USA > Iowa > Shelby County > Biographical history of Shelby and Audubon counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state; engravings of prominent citizens in Shelby and Audubon counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families. A concise history of the counties, and the cities and townships > Part 70
USA > Iowa > Audubon County > Biographical history of Shelby and Audubon counties, Iowa. Containing portraits of all the presidents of the United States from Washington to Harrison, with accompanying biographies of each; portraits and biographies of the governors of the state; engravings of prominent citizens in Shelby and Audubon counties, with personal histories of many of the early settlers and leading families. A concise history of the counties, and the cities and townships > Part 70
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The darkest page of erime's history within Audubon County up to the present time was made in the years 1884-'85. As in all such eases, the reports given, especially as to where the blame should rest the heaviest, varies as told by different meu and written about by various pens. It is not the sphere of the recorder of local history to shade and cover for the purpose of fastening guilt upon or censuring any who may have been unfort- unate enough to have taken part in any way in a deed so full of darkness. From the best possible sources the writer has obtained the following facts concerning Audubon County's double tragedy:
It appears that on April 26, 1884, an old and inoffensive citizen of the county living about four miles southeast from Audubon, named Hiram Jellerson, was taken from his bed at night by his son and two sons-in-law (as was finally proven) and dragged some dis- tance to a tree, where in his nakedness he was hung. From all that can be learned Mr. Jellerson was a crippled up old man who was a good citizen, possessing fairly good moral and intellectual traits of character, but who had been unfortunate in his family con- nections, and through them had lost much of his hard-earned property. Ilis son, Cicero B., who confessed the terrible crime later ou, was of a brutish make-up, inheriting, it is believed, from his mother, who was of a low type and anything but intellectual.
The sons-in-law were residents of Carroll County named Joel J. Wilson and John A. Smyth, who, together with the son of a self- ish mother, took the life of an aged, well- respected man after several weeks of plan- ning. After the usual preliminary work the three murderers were arrested, the son Cicero having allowed their crime to be made known to an ontraged community, partly through his simple-mindedness and partly through the total depravity to which he was sunken. IIenee the three were subsequently indieted and placed in jail awaiting their lawful trial. The ensuing term of the district court allowed the case to be continued. The next term of court was held in February, 1885, Judge Loofbourow on the bench. The defendants filed a motion for a change of venue on the ground of prejudice among the citizens of the connty, the said motion being sustained by a few attorneys, together with four affidavits filed by men in extreme parts of the county, and who were supposed to know but little concerning the case or the feelings of the ex- cited community who had been too frequently annoyed by mismanaged courts and slow grinding " mills of justice."
The motion was filed, but not acted upon the same day, by Judge Loofbourow, who, before court convened the following week (for reasons not generally known) exchanged benches with Hon. Judge H. C. Henderson, of Marshalltown, Iowa, who took charge of the court in Audubon on the following Mon- day, in place of Judge Loofbourow. These days were full of suspense to the anxious citizens, who had made up their minds that these mur- derers should be tried, or at least punished, in their own county-their guilt having been established beyond a doubt. To the great surprise of the vast throng from all parts of the county present, His Honor Judge Hen- derson made it known that Judge Loof-
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bourow had concluded not to try the case at home, but had heard with favor the prayer of the seven men who asked for a change of venue to Cass County.
Anger and outrage seemed depieted on the face of the great gathering in attendance, and the bitterness of feeling for the time seemed to turn from the real criminals to the person who had absented himself, as they believed, from facing his own decision-Judge Loof- bourow. By many it is believed that the fury of an exasperated crowd, lead on perhaps by some lawless character, would have en- dangered the life of the judge had he been present.
It is said that not less than 150 men from all parts of the county were in eouneil as an indignation party the evening following Judge Henderson's announcement, who it was believed had feared some trouble might arise, and had ordered the sheriff to have the prisoners sent at night-time by a special train to Atlantie, the county-seat of Cass County, where by order of the court they were to be tried.
This placed all in favor of trying them at home, on their gnard, and united them by a sort of eominon eonsent in the conclusion that they should not escape their just deserts, though violence had to be used as a last re- sort. The people knew that they were taking chances at the hands of foreign courts, be- sides the matter of ereating an almost too burdensome expense upon Audubon County, whose people were in no shape to pay un- necessary taxes at that date.
