The Innocent Women
February 15, 1896
Summary
The writer laments the situation of the Lunenburg prisoners such as Mary Abernathy, who were both at risk of lynching by outlaws and held in poor prison conditions, despite being known to be innocent.
Transcription
The last chapter in a celebrated case is about to be written and the final act in the drama will be soon given to an expectant world.
It is indeed a sad commentary upon our boasted civilization when we note the suffering to which these women have been subjected.
It has become manifest to all who have taken the trouble to investigate the facts that the women are innocent of the murder of Mrs. Jane Pollard.
Coupled with this is the declaration of Solomon Marable that they were in no wise connected with that horrible tragedy.
And yet Pokey Barnes was hurried from the jail in this city upon ten minutes notice by the sheriff of Lunenburg County, placed aboard the train, driven twenty-one miles in an uncovered vehicle, wet to the skin, with not a change of clothing. Upon her arrival at Lunenburg C. H., she was placed in jail there with less consideration than would have been accorded a brute.
But poor Mary Abernathy, with her month old babe was conveyed over the same route in a drenching rain and delivered at Lunenburg Co. jail.
Truly has it been said that the case is in God's hands. He will bring all things right in his own time.
For our part we have done the best we could. No stone has been left unturned to establish what we knew at first: the innocence of the women.
But even now the case is desperate. In the solemn recesses of this far away county, remote from any railway station of easy access to the lynchers, rests the hopes of these defenseless women.
Prayers are ascending in their behalf and we hope for a happy and successful ending of the case.
Then troubles of this kind for them will be over and joy will reign where sorrow and sighing has for so long a time been triumphant. Lynch-law must go!
It is indeed a sad commentary upon our boasted civilization when we note the suffering to which these women have been subjected.
It has become manifest to all who have taken the trouble to investigate the facts that the women are innocent of the murder of Mrs. Jane Pollard.
Coupled with this is the declaration of Solomon Marable that they were in no wise connected with that horrible tragedy.
And yet Pokey Barnes was hurried from the jail in this city upon ten minutes notice by the sheriff of Lunenburg County, placed aboard the train, driven twenty-one miles in an uncovered vehicle, wet to the skin, with not a change of clothing. Upon her arrival at Lunenburg C. H., she was placed in jail there with less consideration than would have been accorded a brute.
But poor Mary Abernathy, with her month old babe was conveyed over the same route in a drenching rain and delivered at Lunenburg Co. jail.
Truly has it been said that the case is in God's hands. He will bring all things right in his own time.
For our part we have done the best we could. No stone has been left unturned to establish what we knew at first: the innocence of the women.
But even now the case is desperate. In the solemn recesses of this far away county, remote from any railway station of easy access to the lynchers, rests the hopes of these defenseless women.
Prayers are ascending in their behalf and we hope for a happy and successful ending of the case.
Then troubles of this kind for them will be over and joy will reign where sorrow and sighing has for so long a time been triumphant. Lynch-law must go!
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Lower Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Liam Eynan
Citation
“The Innocent Women,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed March 21, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1775.