His Son Killed
February 1, 1896
Summary
John Oliver’s son Roscoe was killed by a gang of white boys with a shotgun.
Transcription
Jackson Ward was shocked Wednesday afternoon by the news of the killing of Roscoe C. Oliver, son of Mr. John Oliver. 808 N. 4th St. by Julian Traylor, white, son of Mr. Jno Traylor.
The coroner's Jury met Thursday, at 1 P. M. at the coroner's room in the new City Hall building. The facts as testified before the aforesaid jury are as follows:
John A. Miller, white, said, "I live on 608 N. 2nd St. I am going on thirteen years of age. Bahen, Hulcher, Greentree, Kelly, Wayne, Brown, and myself were playing Ball up there and were going back home, and had gotten to 2nd st. between Hill and Coutts Sts. Two colored boys were coming up the hill with a pocket full of rocks, and called us poor white son of a b----, and commenced throwing rocks at us. We did not trouble them first. We said nothing to them. Julian Traylor raised his gun to scare them and it went off accidentally.
We did not think there was any bullet in it, because we thought the had shot the last one in a tree and did not see him load it any more. The air rifle shoots BB 22 shot.
He shot it once and missed the colored boy. Then he put a load in it and the colored boy put his hand in his pocket as though he was going to draw a pistol, then he tried again. He shot the colored boy then, The gun went off twice. After the boy was shot, we all ran away.
We had to get behind a tree so that the rocks thrown would not hit us. We did not throw any rocks. The boy that was shot was with a large crowd of other boys the day before and threw rocks at us.
With them was a colored man with a shot gun. The man did not trouble us. We did not throw any rocks at them that day, but got out of the way. Every time we go out there, the colored boys run us white boys away; they don’t let us stay out there to play ball out there by the grave yard.
We never do any thing but run away, don't throw any rocks The colored boy was little over half a square off when he was shot.
…
ROLAND YOUNG, colored, said: "I live at 1214 N. 2nd I was sitting at my window yesterday afternoon, when I saw the boys. It was 5 : 25 o'clock. I saw some white boys with a rifle coming up Second St. I heard a report of what I thought was a pistol.
On looking out I saw a colored boy moving as though he was about to pick up something.
I saw the white boy walking backwards, and saw him fire. When he shot, the colored boy threw up his hands and hollowed. I saw the white boy load and walk backwards. They then ran. I heard the gun fired once and saw it fired twice. The white boys ran up towards Federal St. I saw none of them go towards Hospital St.
The coroner's Jury met Thursday, at 1 P. M. at the coroner's room in the new City Hall building. The facts as testified before the aforesaid jury are as follows:
John A. Miller, white, said, "I live on 608 N. 2nd St. I am going on thirteen years of age. Bahen, Hulcher, Greentree, Kelly, Wayne, Brown, and myself were playing Ball up there and were going back home, and had gotten to 2nd st. between Hill and Coutts Sts. Two colored boys were coming up the hill with a pocket full of rocks, and called us poor white son of a b----, and commenced throwing rocks at us. We did not trouble them first. We said nothing to them. Julian Traylor raised his gun to scare them and it went off accidentally.
We did not think there was any bullet in it, because we thought the had shot the last one in a tree and did not see him load it any more. The air rifle shoots BB 22 shot.
He shot it once and missed the colored boy. Then he put a load in it and the colored boy put his hand in his pocket as though he was going to draw a pistol, then he tried again. He shot the colored boy then, The gun went off twice. After the boy was shot, we all ran away.
We had to get behind a tree so that the rocks thrown would not hit us. We did not throw any rocks. The boy that was shot was with a large crowd of other boys the day before and threw rocks at us.
With them was a colored man with a shot gun. The man did not trouble us. We did not throw any rocks at them that day, but got out of the way. Every time we go out there, the colored boys run us white boys away; they don’t let us stay out there to play ball out there by the grave yard.
We never do any thing but run away, don't throw any rocks The colored boy was little over half a square off when he was shot.
…
ROLAND YOUNG, colored, said: "I live at 1214 N. 2nd I was sitting at my window yesterday afternoon, when I saw the boys. It was 5 : 25 o'clock. I saw some white boys with a rifle coming up Second St. I heard a report of what I thought was a pistol.
On looking out I saw a colored boy moving as though he was about to pick up something.
I saw the white boy walking backwards, and saw him fire. When he shot, the colored boy threw up his hands and hollowed. I saw the white boy load and walk backwards. They then ran. I heard the gun fired once and saw it fired twice. The white boys ran up towards Federal St. I saw none of them go towards Hospital St.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Liam Eynan
Citation
“His Son Killed,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed February 19, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1769.