History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 69

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 948

USA > Illinois > Union County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 69
USA > Illinois > Pulaski County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 69
USA > Illinois > Alexander County > History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois > Part 69

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

one of the inducements, especially to pur- chasers of bonds, was the fact that the city would receive yearly her State tax and thus make the investment good. The winter of 1883, Hon. Daniel Hogan, Senator from this (Fifty-first) district, introduced a bill ap- propriating to the city of Mound City $8,000, the amount the city would have received from the State, had the new constitution not pro- hibited. After making many and serious ob- jections, the bill passed, and the city now has the money. The flood of 1883 established the fact that Mound City is protected beyond a question against all floods that may come in the Ohio River in the future.

The first murder committed in Mound City was early in 1857. John T. Cook lived upon a flat-boat lying opposite where McDowell's saw mill now stands. Cook kept boarders. There were no hotels nor boarding-houses then in Mound City. He often had as many as sixty boarders-never less than thirty. In a shanty, a little way back from the river and Cook's flat-boat, lived a man by the name of Harper. He was a large, stout, robust Irishman. Cook was off his boat, but near the water's edge, splitting stove wood, when Harper came up to him, and a quarrel com- menced about the ownership of some hogs; Cook claiming that he had taken them from a man for making a coffin for the man's wife, while Harper said they were his, when a fight between Harper and Cook commenced. At this time a man came up, by the name of Scott, who struck Harper with a club or saw- buck, on the head. Harper fell, was taken to his shanty, but never spoke, and died the next morning. Cook and Scott were arrested. Cook took a change of venue to Golconda, and was acquitted. Scott was tried at Cale- donia and was convicted of murder in the first degree, and was sentenced to be hanged on a certain day. Some hours before the

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time set to hang him, the Governor gave a reprieve for thirty days. This information, however, was not known to many, and early on the day set for hanging Scott the people began to arrive in Caledonia. The gallows was built, and his coffin was stored away in the court house. By 12 o'clock, it was es- timated that two thousand people, includ- ing men, women and children, were upon the ground, and when informed that the Gov- ernor had respited Scott, and that they would have to wait thirty days longer before they could see him hanged, they were out- raged, abused the Governor and all who had taken any part in giving Scott further time to prepare to die. The sequel shows that before the expiration of the thirty days Scott made his escape from the jail, and was never heard of afterward.

In the winter of 1857, there lived in a cabin opposite the south end of the marine ways, but back where the Wabash Railroad crosses the levee, a man by the name of Jerry O'Haloran, and his wife. They were both addicted to drink, especially the wife, and it was known that they frequently had out- breaks and fights. One night, at 9 or 10 o'clock, Mrs. O'Haloran was found dead in their house. Evidence indicated that she had come to her death from strangulation. Her husband was arrested as her murderer, who was finally convicted, but the Judges gave him a new trial, and before another term of court commenced Jerry escaped from jail and came down to Mound City to see his attorney, Tom Green; but Green telling him he had better get out of the country, he did so, and was never heard of afterward.

The next murder was in 1859. A family by the name of Vaughn lived here part of the time, and part of the time on the river, and occasionally in Massac County. Their reputation was not good; they did not seem

to have any abiding-place long at a time. Joel Vaughn, the father, was frequently ar- rested for fighting, or disturbing the peace in some way. In some of his fights, his an- tagonist had bitten off his under lip, and to conceal the appearance it gave his face, he wore a strip of cotton cloth over it, the ends tied at the back of his head. He was fre- quently drunk, and by no means a desirable Sunday afternoon companion. His son Jim, probably twenty-five years old, lived about the same kind of a life. He occasionally took trips to New Orleans on flat-boats, and was said to be a good hand. In October, 1859, a number of men had congregated at Zanone's saloon; a fight commenced, in which several seented to be taking a part, among them Daniel K. Charles, who had just knocked a man down by the name of Wilmott, when he was shot without knowing who did it. He staggered, and fell dead. It was soon learned Jim Vaughn had done the shooting. Vaughn escaped from the city, and crossed the river that night ;into ,Kentucky. Capt. C. M. Ferrill, City Marshal, learning these facts, followed him early Sunday morning, overtaking him about ten miles below Cairo, on the Kentucky side. He admitted the shooting, and was brought to Mound City just at night. A large crowd met him when he landed on this side of the river, and threats of hanging were made freely; but he was placed in the calaboose, and, to protect him the Mayor appointed six men, provided with loaded shotguns, to guard the calaboose. At 12 o'clock that night, the Mayor and Marshal passed through most of the streets; found them all quiet; stopped at the cala- boose, and instructed the guards, should an attack be made to spare one of the number to inform them (the Mayor and Marshal), and they went to their homes. It seems, at the time these instructions were given, at least

