Mobs employing limbs of live oaks to mete out ‘justice’ were not uncommon (2024)

Above, “The Reason” by Albert A. Smith, 1920

Spent a lot of time with my nose buried in the pages of newspapers of a century ago while researching An Ostrich-Plumed Hat: And Yes, She Shot Him Dead and found myself often shocked by the stories I encountered.

Racism was not only entrenched, but there appeared little shame in embracing it openly in print. Ways were found to prevent Black men from affecting elections: poll taxes to discourage participation and refusal to allow Blacks to vote in the Democrats’ primaries. If no Blacks could vote in primaries, Black candidates would not be listed on the ballot. Mainstream white Democrat candidates boasted about this practice on the campaign trail. But that is all so minor compared to the accepted bias in the system of justice.

The truthful novel opens with the very public hanging of Leon Johnson for killing Dr. Augustus Maverick (1885-1913), an example clearly illustrating to Hedda Burgemeister what could happen to someone found guilty of shooting a powerful man in San Antonio, as she had done to brewery owner Otto Koehler (1855-1914). Executions attracted large crowds downtown.

During that period in time, Leon Johnson was fortunate to have even made it to trial, albeit a rather rapid one, without a mob carrying out its own form of justice. Black men like him often did not. Lynching was not unheard of even in major cities. The newspapers revealed that Sheriff John Wallace Tobin (1867-1927) feared San Antonians would not wait for the trial and verdict in the case of Johnson. As Koehler, before she shot him dead, relayed to Hedda in An Ostrich-Plumed Hat:

The police have no doubt of his guilt. District Attorney Linden told reporters that a lynching would almost be an excusable act given the nature of the crime. But Linden said a far greater punishment is to make him wait. To wait in jail, day after day for 30 days, the clock tick-ticking….

Alex Halff is sitting on the grand jury. He told me that, fearing the crowd would get out of control, Sheriff Tobin moved the prisoner from the city jail to the county jail. Still ill at ease, the deputies dressed the negro up like a woman and slipped him past the angry mob. They drove him clear to Austin, hiding him in the jail there to protect his life.

I kept wanting the real-life characters in the book to react sympathetically, trying to erase some of the racist past of Texas even though it glared out at me from the newspapers of the period. So, while still using the language of the period gleaned directly from the newspapers, I tasked Dr. Ferdinand Peter Herff (1883-1965) to try a little bit:

But did the boy really receive a fair trial? People were crying for a lynching; yet his court-appointed attorneys requested no change of venue. San Antonians were out for blood. If Sheriff Tobin hadn’t hidden the man, the angry mob would have taken the law into their own hands.

We would’ve been like Houston, Mississippi. A negro was jailed on the charge of murdering a white woman there. Without waiting for a trial, the townspeople seized him from the jail and hung him. But they hanged an innocent man…. The next day, the sheriff arrested another negro, and the wild crowd cheered as he confessed his guilt in the courthouse yard. Out of control again, the biased ‘jury’ chained him to the water pump, piled oil-soaked wood around him and set him ablaze. Was even the second man guilty?

And the horrors of Panola, Texas, insisted on jumping out at me. This time I pressed former Texas Governor Thomas Mitchell Campbell (1856-1953), who would later serve as Hedda’s defense attorney, to question the dark side of our past:

Tennie Sneed, shoots a white man, and mob rule takes over in Panola County. When they couldn’t take their anger out on the accused, they hanged two of his friends. One of them a woman. I ask you, what kind of justice do we have in Texas?

Sneed was suspected of killing Paul Quincy Strange (1877-1912), but, when a vengeful mob failed to locate him immediately, his housemates were seized. According to the Waxahachie newspaper:

News has reached here that two negroes, George Sanders and Mary Jackson, were lynched to the same limb of a tree in Panola county Tuesday. They resided in the same house with the negro, Tennie Sneed, who is accused of killing a white man, Paul Strange, a few days ago near Elysian Fields. Sneed is now in the penitentiary at Rusk for safe keeping.

A follow-up attempt at lynching Sneed was anticipated, so additional units of the Texas National Guard were called up to ensure his safe return to Marshall, Texas, for trial. While a crowd had been on hand for the lynching of his housemates, The Panola Watchman reported on February 28, 1912, that no indictments for the illegal execution were issued by the Grand Jury. Faced with token political pressure from Governor Oscar Colquitt’s office, the District Attorney of Panola found a convenient technical out: the tree chosen by the mob was near the county line. Maybe it was in Harrison County, not Panola. The hot potato presumably was easily tossed between the counties until it became a cold case.

After discussing numerous unpleasant issues affecting Texas, former Governor Campbell returned to the lynching:

Heaven. Elysian Fields. It’s supposed to be paradise, the final resting place of the souls of the virtuous. Yet, Elysian Fields is the name of the place in Panola County where those negroes were left swinging from a limb by a misguided vigilante ‘jury.’ I ask you again, Judge, what kind of justice do we have in Texas?

