Living in Springfield During The 1908 Races Riots

Imagine living in Springfield during the 1908 races riots. Fires, lynchings, and mob action taking place everywhere. Springfield, Illinois is the heart of Illinois and is known to be Abraham Lincoln’s “Stomping Grounds” but little do people know about Springfield’s history. In the early 1900’s Illinois population was about 47,000 people, and Springfield’s population was roughly 300. Springfield was originally claimed by a man named William Florville (1807 - 1868) who was a Haitian businessman who met Abraham Lincoln in New Salem. In Springfield, the blacks basically ran it. In fact about 5.5% of Springfield’s population was black. The whites in the town thought the blacks were taking jobs from their race.

On July 4th, 1908 Clergy Ballard, a mining engineer, was in his home with his daughter on the “North End” of Springfield. His daughter awoken to a “Man Standing Over Her” he grabbed his gun and tried to shoot the unknown assailant but was stabbed in his front yard...in front of his daughter, Clergy’s daughter said that the man was black. This put the North End on edge and they began to look for the perpetrator and found a man named Joe James, a young black man new to town who was found sleeping in an alley nearby reportedly after a night of drinking. The white crowd beat Mr. James before the police arrived. The local newspaper said that “Clergy Ballard saved his daughter from a sexual attack” On August 14th, 1908 the Illinois State Journal newspaper reported a white woman named Mabel Hallam had been raped by a black man named George Richardson, who worked as a brick carrier. Mabel Hallam was the 21 year old wife of well known streetcar conductor William Hallam. William Hallam had falsely identified Richardson as the assailant to protect his wife. Multiple eyewitness accounts said Richardson was on the porch with Mrs. Hallam, and the police arrested him and took him to the city jail.

On the afternoon of August 14 a mostly male (white) crowd gathered in downtown Springfield. The angry mob was convinced the two black men, James and Richardson, had committed brutal crimes against the white women and man. The crowd, numbering 5,000 to 10,000 by 7:30 p.m., went to the jail and demanded the prisoners be given to them. Sheriff Charles Cerner distracted the crowd, while Harry Loper, a wealthy restaurateur and one of the few automobile owners in Springfield, drove the two suspects out of town to Bloomington, Illinois about 64 miles away. After the crowd learned that Loper had arranged the suspects’ transfer, they went to his restaurant for revenge. The sheriff sent about ten cavalry to the site but forbade them to fire upon the crowd. The mob destroyed Loper’s restaurant, its interior furnishings were overturned, and they burned his automobile. An 18 year old immigrant from Eastern Europe was fatally shot in the basement of the Loper restaurant...the first casualty of the riot. Loper managed to escape the vicious crowd. Charles S. Deneen (governor at the time) activated the state militia when he realized local authorities were overwhelmed.

The mob began to attack black areas of the city, moving to the Levee (Seventh and Washington), a predominantly black business area. It included dives (very run down places) and saloons as well as some official businesses. First the mob attacked the pawnshop of John Olbermann, who was Jewish, and stole guns and ammo. Then they destroyed a total of 35 other black owned businesses and shattered windows and storefronts all along Washington Street. Among the businesses destroyed were saloons owned by two black business and political leaders, one active Republican and the other a Democrat. Three white men were shot in the conflict allegedly by blacks defending their businesses on Washington Street. One of the white victims was crushed by the mob, and two others died later for their wounds. Otherwise, about half of the reported casualties were from gunfire and about a quarter from bricks hurled into the crowd. The crowd moved on toward the Badlands, the heart of the black residential area. The mob burned homes in the “Badlands” destroying a four-block area and doing much damage to neighboring streets.

They encountered Scott Burton, a black barbershop owner. Burton fired into the crowd and in the end was killed by return fire. They burned his shop and drug his body to a nearby saloon, hanging it outside from a tree. By this time, an estimated 12,000 whites had gathered to watch the houses burn. When firefighters arrived, the whites impeded their progress by slashing their hoses. Many blacks fled town, or found refuge in the State Arsenal, where the White militia protected them. The militia dispersed the crowd later that night after reinforcements arrived after 2 a.m.The next day, August 15, another 5,000 militiamen arrived to maintain order. Curiosity seekers and tourists who had read about the riots in the newspaper also came to the stricken city. A new mob formed and approached the State Arsenal, where many black residents had taken refuge. When confronted by a militiaman the crowd changed direction. Several hundred men and boys went to the home of William Donnegan, an elderly black man whose wife, Sarah Rudolph, was an Irish-German woman about thirty years younger than him. He was recorded as 76 years old. When Donegan came outside after threats to burn his house, the mob grabbed him, cut his throat and lynched him from the tree across the street, two blocks from the governor's office. Sarah escaped with their infant daughter and was taken in by a neighbor.

The militia stopped the the riots on August 15th, leaving 40 homes and 24 businesses in ruins, and seven people confirmed dead. Two black men were killed and 5 whites were killed in the violence. There were rumored to have been several more unreported deaths.

According to The Illinois State Journal, after the riot 2,000 blacks left Springfield immediately. “There are still many negroes left in Springfield, but of these there are many planning to go at the first opportunity”––Roy R. ReeceA grand jury brought 107 indictments against nearly 80 individuals who had allegedly participated in the riots (including four police officers), but only one man, a 20 year old Russian Jewish vegetable peddler named Abraham Raymer, was convicted. His crime was stealing a saber from a guard. Raymer had previously been tried for the murder of William Donnegan, as he had been placed at the scene. Raymer was beaten by police in an effort to extract a confession, but maintained his innocence. He was acquitted of that and serious charges in two later trials, which set the tone for the rest of the cases.

There were a few misdemeanor pleas. The lack of evidence, however, allowed most of the perpetrators of the violence to avoid successful prosecution. Kate Howard, a white woman who had encouraged the early violence, committed suicide before facing charges against her. George Richardson, accused of raping Mabel Hallam, was released from jail without incident after the alleged victim failed to press charges. Hallam also said that she didn’t believe that Richardson was her assailant, admitting that her husband was the true culprit. Hallam and her husband moved to Chicago. Later that year, Joe James was convicted of the murder of Clergy Ballard and hanged in the Sangamon County Jail on October 23, 1908.

As a direct result of the Springfield race riots, black and white concerned citizens met in New York City to discuss solutions to racial problems in the U.S. They formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a national organization for civil rights, which was a first based in New York City. Even though the Springfield Race Riots were a racially motivated act of violence in Springfield, Illinois, the impact they left on the world is immense.