Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1885-06-10
the LAWS DELAY DEFED.


|-N
Iowa, at 1870 o'clock in the morning.
People living near the disturbance" says
IN eye- witness of the scenes that fol owed.
fastened from their beds and followed the
direction OF the sound. Al soon as they
reached the public square, all doubts as TO
the cause OF the unusual commotion were
removed.
"A masked mob had gathered around
the Jail, and were battering down the
doors for the purpose OF securing Fin
and Manse Rainsbarger, the outlaws who
we're confined for the attempted murder
Of Drs. Underwood and Riedenour, on the
evening Of June 2. The wild shrieks Of the
doomed prisoners were heart-rending. They
knew toe well the meaning OF the gather
ng Of earnest and determined men with
out, and the first blow on the door sounded
their death-knell. As the prospect Of
death doomed up before them, and they
'enlized that their miserable, crime stained
lives were to pay the penalty for years of
lawlessness, they gave expression to their
terror in despairing cries for help. The
mob were not long in gaining admittance
to the jail, but it took them fifteen minutes
to get into the cell where the prisoners
we're confined, a sledge being used to open
the cell door. When the mob commenced
o this door, the prisoners backed them.
ssl~As against il and made q desperate
not S1ar nanttni sNRala ass out vt. against .n the ave aysn fsnn,
outside were the furious assailants able ID
get inside.
When the hammering was going on, the
prisoners, in their frenzy, called upon the
Sheriff, the Marshal, and the people of FL
dora for protection. Their cries Of murder
and for help could be heard q long distance.
Then they called upon George Barber, OF
Steamboat Rock, who was confined in an
other cell for liquor selling, to tell their
families hat they died like dogs and no
one to help them.
Fin, after the door was broken in, made
a dash for liberty, but was captured outside
of the Jail and held up and shot. The work
was 50 quickly accomplished that not many
Of the citizens realized what was being done
until it wal all over. The mob had guards
stationed at all the avenues leading to the
jail. and allowed 70 one to approach.
AS soon as the work was completed, the
party, numbering perhaps seventy-fye
men. departed quietly. Night Watch Al
drich and the editor of the Herald were
the first to arrive at the scene Of the trag-
edy, and the sight that met their gaze was
horrible. Lying face downward in the
street about fifteen feet from the Jail was
the lifeless body of Manse Rainsbarger,
any lying partly on the sidewalk and partly
on the ground upon his back lay the body
Of his brother Fin. Both bodies were lit
orally riddled with bullets. The bodies
were dressed Just as they had retired for
the night, their pants and shirts being their
only clothing, except that Manse had his
stockings on. Their life blood flowed from
the wounds and covered them.
Lying near the bodies was the runk of
n ls.f~>-, A~~- ,1z.A - snnIaH ~ lsnr M
ter and fifteen feet in length. The limbs
had been trimmed up to within a few inches
Of the trunk. leaving them long enough to
be firmly grnsped by the hands. This was
the battering ram used to gain admission to
the Jail, and in the hands Of strong and de-
terrnined men required only q few moments
to break down the barriers that stood be-
tween them and the objects of their ven-
geance.
"The mob appeared in town about l
o'clock, and their conveyances consisted of
nine wagons, and several Of the party came
on horseback. A number Of people heard
them come in, and wondered what
it meant, but as they made little noise in
their preparations they attracted scarcely any
attention. The officers having the prison.
ers in charge ap%prehended no danger for
their safety. Some threats had been made,
uus v SIoieAt sPAs ccSn oP0hJ %
ifested.
The Rainsbarger gang had so long car
ried on their awless operations that the
| people had settled down into an apparent
lethargy, hoping that the law would eventu-
ally punish them for their many crimes.
They doubtless would never have been
molested, and the law would rave been al
lowed tc take it's course in regard to theil
past offenses, had they not aroused the
people to fury by the last outrage of which
they were guilty. On the evening of the
Sd Of June, as DR.. Underwood. DR.. Cald-
we'll, and DIR. G. H. Riedenour were pass
ing through q heavy strip of timber eighi
miles north Of Eldom, three masked men
appeared at the roadside and commenced
shooting at them with navy revolvers
at short range. The top buggy in
which they were riding was riddled with
bullets, and the escape of it's occupants il
wonderful, but they were u%ninjured save q
few scratches. DIR. Riedenour, with re-
markable GOODNESS, jumped out and opened
fire on the attacking party with good effect
wounding one of them and driving them t.
the brush. DR.. Underwood held the in.
quest over the body Of Enoch johnson. who
was found dead near Clifford last Novem.
Der, and declared Johnson had been mur.
dered, and has done all he can to bring thu
murderers to justice. Both Underwood ant
RiedenOur testified against the Rainsbar.
gers, who were tried some time ago for tht
murder of johnson. Since then they have
been threatened and warned to leave thu
State by members Of the Rainsbarger gang.