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sixty of the inhabitants of the city were then concealed in the gymnasium, that had a high and tight fence around the ground, and stood near where Capt. Cole Boren's residence now stands, arranging the details to hang Vaughn, and they soon after made their ap- pearance at the calaboose. Some sixteen of them were disguised, and to them the hang- ing was intrusted. When they found the guards there they hesitated, but upon one of the guards saying, "If you are going to hang him I wish you would do it, as I want to go home and go to bed," with this en- couragement they began to batter down the door. Judge Emerie and others arrived at this stage of the proceedings, and made an effort to be heard, but no attention was paid to them. Vaughn was soon pulled out, and the rope placed around his neck. He begged for fifteen minutes to say his prayers in, but that length of time was denied him. He was dragged along to where a tree had been blown over, about twenty feet from the ground, but not separated from the main trunk. Over that portion that had been blown over. they threw the rope, and pulled Vaughn up several feet above the ground; then tying the end of the rope to a stump, they left him to choke to death, which he did. This tree upon which he was hanged stood just south of where the Catholic Church now stands. The first intimation the Mayor had that Vaughn was hanged was given him next day morning by Jim Vaughn's father. About daylight the father came to the Mayor's house, drunk, and said, " Well, they hung Jim," and thus ended the "tragedy." Jim Vaughn's father was afterward convicted of placing obstructions upon the Illinois Cen- tralRail road, near Pulaski Station, in this county, and sent to the penitentiary for a term of years.

After this hanging, we hear of no more

murders until 1863. Civil war was upon the country, and at Mound City was camp- ing the Eighteenth Illinois Regiment, com- manded by that veteran, Col. Mike Lawler, later a General. With very slight provoca- tion, or none at all, one soldier, early in the evening, shot and killed a brother soldier. The murderer was arrested at once, and Col. Lawler made an effort to deliver the man over to the civil authorities. The civil au- thorities, knowing that the regiment would soon be ordered away, and with it would go the only witnesses against the murderer, re- fused to have anything to do with him, and suggested that the regiment dispose of its own murderers. Upon this suggestion, Col. Lawler organized a court, consisting of a judge, prosecuting attorney and jury, and appointed an attorney to defend the man. The court cenvened in a few hours after the murder had been committed. The best legal talent in the regiment had been selected. The prisoner was brought before the court, and the trial proceeded. In a short time the evidence was all in; the attorneys had made their speeches; the Judge had delivered his instructions to the jury, and the jury had rendered a verdict of guilty. The court im- mediately pronounced the sentence, and it was that the murderer be taken, at sunrise the next morning, to the most convenient tree, and there hung by the neck until dead. The word dead was not repeated by the judge, so, at sunrise or a little before, the next morning, twelve hours after the murder, the condemned man, sitting on his coffin, in a cart drawn by a yoke of oxen, passed out of town and along the Mound City Railroad, until they reached the " convenient tree" that stood not far from where the negro man Cotton afterward built a house. One end of a rope was fastened around his neck, and the other over the limb of the tree,

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and the order " Drive off the cart " given, which left the victim dangling in the air. After strangulation was complete, he was cut down, placed in his coffin, and during the hanging a few soldiers had made a hole in the ground, into which was placed the dead man, and covered over with dirt. " And the man that kills his fellow-man shall by man be killed " had been followed out to the let- ter. Not until July 4, 1883, did Mound City again have to record a murder and the mur- derer executed without Judge or jury: The accommodation train on the Wabash Rail- road, as it passed down to Cairo on the morn- ing of the 4th of July, was crowded with people going to attend the celebration. Upon its return in the evening, about 6 o'clock, the same people were on board, re- turning home. Among the number on this train was John Kane, a white man, foreman of the bridge builders on the Wabash road. He lived in Carmi, Ill., and was on his way home. Nelson Howard, a negro man, was also on the train, and had worked as a sec- tion hand on the road at Grand Chain, in this county, where he lived. Kane and Howard had no acquaintance. As the train was pulling up to the depot at Mound City, some rudeness on the part of Howard in passing Kane, caused a quarrel between them. A scuffle ensued, and Kane drew a pistol. Both men had been drinking. How- ard quickly snatched the pistol from Kane. When they commenced this trouble, they were on the outside platform of the car, but when Howard got the pistol from Kane they were just on the inside of the car. Howard shot Kane in the head and through the body. From his actions it was evident he was fatal- ly shot. By this time the train had reached the depot, when Howard escaped, pursued by Gibson, the conductor, and others, but they failed to overtake him. Kane was taken

