The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1874-07-10
Inauguration Of Mob Law.
JOSEPH DIETz Sr, ARRESTED
He l. Taken Gut Of jail by his
Friends.
HE RETURNS VOLUNTARILY.

bell Of TIN jic7Tran Laihrram Church
and Oh iitguiry. l-arirrH ti.at tl. long
talked Uf .fr,sr o.. g.. DrtZ. !Jr vi
OIation ofia. !..i.i,.r ..1,ii,Is.s..-.- had beeI
effected by Marshal Ruil, .,,,d that IT,
ringing OF the bell was tia pr. ,mrrrte,
signal a1r,i.d upon toy certain Of hi
friends 10 r,-,Il.. hiin from H.. custody
of the law. Soon excited squads OF Ger
mans commenced passing. mutterina
threats and rncnac,s. COu>picuou:
among these was the German Lutheran
Pastor, u. Buerkle, who appeared to be
almost frantic with rage. The general
rendezvouz appeared To be at the
"Crouse House, " and after brief con-
snItation, note of which the following
is d copy, was sent to Mayor Gribben
FINDLAY, o.. July 5, II.
| IL He hoEc,05e Ntyor qf he Looo,7~r''ed
EatGge Of FlAdLdg- D.: .....--.
You are commanded t. release the
prisoner, Jos. Dietz, to sale diStur-
baihce, forthwith. by ordes of
CoMNITTE.
This not having the desired effect,
the crowd moved upon the Jail. Until
this time We had not left our residence,
and hoped that the sober second thought
would result in the crowd dispensing
quietly to their houses.
I've then started for the Jail, and were
surprised to see that quite large crowd
had already gathered and We're talking
in an excited and threatening manner.
Unacquainted with the German Ian
guage, we could only gather from the
discourse that they were determined that
Dietz should be taken from an upper
chamber, unlocked, which he occupied.
John Simler and Harry Erb talked in
English, and were inflammatory and de-
nunciatory in their language, though
but little attention was paid to the latter.
Sheriff Henry stood in the door, though
not near enough to hear him, we judged
from his motions and appearance that he
was refusing to give up his prisoner. At
length some of the mob were allowed to
go in, and the attorneys for Dietz, Shafer
and Mungen, accompanied by o. a. Bal
lard, Justice Of the Peace, were admitted,
and could be seen along with Dietz up
stairs through the window. The word
was passed around that dispatch had
been sent to Judge Pillars, at Tiffin, and
that "A writ would be issued, and no res
cue would be attempted. This threw
tile friends of law and order, who had
assembled and were ready to assist in
the preservation of the peace, off their
guard, and at that moment Dietz made
his appearance at the door, thanked
on each side by one of the rioters.
Shortly after, the Sheriff rushed to the
door, and was obstructed 10y the rioters,
while DietZ's escort hurried him away.
Surprising up to this time that all
was right, the friends of law and
order We're completely taken by sur
prise Realizing the situation, in n
minute or two, they rallied and at
tempted to assist, or rather called upon
the Sheriff to know if their services
were needed To their chagrin and sur
prise, that officer eontented himself
with struggling with the rioters, and
neither commanded the peace nor asked
for assistance. Some of the more zeal
ous made another attempt to rescue the
Sheriff, but desisted when they were as
sured by the rioters that they would
not injure linn When the crowd reached
Main Street, another rush was made by
q. s. Crawford, VIM. Vance, and 9th
ers, and for moment a struggle
seemed imminent, but still the Sheriff
gave no sign or made no call for assist
ance. Whether he had lost all pres
ence of mind, or never had any, or was
in collusion with the mob, is a question
upon which bystanders were divided.
We have no desire to express an Opin-
ion, and only can repeat the expression
which came from the lips of many law
abiding citizens: ''Oh, for one day for
Sam. Myers in the Sheriff's office"
Dietz reached his saloon in safety, as
sisted by his daughter, who sailed forth
with her ''little hatchet" to make di-
version in his favor, and cover his re-
treat. Bringing her tomahawk down
forcibly upon the back of Mr.. George
Crawford, that gentleman wheeled, re-
voHer in hand, and discovered the sex
of his assailant in time to leave her un-
harmed.
For the time the rioters had triumph
ed. and they were iubilant, though
some of tie more intelligent showed
10y their demeapor that they already
regretted their lawless conduct. Buer-
kIe, after the crowd, which he had ad-
vised and incited to riot, had started to
the Jail, nlysteriously disappeared
Finding that the storm was certain to
come, he branched off, and kept lin
self out of danger.
DietZ was now at home, surrounded
by his friends. The friends of law and
order gathered in little knots and earn
estly discussed the situation. There
was but one feeling and that was de-
termined expression that Dietz should
be re-arrested at all hazards. This was
mingled with sorrow for the disgrace
which had come upon our town. EX-
citement was much allayed when, du-
ring the afternoon, Dietz, taking the
advice of real friends. returned to Jail
and gave himself up.
Mr.. DAN. BUCK requests us to say to
the public that the story that has been
in circulation charging that he gave his
hands permission to go out with the
mob, to release Dietz from Jail, is false
hood OF our own knowledge We can
say that Mr.. BUCK talked with us while
on his way home, just before the occur
renee, and deprecated any resort TO force.
nor was Mr.. b. in the crowd at the Jail.
There are so many stories atiOat that
great caution should be exercised in re-