Remembering Andrew Clark, age 15; Major Clark, age 20; Maggie Howze, age 20 and Alma Howze, age 20 INVESTIGATION BY THE NAACP MAGGIE HOWZE AND ALMA HOWZE Mississippi, 1918. On Friday night, December 20, 1918, four Negroes, Andrew Clark, age 15; Major Clark, age 20; Maggie Howze, age 20; and Alma Howze, age 16, were taken from the little jail at Shutuba and lynched on a bridge over the Chickasaw River. They were suspected of having murdered a Dr. E. L. Johnston, a dentist. An investigation disclosed the following facts: That Dr. Johnston was living in illicit relations with Maggie Howze and Alma Howze. That Major Clark, a youth working on Johnston’s plantation wished to marry Maggie. That Dr. Johnston went to Clark and told him to leave his woman alone. That this led to a quarrel, made the more bitter when it was found that Maggie was to have a child by Dr. Johnston and that the younger sister was also pregnant, said to be by Dr. Johnston. Shortly after this Johnston was mysteriously murdered. There were two theories as to his death: -one, that he was killed by Clark; the other that he was killed by a white man who had accused him of seducing a white woman. It was generally admitted that Johnston was a loose character. Alma Howze was so near to motherhood when lynched that it was said by an eyewitness at her burial on the second day following, that the movements of her unborn child could be detected.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Aug 2013 08:32:00 +0000
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