into the depot, and upon examinaton, besides the two pistol wounds, he had been stabbed in the breast, supposed to have been done before Kane drew his pistol. He died at 10 o'clock that night. The same night, Will- iam Painter, Jailer and Deputy Sheriff, and A. J. Ross, City Marshal of Mound City, left in pursuit of Howard, and on their way to Grand Chain, where Howard lived, they were joined by William Nappier, G. F. Boren and Robert Summers. Howard lived a half- mile from Grand Chain. The above party reached his house between 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning. They surrounded it, and he was called to the door. He made his ap- pearance. The presentation of pistols, look- ing him in the face, induced him to surren- der without having any difficulty with his captors. They brought him to Mound City, and placed him in the jail. During that day (July 5) the inquest was held on Kane's body, the jury finding he had come to his death by the hand of Nelson Howard, as above stated. No threats of lynching Howard were made during the day, but the tragedy was regretted by the people, neither of them being resi- dents of the city; however, no unusual feel- ing was created by the occurrence. The night of the 5th came, and Jailer Painter retired at his usual hour, taking the precau- tion, as he always does when he has a bad criminal in his charge, of sleeping in the debtors' room. The jail is a two-story brick house. You enter a hall from the front, and the hall passes through the building, from which a door opens at the rear end. The rooms to the left of the hall, as you enter, are occupied by the jailer and his family. The stairway starts from near the back hall door, that leads up to the debtors' room. From the debtors' rooni, a door leads into the room that contains the iron cage or crib, in which persons charged with murder, etc., are

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kept, and where Howard had been placed. There is room enough to pass around this cage, and you can look out of the grated windows and see what is going on below. About half- past 1 o'clock, the morning of the 6th, rapid knocking was heard by Mrs. Painter, the jailer's wife, at the front door, soon followed by Mrs. Painter calling to her husband that there were a great many men about the jail. He got up, getting his revolver, and going forward heard some one say below, " Give me a boost." The jailer went into the room where Howard was caged, and upon looking out of the east window, he saw from seventy- five to one hundred men below, and that some of them were holding guns in their hands. The jailer warned them, and said, " When this man goes out of here it will be accord- ing to law; and you will get hurt if you at- tempt to take him out." Some one below said " The jailer may give us trouble; we will call the rest of our company." Thereupon a whistle was given, when a crowd of twenty or thirty more came in answer to the whistle; when some one said, " We will go to the church and get the ladder, and plug him through the bars." Others said, "No; we want the scoundrel out of there." Below, Mrs. Painter talked to them through the screened windows. They wanted the keys of the jail, and she had made four trips up- stairs to talk to her husband, and to advise him that it was useless to attempt to resist them; that there was no use in sacrificing himself in attempting to defend Howard. The jailer started down stairs, and got half way when he changed his mind and returned, and locked himself in the debtors' room. Then he heard them jumping in through the windows, and were soon at the door up stairs, saying, "Jailer, we want you out of here; we don't want to hurt you, but you have kept us out long enough, and if any of us suffer

you will suffer with us. The jailer opened the door and stepped out on the stairway. They then demanded the keys to the cell, with pistols pointed at his head. He said he could not give them up; that L. F. Crain, the Sheriff, had them at his house. Then they shoved the jailer down the stairway. Joe T. Diller was stopping with the jailer, having come in from the country that day. The jailer had told his wife, on her first visit to him, to have Diller slip out of the back door and inform the Sheriff of what was going on. His wife replied, " I have already done so;" but when Mrs. Painter returned from her fourth visit to her husband up stairs, she found Diller sitting on a lounge in one of the bedrooms, looking discouraged. Upon her asking why he had not gone and notified Crain, the Sheriff, as requested, his reply was, " My God, woman, I can't get out of here; the house is surrounded by men. I did make the effort, when a dozen pistols were pointed at me, while one man said, ' Let him come, and we will fill him so full of lead he can't run.' " " Well," said Mrs., Painter, " I will go myself; " and started, and had gotten half way from the front door to the gate, probably thirty yards, halloaing for the Sheriff at the top of her voice. Several said, " Stop that noise." Two men came up, and caught her, placing their hands over her mouth. A little man came up, and presented a revolver to her face, saying, “ I will make her stop it." She knocked his arm down, and he desisted, while another said, " We are not here to insult or hurt you, but you must not halloo." In placing their hands over her face they got a finger in her mouth, which required some effort to get it out. Finally, a large, stout man put his arm across her throat, which completely garroted her, and stopped her from making any further noise. She begged, throughout,

