Moore: Blacks excluded from Ed Johnson's rape trial

Editor's note: This is the second of three parts. Read the first part here.

On the evening of Jan. 23, 1906, Nevada Taylor, a 21-year-old white woman, was raped and beaten as she walked home from the trolley stop in St. Elmo.

News of the crime spread rapidly through the community. The Chattanooga News in front page headlines described the assailant as a "Negro Fiend." Miss Taylor told Sheriff Joseph Shipp she was attacked from behind and choked into unconsciousness, did not see her assailant, and could not say whether he was black or white.

Two days passed without an arrest. The uneasy community demanded action from the sheriff and County Judge Samuel McReynolds. On Jan. 25, a $375 reward was posted for anyone who could identify the attacker.

On Jan. 26, Will Hixson, a white man, identified Ed Johnson as the man he saw with a strap in his hand near the scene of the crime that evening.

Shipp arrested 19-year-old Ed Johnson. Johnson had only four years of education and could neither read nor write. He did carpentry work for various churches and tended pool tables in a saloon in the evenings. Despite intense questioning, Johnson maintained his innocence, stating he was at the saloon all evening. He provided the names of a dozen men who could vouch for him.

As news of the arrest spread, a mob of some 1,500 men descended on the jail and demanded Johnson. The jailers and police officers stood their ground as Judge McReynolds pleaded with the mob to let the courts deal with Johnson. The mob dispersed, thus averting a lynching.

On Jan. 27, the grand jury indicted Johnson on the charge of rape. Judge McReynolds appointed two lawyers to defend him, W.G.M. Thomas and Robert Cameron. Both men were reluctant. Though they were prominent white lawyers, neither had ever tried a criminal case. Lewis Shepherd stepped forward to join the defense. Shepherd was regarded as one of the best lawyers in Tennessee. He was known for defending blacks charged with crimes against whites.

Shepherd invited Noah Parden and Styles Hutchins, the most prominent black lawyers in Chattanooga, to join the defense team. Fearing the effect of the case on their practice, they agreed to help track down witnesses but refused to officially join the defense team. Parden initially believed Johnson was guilty but after spending hours interviewing him came to believe he was innocent.

Judge McReyonlds set the trial for Feb. 6, denying defense motions for change of venue and a postponement to allow for more time to prepare.

Twelve white male jurors were seated. Although they were eligible to serve, blacks were intentionally excluded from the jury pool.

District Attorney Matthew Whitaker called Nevada Taylor as his first witness. She originally told Sheriff Shipp she did not know if Johnson was the attacker, but after Whittaker led her through the details of the assault, she pointed to Ed Johnson as the assailant.

The second witness, Will Hixson, repeated his story about seeing Johnson in the vicinity at the time the attack took place. On cross examination and through rebuttal witnesses, it became obvious he was nowhere near the scene of the crime on the night in question. Hixson picked Johnson when he saw him working at a church in order to claim the reward.

Defense attorneys called 17 witnesses, including a dozen men who swore they saw Johnson working at the saloon throughout the evening.

Nevada Taylor was recalled to the stand at the request of the jurors. One of the jurors asked if she could state positively Johnson was the Negro who assaulted her. She replied "I will not swear that he is the man, but I believe that he is the Negro who assaulted me." Another juror rose with tears streaming down his face, "In God's name, Miss Taylor, tell us positively - is that the guilty Negro? Can you say it? Can you swear it?" Taylor then raised her left hand heavenward saying, "Listen to me. I would not take the life of an innocent man. But before God, I believe this is the guilty Negro."

The case was sent to the jury on Feb. 9. Initially, the jury split 8-4 in favor of a guilty verdict. The jurors were sent home for the night. The next day the four jurors, after spending the night with their families, voted "guilty."

Ed Johnson was sentenced to hang on Feb. 13.

Gay Moore is the author of numerous articles and two books on Chattanooga history: "Chattanooga's St. Elmo" and "Chattanooga's Forest Hills Cemetery." For more visit chattahistoricalassoc.org.