| Source Type: | Newspaper |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Goodwater Enterprise |
| Place of publication: | Goodwater, Alabama |
| Date of publication: | 1909-09-17 |
| Transcript: | Demopolis, Sept13, (Special) – News of the killing of two negroes, following the slaying of a white woman, was received today from Bellamy, a lumber camp in Sumter County, about twenty miles west of here on the Southern Railway. Two negroes, Robert Gully and Simon Holly, early this morning, entered the home of R.T. Gray. The noise awakened Mrs. Gray and when she failed to heed the order to stop screaming she was shot and killed by Gully. Gray, who occupied an adjoining room, rushed to his wife’s rescue and engaged in a death struggle with Gully. In the fight he brained the negro with an ax, but not until he was shot in the leg. Holly made his escape from the house during the fight, but was this morning killed by a posse of Gray’s neighbors. About 12 o’clock Mr. and Mrs. Gray were quietly sleeping. When she awoke she saw a negro in the room. She called her husband, who was sleeping soundly. The negro, Robert Gully told her to keep quiet or he would kill her. She again called her husband and the negro shot her brains out, killing her instantly. By this time her husband awakened and the negro opened fire upon him, striking him twice, once in the hand and leg. Gray grabbed the negro, who in scuffle succeeded in getting out of the house, Gray struggling all the time with the brute. |
| Citation: | (1909, September 17). Husband Avenges Wife’s Murder: Negroes Murder White Woman and Meet Prompt Retribution. Goodwater Enterprise, pp.1. |