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Seminole burning
The Seminole burning was the lynching by live burning of two Seminole youth, Lincoln McGeisey and Palmer Sampson, near Maud, Oklahoma, on January 8, 1898.
On December 30, 1897, a woman named Mary Leard was murdered in her home by a Native American man. When her body was discovered by her husband and Maud townspeople the next day, a white mob began to form, and they combed the area to find the person guilty. They cornered, detained, kidnapped, tortured, and—in some cases—mock lynched several men over a few days, before they settled on two teenagers they thought were guilty of the crime: Lincoln McGeisey and Palmer Sampson. McGeisey and Sampson were chosen despite there being no evidence for a second killer, and the mob accused them of raping, murdering, and having sex with the dead body of Mary Leard. Although Sampson allegedly admitted guilt in the crime, both of them were likely innocent.
The mob chained the two together by the neck and brought them to a makeshift prayer site. They were surrounded by dry brush and wooden poles, and after a member of the mob lit the pile on fire, they burned alive. McGeisey's flesh sloughed off his body, and Sampson tried to struggle against the flames; both died. They were buried on Seminole land, their bodies still chained together.
Dozens of men were indicted in relation to the case. In front of judge John R. Thomas, special prosecutor Horace Speed led the prosecutions of the men involved in the lynching. Ultimately, six of them were convicted and imprisoned. It was the first successful lynching prosecution in the Southwestern United States.
Throughout the nineteenth century, the American government removed the Seminole people from Florida to the Indian Territory, a region that now lies in the eastern part of Oklahoma. The Five Civilized Tribes (including the Seminole) underwent the Reconstruction Treaties, which divided their land claims in the western and central parts of Oklahoma and opened it to settlement from other tribes. The Seminole people underwent social changes during this time of removal and resettlement, and transitioned into a mostly pastoralist lifestyle. In 1889, parts of this ceded land were opened to settlement by whites, and in 1890, it became organized as the Oklahoma Territory. On the Oklahoma side of its boundary with the Indian Territory sat Maud in Pottawatomie County.
In 1896, the Oklahoma and Indian Territories had at least ten lynchings altogether. In territorial history, most of those murdered in bouts of extrajudicial mob violence were black or Native Americans: For black people accused of crimes, they were frequently lynched; for Native Americans accused, they were sometimes lynched, depending on the accusation; and for white people accused, they were only infrequently lynched. In one case in Pottawatomie County in 1897, a mob attempted to lynch a man named Israel C. McGlothlin: He was hanged alive three times, but he ultimately survived.
On the evening of December 30, 1897, Mary Leard (also rendered as Mary Laird or Julia Laird) was at her home alone with her three children as her husband stayed at a friend's house. A Native American man with a distinctive scar on his cheek approached the house and left, only to return later that night. He chased Leard out of the house and tried to shoot her twice, but the gun failed. He murdered her by hitting her over the head with his gun, threw her infant daughter Cora on the floor, asked the children for money, and then fled.
Mary Leard's children left her dead body outside, and it was partially eaten by roaming pigs during the night. The next morning, the Leard children sought help, and Maud townspeople and their father returned to find her dead. Cora died from her injuries a few months later.
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Seminole burning
The Seminole burning was the lynching by live burning of two Seminole youth, Lincoln McGeisey and Palmer Sampson, near Maud, Oklahoma, on January 8, 1898.
On December 30, 1897, a woman named Mary Leard was murdered in her home by a Native American man. When her body was discovered by her husband and Maud townspeople the next day, a white mob began to form, and they combed the area to find the person guilty. They cornered, detained, kidnapped, tortured, and—in some cases—mock lynched several men over a few days, before they settled on two teenagers they thought were guilty of the crime: Lincoln McGeisey and Palmer Sampson. McGeisey and Sampson were chosen despite there being no evidence for a second killer, and the mob accused them of raping, murdering, and having sex with the dead body of Mary Leard. Although Sampson allegedly admitted guilt in the crime, both of them were likely innocent.
The mob chained the two together by the neck and brought them to a makeshift prayer site. They were surrounded by dry brush and wooden poles, and after a member of the mob lit the pile on fire, they burned alive. McGeisey's flesh sloughed off his body, and Sampson tried to struggle against the flames; both died. They were buried on Seminole land, their bodies still chained together.
Dozens of men were indicted in relation to the case. In front of judge John R. Thomas, special prosecutor Horace Speed led the prosecutions of the men involved in the lynching. Ultimately, six of them were convicted and imprisoned. It was the first successful lynching prosecution in the Southwestern United States.
Throughout the nineteenth century, the American government removed the Seminole people from Florida to the Indian Territory, a region that now lies in the eastern part of Oklahoma. The Five Civilized Tribes (including the Seminole) underwent the Reconstruction Treaties, which divided their land claims in the western and central parts of Oklahoma and opened it to settlement from other tribes. The Seminole people underwent social changes during this time of removal and resettlement, and transitioned into a mostly pastoralist lifestyle. In 1889, parts of this ceded land were opened to settlement by whites, and in 1890, it became organized as the Oklahoma Territory. On the Oklahoma side of its boundary with the Indian Territory sat Maud in Pottawatomie County.
In 1896, the Oklahoma and Indian Territories had at least ten lynchings altogether. In territorial history, most of those murdered in bouts of extrajudicial mob violence were black or Native Americans: For black people accused of crimes, they were frequently lynched; for Native Americans accused, they were sometimes lynched, depending on the accusation; and for white people accused, they were only infrequently lynched. In one case in Pottawatomie County in 1897, a mob attempted to lynch a man named Israel C. McGlothlin: He was hanged alive three times, but he ultimately survived.
On the evening of December 30, 1897, Mary Leard (also rendered as Mary Laird or Julia Laird) was at her home alone with her three children as her husband stayed at a friend's house. A Native American man with a distinctive scar on his cheek approached the house and left, only to return later that night. He chased Leard out of the house and tried to shoot her twice, but the gun failed. He murdered her by hitting her over the head with his gun, threw her infant daughter Cora on the floor, asked the children for money, and then fled.
Mary Leard's children left her dead body outside, and it was partially eaten by roaming pigs during the night. The next morning, the Leard children sought help, and Maud townspeople and their father returned to find her dead. Cora died from her injuries a few months later.