The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1892-09-10
TALTON HALL,
When He Meets DEATH Face to Face
on the Scaffod Breaks Down..
Thousands of People See the Drop Fall
A Long Speech Looked For From the
Doomed Mana Long story of
Crime That Lacks Romance.

Crime That Lacks Romance.
NORTON, Va, Sept. 3.-Talt Hall, the
Kentucky desperate, was safely hanged
vt Wise courthouse, Va, at noon Fri
day.
At $3.50 a. m. there were 5000 peo-
pie pouring into the village from every
direction to get one glimpse of man
after death who has become so motor
ious. BY noon there were thousands
more.
Talton Hall, the condemned man,
usually noted for his bravery, broke
down completely and stood coward in
the shadow of the gallows He had
stood in front of showering bullets, but
grim death, the antagonist of life,
had too many terrors for him.
A tempting breakfast prepared by his
sister was placed before him about Z
o'clock, but he refused to eat. He drank
cup of coffee and then called for
whisky, A drink was given him, but it
had little effect.
Guards were on duty around the Jail
and in the vicinity of the courthouse all
night. Outposts of three men were sta
toned on each road leading into the
town during the night and every man
who came in was searched, and if found
to carry a Winchester or pistol, such
weapons were confscated
The crime for which Talton Hall suffered the
| extreme penalty of the law Friday was one of
| the most atrocious murders ever pcrpctrated in
| this section. On July %, 1891, Enos b. Hylton,
| who o short time before had been appointed u
| special policeman OF the town of Norton, Wise
NTn bad fp1- 9,s. f1,e,
| Bates, desperate character Of that region for
! the theft of a watch and pistol. While taking
| his prisoner down the railroad, Talton Hall
came across the field, diagonally from the
| town, and overlook them. He demanded the
| release of the prisoner which Hylton, of course,
| refused. Before Hylton had time to draw his
| weapon or say anything further, Hall pulled out
| 3S-caliber pistol and shot him, killing him in
| stantly. Hall and Bates started Off together,
| and, after going short distance, turned into
| the woods and made their escape before pur-
| suit was organized
| Next seen of Hall was ut Coburn, whence he
| went to Roanoke. He remained in Southwest
| Virginia several weeks and then went back
through Norton, Big Stone Gap to Middesboro,
| where he stayed all night, register at the
| hotel. Then he went by way of Knoxville and
| Chattanooga TO Memphis, where he was sub
| sequently arrested Hall claimed on his trial
that he had not seen Hylton before that day,
| which was possibly true; but 1t is not believed
|
| fusal of Hylton to release his prisoner. Hall
| had eloped with married woman named Say
lor, who was the the sister-in-law OF Hylton.
Shortly afterward Saylor was ussassinated,
| 1t is now pretty certain, by the hand OF Talt
| Hall Hylton is said to have sworn to kill the
| man who murdered his brother-in-law, and it is
| pretty certain that Hall heard OF it and took
advantage Of the fact of Hylton having Bates
under arrest to pick quarrel with him and kill
him
After stay of several months in Memphis
| he was arrested and brought back to Wise c.
| H. where he was brought to trial in the early
| spring, and convicted of murder in the first de-
gree He was Immediately taken to Lynch
burg after his sentence, and lodged in Jail for
| sufe-keeping
His counsel took appeal TO the supreme
court. where the decision of the lower court
was affirmed, when Hall was taken TO Wise G.
H., and resentenced to hang on the I'd of Sep
temDer. Instead of returning him to Lynch
burg the sheriff summoned guard Of fifty men
| from Big Stone Gap, Morton and other towns
in the county, who have been guard heavily
armed, up to the day OF the execution.
The first killing he took into account was
when he was a Confederate guerilla among the
East Tennessee mountains.
While out scouting day he encountered q
Union soldier in a road. The men both halted,
and before the soldier recovered from his as
tonishment Hall threw up his gun and shot
him through his head. Rejecting on his maiden
effort Mr. Hall said: az felt kinder sorry for
the feller, but made suit of clothes and o
pair of boots that were selling for Sl7." Contin-
uing, he said 81 killed six or seven men during
the war They were not all Union soldiers,
though. Two OF them were meSsmateS that
disagreed with me over game of seven-up"
Before the war ended Hall had gotten into the
, habit of killing men, and when it was over
could not break himself, Murders came fast
and easy, and his never too tender conscience
became more callous than ever. One night he
} walked out from little Virginia village with a
horse-trader. When he returned he had plenty
Of money to spend and nobody cared to ask
where he got it. The body of the horse trader
was found near the divide" of q creek in the
woods.
, He varied the next incident in his sanguinary
career by planting knife up to the hilt in the
groin OF drunken companion. Before he
moved away from that part of the country
, more than twenty murders were committed by
him and the band of desperadoes that sprang
up around him. The whole country was thrown
into state of terror by their bloody orgies al
the villages. Hall was made United States
marshal as an eXpedient TO get rid of him. II
was hoped that some outlaw would kill HIM.
He made good oflcer in one respect-al
Illicit distillers who had crossed him were hunt
ed out OF their hiding places. Hall did not arrest
those he caught, he killed them. 1t was moi
long before most of his enemies left the country
\ Having killed all the male population he had q
, grudge against, he began TO exceed even The
privileges of uninterrupted slaughter. He out
ragged women This proved TO be beyond the
endurance of the people, and they al last organ
I lied vigilance committee and hunted Hall anc
his followers across the mountain range intC
Tennessee So long as he confined his bloody
8 work to the businesses Of the Alleghanies, hi
. had immunity from the law but at Bristol
after n murder more brutal than any of tht
. others, he was forced to save his precious necl
A by flight
0 A short time before the execution Hall was
7 interviewed in the Jail He admitted the kill
: ing of Hylton and told of his flight as narrated
0 above, He is credited with killing 90 men, but
of course, this is an eXaggeration, When asked
. how many men he actually killed. he replied
y "Not counting those killed in the war, tht
1 number will probably not reach five. First,
l killed Henry Maggart, and was acquitted OF
o the ground of self-defense. i killed Triplett
- Trust and Mohall in Floyd county, Kentucky
between 1879 and 1885, and was tried and ac
- quilted in all. These men were killed in politi
" cal quarrels. The last ono was Hylton.
, killed him because / thought he was drawing
= his pistol and 1 didn't want him to have tn
q drop on me-"
Mccarthy and Craig Doomed.
II