"SNOW HILL HANGING"
The Eastern Reflector, Greenville, NC September 8, 1897
Doc Black Pays the Penalty of His Crime Amid Scenes of Disorder
"Dock Black, the negro who outraged Miss Janie Stepp, a maiden lady in Greene
county, a few months ago, was hanged in Snow Hill on Wednesday about 1
o'clock. The execution was witnessed by a great crowd, and the evils of having
a hanging in public were very evident. The number of people in Snow Hill was
variously estimated to be from 7,000 to 10,000, and most of them were there
not so much for the purpose of seeing the majesty of the law upheld and the
penalty of a crime paid, as through the morbid curiosity to see a hanging.
Pistols, knives and clubs were largely in evidence, and hundreds of people
present instead of being supporters of the law were themselves violators. All
day long wild disorders prevailed, and it was only through extreme vigilance
that a riot was averted. Before the execution a colored preacher with several
relatives of the condemned man went into the jail to hold services and when
the sounds of their praying, singing and shouting reached the negroes outside
they went almost wild with excitement. When Black was taken to the place of
execution a crowd of negroes tried to rush on the gallows, and were only held
back by the guards thrusting pistols and guns in their faces. Black waved his
hand from the scaffold to the crowd and told them to behave themselves, that
he had committed the crime and had to be punished for it. Even after the
execution the excitement continued so that several negroes had to be driven
across the bridge out of town.
The drop fell about 1 o'clock and Black was dead in a few minutes."
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| Public execution of Dock Black in Snow Hill, September 1, 1897. He was executed after confessing to the rape of Miss Janie Stepp. |
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