Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-03-12
SWINGING FROM NAPLES.
Three WuTderers ~ ncbed by a Masked
Mob.

MOD.
A special from Shoals, Martin county
Ind. gives the details of the tripl,
lynchiDg there a little after midnigh
on the morning Of the 10th. Precisely
at ll:30 o'clock a vigilance committed
Of about 100, composed Of men from
Martin and Orange counties, surrounded
the Jail. The lynchers were very Quie
ard orderly, and the sheriff was frs
aroused by the barking of his dog, fol
lowed by knock on the door. lie
asked who was there, and the answer
was a crashing in of the front door. fol-
lowed by heavy blows which complete,
ly demolished it. The mob then went
to the iail-doOr and knocked off the
lock, and were dismayed to find an.
other which would not yield to blows.
After about twenty minutes man in
the crowd was found who understood
opening the cell-door. 1t yielded to his
efforts. and the lyncherS rushed in and
grabbed all three Of the intended VIC
tims-Thomas, Martin, and John Ar
cher. the latter the son Of Thomas, the
ripgleaders Of what is known as the
Archer gang. The mob was provided
with the necessary tools, both to get in
and to capture them if they made any
resistance. Several Of them had long
iron hooks with which to grab the pri.
sOners around the neck if they resisted
without endangering their own lives.
When the Archer gang saw the
lyncherS they offered no resistance, and
when asked if they had anything to say
they refused to speak. Their hands
were tied behind their backs, and they
were taken over to the courthouse
yard. They were again asked if they
had any confession to make, and still
no reply being given by any of them,
they were unceremoniously strung up
to young maple trees. Tom Archer,
the Oldest one of the gang, about sixty
years Of age, was hanged first. Martin
Archer, brother to Tom, aged about
forty-fye years, was suspended next.
John Archer, son Of Tom Archer, who
was about thirty years old, was hanged
to a tree, with his hands tied behind
him. about thirty feet from his father.
The crimes for which the three men
were hanged comprise almost every
thing in the criminal calendar from
murder to petty thieving. For twenty
five years they had been a reigning ter
r0E both in Martin and Orange counties,
and had terrorized the community in
which they lived until the people did
not know when they went to bed at
night whether they would be murdered
before morning or their houses burned
down. They never failed to visit vengc-
ance for a fancied slight, and many
farmer in Orange and Martin counties
has lost considerable sums Of money by
daring robbery, the theft of cattle, or
the burning down Of barns and houses.
Martin Archer had family living in
Southwest township, Orange county,
who are we'll thought Of, Two Of his
childfen are young ladies teaching
school in that section Of the country.
Old Tom Archer, as he was called,
lived in Martin county, Columbia town.
ship, and had large family, every one
of whom are under indictments for
larceny, arson, and murder, and bear
bad names generally. John Archer for
merly lived in Columbia township, and
in the past year had been living in
adultery with q woman named Holt,
seven miles east of Vincennes, where he
was captured two months ago and
brought to this town by Sheriff Padgett.
The chief cause for their being hanged
this morning was the confession Of
John Lynch, another member Of the
gang, who is in the Washington (Da-
viess county, Jail. lie made confess
sisn, and told where the bones of a
man named Bunch, one Of the victims,
were. They were found in two different
graves, the body having been cut
lengthwise and each piece being buried
separate. 1t seems that unknown par
ties followed the officials yesterday
when they went to the place where
Bunch was buried, and saw them ex-
hume the remains. Word was imme-
diately spread over the country, and
the yigilants prepared themselves ac-
cordingly.
Excitement is running high, and the
sudden migration Of several people is
looked for at once, as the confession Of
Lynch duplicates about thirty or forty
persons in this vicinity. The vigilants
were well armed, and had another rope
with them, as they supposed that John
Lynch, the man who made the confess
sion, was also in the Jail, and they in.
tended to make a complete job OF it.
Old Tom Archer has half-inch
hempen cord around his neck, while
Martin and John, father and son, have
a ree.luarter inch cotton cord under
their chns. This morning their bodies
were swinging gently to and fro by the
slight western wind that was blowing
through the trees in the courthouse
yard.
The mob left all their tools and masks