Illinois Sheriff Battles Lynch Mob

Posted on February 18, 2010 by lmharnisch
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Feb. 18, 1910: Drunk driving isn’t illegal – yet!

Feb. 18, 1910, Lynching
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March 26, 1910, Lynching

Feb. 18, 1910: Another racial incident erupts in Cairo, Ill., where a mob lynched two men, one African American and the other white, in November 1909. A purse-snatching set off the latest lynching attempt. Notice that the governor called out the militia, but that no one could locate the company’s officers to take command. As a result, Sheriff Nellis deputized several men to help defend the prisoners. This became a source of further racial outrage because Alexander Halliday, a white member of the lynch mob, was shot to death by the deputies, who included four African Americans who admitted firing into the crowd. Because of the dangerous situation, Nellis left Halliday’s body lying where he fell until daylight, further enraging racial tensions, The Times said. 

Interestingly enough, The Times editorialized against lynching on March 26, 1910. I mention this because in 1938, The Times published an editorial against a federal anti-lynching law. 

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About lmharnisch

I am retired from the Los Angeles Times
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