Los Angeles herald., 1892-08-28
HEMPEN NHKT|E PARTIES.
They Were Fashionable on
More Than One Occasion.
The Lynching of Louis Laehenais
by the Vigilantes.
Eighteen Chinese Strung Up in One Day
by Wrathful Mob-The MUIR
der of Mrs. v. d. Leck
Avenged.

An evening paper has stated that the
hanging of Torres was the first hanging
that has taken place in Southern Cali
fornia outside the law. DR.. Joseph
Kurtz, who along in 1870 was coroner of
this county, states differently. and his
tory also bears him out. Prior to 1870
there were about dozen lynchings in
this section of the state. Five men
were hung in one day in the early six-
ties in front of the old Jail, which
then stood where the Phillips block now
is, at the corner Of Franklin and Spring
streets. The men were ruffians, cut
throats and robbers, and the vigilance
committee simply went to the jail, got
them and strung them up.
Along in the early seventies it became'
DIR. Kurtz's duty, as coroner of this
county, to take charge of the body of
Louis Lachenaie. who was sent into
eternity by a vigilance committee. He
was quietly lynched in an old corral at
the corner OF Temple and Buena Vista
streets.
Lachenais was Frenchman. He had
trouble with Jacob Bell over division
line of some ranch property just be-
yond where the Washington garden now
is. Bell was dividing the property when
Lachenais shot and killed him. Bell
had started home, and Lachenais shot
Linn while he was retreating.
A citizenH' meeting was held at Area
dia hall, on Los Angeles street, to con-
slider what should be done in the mat
ter. 1t was decided that the old maxim,
"a life for hfe," must prevail, and it
was also determined that the murderer
must die without further ado.
The authorities swore in large poese
OF deputies to defend the Jail. Among
the law-abiding citizens who were sworn
were Judges Ross and Smith. They
shouldered muskets in defense of the
jail, but were forced to surrender. The
mob was 200 strong.
About O'Clock in the morning Lache-
nais was taken out of Jail by an orderly
mob and carried to the old corral, on Tenn
pie street, above named. The committee
comprised many of the best citizens of
the town, and at the corral scaffold
had been arranged, and from it Lache-
nais was suspended by rope. Before
he was launched, he made speech in
Spanish to the crowd, in which he
this case was character known as
"Baker Fritz" He was in the employ
of T. e. Rowan, who at that time con-
ducteda bakery here.
Then eighteen Cinnamon were hung
by mob in one day in this city. They
were strung along where the nay mar
ket now is, at the junction of Los Apge-
les and Also streets. A Spanish-Amer-
lean constable had that day entered
Chinatown to arrest a Chinaman. He
was shot at aud seriously wounded. It
nr1 rocnirad onr,,afhfpn of This hor
acter to further infiame public senti-
ment against the Mongolians, and the
result was the lynching.
Another case of lynching was that of
the murderer of Mrs. v. d. Leck. Her
husband was the proprietor of grocery
store on Main street, near Third. The
murderer entered the store and de-
manded money. He did not get it,
and the supposition is that he
then jumped in behind the
counter and cut Mrs. v. d. Leck's throat
from ear to ear. Anyway when she was
found she was dead. The murderer was
captured before he got out of the city
and was being taken to the Jail in q
wagon. While en- route the wagon was
met by some mounted vigilantes, and
before the prisoner reached the jail he
had been very literally hacked up.
After he was jailed mob formed quiet
ly. Later in the day they entered the
the Jail, took the prisoner out and
lynched him.
Within the last six years Chinaman
was lynched at Duarte. He attempted
some liberties with white girl, and
outraged justice was only satisfied after
he had been strung up by mob.
1t will be seen, therefore, that there
were several necktie parties in Southern
California prior to the Torres affair, the
evening paper to the contrary notwith-
standing.