Sheriff’s Residence and Jail, Evansville

Tensions between African Americans and white individuals were already high in Evansville in 1903, when they boiled over on July 3. An African-American man known as Robert Lee or Lee Brown, reportedly left a bar with an unpaid tab, intending to kill another man with whom he had quarreled with earlier in the day [1]. The bartender, who had followed Lee out of the bar, flagged down police patrolman Louis N. Massey and informed him about what he had witnessed. Massey followed Lee for a distance before attempting to arrest him, and when he grabbed Lee by the shoulder, Lee turned and fired at Officer Massey. Massey was able to fire back at and hit Lee, who was wounded and arrested [2]. Officer Massey died later that evening. When the Evansville community found out that one of its police officers was killed by an African American man, leaving behind his wife and children, riots ensued [3].

Early in the morning following Officer Massey’s death, 100 to 150 white Evansville residents surrounded the police station, demanding for the sheriff to hand over Lee to be hanged [4]. The sheriff refused, and secretly escorted Lee through the underground tunnel that ran between the police station and courthouse to send Lee on a train to the nearby Vincennes jail to be protected. Lee died several days later in custody as a result of the gunshot wound inflicted by Massey [5]. The white Evansville crowd, growing into the thousands, grew restless while waiting for Lee and became more violent as people swarmed the police station [6]. Mobs broke into hardware stores and stole guns and ammunition, along with tools to break open the windows and doors to the jail. On their way back to the jail, word spread that several African American men had gathered at two saloons nearby and were firing down on people as they passed on the street. The mob attacked both saloons and fired at the African American men, but nobody was injured in the attacks [7].

Fearing for the safety of the citizens in Evansville, the sheriff pleaded with the Indiana governor to send help. At the same time as more and more people gathered and became increasingly violent, the Wallace Circus was also coming to town, increasing the confusion [8]. By the time the mob returned to the jail, the Indiana governor had declared martial law and sent 300 members of the National Guard to wrest control from the mob and restore peace to Evansville. Following the mob’s slow advance towards the jail, the tension was finally broken by gunfire. Although there is debate about which side fired first, in the end, both the mob and the National Guard were using their weapons [9]. After the smoke had cleared and the shots ceased firing, “thirty-one wounded and dead laid on the pavement,” two of whom were 15-year old children, one a girl and the other a boy.10 The mob quickly dispersed, and finally, after several days of heated conflicts, the violence subsided as families grieved their losses and tended to those who were wounded.

Today, the jail and sheriff’s residence are still connected by a tunnel to the Evansville courthouse, which was built in 1890 [11]. The jail is made of Indiana limestone with 18th-century inspired architecture. In 1970, the old sheriff’s residence and jail were listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2007, a historical marker commemorating the jail’s construction and its connection to the courthouse was installed by the Indiana Historical Bureau [12].

[1] “The City’s Crown of Shame: Evansville Awakens to the Awful Consequences of Her Seedtime of Folly,” Indianapolis Journal, July 8, 1903. Accessed July 8, 2020. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015679/1903-07-08/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=1903&sort=relevance&rows=20&words=EVANSVILLE+Journal&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=14&state=Indiana&date2=1903&proxtext=evansville+journal&y=6&x=10&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1
[2] Ibid.
[3] Kelley Coures. “Race Riot of 1903: Violence on Fourth Street Claimed 12 Lives,” Evansville Living, accessed July 8, 2020. http://www.evansvilleliving.com/articles/race-riot-of-1903
[4] “Race War Raging in Evansville: Indiana City is in the Hands of Mobs,” San Francisco Call, Vol 94(36). July 6, 1903. Accessed July 8, 2020. https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19030706.2.4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1
[5] Kelley Coures.
[6] “Seven Killed in Evansville Riot: Mob, Bent upon Lynching of a Negro Murderer, is Met with Storm of Bullets and Retires,” Minneapolis Journal, July 7, 1903. July 8, 2020. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045366/1903-07-07/ed-1/seq-1/#date1=07%2F06%2F1903&index=8&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=EVANSVILLE+RIOT&proxdistance=5&date2=07%2F31%2F1903&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=Evansville+Riot&andtext=&dateFilterType=range&page=1
[7] “The City’s Crown of Shame: Evansville Awakens to the Awful Consequences of Her Seedtime of Folly.”
[8] “Seven Killed in Evansville Riot: Mob, Bent upon Lynching of a Negro Murderer, is Met with Storm of Bullets and Retires.
[9] “They City’s Crown of Shame: Evansville Awakens to the Awful Consequences of Her Seedtime of Folly.”
[10] “Seven Killed in Evansville Riot: Mob, Bent upon Lynching of a Negro Murderer, is Met with Storm of Bullets and Retires.”
[11] “Sheriff’s Residence and Jail,” Indiana Historical Bureau, accessed July 8, 2020. https://www.in.gov/history/state-historical-markers/find-a-marker/sheriffs-residence-and-jail/
[12] “National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form: Former Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Residence,” United States Department of the Interior National Park Service, July 1969. Accessed July 8, 2020. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/c8581b91-c054-410a-816c-dea440b35a23/

Student Authors: Mary Swartz, Joel Sharp, and Emma Cieslik
Faculty/Staff Editors: Dr. Ronald V. Morris, Dr. Kevin C. Nolan, and Christine Thompson
Graduate Assistant Researchers: Carrie Vachon and JB Bilbrey

PHOTO & VIDEO:
Former Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Residence, attributed to Nyttend, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Former_Vanderburgh_County_Sheriff%27s_Residence.jpg