Light Ahead for the NegroJohnson, Edward A. (Edward Austin)
Science
Light Ahead for the Negro
Johnson, Edward A. (Edward Austin)
African Americans; United States -- Race relations
Springfield, Ohio, March 7, 1904.--Richard Dixon, a Negro, was shot
to death here to-night by a mob for the killing of Policeman Charles
Collis, who died to-day from wounds received at the hands of Dixon on
Sunday.
Collis had gone to Dixon’s room on the Negro’s request. Dixon said
his mistress had his clothes in her possession. Collis accompanied
Dixon to the room, and in a short time the man and woman engaged in a
quarrel, which resulted in Dixon shooting the woman, who is variously
known as Anna or Mamie Corbin, in the left breast just over the heart.
She fell unconscious at the first shot and Collis jumped towards the
Negro to prevent his escape from the room. Dixon then fired four balls
into Collis, the last of which penetrated his abdomen. Dixon went
immediately to police headquarters and gave himself up. He was taken to
jail.
As soon as Collis’ death became known talk of lynching the Negro was
heard and to-night a crowd began to gather about the jail.
The mob forced an entrance to the jail by breaking in the east doors
with a railroad iron.
At 10:30 the mob melted rapidly and it was the general opinion that no
more attempts would be made to force an entrance. Small groups of men,
however, could be seen in the shadows of the court house, two adjacent
livery stables and several dwelling houses. At 10:45 o’clock the police
were satisfied that there was nothing more to fear and they with other
officials and newspaper men passed freely in and out of the jail.
Shortly before 11 o’clock a diversion was made by a small crowd moving
from the east doors around to the south entrance. The police followed
and a bluff was made at jostling them off the steps leading up to the
south entrance.
The crowd at this point kept growing, while yells of “hold the police,”
“smash the doors,” “lynch the nigger” were made, interspersed with
revolver shots.
All this time the party with the heavy railroad iron was beating at
the east door, which shortly yielded to the battering ram, as did the
inner lattice iron doors. The mob then surged through the east door,
overpowered the sheriff, turnkey and handful of deputies and began the
assault on the iron turnstile leading to the cells. The police from the
south door were called inside to keep the mob from the cells and in
five minutes the south door had shared the fate of the east one.
In an incredibly short time the jail was filled with a mob of 250 men
with all the entrances and yard gates blocked by fully 2,500 men, thus
making it impossible for the militia to have prevented access to the
Negro, had it been on the scene.
The heavy iron partition leading to the cells resisted the mob
effectually until cold chisels and sledge hammers arrived, which
were only two or three minutes late in arriving. The padlock to the
turnstile was broken and the mob soon filled the corridors leading to
the cells.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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