Certain it is that all night long the town was guarded, and no one permitted to ap- proaeh the jail. Exeitement ran high every- where the following day; nothing else was thought of or talked over among business men and farmers.
At two o'clock in the morning, Tuesday,
February 4, came the culminating act! Sheriff Henry Herbert was awakened from his slum- bers by a lond rap at his door within the county jail building. He responded by going to a window and inquiring what was wanted. A voice replied, " Henry, we want to see you." The sheriff again asked what was wanted of him. The reply was, "We want the Jeller- son murderers." Herbert looked out of the window and estimated that there were abont seventy-five men about the jail yard. He at once informed them that the prisoners were in his charge as an officer of the law, and that he would not give up the keys as de- manded by them, but would defend and pro- teet the prisoners. They then informed him that they did not intend to allow the prison- ers to go to another county for trial, it having been rumored that the sheriff was to remove them by night. Herbert told them if they would go away, that he would promise them upon honor to remove them by day, giving them dne notice when it should be done. He added that he should neither give up the keys nor prisoners. Then a voice replied, "Her- bert, every man here is your friend, and we know your duty as well as you do; but we have come on business, and that business we must do quick. We are no mob, but a body of determined men who are citizens of your county. We came for Jellerson's murderers, and we will not quit short of having then, let it be at whatever cost it may."
The sheriff and his deputy, Mr. Workman, then fired several shots over the heads of the erowd, to try and aların the citizens about town, but all to no avail. Some one from the crowd fired at the jail window, causing the officers within to believe that they meant all they had said. The sheriff ran down stairs, but found they had spiked his key-hole in a manner which securely fastened him inside of his sleeping-room, making him powerless
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to defend the prisoners. The mob (for such it had then come to be) soon broke an open- ing through the brick walls of the jail, by means of sledges, erow-bars, ete., and were inside, bolting the other door, thus cutting off all possibility of the officers protecting the prisoners.
An account given by one of another set of prisoners, aside from those the mob were after, gave the following details of the tragedy: The prisoners songht were in two cells inside an iron cage, and they slept on hammocks. At the first alarm Smith re- marked, "They are after us!" Wilson re- plied, "Yes, it's all up with us now!" One of the mob carried a lantern, while others were well provided with tools; yet it took nearly an hour and a half to gain access to the prisoners' inner cells, by the dextrons use of cold chisels, hammers, etc. Upon their entrance Smith struck one of the nine masked men, who were within the jail, with a broom- handle, knocking him over by a table; where- upon the lyncher drew his revolver and shot Smith in the head, instantly killing him.
In the cell were two chairs, and whenever a man attempted to enter Wilson would strike at him violently, and it was some time before they could conquer him. Hle finally ran toward the opening, like a mad beast, with chair in hand, but was silenced by a bullet for an instant, but kept up his uneven fight for life until after the third shot had taken effeet, when he fell to the cell floor. The bodies of the two already killed were dragged to the opening the mob had made in the jail wall, taken out and hung to a fence stringer.
Cicero, the fiendish culprit, was still within his eell, frightened almost to death, but re- marked to one of his fellow-criminals, after the party left to hang up the prisoners already
shot, that he did not think they would kill him. But alas! he did not seem to measure the storm of passion then engendered in the hearts of the furious yet seemingly level- headed lynehers. The next move was to re- move Cicero from the jail, which he did not resist. When out they placed a rope around his neek, and he was obedient and linmble as a lamb. Nothing further is known of the procedure until the dead body of Cicero was found hanging within the band stand, in the center of the public square.
While the mob were outside with the other two prisoners, Cicero, confined in his cell, confessed liis terrible guilt, together with that of Smith and Wilson. He confessed with the express understanding between him- self and the other convicts of the jail that they should not tell on him only in case the mob should kill him. Smith and Wilson, however, protested their innocence to the last.
The verdict of the coroner's jury was to the effect that the three prisoners came to their death "by unknown hands."
Judge Henderson always claimed that the exchange of judges was made at his and not at Judge Loofbonrow's request, but the ma- jority of the people always felt that their judge shirked a known duty, and dare not face his own aet in granting a change of venue. To say that Audubon County people upheld mob law would be false, but it is true that they had become tired of mismanaged courts of justice. There had been seven murders committed during the three years prior to this affair, and none had been properly dealt with by the courts of justice, all of which tended to nettle and make the people ready to justify, to a certain extent, this last lynching act. And since that date law and order have prevailed and crime won- derfully decreased.
