Description
“A Warning from the Vigilantes.” – Special Dispatch to the Globe-Democrat. St. Joseph, Mo., July 31 (1876). The following note was left pinned to the clothing of the negro (Raphael Williams).
Platte City, Mo., July 31, 1876. - Know all men by these presents, that the said Rafe Williams did commit -rape upon the person of Mrs. ____, a white woman the vicinity of Buena Vista, Platte County, Mo., on the 27th of July, 1876; that we regard the crime the chief of crimes and the law deficient in its punishment for like crimes.
We deem it necessary to take the law into our own hands, hoping that when our General Assembly meets this winter, they will increase the penalty for this crime to capital punishment.
Take heed that all persons, black or white, regardless of color, guilty of like crime, will suffer in like manner. Hoping it will be the last time we shall be called upon to record such a crime, we are those who wore the blue and the gray, and who remained at home private citizens, but have united to protect our families against such treatment as one of our citizens received on July 37, 1876.
Mrs. Davis is in a precarious condition, and her recovery is doubtful."Date(s) of Creation
8/1/1876
