The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-03-13
THE ARCHER GANG.
John D. Lynch Tells How They Avenged the
Death Of Their Brother Martin.

louisville Courier-JournaL
Yesterday morning John D. Lynch, whose
confession caused the lynching of the Archers
at Shoals. was received at the southern Indiana
prison at Jefersonviile, where he had been sent
from Daviess county by order of Judge Heffron.
1t was feared that he also would be lynched, as
the excitement is still high in Martin and Da-
viess counties.
A reporter called at the prison yesterday aft
ernoon to interview him in regard to the crime.
which he confessed he was implicated in commit
ting. Lynch is smooth-faced young man,
twenty EIGHT years old, weighs about Its pounds,
and has a strong compact frame. The nervous
glitter in his eyes shows that he would be a dan
gerous man to trife with. At first he was averse
to being interviewed. but at the solicitation OF
Warden Howard he finally agreed to give state
ment of the crime
sWell,n said he ''the origin of the trouble
occurred in July. 1882 Samuel Marley. aged
twenty-five years. Anderson Bunch, aged forty
FIVE, and Martin Archer, aged eighteen, formed
partnership and stole a lot of timber. This
they foated down the White river into Illinois,
and left. They then returned, to avert suspicion
from themselves. Young Archer was taken sick,
and the other two sold the timber and kept the
money. When Archer recovered he told them
that if they did not give him his share he would
give the whole thing away and have them ar
| rested They denied having made the sale, and
entieed Archer away to lonely spot and Mar
ley killed him. A few days after the body was
found by the Archers. They knew of tha trans
actions of Marley, Bunch and the murdered
youth, and at once ses out on the hunt for Mar
ley, who, Bunch said, had committed the deed.
watched Bunch's house for three nights,
and one time him hoist
have been signal to Marley We
then found q letter from the latter saying that
Bunch had threatened TO kill him IL he did not
kill young Archer. We were all sure by this
| that Bunch knew the whereabouts of the muir
derer. So we took Bunch to a saltpetre cave
just on the edge of Orange county. about seven
teen miles west of Shoals and about one and
one half miles from French Lick Springs. His
hands were tied and he was seated upon rock.
Martin Archer, who was the leader of the party
and the worst of the lot pulled his watch from
his pocket and said:
tell us the whereabouts Of Marley He then
commanded the Others the two other Archers
and myself, to draw our revolvers and prepare
to shoot. told him there was no need of kill
ing Bunch, but be insisted and said If any Of
you fellows fail to shoot when I give the word
I'll shoot you" The five minutes expired, and
Mart Archer gave the word to fire. We all did
SO. He then went around to see if each weapon
had been discharged. Wo fired sixteen shots
into the body. Then all of rs went home.
"About two weeks later Martin Archer came
to me and said something would have to be done
with the body, and said must come out to the
cave and neip dispose of it / went with them.
The body was placed in wooden box, into which
was poured two gallons of coal oil. We then car
risd the box to cliff about 200 yards from the
cave. where the Archers had heaped together a
pile of wood. The box was placed in the pile
and set fire to- The locality is isolated, there be-
ing no dwelling house for several miles around,
and consequently we had no fears of Interrupt
ton. The body was finally reduced to ashes
with the exception of several large bones, which
the Archers buried under q log We were
brought before a magistrate. and acquitted
there being no evidence Against us"
"What finally caused your arrests" asked the
reporter
John Archer was the cause of all of It. He
left his wife and ran off with another woman
He had told his wife something about the muir
der, and she gave it away. She knew nothing
only that we had killed Bunch, that's ALL The
horrible stories she and others have sworn to are
all false. It happened just as told you. Yes
the Archers were tough set, and they have
been engaged in many mean transactions Let
me tell you a mean thing Martin Archer did
once. In this prison now are four boys who
were sent up from our county. Nathan Holt
Granville Lynch, John johnson. and Mac Holt
They robbed a blacksmith shop. Mart Archer
advised them to do it, and told them how to 90
about it He was to get share of the booty for
doing So A reward of 800 was offered for the
apprehension OF the thieves Archer gave them
away and got the reward The country where
the killing occurred is pretty wild, and
there are great many thieves and criminals
there. No, never was in jail before. and am
not thief These ArcherS forced me to assist
in killing Bunch. and did it to save NV life I
am farmer and own thirty-tw two acres of land
near French Lick Springs. / am not afraid of
being lynched, for / have done nothing to de-
serve such death. II / had remained in the
Jail with the Archers the night the mob took
them out would not have been hung. because
every one knew was not to blame for what
did. / was brought here at the request of my
poor old father. who is nearly worried to death
about it. will stay here until they can change
the indictments against me from Martin to
Orange county, and then go back for trial am
sure to be acquitted"
But what about these statements you have
made to other reporters. Lynchr
II have made no statement to anybody but
YOU A fellow who works for Cincinnati pa
per has been following around, but he in
suited me, and wouldn't tell him anything