Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1872-07-18
The Lynching of Two Ven In Mer.

The Lynching of Two Nen In Mer-
lhii itii,n Ger County, Ohio.
=. :, Alexander Mcleod and Absalom
Kimmel, two of the men charged with
| numbering Mary, Secor, in Liberty
township, Mercer county, were taken
out of the Jail at Celina, on the 9th inst.
and hung. 1t had been nOised abroad
! that the criminals would be lynched on
Monday, and early in the day people
from far,and near focked to the town,
until thousands had assembled. At ten
o'clock A. NJ. an organized band of
some three hundred horsemen, with
a captain and hanging committee of
|. twenty-five in wagons, who also had a
| chaplain, arrived, They held meet
| ing on the, Fair Grounds, after which
they went to the jail, caught the sheriff,
| took the KEYS from his pockets and
opened the. cells. The two Kimmei
brothers and Mcleod were brought out
and put in the wagons with the COM
mittee, of twenty-five, and the process
sion started for the place where the
gfri, had been murdered, which is some
eleven miles from Celina. Thousands
az peSsons followed, forming a process
sion a mile in length. Water was fur
nishea from barrels, tubs and pals
along the route, showing that the
most anDie preparations had been
made for Terrible work.
E,slArriNing at the field where the mur-
der had been committed, the owner OF
. the farm obieetecl to having the execu-
ton take place ON his premises. The
captain of the, Iyrfchers then ordered
that the HANGING be done in field in
front of the old man .Kinmels house.
,Wheif theycame in sight OF, the house
the oldlman was seen RAINING across
field and was Seen hidden in the woods.
Mrs. Kimmel fell in spasm ana mas
been PROSTATE, ever since. A tree,
which ferked some twenty feet above
the grOuDd,. was selected as 3 part Oh
the soaffold. i, Poles W ere cut and placed
ON end daudrfrem there to. the tree
pole was fastened. Over this pole ropes
were thrown and the wagon containing
the doomed men was drawn by hand
to a point directly under the ropes.
,The captain fastened the ropes around
the necks uof nAbsalom Kimmel ana
Mcleod, iwhen,a brother OF the mur-
,dered girl got into the wagon ana
Dreyaiied on the committee to spare the
life of the younger Kimlnel, who Is
only sixteen years old, on account OF
his age.o The doomed men were then
notified thattheir end was near and
given an opportunity to speak. kim.
mel confessed his guilt, but Mcleod
said .tI am not guilty; you are shedding
an innocent mans blood."N The COM
initteeof twenty five were ordered to do
their work, and but one man responded.
Volunteers were called for and prompt
ly came forward and pulled on the
ropes, drawing the niurderers upward
tilt their heads touched the pole over
which theropes were suspended. They
died from strangulation, and in fifteen
minutes were believed to be dead, but
were allowed to hang for nearly halfan
hour. iKimmel's jaw dropped and his
ton, rue hung out, but MeLeod's fea-
tures remained perfectly natural. The
bod les were given to physicians at Fort
et.oyery and Shaneville. The younger
KEnynei was sent back to jail, and all
the Kimmeis have been notified to
leave the country within sixty days.
The only disturbance was caused by one
az the committee proposing three cheers
for Jeff Davis during the hanging. The
Gro wd dispersed without an incident
worthy of notice, and thus ended one OF
he darkest eri mes on reeord. la91