Part 5
William L. Hall, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he resides at 202 West 49th Street; that he is employed as an elevator conductor by R. H. Macy & Co., on West 14th Street; that on August 15th, 1900, he was on his way to visit a friend at 410 West 36th Street, and had reached 36th Street and 9th Avenue, when a crowd of young men and boys, from about sixteen to nineteen years of age, got around him and commenced yelling, jeering, hooting, and striking him with their fists, and with sticks, pieces of pipe, and one in particular struck him in the side with a weapon made of a long piece of wire, with a hammer head fastened to it. He ran away from the crowd, and succeeded in reaching a house in 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, and succeeded in defending himself there for about an hour and a half, and finally managed to get out and home. Deponent states further that at the time of the assault, and at the commencement of it, four officers in full uniform were in the midst of the crowd of rioters, and were with them while they (the rioters) were attacking the house with stones, and that at that time, and at no time during the assault by the rioters, did these officers make any attempt to protect deponent, or to stop the assault by the rioters, but on the contrary, by reason of their presence and inaction on their part, they encouraged the said rioters to greater deeds of violence; that the deponent is a peaceable, law-abiding citizen and a member of St. Mark's M. E. Church, on West 53rd Street, and that on the said evening he was molesting no one, and was walking quietly along with Joseph Cæser, of 121 West 46th Street, and John Hansborough, of 329 West 53rd Street, who also were attacked by the rioters.
WILLIAM L. HALL.
Sworn to before me this 1st day of September, 1900.
GEO. P. HAMMOND, JR., Notary Public (164), N. Y. County.
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_City and County of New York, ss._:
William E. Johnson, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
I reside at 332 West 37th Street. On Wednesday, August 15th, 1900, fearing that there might be trouble over the killing of Officer Thorpe, I remained in the house all day and did not go out until about eleven P. M., when I went across the street to get my mail from 331 West 37th Street, where I have a letter box, because where I live at present the letter boxes are easily rifled, and this box is more secure. Upon returning to the house, which I did about five or ten minutes after leaving it, I found a police officer standing in the front of the house, ordering the tenants who were sitting on the front stoop to go inside, and saying that if he found them there when he came back he would club every one of them that he found there. The people then jumped up and ran inside, and the officer immediately followed them, striking at them, and struck one woman across the face. As the people got inside the vestibule door the said door closed, and I, thinking that the officer would not go inside, opened the door and stepped inside, whereupon the officer rushed into the hall, and struck me a blow on the head, felling me to my knees. I said, "Officer, I have done nothing; why do you strike me?" The officer said nothing, but jumped over me, chasing some of the tenants who had not succeeded in getting upstairs. While he was doing that I went out into the street, holding my head, which had been cut open by the blow, when the officer came out of the house and, grabbing me, pushed me into the street and commenced to club me again. I ran across the street to the tailor shop of I. Cohn, at 337 West 37th Street, and into the back room of his place, and fell on the sofa, where the officer, who had followed me in, renewed the clubbing and dragged me out into the street and to the 37th Street station house; and on the corner of 9th Avenue and 37th Street they met an officer who was in citizen's clothes. The said officer drew his billy from his pocket, and struck me a blow across the neck, and put his billy back into his pocket. When I reached the station house I did not answer any questions, and the sergeant who was behind the desk knew my last name and entered it on the blotter as Albert Johnson, not knowing my first name. I was put in a cell, and after I was put in a cell two more were put in with me, and once or twice while I was there an officer came through, and going to each cell called the occupant to the door, asked them their names, etc., and would then take his billy and push it through the bars into their faces. In one case he struck one man in the face, knocking out two of his front teeth; this man was sent to the island the next day, and I believe is now there. On the Tuesday following Acting Captain Cooney called and brought me down to the station house, and asked me who the officer was that assaulted me. Deponent then described the officer to him, and after consulting the blotter he handed me a slip of paper whereon was written the name "Herman Ohm" saying that was the name of the officer who had assaulted me. Captain Cooney expressed surprise that any of the officers should have beaten me, as I was known to a great many of them. The officer charged me with having a gun, and of giving him a fight in the hallway, but did not produce the gun and was given until the next day to produce it, when he produced a revolver and a bread knife of peculiar shape, claiming that was what I had in my possession at the time of my arrest. Deponent denied then and now that he had ever had a revolver and knife in his possession, and that the only thing that was found on him and taken from him was fifty cents in money and a small penknife. Notwithstanding the denial of the ownership of the revolver and knife by the deponent, and also that the officer brought no witnesses as to his taking the said articles from him, deponent was fined fifteen dollars, which was paid.
