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· 136 · 18 It is now reported that he has worked up a chain of evidence too strong and too well knit together to admit of a doubt as to the guilt of the parties under indictment. —Chicago Tribune, December 10, 1883 Thursday, December 13, 1883. it was the day emma’s family had long been dreading —she would have to tell her side of the story. Her stepmother, Delia, and at least one of her sisters planned to be with her constantly. But having to watch helplessly from the pews while his daughter relived her nightmare would verge on the excruciating for her greatest protector, her father. That was probably why he did not accompany emma to court that particular morning. Certainly, A. D. Bond understood that her appearance was necessary. since rapes don’t usually have witnesses other than the victims and the perpetrators, there was no way around emma’s testifying. Nobody in the world could shoulder that burden for her if there was to be any chance of a conviction. Hence, Thursday promised to be a harrowing day not only for emma but for those closest to her. At exactly nine o’clock, emma and her family arrived to find scores of people pushing their way into the courthouse. incredibly, the session started on time. As the first order of business, all of the witnesses were ushered in from the hallway and sworn in en masse. The task was accomplished in short order, and then the group’s members were escorted back out to the hallway to await their turns—out of earshot of the proceedings. The state called its first witness. emma entered and moved slowly up the center aisle on her stepmother’s arm. A large rocking chair awaited her at the stand. if her testimony took hours, her back pain might become unbearable, so someone had placed pillows on the rocker for her added comfort. Judge Ben edwards, a former circuit court judge from springfield, was to question her. At age sixty-five, he brought decades of legal experience to the case. moreover, he had earned his law degree at yale, a more prestigious school than those most of the trial · 137 his colleagues had attended. And, like some of his older peers here, he had once counted Abraham Lincoln and stephen A. Douglas among his friends. edwards stood and approached the witness, asking her to take her time and speak distinctly so the jury could hear all of her words. After asking her name and place of residence, edwards led his witness through the events of June 29, 1882.1 she began by saying that she’d taught at the montgomery school for just three months. on the last day of school, she had just one pupil, Charlie masters. At ten thirty, she had sent him out for recess so she could go across the road to practice some songs with minnie and ona Pettus. When emma got there, they told her they were busy and asked her to come back in the afternoon. When asked, she said she saw no one else at the house but heard some men talking in the kitchen. edwards directed his witness to the afternoon hours. she said she helped Charlie with his lessons from one o’clock until two thirty and then went back to the Pettus house. she and the girls practiced for half an hour. she heard no men in the kitchen that time. Then, she returned to the school about three o’clock. Charlie was waiting on the fence, and the two went back inside to finish his lessons. shortly before four, she sent him on his way. Then she swept the floor, shut the windows, and prepared to leave. she put her shawl over her left arm and picked up her handbag. As she reached for the doorknob, she heard a noise behind her, like someone dropping down from above. Before she could turn, a man grabbed her by the throat “with a heavy clutch.”2 His grip was so tight that she began to feel faint. He slammed her face, hard, into the door and then threw something over her head. He tied her shawl around her waist, knotting it tightly on her right side, and used a chair to boost her up toward the scuttle hole. There were two men waiting in the loft above. They pulled on her while the first man pushed from below. As emma told of...
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