James T. Scott

People

James T. Scott (subject)

Outcome

Lynching

On the early morning of April 29, 1923, James T. Scott, an African American janitor at the University of Missouri, was lynched by a white mob of approximately 1,000 to 2,000 people who broke into the Boone County Courthouse jail, seized him from his cell using a blowtorch, and hanged him from Stewart Road Bridge in Columbia, Missouri. Scott had been arrested eight days earlier and accused of assaulting Regina Almstedt, a 14-year-old white girl and daughter of a German literature professor at the university. Despite maintaining his innocence—his final words as he was pushed from the bridge railing were "I am innocent"—Scott was never given a trial. Even the victim's father, Hermann Almstedt, implored the mob to spare Scott until he could stand trial and was reportedly threatened with lynching himself. Evidence emerged after Scott's death strongly suggesting he was the wrong man: his cellmate Ollie Watson matched the description, bloodhounds had tracked a scent to Watson's taxicab, and Watson had raped a 15-year-old Black girl just one week before the Almstedt assault. Missouri's Attorney General released a statement saying the actual rapist was likely Watson and that the mob had lynched an innocent man. Despite this, only one man—former city councilman George Barkwell—was tried for Scott's murder, and a jury acquitted him after deliberating for just eleven minutes. In 2010, civic leaders successfully lobbied to correct Scott's death certificate, changing the cause of death to "asphyxia due to hanging by lynching by assailants" and removing "committed rape" as a secondary cause. James T. Scott was born around 1885-1887, possibly in New Mexico. In his twenties, he moved to Chicago, where he worked as a chauffeur and firefighter. He married and had a daughter named Anna. Scott served in World War I, possibly with the all-Black 370th Infantry Regiment (the 8th Regiment of the Illinois National Guard). After the war, he moved to Columbia, Missouri, where he married Gertrude Carter, an elementary school teacher. He worked as a janitor at the University of Missouri and was active in the African American community, helping organize the 1922 Emancipation Day celebration. On April 20, 1923, fourteen-year-old Regina Almstedt, a sophomore at Columbia High School and daughter of University of Missouri German literature professor Hermann Almstedt, reported that a Black man had assaulted her while she was crossing Stewart Bridge. She described her attacker as having a distinctive "Charlie Chaplin" mustache and carrying a chemical odor. The following day, April 21, police arrested James T. Scott. Regina identified him at the Almstedt home and again at a courthouse lineup six days later. Scott insisted he was innocent and had been working as a janitor on the MU campus at the time of the assault. He was charged and held without bail at the Boone County Courthouse to await trial. On the night of April 28-29, 1923, a mob began gathering at the courthouse. Starting with approximately 400 people, the crowd grew to between 1,000 and 2,000 by the time they reached Stewart Bridge. Around 12:30 a.m., the mob used a blowtorch to breach Scott's jail cell and dragged him to the bridge. Scott proclaimed his innocence to the end, and his last words were reportedly: "I know I am going to die, but I am innocent" or simply "I am innocent." He was hanged from the bridge in front of the assembled crowd. In the days following Scott's murder, evidence emerged suggesting a case of mistaken identity. On the night he was lynched, Scott had named his cellmate Ollie Watson as Regina's actual attacker. Like Scott, Watson was Black and had worn a Charlie Chaplin mustache that spring, though he had shaved it off around the time the manhunt began. Bloodhounds released at the scene of the crime had tracked a scent to the spot where Watson usually parked his taxicab. Most critically, overwhelming evidence indicated that Watson had raped Ernestine Huggard, a fifteen-year-old Black girl, just one week before the Almstedt assault. After Scott's death, Missouri's Attorney General released a statement saying the rapist was likely Watson and that the mob had lynched an innocent man. A grand jury issued indictments against five men suspected of being members of the mob. However, only George Barkwell—a downtown business owner, former city councilman, and recognizable figure in Columbia—was tried for murder. Despite testimony from Charles Nutter, a journalism student who witnessed the lynching, three alibi witnesses (including banker W. Emmett Smith) claimed Barkwell was elsewhere that night. The jury deliberated for just eleven minutes before acquitting him. No one else was ever tried for Scott's murder. Eighty-seven years later, in 2010, local filmmaker Scott Wilson teamed up with the Boone County medical examiner's office to successfully lobby state officials to correct Scott's death certificate. The primary cause of death was changed to "asphyxia due to hanging by lynching by assailants." A secondary cause that had read "committed rape" was removed and replaced with "never tried or convicted of rape." On April 29, 2016, a historical marker was placed on the MKT Nature and Fitness Trail commemorating the lynching. Scott's murder was the last recorded lynching in Columbia, Missouri.