Imagine living in Springfield during the riots of 1908. Fires, lynchings, and mob actions occur everywhere. Springfield, Illinois, is the heart of Illinois and is known for being Abraham Lincoln's "Stomping Grounds", but people know little about Springfield's history. In the early 1900s the population of Illinois was approximately 47,000 people and the population of Springfield was approximately 300. Springfield was originally claimed by a man named William Florville (1807 - 1868), a Haitian businessman who met Abraham Lincoln in New Salem. In Springfield, blacks basically ran it. In fact, about 5.5% of Springfield's population was black. The whites in the city thought that the blacks were stealing jobs from their race. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original EssayOn July 4, 1908, Clergy Ballard, a mining engineer, was at his home with his daughter in the "North End" of Springfield. His daughter woke up to a "man standing over her," grabbed his gun and tried to shoot the unknown assailant but was stabbed in her backyard... in front of her daughter, Clergy's daughter has said the man was black. This put the North End in trouble and they began looking for the perpetrator and found a man named Joe James, a young black man new to town who was found sleeping in a nearby alley, reportedly after a night of drinks. The white mob beat Mr. James before the police arrived. The local newspaper said that "Clergy Ballard saved his daughter from a sexual attack." On August 14, 1908, the Illinois State Journal reported that a white woman named Mabel Hallam had been raped by a black man named George Richardson, who worked as a brick hauler. . Mabel Hallam was the 21-year-old wife of well-known streetcar conductor William Hallam. William Hallam had mistakenly identified Richardson as the assailant to protect his wife. Numerous eyewitnesses said Richardson was on the porch with Ms. Hallam, and police arrested him and took him to the city jail. On the afternoon of August 14, a predominantly male (white) crowd gathered in downtown Springfield. The angry mob was convinced that the two black men, James and Richardson, had committed brutal crimes against white men and women. The crowd, numbering 5,000 to 10,000 by 7.30pm, went to the prison and demanded that the prisoners be handed over to them. Sheriff Charles Cerner distracted the crowd, while Harry Loper, a wealthy restaurateur and one of the few car owners in Springfield, drove the two suspects out of town to Bloomington, Illinois, about 64 miles away. After the mob learned that Loper had arranged the transfer of the suspects, they went to his restaurant to take revenge. The sheriff sent a dozen knights to the scene but forbade them to fire on the crowd. The mob destroyed Loper's restaurant, his interior furnishings were overturned, and they burned his car. An 18-year-old immigrant from Eastern Europe was shot dead in the basement of the Loper restaurant... the first victim of the riot. Loper managed to escape the ferocious crowd. Charles S. Deneen (governor at the time) activated the state militia when he realized that local authorities were overwhelmed. The mob began attacking black areas of the city, moving to Levee (Seventh and Washington), a predominantly black commercial area. It included dives (very run-down places) and saloons, as well as some official businesses. First the mob attacked John Olbermann's pawn shop, whichhe was Jewish, and stole weapons and ammunition. They then destroyed a total of 35 other black-owned businesses and smashed windows and storefronts along Washington Street. Among the businesses destroyed were saloons owned by two black political and business leaders, one an active Republican and the other a Democrat. Three white men were killed during the conflict, allegedly by blacks defending their businesses on Washington Street. One of the white victims was crushed by the mob, and two others later died from their wounds. Otherwise, about half of the reported victims were caused by gunfire and about a quarter by bricks thrown into crowds. The crowd headed towards the Badlands, the heart of the black residential area. The mob burned homes in the "Badlands" destroying a four-block area and causing much damage to nearby streets. They met Scott Burton, the owner of a black barbershop. Burton fired into the crowd and was eventually killed by return fire. They burned down his shop and drugged his body into a nearby saloon, hanging it outside from a tree. By this time, approximately 12,000 whites had gathered to watch the houses burn. When the firefighters arrived, the whites impeded their progress by cutting off their hoses. Many blacks fled the city or found refuge in the State Arsenal, where white militia protected them. The militia dispersed the crowd later that night after reinforcements arrived after 2 am. The next day, August 15, another 5,000 militiamen arrived to maintain order. Onlookers and tourists who had read about the clashes in the newspapers also came to the affected city. A new crowd formed and approached the State Arsenal, where many black residents had taken refuge. Faced with a militiaman, the crowd changed direction. Several hundred men and boys went to the home of William Donnegan, an elderly black man whose wife, Sarah Rudolph, was an Irish-German woman about thirty years his junior. He was recorded as 76 years old. When Donegan came out after threatening to burn down his house, the mob grabbed him, slit his throat, and lynched him from the tree across the street, two blocks from the governor's office. Sarah ran away with her young daughter and was taken in by a neighbor. The militia stopped the riots on August 15, leaving 40 homes and 24 businesses in ruins, and seven people confirmed dead. Two black men were killed and 5 white men were killed in the violence. There were said to have been many other unreported deaths. According to the Illinois State Journal, 2,000 blacks immediately left Springfield after the riot. “There are still many Negroes left in Springfield, but of these many are planning to leave at the first opportunity”––Roy R. ReeceA grand jury returned 107 indictments against nearly 80 people who allegedly participated in the riots (including four police officers), but only one man, a 20-year-old Russian Jewish vegetable vendor named Abraham Raymer, was convicted. His crime was stealing a saber from a guard. Raymer had previously been tried for the murder of William Donnegan, as he had been placed at the scene. Raymer was beaten by police in an attempt to extract a confession, but he maintained his innocence. He was acquitted of this and serious charges in two subsequent trials, which set the tone for the rest of the cases. There were some misdemeanor charges. The lack of evidence, however, allowed most of the perpetrators of the violence to avoid successful prosecution. Kate Howard, a white woman who had encouraged the early violence, committed suicide before confronting it.