PELLEY MURDER, Part 3

Alexander County, Illinois Genealogy Trails

Contributed by Frank Beasley

SHERIFF AND PRISONER PLAY HIDE AND SEEK WITH MOBS

THROUGH THE SWAMPS

November 11, 1909

Realizing that the Cairo mob might storm the jail, Sheriff Frank E. Davis decided he had best get his prisoner, Will James, accused murderer of Anna Pelley, out of Cairo. His plan, he later said, was to take his prisoner to Centralia and he had taken the precaution of buying the train tickets at another town, so that no one would learn of his intended plan of action. But it is hard to keep a secret in a small town.

At 7:15 p.m. Sheriff Davis, Deputy Sheriff Tom Fuller and James boarded the northbound Illinois Central train to escape the lynch mob. But news of Davis' flight was telephoned to Anna and another, even angrier crowd, had assembled at the depot to wait the train's arrival. Informed by telegraph that a crowd of one hundred was waiting at Anna, Davis, Fuller and their prisoner hurriedly left the train at Dongola, about 16 miles south of Anna.

Knowing that Davis was a native of Union County, it was thought that he would now try to make his way west to the Mobile and Ohio depot at Mill Creek. While the mob combed the woods around Dongola, another group boarded the M & O train at Cairo, hoping to seize James when the sheriff boarded at the Mill Creek station. To their surprise, Davis did not get on the train, and no one had seen him though there were hundreds of men combing the woods.

"The reason that such an extraordinary attempt is being made to rescue James," it was reported, "is that the evidence against him is very scant, and it is not improbable that he is innocent." When Davis, Fuller and James left the train at Dongola, they had headed eastwards towards the town of Cypress. However, Davis lost his way in the timber and instead, found himself in Perks, a small village near the Cache River swamps. At Perks, Davis found a boy with a wagon who agreed to take the party to the lumber town of Rago. From Rago, they would make their way to Karnak where they would catch the Big Four train.

Arriving in Karnak, Davis was exasperated to find that they had missed the train. Exhausted from walking through the swamps all night, he stopped at a store and bought some sardines, crackers and a soda for himself, and then got some food for Deputy Fuller and James.

Not daring to stop where they might be recognized, the three weary men trudged on towards Belknap. Here they found a deserted house to rest in while they waited for the 5 o'clock train for Danville. What they did not know, was that they had already been recognized by a train crew at Karnak and word of their whereabouts was soon relayed back to Cairo. It was getting on towards dusk when the three emerged from their hiding place and began walking the remaining mile and a quarter to the Belknap station.

They had not gone far, however, when they heard approaching voices. Crouching in weeds on the edge of the swamp, the three men huddled close to the ground, hoping to conceal themselves from their pursuers. But their luck had run out. Soon, they were surrounded by five men whose shots quickly brought others running from every direction.

The men easily overpowered David and took James into custody. The mob then forced the three men to walk back to Karnak where they boarded the southbound Big Four train back to Cairo. When the train reached the 10th Street station at 8:45 p.m., James was hustled off by the waiting mob. Bound with ropes, James was marched to 10th and Commercial Streets where an ornamental steel arch spanned the streets. This arch was sometimes illunimated on festive occasions, and immediately the cry went up: "Let us see him." Gathered under the lighted arch was a tremendous crowd of people, estimated at 5,000 many of whom had come from surrounding towns to watch James meet his inevitable fate.

James was forced to confess his guilt. At first, he refused to admit the murder; but fearing for his life, he allegedly confessed, saying: "I killed her, but Alexander was with me and did as much as I did." Arthur Alexander was another negro who shared the house of James; he had earlier been taken into custody along with a third man, Will Thomas. Both Thomas and Alexander had been released for lack of evidence.

Despite his pleas, a noose was thrown around James' neck and a drygoods box was found to serve as a makeshift scaffold. But as the hangman attempted to pull James' heavy body upwards, the rope broke. It made little difference, however, as a volley of shots rang out and riddled his body with bullets.

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