Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-11-20
A Terrible Deed in Kentucky.

A Terrible Deed in Kentucky,
Too hen Hung By Mob-Suicide Of one
Person-Arrest Of other Persons Er-
cstement.
It was briefly announced under our tele-
graph head on Saturday that two men, char
ged with murder had been lynched at
Greensburg, KY. on the 10th inst, and
that another prisoner, to escape the fury o.
the mob, had committed suicide 1t appears
that some eighteen months since, wseelthJ
farmer Of Kentucky, living near Campbells-
vile, was murdered and robbed Of between
S., 900 and $4,000, by parties who enter
cd his house at midnight, and accomplished
the double deed while he was soundly sleep
ing in his bed. Mr.. Simpson was much
respected, and Of course tie cowardly MUIR
der causing great excitement in his COM
munity Soon after the guilty culprits
we're discovered and arrested, and an at
tempt was made by the populace to hang
them, which was frustrated Afterward
they were taken from the Jail at Russell
vile to that at Greensburg. The Louis
vile Journal has letter dated Campbells-
vile, KY, Nov. 10th. which says:
This morning, according to previous
understanding, men from this and the ad-
joining counties commenced gathering at
this place, and at an early hour took up
their march to Greensburg, meeting with
accessions at different points along the road
until the crowd numbered two or three
hundred men, including, we learn, con-
siderable number of spectators. The mob
proceeded to the Jail, which is built Of stone
and very strong, and found the doors locked
and the jailor gone. A number of men
Immediately seized large peice Of heavy
timber, and with several tremendous blows,
bursted the door from its hinges An inner
door was speedily broken with crowbars and
sledge- hammers. and a portion Of the mob
stood in the debtors room, fronting the cells
in which the miserable men were confined
The locks Of the cell doors were soon bro
ken, and the doors pried open, when most
horrid, aud sickening, and revolving sight
met the eyes Of those present.
One of the men, Eliza Scaggs, a man
weighing two hundred pounds, was found
weltering in large pool Of blood in the last
agonies Of death, the blood squirting in
large jets from CHASTITY and self-inAicted
wound in the neck. having with a razor cut
his throat from ear to ear. His body, con-
vulsed in death, was dragged into the deb
tors room, and from thence down fight
Of steps on to the street paving. The re-
naming three men, viz !: Bill Saul Thomp-
son, Sloan Despano, and George Hunter,
were then brought from the JAIL bound and
mounted behind men on horseback, when
the crowd, in double file, amid throngs Of
spectators, took up their return march to
this place, a distance Of twelve miles, during
which two Of the miserable men displayed
considerable frmness, asserting their inno-
cence in the most positive terms Thomp-
son wept and prayed audibly good part
of the way, calling on all to witness his in
nocence. The crowd, having arrived at
the place determined to lynch Beko also a
negro belonging to the murdered man, who
had been implicated by Scaggs as the real
murderer.
At this juncture, amid the ceilings and
howlings of the crowd, the expostulations
OF the sheriff and our excellent jailor, and
''amid confusion worse confounded, Robert
Colvin, Esq, a prominent and influential
citizen, having succeeded in gaining an
elevated position and catching the ear of
the crowd, addressed IN short speech,
which for point, appropriateness and good
sense, [ have hardly ever heard excelled;
and it was as effeetual as it was sensible,
for after an unsuccessful effort Of one or two
inexperienced orators, the mob left the
negro in jail and conducted the three men
a short distance to an elm tree, and began
making preparations to hang them. At
Thonpson's request prayer was offered in
their behalf, he praying and weeping aloud
during the time He was then mounted
on horse. and after again asserting his
innocence, for the last time, a rope was put
about his neck, the end thrown over a limb,
the horse driven from under, and Thomp-
son was launched into eternity. He SEEM
ed to die easy-one or two spasmodic jerk
ings Of the limbs, shudder, and all was
over.
Despano soon shared similar fate, dying
much harder At this stage Hunter gave
evidence of making clean breast which
after some delay and good deal 0: reluc-
lance, he did, confessing to the guilt of
Scaggs, Thompson and Hunter, and impli-
eating five others as being concerned in the
murder. There names are as follows !:
Henry Scaggs. Jerry Scaggs. Lloyd Nc
Dannel, John Underwood, and a son law
of Simpson. The latter is under arrest,
but is, we believe, generally considered
innocent. The sheriff with posse. is out
to night to arrest the others. Beko was
also implicated by Hunter, and brought
forth, and the two confronted. Nothing of
importance was elected, and they were
both taken to jail-both Of them making
narrow escape.
LETcHER's PROSPECTS. w. +. Drinkard
Editor Of the True Virgini;an, in letter to
his paper, makes the following remarks in
relation to John Letcher's prospects,
Il have travelled more than eight hun
dred miles since left Fairmont, and have
stopped in several counties and in sections