A Fearless Judge
October 1, 1904
Summary
Judge Daniel Partridge Jr. charges the grand jury to bring forward the white men concerned with a recent lynching, further criticizing “white people severely for their treatment of the colored people and declared that the lower class of whites were responsible.”
Transcription
The action of Judge Daniel Partridge Jr., in charging the grand jury to bring in indictments in the cases of the white men engaged in the recent lynching of the colored man, Edward Bell, is a splendid illustration of the type of white men of the Southland, who are standing up for the law and order and fearlessly doing their duty.
He is a law-partner of Senator Pettus and was reared in the heart of the black belt. That he was nursed and attended by a black mammy admits of no question. He criticized the white people severely for their treatment of the colored people and declared that the lower class of whites were responsible for the lawlessness among the colored people by setting the bad examples.
He spoke of the faithfulness of the colored people during the late civil war, declaring that if they were given equal justice with the white citizens that they would make better citizens. He denounced the southern white men who carried revolvers for the purpose of shooting down helpless and inoffensive colored people upon the slightest provocation.
He continued Prof. Booker T. Washington and quoted his views with approval. As a result the grand jury is alleged to have disregarded its oath and proceeded to release every lyncher, one of whom had confessed to complicity in the crime. It recommended that the men charged with lynching be discharged.
Col. W.W Quarles, the prosecuting attorney openly charged that the grand jury had been influenced by the friends of the prisoners. Judge Partridge is a fearless jurist and it is evident that more men of his type are battling against the wave of lawlessness now sweeping over the Southland.
He is a law-partner of Senator Pettus and was reared in the heart of the black belt. That he was nursed and attended by a black mammy admits of no question. He criticized the white people severely for their treatment of the colored people and declared that the lower class of whites were responsible for the lawlessness among the colored people by setting the bad examples.
He spoke of the faithfulness of the colored people during the late civil war, declaring that if they were given equal justice with the white citizens that they would make better citizens. He denounced the southern white men who carried revolvers for the purpose of shooting down helpless and inoffensive colored people upon the slightest provocation.
He continued Prof. Booker T. Washington and quoted his views with approval. As a result the grand jury is alleged to have disregarded its oath and proceeded to release every lyncher, one of whom had confessed to complicity in the crime. It recommended that the men charged with lynching be discharged.
Col. W.W Quarles, the prosecuting attorney openly charged that the grand jury had been influenced by the friends of the prisoners. Judge Partridge is a fearless jurist and it is evident that more men of his type are battling against the wave of lawlessness now sweeping over the Southland.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Left Quadrant
Topic
Contributed By
Megan Brooks
Citation
“A Fearless Judge,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed February 14, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/674.