The Houston Post
Saturday, August 17, 1901
pg.2

YOUNG WIFE MURDERED
Her Throat Had Been Cut and Her Head Beaten to Jelly

POSSES ARE OUT AFTER A NEGRO
Ex-Convict Had Been Fed and it is Believed that He was the Perpetrator of the  Crimes

Sherman, Texas, August 16, - Mrs. J. M. Caldwell was murdered this afternoon between 4:20 and 6:30 o'clock at her home four miles southwest of South Mayd, this county. She was only 19 years old and had been married about four or five months. Her husband saw her last at 4:20. He came home and no supper ready. He instituted a search and found the body
of his wife in the cellar about twenty feet from the house with her throat cut from ear to ear and her head beaten in with a club. There was evidence of a terrible struggle. The public road runs east and west, the house being south of the road; the cellar is south of the house which would hide any one from the sight of people on the road. There is blood on the floor of the house and in the yard leading to the cellar. The poor woman's clothes were terribly torn.
No clue to the murderer, but a Negro ex-convict, who disappeared from Whitesboro suddenly this morning, got lunch at the house at 10 o'clock this morning. It is supposed he lay around in the brush near the house till Caldwell left the house and then committed the deed.
Caldwell is a substantial young farmer and highly respected. Mrs. Caldwell was Bessie Bullard and came of a good family in the county.
Posses are scouring the country. Excitement is at fever heat and there is no telling what will happen if the murdered is caught.



The Houston Daily Post
August 19, 1901
pg 2

NEGRO STILL AT LARGE
But 5000 Men Are Looking for the Murderer

THE WHOLE COUNTRY IS UNDER ARMS
Every Possible Precaution Has Been Taken to Prevent a Recourse to Mob Law When He is Caught

Sherman, Texas, August 18 - The situation in the Caldwell murder case is practically unchanged.  Posses are still on the hunt for the murderer and cover every foot of territory from southwest Grayson to Woodville, I.T., a distance of over 100 miles.  Rumors are flying fast and are of greatly diverging nature.  Each posse is sure that it has the right man corralled.  Several arrests have been made, but the parties were turned loose shortly after arrest.  The excitement is even more intense today than yesterday and should the right party be run down his fate is not a matter of conjecture.  However, the officers are taking every precautionary step against mob violence, should he be captured and special deputies have been selected among leading citizens of each community and the preservation of the law in regard to mob violence especially impressed.
Sheriff Shrewsbury returned from the field of action today and states that there are 5,000 men on the trail.

Denison, Texas, August 18 - The half breed is charged with the murder of Mrs. J.M. Caldwell and has been traced to Red River bottoms, in the Pottsboro district, and the officers are closing in on him.  It is a good hiding place and he may escape to the Territory.  It was seen where he had been eating green corn.  Wildner lived in Denison several years ago and is well known here to the officers, who are on the look out for him.  The people in the Deaver, Meddler and Pottsboro communities are out in force.



The Houston Post
Wednesday, August 21, 1901
pg. 2

Abe Wildner, Murderer of Mrs. Caldwell, Paid an Awful Penalty
HE CONFESSED THE HORRIBLE CRIME BEFORE HE WAS TORTURED
A Long Chase by Hundreds of Men, but He Was Finally Caught
News Reached Mob that the Governor Had Ordered Out the Militia
And the Prisoner Was at Once Put to Death to Prevent His Rescue by the Sheriff and the Soldiers

