Esseck White, accused of attempted rape, was one of the final confirmed lynchings in Nacogdoches County on the night of August 8, 1897. While Governor Charles Culberson ordered the militia, commanded by Texas legend General Woodford Mabry, to assist the local Sheriff Andrew Jackson (John) Spradley in protecting White from a lynch mob, they failed. Moreover, White’s lynching represented a wider trend of accusing African American men of rape to stir anger and justify murder.
\nOn the night of August 4, 1897 Esseck White allegedly broke into the home of Dr. W. P. Fears in Nacogdoches City and cut a lock of hair from one of four girls attending a sleepover. White was further accused of attempted rape. More specifically, the girl to whom the lock of hair belonged was eighteen-year-old Lollie Berger, the daughter of White’s immediate former employer, Robert Berger. The details of the crime are more than a little hazy. First, the number of intruders is not clear. Media reports from the time variably state that only one intruder broke in while others claim two. The papers also cannot seem to agree on who was first alerted to the intruders, only that Fears was informed and that the intruders fled after taking a lock of Lollie’s hair.[1]
\nEsseck White and Amos Phillips, two African American laborers who had recently worked on Berger’s farm, came under immediate suspicion. There is, however, no real way of knowing who the intruders were. Whatever happened, and whoever did it, the alleged crime was trumped up to an accusation of rape, with the lock of hair as the only piece of evidence. Whether White and Phillips were intent on rape is unknown, but the accusation itself was powerful. Lynching victims were often accused of crimes, but a rape charge was the ultimate pathway to incite mob violence, particularly from poorer white males angered not only by the modicum of advancements made by African Americans in the latter nineteenth century but also by their own failures in the booming marketplace and in providing for their own families. Their wrath and insecurities often manifested as violence toward African Americans.[2]
\nWith what happened with Joe Adams ten years earlier in 1887, when Sheriff Spradley failed to prevent mob tyranny, he tried harder. This time, after the arrest of White, Governor Charles Culberson sent in the militia to help, but mob violence still prevailed. Indeed, only a few weeks before the arrest and lynching of White, House Bill #30 had been passed in the Texas Legislature, which focused on outlawing and punishing mob violence. Armed with such a law, Governor Culberson called in the militia, commanded by Woodford Mabry, to assist in protecting White and Phillips and dissuade the bloodthirsty mob. Unfortunately, the militia did not arrive in time to protect White. In the middle of the night, the mob broke into the jail and dragged White out, screaming. The mob brought him to the front of the courthouse, where they tied White up and lynched him with the use of a quickly assembled gallows. Before White’s death, however, it was reported that the mob allowed him to speak, and White supposedly confessed.[3]
\nWith the militia in town, attention turned to the protection of Amos Phillips, whom Spradley had successfully moved out of the jail (we do not know how or exactly when). Ultimately, under the guard of the militia, Phillips was escorted into town, met with legal authorities, and simply declared innocent. He was then taken to the train station and spirited out of town. His fate and life after this remain unknown.[4]
\nThe accusation of attempted rape, despite the lack of evidence, stirred the anger of the people of Nacogdoches County and made them feel that justice would not be served and that the law needed to be taken into their own hands. They had little evidence, a lock of hair purportedly found on White and a coerced confession under extreme duress. It did not matter. The mob ruled and lynched White anyway. Lynching victims were often accused of crimes or otherwise disrupting peaceful society, but a rape accusation was the ultimate way to put a lynch mob into action. Today, it would be impossible to prove guilt in a court of law with these, but the “justice” of Judge Lynch is most often based on laughably poor cases.[5]
