, 1881-01-22
The Hon. Charles L. Colby, OF
Milwaukee, Under ARREST
for Alleged Perjury.
4 Man In MEclligau Murders Ills Wife,
nut} Then Sl,uots Himself to
Death.
Two Bad Men in Bodie Get into @
Fight ind Both AFRO Killed.
FREDEItIC 1IESTEil.

opened dark, damp, anu Arehry, al Nil enFiy
hour men, women, Md children from tile uts-
Joining country md towns begun to arrive by
wagon, OH horseback. o1l foot. uiad by trains,
md by noor our streets presented II living
mass Of human faces, NIL nyerclnrgea With
an abnormal curiosity to sec one Of their
fclluw-belngs suffer the fill penalty 0f the
law, this being thu first execution tliat ever
occurred in Vcr1mlE1un County. Tho Wis
dulu Ut Sheriff Morchonsn WIS fully
verified In his reuuIsttion to the unvcrnor
j, for Il company nf militia, us guards fNr no
ordinary 1,olicc f0rce or SlierIf's pt,sSc could
ever linye wttllstoud the force OF srgi ull cx-
cited lnass,-lot t!,at there was any rlntosts
action by the crowd, but tho inclos',ru was II
1rall one, nnd It tnxcd to their utmost tlso
militia tn prevent the crowd from brenking
down tho inclosuro nlll witnessing tho cxt-
cutlolt. -.....-..
THE GALLONS
.was erected In M aMglo of tho jn!l ontsflle ot
the building, anil, ut three minutes past
O'Clock, tic hour Of execution, the attending
minister, followed by Kester, Sheriff Morc-
house, a,fd Deputies Gregory a,sd Lester,
stopped FROM the jail window lu tho scatfnld.
Tho daRtll-warrant wns rend, mil the prison.
or askcll IT lo hnd anything to sny. ltis few
words, spoken In II low but steady voice,
were rs follows:
II NH NOT no TIE DEED,
rs llnyc told nil tho time. llayu natlling
: to say. II have to die, all right. Tllis is
NIL have to say" Prayer WIS offered by
the attending minister, the feet anu tlau.ls Of
tho prisoner were tied, tho rope adjusted,
tho black cnp drawn over Ills facc, atia ut Il
signal Dcputy-SherIif Gregory sprung the
trap, and tic soul Of Frederic Hester WAS
launched into eternity. At slx md three
,hy,f nf
seven minutes 10 action Of tic Eleurt could
be discovered, md ut eight minutes ha was
pronounced dead. Atcleven minutes his body
WINS cut down. placed III Il colin. nl,d tla
multitude of people permitted to pass aud
view the body. During no tiuo did lie show
signs Of weakness.
=. =, THE CRIME.
: On the morning OF Aug. 2, 1870, tho
: qnIet nclghborhonl of Buckley; Irol,lOIs
County, ILL.,, was startled by tho 1lewa tllat It
Horrible murder lntt been committed I'll Its
1nidst. Frederic kester. Il young Gertnnlt,
had lived there only IL few months, !,at raised
a crop, appeared to BE- Industrious. and WAS
known only Within n limited circle. lie MD
Ills wifo Minnie, who ltnd beeli married nbuut
one yenr, lived alone In u house Ut two rooms
within less that II quarter If mile Of John
1}urIhastGr, M1nnie's father. 1t wns known
,in Bnrmaster's family that Minnie complained
TINT she way not treated III kindly as She de-
served by her husband. but lit complaint Of
violence lind been 1uadc. Two unmarried
sisters Of Minnie spent tic evening nf Aug.
81 ut kester's, leaving ut nbont0 u'eDck, =
nothing unusual occurring while they re-
nsaEned. Tho girls, when n!out halfway,
looked back mid suw Hight Mt kester's, hui,
when they arrived ut lloule, lley observed
that the Hight was out.
EARLY tilu next morning tho ohlest OF tho
unmarried sisters. Caroline Nurluaster, went
~ Kcster's, according to promise. to 1lclp
Minnie. who was unable 10 tn All lser own
work, rs sile was In an ADVANCED staHu ut
pregnancy. As tho glrl uppr0uGed tho
house, sle found the tloors open, and within
, sho found Kester'a sliutgnl brukUn nlltl
lying on tho flnor, Which vas bi.Mly. Shu
J. found TINT KestCr WIS gone, alllt also Ills
:. best horse. The nelgl.bors sooll rllsl,eIt to
: tho bloody Rcenc and with tho MD of IL dag,
and with difficulty. fnlliA the bo.iy ofiAItnNIe
, Iester, which. dressed only In nlglstclotlles,
:. had BEEN dragged by tho heels md
surrounded pf 81 }si, q wcrs rsaW Sr tho house
On tic bureau in the front room was foun,l
, q note written III German, which ru,d NJ
follows: "This tluE comes by tho old ,at
.{u1,douhtctlly meaning AfinnIprs fntlurl. II,
- Is around nv lm1lst. irving IL, CHM. mn ft
death, They tell Mimic tllut sllo st,uuI,
=. leave me. ntui ahs krpns tl,r,,,ut. II I'm ff
1ne.n ,rhis ,ots wus mt s].,urd. hit yyus mn.
F. aouptotl1y written by Kcstcr.
Kcster ,uut]a uonl hIs cscana nv rllinq
. Somo tlftgon ur twenty miles. tur,,inr hi,
horse loosc au,t tusluv n truI,, n, t,e f..,,tr
( ::.10r Chlc,,eo. whence hu n,nis lis yyuv +.
1Iason civ In. Nrnr Nnsn, inv hr l.,ua
tout o. furn,.Iatmrur cj,a,,"rl liz ~ nnna 'it r.
Johm Inrn" n",t tnnrc n',.,i,t nrh,ht,. Inv.
1;wta,l In ol,seI,r,, snc,,r,iv viii ~, n,,"ls,,
,nant tn foar lut th tos,,rs - ,,,,,i,v ,.',,
scI"ncc Ind Io "t ma, mr., forcvar a,,",' '
.lonsi ,ii t,,,nn,I,t ~ on,",,,,,tno,,,,,, ,.,
nfter tho commission Ut tlie crime, liz wgot'
two letlers,-O,lc tu Il DEutlipr-lJI-lAw ut lla,,