Sherman, Texas, August 20, - At 4 o'clock this afternoon an immense crowd had gathered at Whitesboro in anticipation of meeting the posse of citizens with Abe Wildner, the murderer of Mrs. Caldwell, and at 7:30 there was no less than 10,000 people there. All the streets were blocked. A large number of the crowd had firearms, and it was feared that serious trouble would result.
Mayor Hughes mounted a platform on Main street and addressed the crowd, asking them to lay aside their arms and under no consideration to become boisterous upon the arrival of the prisoner. The crowd responded quietly.
As the mayor finished, Mr. Harris of Red Branch telephoned to P. P. Robinson at Whitesboro that the posse , becoming alarmed at a report that the State militia would meet them at that place,  had taken Wildner into a field two miles southwest
of Red Branch and had burned him.
After making the announcement, Mayor Harris requested the crowd to remain in Whitesboro until couriers with the posse could arrive and state the facts.
At 8 o'clock a Post representative called up Red Branch and asked for a confirmation and was told that a man named Art Tips, thoroughly reliable, had come in and authenticated the story. He says the report that the officers and militia were coming to attempt to rescue the prisoner caused the posse to reach a hasty determination, and they took Wildner to an elm tree, piled fodder around him, put on dry twigs and limbs of trees and touched a match to the pile. As the flames began to lick the face and hands of the brute, he began to scream and shriek, and he died in the most intense agony. He made a full and complete confession.
The following private message from Mr. Frank Cochran, at Dexter, gives Wildner's confession: Wildner was chained to an elm tree in the field, and, although he had already confessed the crime, he made a fuller confession, during which he said Mrs. Caldwell was sitting on the front porch reading. He came up on the back porch with an ax, which he set down, making
a noise and attracting her attention. He said his sole purpose in making the visit was to commit criminal assault. When Mrs. Caldwell looked around he seized her. She made a desperate resistance and was about to baffle his attempt, when he seized the ax and struck her on the head, knocking her senseless. After he had accomplished his purpose he dragged her into the storm cellar in the back yard and cut her throat. He detailed at some length his route of flight. His clothing was not removed for the burning.
J. M. Caldwell, husband of the murdered woman, applied the match and helped to pile the fodder around him. The blackened and charred remains of the brute are still hanging in the tree, and will be left there till day after tomorrow. About 15,000 men were on the scene of the burning within a short time.
At 8:30 the crowds were still piling on fagots, though the Negro was nothing more than a charred and blackened mass of roasting flesh.

Sherman, Texas, August 20, - Last Friday afternoon Mr. J. M. Caldwell, a prosperous and highly respected young farmer, living four miles southwest of Southmayd, left home and wife about 4 o'clock to go to Whitesboro on business. He was only gone about two hours. When he returned no one answered his call. When he entered the house an appalling sight met his eyes. Blood was smeared on the floor and articles of furniture disarranged in the room. He hastened into the yard; following the trail of blood into the storm cellar.
Lying on the floor, her clothing torn, her body bruised and bleeding, her throat cut from ear to ear, was his wife, cold in
death.
The alarm was given, officers summoned and began to hunt for clews. A Negro, Abe Wildner, had been seen in the neighborhood, had been to the Caldwell home in the morning and had asked for and received something to eat. He was at once suspected as the murderer and every effort possible was made to effect his capture. For three and a half days and
four nights the fugitive succeeded in eluding the officers and posse that were searching for him. Every trail, every indication that pointed even to a probability of success, was thoroughly followed up. At last, worn out with the ceaseless flight and footsore from the weary tramp, he met another Negro in the road, an old acquaintance named Morrison, whom he asked for
a dime's worth of tobacco. The Negro knew Wildner was a fugitive from justice but was afraid of him.
Wildner crossed the river and Morrison immediately rode into Dexter and gave the alarm. A posse was at once organized
and at about 1:30 this afternoon a farmer named Churchill caught him near Bob, I.T. He was immediately taken in charge by the posse and brought back by private conveyance and an escort of more than 1000 to the point where the burning took place.

WHITESBORO WAS EXCITED
Whitesboro, Texas, August 20, - Whitesboro is at this hour at the height of wildest excitement. The Negro murderer, Abe Wildner, was captured this evening at 2 o'clock near Bob, in the Chickasaw Nation, and the citizens are en route with him for this place, traveling through the country
Mr. Caldwell, husband of the murdered woman, telephoned from Dexter to send more men, as he feared an effort would be made by the officers to take the Negro from them, and 100 or more armed men left immediately to join him, headed by an ex-sheriff of Grayson county. Sheriff Shrewsbury of Grayson county left Gainesville with a crowd of officers to intercept the men with the prisoner.