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for the negro man, that he ought to have a fair trial. The reply was, " We have come to court martial him." During this time, the jailer was in the cell-room, and he had said to Howard to halloo for help, which he did. After they had shown the jailer down stairs, they went to a bedroom and got a lamp that was burning, and took it up stairs, when they began on the cell door with sledge hammers, with which they were provided. The negro man was still halloaing, but seemed to quit when the pounding on the door ceased. The jailer heard some one say, " Pick him up, boys; pick him up." The jailer, like Diller, made an effort to escape by the back door, but was forced back into the hall, with the order, "Hold up your hands," and then guarded. They brought Howard down, and through the hall, and out the front door, and between there and the gate leading out of the jail inclosure Mrs. Painter heard one say, "Stand up and walk, or we will make you." Fifty yards from the gate, on the outside, they hung him to a limb, with a rope about the size fishermen use, and call " trot line," but it was arranged with a regular hangman's knot. When this was done, three pistol shots were heard, when the jailer saw four men march out of the jail yard. Then all left, going south. Neither the Sheriff, jailer or any one else had been notified or warned of the danger of a mob hanging Howard. Still, four or five colored men went that night to guard the jail, but all left with the exception of Pat Scott and a man by the name of Howard-no relation,

however, to the man who was hanged. They were not over fifty yards from the tree How- ard was hung on when the mob came. Scott passed over the levee, but Howard remained where he was. They had guns, but made no effort to protect Howard. After he was hanged, they gave the alarm, rang the fire bell, but when the Sheriff and others reached the jail, Howard was hung and the mob gone. The Sheriff cut Howard down. The inquest developed the fact, the next day, that the back of Howard's skull was crushed in, which was probably done before they got him out of the jail yard, when he refused to walk. No clew has been obtained as to who was engaged in the lynching; belief, however, is that it was done by employes on the Wabash Rail- road. No citizen, it is quite certain, of Mound City was engaged in it. Hand cars came up from Cairo that night, if not a locomotive, as both have been reported and believed. No arrest followed. The city offered $200 re- ward for the arrest of the guilty ones. No blame could be attached to the Sheriff of the county or the jailer. The jailer did all he could to prevent it, and might have sacrificed his life, but that would not have saved How- ard. Mrs. Painter, the jailer's wife, ex- hibited great courage, and did all she could to aid her husband in protecting the mur- derer. Much excitement, with some threats, prevailed among the colored people for some days afterward, but it gradually subsided. The lynchers all wore masks, and seemed to have a captain who gave the orders, which were readily obeyed.

HISTORY OF PULASKI COUNTY.

561

CHAPTER VII .*

MOUND CITY-IT BECOMES THE COUNTY SEAT-COUNTY OFFICIALS-JUDGE MANSFIELD-LAWYERS -F. M. RAWLINGS AND OTHERS-JO TIBBS AGAIN-THE PRESS-" NATIONAL EM- PORIUM "-OTHER PAPERS-FIRST PHYSICIANS OF THE CITY- SCHOOLS-TEACHERS AND THEIR SALARIES, ETC., ETC.

T' THE enabling act authorizing the people of Pulaski County to vote upon the removal of the county seat from North Caledonia to Mound City passed the Legislature in February, 1865, and the vote was taken on the thirteenth of May following. This question in Pulaski County engendered the same feeling and un- pleasantness among the people that invariably develops upon a question of this character. The vote, however, resulted in favor of its re- moval, and after some legal objection had been determined it was moved to Mound City in 1868. Judge John Olney held the first court after its removal. The City Hall building had been given to the county without charge. The court was held in the hall, while the rooms on the first floor were occupied by the Clerks and Sheriff. At the time of the removal, A. M. Brown was County Judge, with Capt. W. L. Hambleton and George W. Carter, Associates ; H. M. Smith, Circuit Clerk ; H. C. Mertz, County Clerk, and George Minnich, Sheriff. In 1869, Col. E. B. Watkins was elected, and continued County Clerk until 1873, when Daniel Hogan was elected. He continued County Clerk un- til 1882, the expiration of his second term, when he was elected State Senator from this the Fifty-first District. John A. Waugh, the present incumbent, was elected in November, 1882. B. L. Ulen was elected Circuit Clerk in 1872; was re-elected in 1878 and 1882, and consequently is the present Clerk. Mr. Ulen lived in Pulaski County since 1855. He was

