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The evidence proved that sometime in December
here 1840, the prisoners came to Kernersville
where they remained until after dark, when they
broke from the [ ] jail took out two negroes
who were confined there, carried them about
three fourths of a mile from the village and
shot them- the [ ] was only conducted by
the [ ] Mr. James W. Bryan [ ] by Mr
Joshua G. [ ] of Wilmington- The prisoners
were defended with equal ability by [ ]
William B. Wright, Daniel B.[ ] and [ ] l.
Holmes- The trial lasted until [ ] [ ]
and resulted in the acquittal of the prisoners. The
[ ] of the public sentiment was so strong
in their favor that a conviction was al-
most impossible. The grounds upon which the
negroes were murdered was that the identity of
the prisoners was not so clearly prove as to leave
the case without doubt. The prisoners were
also indicted for a riot, upon which they sub-
mitted and sentenced them all to six months
imprisonment. The reason why the [ ]
feeling was so strongly [ ] on behalf of [ ]
whose conduct seems so outrageous and whose
[ ] was undoubtedly , as I charged the jury ,
that of murder, was that the negroes had some [ ]
mischief in the neighborhood where the [ ] [ ]
had killed one of the sons of one of them and
had threatened and attempted to kill others, and they