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HISTORY OF AUDUBON COUNTY.
" POLK CITY MURDERERS" CAPTURED AND LYNCHED.
This terrible tragedy may be recorded as an Audubon-Shelby County affair, belonging as much to one county, perhaps, as another, beginning as it did in Audubon and finally culminating in the county-seat of Shelby County. The following is about as plain and brief a statement of the noted case as can here be given, owing to the fact that the courts of justice never had the chance to hear the evi- dence, the culprits both meeting their fate at the hands of " Judge Lynch," whose court never records its speedy decision, which in some instances may have been acts of pru- dence and a safeguard to the welfare of com- munities where real courts have failed to bring the guilty to justice.
Early in the month of April, 1882, Mayor Stubbs, of Polk City, Iowa, was aroused from his slumbers by two men who flashed a dark lantern in his eyes; as he sprang from his bed a bullet pierced his heart and he fell dead. Search was at once made, no pains or expense being spared to find the guilty, midnight assassins, but for months the hunt seemed in vain. About the 15th of July, the same year, Polk City was the scene of another cold-blooded murder. The postmaster there, named Clinigan, and his deputy, a Mr. Hanger, were closing for the night, two men accosted thein with a pleasant "Good even- ing" salute, and in a few seconds the post- master was dead with a bullet-hole through his neck. Five minutes later armed men were in pursuit of the murderers, yet, strange to relate, the clue to them was lost. Several trails were followed up, one commencing where two horses had been stolen a few miles from the tragic spot. Detectives were speedily dis- patched in all directions, and a day or two later a telephone dispatch at the office of Charles Stuart & Son, of Audubon, revealed
the fact that the liorse thieves were just fleeing over Stuart's " ranch," eight miles east, and were being pursued by eight men. At once the sheriff and other officers at Audubon sent telegrams to all points on both railroads, notifying the agents to be on the look-out. Subsequent developments revealed the fact that they had compelled a farmer in the edge of Guthrie County to get them breakfast, and then stolen two fresh horses and continued their flight west until they reached the farm house of Hugh McGill, in Melville Township, Audubon County. It was then five o'clock in the morning. The first intimation the farmer had was the approach of two men, who, with revolvers pointed at him, addressed him thus: " We want your team!" They took his fine team and continued their journey west. In the meantime the agent of the Rock Island road at Audubon had been notified of the approach of the men who it was supposed were the " Polk City murderers." The news spread rapidly and soon a posse of men was formed, consisting of W. G. Stuart, John Griggs and William Stotts, who started west accompanied by City Marshal Spriggs, it having been learned that the desperadoes had been seen passing a mile north of Audubon. Various reports and trails were traced out, including one on the " Mormon Trail," where the two men had inquired for Walnut Station. The next heard of them was a few rods from Kimballton Postoffice, where John Gardner and E. Baxter were building a bridge across Indian Creek. On approaching the bridge they were informed they could not pass, as it was yet nnsafe, so they made the horses jump the stream, which aroused suspicion, and the bridge builders at once saddled their horses and followed them, but soon lost sight of them.
The next seen of them was at a point seven miles north and west of Elkhorn Grove; but
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IHISTORY OF AUDUBON COUNTY.
npon being pursued they turned, going toward the grove. One of their horses giving out. they both mounted the same horse, finally landing in the dense thicket abont the grore, where they hitched their horse and concealed themselves, being watched only by Gardner, Baxter and two Danes who lived near by. The horse whinnied, giving the alarm, and thus showing the exact spot where they were con- cealed, so the men rode in and captured the animal, leading him to the road-side. In a short time twenty farmers were present and stationed as gnards around the grove. At 11:30 A. M. Isaac Hallock and Mr. Zim- merman, from Oakfield, arrived, when, in com- pany with John Gardner, they decided to go through the grove, but the trip revealed nothing new. At abont this time squads ar- rived from Audubon and Exira, when a line was formed, which proceeded to march through the grove-the men being about twenty feet apart. After penetrating the grove 300 yards, the murderers were seen by young Willis Hallock, who called ont "Here they are!" whereupon he was instantly shot. No other member of the company saw the men, and as Hallock claimed their attention the villains again escaped farther into the forest. By dark there were stationed around the grove not less than 300 men, fresh re- cruits arriving all night long. During the night the murderers attempted to escape several times but failed. The guards were fed in the morning by farmers and by those who had sent provisions from surrounding towns. Again a line was formed and marched through the grove to no purpose; it was sup- posed they had made their eseape during the night in some way, but better judgment pre- vailed and the third march was projected by cool-headed officers, who determined to go over every yard of land within the forest. The march was ordered, and when half way
through the assassins were seen and one of them at once fired a revolver at John Maddy, of Marne, the ball taking effect in his side. Then the men broke for the prairie-running a race for life. in which they failed! After going over a wheat field, about forty yards, the leader was shot down by Levi Montgom- ery, of Exira, when the others took for the timber again. The man shot lived abont thirty minutes, during which time he was questioned about the Stubbs murder, but he refused to talk. He finally confessed to shooting Clini- gan, also the two men in the grove. By this time there were present fully 2,000 people.
