. Five widows and seventeen
fatherless children, all driven from home, constitute one result of the
lynching. I saw no one who thought much about the matter. The Negroes
were dead, and while they did not know whether they were guilty or not,
it was plain that nothing could be done about it. And so the matter
ended. With these facts I made my way home, thoroughly convinced that a
Negro’s life is a very cheap thing in Georgia.
LOUIS P. LE VIN.