Nell Cropsey #13

   Their father was mad because he thought the report had been too easy on Jim.  “The evidence was strong against him, but it was still hard to believe he would hurt Nell.  That he would kill her.”  (pg. 123; Simpson)  He asked the Committee to take care of her funeral because it would be too hard on them, and he also saved Jim when a group came to tell him they were going to lynch him, as he told them not to.  Jim did not attend the funeral, and when the minister said he believed Jim innocent the crowd disapproved and began whispering about it, however, they never did disrupt the service.  Jim had to remain in jail because if he did not, the town would surely lynch him.  On December 30^th, the Pasquotank Rifles were released to go home after two-and-a-half-days. 
   Judge Andrew Cropsey took Nell’s body back to Brooklyn to bury her among her family; she was buried right next to her baby brother in the reopened grave.  Judge Andrew thinks Nell was held captive until three days before her body was found, and when they tried to return her they could not.  At this, they killed her and threw her into the river.
   W.O. Saunders finally got a job for the paper; covering the Wilcox trial Dispatch.  This trial was set for March to let the town settle down a bit, and Jim was pled not guilty.  The jury was made up of 10 Democrats and 2 black Republicans; Jim was a Republican.