The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-04-12
Murderers Rose and Edwards
Shot at Oysterville.
MASKED MOB BREAKS INTO JAIL.
Prisoners Found Dead on the Floor
Of Their Unopened Cage.
Pacific County Men Override the su-
preme Court-Ths work Done Qui-
etly and with system-After tho Kill
ing the Executioners Leave In Boats.

ASTORIA, April Since the supreme
court of Washington reversed the decision
of the Pacific county court and granted .
new trial to John Rose and John Edwards,
who were sentenced to BE- hanged last
November. there have been mutterings of
discomfort among the friends Of the muir
dercd couple Roses attorneys, becoming
alarmed, took steps toward having the
men removed to . place Of safety. Judge
Hunter went to Oysterville yesterday, and
1t was the intention TO remove the pris-
oners to Chehalis county today. When
this fact became known the air was full of
rumors that Rose and Edwards were to be
lynched last night
About 1 o'clock this morning the guard
at the Oysterville Jail was startled by q
loud knocking on the outer door of the
jail. He asked who was there, and was
commanded to open the door. He refused
to do 50, and the leader Of the mob told
him he had three minutes to open the
door, and if he failed to do ii In that time
the jail would be blown up with dynamite.
This frightened him and he fred his pistol,
presumably to give the alarm, and mo-
ment afterwards opened the outside door,
when he was seized by three men, who car
ried him to an adjoining building, where
he was kept for several minutes. during
which time several shots were fired in the
direction Of the Jail. Immediately after
the firing ceased he was released and his
captors started off.
When he entered the Jail the bodies of
Rose and Edwards were found lying on
the floor of the cage Everything was con-
Quoted in quiet, orderly manner. and no
unnecessary noise was made.
The guard states that there were about
forty men in the posse, and all of them
were masked, SO that it was impossible to
recognize them. After the affair was over
they all marched out toward Willapa bay,
their tracks being easily distinguished in
the soft mad of thestide land there. All
trace Of them was lost, but the keels of
several boats were visible In the mud.
showing that the party had arrived in
boats from mp the bay and departed She
same way, leaving no trace of their
identity. s.
SEALAND, WASH, April i1.-At O'Clock
this morning party Of forty masked men
appeared at the county Jail 1t Oystervillc
and demanded admittance Guard Will
liam Brown refused to open the door, and
the leader of the crowd threatened to
throw dynamite boom into tho.iail. The
jailer then became frtkhtkned AID opened
the outside door, first sfiring his pistol to
give the alarm. He was taken by i've men
into a woodshed and detained until the
tragedy was over. Brown says seven or
eight shots were fired.
John Rose and Edwards, the murderers
OF Fredericksen and wife, were found dead
after the crowd retired
Sheriff Turner was asleep at his house.
The affair did not take over twenty
minutes. No attempt was made to force
the cage, although "a &sledge-hammer was
found in the Jail, where it had been left.
Everything was conducted in quiet and
orderly manner.
The coroner's jury was chosen as fol-
lows: w. B. Taylor, William Rathbone.
r. r. Habersham, Frank levitt, r. II.
Espy and Isaac Whealdon. They will
await the arrival Of Prosecuting Attorney
Egbert from South Bend, who cannot get
here before tomorrow.
Edwards was killed by bullet entering
his left cheek, coming out at the back Of
the neck, severing the vertebra. Rose re-
ceived four wounds, one through the hin.
one through the chest from the front. one
through the top of the head. and one
through the chest from right to left.
In November, 1889, Frederickseu and his wife
took up piece Of land near the farm of John
Rose. John Edwards, employed as a cook in
Roses hotel ordered Fredericksen to leave.
claiming that he owned the land Fredericksen
paid no attention to Edwards. About the lst
day OF February, 1850, the Frederickseus were
missed, and for time 1t was sun
posed they were drowned George Rose.
who was among those advancing this
theory, found Fredericksen's boat. which
he claimed had been swamped. On being oues-
toned frequently, however, he did not tell the
same story. Suspicion was fastened on the Rose
family, aud search was begun for the bodies.
and in short time that of Fredericksen was
found in an old cowpath. As soon as the bodv
was found George Rose confessed that his father.
John Edwards, Gibbons aud himself had
committed the deed He then led the
men to the spot where the body
OF Mrs. Fredericksen had been buried
and the body was found with q bullet through
the head. Mainly by George Roses testimony
his father and Edwards were convicted AND,
sentenced to be hanged. The attorneys for George
Rose and Gibbons, fearing that their clients
would share the same fate, obtained a change of
venue, and pending trial. Rose and Gibbons
were taken to Montesano and confined in iaiI
there. short time after their incarceration !
body of masked men forced their vay into the
Jail and took George Rose out, and since he has
been hidden from sight Recently the supreme
court set aside the verdict and ordered a new
trial. second conviction would have been
impossible. in the absence of George Rose. and
10 L. -S H.