Kelsey Outrage
Date | November 4, 1872 |
---|---|
Location | Huntington, New York, U.S. |
Type | Lynching |
Deaths | Charles G. Kelsey |
Charges | None |
The Kelsey Outrage was a 1872 lynching in Huntington, New York.
Background
Charles G. Kelsey was an educated farmer, Sunday-school teacher, and occasional poet in his mid-30s who developed a romantic interest in Julia Smith, a woman in her early 20s who had been orphaned and raised by her grandmother, Charlotte Oakley, in a mansion on the Main Street of Huntington, New York. Kelsey and Smith had met at the Second Presbyterian church where Kelsey taught when Smith was a teenager. Smith's guardian and fellow church congregants did not approve of their relationship and age difference. Smith turned towards Royal Sammis, a 25-year-old from a prominent family in the town, and the pair became engaged, but Kelsey continued to pursue Smith, writing poetry and love letters long and acrid.[1]
The night before Kelsey's killing, an early November day in 1872, Smith's aunt, Abby Smith, set a trap. After swapping bedrooms with Julia, the aunt reported that Kelsey entered through the bedroom's window and put his hand on her breast. She shouted and he exited through the window.[1]
Killing
On November 4, 1872, the day following the incident with Smith's aunt, Kelsey saw a light in the house's window, which was believed to be a signal between Kelsey and Smith. As he entered the backyard, a masked group descended on Kelsey, cutting his facial hair, stripping him naked,
Evidence and case
The next day, a fisherman in
Huntington's Second Presbyterian Church held a funeral for Kelsey with his recovered legs in September 1873. At the time, the body's identity was still contested[1] and the minister would not allow the legs inside the church.[3] The event was known as "the funeral of the legs".[2]
Doctors in the
Prosecuted by Suffolk District Attorney James H. Tuthill,[5] the case took years to come to trial. In October 1875, a Suffolk County jury acquitted Royal Sammis and George Banks of the riot and assault charges. The murder charges never went to trial.[1]
Aftermath
The story made national news
A 1873 account of the outrage was largely destroyed by the Sammis and Smith families.[7] Sammis descendants remained in Huntington through the late 20th century.[1] The historical barn associated with the tar and feathering incident was torn down in January 2001 after conservators found it beyond repair.[2]
References
- ^ ISBN 1-885134-14-2.
- ^ ProQuest 279372107.
- ^ ProQuest 279082507.
- ^ "Dix Reward For Kelsey Outrage". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 30, 1873. p. 2 – via newspapers.com.
- The Standard Union. January 19, 1894. p. 5.
- ISBN 978-0-307-59221-7.
- ^ ProQuest 279394665.
Further reading
- "The Kelsey Outrage". The New York Times. August 31, 1873. p. 5.
- Price, Kirk (March 18, 1953). "'Tar Town': Huntington's Secret Disgrace [Part 1 of 3]". Newsday. pp. 40–42.
- Price, Kirk (March 19, 1953). "'Tar Town': Huntington's Secret Disgrace [Part 2 of 3]". Newsday. pp. 18–19. ProQuest 872997854.
- Price, Kirk (March 20, 1953). "'Tar Town': Huntington's Secret Disgrace [Part 3 of 3]". Newsday. pp. 48–49. ProQuest 885091609.
- Tuccillo, Fred (June 24, 1973). "Virtue Defended! Murder Most Foul". Newsday. pp. 19, 29. ProQuest 923043509.
External links
Media related to Kelsey Outrage at Wikimedia Commons