Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-10-22
First Lynch Law Trial.

In the Autumn of 1889, the scttl--
me.,t In Ohio, at Columbia. contained
less than score Of log cabins. Most
nf them were near the bank of the
Ohio, a short distance below %
mouth Of the Little Miami. TIE
most prominent Of the settlers were
General John ). GaiiO, Rev. Steph, n
t;amo, VIM. Gofortl,, John Reilly,
Fraiicis Dunlevy afterwards Pre.i-
dent Judge). jacob White, Ephraim
Kjbby, Luke Foster (afterwar Is
iudxe), Rev. John Smith afterwards
IU. S. senator), John Brown, james
Finn. Thomns liubbelI, COInnel Oliv-
cr Spencer, Msjnr Benjamin Stiles,
Hez :kiah Stiles, Elijah Mills, Edmund
Buxton, Peter Sken Smith, James
Sew ,rd, Thomas e. Wx,lc. Benjamin
Sho .,unker, Elvan Shelby. Allen
Woodruff, Joseph aud Benjamin Cox.
i One of the most useful men In tins
| colony In the wilderness was Peter
Skcn Smith. A shrewd aud skillfut
artisan, he only amongst them ali
could repair aud keep in working or
der the only hand mill In the settle
ment, used almost constantly for
grinding their Indian corn. This be
did bv seftenimg the steel, fling il
sharp aud then hardening 1t. a trader
from Rcdstone Old Fort (now VIII
liamsport) on the Monongahela: ar.
, rived with u small Kentucky boal
, laden with -four and other produce
: of which the pioneers in their new
r settlement were much In need. sc
!, welcome was his arrival that the!
lent him willing aid to carry up hi
I dozen barrels of flour nud pile then
between two trees, that they Nigh
; be safe from the perils Of the river
Next morning it WAS found that on
: of the barrels had mystciiouslv disap
;. peared during the night, much to th
Z, surprise Of the trader and indignation
. of the villagers. They speedily as
sembled together and were not Ion;
! i'm coming to u conclusion. 1t wa
!. Immediately Determined mem con
that a general search should be made
n some OF the principal citizens propo'
ing that their own domicilcs shouI
;, be examiaed first. THIS was speetlii
20 done, hut not until the fourteemt
~ house was searched was the lost bal
" rel found in the cabin of Peter Ske
;. smith, who proved to be the Acl,t
y of the village. They unlesitatingl
!, arrested him lie submitted with
-. very bad grace. When informed the
70 would proceed to try him tor II
NJ felony, with provoking sang froid !
demanded their warrant, well know
N ing that froin want Of civil organic
t,on there could be none. Having !
y. leader with .uprcmc authority, III
-. Joshua OF old, they formed themsclv
I into n Lynch law court, anu ntter
no fair trial found him guilty OF u
!. larceny aud sentenced him to for
~ stripes save one, according 10 llebrc
law. and that lie make the restitutit
m of the st tolen -four to its owner. Smi
ro now dared them to iuflict SO ignnN
uious a punishment without autho
81, itv of the law. They procured
,u stout cord with each end of Will
.G they tied his thumbs AMI then carr
I illy the line over IL heavy thorn-bus
80, proceeded to execute the sentence
ni their own with good will; each
nv the thirteen giving linn three strip
nm with n hickory withe. With ii
an degrading punishment all holstne
-. and daring forsnOk him. lie repair
nv TO his cabin but WAS never aitcrwar
,,t seen in the settlement. 1t was su
$50 posed lie found his way TO the Fa
Of the Ohio and there enlisted in I
nv United States army. This statene
is made Oh the authority OF one OF
he most respectable members of ii
4. primitive court, the late judge Fost
nr it has been revised by the veneral
MI Mai. Daniel Gano, native of the ve
,I,. place where it occurred, now i'll
or eiehtieth year, American Histori
I'll Record.