Articles Reporting Lewis McClure's Court Cases

Subject

The Law, Crime and Punishment

Description

A series of local newspaper articles chronicling Lauderdale County African-American resident Lewis McClure's (ca. 1870-1940) criminal court cases.

McClure was arrested at various times on charges such as fighting and public intoxication. However on Monday night, August 10, 1903, on the corner of Tennessee and Seminary Streets Lewis McClure was shot in his left side by African-American resident of Smithsonia, in west Lauderdale County, Ed Winston, formerly a waiter at the Alabama Hotel in Florence, who fired a total of three shots, with one hitting McClure. The shooting was the result of a difficulty the two men had had three weeks previous. McClure and Winston had both been involved in the May, 1897 fight at the Florence District School for Negroes on South Court Street which resulted in African-American Dan Rand's being shot and killed while resisting arrest.

The next morning, Winston surrendered to Florence Police; Mayor Walker fined him $10 and court costs for firing a weapon in the city and bound Winston over to the grand jury.

Wednesday night, December 16, 1903 McClure unwittingly got his revenge, when he shot and killed Ed Winston while the two were "scuffling" at Thomas Reynolds' restaurant on Tennessee Street; the Florence Times reported friends of McClure as saying that Winston pulled a knife on McClure. McClure surrendered himself to the police claiming the shooting was accidental. At his trial, conducted from March 22 to March 24, 1904 McClure was represented by local white attorney George P. Jones, while Solicitor WH Sawtelle and Maj. Robert Edward Simpson represented the State. Thursday, March 24, Lewis McClure was found "not guilty" by the jury after an eighteen hour deliberation.

Lewis McClure (ca. 1870-) was one of between 3 and 6 children of Janet/Jeannette McClure (ca. 1832-1912), a washerwoman who by 1900 was widowed; her husband's name is unknown. In 1900 the McClures lived on Alabama Street but by 1910 had moved to South Court Street. By 1900 all but two of her children, Lewis and his brother James Hunter McClure, were deceased.

On Thursday, January 30, 1908 the kitchen of the McClure home on South Court Street caught fire while "Aunt" Janette was asleep sick in the front room; she was relieved to find out, contrary to her belief, that her insurance policy from Weekly & Weeden had just been renewed without her knowledge thus her loss in the fire was covered.

At some point after 1910 Lewis relocated to Chicago, Illinois. His 1930 census enumeration listed him as widowed (we don't know who his wife was yet) and the owner of a boarding house on Indiana Avenue. He died October 4, 1940 at 70 years old and according to his death certificate was buried in the Lincoln Cemetery. His death certificate listed his occupation as "laborer."

Source

1. Florence (AL) Herald
2. Florence (AL) Herald
3. Florence (AL) Herald
4. Birmingham (AL) News
5.Florence (AL) Herald
6. Florence (AL) Herald
7. Florence (AL) Times
8. Florence (AL) Times
9. Florence (AL) Herald
10. Florence (AL) Times
11. Florence (AL) Herald
12. Florence (AL) Herald
13. Birmingham (AL) News
14. Lauderdale County, AL Circuit Court Grand Jury Docket "1."
15. Florence (AL) Herald
16. Florence (AL) Herald
17. US census, 1900
18. US Census, 1930, Cook County, Illinois.

Publisher

1-6; 9;11; 13; 15-16. Newspapers.com
7-8;10; 12. Bell & Howell Micro Photo
17-18. Ancestry.com Library Edition
14. Lauderdale County, AL Circuit Court

Contributor

Lee Freeman

Rights

Images are available for educational and research purposes. This image may not be reproduced for commercial purposes without the express written consent of the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of the interested party to identify the copyright holder and receive permission.

Format

Jpeg

Type

Still Images

Files

Dan Rand Killed (Lewis McClure Arrested for Fighting) FH Thu May 20 1897 p 2.jpg
With the Courts Lewis McClure FH Thu Mar 10 1898 p 8.jpg
He Carried a Gun (Lewis McClure) FH Thu Dec 21 1899 p 1.jpg
White Man Shhots a Negro Mont Adv Thu Aug 13 1903 p 6.jpg
News Around our Busy City FH Fri Aug 14 1903 p 1 Lewis McClure Shot.jpg
News Around our Busy City FH Fri Aug 21 1903 p 1 Will Hale Surrenders.jpg
Will Hale Surrenders Short Loc It FT Fri Aug 21 1903 p 1 p 1 (2).jpg
Will Hale Surrenders FT Fri Aug 21 1903 p 1 (2).jpg
Two Shooting Scrapes Lewis McClure FH Fri Dec 18 1903 p 1.jpg
Negro Killed FT Fri Dec 18 1903 p 1 (2).jpg
Lewis McClure Surrenders FH Fri Dec 25 1903 p 4.jpg
Trial for Murder FT Fri March 25 1904 p 1 (2).jpg
M'Clure Acquitted B'ham News Sat Mar 26 1904 p 23.jpg
Lewis McClure Grand Jury Doc (2).jpg
Thirty Thousand Dollar Damage Suit Lewis McClure FH Fri May 12 1905 p 1.jpg
Fire at Lewiws McClure's FH Fri Jan 31 1908 p 4.jpg
Jeannette McClure 1900 Census p 311 B.jpg
Lewis McClure's 1930 Cook Co, IL Census Enumeration, p. 279 A..jpg

Citation

“Articles Reporting Lewis McClure's Court Cases,” Shoals Black History, accessed March 29, 2024, https://shoalsblackhistory.omeka.net/items/show/1261.