The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1893-05-30
The Crime of Young Amos Avery
Atoned For To-Day.
His Victim a Book Agent" But
he Died For Numbering Him
just the Same.
The Story Of Son Who Despite
Of a Mcther's Tears, Broke
Her Heart.

| AANah, .io.s Nay IL -Ah"1
Avery, the Zi-year-old murderer Of J..
l. Miles, expiated his crime on the
gallows this morning in this city.
The place Of execution was in the Jail
yard and was enclosed by high
board fence. About thlrty-five peo-
pie, most of whom were newspaper
men from surrounding towns witnessed
the hanging.
The condemned boy slept not a
wink last night and he and his
widowed mother of Fort Scott, Kan
sas, spent the long hours together in
his cell. He was resOiute and appar-
emily prepared to meet his fate and
often attempted to console his broken
hearted mother, whose grief was
/
noticeablv demonstrated in the cell.
At $50 Avery ate light breakfast
of beefSteak and ,5:.st and few min
uteS later his mother babe her son
farewell.
Left alone the doomed boy paced
the cell is if i.npatiently awaiting
some welcome event, until Sheriff Carl
appeared with the death warrant, t.
which he listened attentively as he
peered through his cage.
AT S:23 the march to the gibbe;
was taken up. On the gallow> Avery
made a speech declaring his limo
cence. He was swung off at $50.
The body was taken to Fort Scott by
his mother for intermenr.
STORY OF THE CRIME.
The history of the life and crime of
Amos Avery Is an interesting one.
Amos Every was born IN Brown coun-
ty. rs, II years ago. His mother
left her husband three years later, be-
cause of domestic troubles and moved
to Fl. Scott, Kans., taking her son
with her. Five years ago she moved
to Columbus, Kans. and while there,
Amos, at the age of II, was convicted
of grand larceny and sent to he Kan
sas penitentiary for two years.
A year later his mother
returned to Fort Scott and
after his release from prison he alsc
returned there, where he lived for little
over a year before the commission OF
the crime which he to-day expiated
with his life.
| The crime was one of generalization
and ierocity and was accompanied by
no single incident which would justify
executive clemency or communication
of his sentence, unless it was the Wig
Gus claims of his mother and friends
that he was mentally irresponsible for
his act.
On September Is, 1890, the victim
of his crime, j. !. Miles,a book agent
of Sedalia, Mo-, whose territory wa
in Barton. Vernon and Bates counties
left Butler, No., in one horse buck
board for Lamar, following the state
lire south on the Kansas side. At
noon of the next day he passed through
Fort Scott, and in the afternoon he
overlook Avery, who had left home
that morning saving he was going to
Weir City, No., to get work in the
mines. on the country highway near
Arcade, Crawford county. Miles
asked him to ride and they were soon
to all appearances agreeable compan-
ions. Avery had no money and
at Arcadia, Miles bought his
supper. They continued their jour
ney going east into Barton county
Mo. At nightfall they prepared
bed of blankets beside the road and
retired. Miles was soon asleep but
Avery, evidently watching for an OPP
portuHty for the terrible deed, was
not. He took from the pocket of his
companion 81 calibre revolver and
shot him through the head. Then
stripping the body of its clothing he
replaced them with his own shabby
garments and fled. Miles
corpse was found by a farmer
on the day following and the murder
was for days shrouded in deep mys-
terv.
The father of the murdered man
employed detectives and Barton coun-
ty offered a reward for the arrest and