White Capps Were in Danger of Being Lynched

• Rufus Swindle

White Cappers Were in Danger of Being Lynching. Montgomery, Ala., April 4. –(Special.)—Six murderous white cappers were brought here last night from Elmore County to escape the fury of a mon of outraged citizens. The men are : Josephus Jowers and Will Jowers, John Edwards, Jr., Luther Ingram, Alonzo Williams, and John Morgan. The officers who them in charge report that one night last week about midnight a band of masked men visited the house of Rufus Swindler an old artless negro, pulled him from his bed, carried him into his field, and when he attempted to escape shot him dead. They threatened to murder his wife if she divulged the result of the visit. When the fact became known, indignant citizens held a meeting an every effort was made to learn the perpetrators of the outrage. Finally Alonzo Williams, who is a boy of 19 years turned states evidence and gave the gang away. Williams says that Josephus Jowers was the leader of the band which belonged to a large body of organized white caps in Elmore County. He says the captain assured several members of the band which visited Swindler’s house that the negro would not be killed but only frightened: that he was a witness in an illicit distillery case in which members of the gang were defendants and must be frightened away. When they protested further against proceedings Jowers reminded them that sudden death would visit all who deserted the gang. The men under arrest were threatened with violence in Elmore and were spirited off to this city last night.

“White Capps in Danger of Being Lynched.” The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), April 5, 1895.