Three Men Killed in Court
January 13, 1900
Summary
A group of three white men whip another white man's black tenant, leading to a lethal fight at the county courthouse.
Transcription
Principals in a Case Growing out of the Whipping of a Negro
Vicksburg, Miss., Jan. 9.—Oak Ridge a little hamlet eighteen miles northeast of this city, was the scene this morning of a desperate affray in which three of the best-known residents of the county were killed. The dead are: A. D. Rolland, R. S. Stephenson, and Dr. Otho Austin.
Only meager details of the encounter are obtainable, but it transpires that Dr. James Austin, his son, Otho Austin, and his son-in law, R. S. Stephenson, had been arrested on an affidavit sworn out by Rolland, charging them with whipping one of Rolland’s Negro tenants. The trial was set for this morning in Justice Griffin’s court at Oak Ridge.
The trial had hardly opened when the shooting began, but who fired the first shot is not known. When the smoke of battle had cleared away Rolland, Stephenson, and Otho Austin were stretched on the floor dead, and Dr. James Austin and a young son of Rolland were seriously wounded.
Vicksburg, Miss., Jan. 9.—Oak Ridge a little hamlet eighteen miles northeast of this city, was the scene this morning of a desperate affray in which three of the best-known residents of the county were killed. The dead are: A. D. Rolland, R. S. Stephenson, and Dr. Otho Austin.
Only meager details of the encounter are obtainable, but it transpires that Dr. James Austin, his son, Otho Austin, and his son-in law, R. S. Stephenson, had been arrested on an affidavit sworn out by Rolland, charging them with whipping one of Rolland’s Negro tenants. The trial was set for this morning in Justice Griffin’s court at Oak Ridge.
The trial had hardly opened when the shooting began, but who fired the first shot is not known. When the smoke of battle had cleared away Rolland, Stephenson, and Otho Austin were stretched on the floor dead, and Dr. James Austin and a young son of Rolland were seriously wounded.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Elizabeth Lopez-Lopez
Citation
“Three Men Killed in Court,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed February 19, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/111.