True Crime Chronicles: Judge praised Crawford County citizens during 1902 trial for "not lynching" rapist

On November 7, 1902, thousands gathered at the northeast corner of the Crawford County Courthouse square in Van Buren, Arkansas, to witness the public hanging of Hall Mahone, a 22-year-old African American laborer convicted of raping Mrs. Edgar Clark, a white woman from the Haroldton community.

Described in newspapers as a giant physically, Mahone’s execution was the third on that scaffold in 1902, following those of wife murderers Kit Helton and Dave McWhorter, and one of Arkansas’s last public hangings before electrocution became standard in 1913. The crime occurred on September 5, 1902, near the Cazort plantation south of Van Buren.

Clark, accompanied by her 10-year-old stepson, was returning from Dr. J. L. Young’s home with medicine for her sick infant. She testified that Mahone emerged from underbrush, dragged her into the woods, and assaulted her.

The boy fled and alerted neighbors, triggering a manhunt that led to Mahone’s capture the same day. Contemporary newspapers, like the Fort Smith Times, called it a brutal outrage, using racially charged language that reflected the era’s deep prejudice.

No physical evidence was reported; Clark’s testimony alone drove the prosecution. Mahone was arraigned quickly and initially confessed, but Judge Jeptha H. Evans rejected the plea until testimony was heard. By late September, Mahone waived a jury trial and pled guilty, prompting Evans to sentence him to death without jury deliberation.

At the conclusion of the trial, Judge Evans complimented the citizens of Crawford County for " allowing the law to take its course in a case-- but with rare exceptions--summary justice as a rule is dealt out."

Governor Jeff Davis, concerned about judicial murder, urged the Arkansas Supreme Court to review the case, arguing a guilty plea alone shouldn’t warrant execution. The court upheld the sentence regardless.

Due to threats of mob violence, Mahone was held in Little Rock’s state penitentiary before being returned to Van Buren on November 7. That morning, he ate a light breakfast, paced his cell, and, when asked for final words, reportedly said he didn’t care to make a talk, maintaining his innocence.

The execution drew an estimated 2,000 to 5,000 spectators, including men, women, and children of all races. Arkansas law then required public hangings for rape convictions to deter lynchings.

At noon, the trapdoor fell, and death was instantaneous. His family claimed his body for burial in an unmarked grave near Van Buren.