Raleigh, June 23—Allen L. Young, principal of Wake Forest Normal and Industrial school, who has been on trial in United States court since Wednesday morning, was convicted today and sentenced to pay a fine of $250 and costs of the case after a number of local citizens, both white and black, brought into the courtroom by his lawyer and himself, had spoken very favorably of his previous good reputation. Several negro men expressed themselves as believing he could still render good service to his race if given another chance.
The case was based on his obtaining from Lonnie G. Bowling, substitute clerk in the post office of Wake Forest, on August 10, 1921, of a special delivery letter for Cissie Purefoy, containing $8, mailed the prior day at Norfolk, Va., by Annie Purefoy. He volunteered to deliver the letter to the addressee, who was unknown to Mr. Bowling, but did not do so and afterwards denied that it was given to him. There were two witnesses to the delivery of the letter to him, however, Rosa B. Wilkinson, a negro woman who was standing near him at the time, and Otho K. Holding, postmaster, who was at the general delivery window when Young obtained the letter from Mr. Bowling at the post office lobby.
After investigation by a post office inspector, Young was arrested on March 30, 1922, at Raleigh, and given a preliminary hearing on April 3 before a United States commissioner. On that occasion he set up a false alibi that he was in Greensboro on the day the letter was delivered at Wake Forest, alleging that he left Wake Forest the night of August 8, 1921, in an automobile for Raleigh, thence by train for Sanford and from there on afternoon of August 9 to Greensboro, where he came into contact with a number of citizens and left on the afternoon of August 10, via Raleigh for Wake Forest. He testified that while at Greensboro he registered at Craig House near depot and saw Prof. Charles H. Moore and Gurney E. Nelson there, that he obtained contributions to be mailed at a later date from E.B. Jeffress, Dr. banner and Dr. Wheeler, but did not obtain any payments on that date, other than $5 from a gentleman at Proximity Mill, whose name he did not know and could not describe and small amounts of cash from a few persons he did not remember. In this manner he sought to keep the actual date of visit to Greensboro concealed, but Mr. Jeffress, in looking over his subscription book recalled that there was a contribution that day from W.D. Meyers. It was found that Mr. Meyers issued a check to him for $50 on September 15, 1921, which was the real date of his visit to Greensboro, instead of August 10, as he alleged. It developed that Moore and Nelson were both out of North Carolina on the date Young claimed to have seen them at Greensboro (August 9).
From the Greensboro Daily News, Saturday morning, June 24, 1922
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