Baron Fava to Mr.
Hay.
[Translation.]
Italian
Embassy,
Washington
,
January 15,
1900
.
Mr. Secretary of State: In the correspondence
which the honorable Department of State has exchanged with this embassy
with regard to the Tallulah lynching, your excellency has been
constantly pleased to assure me that every exertion would be made by the
Federal Government to secure the punishment of the parties guilty of
that massacre. To that end I think that I am now acting in accordance
with your excellency’s wishes in furnishing you herewith some
information of no little importance concerning the lynchers, which
information will, in my opinion, facilitate the work of attaining those
ends of justice which you have in view.
I have received from the acting Italian consul at New Orleans a report in
which Signor Tapini sends me—
- (a)
- A list of the lynchers, furnished by two brothers—negroes—who
were witnesses of the lynching. One of these negroes is said to
have been murdered, either on suspicion or because he had talked
too much about the lynchers. The other, whose name is Joe Evans,
was employed for more than two years by Frank Difatta, one of
the men lynched. Evans is said to have declared, moreover, that
he knows two other negroes—the brothers Paul and Billy
Bruse—whose names are in the list, and who can testify against
the lynchers, because they were constantly with him during the
lynching.
- (b)
- An original procés verbal containing the affidavit made in the
office of the Italian consular agency at Vicksburg by Giuseppe
Defina, an Italian subject, the brother-in-law of one of the men
lynched, who was himself threatened with death by the lynchers,
but succeeded in escaping from Millikens Bend, a village near
Tallulah, on the night of July 20 last, abandoning his house and
property and taking refuge at Vicksburg.
I think it expedient to annex to the present letter certified copies:
- 1.
- Of the report of the acting royal consul at New
Orleans.
- 2.
- Of the above-mentioned list of the lynchers.
- 3.
- An extract from the affidavit referred to above.
Postponing a fuller discussion of the contents of this affidavit until I
come into possession of further information on the subject, I must, for
the present, call the attention of the Federal Government to that [Page 716] paragraph of the affidavit in
question in which Defina gives the names of Drs. Ward and Gane, who went
to him to warn of the hostile intentions of the same gang who had
lynched the five Italians at Tallulah. The names of the lynchers were
evidently known to these two doctors, and justice could be enlightened
by them, at least, if by no others.
The importance of the statements made in the three documents which I now
submit to you will certainly not escape your excellency, and you will
agree with me in finding in them every evidence of their truthfulness,
or, at least, abundant grounds for the intervention of the
representative of the law. This action has not yet been taken by the
local magistrates, nor is it to be expected, in view of the peculiar
conditions prevailing in that region, that it will be taken in future.
Nor does it yet appear that the governor and attorney-general of
Louisiana have attempted to carry out the assurances repeatedly made by
them to the Federal Government—that justice would certainly be done; and
this in spite of the provisions of the revised statutes of Louisiana.
Article 1018 of those statutes provides:
Whenever the attorney-general or any district attorney shall be
informed that a crime has been committed and that no complaint
or declaration thereof has been made before any judge or justice
of the peace, it shall be their duty, respectively, to inquire,
ex officio, into the fact by causing all persons they shall
suppose to have some knowledge of the fact to be summoned before
some judge or justice of the peace that their depositions may be
taken.
It is clear that the spirit and the letter of this law are intended to
confer upon the attorney-general of the State the power and the duty of
instituting and conducting investigations concerning criminal acts of
which the ordinary judicial authorities neglect to take cognizance. This
is also the opinion of eminent American lawyers whom I have consulted on
the subject.
And if there is any case in which that attorney-general should make use
of his powers, it is certainly that of the Tallulah lynching, where
there was not even a meeting of the grand jury to give some show of
proceedings in the case.
I cherish the hope that the inclosed documents will afford the Federal
Government an opportunity and new and effectual grounds for pressing the
Louisiana authorities to fulfill the contractual obligations of the
confederation to which they belong, and to comply with the laws of their
own State and the general principles of universal justice.
Accept, etc.,
[Inclosure 1.]
The acting Italian consul at
New Orleans to Baron Fava
[Translation.]
New
Orleans
,
January 13,
1900
.
Your Excellency: Guiseppe Defina, the
brother-in-law of one of the men who were lynched, came to my office
some time ago, and brought me a list of names of persons at Tallulah
who wanted to go to Millikens Bend to lynch him. This list was made
by two brothers, negroes, who are ready to testify that these
persons were at the head of the Tallulah lynchers.
I requested Defina to return at once to Vicksburg, and to have the
affidavits of the two negroes taken before a notary public and
before the royal consular agent, [Page 717] Piazza. But I learned, from information which I
received, that no notary at Vicksburg would draw up such a
document.
I likewise learned that, in consequence of suspicion or because he
had talked too freely about the lynchers, one of the two negroes who
were ready to testify had been murdered.
