The Ouachita Telegraph - Joe Walker Hanged for Murder of Mayor Gray Date: Oct. 2000 Submitted by: Lora Peppers ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://theusgenweb.net/copyright.htm http://theusgenweb.net/la/lafiles.htm *********************************************** The Ouachita Telegraph Friday, April 16, 1880 Page 4, Column 2 Joe Walker, colored, was hanged at Lake Providence, La, last Friday for the murder of Mayor Gray in October, 1879. On the scaffold he denied the killing, saying, “I die innocent of the crime.” After his speech a colored minister who was on the scaffold with Walker gave out the hymn, “On the Cross the Saviour Died,” which was sung by the condemned man and 3,000 negroes who had gathered to witness the execution. He died without a struggle. This was the first hanging at Lake Providence for twenty-five years. # # #