Hangings and Lynchings in Dallas County, Texas by Terry Baker

Author:Terry Baker [Baker, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781681790336
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Wild Horse Media Group LLC
Published: 2016-01-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Walter Robert Stevenson

White male, age 34, born November 16, 1883, in Texas

Leonard A. Dodd

White male, age 30, born October 3, 1887, in Tennessee

Offense – Kidnapping and criminal assault, occurred June 25, 1917

Victim – Miss Florence Orcutt, white female, age about 18

Indicted by the grand jury June 28, 1917

Trial by jury in Dallas County, Texas

Criminal District Court No. 2 Judge Charles A. Pippin, presided

Walter R. Stevenson tried and convicted July 13, 1917

Leonard A. Dodd tried and convicted July 20, 1917

Both cases affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals February 13, 1918

Stevenson and Dodd both hanged Friday, May 24, 1918, Dallas County, Texas

In June of 1917, Miss Florence Orcutt, who news reports described as a pretty eighteen-year-old stenographer, was living in Dallas. She had lived in Dallas for about three years. Both of her parents had died five years earlier and she came to Dallas to live with her sister. On the evening of June 25th she hired jitney driver E. J. Savage to drive her in his small bus to the home of Mr. Watkins who lived on the White Rock Road. Florence was familiar with Mr. Savage, as she had hired him several times previously. Before the night was over, E. J. Savage would be attacked with a hammer by two men posing as police officers, and Florence would be kidnapped, savagely beaten and criminally assaulted.

From her later court testimony Florence gave these accounts of the night she was kidnapped and attacked. She walked from her home on Cole Street to McKinney Avenue to hire Savage and his small bus. She got in and they first drove downtown, then out the Greenville Road. After some time they saw another car and Savage seemed to be lost. He stopped and asked the other driver about the road. One of the men in the other car said something like, “It looks easy.” Then Savage drove fast to get away from the two men.

The other car came after them and overtook the small jitney bus, and stopped them. The men in the car said they were officers and told Savage he was driving too fast. One of them showed a shield and Savage apologized and they began slapping him. Later one of the men said they were hold-up men and wanted $10. They had a hammer and began beating the car. They finally dragged Savage out of the jitney and Florence heard them strike him. It was dark, but she could hear him groaning.

The two men opened the doors and ordered her out of the vehicle. She got out and started to run, but a man she later identified as Stevenson, grabbed her and told her to get into their car or they would kill her. She got into the car and the men drove very fast toward town. She didn’t know where they were, but thought about jumping out of the car and running. Finally one of them asked her if she had any money, and she told them no. Stevenson then gave her a dime and said they were going to let her out of the car.

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