Mobs employing limbs of live oaks to mete out ‘justice’ were not uncommon (1)

And all of the above can be lumped into the category of history currently banned from being taught in some Texas schools, unpleasant truths that should be swept under the rug. It’s uncomfortable for white students to face, so why do it?

Unbanned, as it is found in no school or public libraries, An Ostrich-Plumed Hat, and Yes, She Shot Him Dead is available now via Amazon.

Mobs employing limbs of live oaks to mete out ‘justice’ were not uncommon (2024)

FAQs

Why are they called live oaks? ›

Live oaks possibly get their name because, unlike most other deciduous oaks which drop their leaves in the winter and might look dead, live oaks lose and replace their leaves gradually throughout the year and so look "live".

What is the difference between a live oak and a water oak? ›

Another important difference is that water oaks tend to be more vertical with relatively shallow roots, while live oaks can spread 100 feet across. This horizontal orientation is what makes the live oaks better adapted to the kinds of winds Charleston sees in hurricanes like Matthew.

What is the lifespan of a live oak tree? ›

Answer: No. Live oaks can live for well over 60 years, often reaching 250-500 years in good growing locations. Maturity is reached by 75 years.

Are live oaks good trees? ›

The live oak is a keystone species that serves as the backbone of its ecosystem. It provides shade and furnishes a habitat for hundreds of living organisms, including mammals, birds, insects, and other plants.

What does the live oak tree symbolize? ›

The live oak tree (Quercus virginiana) is symbol of beauty and endurance along the northern Gulf of Mexico's coast. The wood of the live oak trees is very dense, strong, and among the heaviest of American woods.

What is meant by live oaks? ›

live oak, any of several species of North American evergreen oak trees . Live oaks derive their name from the fact that they have foliage year round and because lumbered or injured trees send up many sprouts, which also produce sprouts if cut themselves.

Is live oak wood good for anything? ›

Live Oak is extremely strong and has very good resistance to decay. Cabinetry, furniture, interior trim, flooring, boatbuilding, barrels, and veneer. Historically, it has been used in shipbuilding, and was even used in the construction of the USS Constitution, better known as "Old Ironsides".

Should I water live oak? ›

In general, healthy live oak trees are able to survive the dry seasons and extended droughts we experience in California. In most circumstances it is not necessary to water mature established live oak trees. Shallow watering can in fact cause additional problems.

What is the difference between live oak and angel oak? ›

While live oaks are known to only grow out and not upwards, the long history of Angel Oak has allowed it to grow both out and up. This explains why it is so tall (more than 65 feet high) and so broad with a canopy that provides more than 17,000 square feet of shade.

Can oak trees live 1000 years? ›

Oak trees are long-lived trees.

Oak trees are mature at 75 years and have an average lifespan of 150-250 years. However, the oldest oak trees are over 1,000 years old! This local oak tree in West Chicago was likely around during the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Do live oaks stop growing? ›

Southern live oaks are fast-growing trees, but their growth rate slows with age. They may reach close to their maximum trunk diameter within 70 years. The oldest live oaks in the country are estimated to be between several hundred to more than a thousand years old.

Can an oak tree be 500 years old? ›

Some very long-lived specimens are known. Among them are the Middleton Oak and the Angel Oak, both in South Carolina. The Angel Oak is thought to be 400 to 500 years old.

How far from the house should you plant a live oak tree? ›

Many factors go into planting a live oak tree. First, the tree needs enough space when it is first planted. It should have at least 180 square feet, and it should be 40 to 50 feet away from other trees. Additionally, the live oak needs to be 15 to 20 feet away from structures like your home or driveway.

Are live oaks rare? ›

Plant Description

The Coast Live Oak is one of the only California native oak that actually thrives in the coastal environment, although it is rare on the immediate shore.

Why are live oaks dying? ›

Live oaks are not tolerant of excessive soil moisture. Over-watering live oaks can cause fungus and disease to grow on the roots, leading to rotting roots. When the roots decay, the tree has no way of absorbing the water and nutrients it needs to survive.

How did Naval live oaks get their name? ›

Ideal for water-based recreational activities and hiking, the reservation received its name because it was the first and only federal tree farm designed to reserve the valuable live oaks that shipbuilders desired in the 1800s.

Why are the live oaks dying in Texas? ›

Oak wilt is caused by a fungus that affects every species of oak trees, said Kimberlee Peterson, a woodland ecologist with the Texas A&M Forest Service. Central Texas is home to the red, live and white oaks, which are all impacted differently by the disease.

What are the catkins on oak trees? ›

Catkins are clusters, or inflorescences, of male flowers. Each of the "bumps" on the catkins is a male flower consisting of a bract (a highly modified leaf), a lobed calyx and some pollen-producing stamens. Once the stamens have released their pollen into the air, the entire catkin will fall from the tree.

References

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