Local History: A lynching in Cape Girardeau County

Extralegal killings as a response to crimes or as an expression of hatred regularly occurred during the Jim Crow era of the late 1800s to mid-1900s. Only one documented lynching occurred in Cape Girardeau County, however.

October 1895 was one of the coldest recorded Octobers, and likely Thursday, Oct. 10, was cool and clear. Minnie Rust and her younger sister, Emma, left school in late afternoon. Their route home traversed a wooded area about 2 miles west of Jackson, and there Minnie was assaulted. Emma ran and screamed loudly enough to attract a neighbor, Frank Long, who ran to help and scared away the assailant. The man had beaten Minnie and her clothes were torn. Neither Frank nor the girls recognized the man as Will Henderson, a 19- or 20-year-old African American man from the neighborhood. Will also went by Will Howard — his stepfather was Henderson Howard.

A warrant went to Sheriff J.M. Randol on Thursday night. He found Henderson at home and arrested him without incident. Henderson stated he had been drinking heavily and had no memory of the crime.

About half past six the next evening, Oct. 11, Randol heard that a mob had formed and intended to lynch Henderson. The sheriff prepared to move the prisoner and avoid the mob. At about 8 p.m., he and Deputy George Grant handcuffed Henderson, whom they had already shackled, and left by the backdoor. They saw a crowd running down the street, so they ducked into the jail’s stable. Randol left Henderson with Grant and headed down the street to assess the situation. He figured they could leave using a route by the Wessel furniture store behind the Jones store. As they entered the alley, two men stopped them.

Sheriff Randol drew his pistol and asked the men not to interfere. The men fled, but when the three ran into the street some of the mob began shooting. The crowd soon overtook them, grabbed the sheriff, and one of the vigilantes said, “It’s our prisoner!” Someone fired over the sheriff and hit Henderson in the shoulder, whereupon the sheriff and deputy relinquished Henderson to the crowd.

The mob swelled to around 100 as it took Henderson to the woods where Minnie’s attack occurred to lynch him. Frank McGuire of the Jackson Cash-Book followed the mob and attempted to convince the lynchers to return Henderson to the sheriff, but to no avail.

The sheriff went to the site the next morning and recognized the deceased as Henderson. Coroner H. D. Blomeyer convened an inquest Oct. 12, with Sheriff Randol as the only witness. The jury reported that they “… do find that he came to his death from a pistol or gun wound in his left shoulder, and by being hung with a rope around his neck tied to a tree, his hands being hand cuffed and a ball and chain attached to his right leg; all of which was done at the hands of a mob, the names of the parties concerned in it being unknown to the jury.”

Bill Eddleman, Ph.D. Oklahoma State University, is a native of Cape Girardeau County who has conducted genealogical research for over 25 years.