Gateway to Texas: The History of Orange and Orange County Page: 61
viii, 261 p. : ill. ; 24 x 29 cm. 2nd edition.View a full description of this book.
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SOCIAL VIOLENCE UNLEASHED
to the limb of a tree. A rope was placed around
his neck and he was hoisted up and down and
tortured in this manner for about an hour. He
finally confessed that Delano had hired him in
exchange for a pair of boots some eight months
previously to assassinate a man named Bill Bab-
cock. In that attempt, Mrs. Babcock had been
shot. After making a full confession of his many
crimes, he was hoisted up and left hanging.
After the Negro's confession, Delano was im-
mediately captured and placed in jail. Mrs. De-
lano, hearing of the matter, procured a horse and
proceeded in the night to the house of her
brother, Duke Harris. He was aroused and,
mounting a horse, escaped from town. Delano
had many friends and relatives living in the sur-
rounding county; when they came into town, it
was feared an attempt to rescue Delano would
be made. Dr. Stansbury, who dressed Sheriff
Michel's wounds, reported that they were not se-
rious and that he would probably recover.
Later news from Orange said that about 13 Ne-
groes, plus Delano, were in jail. Sam Saxton, one
of the ring leaders of the Negroes, was pursued;
one of his shoes, found in the marsh, was filled
with blood. In all, six Negroes had been killed,
and it was feared a number would be hung. Dur-
ing the trouble, the agent of the Texas and New
Orleans Railroad was run off and a new agent
had to be sent to Orange to take his place.
On August 24, the Galveston Daily News pub-
lished a report out of Houston noting that all
was quiet in Orange. Still:
... the citizens are generally armed, or have their six-
shooter in easy distance. Delano was released on bail
by Justice Snell, and his trial comes off tomorrow, atwhich time many anticipate trouble. Delano's party is
crippled but not destroyed. He is connected by mar-
riage and blood kin with several prominent families,
strong numerically and financially, and should the citi-
zens' party lynch him, it is believed there will be
bloodshed.
The lady who, according to Sam Saxon's confes-
sion, hired him for $50o to bum the town is said to be
the wife of one of the leaders of what is called "the
gang." She belongs to a prominent family in the
neighborhood.
The newspaper revealed the name of the Ne-
gro member of the gang who was shot and killed
by the mob on Sunday night as Robert Whaley.
Another Negro, Odell, turned state's evidence
and was released by the lynchers. 01 Delano and
Charlie Delano, the two white men in the Saxon
gang, promised to sell out and leave the country,
but the citizens feared that they might seek
revenge.
During the riot, all the stores and saloons in
Orange were closed. On August 18, it was learned
that wires had been cut so that no news could
get out from Orange. The cutting of the wires
may have had something to do with the railroad
agent's departure.
In 1885, Orange County Sheriff J. C. Fennel
was shot while trying to arrest a fugitive wanted
in Tennessee for murder. Dave Anderson, a Ne-
gro, was wanted for the murder of I. B. Bud-
dington, a brakeman on the Louisville and Nash-
ville Railway.
The sheriff died September 26, 885, at 9:30
P.M., and a mob lynched Anderson, hanging
him on the big oak at Fourth and Front Streets.
The Galveston Daily News gave an account of the
mob action:... the excitement which had prevailed since the
bringing in of the prisoner by Marshal Davis and his
posse, took on a more subdued and determined na-
ture, but indignation was depicted on every counte-
nance. Up to 12 o'clock, groups of men on every street
corner were discussing the killing. After that hour the
streets gradually became deserted, and at I o'clock
there were only a few stragglers to be seen. The guards
at the jail were fixing themselves comfortably for a
quiet night, when the tramp of men up Main Street
dispelled all such ideas, for they knew too well what
was to follow.
When the mob halted at the jail and demanded of
the guard the murderer of Sheriff Fennel at the point
of loo cocked revolvers, they could but retire. The jail
door was then forced, and the prisoner was taken out
and marched to the oak in front of D. Call and Sons,
where with little ceremony, the criminal was soon dec-
orating the majestic tree, swaying to and fro, literally
riddled with bullets. A few minutes later, those who
had come to execute the murderer dispersed and quiet
reigned...
One other felon was to "decorate" the majestic
tree on Front Street before it finally died of what
some said was "lead poisoning." The Galveston
Daily News noted on August i4, 1889, that Jim
Brooks, a Negro who had been arrested on a
rape charge, was taken from the guard about one
o'clock that morning "by a masked mob, vari-
ously estimated at from 300 to soo and hanged
to the limb of the old oak at the corner of Fourth
and Front Streets. After he was hauled up, at
least ioo shots were fired at hs body."
In the early part of the twentieth century
Orange County added to its tarnished history.
Speakeasies, bootlegging, gambling, murder,
and general disrespect for the law abounded.
Bootlegging was one of the principal industries
of the county, even after the repeal of Prohibition.61
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Williams, Howard C. Gateway to Texas: The History of Orange and Orange County, book, 1988; Orange, Tex.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth39146/m1/79/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .