Six Whitecappers With the Blood of Innocent

• Rufus Swindle

–From Montgomery Advertiser of the 4th: Six whitecappers with the blood of an innocent negro resting upon them are not lying in the lying in the jail in this city for the safe keeping when the Elmore County Circuit Court meets. They were arrested by a posse at their homes near Central Institute twelve miles from Wetumpka in Elmore County, Wednesday afternoon and brought to the county prison last night. Last Saturday night a week ago a bad of white cappers went to Rufus Swindler’s house near Central Institute and dragged him out of bed into his yard and when he attempted to escape one of the men shot him dead. They then assaulted the victim’s wife with a bullet ad threatened her to keep silence. The brutal murder by the band of midnight marauders created an intense excitement in the community. A mass meeting of the law-abiding citizens was held, and it was decided to hunt down the murderers at any cost and bring them to justice. Sheriff Sedberry of Elmore County on hearing of the murder set about with every assistance to locate and arrest the murderers. No clue w sound on which to start until Wednesday when one of the band made a clean breast of the crime. This led to the arrest of Josephus and Will Jowers, John Edwards, Jr., Luther Ingram and Will Jowers made a full confession in jail of the crime and those involved.

“Six Whitecappers With the Blood of Innocent.” Union Springs Herald (Union Springs, Alabama), April 10, 1895.