Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-05-14
HEMP o GRAHAM

Taken from tho County JAIN ..
field. Mo-, by IL Mob of Masked ,sp'ns
Notorious Wife-Murdercr Is ,''l III
History of His Crime. ~'"eNtd
SPRINGFIELD, Mo-, April 2S.-Tbw
no habeas corpus proceedings herr
day in the case OF George e. Gr,I,'
charged with the murder OF his w;,o
Il. Graham, ON the Molloy farm. os
last night OF last September, as at = /
minutes before two O'Clock in the mo-,
a party of men took Graham out ii; \
jail and hanged him to a tree until a.,,
The lynching took place abon, y
o'clock, and after the men had aci%1
their work they departed as ouie,is
they had come. About six O'Clock Il |
Donnell and the guard went over f. !
spot and cut Graham's body down nj
then conveyed it to Parsons undcrtol1a
establishment, where Coroner u. YAM
assisted by Prosecuting-Attorney p.gGYl
son. conducted the inquest.
The following notice was found On @!
hams body. !
when the coroner is in possession of j,
paper George E Graham will be dead y
as ittlepunishment will have been inaiet
as if he had been hanged by legal ann
ity. 1t is Il matter OF right to ,ha :"
munity and justice to humanity thar
the three hundred,' ignore the law in
instance. We recognize the fact tina,
criminal statutes are not equal to all q,
sions: therefore we have resolved IA
move from our midst the worst Grim
who has ever infested Il county. h.,
the benefit of clergy that we may hercS
and forever live and be without his \
encc and vicious influence.
"We heartily welcome all stranger;
citizenship who are pure of purposa
act in good faith, but we give this 10
world as a warning to eX-convicts
murderers who may hereafter invade
county to impose on Il credulty.
also give warning that any person OF
sons of any rank OF station who dn
discover the actors in this tragedy wi
surely and speedily dispatched to
where all things are revealed to the
Gus. In Justice to the memory of S
Graham, Il loving wife and dear mo
whose Iifo was sacrificed at the alt
Hecate, we subscribe ourselves,
CITIZENS OF GREEN COUNTY, J
An addendum read as follows:
"To SHERIFF DoNNELL: Keep
mouth shut if you recognized any Of
you will die the death of a dog"
TO the last Graham protested
Cora Lee and Mrs. Molloy were gui
OF completely in the murder on the far
George L. Graham formerly live
Fort Wayne, Ind, and had twice serv
the ~penitentiary at Michigan City. Y
there Mrs. Emma Molloy, the tempe.
evangelist, became interested in him
tried to reform him when his last tern
expired. Thus he became acquainted
and married Cora Lee, Mrs. Mo
adopted daughter. Prior to his mar
he assured Mrs. Molloy that
first wife, Sarah Graham, had
cured q divorce while he was in p
This she had done, but they We're
ward remarked. Graham, to free hi
from a prosecution for bigamy, the
his first wife to meet him i'll st. ]
whence he was to take her to Sprin
and endeavor to settle the trouble.
leaving st. Louis with her husband
Sarah Graham was never seen
by any one who knew her.
relatives agitated the matter
a search resulted in the
ing of her body in an abandoned w,
the Molloy farm near Springfield.
ham, Cora Lee and Mrs. Molloy We
once arrested. The preliminary exa
ton resulted in the holding of Crab;
principal and the two ONE as
series. He made statements that
Gated the women, although he VIZ
garded as a moral monStrOSity and {
who never told the truth when he
avoid it,.