The Siege of Franklin

The third day of Park Robinson's trial for manslaughter drew a large crowd to Judge Humes' courtroom. In his statement to the jury, defense attorney Mr. Burleigh argued that at the time of the shooting of Williams and Morris, there had been a conspiracy among white miners to drive the Black residents out of the Franklin mining camp by force. Witnesses testified that a group of armed men had surrounded Robinson's home, and that Robinson, finding himself under fire, shot back in self-defense to protect his wife and children. Deputy Sheriff Benjamin Stretch, who arrived on the scene after a volley of hundreds of shots, testified that he found a Winchester rifle under the body of Morris, with blood in the barrel, indicating the weapon had been fired recently. Robinson, taking the stand in his own defense, described how he was warned by others that the strikers were planning to 'clean out' the Black miners. He recounted running to his home while bullets kicked up dust at his feet, grabbing his Marlin rifle, and firing at the men he saw in the timber surrounding his house. 'I didn't care if they killed me if my wife got away with the children while I covered their retreat,' Robinson stated. The trial, which centers on the violent labor unrest of June 1891, continues to reveal deep-seated racial tensions in the mining camps.