File:Lynching of Fred Alexander in Leavenworth, Kansas in the Coshocton Daily Age of Coshocton, Ohio on 16 January 1901.jpg

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Victim Of A Mad Mob. Negro Suspected of Foul Crimes Burned at the Stake. 00. or to every two the car- .every 'In ,ad- will re; for save best sub- who do not and by noti- .- you small, office not. day GAMELY, PLEADING INNOCENCE. ent«r- r«ia« line each so- adrer- will be notices be in- o« fight- the lee- South the his sent Botha fie to the s-fcip. ana is Boers He the ityly only tlitoi- t-ajov 1 n t o( our repnbiiea 'At far l f l v wander this aa- iu*ir ro- policy tile at l v e r did the from ninny na Incum un to tlie hud to Bt-u our do not Afrl- sal- nun Held by the Law Kor Murder and Criinliiul Aasault, the Negro Wits DrogKCd Kroui » Cell by a Barbarous Multitude, Mercilessly Cuffed, and Finally Couslgued to the Leavenworth, Kan., Jan. 16.--Tied a railroad rail placed, upright in the ground, Fred Alexander, a negro, was burned to death by an infuriated mob. The scene of the lynching was within half a dozen blocks of the center of city. Alexander was charged with bay* leg on .last Saturday eveninjfi.attempt-- ed an assault upon Miss Eva Roth, was -supposed to have assaulted ami killed Miss Pearl Forbes. 20, In this city, in November last. Thousands of people witnessed the execution. The negro was taken from his cell at the state penitentiary in the after- poon, put into a hack and brought the jail. A mot) soon gathered and demanded the prisoner. , Sheriff fiver- hardy refused the request. Then the crowd |ughed its way to the side forced the door from its hinges, and (urged into the corridor by the n$rrp\y doorway, A huge Iron bar was secured and the iron djpr of the cell room attacked -and battered down. The angrv mob issued forth in a ment, dragging the negro by the collar. He toad been struck over the head with a. hammer tint} was still conscious. Men fought to get at hire, Outside ' the stockade the crowd surged. Alexander and his captors were surrounded by a solid wall of human flesh. Across Third street and up the Jjill into the courthouse yard they dragged him. Then they stopped BtilL "Confess, before we harm you," aafd they. Claimed Innocence. "I am Innocent," was Alexander's reply. "If I bad been guilty I would said so at the penitentiary, and would have staid there for life." "You lie," they cried, and one huge fellow, filled more with the lust for blood than with the feelings of a struck him in the forehead with his fist three times. This-seemed not to have the slightest effect on the negro. He was turning white. "Take bam where he committed the murder," suggested one. The suggestion met with instant approval, and the crowd, carrying the negro, pushed on for Fourth street. 5:15 Alexander was brought to the scene "of the murder of Pearl Forbes, at the corner of Lawrence avenue and Spruce street. The exact spot where the murdered girl was found was located by the leaders of the crowd, there a semi-circle was formed. Again the negro protested his innocence, while the mob roared. He was quickly driven down the embankment to a of wood with his hands shackled, and there bound to the stake. The spot chosen for the stake was the exact on which Pearl Forbes body was on the morning of November 7. Coal oil ;-was then -poured over him and the match touched to him. Before the match was applied John Forbes, the father of Pearl Forbes, stepped up to Alexander and said: "Are you guilty of murdering my daughter.?" "Mr; Forbes, if that's your name, you have the wrong man," the negro replied. "Burn him! Burn him!" cried the crowd. "Gentlemen, you've got lots of time," said Alexander. "You're burning an innocent man. You took advantage of me. You gave me no show. Can I see my mother?" Clatch Applied. A man in the crowd called for the mother, but she was not "in;the crowd. He then said,: "Will you let me shake hands with all my friends?" "You have no friends in this crowd, you damned beast," said, one of the men charge of the negro. Coal oil was then applied for the second time, and while it was being done Alexander called to friends in the crowd and told them goodbye. Again Alexander was asked to make a confession, but he replied that he had nothing to pay. As the flames leaped about him Alexander turned ghastly pale, and for the first time realized that his death was near. He clasped his hands together and began to swing to and fro, while the crowd yelled. In less than five minutes he was hanging limp and lifeless by the chains that bound him. When the fire had died down sufficiently to allow the crowd to approach what remained of Alexander there was a wild scramble to obtain relics, bits of charred flesh, pieces of chain, scraps of wood -- everything that could possibly serve as a souvenir was seized with morbid eagerness. Fred Alexander was arrested for attempting to assault Miss Eva Roth, a seamstress, on Saturday night last, and he was charged with the assault and murder, Nov. 6, of Pearl Forbes. Miss Roth was returning from work when attacked and her screams brought aid. Alexander was arrested soon after and Identified. A great crowd gathered and threatened a lynching, but the police spirited the man to the state prison. The assault and murder of Pearl liorbe» occurred on Nov. 6 last. Miw Fort** was employed in a candy fac- toty. She had started from work at 6 O'clock, walking, as wa« her custom. Her body was found in a ravine near taw borne on the following rooming. Mark* on her throat Indkated that *h« A kad bMD murdered wy MrmafitUUoB. ·hi a*4 Cnt been ·remliaa

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