| Bennie Simmons, or Dennis Simmons, accused
of the murder of sixteen-year old Susie Church, was taken from prison guards
in Anadarko, Oklahoma. His killers led him to a nearby bridge and
hanged him from the limb of a cottonwood tree flourishing by a stream. " The Negro prayed and shrieked in agony as the flames reached his flesh," reported a local newspaper, "but his cries were drowned out by yells and jeers of the mob." As Simmons began to lose consciousness the mob fired at the body, cutting it to pieces. " The mobsters made no attempt to conceal their identity," remarked the Enfaula Democrat, "but there were no prosecutions." Purchased in Oklahoma. |