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Note: N2177 Peter Ouzts I and His Descendants by Hortense Woodson, 1949, p. 230
Edgefield SC US Census 1880
A LYNCHING IN EDGEFIELD.
_____________
The Victim Had Murdered Young Mr. Ouzts.
Twenty-Five Unmasked Men Enter the
Jail, Riddle the Prisoner With
Bullets and Then Cut
His Throat.
______________
The News of the murder of young James Ouzts, son of the sheriff of Edgefield by the negro Dick Lunday was received in Columbia yesterday and created quite a flutter of Excitement. An immediate lynching was a once predicted, and when the new of it came last evening there was little surprise, although it served yo make people cease talking prohibition a while. The first news of the killing was received by the Governor about 11 o’clock yesterday morning as follows:
Edgefield, SC Dec. 7
Governor B. R. Tillman:
Dick Lunday, a negro, killed Sheriff Ouzts’s son, James. The negro will be lynched unless you do something and do it quick.
O. F. CHEATHAM,
Governor Tillman acted at once, and what he did is fully shown by the following dispatches:
Columbia, Dec 7, 1891
W. H. Ouzts, Sheriff, Edgefield, S.C.:
Do your duty and protect Dick Lunday. The law will punish the murderer. Call in the Edgefield Rifles if necessary. I rely on you.
B. R. TILLMAN, Governor
This went to the military company:
Columbia, Dec. 7
W. W. Adams, Captain of the Edgefield Rifles, Edgefield, S.C.
Put your command at the sheriff’s disposal and protect Dick Laundry at all hazards.
B. R. TILLMAN, Governor
After taking these precautions the governor rested easy and expected nothing more. An Edgefield man said that you Ouzts, who was about twenty-two years of age, and acted as jailer and constable for his father, was shot on Saturday night at a hot supper and had died yesterday morning. Sunday, he said, was large negro known as the most desperate character around Johnston, and always went armed, generally carrying a large pistol buckled around his waist. He new nothing of the cause of the killing.
NEWS OF THE LYNCHING
Yesterday afternoon the Governor received the following telegram, and when seeing that his precautions had been disregard he was very mad:
“Hon. B. R. Tillman, Governor. About 4 o’clock a mob got into the jail and shot Dick Lunday to death. George B. Lake”
Then came the following: “B. R. Tillman, Governor. Negro has been lynched. A crown has just been in jail and shot him. O. F. Cheatham.
THE GOVERNOR ACTS QUICKLY
Governor Tillman immediately wrote the following to Solicitor Nelson, which shows very clearly the state of his feeling. Solicitor Nelson will leave this morning:
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER, COLUMBIA, S.C., Dec 7, 1891.
P. H. Nelson, Esq., Solicitor of the Fifth Circuit.
Sir: Information has just reached this office that a negro, Dick Lunday by name, has just been lynched in the Edgefield jail. You will proceed at once to Edgefield courthouse and make a riding and searching investigation of the matter and report in writing as to the following facts: What steps if any did Sheriff Ouzts take to protect the prisoner; second, did the military company, the Edgefield Rifles, receive any orders from the sheriff to assist him in upholding the law?
Of course you will take the most vigorous steps to ferret out the men who did this lawless deed, and have them arrested and if it should become necessary, as many State constables or militiamen as you need will be placed at your disposal. i shall expect you to d your whole duty and see that the majesty of the law is vindicated. B.R. HILLMAN, Governor
WHO DICK LUNDAY WAS
Dick Lunday, the murderer, was convicted at the June term , 1878, for Edgefield of manslaughter, he having killed a negro, and was sentenced to a life imprisonment in the penitentiary by Judge Aldrich. Afterwards, it was ascertained that the sentence had been a mistake as the law did not permit such a long term; that the jury had recommended him to mercy. The solicitor recommended a Commutation and the penitentiary physician stated that his health was bad. In consequence, a big petition was sent Governor Thompson and on May 29, 188, the fellow’s sentence was commuted to date, he having served six years in prison,
SHERIFF OUZTS EXPLAINS
Last night the following dispatch was received from Sheriff Ouzts:
JOHNSTON, SC, Dec. 7. 1891
To Governor Tillman, Columbia, S.C.
While attending the burial of my son today, between 4 and 5 o;clock p.m., a body of men forced entrance into the jail here and shot and killed Dick Lunday, who killed mu son. I regret and very much deplore the lynching. I had ordered the Edgefield Rifles to go to the jail at 6 o’clock and guard it, but the lynching took place before they could get there.
W. H. Ouzts, Sheriff
Find A Grave Memorial# 71946752
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