Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-11-07
LYNCH LAW IN WISCONSIN.

Liza
~Lnown-1hc Guilty Man Taken from
.1ail by an Infatuated Mob and Hanged.
IA CROSSE. Wis. Oct. 17.-F. A. Bur-
ton President of the Blaine and Logan
club here, was shot dead by a rutllan named
Nathaniel Mitchell, but better known as
.Scot,y'' at eight o'clock last evening While
the Republicans were forming in pro-
ccssion on Main street. Seven shots
were fired in quick succession. The
murderer was arrested and hurried
to Jail before the immense crowd
could realize what had occurred. AS soon
as the fact was made known there wasthe
most intense excitement, and hundreds Of
men ir uniform and carrying torches hur-
ried to the courthouse yard and demanded
that the prisoner be handed over to them.
Sheriff Scott. Chief of Police Clark. and a
posse of police at the jail door tried to calm
the infatuated multitude.
At 1880 D.. m, the officers were not able
to stay the mob, which refused to listen to
argument. From nine O'Clock to ten the
courthouse yard and square presented a
scene of great fury. The mob increased in
numbers until the entire space on three
sides of the Jail was adcnsc mass of human
ity, demanding that the murderer be hung.
The torches of the men flared above
the sea of heads. and the white plumes
moved Icsolutely about the square. The best
citizens in the place were present, and
watched the fearful scene with blanched
faces, but with no expression of sympathy.
There were hundreds of women in the
~thoToughfares and the walks about the Jail.
The excitement grew steadily in force
and the demand at last found leaders with
cool heads, who went methodically about
taking the man FROM prison and lynching
him. Beams were procured, and in a short
time the heavily boltcd and barred doors on
the Fourth street side of the Jail were bat
tered in by the crowd, who poured into the
first-tlcor rooms. Tho Sheriff and asGst-
ants succeeded in clearing the room the
first and second time, but on the
third rush the mob overpowered
them and held its ground. The interior
wooden doors of the cooking depart
ment yielded like so many pieces of plate
glass. In the meantime the heavy oak door
leading to the main stairway on the west
side was battered down, and the crowd was
placed in full possession Of the main cor
ridOr. While this was going on the crowd
became limos colossal about the place, but
aside from the rush Of the men at the Jail
the best of order prevailed. There were no
drunken men in the mob, the whole work
being done by resolute fellows who decided
to make the murderer pay the death penalty
before they left the square.
Once in the corridor, Slcdge-hammers
were used to break in the heasy iron doors,
two in number, that interviewed between
there and the cell-room. These soon yielded,
and as each advance was made the crowd on
the outside was apprised, and constant cheers
of encouragement went up. The pris-
oner had been confined in cell No.
8 on the lower corridor, and the crowd had
little difficulty in finding him. He was
taken from the cell and dragged into tho
yard. He was identified as the man who
did the shooting, and the officers, when APP
pealcd to-. declared they had the right man.
When he appeared from the jail-door,
held up by the mel who had him in charge,
there was a long, peculiar yell that went
through the trees and streets. making every
one for blocks away realize without further
assurance that the awful letribution had
b1Nll lolillltltN. -NtlllCloUS llltIl NClc Stbll
climbing to the branches of the trees, and
in a minute a tree was selected. A rope
was thrown to a MAJ sitting on the first
strong limb. He quickly attached it, and
everything was made ready for the eXccu-
ton.
At this point in the proceedings there
was Il pause. Among the leaders were
some who wanted the murderer to make u
statement, While others, more impatient,
urged immediate action. The murderer
declined to say anything except that he was
the man who shot Burton. At this juno
ture the cry went round: "Pull him up!'
"lian@ himr' 'Don'tlet him live Il minute
longer!'
1t was understood that the Light Guard
| Company Of the Third Regiment Wisconsin
National Guards had been ordered out to
charge the mob. and there was an impress
sion that the execution would be prevented.
The mob seized the rope and made a strong
pull, but the rlffian freed his hands and the
rope broke before he was raised from the
ground. In less than five minutes
a new rope was thrown over the
heads of the crowd and fell with
in a few feet Of the cxecutioner.
This was adjusted, the prisoners hands and
arms firmly tied, and in another moment he
was langillg in the air with his face closely
pressed against the llnD OF the tree. The
body OF the doomed man was left hanging
only a few minutes when it was taken down
l1cless and left in charge Of the Sheriff.
lhe body OF Nh. Burton was removed TO
ms home during the evening. One bullet
passed through the head, two through the
lungs and two into the abdomen, any one of
which would have been fatal.
In searching for a motive for the act the
only plausible theory that is yet advanced
IS that two years ago. when MI. Burton
was Acting Surveyor Of Customs at this
port, his man was frequently importuning
1cr a hospital certificate SO that he could
spend his time at the hospital at the cx-
pensc OF the river men. Mr.. Burton told
him to 60 to work and stop drinking, and
he would not need the benefits of the ma
linc physician. Another theory is that
Mitchell thought he WAS killing another
Il&ll.