Will Try Rev. Elwood
January 23, 1904
Summary
A Presbytery in Delaware calls a minister to trial after his sermon may have instigated a lynching.
Transcription
New Castle, Del., Presbytery to hear Charges February 2.
Dover, Del.,Jan. 20.-The New Castle Presbytery decided to try the Rev. R. A. Elwood, of Wilmington, Del., on charges in connection with the preaching of a sermon by him last June, entitled “Should the Murder of Helen Bishop Be Lynched?” The trial will take place in the Presbyterian church at New Castle, on February 2. Former Attorney General Robert C White, a Presbyterian elder and a member of the presbytery, will defend Elwood.
The complaint against Mr.Elwood is that he delivered a sermon at Wilmington, which, it is alleged, so worked up the people that the next night a mob gathered, stormed the workhouse, took out George White, the colored man, who confessed to assaulting and killing Helen Bishop, and burned him at the stake.
Dover, Del.,Jan. 20.-The New Castle Presbytery decided to try the Rev. R. A. Elwood, of Wilmington, Del., on charges in connection with the preaching of a sermon by him last June, entitled “Should the Murder of Helen Bishop Be Lynched?” The trial will take place in the Presbyterian church at New Castle, on February 2. Former Attorney General Robert C White, a Presbyterian elder and a member of the presbytery, will defend Elwood.
The complaint against Mr.Elwood is that he delivered a sermon at Wilmington, which, it is alleged, so worked up the people that the next night a mob gathered, stormed the workhouse, took out George White, the colored man, who confessed to assaulting and killing Helen Bishop, and burned him at the stake.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Megan Brooks
Citation
“Will Try Rev. Elwood,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed December 7, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/151.