","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["[1] \"May Be A Lynching,\" The Shreveport Evening Journal (LA), August 9, 1897, p. 4; and \"May Be A Lynching,\" Shreveport Weekly Journal (LA), August 12, 1897, p. 8; The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), August 8, 1897, p. 10; and The Times-Democrat (New Orleans), August 8, 1897, p. 7. \"Telegraphic Notes,\" San Francisco Chronicle, August 8, 1897, p. 17; \"Lynching in Texas,\" Indianapolis Journal, August 8, 1897, p. 4; and \"Indications,\" The Nashville American, August 8, 1897, p. 1.","[2] See above note as well as Terry Anne Scott, Lynching and Leisure: Race and the Transformation of Mob Violence in Texas (Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2022), 71; and Frederick Douglas, “Lynching Black People Because They Are Black,” The Christian Educator, April 1894, 105.","[3] \"Texas Neck Tie Party,\" Morning Herald Dispatch (Decatur, IL). August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"Told Once More,\" The Montgomery Advertiser (AL), August 8, 1897, p. 6; \"Another Lynching,\" The Herald (Los Angeles), August 8, 1897, p. 2; \"Lynching in Texas,\" The Los Angeles Times, August 8, 1897, p. 2; \"Texans Lynch a Ravisher,\" The Morning News (Savannah, GA), August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"Negro Lynched,\" The Evansville Courier (IN), August 8, 1897, p. 10; \"Judge Lynch,\" Journal-News (Evansville, IN), August 8, 1897, p. 11; \"Lynching in Texas,\" The Sunday Journal (Indianapolis), August 8, 1897, p. 4; \"Negro Rapist Lynched,\" The Wichita Daily Eagle (KS), August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"Judge Lynch,\" The Sunday Leader (Lexington), August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"Double Lynching Likely,\" The Courier-Journal (Louisville), August 8, 1897, p. 3; \"Negro Put to Death,\" St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"A Lynching in Texas,\" The News and Observer (Raleigh), August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"Lynching Bee,\" Sunday Repository (Canton), August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"Double Lynching in Texas,\" The Richmond Dispatch (VA), August 8, 1897, p. 13; \"Their Fury Irresistible,\" The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 8, 1897, p. 7; \"Lynching in Texas,\" The Chattanooga Daily Times, August 8, 1897, p. 2; \"One of Them Hangs,\" The Nashville American, August 8, 1897, p. 3; \"Double Lynching,\" The Morning Herald (Lexington, KY), August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"Determined Mob,\" The Knoxville Tribune, August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"Double Lynching,\" The Shreveport Times (LA), August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"A Lynching Threatened,\" Austin Daily Statesman, August 8, 1897, p. 4; \"Troops Ordered Out,\" The Courier-Journal (Louisville), August 9, 1897, p. 2; \"Troops or No Troops,\" The Nashville American, August 9, 1897, p. 1; \"State Militia Called Out,\" Austin Daily Statesman, August 9, 1897, p. 1; \"Mob Defied the Military,\" The Post (Camden, NJ), August 9, 1897,p. 3; \"Mob Defied the Military,\" Carbondale Leader (PA), August 9, 1897, p. 8; \"Mob Defied the Military,\" Carlisle Daily Herald (PA), August 9, 1897, p. 3; \"Mob Defied the Military,\" The Evening Sentinel (Carlisle, PA), August 9, 1897, p. 1; \"Mob Defied the Military,\" Harrisburg Star Independent (PA), August 9, 1897, p. 2; \"Mob Defied the Military,\" Lebanon Daily News (PA), August 9, 1897, p. 4; \"Esseck White Lynched,\" The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 9, 1897, p. 12; \"Negro Promptly Lynched,\" The Times (Philadelphia), August 9, 1897, p. 5; \"Mob Defied the Military,\" Evening Herald (Shenandoah, PA), August 9, 1897, p. 4; \"Lynchings in Three States,\" The Daily Picayune (New Orleans), August 9, 1897, p. 1; \"Lynchings in the South,\" The Times-Democrat (New Orleans), August 9, 1897, p. 2; \"The Texas Way,\" The Sun (Baltimore), August 9, 1897, p. 2; \"Sheriff is Excited,\" The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), August 9, 1897, p. 1; Untitled, Fort Scott Daily Tribune (KS), August 9, 1897, p. 1; Untitled, Lawrence Daily Journal (KS), August 9, 1897, p. 1; Untitled, Ottawa Daily Republican (KS), August 9, 1897, p. 1; and Untitled, The Daily Eclipse (Parsons, KS), August 9, 1897, p. 1. For the Anti-Lynching Bill (House Bill 30), see “Chapter 13, H.B. 30,” General Laws of the State of Texas, Passed at the Special Session of the Twenty-Fifth Legislature, Convened at the City of Austin, May 22, 1897, Adjourned June 20, 1897 (Austin, 1897), 40, in Hams Gammel, The Laws of Texas, 1822-1897, Volume 10 (Austin: The Gammel Book Company, 1898), 1480.","[4] “State