General History of Macon County, Missouri

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1910 edition. Excerpt: ...a negro, who had quite a while before been arrested for annoying some white girls, but who had been acquitted. In spite of the damning evidence by the trail of flour, Williams protested that he had not been out of his house that night. They took him to jail and during the day he was interviewed by a reporter. Williams said: I used to be a member of the Methodist church at Marceline, but I never joined out here. My present wife, though, belongs to the church. I am going to tell the truth about this matter if it kills me. My wife and I went down to the doctor's street concert Tuesday night. After that we came home and went to bed. I never got up until morning. I/Vhen I woke I went over to the Rev. McDonald's house to attend to his horse. Then I came back home and the policeman arrested me. I didn't know a thing about this water-works business and the little girls down there. I never told the little Koechel girl anything about treating her like I did the water-works girls. I was not in the Koechel house that night. I am not that sort of a man. I never killed anybody in a fight in Alabama. You see Mr. McDonald and he will tell you what sort of a man I am. I positively deny that I have been in this house. They wanted me to say, 'yes, ' but they can kill me before I will do it. There was considerable talk during the day, and as night came on it became very well settled that the negro was to be hung. A. J. Glenn, was sherifi, at the time, and he stationed one of his deputies out in front of the jail. The citizens quietly formed about the jail and in the court house yard, talking in groups but making no violent demonstrations. The Rev. G. A. Robbins, pastor of the Methodist church. appeared on the scene...