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Fred B. Simpson With Mary N. Daniel Gay C. Campbell Triangle Publishing Co. 2000 I
IRIANGli PUBLISHING COMPANY 105 NORTHSIDF SQUARE HUNTSVILLE. ALABAMA Copyright 1999 by Fred B. Simpson All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, scanning, or any storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author. Inquiries should be addressed to Triangle Publishing Company, 105 Northside Square Huntsville, Alabama 35801. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-97386 Hardcover: ISBN: 0-09675765-0-4 Cover Painting, 77ze Tree by Fred B. Simpson Oil On Canvas, 20 X 24, Private Collection. Cover Design by Gay Campbell First Edition Printed in the United States of America. II
- y 4 lo u l th e ^ 4 u ilio r Fred Bryan Simpson was bom in Birmingham, Alabama, but was educated by Montevallo Public Schools until joining the United States Air Force. During the Korean Conflict, he served in the Far East Office of Special Investigations. He financed his college education at Samford University by working as a Birmingham Police Officer. While at Vanderbilt Law School in Nashville, Tennessee, he paid his expenses working as a private investigator. He was District Attorney of Huntsville-Madison County during the decade of the seventies. He is now in private practice, specializing in murder cases. Fred has been compiling information on murder cases in Madison County for over twenty-five years, and hopes to find time to publish more about these historical events. Interested in genealogy since a boy, he has compiled and plans to publish information about his family. Fred and his wife, the former Peggy Holloway, have been married for forty years and have three children: Bryan Simpson, Derek Simpson and Cindy Simpson Howard. They have also been blessed with four grandchildren. Besides writing, Fred enjoys his family, the law, painting portraits, and historical research. _./4 b o u l th e /^ e ie a rc /i ^ 4 \iiita n ii Mary Nevman Daniel was bom in Chattanooga, Tennessee but has lived most of her life in Alabama. She graduated from the University of North Alabama with a degree in Elementary Education, and received her Masters Degree from Alabama A & M University. Mary was selected to work in Canada as a Fulbright Exchange Educator in 1993. She retired from the Huntsville City School System after teaching thirty-two years, but returned to teaching English as a Second Language, part-time. She has been married for thirty-five years to Frank (Kenny) Daniel, and they have two children, Trent and Kendra Daniel. Mary is an avid reader, and also spends much of her time in her garden when not traveling, performing public service or looking for information on local history. Gay Cushing Campbell was bom in Huntsville, Alabama. She received her degree from the North Alabama College of Commerce in Huntsville, Alabama. She retired from the Kroger Company in 1995. She was the Historian-Archivist for the John Hunt Morgan Chapter United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1997 and the President of the Tennessee Valley Genealogical Society 1996-2000. Gay is a public speaker, lecturing on topics of historical and genealogical interest of the Tennessee Valley. She has taught at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, and the Huntsville Madison County Public Library and for many historical societies. She is the mother of three children: Tony Coulson, Kristina Coulson and Kathie Campbell, and the grandmother of Alexis and Kenysha Coulson. Her hobbies are many, but her spare time is spent traveling to genealogically significant and historical places. IV
J a o l e o f (^ontenh About the Author...IV About the Research Assistants...IV Dedication... VI Acknowledgments...VII Table of Contents...XI Introduction... XIII Foreword... XVII Origin of the Term Lynching...XVII Definitions of Lynchings...XVIII Research Sources... XVIII Historical Perspective... XX The Lynching Era... XXIV Chapter One... 5 White-Evans-Hall 1878...5 The Players...7 The Killing...11 The Testimony...21 The Meeting...39 The Lynching...44 Epilogue...49 Biographies Chapter One...51 Chapter Two... 89 Wesley Brown-1883... 89 The Democrat... 105 November 1, 1883... 105 Epilogue...107 Biographies Chapter Two... 109 Chapter Three...119 Robert Mosley-1890... 119 Epilogue...129 Biographies Chapter Three... 131 Chapter Four... 139 Mollie Smith and Amanda Franks-1897... 139 Epilogue...153 Biographies Chapter Four... 155 Chapter Five... 163 Elijah Clark-1900... 163 Epilogue...191 Biographies Chapter Five... 195 XI
Glossary of Laws and Legal Terms... 207 Trial Participants...209 Introduction to Chapter Six...211 Chapter Six... 215 Horace Maples-1904...215 Wednesday September 7, 1904... 241 Friday, September 9, 1904...244 Wednesday, September 14, 1904...247 Thursday, September 15, 1904... 248 Friday, September 16, 1904... 253 Saturday, September 17, 1904... 256 Sunday, September 18, 1904... 256 Monday, September 19, 1904... 257 Tuesday, September 20, 1904... 259 Thursday, September 22, 1904... 266 Friday September 23, 1904... 268 Saturday, September 24, 1904... 270 Sunday, September 25, 1904... 272 Monday September 26, 1904... 272 Tuesday September 27, 1904... 274 Wednesday, September 28, 1904... 276 Thursday, September 29, 1904... 278 Friday, September 30, 1904... 279 Saturday, October 1, 1904...280 Tuesday, October 4, 1904... :...281 Later that Month... 282 Sunday, October 23, 1904...283 Epilogue...285 Biographies Chapter Six...297 Biblography... 337 Index...343 Order Form... 359 XII