As to the proceedings after the capture, no better account can be given than that pub- lished at the time in the State Register:
" The sheriff of Polk County desired to take charge of Hardy, the living culprit, but the crowd were not ready to release him. He was marched to the public road, eighty rods distant, where they halted, when the cry went up from all sides-‹ Hang him!' Hang him!' But the sheriff and cool heads succeeded in gaining a calm, when it was learned the prisoner had not caten for many hours, so he was fed.
" The greatest erime to which he would confess was that of stealing horses. He claimed his name was William Smith, a native of Denison, Texas, aged twenty-two years. Ile claimed only to have been in bad company, but said he never killed a man. Said his mother died when he was ten years old, and that he believed in a Supreme Being. Ile begged for merey, and yet seemed per- feetly cool in all his actions. Finally the ery for 'Rope!' became again lond, and against the officer's will a rope was placed about his neck, and with strong hands to firmly hold him he was tied. Turning south the crowd ran with violent yells, which frightened the horses, upsetting several buggies. The pris-
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HISTORY OF AUDUBON COUNTY.
oner was then led with a rope nearly a mile to the bridge erossing Indian Creek. Hardy was taken to the center of the rude structure and told he must soon die, which statement did not seem to ruffle him in the least. IIe asked for peneil and paper with which to write to his mother, wishing some one pres- ent to convey it, along with his $14 in money, to her. Diek Griggs, of Exira, was selected. The back of a seale-book leaf was given him, upon which he wrote the following:
". To Mrs. Ellen Crist, Butler, Bates County, Missouri:
"' DEAR MOTHER :- As I am now on the gallows, speaking the last time to you, I will speak in sorrowful, although in firm tones. I am sorry to have come to such an end; I know it will nearly kill you, but it is my fault, not yours. Mr. Griggs will see that l am decently buried, and give you the details of the case. I will send yon what money I have and a loek of my hair, that will, I hope, have some bearing on the future life of the boys. Your loving son,
"' WM. HARDY.'
" Prominent men then spoke to the crowd, pleading with them not to defeat justice, and keep their hands elean of human blood! E. J. Freeman, M. Nichols, J. D. Holmes, Es- quire Darnell, the Sheriff of Shelby County, and others spoke. Then the prisoner spoke at length of his innocence, after which eiti- zens again spoke, trying to cool the blood- eraving spirit already rife. At last it was coneluded to vote on the question of hanging, which seemed to be in favor of letting law prevail. During the trying ordeal Hardy stood with rope around his neck, yet not a quiver or a change was seen upon his face.
" The Sheriff of Shelby County succeeded in pinioning his arıns and getting him in a 44
buggy, in which he soon drove away to the jail at Harlan. The crowd, nearly worn-out by over-taxed nerves and loss of sleep, soon went their several ways."
HARDY LYNCHED.
Hardy was confined in the jail at Harlan July 14, and on the night of the 24th of the same month, at about two o'clock, A. M., the eity fire bell rang an alarm to awaken the citizens, who speedily as possible, after find- ing the trouble, went to the county jail, which had been quietly surrounded by about fifty masked men, who frightened the keys from the jailor's wife; they then securely tied the jailor, and at once proceeded to take HIardy from his eell, which they quickly ae- complished, and hastened him along through the town to the bridge; just south of the town, crossing the Nishnabotna River at a . point near J. W. Chatburn's flouring mill, where, from all that conld be traced by the offieers who looked the ground over afterward, it seems they hung and shot the outlaw, and afterward threw his body into the river. The only conversation heard by those not directly interested was that heard by Judge Chatbarn, who, upon hearing the noise, step- ped to his doorway, when he heard some one say, " Please don't shoot me, boys!" Again a voice said, " Pull him up from the water!" and immediately there were not less than 100 shots fired, a dozen or more of which took deadly effeet in the body of Hardy.
