The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-06-21
THE FAMOUS ARCHER GANG.
Some Hitherto Untold Stories Concern
ing the Orange County Murderers.
How They We're Trapped by Village Black
smith-Brave Joe Wells and the Work lie
Didin DISCRIMINATING the Desperadoes

Didin DISCRIMINATING the Desperadoes.
Louisville Courier Journal.
Far from the busy hum of traffic. aud sur.
rounded by forest-covered kills, lies the sleepy
little village of French Lick, Orange county, In.
diana. Near by are the famous springs, and
big white hotel that has its quota of visitors dur
ing the summer months Beyond this latter
feature, the pastoral quiet and simplicity 10 un
marred. The stiffness is never broken by the
noise Of trains and the locomotives shrill whis-
tie, for the railroad has not reached the hamlet.
and it is eighteen miles to the nearest station.
Such sequestered neighborhood might readily
be thought of as the probable scene of some
idyllic love romance; there might even be ira
dition of bighted love and mysterious disap-
pearance but no one would surely connect the
rustic beauty with robbery, murder and bloody
retributior.
One morning, few weeks ago, the people OF
Shoals, village but a short distance from the
Lick, arose and found three CHASTITY bodies hang
ing stiff and stark from the limb of great tree.
In life the men had been cowardly murdarers
and robbers, and they had met their fate at the
hands OF an outraged people, They were the
last but one of the famous Archer gang the 70.
naming ruffian hiding for his life Considerable
has been written of the gang, but full account
of their doings and of The manner in which the
members were captured has never been pub
lished. Mart Archer, the leader of the gang,
lived almost in the valley in which French Lick
is situated, and the store" at the Licks was
frequent loafing- place of the robbers
The biggest man in Orange county in the esti-
nation of his neighbors Is old Joe Wells, the viii
lage blacksmith at French Lick, for it is due to
I'm hat f1a hare DC mn Etau
sons outside the immediate neighborhood of old
Joe's home are aware of the important part he
played in the capture of the cowardly bandits,
and 1t is the design of tho writer to give the old
man credit for his bravery and self-sacrifce Lt
is perhaps best that short sketch of the Archer
gang first be given.
The gang proper consisted of Mart Archer, the
captain, aged forty; his brother Thomas. aged
sixty; John Archer, son of Thomas, all of whom
were hung at Shoals; Sam and Thomas Archer.
also sons of old Thomas, the latter mere boy.
and Mart Archer q nephew Of Thomas. There
were associated with them John Lynch Sam
Morley, John johnson, Mack Holt, Nathan Holt,
Wild Tom Archer, son of James Archer, O
reputable resident of Martin county; Webb
Lynch, VIM. Ross, and Off Minton. The Archere
were hard crowd at best, and when about Ave
years ago Mart returned from Missouri, whore
he had been connected with Jessie James and
his gang, he was we'll fitted to lead his relatives
into all sorts of deyilment. The Archers were
ostensibly small farmers, milestone makers,
and millers, but they lived mainly by plumber
and cowardly murder Ir was not long after
Mart revisited the scenes of his birth
before O reign of terror was on in Orange
and Martin counties Horses and stock of
all kinds were driven away and never heard If
again. Strangers and peddlers were missed. as
well as several citizens, and no traces of their
bodies were ever discovered. Little Mart
Archer" the nephew of Thomas, and BAN
Morley stole log raft and quarreled over the di-
vision of the money they received for It, Mart
was not satisfied over the division and swore he
would elbow on Morley Morley shot him to
death, and was helped TO escape from the county
by one Sam Burch. few days afterward Burch
was captured by the gang and taken to q cave.
two and a half miles from French Lick Springs.
He pleaded hard for his life, but the Sc0undrela
were obdurate and poured sixteen bullets into
his body, leaving it in the cave, where the body.
was aftsrward found. Shortly afterward, Stan
ford Freeman, sixty years old, a cousin of Burch,
was called to his door at midnight and murdered
in cold blood A man named Mccormack, o
Burch sympathizer, was also shot from ambush
and killed And thus matters went on from bad
to worse. The whole county was terrorized
The good citizen was afraid to venture out at
night unless heavily armed, and then there was
no surety that he would not be murdered from
ambush. Every one knew who were guilty OF
the outrages, yet there was no absolute proof
and, for fear of the vengeance that would fell
upon their heads all were silent.
About four months ago the blacksmith shop
of old Joe Wells, situated a short distance from
the French Lick store, was broken open and
robbed of lot of drills drill bits saws squares
and four guns. The same night a party of hunt.
ers interrupted and ran away several men who
were trying to force an entrance into the Springs
store. the property OF H. E. Wells, to whom old
Joe is distantly related. The tools taken from
Wells's shop could not be found. They were
worth $50, and belonged to very old man with
a large family, who worked for old Joe. The
village blacksmith was wroth when he saw how
nvA haA "A 30
he would bring the marauders to terms
He accordingly went to Paoli, the county-seat,
ten miles distant and secured the authority to
make arrests He then took two neighbors and
called at Mart Archer's house. in the hills, about
mile distant Mart was not at home. The
same night about IL o'clock, old Joe heard a
tapping ON his window and, OF. going out, found
Mart Archer, who said he had come to see what
the old mans visit meant The blacksmith
dressed himself. and the two walked around
the hills talking Joe explained that hs
needed help in capturing the men who had
burglarized his shop, and that he would give
the right sort of man 5000 to aid him. Finally
a bargain was struck with Mart, the agreement
being that he was to show old Joe where thu
gang was. They met again the next night, at 10
o'clock and proceeded to hut in the hills, q
mile west OF the Licks The plan was for Mart
to go ahead and mingle with his frieuds When
Joe entered he was to surrender and be afters
wards paroled. The plan worked like charm.
and few minutes after midnight old Joe was
on his way to the Springs, with John johnson.
Mack Holt Nathan Holt Granville Lynch and
young Tor, Archer all marching az the muzzls
of Winchester rifle. They were taken to thu
hotel at French Lick and guarded until morning.
when they were jailed at P.aoli They were tried
week later and all, except young Tom. were
sentenced to three years each In the peniten.
tiary. Young Tom was sent to the House OF
Refuge until he should reach his majority After
betraying his own men Mart Archer had the
temerity to offer his services as their attorney,
exacting fee from EACH After they were sent
up his perfdy was made apparent, and war be.
gan between the members of the gang The
house of Archer became divided against ITSELF
John Archer told old Joe Of several of Marta