February 18, 1904

Glenco Bays was burned at the stake near Crossett (Ashley County) for having allegedly murdered J. D. Stephens, a prominent local farmer. Stephens was one of the most prosperous and admired farmers in the county. According to the Arkansas Gazette, the spectacle of Bays being burned to death “was sickening, yet not one of the witnesses appeared to doubt that the terrible punishment meted out was merited….While the more conservative deplore the method of disposing of the murderer, indignation ran so high among both the white and black races that conservatism received no consideration.”