W. E. JOHNSON.
Sworn to before me this 4th day of September. 1900.
GEO. P. HAMMOND. JR., Notary Public (164), N. Y. County.
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_City and County of New York, ss._:
Edwin H. Broadard, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he resides at 332 West 37th Street; that he witnessed the action of the officer mentioned in the above affidavit of W. E. Johnson, and also the subsequent clubbing of Johnson by the said officer, and that deponent was one of the tenants who was chased off the stoop by the said officer; that the assault on the tenants by the said officer was unwarranted and without justification.
EDWIN H. BROADARD.
Sworn to before me this 4th day of September, 1900.
GEO. P. HAMMOND, JR., Notary Public (164), N. Y. County.
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_City and County of New York, ss._:
Mrs. Rosa Lewis, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
I reside at 332 West 37th Street. On Wednesday, August 15th, 1900, about eleven P. M., I in company with my husband and a number of other tenants were sitting on the front stoop of our home, when an officer approached and ordered us to "get inside out of that," adding that if we didn't he'd club us. All of the tenants immediately obeyed and passed on into the hallway, and I had reached the foot of the stairs leading up to my rooms when the officer, who had rushed into the hallway, struck me over the back with his club; I was lame in my back and suffered pain from it for a number of days. Deponent states further that the staircase is in the center of the house and about fifteen feet from the main entrance; that she was using every endeavor to comply with the command of the officer, which was given in an insulting and ill-natured manner.
ROSA LEWIS.
Sworn to before me this 13th day of September, 1900.
GEO. P. HAMMOND, JR., Notary Public (164), N. Y. County.
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_City and County of New York, ss._:
Maria Williams, of No. 206 West 27th Street, and Carrie Wells, of No. 239 West 29th Street, in the Borough of Manhattan, being severally duly sworn, depose and say:
On Wednesday, August 15th, 1900, we were sitting on the stoop of No. 239 West 29th Street, talking; we had been sitting there since 9:30 P. M. We had there learned of the assaults on the Negroes in this section, and heard the noise of the crowds and the stopping of the cars on 8th Avenue. There was no crowd in the street at this time. There were white and colored folks sitting on nearly all the stoops, the same as occurs on any ordinary warm night. About 11:30 several officers came through the street from 8th Avenue and walked towards 7th Avenue, three on the north side and four on the south side. No one in the street had been molested by anyone. These officers walked up the stoops, and without any warning ordered us into our houses, at the same time striking at us. Mrs. Wells, the mother of deponent Carrie Wells, was on the stoop one step from the bottom with three of her children, aged respectively fourteen, thirteen, and twelve years. An officer who is called "Joe," and whom we know, stepped up to Mrs. Wells, and said, "Get in there, you black son of a b----," and struck her viciously across the right hip, when she ran in with her children, the officers still following, striking at her until he reached the top step, looked around, and threatened to strike us if we came out again, and he then went away. Deponent Williams looked out of her window and saw these officers go through the same procedure wherever colored folks were sitting. Nothing was said or done to any white people. We see this officer every day. At about 2:15 in the morning some officers came through the block and clubbed colored people wherever they saw them, men as well as women. Deponent Wells lives at home with her mother, and helps her keep house; deponent Williams keeps house for herself and husband. Deponent Wells is a member of the Church of the Transfiguration, at 29th Street and 5th Avenue, where I have attended for years. Mr. and Mrs. Miller, of West 29th Street, know of us; Mrs. McGurk, of No. 225 West 29th Street, Mrs. Kloze, of 223 West 29th Street, all can vouch for our character.
CARRIE WELLS.
MARIA x WILLIAMS. her mark
Sworn to before me this 4th day of September. 1900.
SAMUEL MARCUS, Notary Public. N. Y. County.