EXCITEMENT AT GAINESVILLE
Gainesville, Texas, August 20, -- A message from Thackerville, ten miles north of Gainesville, came at 3 o'clock that Abe Wildner, the Negro who murdered Mrs. Caldwell near Whitesboro late Friday afternoon had been arrested. When Wildner
was caught the crowd numbered fully 100 weary and sleepy, but determined men. He was taken to Bob, I.T., where notice was sent out to the searchers and they gathered there. Then they put the Negro in a buggy with two men and started for Whitesboro, the whole searching party coming with them.
Sheriff Strewsbury and two deputies came in from Grayson county, the scene of the crime, this afternoon at 3:10 o'clock.
On arriving there they received the message from the mob that they were going to Whitesboro, where they would burn the scoundrel at the stake. Sheriff Shrewsbury and three deputies who came with him made up a strong posse and left at once on horseback, going across the country, with the avowed purpose of intercepting the mob and taking the prisoner from them. The sheriff on leaving remarked that he expected a rough time.
The news of the arrest was promptly telephoned from here to Whitesboro, and the people there are in a frenzied state of excitement. Houses are closed, business suspended and in less time than it takes to write the whole population was again
in arms and on horseback. They started to meet the mob having the Negro.
At 5:40 o'clock a message was received here saying that the mob with the prisoner was nearing Dexter, a town only sixteen miles from Whitesboro. The mob numbered over 200 and was growing as it neared its destination. The crowd from Whitesboro had not met the incoming mob and the sheriff and posse had not been heard from. Hundreds went from here,
the streets were constantly lined with men on horseback going in the direction that the Negro was thought to be coming. As if by magic, the news of the arrest seemed to spread over the whole country and men poured into  Whitesboro from all sides.
A special train left here at 8 o'clock for Whitesboro, and it was loaded to the guards. It was made up wholly of flat cars and box cars and coal cars, and men piled on them as long as they could find a place to wedge in. Hundreds were left behind because they could not find a place to hold to. The information received here was that preparations were being made for
the terrible execution.
The Negro was burned one mile south of Dexter at 6:50 o'clock this evening by a mob of about 500 people. Thousands of people are now going to the scene and special trains are being run from every point.

Militia Ordered Out
Denton, Texas, August 20, - Company B, Third regiment was sent to Whitesboro tonight under orders of Adjutant General Scurry to protect the Negro Wildner, who is charged with the recent murder of a white woman near there.  




El Paso Herald
El Paso, Texas
Wednesday, August 21, 1901
pg.1

HUMAN TORCH
Fearful Torture Suffered by a Negro Brute for "the Usual Crime" - Twice Hanged and Roasted Over the  Fire.
Special to the Herald

Dallas, Texas, Aug. 21, - The Negro brute who assaulted and murdered Mrs. J. M. Caldwell, a bride of two months, only nineteen  years old, the wife of a farmer living near Sherman, on Friday last, was captured yesterday afternoon in Indian Territory.
Today his ashes are scattered to the four winds.
A posse has been out after the man ever since the crime was committed. Yesterday, late in the afternoon, the fiend was seen just across the state line by a Negro who had known him elsewhere. The Negro informed the posse and the bottoms
of the Red river were beat and bloodhounds were set after the object of their search.
Finally he was taken prisoner, and with a rope around his neck and several guns at his temples he confessed to having committed the awful crime. Shrieking for mercy, the wretched Negro was dragged at the end of his rope for miles through the country.
The intention was to take him back to the scene of the crime, and there burn him at a stake. Word came, however, that the authorities would prevent the lynching at all hazards, and it was decided to take vengeance without delay.
The mob now consisted of about three hundred men and boys. The Negro was dragged headlong over the ground and taken to a tree, where the rope was thrown over a limb and the criminal swung up. With horrible grimace the man slowly strangled, his contortions and efforts to cry out being most shocking.



The Democrat
McKinney, Texas
Thursday, August 22, 1901
pg.1

BURNED THE BLACK
Wildner, Who Outraged and Murdered Mrs. Caldwell

FOOD FOR THE FIERY FLAMES
After Being Captured in a Territory Cornfield, and Confessing to the Crime a Mob Did the Rest

