Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1880-03-05
KiIgore's Spiritual Condition.

Thursday, March 18th, and he recelv-
ed the Holy Viaticum on Friday, the !
of his execution. John W.
Kiigore went to meet his hard fate
with a deep sense of religion, an .un-
swavering faith in the doctrines of
the Catholic Church and firm hope
which that faith inspires. Whatever
may be said of his untutored mind in
extenuation of his guilt he had a bet
ter apprehension of the mysteries of
religion, and Of the grounds of his
redemption through the merits Of
Jesus Christ. than many more learn
ed. Naturally docile, he was withal.
a man Of his own mind, rs appeared |
from his almost intuitive faith in the |
doctrines Of the Roman Catholic |
Church, which he embraced Of his
own accord-moved thereto, of
course, by the grace of God-and of
his persuasion, that 1t was the only
religion to die in. This will be pleas
ing to a sympathysing and friendly
| community that john W. kilgore IS
III ''better land" where all is hap
piness and peace and bliss, and where
no sin Intrudcs to mar his union with
! God. 1t would be we'll for many of
us 10 receive the blessings of as good
! death. lie. those who think he has
been aealt unju~tly with take the view
of it and they will come To consider
that here God brought good out Of
evil. Z. +. - LEAhf.
There never before was such a
crowd in Mexico. Although the day
was rather cool, people began to pour
in by daylight. Several hundreds
came in the day before on the trains.
The saloons We're both closed, not by
law. but by Il mutual agreement ol
tie proprietors. Ten extra police
were appointed, and although the
streets were packed with people, ne
trouble occurred Of any kind. EA
celient order was maintained iy all
Chief Of Police Potts parolled th'
CITY during the day Oh horseback
Walker kilgore was dressed IN
black coat .nd dak pants, and pre-
scented very heat ppvarance-Net,
ho,ish in his looks and actions. Ill
said lie wanted to he buried ut tn
old Barnett grave yard, by the sid
OF his mother. This grave yard /
about three miles north of Mexico
His body WAS taken At once 10 III
brothers, and will bc buried to-moi
row. The waeon that received III
body was backed up 10 the scaliol
with a coffin in it, and as soon AS Il
was pronounced dead his body vi
placed in the coffin ana driven away
LAST cos FE!isIr>.
Walker hii"orp made a rpntcssir
this uornln" Ia Father ti.car,
stating that Ilr Wa not influenced
WAY to cummit 1hc crime. We ha>
nai room to publish now, hnt vi
arncar in fall III our next l-ou
Faucet and Mul.lr"w. wh" are 50
t,rhccd tn hang are very puirt AMI :;
,u-dav. ii i, only 'onr week. uni
thpy will bc executed. Ral!y. Il
man Walker kIigure worked for "
tl,holic. Nalkrr having llscd
a Catholic family. endorsed III
faith. The last meal Ac cat was a"t
ee.s..e. a hi-cuif. raspberry jelly III
some hsb. lie zsg4pearch /" haE'
good appetite. He ale hfS T7ss4 mI
- minutes Ia - o'cinrk lie dir,
htile wine ia>s before he left II
jail
The editor of t.ls paper was W i
H. hii@oTc last night quite awhile ~
Il all 'hIs morning Hp 10 the lime
as execution, r-iiig Ia ho acatioid VI il
o. ann and we are sure that no man
!, tbe world had more nerve. lie w
rn"l, and calm and all the time, Il
IT. tsa-ty was with hiiyorr at 81 miI
"a 'iic> alter II and StaId with him abut
le 10 minutes. The Jail was surroun,
ed with people from . a. II. until II
" prisoner was taken aWav. No ol
!. were admitted except the rcpnrtcI
-. aud the rirrgy. kIliiorc was ycl
So cool Vhen he told The rest of the pri
A. oncrs at the jail guod-hre.
;, tauc"tt, sentenced 10 hAny on II
/. 2nd OF April, said "kilgure iute,
N cedc with God Tor Muldrnw and
i, lie alone can save Us, for our sake d
, all you can III Heaven for uS.' Iii
. gore SAID he would. The ouart
t. were at the Jail I'll half past II an
h received their badges and guns fro,
r the sheriff. Father D'Leary M,
d Father Stack officiating on the sea
d fold and had deyotienai excrciies b,
= fore leaving the jail, kiIgore tol
!, us that If the sheriff woud turn hi,
" loose he would walk TO the scatluI
- and walk up and put the rope aroun
n his neck.
Execution.
At fifteen minutes to one o'clor
+" the prisoner was taken from the ia
and in closed carriage, in compan
: with the two priests, Sheriff Glas
o cock and deputy Hcoton and th
e editor of this paper, left for the seat
# fold. The guards followed in Il
0 open wagon and about three thous
r and men and boys followed the carri
t age, which went down Liberty stree
y about half way to the creek, when
e turned to the right and went through
t negro town. On the way down Xii
). gore talked but little, the priests talk
# ing to him most all the time, Will
e he fixed his gaze OIL the cross he helt
Il and did not take it away. AT ten