Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Newspapers.....Assault, 1934 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ NEGRO ROBBER BEATS YOUNG WHITE MARRIED WOMAN IN BOYKINS TOWN VICTIM'S CRIES CAUSE FRENZY OF EXCITEMENT Mrs. J. M. White, Brutally Attacked by Intruder in Home; Dogs Put on Trail Which Led To Home of Reuben Scott. TWO STILL HELD FOR QUESTIONING While the Incident Has Aroused Great Indignation in The Community It Is Said There Will Be No Violence There. The screams of a white woman, attacked in her home by a Negro man as she left the bathroom, threw the town of Boykins into a frenzy of excitement last night. Bloodhounds and a posse of citizens failed to locate the attacker, however, and today there is a general willingness to let the law take its course. Two Negro men are being held at Boykins and a third is under surveillance. No formal charge has been made in connection with the case. The injured woman is Mrs. J.M. White, a well-known resident of Boykins. The account of the attack, as told the News-Herald by her husband, follows: Attack Early In Evening "The attack occurred about 7:40 p.m. last night. My wife had been to the bathroom. As she started out, she said she noticed a door across the hall, which leads to the third-floor attic, was ajar. Ordinarily it is closed. As she entered the hall, a Negro man grabbed her, threw her across a writing desk. She screamed and struggled to free herself. He kicked her in the stomach and hit her in the stomach with his fist. She screamed again. Husband Tells Story "I was downstairs when I heard her. There are two stairways from the first to the second floor. I ran up the back stairway, which was nearer. I saw her crumpled on the floor. Her mother, Mrs. H.F. Knight, and her younger sister, Margaret, who were sitting on the side porch, ran up behind me. My wife yelled, "Negro, Negro, front stairs." "We picked her up and carried her down to the porch and stretched her out. Our neighbors, the Lassiters, hearing the commotion, ran across the street to our house and the three of us went up to search the house for the Negro. We could find no one. Bloodhounds Pick Up Trail "About that time Davis Peck, a Boykins man, drove up in his car and said he had just seen a Negro hiding behind a big bush in the backyard of the Aubrey Williams house, which is near ours. He saw him run from the bush to the Williams' garage. We searched there but could find no one. "Later we sent to Enfield, N.C., for the Allen bloodhounds. They were brought to the bush last night and put on the trail. The hounds took up the trail from the bush to the garage, and from there went out on the Boone Mill road and down the road for about a mile to the home of Reuben Scott, a Negro. Scott Claims Alibi "Reuben was not at home. His wife said he was in Boykins 'setting up' at a wake. We went to the home of the corpse and the people there said Scott had not been there. "Scott returned to his home at 5 a.m. today. He claimed he had been to Portsmouth and told such a straight tale that he was not arrested. "The hounds were taken back to our house and to the second floor hall. He took off the scent and went down the front stairway, out the side of the yard and to the bush and on to the garage in the Williams' back yard. From there they again went to Scott's home. "Questioned again, Scott's wife said that no man had been to her house during the hours following the attack. "Officers arrested two Negro men, Henry Jennings and Sam Jenkins last night on general suspicious behavior. Both were extremely nervous. Nothing definite is known which would charge them with the attack, so far as I know." Mrs. White, who is 28 years of age, was reported as badly bruised from the blows. She was resting fairly comfortably at her home today. Her husband said that he intended to push the search for her assailant until he is caught and brought to justice. ****************************************************************************** Boykins Attack Mystery Remains Unsolved Today Assault on Mrs. White Still Under Investigation By Southampton County Officers - Scott Makes Satisfactory Explanation of Whereabouts; Now Seek Another Suspect The strange assault upon Mrs. J.M. White at her home in Boykins Monday night remained as much a mystery today as ever with investigating officers being hampered by the lack of any tangible clues in the case. Junius W. Pulley, of Courtland, commonwealth's attorney for Southampton county, again questioned Reuben Scott, Negro, yesterday and announced later that the suspect had made a satisfactory explanation of his whereabouts at the time of the assault. Scott was taken into custody after bloodhounds had followed a trail from near the White residence to the Negro's home. Police assigned to the case are now looking for a Negro wearing a black hat and "greasy smelling" overalls, which Mrs. White said her assailant was wearing at the time. Mrs. White was reported today as fully recovered from the shock of the attack. Carroll (CROMWELL; Mrs. James Mullen Jr.) WHITE, assaulted 24 Sep 1934, at home, Boykins, "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 12, No. 159, Tues., Sep. 25, 1934, pp. 1 & 5; "Suffolk (VA) News-Herald," Vol. 12, No. 161, Thurs., Sep. 27, 1934, p. 1 Carroll & her husband are buried in Beechwood Cemetery, Boykins. SCHS Cemetery Project, Beechwood list (BE-AX1C-18): http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/beechwd.txt Her parents, Oakley Carroll & Mary Lelia (LAND) CROMWELL, & her in-laws are buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk. Norfolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives, Forest Lawn list: http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/norfolkcity/cemeteries/forestlawn/flc09-cral-dar.html Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by File Manager Matt Harris (zoobug64@aol.com). file at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/news/19340925nh.txt