Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-06-07
grui, Conntp gegister.
Mack lIarsden,s Gang.

A brief history of the Marsden gan
(which gang has been the source
much trouble to great many c
the people of Jefferson county for som
time past) is given below, and is takel
from the st. Louis Euening Chroni
Gle. Mack Marsden will be tried TO
murder at a special term of the Jeffer
son County Circuit Court, to be held Oh
the second Monday in July. And Macl
Marsden and Allen Hensly and other
have been indicted for hog stealing; ant
if the former escapes conviction of muir
der at the special term, he with the 9th
ers will 5e tried for stealing hogs at tn
nextregular term Ofcourt; but if Mack il
convicted of the higher crime, only tn,
other men will be tried for hog steal
ing. Well, the following is the history
of the gang. in brief: Mack is abou
thirty-five years old and is native o
Jefferson county, where his old white
haired father is respected citizen
Mack, himself, is absolutely fearless
possessed of great trength and activi-
ty, and always ready to accommodate
any one desiring a little exercise in
either wrestling match, foot race or
humping match. He enjoys the rep
utation, moreover, of being a fine
marksman. Till recently he has been
considered all right: but one night, ov-
er year ago, the shanty of an old
bachelor farmer named Vail was dis
covered in flames, and when the neigh
bors put the fire out the old man was
found murdered. The next day it was
learned that Mack Marsden had visit
ed the old man that night, and he said
that he had paid Vail $50. His theory
was that the thieves had witnessed the
payment through q window, and had
entered and robbed the old man and
fired the building. Other people who
heard the theory apparently accepted
1t as plausible, but one day not long
after the Vail murder Mack Marsden
called at the store of Joe Yeager, whose
place was at little settlement called
Antonio, or Bull Town. Yeager and
he were good friends. In order to pay
for some purchase Marsden laid on the
counter SIS bill which was torn and
patched in a very odd way. On seeing
the bill Yaeger became excited, as he
recognized it as bill which formed
part of a sum of money he paid to Vail
the day before he was murdered. New
er suspecting Marsden, he inquired
where he got that bill, telling him why
he inquired, and saying he felt sure
that it would solve the Vail murder
mystery. Marsden made a statement
as to where it came from, and soon aft
er departed. Yeager told some of his
friends of the discovery. Either that
night or the next, Yeager's store was
fired from the outside, and when he ran
out to pump water some unknown as |
sassin, behind blacksmith shop across |
the road, fired charge of buckshot
that killed him instantly.
All through this period the farmers
in the north end Of Jefferson county
had been losing their best hogs, and
after long investigation they located
a drove, made up entirely of stolen
hogs, with a Carondelet butcher, and
obtained lndisputable proof that Mack
and Allan Hensley, an asso-
cIate, had sold them to butcher. Mars
pen and Hensley we're arrested, and
were soon after indicted for hog-steal-
ing in as many cases as possible. The
news of this discovery went through
Jefferson county like wild-fire. and
then tongues long silent were lOOsened
In a recital of the circumstances above
given, connected with the Vail and
Yeager and Vail murders. A mob
spirit was engendered in these quar-
ters. and when, soon afterward, Mars
len and Hensley went before Justice
Of the Peace at De Soto and waived a
hearing, a big crowd Of farmers were in
who needed only a resolute
leader to induce them to invoke Judge
Lynch. About fifteen of them follow
ID the suspected men from the Justices
,ffice to their home, but did not shoot.
The two men kept about half mile
ahead of them till near Marsden's home,
when they put spurs to their horses,
lashed up to the house and obtained
shotguns which had
,een heavily loaded with buckshot on
he previous day in anticipation of some
UGH emergency, and returning to
,end i'm the road waited for the pursu-
rs. When the latter came up, Mars
len called upon them to halt, and then
'rdered them to turn and 60 as fast as
hey could. They did so, and he and
densley fired couple Of shots over
heir heads, causing the fifteen horse s
men to put spurs to their horses and !
,allop msdly back to Hillsboro. Since
hat time the barns and houses Of pros
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