St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-02-05
THREE MURDERERs LYNCHED.
Indignant Citizens Of Audubon, Ia, Lynch
the Murderers Of Old Man Jefferson.


Indignant Citizens of Audubon, Ia, Lynch
the Murderers Of Old Man Jefferson.
DIES MONIES, Iowa, Feb. 4.-The report
has reached here that Smith, Wilson and
Jefferson, the murderers Of Hiram Jefferson,
were lynched at Audubon this morning.
Smith and Wilson were shot in their cells,
after making desperate fight, and Cicero
Jefferson was hanged from the band stand
in the park. The latter confessed to the
crime of having murdered his father.
HISTORY OF THE CRIME.
The history of the Jefferson murder is as
follows: About 2 O'Clock on the morning of
April 20, 1884, occurred one of the most bru-
tai outrages known in the history of western
Iowa, at a point three miles southeast of Au-
dubou. Hiram Jefferson, an old man, was
the victim. He had resided there eighteen
years, the family removing from Pittsield,
III. He had raised family of one boy and
five girls. About three years prior to the
crime John Smythe, from Greene county,
married one of the girls. He was rough,
drinking character, and soon made
trouble, and arrayed the mother and
the children against the father
ne dCCuSeU NE oiu ludu Will luceSL VIII. none
of the girls, and threats were then made by
Smythe and others against Jefferson. Smythe
moved to Carroll county and induced Cicero
the son, and the girl Lucy to go with him.
jefferson was a cripple, not strong mentally
but strictly honest in all his dealings, kind
husband and father. Cicero and Smythe so
harrassed him that at times he was partially
insane. On the morning of the murder
three horsemen rode up to the house where
Jefferson and wife were living and bolster
| ously entered the bedroom where the victims
were sleeping. The wife at the inquest said
it was too dark to recognize who they were.
She asked what they wanted. A rough voice
told her to keep still. The old man said
''What are you here for, Cicero?" She an
swered it is not Cicero, it is John Smythe.
Jefferson was then seized and violently
DRAGGED FORM BED
onto the floor, she also falling out. Jefferson
cried for help, but the m1rderers put rope
around his neck, pulled his shirt over his
head, then dragged him by the rope $40 feet
to maple tree, threw the rope over limb
about eight feet from the ground, and drew
him up, pinioning his arms. They left him,
mounted the horses and rode away. The old
lady started for a neighbours to give the
alarm, when one of the men rode back and
told her to keep quiet or they would
STRING HER UP.
At the inquest verdict was returned that
Cicero Jefferson. John Smythe and another
party committed the deed. Lucy, who was
accused of incest with her father, was also
implicated. She had married a man named
Joe Wilson. In the room
WHERE THE DEED WAS COMMITTED
was found cap covered with dry clay from
we'll digging, handkerchief with holes cut
| in it for ewes, also coat button. The sheriff
started at once to arrest the suspected parties
| Smythe, Wilson and Cicero were soon
brought in, and when arraigned the first two
asked for counsel. and when they were taken
back to Jail Cicero asked to make a coufes-
sion under oath which he did. He detailed
| incidents of the crime from the time they left
| Wilson's house on horseback, how they
| stopped and completed the plans before en-
| tering the house, what was said in the house,
how the rope was put on his fathers neck,
| he taking hold of the end and Wilson and
Smythe behind him dragged the body along
| over the frozen ground. While being hauled
| by the neck his father spoke and
Wilson stepped back and tight
ened the rope more. Smythe put the
rope over the limb, while Wilson lifted the
body up. Smythe and l pulled the body
clear OFF the ground and then wound the
rope around the body and left it. 1 think
father was dead when we left him, as he
KICKED ONLY ONCE OR TWICE
| after being hauled up.
1t was the prevailing opinion of the neigh
bors and others that Smythe was the leader
in the commission of the crime, and that he
| had got the girls into trouble and caused
them to charge it to the old man. They were
all three bound over to trial and it was to
have taken place, but the judge granted q
change of venue and this so incensed the
people of Audubon that they determined thai
| justice should be meted out to the criminals
and the end Of the tragedy has been brought
| ahOut