Whitesboro, Texas, August 21, - From Dexter Constable Davenport telephoned the following Tuesday night:
"Myself and M W. Witt arrested Abe Wildner on Mud creek a little before noon. We arrested him in a cornfield, and afterward
a mob of a hundred men gathered and forced us to take the man out of the field. I told them I wanted to know whether we had the right  man or not, and whether or not the man under arrest was guilty.
"I warned him that anything he should tell me might be used against him as evidence, and asked him if he was guilty. He told me the story as follows: "I murdered Mrs Caldwell. I laid in wait until her husband left home and went to the house. I tried to assault her and she was so strong for me, and I cut her throat. I went there for the purpose of assaulting her.
"That was all the Negro would say, except to confess to other mischief that he had done in Whitesboro. He was very stoical, and when the mob told him they were going to burn him he said nothing. There was some talk of lynching in the Territory, but I got the prisoner in a wagon and started for Texas with him.
"After we crossed Red river and got across to the Grayson county line the citizen's posse overpowered me and the other officers and took the prisoner from us.
"They decided to burn him, and went about a mile across the Grayson county line, and a mile and a half from Dexter, on Bill Nelson's ranch, they took Wildner and tied him to a big elm tree. Wire and chains were used to fasten him to the tree, and then some dry corn fodder was piled under his feet.
 "The men then piled the fuel around him, and when it was done the match was again applied, and this time wood was heaped on the fire and Wildner slowly burned to death. He did not pray, nor did he ask to be allowed time to pray or make any preparations, but stood in the flames like a stoic and slowly burned to death.
"The burning took about a half to three-quarters of an hour, and he was badly charred and burned before life was extinct. In some places the flesh was burned to the bone.
"He groaned and moaned several times and when in the midst of his misery he cried out and begged the men to shoot him and end his misery, but the men looked on grimly and did no stir to make his suffering greater or to alleviate his pain.
"That was the only request he made - for some one to shoot him and end his misery. He did not shriek, nor cry out,  nor beg for his life or for mercy, but there were groans that he could not suppress.
"There was no mutilation of the Negro by the men, nor was an attempt made to mutilate his body. Death came very slowly
to relieve the man's sufferings."



Bonham News
August 23, 1902
pg. 3

NEGRO MURDERER BURNED
The Fiend Who Outraged and Murdered a young woman Caught, and His Captors Burn Him.  He Dies Like a Stoic

Between 4 and 6 o'clock last Friday afternoon while alone at her home on a farm west of Whitesboro, Mrs. Caldwell, a young woman, was assaulted and murdered, and her body thrown in a cellar under the house.   Her throat was cut, her head mashed and her body terribly bruised in her desperate fight with her assailant.  Shortly after the crime was committed her husband returned home and found her gone.  The house was disordered and a trail of blood led from his wife's room to the cellar, where he found her dead body.  The alarm was given at once, and in a very short time hundreds of armed men, which soon swelled to thousands, were hunting for Abe Wilder, a negro who was seen to go to the house and shortly afterwards to leave it about the time the crime was committed.  The search was kept up diligently until Monday, when the negro was arrested in Indian Territory.
Constable Davenport, who was one of the parties who arrested him tells the story of the arrest and execution as follows:
"Myself and M W. Witt arrested Abe Wildner on Mud creek a little before noon. We arrested him in a cornfield, and afterward
a mob of a hundred men gathered and forced us to take the man out of the field. I told them I wanted to know whether we had the right  man or not, and whether or not the man under arrest was guilty.
"I warned him that anything he should tell me might be used against him as evidence, and asked him if he was guilty. He told me the story as follows: "I murdered Mrs Caldwell. I laid in wait until her husband left home and went to the house. I tried to assault her and she was so strong for me, and I cut her throat. I went there for the purpose of assaulting her.
"That was all the Negro would say, except to confess to other mischief that he had done in Whitesboro. He was very stoical, and when the mob told him they were going to burn him he said nothing. There was some talk of lynching in the Territory, but I got the prisoner in a wagon and started for Texas with him.
"After we crossed Red river and got across to the Grayson county line the citizen's posse overpowered me and the other officers and took the prisoner from us.
"They decided to burn him, and went about a mile across the Grayson county line, a mile and a half from Dexter, on Bill Nelson's ranch, they took Wildner and tied him to a big elm tree. Wire and chains were used to fasten him to the tree, and then some dry corn fodder was piled under his feet. After seeing that Wildner was securely bound the fire was started.  Wildner broke down for the first time. 'Take away the fire,' he cried, 'and I will tell you everything about my past crimes and this one.'"
"The men pulled the fire away and he closed his mouth like a clam and would not utter a word.  Then the men piled the fuel around him, and when it was done the match was again applied, and this time wood was heaped on the fire and Wildner slowly burned to death. He did not pray, nor did he ask to be allowed time to pray or make any preparations, but stood in the flames like a stoic and slowly burned to death.
"The burning took about a half to three-quarters of an hour, and he was badly charred and burned before life was extinct. In some places the flesh was burned to the bone.
"He groaned and moaned several times and when in the midst of his misery he cried out and begged the men to shoot him and end his misery, but the men looked on grimly and did not stir to make his suffering greater or to allay his pain.
"That was the only request he made - for some one to shoot him and end his misery. He did not shriek, nor cry out, nor beg for his life or for mercy, but there were groans that he could not suppress.
"There was no mutilation of the Negro by the men, nor was an attempt made to mutilate his body. Death came very slowly
to relieve the man's sufferings."
"After life was extinct he was left by most of the men and a fresh fire built to consume what of his flesh and bones that was left."


