The murder of Williams was the second riot killing in the heart of Chicago's business district on the morning of July 29. Before Williams died he said he had been assaulted by white men at State and Van Buren streets. An eyewitness, a Negro, said he saw Williams running west on the car track on Van Buren Street, followed by a mob of about 200 white men. One of them, whom he positively identified as Frank Biga, stabbed the deceased twice, but Williams continued to run for a distance after that. A white man who saw Williams picked up at Harrison and State streets also identified Biga as a man who all during the morning had led gangs chasing Negroes. A woman went to a policeman and pointed out Biga as the leader of riot mobs. The coroner's jury recommended that Biga be held to the grand jury upon a charge of murder. At the time of the identification of Biga by the woman the policeman arrested him, found a broken razor in his possession, and had him booked for disorderly conduct, for which he was fined $5 and costs in the boys' court and sent to the House of Correction. The next day he broke out of the House of Correction and was not again apprehended until he was implicated in the murder of a shoe merchant, Fred Bender, on August 8, 1919. He killed Bender with a blow on the head from an iron pipe. On February 18, 1920, Biga was sent to the penitentiary for life.

9. William Dozier
RaceNegro
Date of receiving death woundJuly 31
Time of receiving death wound7:15 a.m.
Place of receiving death woundStock Yards, Exchange Avenue about Cook Street
Manner of woundExternal violence

Dozier, Negro, approached a meat curer employed in the superintendent's office of Swift & Co. to ask if the Negroes were not going to have protection in the Yards that morning. A white worker stepped out of the crowd and struck at Dozier with a hammer. Dozier dodged and caught the blow on the neck. He started to run east on Exchange Avenue. As he ran he was struck with a street broom and shovel and other missiles; near the sheep pens a brick felled him. The meat curer above mentioned and an assistant identified one Zarka as the man who wielded the hammer. Joseph Scezak was identified as the man who used the broom. The coroner's jury recommended that these two be held to the grand jury on a charge of manslaughter and also that the unknown participants be held upon the same charge. Zarka and Scezak were indicted for murder, and on May 6, 1920, a verdict of not guilty was returned as to each.

D. TABLE SHOWING NUMBER OF PERSONS INJURED INCHICAGO RIOT, BY DATE AND BY RACE
DateRace Total
WhiteNegroUnknown
July 2710 31 5 46
2871 152 6 229
2955 80 4 139
3020 20 2 42
3110 9 0 19
Aug. 10 1 0 1
21 3 0 4
31 1 0 2
41 0 0 1
51 0 0 1
61 0 0 1
72 0 0 2
80 1 0 1
91 0 0 1
Date unknown 4 44 0 48
Total178 342 17 537

INDEX

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FOOTNOTES

[1] For biographical data see [p. 652].