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The warden of the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing, J. B. Tomlinson, writes Governor William Eugene Stanley, of Topeka, concerning the events preceding the lynching of Fred Alexander, an African American man, on January 15, 1901. Alexander was charged with the rape and murder of Pearl Forbes and the rape of Eva Roth, white women from Leavenworth. Local citizens formed the Leavenworth Vigilante Committee to lynch Alexander. The State Penitentiary at Lansing held Alexander to protect him from the mob pending confession or trial. The letter discusses the formation of the mob, their demands and intentions, and the appointment of special deputies to guard the prison. The letter also describes the sheriff's failure to protect the prisoner. Tomlinson released Alexander to the Leavenworth County sheriff on January 15 for a preliminary hearing at Leavenworth. A mob took Alexander from the county jail that afternoon and burned him alive in broad daylight. Alexander consistently maintained his innocence. Although criminal executions were legal in Kansas until 1907, no state executions had occurred since 1870 due to previous governors' refusals to order sentences of execution. Such lynchings may have been motivated, in part, by some citizens' lack of confidence in the state's criminal justice system.
Creator: Tomlinson, Joseph Benjamin, 1861-1922
Date: January 19, 1901
Item Number: 207931
Call Number: Governor's Records, Stanley, Box 3 Folder 13
KSHS Identifier: DaRT ID: 207931
Collections - State Archives - Governor's Records - Stanley, William Eugene
Community Life - Community services - Police and other law enforcement
Date - 1900s - 1901
Government and Politics - Local Government - County - Sheriff
Government and Politics - State Government - Governors - Stanley, William Eugene
Government and Politics - State Government - State agencies and programs - Agencies - Corrections, Department of
Objects and Artifacts - Communication Artifacts - Documentary Artifact - Letter
People - African Americans - Discrimination
People - Notable Kansans - Alexander, Fred, d. 1901
People - Notable Kansans - Stanley, William Eugene, 1844-1910
People - Notable Kansans - Tomlinson, J. B.
Places - Cities and towns - Lansing
Places - Cities and towns - Leavenworth
Places - Cities and towns - Topeka
Places - Counties - Leavenworth
Places - Counties - Shawnee
Thematic Time Period - Age of Reform, 1880 - 1917 - Progressive Era, 1900 - 1916
Type of Material - Unpublished documents - Letters
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/207931