Lynching of John Evans
On Tuesday, November 12, 1914, John Evans, a black man, was lynched in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, by a mob of 1,500 white men, women and children.
Two days after the murder, a posse consisting of some of the city's most prominent and well-respected members stormed the St. Petersburg jail, threw a noose around Evans' neck and marched him to his death.
Though the shot was fatal, the rest of the crowd began shooting at Evans' dangling body until their ammunition was depleted.
[4][5] An editorial in the November 10 issue of the St. Petersburg Independent, published hours before the crimes, spoke optimistically of the city's future.
[1] On the night of his death, Edward Sherman went to bed around 8 p.m., sleeping in an alcove with low narrow windows on either side and two larger ones in the front.
His wife, Mary Sherman, was sitting in an adjoining parlor, making Christmas baskets out of grass and pine needles.
Though she handed over about a hundred dollars, Mrs. Sherman said a second black man dragged her outside, beat her with a pipe and ripped some of her clothes.
[1] A second man, Ebenezer B. Tobin, was also accused of the crime and was brought to the county jail in Clearwater, despite the arresting deputy's claim that he was not involved.
Sheriffs kept news of the arrest quiet so mobs wouldn't be encouraged to infiltrate the jail and take matters into their own hands.
The St. Petersburg Commission ordered all saloons be closed but Central Avenue remained crowded until midnight as white residents continued to speculate about the assailants' location.
[1] About a hundred armed men surrounded Augusta Memorial Hospital, where they intended to prevent the escape of any suspect being brought before Mrs.
After threatening to kill the jailer, E. H. Nichols, the mob tore down part of the jail's sidewall, tossed a noose over Evans' neck and dragged him into the street.
[1] After learning that local vigilantes were planning to repeat the incident by storming Ebenezer Tobin's jail cell in Clearwater, Governor Park Trammell considered sending in the state militia to restore order.
[1] A local coroner's jury, made up of 15 well-respected white men, determined that John Evans had died at the hands of "unknown" persons.
Police chief A. J. Easters and his officers made little effort to protect Evans from the mob and even promoted the community's vigilante spirit.
Among St. Petersburg's image-conscious leaders, it was widely believed that swift retribution for the assault on the Shermans was the best way to restore the city's tarnished reputation.
The day after the murder, the St. Petersburg Independent's front-page headline read, "Slain As He Slept By Unknown Negro."
The St. Petersburg Daily Times headline read "E.F. Sherman Is Brutally Slain While He Sleeps," and "Two Negros Accused of Most Atrocious Crime Here in Years."
[1] At this point in history, white women were strictly off limits to black men and many had died for their words or actions perceived to be threatening or insulting.
"[2] An editorial from the Ocala Star argued that Evans was "a bad character" who had been convicted of "grand larceny" by the Marion County Superior Court.
"[2] Unlike the St. Petersburg media, reports in the Tampa Tribune and the Clearwater Sun were more inclined to denounce the lynching.
[6] Neither the guilt nor the innocence of John Evans and Ebenezer Tobin was ever proven because neither man was given a fair impartial trial.
Most of the local population at the time was convinced that Evans and Tobin did in fact murder Edward Sherman, but both men insisted upon their innocence until their deaths.
"[citation needed] Of the fifteen coroner's jury members who assessed Evans' murder, only one man, Williams Dishman, dissented from the decision that it had been committed by "unknown" culprits.
[citation needed] A 3-by-5-inch aluminum plaque commemorating Evans' death once hung from a telephone pole near the scene of the lynching.