Militia Called Out,” Austin Daily Statesman, August 9, 1897, p. 1; “Troops or No Troops,” The Nashville American, August 9, 1897, p. 1; “Our Fresh Governor,” Shiner Gazette, August 11, 1897, p. 4; “No Blood Was Spilled,” Austin Daily Statesman, August 16, 1897, p. 1. Also see, \"Rescued by Soldiers,\" Indianapolis Journal, August 10, 1897, p. 1; \"Condensed News,\" The Mirror (Wichita, KS), August 14, 1897, p. 13; \"Negro Rapist Lynched,\" The Wichita Daily Eagle (KS), August 8, 1897, p. 1; \"Troops Ordered Out,\" The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), August 9, 1897, p. 2; \"Gallant Soldier Boys,\" The Shreveport Times (LA), August 10, 1897, p. 2; \"Under Protection of Calvary,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 10, 1897, p. 2; \"Rescued by Calvary,\" The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), August 10, 1897, p. 1; \"No Blood Was Spilled,\" Austin Weekly Statesman (TX), August 12, 1897, p. 1; \"State News,\" Brenham Daily Banner (TX), August 11, 1897, p. 2; and \"State News,\" Brenham Weekly Banner (TX), August 19, 1897, p. 7.","[5] Terry Anne Scott, Lynching and Leisure: Race and the Transformation of Mob Violence in Texas (Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2022), 71."],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://easttexashistory.org/files/fullsize/18568fb3b5fe41ba8277b7bf9dcdebcc.jpg":{"id":2937,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"In the pages of this Austin newspaper, we learn not only about Esseck White’s lynching, but also the gruesome details and the mob deciding to leave his body hanging.","description":"\"Lynching at Nacogdoches,\" Austin Daily Statesman, August 8, 1897, p. 1. | August 8, 1897","thumbnail":"https://easttexashistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/18568fb3b5fe41ba8277b7bf9dcdebcc.jpg"},"https://easttexashistory.org/files/fullsize/28536afd180577204d66c1c46d8d138b.jpg":{"id":2938,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"In this news report out of Pennsylvania, Esseck White is distinctly referred to as a “fiend.”","description":"Public perception and broader national stereotypes of African American men attacking white women, in fact, escalated mob violence, such as in the case of White. During the mid-nineteenth century, caricatures of African Americans circulated rapidly to first justify slavery and then to justify oppression and the rise and entrenchment of Jim Crow segregation laws. The “Brute” and “Mandingo,” for instance, along with “fiend” and “brute,” were portrayals of African American men as overly aggressive, violent, and hypersexual predators. Such racist images and stereotypes, along with others such as the “Mammy” and “Uncle Moses” were ingrained in Southern society, dehumanizing and devaluing African American lives so that they did not matter. So, when Esseck White was accused of rape, he sadly and quickly died at the hands of angry white Nacogdocheans not content to allow the democratic, constitutional laws and principles of the nation to unfold. |A Fiend Strung Up,\" Scranton Tribune (PA), August 10, 1897, p. 1.
| August 10, 1897","thumbnail":"https://easttexashistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/28536afd180577204d66c1c46d8d138b.jpg"},"https://easttexashistory.org/files/fullsize/eec3cd5e491d296d7ded414d75249e6f.jpg":{"id":2939,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"John Spradley, pictured here in October 1902, served as Nacogdoches County Sheriff on and off for 34 years between 1882 and 1916.","description":"Originally from Mississippi, Spradley moved to Nacogdoches in the 1870s. Over time, “His use of bloodhounds, which he raised and trained to track criminals, and his shrewd detective work soon became legendary.” “During Spradley's long career as a law officer,” we further learn, “he participated in a number of famous cases.” This included tracking down the outlaw Bill Mitchell throughout South Texas and New Mexico after Mitchell murdered James M. Truitt in Timpson, participating in an expedition against the remnants of the Dalton gang after they held up the First National Bank of Longview in 1894, and he arrested outlaw Tex Wallace after he robbed the Cotton Belt Bank of Timpson. In the end, Spradley also served as Sheriff during all of Nacogdoches’ known lynchings. |The Times Democrat (New Orleans), October 16, 1902, p. 3.
| October 16, 1902","thumbnail":"https://easttexashistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/eec3cd5e491d296d7ded414d75249e6f.jpg"}}}