Black Man Survives Lynching

Posted on July 10, 2009 by lmharnisch
 July 10, 1899, Trilby

July 10, 1899: Dick "Trilby" Williams, an African American charged with killing two white men, survives being lynched because the marshal of Alma, Kan., cut him down after six minutes. Although this story says Williams wasn't expected to live, a story three days later reported that Williams' neck had not been broken and he was likely to survive. The Times never reported anything further on whether he was tried.

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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2 Responses to Black Man Survives Lynching

  1. Wayne's avatar Wayne says:
    July 10, 2009 at 7:36 am

    There is more information on this story at http://www.archive.org/stream/earlyhistoryofwa00thom/earlyhistoryofwa00thom_djvu.txt Williams did survive the lynching, was tried and found guilty of murder along with Bender, and were sent to prison. The article also provides gruesome details of the murders.

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  2. Stacia's avatar Stacia says:
    July 10, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    Interesting! I lived in Alma when I was a kid, for less than a year during 5th grade. It was miserable. (I currently live in Manhattan, Kansas, which is marginally less miserable.) Looking at Wayne’s link, I see photos included of people whose names are still very familiar in Wabaunsee County and nearby areas. I went to high school near Alma and many of my classmates had those same (uncommon) last names.
    BTW, the Trilby item starts at page 151 of the book Wayne linked.

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