Springfield, Illinois Riot of 1908

Still, Springfield’s black citizens, supported by their friends and families, defended themselves against the attack, killing and wounding several rioters. When the riot subsided, officials reported that two black men had been lynched, five white men had been killed, and hundreds had been wounded. In the end, the majority of rioters indicted for their crimes were acquitted of all charges.

Although the riot occurred in August, an incident that happened on July 4, 1908, initially led to the violence. That night, a black man allegedly entered the home of white mining engineer Clergy Ballard and attempted to assault Ballard’s daughter. Ballard, awakened by his daughter’s screams, grabbed the intruder and fought with him; however, the intruder managed to break away from Ballard by slashing him with a razor. Ballard’s sons, also awakened during the fracas, chased the intruder but failed to catch him. Ballard later died from his wounds.

The next morning the city’s newspapers printed stories about the attack on Ballard’s daughter and the death of Clergy Ballard. As family and friends mourned, the police and community began their search for the attacker. The police scoured the black community questioning black men, but by late afternoon they still did not have any leads. However, before long they received their first break in the case. Four high school girls, schoolmates of Ballard’s daughter, discovered a man asleep on the side of the road a few blocks from the Ballard home. Assuming this was Ballard’s murderer, one of the girls immediately telephoned her father’s saloon, the Ballard home, and the police. Within minutes, Ballard’s sons, family, and friends arrived on the scene, grabbed the man and commenced to beat him brutally. The police arrived seconds later, saving him from sure death. The man was identified as Joe James, a Negro drifter from Alabama who once was arrested in Springfield for vagrancy. According to officers, James had lived and worked for a year in East St. Louis before coming to Springfield in June. He also became a jail trustee, often running errands for the officers while serving out his time for the vagrancy charge. Now, James was the lead suspect in the murder of Clergy Ballard. The police questioned James about Ballard’s murder, but he would not confess to the killing. James claimed to have passed out from drinking too much alcohol and could not remember anything from the previous night. Also, James was not in possession of the murder weapon. Nevertheless, the police charged James with Ballard’s murder.