I herewith inclose the official report of the sheriff, with the
indorsement of the judge and district attorney of that district, showing
the result of the investigation there had, and which I hope will prove
satisfactory to you.
[Inclosure.]
Report of sheriff.
Tallulah, La., August, 1899.
Dear Sir: In reply to your request for a
statement of the facts of the lynching of the five men at this place
on July 20, I have the honor to report as follows:
The victims of the mob’s violence were fruit venders. Four of them
have shops in the town of Tallulah, which they used as headquarters,
from which they sold their goods, mainly by peddling in the
surrounding country. They are supposed to have been Sicilians or
Italians, and their names are supposed to have been Frank Deffeta,
Charles Deffetȧ, Joe Deffeta (brothers), John Cyrano, and Syha
Defferach. The latter, a cousin of the Deffetas, appears to have had
numerous aliases.
On the morning of July 20 Frank Deffeta went to the office of Dr.
Hodge, with whom he had some words about a goat belonging to Frank,
which the doctor had shot at the previous night because it was
disturbing him by trespassing on the gallery of the house where the
doctor slept, the goat being at large in violation of a local
ordinance. Frank made some threatening remarks to Dr. Hodge at that
time. Just about dark that evening as Dr. Hodge was on his way home,
having to pass the shops of Joseph and Charles Deffeta, which were
located in the same building, Charles and Joe were standing on the
steps of their shops, and as the doctor approached Charles Deffeta
struck at him with a knife, the blow of which Dr. Hodge warded off
with his arm, at the same time drawing his pistol, with which he
struck his assailant over the head. It appears that the two men
struggled for some time, when the doctor fired one shot, which did
not take effect. At this point Joe Deffeta, from his gallery, fired
both barrels of a shotgun at Dr. Hodge at close range, the contents
taking effect in his stomach, arms, and hands. Upon hearing these
shots I proceeded to the scene of the shooting and found Frank
Deffeta, Syha Defferach, and John Cyrano, one armed with a shotgun
and the other two with pistols, running toward the scene of the
shooting. With the assistance of citizens I disarmed these three
men, after some resistance, and placed them in jail. In the meantime
Charles Deffeta had barricaded himself in his shop and defied
arrest, whereupon I summoned a posse of citizens and broke into his
store and arrested him. Joe Deffeta had concealed himself under an
adjoining house, where he was discovered and arrested. I proceeded
with these two men toward the jail, when I and my deputies were
overpowered by a mob of angry men, who took the prisoners and hung
them a short distance out of town. The mob then overpowered the
jailer, secured the keys from him, took the other three men from the
jail and hung them. This action was done in spite of the protest of
myself and other officers of the court.
The character and reputation of these Sicilians was very bad in this
community. Joe Define, a relative and associate of theirs, who has
left here since the lynching, had waylaid and assassinated a man
here, killing his victim with a shotgun as he passed Define’s shop,
and had escaped punishment. Frank Deffetta had shot and killed a
negro with slight provocation, and had also escaped punishment. The
deceased Sicilians had been implicated in a number of acts of
violence, and were regarded as desperate and criminal characters.
Dr. Hodge’s friend had noted the peculiar actions of the Sicilians
on the day of the shooting, because Defferach kept his store closed,
and spent the day with Cyrano and Frank Deffeta, at the latter’s
store, and Charles Deffeta closed his store and spent the afternoon
at the same place, where something unusual seemed to be going on.
Observing these movements, and knowing the character of the men,
several of Dr. Hodge’s friends had warned him during the day to be
on his guard, as the Sicilians would likely give him trouble.
Charles Deffeta left his companions late in the afternoon, passing
by Dr. Hodge’s office, with whom he exchanged pleasant greetings,
and proceeded to his shop, where he waited for Dr. Hodge to pass,
and as he passed, without a word of warning, struck at him with a
knife. Dr. Hodge had never had an unpleasant word with this man,
which seems to bear out the the theory that there was a conspiracy
formed to murder Dr. Hodge, and that Charles Deffeta was selected to
do the deed. This was the view the people took of the matter, and
this, coupled with the fact that they were all taken with arms in
their hands, apparently ready to carry out designs of bloodshed
against a prominent citizen and public official of high standing, so
enraged the citizens that it was impossible to restrain them from
inflicting summary punishment as they did.
Frank and Charles Deffeta and Syha Defferach were naturalized
citizens of the United States and of the State of Louisiana, as
shown by the court records of this parish.
The night of the lynching was cloudy and dark, and I was unable to
identify any of the perpetrators, but, in conjunction with the
district attorney, I am investigating this matter, and will do all
in my power to discover and arrest the perpetrators of
[Page 463]
the lynching. I shall be
glad to advise you further upon the results of the investigation of
this matter at any time you may desire me to do so.
Very respectfully,
The foregoing is a correct statement of the unfortunate
occurrences of the 20th of July as far as my knowledge extends.
As district judge, I shall call the attention of the grand jury
to the matter at the next jury term, having already submitted it
to the present grand jury.
- F. F.
Montgomery,
Judge
Seventh Judicial District.
- Wm. S. Holmes,
District Attorney.
