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The trial of Ed Johnson

by Lionel Wijesiri

In an old, overgrown cemetery located just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee, sits a small, undistinguished granite stone. Written on the stone is a barely readable inscription, which states: 'God Bless You All. I am an innocent man. Ed Johnson, Born 1882, Died March 19, 1906'.

There is nothing remarkable about this stone. Nothing more about Ed Johnson. Nothing more on how he came to be buried there. Nothing which distinguishes the stone from the others in this cemetery.

In short, there is nothing which gives a hint of the shameful story of how Ed Johnson, a young, uneducated black man living in the south at the turn-of-the-century was wrongly convicted of raping a white woman and lynched one night.

Ed Johnson's troubles began on the night of Tuesday, January 23, 1906, when Nevada Taylor, a 21-year old, white, and by all accounts beautiful girl was raped on her way home from work. When questioned by Sheriff Shipp, Taylor repeatedly said she had not had a good look at her attacker (who had sneaked up on her from behind), but when pressed, she said that she thought he was black.

The only evidence found near the scene of the crime was a black strap, which, although Miss Taylor could not say for certain, appeared to be the strap used to choke her during the initial part of the attack.

On Thursday, a man came forward who said he saw Ed Johnson on the night of the attack in the vicinity holding a black strap. Johnson was arrested and taken to the city jail.

That night, word circulated through the town that the man responsible had been arrested. A mob formed outside the jail, and began attempting to break the jail door down. Judge Sam McReynolds, who would preside over Johnson's trial, arrived on the scene and told the mob that Johnson had been taken to a jail out of town earlier that day. The Judge also promised a quick trial.

The trial began on Tuesday, February 06. The court-appointed defense lawyers had sought a delay in the proceedings (indeed, they had only met with their client for the first time on Friday, February 02) but the request was quickly denied by Judge McReynolds.

The state's case against Johnson was weak at best. Taylor identified Johnson as the man who attacked her, but her identification was suspect. The man who said he saw Ed Johnson with a strap apparently had told folks the day before that he wanted to collect the reward money, yet he denied conversations to that effect. Moreover, Johnson had over a dozen respectable black witnesses who testified that on the night of the attack Johnson was at a bar where he worked part-time.

The trial lasted three days, with closing arguments made on the afternoon of February 05. Judge McReynolds instructed the jury to get a good nights rest and return the next day. They did so and, after twenty minutes the next morning, reached a verdict of guilty. Judge McReynold sentenced Johnson to death and scheduled the execution for March, 13.

Johnson's father met Noah Parden, the city's most successful black lawyer, and begged him to take up the case. Initially Parden was reluctant to do so, however, later he consented. First, Parden appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The Court reporter refused to provide a transcript without payment in full up front (Contrary to his usual practice). Parden managed to raise the money, but the transcript needed to be signed by the judge in order to be official, and Judge McReynolds suddenly left town on an unannounced vacation an hour before the transcript was completed.

Finally, Parden did file the appeal (without the transcript) on February 20. On March 03, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that it would not issue a stay of execution.

Parden next appealed to the Federal District Court, alleging errors under the US Constitution. The Court heard arguments, but, on March 10, denied relief, believing it did not have jurisdiction to intervene in the state proceedings. However, the Court went on to stay the execution until March 23, so that Johnson and his attorneys could present papers to the US Supreme Court.

In response, Judge McReynolds and Sheriff Shipp arranged with the Governor of Tennessee to issue a stay of execution, although the stay was only until March 20.

On Sunday, March 18, the US Supreme Court, through justice Harlan, agreed to hear the case, and issued a stay of execution. The telegram arrived in Chattanooga late in the evening, and Johnson was not informed until the next day.

The community was outraged, and rumours quickly spread through the town that there would be a lynching that night. Yet despite the rumors, in a highly unusual move, all of the deputies save one were sent home that night, and the jail was left with only one guard.

A mob formed and broke into the jail. Sheriff Shipp arrived on the scene sometime after, but made no real effort to stop the mob. Johnson was taken from the jail, brutally beaten and hanged, then shot while he was hanging. Fiftythree days after he'd been arrested for the rape of Nevada Taylor, Ed Johnson was dead.

No one was charged with any crimes following the lynching the reaction in Washington was one of surprise and disbelief.

After an investigation by federal agents (who, not surprisingly, were hounded by townspeople), the Supreme Court brought contempt charges for the first and only time in its history. Ultimately, Sheriff Shipp and several of his deputies were sentenced to 90 days in federal prison (some were only sentenced to 60 days), although they were released early for good behaviour. On January 30, 1910, after completing his three-month sentence, Sheriff Shipp returned to Chattanooga, where he received a hero's welcome.

As he stepped off the train from Washington, he was greeted by a crowd of more than 10,000 people singing "Dixie."

This is the only instance in its history that the US Supreme Court conducted a criminal trial. The trial is a story of tragedy that had been all but forgotten until Mark Curriden, a Dallas reporter, and Leroy Phillips, Jr., a Chattanooga attorney, published their 1999 book, 'Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching that Launched a Hundred Years of Federalism'.

Now, with the success of the book and a movie based on the book, it appears that Shipp trial may assume its rightful place as one of the famous trials in American and world history.

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