The other negro, whose name is Joe Evans, 30 years of age, was for
more than two years in the employ of Frank Difatto, who was
lynched.
I have to add to this general information that Joe Evans has asserted
that he knows two other negroes, the brothers Paul and Billy Bruse,
whose names are in the said list, and who can also testify against
the lynchers, as they were with him the whole time during the
lynching.
I inclose a certified copy of the said list, and the original procés
verbal of Defina’s affidavit, taken in Vicksburg in the office of
the royal consular agent there.
Tapini, Acting Consul.
A true copy of the original on file at the royal Italian embassy at
Washington.
Fava.
Washington
,
January 15,
1900
.
[Inclosure 2.]
List.
Mr. Rogers (was the leader to go to Millikens Bend to hang Joseph
Delfino and his son), Fred. Lichslider, Edward Stewart, Mr. Coleman
(he was the one that climbed the tree and tied the rope), Burt.
Severe, Tom Nola, Dave Evans, Jim Johnson, Fred. Johnson (was the
one that carried the rope), Scott, Anden Severe (furnished the
rope), John Yerger, Jim Ervesie, Jim Stone, Tom Broders, Fred
Broders, Sam Slank, Paul Bruse, Billy Bruse.
A true copy of the original.
C. Papini, Acting Consul of Italy.
New
Orleans
.
January 16,
1901
.
[Inclosure
3—Translation.]
Extract from an affidavit taken by the Royal
consular agency of His Majesty the King of Italy, at
Vicksburg.
In the reign of H. M. Umberto I, by the grace of God and the will of
the people, King of Italy.
Vicksburg, Mississippi, December 13, 1899, at the Royal consular
agency of Italy.
Before me, Cav. Natale Piazza, Royal consular agent, assisted by
Signor A. L. Tirelli, acting as clerk,
Personally appeared Giuseppe Defina, son of Matteo, deceased, a
native of Cefalu, residing at Anguilla, Miss., who, after having
been duly sworn, testified as follows:
I emigrated to America in 1889 and went to New Orleans, and in 1892 I
went to live at Millikens Bend, Louisiana, where I opened a shop for
provisions and other articles. By my good conduct I soon acquired a
reputation in the village for honesty above the other shopkeepers,
and thereby gained many customers, and in a short time I found
myself in an enviable position, and was able to lend money and sell
my goods on credit to the families of the place until the cotton
crop was gotten in.
On the night of July 20 last, at Tallulah, after the lynching of my
unfortunate brothers-in-law, the lynchers, who knew me well, because
I frequently went to Tallulah on business, after finishing their
work resolved to go to Millikens Bend to lynch me, so as to root out
the last Italian in the county.
Mr. Ward, a resident of Millikens, who was on the road between
Tallulah and Millikens that night, met a body of armed men, and as
he knew them, I believe, he asked them where they were going, and
they replied: “We are going to Millikens Bend to lynch Defina.”
Ward, who had always displayed sincere friendship for me, was very
much surprised and pained at the plan which those people were
carrying out and interceded for me, praising me highly; but, not
able to persuade those scoundrels, who were not yet satiated with
our blood, he, by dint of eloquence, obtained [Page 718] two hours’ time for me to leave
the country if I valued my life. As that gentleman could not go to
my house, after asking and obtaining the withdrawal of the lynchers,
he met on the road Dr. Ganes, of Millikens Bend, who was coming back
from Tallulah from a visit to Dr. Hodge in connection with the
lynching and was going home, and he was requested by Ward to inform
me of my banishment from Millikens within two hours by order of
those murderers, and to tell me that if I did not leave within the
time fixed I would be lynched without mercy.
When I heard the sad news I could see that Ganes knew the threats of
the lynchers against me before leaving Tallulah that night and
without having seen the gang whom Ward met. A few minutes before the
arrival of the doctor at my house I had been informed of the
occurrences of the night by a negro who had been with the doctor on
his way to Tallulah and back, and while I was awaiting fuller
information I noticed that several persons at Millikens were
whispering together, probably about the occurrences of the night at
Tallulah, and also, I think, about the threats of the lynchers
against me. I noticed that those persons were very sorry for my
situation, but I do not think that if the lynchers had come to
Millikens they would have opposed the murderers in order to save me
and my children.
Having been informed by Ganes that Hodge was dying, and that if he
died I would certainly not be spared by their revenge, I decided to
fly with my children without loss of time on a small boat. Having
been warned by Ganes and others that it would be very dangerous for
me to leave Millikens by land, I went to Vicksburg by tht,
Mississippi River; and you can testify that you saw me here in a
deplorable state, suffering with a high fever, as you remember, when
I told you all that had happened to me.
-
Giuseppe Defina,
The Deponent.
-
N. Piazza,
The Royal Consular Agent.
-
N. L. Tirelli,
Acting Clerk.
A true copy of the original on file at the Royal Embassy of Italy
at Washington.
Washington
,
January 15, 1900
.
Fava,
The Royal Ambassador.
