The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1882-08-24
LYNCH LAW.


Declarations Of Innocence, and are Re-
turned to Jail.
A Taylorville (IlL) special to the Chicago
Herald of the 18th gives the following particu-
lars of the recent attempted Iynching at that
place of the parties charged with the terrible
outrage perpetrated upon the person Of Miss
Bond in June last;
Mr.. Bond, alone, to-day is credited with hav-
ing saved the men. 1t is openly stated that no
attention would have been paid to the appeals
of States Attorney Brennan but for him. The
prisoners were cheerful this morning I'm Jail,
and talked with several about the affair. Pet
tis maintained his usual taciturnity, and could
not be encouraged to conversation. Mont
gomery said he felt when up in the air that it
was easy to die, and that he felt just as If in a
dream. To-day he complained of soreness in
his neck, which was somewhat scratched, but
otherwise be was all right. All three are conf
dent they will clear themselves on the trial No
further violence is apprehended.
The action of tho mob last night was a sur
prise to many, for up to nine o'clock the
streets were more deserted than they had
been during any night since the investigation
began. There was an uneasy feeling among
those who realized the full significance of the
mutterings of the attendants at court that
trouble was in store, and when, about nine
o'clock. a mob began to gather in front of the
iail it was evident that the hour had arrived
for putting the threats into execution
As time went ON the mob beoam9
inpatient, and some of them cried:
:" Break the door in and fetch them out" A
few of the men who were pretty well intoxi-
Gated moved around urging general attack,
and finally succeeded in getting the crowd SO
worked up that they walked up to the door of
the jail and boldly asked for the prisoners.
The door, which had been opened from within,
was closed in their faces, and they fell back.
In a s ort time they rallied sufficiently to
81
forts they succeeded in making their way to
the Jail. They then pushed up stairs to where
the cells were. The Sheriff had abandoned the
jail to the mob, who now went to work to get
the prisoners out After a half hours work
Pettis and John Montgomery were pulled out
through an opening in top of the cell and
handed over to the mob. A brand-new rope
was suddenly produced and thrown around
the necks of the men. Then ensued the most
horrible language the part of the mob
They endeavore1 by blows, threats and every
means known to them to induce the wretchcs
to confess. am innocent, gentlemen cried
Pettis, in an agonized voice. Hang me If
you will, but l am innocent" You lie,
curse you, you know you did it," -
know L am going to die, but as God
is my judge l am innocent" Then there
was a surge of the crowd in the small apart
ment, and a cry of ''Take them out and hang
them" John Montgomery in the meantime
anything" The workers of the mob were
searching for Clement, who could not be
found. The cells were all opened by the use
of a crowbar, and then it was discovered that
Clement was not in the jail Then Pettis and
Montgomery were dragged down stairs and
into the Jail yard, the crowd looking as they
progressed for q good tree. The trees were all
saplings, and halt was made, during which a
confession was sought to be extracted from
Montgomery. The man still protested lis
innocence. ITO the courthouse yardP
some one cried, and other voices took it up.
To the courthouse yard then proceeded the
mob, threatening and bullying the prisoners
on their way. Lee Pettis repeated every min
ute: Il am innocent. am innocent"
The courthouse yard was soon reached and
the crowd halted under tall tree. Some ninl-
BILE fellow climbed the tree and threw the end
of the rope into a forked branch. A dozen
hands caught the loose end, and John Mont
gomery was jerked off his feet just for a trial.
The poor wretch still pleaded innocence, and
he was called upon by a hundred voices to
speak out and tell his story
II have no story to tell. am innocent. I
know no more about this matter. gentlemen,
than you"
His voice was as weak as a woman's and as
pathetic as a childs pleading for mercy. The
infuriated crowd hooted and yelled at him
saying he was dead man anyway, and he
might as wel confess"
up he go5s, them CT, ed those at the other
end of the rope, and up he did go. The body
was pulled up about four feet from the ground
and kept there for fun minute. The hanging
man never struggled but, being exhausted
rope let him Gown then, and he was called on
to tell his guilt. The man could not speak at
first but laid limp on the grass
After he recovered b breath he finally said:
!" Gentlemen, know am dying, and Itell YOU
am as innocent as you are"
A cry for A, ID. Bond, the father of tho
victim, was then given by the crowd, and a big
burly man pushed his way in. He stood be-
side their prisoner and asked him to tell il he
was not in the sehool-house the afternoon Of
the outrage, but through all the MAIN
tanned his Ignorance of the guilty parties.
A cowardly crowd stood on the fence and
on on the outskIilrrts lIlrt OF the seething mass
ecuiion of the man, and with him the others.
For an hour those about the man talked,
bulled, stormed and threatened, but the poor,
nOCence.
Prosecuting Attorney Brennan made a weak
appeal for law and order, but he was hooted
In the meantime Clement had been found
and was held by the mob on the other side of
the yard Covering down with his head on his
breast, his neck drawn in like turtles, he
shook and shivered, and, when goaded. chat
tered out his innocence.
Lee Pettis was held with rope around his
neck and tortured also. He loudly and boldly
proclaimed his innocence, and told the mob to
Montgomery was about to be swung up
again when Mr.. Bond cut the rope, and the
prisoner was taken to one side of the yard and
submitted to another series of questions II
was all in vain The men who held the rope
had too much heart to hang the man after his
repeated declarations, and gradually their
manner softened.
down. but after few minutes the cry was re-
peated, and generally taken up. A fringe of
men on the outskirts of the crowd yelled
themselves hoarse with cries of q Hang him r
Remember your familiesP' Hang himP
close to the brink OF eternity, at this moment
q nre broke out In a large barn owned Dy y:
ID. Goodrich, situated in the western part of
the town. The light in the sky attracted the
attention of the crowd, and a large number
rusned 70 see the fames. rms nad tne eHect
OF oanpening the spirits OF those VINO re-
maned, and, after brief consultation among
the leaders, the prisoners, as stated in these
dispatches, were returned 70 Ja1l.
spRrrGrrELp. Ill, August II.
topic of discussion here Great surprise ct
the action of the mob is expressed on all hands,
continuing their work, as the feeling here IL
pretty general that the right parties are in
custody. The opinion is also general that no
farther attempt will be made at lynching.
-s-s- -s-
An employe in q New York brew
ery challenged friend, who was then
drunk, to a drinking bout, and the
friend died after imbibing innumerable
glasses of beer. The Coroner's Jury
censured the employe and he was ar
rested. What he thought was 81 fun "
at first he now finds to be very ser1-
GUS matter, as the District Attorney and
the Grand Jury see nothing funny in
such criminal carelessness. N. 7. Sun.
The attachment which men some
times acquire for inanimate things was
illustrated a few days ago, when the
driver OF an old engine that had many
times drawn Vanderbilt from Syracuse
to Buffalo, over the New York Central
Road, at the rate of q mile a minute,