The Sunday Gazetteer
Sunday, August 25, 1901
pg.1

RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
Abe Wildner, the murderer of Mrs. Caldwell, Burned at the Stake
He Confessed His Crime and Told How the Deed Was Done - The Governor Calls the Military Out - Wildner Was Captured in the Territory

Abe Wildner, colored, who committed one of the most horrible murders in the history of North Texas, last Friday the 16th near Southmayd, was visited with summary vengeance Tuesday night.  The victim was Mrs. J.M. Caldwell, aged 19 years, and recently married.  Wildner was captured in the Territory.  His capture was effected Constable Ben Davenport and a citizen, W.M. Witt.  The capture was effected on Mud Creek in the Chickasaw nation.  Wildner made a clean breast of the matter. There are two or three accounts of the confession of Wilder, but Snyder Omohundro, a reputable citizen of Whitesboro, furnishes the following, which is probably correct:
Wildner confessed fully at Dexter.  He confessed to entering or trying to enter three houses in Whitesboro and committing crimes he has hitherto been charged with.  He said that he went to the house of Caldwell and laid in wait all day til Mr. Caldwell left for Whitesboro.  He then saw Mrs. Caldwell sitting on the front porch reading.  He went to the rear of the house and entered by a rear window.  He said he had been drinking and was crazy with drink.  He let the window down with a crash and Mrs. Caldwell came in to see what caused it.  He crouched behind a table.  She saw him and went toward him.  He throttled her and chocked her down.  She fought like a man and he dragged her to the cellar, where he assaulted her.  She cried out and he was afraid she would attract attention.  He started to leave and she cried out again, and he struck her on the head with a blunt iron, and then he cut her throat and left.  He cut her throat with an ax.
The Governor ordered out the military.  The Denison Rifles about 30 strong under the command of Major C.J. Nimon proceeded to Whitesboro but their services were not needed.  The entire military force was to be directed by Major Nimon.
It was the first intention to bring Wildner to Whitesboro, where several thousand people were in waiting eager for the sacrifice.  No military power could have saved Wildner.  It was decided to burn the wretch when it was learned by runners that an attempt would be made to rescue him by the soldiers and officers.
The account of the burning is as follows.  It is Constable Davenport's statement:
After we crossed the Red River and got across to the Grayson county line the citizen's posse overpowered me and other officers and took the prisoner from us.
They decided to burn him and when about a mile across the Grayson county line, a mile and a half from Dexter, on Bill Nelson's ranch, they took Wildner and tied him to a big elm tree.  Wire and chains were used to fasten him to the tree, and then some dry corn fodder was piled under his feet.  After seeing that Wildner was securely bound the fire was started.  Wildner broke down for the first time.  "Take the fire away," he cried, "and I will tell you all about my past crimes and this one."  The men pulled the fire away and he closed his mouth like a clam and would not utter a word.  The men then piled the fuel around him and when it was done the match was again applied, and this time wood was heaped on the fire and Wildner slowly burned to death.  He did not pray, nor did he ask time to be allowed to pray or make any preparation, but stood in the flames like a stoic and slowly burned to death.
The burning took about a half to three quarters of an hour, and he was badly charred and burned before life was extinct.  In some places the flesh was burned to the bone.
He groaned and moaned several times, and when in the midst of his misery he cried out and begged the men to shoot him and end his misery, but the men looked on grimly and did not stir to make his sufferings greater or allay his pain.
That was the only request he made - for some one to shoot him and end his misery.  He did not shriek or cry out, nor beg for his life or for mercy, but there were groans that he could not suppress.
There were no mutilation of the Negro by the men, nor was an attempt made to mutilate his body.  Death came very slowly to relieve the man's suffering.
After life was extinct he was left by most of the men and a fresh fire built to consume what of his flesh and bones were left.
Wildner was an ex-convict when ex-Sheriff Hughes was sheriff.  He was at one time a resident of Denison.
Caldwell Wilder [sic] assaulted a colored woman at Whitesboro and inflicted painful injuries with an ax.  The same night an attempt was made to enter two residences, but the women frightened the intruder away by their cries.  The intruder was recognized as a Negro.  As a climax to these crimes this same Negro, after fleeing from the last place, went to the Sanborn ranch community, where he found Mrs. J.M. Caldwell, a young farmer's wife, alone, and foully murdered her.  Her husband was in Whitesboro on business.