A Fiendish Crime
August 26, 1899
Summary
A white man who had hired a black man as his assistant is “given a brutal beating” by a mob of white men.
Transcription
White Postmaster Scandalously Treated Employed Colored Assistant
Editor W. C. Crum, of the Florida Republicans, was brutally beaten by White-Caps at Peck last night. He is postmaster at that place, and has been going out there attending to mail at night and returning to the city in the morning. Some weeks ago he appointed Dan Morrison, a colored man, his assistant, so that the office could have a man in charge all the time.
Morrison was made to give up the office by a committee of citizens, who are unknown, and Mr. Crum had to go out and attend to the office himself.
Held Up By A Mob.
Last night, after he had completed his work, he started to a house he owned a short distance away, where he sleeps when at Peck. He was help up on the road by a mob of masked men, with guns who made him dismount. He was tied with a rope, hand and foot, and given a brutal beating. He also sustained severe bruises about the head and shoulders from kicks administered by the mob.
After they had finished beating him, they cut off the whiskers from one side of his face and applied carbolic acid to the deep gashes on his naked flesh, made by the whipping. Mr. Crum does not know who attacked him. The mob threatened to kill him if he ever appointed another colored assistant there. He has closed the office and will deliver no mail to the Peckites, and his resignation has been accepted at Washington.
Editor W. C. Crum, of the Florida Republicans, was brutally beaten by White-Caps at Peck last night. He is postmaster at that place, and has been going out there attending to mail at night and returning to the city in the morning. Some weeks ago he appointed Dan Morrison, a colored man, his assistant, so that the office could have a man in charge all the time.
Morrison was made to give up the office by a committee of citizens, who are unknown, and Mr. Crum had to go out and attend to the office himself.
Held Up By A Mob.
Last night, after he had completed his work, he started to a house he owned a short distance away, where he sleeps when at Peck. He was help up on the road by a mob of masked men, with guns who made him dismount. He was tied with a rope, hand and foot, and given a brutal beating. He also sustained severe bruises about the head and shoulders from kicks administered by the mob.
After they had finished beating him, they cut off the whiskers from one side of his face and applied carbolic acid to the deep gashes on his naked flesh, made by the whipping. Mr. Crum does not know who attacked him. The mob threatened to kill him if he ever appointed another colored assistant there. He has closed the office and will deliver no mail to the Peckites, and his resignation has been accepted at Washington.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Right Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Elias Sturim
Citation
“A Fiendish Crime,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed September 16, 2024, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1705.