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Tuesday, April 17, 2018

The Sound of the Pistol More Frequent Than Song of the Mockingbird in Asheville, N.C., 1905

The Caucasian, Clinton, N.C., April 20, 1905

“The Sound of the Pistol is More Frequent than Song of the Mocking-bird.”

Asheville, N.C., April 17—Asheville witnessed a touch of lawlessness late Saturday night and early Sunday morning that resulted in the killing of a negro named Butler Maxwell on Mountain Street, the serious and perhaps fatal wounding of W.A. Atkins, a white man, on Southside Avenue, the attack and serious injury of another negro of Valley Street, and the shooting of two women and a negro boys on “Greasy Corner.”

Three of the crimes, including the unprovoked killing of Maxwell, are believed to have been committed by two white men, non-residents of Asheville, who, followed by a dog, went looking for trouble and who after finding it succeeded in evading the police and making their escape.

The killing of Maxwell was the last of the desperate acts of the men and occurred shortly before one o’clock Sunday morning. Upon being notified of this last occurrence and feeling sure that the same men were responsible for Maxwell’s death who stabbed Atkins and assaulted the negro on Valley street, the police force went to work on meagre clues while Sheriff Reed and his deputies went hunting for the murders.

After working on the cases for several hours, clues were obtained that led the officers to suspicion Mac Brooks and Walter Barber, two white men of the Avery’s Creek section of the county, who were in town Saturday.

Brooks was arrested yesterday afternoon and Barber to-day.

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