Racial Violence In Kentucky: Lynchings, Mob Rule, and "Legal Lynchings"

SIX: Meeting Mob Violence with Renewed Determination, 1900–1940

Meeting Mob Violence with Renewed Determination, 1900-1940 The twentieth century would see the continuation of efforts to eliminate mob violence in Kentucky.Just like William O.Bradley before them, various governors adopted measures, some of which were drastic and highly controversial, to end lynchings. White newspaper editors began denouncing all acts of violence, even when AfroAmericans were guilty of rape or murder. A number of organizations also joined in the quest to end violence. All along,Afro-Americans, through a variety of ways, including armed resistance, remained determined to end racial violence. Despite these efforts, racial violence remained a fact of life in Kentucky . At least seventy people died at the hands of lynch mobs between 1900 and 1934, including four innocent youths in Russellville, David Walker and his family in Hickman, Will Porter at the Livermore Opera House, and two men in the largest town in western Kentucky in 1916. During the early decades of the new century, an unknown number of blacks were forced to flee their homes after being attacked by Night Riders in several western Kentucky counties and by hostile white railroad workers or coal miners in parts of eastern Kentucky. With the possibility of a lynching being a constant concern to them, blacks—especially during the first fifteen years of the 19005— continued taking up arms to prevent mobs from removing black prisoners from jails. On several occasions, they evenwent sofar as to shoot as soon as whites approached the jailhouse. Obviously, a few AfroAmericans had come to realize that only by adopting this tactic could they hope to turn back awhite mob. About sixty men rushed the jail in Maysville on January 14, 1902, in an attempt to get Charles Gaskins, on trial for the murder of a Flemingsburg police officer. Making no 185 S I X i 86 Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865-1940 attempt to protect their prisoner, the sheriff and his twelve deputies allowed the mob to break the windows and the door and then to batter down the cell door with a sledgehammer. Just as the mob was about to seize Gaskins, shotgun fire came from across the street. According to the newspaper account, "This had the effect of scattering the mob, which left as quickly as it came." The blacks responsible for the shooting were never identified, though they were believed to be Gaskins ' relatives. After the incident, a report circulated that the sheriff and his men had been ordered not to fire their weapons. Without question, blacks had saved Gaskins' life.1 Around midnight on June 14, 1904, a group of whites went to the jail in Lebanon Junction intent on lynching Marie Thompson, who had been arrested for the murder of a white farmer. After the men had completely surrounded the jail, one of them secured a sledgehammer and began pounding at the large padlock that held a heavy iron bar in place across the door. Meanwhile, from the rear of the mob, a groupof blacks approached and opened fire on the whites. Taken completely by surprise, the white men fled, getting off a few wild shots in their hurried escape from the scene. The gunfire brought most of the people of the village to the jail. The blacks then made a mistake that cost the black woman her life: They dispersed after the sheriff and his men promised to protect Thompson if the mob returned. Two hours later, however, nearly a hundred shots were fired, and the woman was dead. Angry over Thompson's death, blacks blamed the sheriff for refusing to move the woman from Lebanon Junction and for handing her over to the mob. Fearful that blacks would seek revenge,whites in Lebanon Junction armed themselves and waited several nights for an attack that never materialized.2 In 1908, a shootout occurred near the small western Kentucky community of Dixon when blacks attempted to prevent a lynching. Jacob McDowell, described as a "hardworking colored man of mature years," had an argument with Smith Childress, a deputy marshal in Providence, over the white man's intimate relationship with a young black girl. As McDowell started to walk away, Childress attempted to 1. Lexington Morning Herald, January 16, 1902; Tuskegee Clippings, Reel 221, Frame 112. The outcome of this case is unknown, though it is certain that Gaskins did not receive the death penalty. 2. Louisville Courier-Journal, June 16, 1904. Meeting Violencewith...