The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-07-01
A RAPE AND A ROPE.
DREADFUL DOOM OF WILLIAM
KEEMER.
Terrible Sequel to Vile Outrage in
Hancock County.
SHORT SKETCH OF THE VILLAINS
CRIME


AM HIS ARRRsr-UPRIsING OF THE POPU-
LACE OF THREE CoUNTEs-MoB LAW AS
sERTs IT'S VIOLENCE AND RoBs THE JAIL OF
IT'S PREY-sUDDEN CLOSE OF BLACK Ca
REER.
special telegram from Greenfield in the
Sentinel of yesterday announced that Will
liam Keemer, negro incarcerated in the
Jail at that town, had been seized by mob
violence and hung for his crimes
In well organized communities, where
peace and quietness are the order of
the day, such an announcement Is always
received with about the same dread a.
stroke of paralysis. 1t indicates that the
BODY polite is for the time being psraly zed,
that society has bsen bound hand and loot,
and that laws, like Samson, have been
shorn OF their strength The
inirequency OF such reckless
infrinements of the statutes increases the
curiosity OF the public, which is eager to
learn the full extent Of the aggravatlon and
hear the detailed record of the dreadful
deed. In order that the public may have
complete and corIects account OF this mob
violence. it will be better to give
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CRIME,
which has already appeared in print and is
familiar to many. About noon on last
Tuesday. a negro named William Keemer,
whose depraved character had made him
common pest to the society of Hancock
county, and whose desperate deeds had in
creased the unenvisble notoriety of Car
thage, the old camping ground of William
Rodifer, entered the house OF William
Vaughn, while the men were engaged at
work in tie adjoining field, and brutality
rayished the sick wife of the
householder. Vaughn's farm house
stands in Hancock county, in what is called
Blue River township, and about midway be-
Pns bxyill o and iad ira m
is young woman, scarcely twenty-three
years old, and is the mother OF one
small child, who was her only COM
panion when the brute entered her home.
At the time the deed was committed the
young wife was nearly six months gone In
pregnancy, and the negroes inhumanity I'M
der such circumstances stands out blacker
than his ebony skin. Left entirely defense
less, and in Frustrated nervous state,
THE BRAVE YOUNG WIFE
battled nobly as she could for her honor, but
the struggle was hopeless one. The negro
accomplished bis purpose, and the wife Is
now in such great danger that her recovery
= is almost out of the question. The husband
was first warned OF his wife's danger by the
calls of the little child, who realized that
violence was being attempted, and who
shouted over the field that man was kill
ing his mother. With the speed of light
ming. VIM. Vaughn reached his home, I'M
derstood what outrage had been inflicted,
and seizing his revolver, started forth, half
mad,
IN HOT PURSUIT.
Not far distant from the house, on the
edge of strip of woods, he came within
shooting range of Keemer, who was on the
dead run, and fired three times. Though
accounted a good marksman, Vaughn's
nerves were so unsteady that the shots went
wild, only one striking the negro, and
taking out a small piece of his ear. Again
the husband tried his weapon, but il was not
In good repair and failed him. By this time,
some of the neighbors had been aroused,
and were coming to aid in the pursuit, and
Vaughn retraced his steps, in
tending to go to Greenfield, "a a
that he could rely on to put the villain out
of the world. While he was away on his
errand, the others closed in upon Keemer,
cornered him, and after fierce struggle,
captured the brute and handed him over to
the authorities of Rush county where he
was
LODGED IN JAIL
at Nashville. The indignation of the Rush
county people knew no bounds, as the re-
ports of the brutal affair went through the
community, and it was feared from the low
muttered vows of vengeance heard on the
streets that the negro would be igno-
miniously lynched on the first
night after his arrest he was
not, however; his judgement was postponed
for a brief time, till the clouds of wrath
could gather and break over him with ire
mendous fury. When Vaughn narrated his
injuries to the people of Greenfield,
the authorities there at once decided
that as Hancock county soil had
been outraged, the victim should
be removed to within its Jurisdiction. This
md mo-
guard, was conveyed from Rushville to the
Greenfield Jail, about midnight, on Thurs
day, after having safely, as was supposed,
run the gauntlet of danger from
observed, however, by the authorities
of the latter place, that the frenzy of Han
cock county was equally hard TO restrain,
and, hoping like lsw-abidiDg citizen, that
justice would speedily overtake his victim
at the hands of the law, Vaughn called
Anderson and Noblesville circuit and ln-
formed him that the only way to escape
mob violence was by calling the grand jury
together at once and
DEMANDING AN INDICTMENT.
The Judge, with that short sighted
policy that sometimes blunts the in
telligence of rulers, confidently
replied that he feared no danger, and said
that he had decided to hold the case over for
indictment till the anger of the people could
oldown, and remarked that Keemer would
therefore lie in Jail till the following term.
This announcement, as was predicted by
the keenest of the people, drove the citi-
zens into kind of savage and sullen frenzy,
ominously expressed, more in looks and
gestures than by words. The stream was
deep and dangerous, because so silent
in its flow. The atmosphere was heavy
with indignation, and now the sequel re-
mains TO be told. Last Friday night, about
10 o'clock. on the Rushville pike, some six
miles south OF Greenfield. body of men
gathered together from three adjoining
counties, armed and disguised, and under
the protection of murky sky,
TIE MASKED AVENGERS
nnued nnrihWard In tho nrniornr,d aiIanca OF