Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Aug. 19, 1985, edition 1 / Page 10
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10The Tar Heel Thursday, August 19, 1985 ' L - - - - - - -.., ..., i n -iniiiin I -- -- - FdMd cffimm.e snnd puamsIlimeiniiS: m old Ctisipel Hill. Following the Civil War, a single constable remained sufficient to . protect Chapel Hill life and property, spending most of his time casually in the town hall. Algernon S. Bar bee's small frame office was located just east of the current Methodist Church. But the peace was broken ; in 1 877 and 1 878 by a "reign of terror" i which gripped the town. Following the attempted rape of i a young white woman in April 1877, the first in a long series of nighttime burglaries and cruel attacks on women began when an intruder entered the bedroom of two women attending the Normal School, and escaped through a window when one of the, women turned out to be unexpectedly robust and ferocious. In the spring of 1878, burglars hit eight homes, including those of J.W. Carr, Cornelia Spencer, and mer chant Tom Kirkland, whose course to bankruptcy was hurried by the robbery. Then word spread that Mrs. Margaret Hendon was holding $1,000 in cash. Near, midnight on 15 June . 1878, . four men approached Mrs. Hendon's East Franklin Street home, in which she, her daughters, and her servants were sleeping. Two of the men broke into the house, using an ax they had found in the yard, burst into Mrs. Hendon's bedroom, and attacked her with the ax and a club as she leaned out the window crying for. help. Across the street, Dr. William P. Mallett and his son John heard the screams and rushed to the scene. The attackers fled, and the Mal leus found Mrs. Hendon with several deep scalp wounds. On the way to get his father's medical bag, John encountered Alfonso Davis, who had killed his brother in an August 1875 knife fight and who lived with his father, skilled bootmaker Washing ton Davis in the Horace Williams House. Davis asked what was going on and continued calmly on his way after hearing John's hurried report. The bloody attack threw the village into a panic. The commissioners posted a $300 reward; a Richmond detective came to investigate; a town meeting of black and white men ended with the formation of a vigilante committee. The house breakers next attacked two more Normal School students, and the reward rose to $1,000. Then on 5 August a thwarted burglary at the home of Rev. George W. Purefoy led to the arrest of Albert ATwater, a 24-year-old Negro who lived on Smith Level Road. Under questioning by attorney James M. Alexander and Col. Hugh Guthrie, Atwater agreed to give CHAPEL HILL T is going the extra mile ... Now Serving Three New Areas in Chapel Hill and Garrboro! MAN SIT , . '2 Money Saving Bus Passes & 40 Ride Tickets Available in the" Traffic Office Located in the Basement of the Y Building 1. THE VILLAGE APTS. On Smith Level Road. Peak Hour Service Only (6:30-10:00 a.m., 3:Q0-7:00 p.m.) on the V Route WO ODBRID GE APTS., WILLOW CREEK SHOPPIN G CENTER. On Jones Ferry . Rd. All Day Service on the C Route 3. WEAVER DAIRY RD. Kensington Trace, Timberlyne and Weatherstone Direct Service to Campus on the New T Route STILL A TRANSPORTATION BARGAIN 1985 PRICES SAME AS LAST YEARS FOR INFO. CALL 968-2769 state's evidence, naming as his . accomplices: Lewis Carlton; a black 35-year-old, enormously strong well digger; Alphonso Davis, a '33-year-old Caucasian and a member of the Chapel Hill String Band, a group that included Isaac Emerson, the inventor of Bromo Seltzer; and Henry Andrews, the 30-year-old Caucasian son of an Orange County deputy sheriff. Justices, John H. -Watson, S.H. Turrentine, and Merritt Cheek bound the accused over in the Hillsborough jail to await an October trial. Jones Watson joined the defense team. The town board called for public donations to help pay James Alexander and James B. Mason $100 each to assist the prosecution. Alphonso Davis and Henry Andrews claimed they had been in a brothel at the time of the attack, and several prostitutes confirm their alibi, but four citizens the jury considered more credible contra dicted the ladies' testimony. After deliberating 15 minutes, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. The judge sentenced Atwater to prison and the other defendants to be hanged on 22 November 1878. The defense appealed to the state supreme court, which upheld the decision. Governor. Thomas JV ; Jarvis received petitions from throughout the state protesting the execution of the white men on the contested testimony of a Negro. Scores of Chapel Hillians joined the chorus, but the governor refused to com mute. Consequently, on 16 May 1879, a crowd estimated at 8,000 gathered on "old Gallow's Hiir near Hillsbo rough as the Rev. A.C. Dixon of the Chapel Hill Baptist Church and the Rev. W.H. Wheeler accompanied the men to the scaffold. Alphonso Davis protested his innocence, forgave everyone, and sat while a deputy read a statement repeating the testimony he had given at the trial. Henry Andrews next proclaimed his innocence. Lewis See CRIME page 13 Don't be in the dark about birth defects. March of Dimes BIRTH DEFECTS FOUNDATION E52SS1 Buy One Nacho Cheese And Chips GET ONE FREE Good thru 83185 Fastbreak Hsxicsn Delivery Hcsfrjranr Next to A&P on Airport Rd. 1111Q033!
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Aug. 19, 1985, edition 1
10
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