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NEGRO IS BURNEDby Leesburg mobLeesburg, Camp County, Texas, Oct. 11.—“I did it; I am sorry,” were the last words uttered by Wylie Mc-Nealy, a 19-year-old negro, who was taken from officers at the county jail at Mount Pleasant last night and brought to this place and burned by a mob of 500 persons. The lynching took place four miles east of Leesburg about midnight.McNealy was held following an assault upon the 8-year-old daughter of a well-known farmer near her?. He had confessed to the attack.The child was walking alone along the country road on her way from Sunday school to her father’s horn-11 Sunday morning. She suid afterwaid that the first she knew was that a coat was thrown over her head and she felt a hand at her throat, after which she lost consciousness.Three hours later on Sunday the negro, who had been acting suspiciously, was arrested while sitting in front of a store in the village. He was taken to Pittsburg and later to Mount Pleasant, where he was lodged in jail.That night a mob formed, but due to lack of leadership, nothing was done. The next evening 400 or 500 determined men gathered and in 100 automobiles went from the Leesburg vicinity to Mount Pleasant and deliberately stormed the pail, took the negro and carried him back with them to near the scene o.f the crime.A steel rail was procured and leaned over a stump in such a way that the upper end was about five feet from the ground. The negro was fastened face downward to the upper end of this rail by means of chains 1 about his neck, shoulders and feet.II He was asked if he had anything to say and replied:“I did it. I’m sorry.”The black made no outcry. There was no excitement among the members of the crowd. Everyone was j quiet and determined. There was j hardly a sound above a low tone or : a whisper.Under the swaying form of the negro a pile of kindling and brush was placed and soaked with kerosene. A match was touched to it and soon the flames leaped up and enveloped the writhing form of the black boy. The crowd watched in silence. Aside from a few low’ moans there was no sound as the body on the end of the rail turned and twisted. In four or five minutes he was unconscious and within half an hour the body was burned almost beyond recognition as that ofa human beinjfcThe crowd quietly disbursed aboutmidnight, leaving the body swayingover the dying embers.The Sheriff of the county declared that from all appearances the little girl had been in the,woods with the negro for nearly an hour.Ki'viiin Kut (wfi«i thi* first
Newspaper Details
Whitewright Sun
Whitewright, Texas, US
Fri, Oct 14, 1921
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Dallas G.
TX, USA 29 Jan 2021
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Whitewright Sun
