Exemplification Essay: The Lynching Age

Imagine, if you will, a gathering of one thousand people, or more, in Mississippi in the year 1904. An event that would look much like a 4th of July picnic in Any Small Town U.S.A. Men, women, and children all gathered together, snacking on deviled eggs drinking lemonade or whiskey. This was the scene in Doddsville Mississippi on February 7th, 1904. A passerby could have easily mistaken the unusually large group gathered around the tree on that day for a happy celebration. And while there were smiles on faces and laughter there was nothing joyous about the occasion, at least not for Luther Holbert or his wife. Although they were the stars of the gathering and the main attraction they were in no way the guests of honor, because on February 7th, 1904 they were lynched. Lynching were most common in America between 1890’s and the 1920’s. So what makes the curious case of Luther Holbert and his wife stand out in the estimated 4,743 lynchings (72.7% were Negroes) that took place? Most lynchings were brutal and public events. The death of Luther Holbert and his wife were that and more. But what is more noteworthy is that while they were attached to a tree that was not the cause of death. No, they were murdered in a much slower infinitely more painful and inhumane fashion than a simple
noose around the neck. But why? The Duluth News Tribune, in mentioning Holbert in their February 5th publication said, “A posse of over 500 men is scouring the country in search of Luther Holbert, who is accused of killing James Eastland. More lynchings are expected.” The Times Picayune described Luther Holbert as the murderer of James Eastland, a Mississippi plantation owner, on the run with his wife which was disguised as a man. The paper also mentioned that the search party was led by the brother of James Eastland. A quote from the February 5th issue of the paper reads “If Holbert is caught alive he will be lynched here tonight, in all probability.” It went on to say “It is hoped to catch the Negro alive but being heavily armed and driven to the most desperate measures to escape this is hardly possible.” Towards the end of the article things get more interesting. It says, “If he is captured alive he will be brought here and his fate decided by W.C. Eastland.” W.C. was, ironically enough, the brother of James Eastland, the man Holbert was accused of killing. And unfortunately for Holbert and his wife they were caught alive.
Fast forward to three days later, February 8th 1904, and if you were in Anaconda, Montana and picked up the Anaconda Standard the headline would have read, “Burned at stake by mob in Mississippi Luther Holbert and wife Negroes the victims.” Interestingly enough they were one of only a few organizations to refer to Holbert and his wife as victims.
The killing of Luther Holbert and his wife, who strangely enough was never suspected of any wrong doing beyond staying on side of her husband while they fled for over one hundred miles on foot, was so disturbing that on March 6th , a day shy of a month after it happened, it was still being reported on as far away as Springfield,
Massachusetts.
The Springfield Herald released an article with the headline, “Bishop Brown and the Doddsville Lynching”. In the article an eyewitness is quoted in length as saying, “When the two negroes were captured they were tied to trees and while the funeral pyres were being prepared they were forced to suffer the most fiendish of tortures. The blacks were forced to hold out their hands while one finger at a time was chopped off. The fingers were distributed as souvenirs. The ears of the murderers were cut off. Holbert was severely beaten his skull was fractured, and one of his eyes, knocked out by a stick, hung by a shred from the socket. Neither the man nor woman begged for mercy, nor made a groan or plea. When the executioners came forward to lop off fingers Holbert extended his hand without being asked. The most excruciating form of punishment consisted in the use of a large corkscrew in the hands of one of the mob. This instrument was bored into the flesh of the man and woman, in the arms, legs, and body, and then pulled out, the spirals tearing out big pieces of raw quivering flesh every time it was withdrawn.”
The Springfield Herald took things a step farther than any southern paper did by humanizing the Holberts and even empathizing with their sufferings. Towards the end of the “Bishop Brown and the Doddsville Lynching” the paper takes a quote from the Vicksburg herald that said “If there is any hell, and if it is the abode of devils, they must have turned green with envy of the genius of their brethren on earth.”
The lynching of Luther Holder and his wife was one of many but the barbarity of it makes it stand out significantly. While Luther Holder was guilty of killing James Eastland he did not start his day on February 4th 1904 with the intent to end the life of the plantation owner which employed him. His wife was never accused of a crime and was known to be completely innocent of a crime. Yet somehow over one thousand people stood around while and celebrated as two humans were chained to a tree, mutilated, beaten, dismembered and had their body parts handed out as souvenirs. Over a thousand people sat by and watched as two people were burned alive. No one thought that the punishment was too cruel. No one opposed the handing out of body parts as souvenirs. No one said anything they just sat there calmly eating deviled eggs drinking lemonade and whiskey. Two people were gruesomely murdered and a whole community made a field day of it. How? Why?