Hundreds of people began to erowd around the seene by this time, but at night no one seemed to lead, and those who constituted the mob of lynchiers made good their eseape, some going in one direction and some in another.
A search was at onee made. J. H. Weeks, member of the Harlan fire department, volunteered to go into the river in search of
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HISTORY OF AUDUBON COUNTY.
the body, which in less than ten minutes was found and brought to the shore.
Upon examination it seemed quite certain that he had at first been hung, and then shot at by the mob, as they passed along by the man in rapid succession. Some of the dozen or more balls had penetrated his heart; the size of the bullets was thirty-two calibre. The teeth of the corpse were firmly set, show- ing that Hardy had died as he lived-a man of iron nerve. His hands had been tied be- hind him with a piece of cheek-rower cord, the same as was used in binding the jailor.
" CROOKED CREEK OUTLAWS."
This was the name given to a band of law- less citizens, who from the close of the Re- bellion up to abont 1885 inhabited the south- eastern portion of Andubou County, as well . as the northern tier of townships in Cass County. Many of the deperadoes had set- tled along Crooked Creek, from which they took their name. For many years this band of murderous, thieving people was the terror of both counties. They included men who had run away from the Confederate States- were rebels of the darkest dye-and soon gathered to themselves such other outlaws as had already settled in this section of lowa. They stole valuable stoek, including horses, and they also gave quarters for hard charac- ters who chaneed to go through their settle- ment. Law-abiding people were for many years harrassed to that extent that they dare not go before a grand jury and testify against them. In one night one farmer had fifty fat hogs stolen and driven from his barn-yard; and for fear of having his house and barns burned he never prosecuted, or even sought to trace out the thieves, whom he had every reason to believe were his nearest neighbors.
From time to time these men have been shot, sent to State's prison, or hung by lynch
law here or in adjoining connties, until the " nest " has finally been pretty well broken up. While every new country has more or less trouble with this desperate sort of char- aeters, it would seem that southern Audubon and northern Cass counties had more than their full share.
It is for this and the other fact that courts of justice have necessarily had more or less of these outlaws upon their trial and grand juries, that it was impossible for peaceable citizens to have justice meted out at the hands of courts, and in self-protection they got into the habit of taking the law into their own hands, and perhaps used the services of "Judge Lynch" more than they would have done otherwise.
MURDER OF C. H. KLEVA.
One of the most dastardly and cold-blooded murders committed in Andubon County oc- curred on the night of December 24, 1884, on section 17, of Oakfield Township. From the best reports now on file it seems that a man twenty-two years old, named Peter Ryan, had been to Brayton the afternoon prior to the murder, and had there imbibed too freely of that which so frequently kills-whisky. Upon returning his team had ran away, and he called at the farm-house of one of Audubon County's most highly respected citizens, C. II. Kleva, at about ten o'clock at night and wanted to warm his hands, having lost his mittens, he said. In a moment or two he went out of the door, remained a short time, and returned, saying he went to see if the man was out there holding his team yet. The farmer questioned whether there was any one there, or any team, and told Ryan he did not think he had a team there; whereupon Ryan pulled a re- volver and fired two shots, one taking effect
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HISTORY OF AUDUBON COUNTY.
in Kleva's mouth and the other in his chest, eansing almost instant death to a perfectly harmless, innocent man.
Marshals Walkup, of Audubon, and Camp- bell, of Exira, soon arrested Ryan, who of- fered but slight resistance. A preliminary trial was held before Mayor A. B. Houston, of Exira, which resulted in binding him over to the next term of distriet conrt. The feel- ing upon the day of the coroner's inquest was so great that it was feared he would be hanged by the enraged neighbors. But bet- ter judgment prevailed, and he was confined in the jail at Audubon to await his trial, which was postponed until September the following year-1885-when he was tried by some of the best attorneys in the State,
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