Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1860-07-13

Aue muEuoE ~ Mre. Jane u. Wills ana
her daughter and son was unquestionably
Ihe most fsndiih and brutal one ever COM
mitted in Out Asie; but we do not wish
70 IL understood as justifying the high.
handed measure adopted by the citizens
Of Jefferson county who took rpcn them
selves the responsibility of usurpation of
law little less heinous. We deprecate, as
We have heretofore done, all such lawless
acts, and here put upon record our earnest
protest against the lynching If men charged
with crime, and especially before they have
had fair and impartial trial: t..
A correspondent of the Burlington Hawk.
eye, writing under the date of Agency,
July 9th, gives the following account Of the
execution. .s
'At an early hour of July 9th, the people
began to assemble upon the grourd where,
according to report, kephart would be hung
The place chosen was on the left bank Of
Cedar Greek, upon the road leading north
from Batavia to Abingdon, about hun
dred yards or more from the bridge that
spans the creek, r.
.s..The writer arrived upon the ground
about 10 "A. H., and already hundred or
more people were waiting, and the scaffold
was in state of erection, while tao men
were busy digging the grave.
.ia"By noon two thousand people at least
had gathered to witness the execution,
which was novelty perhaps, to the majori.
ty and on the right bank of the creek,
fronting the scaffold, and tho place where
the bodies OF the murdered woman and
children had been found, the women, who
numbered some three or four hundred, were
seated, and as it seemed, were as merry as
though they had been invited to bridal
scene. ,,a., SER
sAtl2 o'clock, messenger arrived with
the intelligence that the mob had broken
into tho Jail at Fairfield, and taken the prs-
oDer from the power OF the law despite the
eloquent speeches that had been spoken in
behalf of legal justice, and were fast ap.
preaching. ...~a 81. III
"At2P. NJ. q citizen OF Agency stepped
upon the scaffold and made short, nervous
harrangue to the multitude, in which be
approved the proceedings throughout, and
in which he remarked that lie professed to
be God fearing man and law-abiding cit.
izen, but when devils came from hell, we
should send them back. .
( "At 8 Kephart, the murderer, the victim,
climbed the ladder and stood upon the
engine Of death, no more to breathe upon
the earth. Time had been given him to make a
confession, and as it had not expired, he
was allowed to set down, to pass as easily
as possible the few remaining moments OF
his life. .. ..ry
cat quarter past three he was forced
upon the trap. door, a white handkerchief
having been tied around his head to hide
his face from the gaze of the eager spectators.
"8y calls from numerous voices, the
handk erchief was rem 70 we'd for few moments,
to alloS tho multitude to look upon his
couEt enance, and to allow him last look
at the bright sunlight ard the beauty of
nature and while he thus stood, his eye
caught sight Of his grave which yawned
beneath, and then perhaps a volume of
thoughts, the Thoughts and deeds of three.
score years. crowded his memory, and he
breathed, ., 50 heavily, to know that the
sins Of his lite, the sorrows and joys, the
light and darkness of his career eliminated
then and there. The handk erchief was
replaced, and NC confessed, without word !,
the rope vas cut and he hung suspend ed
between heaven and earth.
s'The sight was q hard one. There stood
man Of sixty, bare-headed, ba-e-footed,
raggedly clad, with a halter around his
neck, about to 60 in his Makers presence
without due form of law, without trial by
jury, and unprepared. Perhaps it was all
right. Time proves all things, and time may
prove the justice or error of yesterdays
solemn scene."
From a long article in the Hawkeye con-
corning the murder, which, although it has
no signature or date, is evidc ltly communi-
Gated, we condense the following as to the
supposed motives of Kephart in committing
the murder:
Kephart was a professed preacher, was
rather good-looking, had good address, was
plausible and gracious in conversation, was
a Jealous exhorter, positive and prompt in
manner, talked much about duty and
honesty with apparent sincerity. His ruling
passions were avarice and lust, all his ends
and aims were to crafty these. An alien
and outcast from his own family for years,
he, perhaps, under guise Of a minister of
her church, formed the acquaintance of Mrs.
Willis and family, who, no doubt, took him
to be a good, pious, truthful man, believed
him, and, upon his representations, moved
to Miss ouri, where Kephart rented a farm,
they keeping house for him. Here, he
contrived, by some means, not yet certainly
known, to get Willis out of the way. lie
then declared that Willis had deserted his
family, leaving them in destitute circum-
stances and he (KepharD professed to be
their friend and protector. After the
disappearance of Willis, the family removed
from Cass county, Missouri, to Washington
county, Arkansas, accompanied by Kephart.
Mrs. Willis owned in Iowa l6O acres of
land, and he coveted thai. Shs gave him a
power of. attorney to sell it; to influence
her to sign this he no doubt let her have
the $500 in gold found hidden in the soap
grease. He could borrow or steal this back
at any time The land he decided to his
son, because he had wife living who might
claim an interest in it.. Mrs. Willis is
supposed to have prevailed upon him to
return to Washington, Iowa. He, it appears,
determined upon the way to regain possess
sion of the gold, and for his purpose,
failing to obtain it by threats, lie committed
the murder. The killing of the two children
was forced upon him, no doubt, by the fear
that they would escape and inform the
citizens of the locality of the murder of their
mother; and James, who remained with
him, would certainly have shared their fate
if he hao shown disposition to get away.
Kephart seems t. have gotten the idea of
the place-the Despoines river-the manner
of killing and the way to conceal, from the
Ottumwa murder. A United Brethren hymn
-, hn frupE Of Me- W:Il:o