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_City and County of New York, ss._:
Mrs. Irene Wells, being duly sworn, deposes and says that she resides at No. 239 West 29th Street; that on Wednesday evening, about nine o'clock P. M., she visited a sick friend, named Mrs. Twine (who has since died), at No. 216 West 29th Street, and while there, and at about eleven o'clock P. M., hearing of the riot, she rushed out of said 216 West 29th Street to look for her children and get them safely at home--she having five children, and, motherlike, was anxious to get them out of danger. That while gathering her children together she noticed six police officers on each side of the street, and had succeeded in getting her children up the stoop and into the hallway of her home, and was on the second step of her stoop going upstairs, when Police Officer 1065 came along, and, striking her across the right hip with his club, said, "Get in out of here!" and made several passes at her, and pursued her up two or three steps of the stoop, but she rushed on up the stoop, driving her children before her, and escaped him and his blows. Deponent further says that she is a widow, and the sole support of her five children, by doing general housework, ironing, and washing, etc., and has done so for the past seven years; that she is a thoroughly respectable woman, and is peaceful and quiet at all times, and deems this assault by the police officer aforementioned an outrage, and without cause or provocation. There were three children on the stoop with her.
IRENE WELLS.
Sworn to before me this 31st day of August, 1900.
GEO. P. HAMMOND. JR., Notary Public (164), N. Y. County.
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_City and County of New York, ss._:
William H. Ross, being duly sworn, says:
I reside at 475 7th Avenue, near 36th Street, New York City. I had lived a short time at 225 West 32nd Street. I have lived for five years in New York. I have been a messenger for General Daniel E. Sickles. At about eleven o'clock on the evening of August 15th deponent was on his way to his rooms, but was stopped at Zion's flat and advised to come in and not cross the street, as there was a riot. I went in and went up two pair of stairs until about four o'clock in the morning, and slept on the stairs. My hour for going to work that morning was five o'clock, at the Herald Building, where I was working for Marsell, who attends to housecleaning and to the building. Another man, whose name I learned was Hicks, took refuge in the building at the same time. At about half past four o'clock on the morning of the 16th we heard a great commotion in the house. Three policemen rushed upstairs; the first one said, "You d----d black son of a b----, if you move I will shoot you like a dog!" He then hit me on the head with his club, and cut my head open; the other one then hit me on the head, and both beat me with their clubs on the neck, back, shoulders, chest, and ribs until I was bloody and sore and fell down, when one of the officers poked his pistol in my face and said, "You black son of a b----, just move or say a word, and I will shoot you like a cur." They also beat Hicks and broke his nose. People whom I did not know, looking out of windows, cried out about the brutality. They then had their fun with us, saying, "You d----d niggers; get out of here." Then when we would start they would again grab us, beat us, and threaten to shoot us. I would know one of these policemen, as I saw him since on 7th Avenue, and also in September at Broadway and 12th Street. I think that I would know the other fellow. In taking us to court they swore to the most outrageous lies, without any reason in fact. They stated we had been on the roof throwing bottles on the street. I had never been in the house in my life, never had been in a room and not above the second story, where they gave me shelter. The policemen told other lies--that they arrested me before, that he had warned me before on the street, that he had arrested me for fighting a few days before. The judge asked if they had any witnesses; they answered "Yes," and he gave them until three o'clock, when we were discharged. I was never arrested before in my life. Two doctors gave me certificates of character, which I had in court.
WILLIAM H. ROSS.
Sworn to before me this 4th day of September, 1900.
STEPHEN B. BRAGUE, Notary Public (125). N. Y. County.
