The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1865-02-16

ter some time they placed him in q wager
and took him about mile east. Of town
where they found l bent tfee, and Aplsce
n to carry odt tBtSrsdestsn. they got ths
srppe i5ustsd arosed hissneSk, anaiwer,
Shout throwing it ovef lirab, when Nice ons
Erequested time totinake 4 fewSremark >, II
Substance that they were banging aasiafo,
cent man /; he said that ne could prove tina
George Lawrence was yet living, and that h,
did not murder Laura j. Harvey. At TIL.
point 2 cry wAs raised all through the crowd
ofi"hke. him back, " ofhersJyklings on,
"Hang him." Then short struggle for the
possession or the rope ensued, when some
one called ont, "cut it," This'was no soon.
er said than done. and the prisoner rescued
from the hands of the mob, placed in $
wagon. driven rapidly to town and
lodged again in the Jail. It was a darine
act on the part Of those who rescued him
but they could not stand bysand see mot
law rule our county rend i' ,n,aat .
INCOME ESCAPES FROM THE .JArL-Hls RE CAP
TURE.
On Wednesday evening, August 2fth,
McComb escaped from the Jail, in brief as
follows: Knowing that the Sheriff (who re-
sides in the jaiD was absent from home, he
by means Of Offering alittle boy of the Sher
IFS, only about | years old, large sums o.
money &C.. induced him. to unlock his cell
and the back door, so that the prisoner had
nothing to do. but to walk out and escape.
He took the boy with him short distance,
but by, some means drove him back home
It appeared that McComb aud another pris,
oner in the Jail had been tampcring with
the boy for some time be fore; ana taking ad
vantage of the Sher,ff1s absence consumma
ted their design on that evening. We will
here state, that after a full inves tigation Of
the matter no blame was attached to the
Sheriff or Deputy. as they had watched the
jail alternately every night. and On that eve
ming the Sheriff suppose be would be at
home in time Is watch that night, which
was at o'clock. S's.1 ''' e ="
The prisoners were followed in every d.
rection, and on the following Saturday
morning he was 'recsptured some IS miles
east Of this city, and brought back the same
day and once more lodged in his old quar-
tiers. 'tHst1 #3sd ia 'A'f 20, Sfa"' 81 ,fi4'
ANOTHER NOR. a}tf" p n'a
On Wednesday, August 31st, another
mob assembled for the purpose Of asair try
ing to execute the prisoner. It was com.
posed mostly Of the same persons who con.
stituted the first mob. They found, how
ever, on their arrival here, that the Jail was
so guarded by the military, as to render The
execution of their purpose dangerous to
those who attempted it. After having given
the mob time to survey the precautions ia.
ken to preserve the law, the Sheriff ordered
them to dispense, which, upon consultation
AMONG themselves, they concluded to do,
and didHdisperse without any further de.
monstration. The citizens of this CITY had
determined previous to this, that mob law
should never again reign over civil law.
DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT
The Supreme Court convened in the be.
ginning of December last, and the case Of
McCohnb was argued in its turn. The Court
affirmed the-decison Of the District Court
1t was then left to the Governor t, FIX the
day of execution he being absent then, and
for some time afterwards, the day was not
fixed until few weeks ago, and indeed the
Sheriff sf this county was not off ciallv adj.
vised Of the time until last Saturday, when
he received the warrant from the Governor,
fixing the 18th inst for the execution.
When the prisoner was advised officially
of the time, he, as on all occasions, received
it calmly and indifferently, saying no thing,
and seemingly caring nothing about it. III
THE EXECUTION
The morning Of the 18th of February, The
day appointed for Che expiation of the great
crime, was cloudy, and showing moderately.
The streets were wet and unpleasant for 10.
comotion. A military company from Xix
vile arrived an early hour, and with compa.
MES A, and B, of this place, repaired TO the
Curt House to act as guard. Up to 10
o'clock the number Of strangers in town was
considerable butnot noticeably large. About
that time, however, people began to arrive
more freely, until at twelve the crowd prob.
ably numbered 1000. lfHY 1q' issas gaa
The Mayor Of the city had issued his
Proclamation, requiring all the saloons to be
closed, and the order was universally res.
pected so far as is known. 1t was wise
precaution to preserve order. p stnal ui7
The following twelve persons composed
the jury summoned by the Sheriff, according
to law, TO witness the execution :-E III.
Stiles, r W.. Boyd,J. WiMcGlasson, Chas.
Dudley Thomas Foster, A. Melick, B. d. Ba-
ksr, John Newman. Vim. A. Nye, M. j. Will
liams. 4. j. collars, and Thomas G. Harkins,
The prisoner did not sleep well the night
before the execution, as he had not for sew.
eral nights previous. He was cheerful, how
ever, ash he has been generally; during his
Imprisonment. He partook of! foeda in the
morning moderately. About o'clock Rev.
Father Kreckle Catholic Priest of this city,
with clerical assistance from abroad, attend
ed in the prisoners cell, to prepare him. ac-
cordlng to the rites OF that church, for the
0rpa ci,snool a hour ftf, toi a. NJ. m &fflf