four years in the Union army ; was severely wounded, making him a cripple for life. George S. Pigeon was County Judge until 1872, when he resigned, and the Governor appointed Judge A. M. Brown to fill the vacancy. In 1873, G. L. Tombelle was elected, and continued County Judge until 1877, when Judge A. M. Brown was again elected, but died before his term expired, and this vacancy was filled by Judge Smith, who is still the County Judge. In 1866, S. O. Lewis was elected Sheriff, and in 1868 H. W. Dyer ; in 1870, Thomas C. Ken- neday; in 1874, H. H. Spencer was elected Sheriff, and in 1876 Robert Wilson was elect- ed Sheriff, and held the office until 1880, when L. F. Crain, the present Sheriff, was elected, serving out his second term. These gentlemen have held the position in the county since the removal of the county seat to Mound City. Judge Thomas J. Mansfield, the County Judge, in 1856 removed and lived for a year or more in Mound City. When he came to Mound City, no Justice of the Peace or Police Magis- trate had been elected. Parties for disturbing the peace were frequently brought before him. If any of them appeared the second time, he invariably said, " Here you are, boys, again. I fine you $3 and cost." If their attorney in- sisted on an investigation, the Judge would remark, "The judgment was entered ; no further proceedings in order." The officer would retain the party assessed until fine and cost were paid. Judge Mansfield came to Pu- laski County from Franklin County, Ill., but

"By Dr. N. R. Casey.

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was originally from Tennessee. He moved to Texas after the expiration of his term of office, and there died.

The first lawyer that located in Mound City was F. M. Rawlings. He had moved from Louisville in 1847 to Benton, Ill., and was soon after elected State's Attorney, when only twenty-three years old. Under the judical districting of the State, he was Prosecuting Attorney for more than a dozen courts. In 1850, he went to Cairo, and for awhile edited a paper in Cairo. He moved to Thebes, then the county seat of Alexander County, and while there he was elected to the State Legis- lature. In 1855, he moved to Mound City (his father, Gen. Rawlings, having laid out the city in 1854), and practiced law in this judical district until 1858, when he died. He was a young man of fine ability.

The second attorney that practiced law in Mound City was William Hunter. He came to the city a pattern-maker, and worked at his trade in the foundry in 1857, and at the same time taught and led a brass band. George Mertz, the foreman at the foundry, had a law- suit. He went to employ Frank Rawlings, but Rawlings informed him he was employed by the other party. Hunter hearing of Mertz's trouble, volunteered his services. They were accepted and from that day on he was a full fledged lawyer. He finally moved to Memphis, joined the Union army, when war was de- clared. He became a' Major, and after the war was Judge of the Criminal Court in Memphis.

George W. Hite, from Bardstown, Ky., lived and practiced law for a short time in Mound City. He had been a member of the Kentucky Legislature, was a pleasant speaker, looked upon as a good lawyer, but moved to Louis- ville, Ky.

R. H. Warner was elected in 1856 Justice of the Peace, and James Coons and F. A. Fair, Constables They were the first officials of the city. Dick Warner, as he was familiarly . lating the law.

called, had no great judicial ability, and while he held the office he shunned its duties as much as possible. Soon after his election, parties came in from the country in search of Joe Tibbs, who they said had been harboring and concealing horse-thieves. They found Tibbs in Warner's store. Tibbs inquired if they had a warrant for him ; when they said no, he drew his pistol and walked away, mounted his horse and rode home. The next week, the same parties brought Joe Tibbs in, and took him be- fore Squire Warner for a less serious offense. George W. Hite was employed to prosecute Tibbs. While the trial was in progress, Jim Anglin, one of the prosecuting party, asked Joe Tibbs if he had told a neighbor that they had him arrested because they wouldn't feed him any longer. Tibbs replied that he had, and Anglin struck him in the face. Tibbs drew his pistol. The Justice went out at the back door, followed by Hite, the Prosecuting Attor- ney, while the others followed, or went out through the windows. Tibbs leasurely walked out and over to Gen. Rawlings' store, bought some goods and went home. That ended the trial, and the next day Dick Warner resigned his office. Jim Coons, the Constable, was killed some years later in a saloon at Ashley, Ill.

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History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part 69

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 948

Author: Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. ; O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 948