Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-03-11
The Mob Excitement. in Hawesville. Ky -Terrlole
acanes in the Streets.

Scenes in the Streets
\ brief account Of the tragedy at liawe>vili''
ky., in which Thomas s Lowe lost hi life at
the hands Of a mob, has been published The
Louisvil" Courier" publishes history Of
the affair. which is ~ terrible a. any in the
bloody record OF Kentucky. Cicero Maxwell.
the Prosecuting Attorney. had refused a cfal.
lenrc from Love. and had also refused to name
the arms and place Ior street iisiI. The
Courier says:
In a short time Lowe, with three pistols in
his left arm and one in hi, right hand, ap-
preached the crowd which wa. near the court
hons. anu in = loud voice said Ii Cicero
Maxwell i, in the crowd. or in the sound Of
nv voice let him come forth He has stated
tina, am political jn=gler. In return, !!
pronounce him liar. calumniatcr. coward
and son oi W. This II" repeated
several lines The denunciat!on was conveyed
t, Maxwell, or heard by him. and in few mi
nutcS he made hi appearance IN the street
with double barrel shot gun. and accompanied
bv 4 Mr. Harri, and Morton. Of Hartford Judge
Mavhall and Thos Wthrow. Of llawesvl!c,
and others. When Within about 81 yar''> Of
Lowe who faced his foe, Maxwell discharged
one barrel Of his gun which was loaded with
bnck-.hot. the contents striking the left breast
# Lowe; who staggered, but instantly recover
cd his position, u coat Of mail saving him, aS
aleccdi. He returned the fire, but missed and
see n the mob present arms, took refuge IN
the crowd and Guiding pursuit Tor The time,
got into the house .. a widow lady.
4. ,l,. ,.t,l,y IA l,.f,
n. was. surrounded the honSe and threatened
to tear il down il Lowe way not given up Inc
lady implorcd them TO ieSi>t and SAID 1t Was
true Lowe was ,lrrc but she had 80 power 10
bring him out y parlcy took place. AMI three
lrien,,s o! Maxwell entered the building. Lowe
asked tina, hi, life might b. spared. They a.,
s,ned him lie should not bc moieStcd. provided
he would disarm himself. and. accompanied by
them, he rc-appearcd on the street. The sight
Of him ONLY added fuel T. the llainc. and hc
was again fired upon. Nj Harris, one Of the
gentlemen who gave assurance o! protection.
said. Mr. Lowe. | cannot risk my life longer
to save Vol. and Mr. Lowe broke and ran,
70 lowed bv the mob Mr.. .lliridse. the only
friend Lowe seems to have hid. fired ~ the
mob, and a he turned 10 NJ va. killed by
ball from rifle \ srca. number .! shots
were fired at Lowe in hi, flight. He was
wounded in several places. and his clothes nd
died with balls He ran As far As the bank OF
the river. his foes sill firing at him IN h> tight
and there fell apparently exhausted tine
Tnoraas Withrow also cut 1T him with his bowie
knife while he was running, but the coat o!
mail which il is said h. wore prevented h, be-
ing hurt
Mr. Harris wen, 10 him where he lay, and
one u the mob run up and >worc he would
kill him ANYHOW and put i pist" TO Loves
head Harris knocked the weapon up, and it
Was discharged without injuring any one. The
crowd then gathered around l.owc. and Man
we'll asked him if he would make 4 retraction.
Lowe replied that he rctracted everything he
had said that he was q coward, ami had dis
graccd himself Maxwell, il j., said. legged
his friend, not 10 hurt his fallen foe. Is lac had
done nil he required Lowe was then taken
back 10 the courthouse and delivered 10 Judge
Stuart. Some of the mob manicstinS wish
10 lynch Lowe. judge Stuart rose and >ad h"
was in the hands Of the law. which should he
honorcd, and Lowe should not bt Injured until
The mol, passed over his dead body. His speech
prolonged Loves term Of life al least for few
hours. and after hi, wounds We're dressed IN
the courthouse. accompanied by judge Stuart.
he was taken toiail. The Judge remained with
him until a late hour in the night. when it was
thought the excitement was at al end, and the
prisoner safe from the fury Of those VIII" had
sought his life.
On Wednesday morning Lowe sent lor liar-
ris. and thanked him for saving his life on the
previous day. but expressed fears that the mob
would hang him, and solicited his visitor 10 H.
tercedc Tor hi, life in behalf Of his wife and
children. Harris left and about that time re-
port wa, started that Lowe told Harri, that he
ONLY asked protection then for revenge that
would follow, and when he was released from
Jail he would kill the last one Of them. This
again aroused his vindictire enemies. but no
violence was done openly. In very short
time, however, two men. DR. Davidson ana
JOHN Wilhrow, went to Oldham, the jailof AMI
demanded the keys Of the prison. The pre-
seatation Of pistols at the head of the officer
was potent, and the two men thus reached the
rooom where the unfortunate Lowe was con
fined. He was lying on bed. PROSTATE IRON
his wound, and excitement and suspense. rs
soon as he saw them divining their purpose,
he asked them to spare his life, bn; tie cruel
and relentless men were there 10 ,!ay, hot 10
spare.
Withrow first fired, then Davidson, both
balls entering Loves breast. and killing nm
instantly The assassins then went ont OF tie
cell. but fearful the bloody deed WAS not yet
done. returned and fired four more balls into
the lifrlcss corpse Five Of the balls entered
his breast. the sixth entering the head above
the eyes The darnnab!c murder having been
executed 10 their satisfaction, they then rfiir-
cd
4 CoArof-M An--ll appears that Lowe
wore steel shirt. or coat-ofmai, which fitted
tign, to his whole body The Louisville Jour
nal saws
uur informant who WAS Il Spectator OF the
scene. saws that at least between seventy.iire
and hundred gun; and pistols were fired at
Lowe, and that thorr were thirty.two bullet
and buckShot holes through all portions Of his
coat, bat that not solitary ball or shot enter
cd his body OF even drew a drop Of blood
Heavily loaled guns were fired at linn at 4
distance of not more than six feet, and he was
repeatedly knocked down and whirled around
bv the leaden missiles, Yet no wounds, except
Commissions, were intllcte,l. The ball which
struck his thigh made very severe brnse.
but did not enter the skin. Our informant
saw a strong man strike him four tEcS with
bowic.knilc. but the point al the weapon turn
ed without penetrating.
II is alleged that Lowe had declared his de
termination. when he got out, to take the lives
of the two men who murdered him. What is
singular, the grand jury have declared that the
two men were justified in what they did on the
ground Of sci.preseryatlon.
DEMOCRATIC MEETING IN FRANKLIN.
Nn rmretin. q! portion Of The Democratic parry
Of fra: Kiln E.i u, the co!r-h"usn OIL Monday, 'he
.:h Of March. i>j?. on motion Of Moses e. booih,
IL L.. IL: ...aA l.,.Lt