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188 THE CRISIS

on the "Memphis press" in a long, special 
article headed, "36 Hours With the Mob,
or, How the Press Told it First."
   Roddy went out early Monday afternoon 
to "cover" the event for his paper. In his 
article he relates how the crowd waited and
continued to grow; how the women sang
ragtime and popular songs, but, as the 
sharp lightning flashed across the sky and
the storm gathered, they changed to "Near-
er My God to Thee."
   Since Roddy was an eye witness, it is well 
to quote his exact words on the "last con-
fession" made by Ell Person:
   "Under Pressure he was asked if any-
one else was connected with the killing of
the girl. The Negro hesitated, but with
much leading on the part of the mob lead-
ers, accused Dewitt Ford, Negro deaf-mute,
and Dan Armstrong, Negro wood chopper,
of being accomplices in the crime.
   "Dummy" Ford and Armstrong were both
run down and captured, and the crowd ex-
pected another and a double burning, but 
the men were released. Several of the 
papers made editorial comment on the sane-
ness and forbearance of the mob in releas-
ing the these two prospective victims after they 
were in their power.
   Edward T. Leach, another special writer 
on the "Memphis Press" and an eye-witness,
gives the following version of Person's "last
confession":
   "Then came word that the Negro wanted 
to make a confession and the crowd surged 
away from the tree with the rope and back 
to the road.
"Sailors stood up in the car and beside
ho, stood the Negro. The murderer was 
calm, but his eyes rolled white, for the
crowd screamed when it saw him.
   "Leaders tried to get silence and finally
they succeeded.
"'Person has a statement to make,'shout-
ed Sailors. But the Negro could not speak
and the marshal spoke for him.
   "'Person says that "Dummy" and Arm-
strong were in it with him,' said Sailors.
'He says that Armstrong framed it up and
that "Dummy" was in it, too. He says 
Armstrong hit the girl first and that he
(Person) cut her head off. He says "Dum-
my" was in it as much as they were.'"
   It is not possible for anyone to read with
a fair mind the history of this terrible 
crime from its beginning without feeling 
grave doubt as to Ell's Person's guilt. All
the facts furnish a doubt so strong that
the most humane form of lynching could not 
be looked upon as excusable.
   First of all, the crime itself did not bear 
the earmarks of a "Negro" crime. Negroes
guilty of the most lustful crimes are known 
never to mutilate their victims. Not only
was Antoinette's head severed but I
learned that one of her breasts had been
cut off and other abuses performed on
her body. This was not a crime of primi-
tive lust, but of over-civilized degeneracy.
   Again, Ell Person was a man near fifty
years of age. He was never legally accused
of assaulting Antoinette Rappal; the report
of his alleged confession did not include as-
sault; he was not indicted for assault. He
was reported to have confessed to murder,
and he was indicted for murder alone. Who,
then, committed the assault, or, according
to the theory of the detectives, the double
assault upon the Rappal girl?
   Again, none of the tangible clues, the
handkerchief, the white vest, the fresh au-
tomobile tracks found in this desolate spot 
were followed up; the theory of the city 
detectives was ignored and their efforts to
solve the mystery hampered; the sheriff
showed decided hostility to any other idea
than that the crime had been committed by
a Negro.
Out on the Macon Road is the spot where 
Ell Person was burned. It is in the bottom
lands of the Wolfe River, about fifteen miles
from the heart of Memphis. A long wooden
bridge with iron railings stretches across
the stream and the lowlands. The spot is
down in a hollow twenty feet, perhaps, be-
low the level of the road, and on the left 
side and at the near end of the bridge as
approached from the city. For a wide space
around, the trees had been felled to give
the view to a larger crowd. All the para-
phernalia of the unspeakable orgy were still
there; the log of a great tree placed on the
driven down with its base supported
by the log, its top supported by a long piece
of timber bracing it from the back and
by wires which had been strung around it
and fastened to the log. At the base of this iron rail to which Ell Person had been
chained the earth was still black and
charred; at its top, placed there to mark the
spot, there floated an American flag.

Men of the Month
AN ARCHDEACON AND EDUCATOR.
ARCHDEACON JAMES S. RUSSELL
was born four years before the Civil
War in Mecklenburg County, Va. After an
arduous childhood the chance came for him
to go to Hampton, thence to the Branch of 
the Theological Seminary of Virginia at
Petersburg, which has since been incorpo-
rated as the Bishop Payne Divintity School.
Here he prepare for the ministry and was 
ordained as deacon in March, 1882. He was 
assigned to missionary work in Brunswick
and Mecklenburg Counties, with headquar-
ters at Lawrenceville.
   His career at Lawrenceville which has
already lasted for 28 years has been one of
unceasing helpfulness. First he built a lit-
tle church, then started a parish school in 
the vestry room. This was the nucleus of 
the Normal School which he manages to-
day, and which comprises over thirty large
and small buildings, besides the splendid 
new Memorial Chapel, over 500 scholars 
from twenty odd States of the Union, Cuba,
Porto Rico, Haiti, and even far off Africa;
twenty-three trade and literary depart-
ments, 1,600 acres of land, forty five teach-
ers and instructors, over 500 graduates and 
over 4,000 undergraduates.
Archdeacon Russell's worth is well recognized. The Board of Trustees of the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary, and High School at Alexandria, Va., recently conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was also elected to the Suffragan Bishopric of the Diocese of Arkansas. But this, he refused, deeming it best to remain Archdeacon of Southern Virginia and principal of St. Paul's School.

AN ALUMNUS OF OBERLIN
MR. ELIAS TOUSSAINT JONES was born in Raleigh, N.C., about 84 years ago and came to Oberlin with his father and five brothers and a sister. Until his death the father was engaged at the blacksmithing trade on South Main Street, near the home place. Three of the sons were among the early graduates of Oberlin College: John in 1856, WIlliam in 1857, and Elias in 1859. Of the class of 1859 there remains now but one living male member, Professor George Frederick Wright of Oberlin, who often visited Mr. Jones and kept green the memory of their college days.
 After his graduation, Mr. Jones taught school at various places in Ohio, and then went to British Columbia, where he remained until about 24 years ago when he returned to Oberlin and married Mrs. Blanche Harris Brooks, who survives him. 
 At one time he studied law, completing his course, but never entering actively into the practice of it. He was greatly interested in the work of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and was a member of the same. His death, which took place on May 13, 1917 was felt severly by the community.

A NEW ENGLAND SCHOLAR
ALONZO MESERVE was born February 21, 1844 in north Abington, PLymouth Co., Mass., and died at his home in Boston on December 11, 1916. He was a school teacher for more than half a century, and was one of the first princpals of the high school of the city of Brockton. He received his early education in the public schools and began early in life to learn with his father the shoemaker's trade. After working for some years and continuing in the public schools, he taught one year in Hingham, Mass., and Alna, Maine. he took the regular course at the Bridgewater Normal School from which he was graduated. He was Principal Emeritus of the Bowdoin School of Boston at the time of his death. For twenty years he was active principal and a teacher for nearly forty years in Boston. 
 He was a man of strong character and of the highest standards of integrity. For many years he was a deacon in the Allston Congregationalist Church of Boston, and was for a time president of the Schoolmasters' Club of Boston. He always attached himself to every worthy cause. At one time there were some fifteen nationalities represented in his school, and he took great pride in making out of his pupils grand types of American citizens. Two colored women were employed on his teaching