Sunday, June 3, 2018

White Man Drives Off Road to Kill Two Negro Girls Aged 3 and 12, 1918

“Drove Over Children,” from the Robesonian, Lumberton, N.C., June 3, 1918

One of the Occupants of Car Says Driver Named Dove Turned Out of Road and Drove Over and Killed 2 Negro Children

A news item in last Monday’s Robesonian told of two colored children being run down by an automobile near Whiteville and killed. Since that time two young men named freedman of the Chadbourn section have been arrested. One of the Freedmans turned State’s evidence and testified that he was in the car and that a man named Dove was driving the car when it struck the children. 

Dove has not been arrested and it is reported that he enlisted in the army after killing the two children. Freedman said the three men were drinking and that Dove drove the car out of the road in order to strike the children, one of whom was instantly killed, and the other died in a short time.

I went back to the previous Monday’s paper to find the first story.

Children Killed by Reckless Auto Driver

Two colored children, one aged 3 and the other 12, were run down by an auto and killed at Whiteville Friday afternoon. Those who saw the car say the driver drove out of the road in order to run over the children who were playing by the roadside. There were three white men in the car, it is said, one of them wearing a soldier’s uniform. They sped away after killing the children.

And in the June 6 issue of the paper:

Children Killed by Reckless Auto Driver

The killing of two negro children in Columbus County by a reckless auto driver was mentioned in The Robesonian 10 days ago and again in the last issue. The following is taken from a special of the 2nd from Whiteville to the Wilmington Star:

“The coroner’s inquest re-convened Friday evening to come to a final decision in the case of the killing of two negro girls in the outskirts of Whiteville last Friday by an automobile."


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