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_City and County of New York, ss._:
Robert Myrick, being duly sworn, deposes and says that he resides at 414 West 39th Street, and is employed by Bernard Brennan, saloon keeper at 49th Street and Broadway; that on Thursday evening, August 16th, at about eight P. M., he left his work at the said saloon and walked to 8th Avenue between 47th and 48th Streets; that he entered a restaurant on that block, and after eating a meal he asked the proprietor whether there was any trouble downtown to-night. He replied, "No, it is kind of quiet to-night, but I guess you had better take a car and ride down, it will be safer." He replied. "I guess that will be the best way," and then walked out onto the avenue and boarded a car bound downtown, and had gone as far as 42nd Street when a mob of about one hundred boys, none of whom apparently were over nineteen years of age, began to throw stones at the car and yell, "There's a nigger in the car; let's kill him!" Some woman on the car said, "Come over here, mister; don't stand there and get killed." I went along the footboard from the rear of the car, where I had been, and got under the seat, where the mob could not see me; but the mob continued following the car and stoned it until I reached 39th Street, where I wanted to get off, but was advised there by three men (who were the only passengers that had remained on the car) not to get off. I continued on until the car reached 38th Street, when the car stopped and the mob caught up with it. I then got off the east side of the car, and ran over to the southeast corner of 8th Avenue, to where I saw five men standing, and going up to one I said, "Officer, will you please see me home?" He said, "Where do you live?" I told him. He then said, "What are you doing on the street at this time of night?" I answered, "Going home from work." He then asked me where I worked. I told him. He then said. "Have you got a gun or a razor?" I said "I have neither." He then proceeded to search me, when I remembered having a razor in a case in my outside coat pocket, and I told the officer and showed him where it was. He then took the razor out of my pocket, and, striking me across the back of the neck with his club, said, "You black son of a b----!" and then struck me several times on the head. I said to him, "I come over to you for protection, and this is what I get." He then said, "Shut up!" I was then taken to the 37th Street station house, and while there I was kicked by the officers in the section room, and by the doorman, and when I protested I was told to shut up. I was locked in cell No. 13, and in the morning I was brought to the 54th Street police court, where the judge turned me loose. While in my cell I got into conversation with a colored man who is a porter for the N. Y. C. & H. R. R., and he said that he was dragged from a street car and clubbed by police officers. Deponent further states that he had the aforementioned razor in his pocket by reason of the fact that it needed repairing, and he had taken it to a barber to see if he could fix it, and finding that he could not fix it he was taking it to his home to lay it away in its place. Deponent says further that the time of the clubbing was about 8:30 P. M.
ROBERT MYRICK.
Sworn to before me this 1st day of September, 1900.
GEO. P. HAMMOND, JR., Notary Public (164), N. Y. County.
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_City and County of New York, ss._:
Solomon Russell Wright, being duly sworn, deposes and says:
I reside at No. 129 West 27th Street; on Thursday, August 16th, 1900, about 6:30 P. M., I left the house and walked to the corner of 7th Avenue and 28th Street, where I met a friend of mine, with whom I stood and chatted for about three quarters of an hour, when I left and returned down 7th Avenue towards 27th Street, and had got within about one hundred feet of 27th Street, when I was struck by a missile thrown by an Italian boy. I naturally turned around and asked him what he had done that for. I passed on, however, and had got about fifty feet east of 7th Avenue, on 27th Street, when a police officer ran after me, and seizing me commenced feeling around my clothes as if in search of something. I had an ordinary pocket knife in the change pocket of my coat, and the officer finding it said, "What are you doing with this?" I answered, "Do you see me doing anything with it?" He then took me to the 30th Street station house (19th Precinct), and while going up the steps of the station house I stumbled, and the officer then hit me on the back of the neck with his club. I was arraigned before the sergeant, who took my pedigree, and at the close of that proceeding the officer who had me in charge, and whose name is Kennedy, said to the sergeant, "What will we do with this feller?" The sergeant replied, "Kill the black son of a b----!" The said officer then brought me back, and when we reached a flight of stairs leading down to the cells he shoved me down the whole flight; when I reached the bottom some other officers who were down there grabbed me and punched and beat me with their fists. I was arraigned the next day and charged with carrying a knife, and I was committed for ninety days. I served part of the time, when I was released on bail. I was not intoxicated, and had never been arrested before in my life. I never have and do not stand around the corners of the neighborhood; and further, I am employed by the Standard Oil Company as a porter.
SOLOMON R. WRIGHT.
Sworn to before me this 22nd day of September, 1900.
GEO. P. HAMMOND, JR., Notary Public (164). N. Y. County.
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_City and County of New York, ss._:
Alfred Bradshaw, being duly sworn, deposes and says: