River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-01-12
FOUGHT IN THE STREETS.


Fight in which twenty-five Men Are
kiiled-rhe Lyachers saceeed La Carry
lag Out Their Pnrpose.
JOHNSON CITY. Tenn, Jan. 5-At
least TWENTY-FIVE men killed, perhaps
more; many others wounded, and prob
ably rich crop of feuds for he future
is the bloody summing up of success
full attempt to lynch Calvin Snipes. the
murderer of Isaac Osborne, at Bakers
vile, the county seat of Mitchell coun-
ty, one of the " lid mountain counties of
North Carolina. Eleven of the dead
men were members of the sheriffs
posse, the others were with the mob.
The fight began at the doors of
the county Jail and continued
through the main streets of the town
until the officers of the law were
beaten off, and the unfortunate crimi-
nal was at the mercy of the Infatuated
men who sought his life. They made
short work of him and returned to
wreak vengeance on the officers of the
law for their leaders death.
The whole country is going wild over
the fight between law and order on
the one hand and lawlessness on the
other, and recruits for both sides are
arriving hourly from the adjoining
counties.
Twenty-eight miles from any tele-
graph station and in the heart of the
mountains reposes the little town of
Bakersville. Mountain dew" makers
have for years piled their vocations
there, only now and then being tempo
rarily disturbed by the revenue officers.
They have been brought up to have
little or no respect for the law, and
murders have been of most frequent
occurrence.
Calvin Snipes, Aaron Wisem n ami
William Sneed last August were part
ners in an Illicit distillery. Isaac Os-
borne and William Osborne discovered
the distillery and reported it to the
revenue officers at Barllersville. The
owners suspected the Osbornes as
the informers and decided on plot to
murder them secretly.
Wiseman and Snipes went to the
house of Isaac Osborne on the night
of August % and called him out.
Osborne came to the door and they
opened fire with shotguns, Kidding
him with buckshot. Wiseman was tried
before a justice of the peace and
sufficient evidence could not be OBJ
tanned against him, whereupOn his dis
charge was ordered. Snipes was tried
before justice of the peace and bound
over to the court. After being in Jail
a few weeks Snipes confessed and told
the whole story. When Wiseman heard
this he left the country.
Ever since the murder the brothers
of the dead man have been untiring in
their efforts To arouse the public for
Sengeance. William Osborne never
ceased circulating petitions until he
fell, early Wednesday morning, while
leading the party which was storming
the jail. To his last petition he secured
nearly 500 names, but they were hard
to get conferred at Bakersville. Osborne
redoubled his efforts Tuesday, and
by his couriers succeeded in getting a
mob of nearly 400 men together near
the little city. The sheriff, knowing
what was coming, doubled the number
of his guards, saw that their arms were
in perfect order, and took every precau-
ton to beat off an attack. ltwas after
midnight when the mob was ready to
move upon the Jail
Firing commenced soon after, and
pitched battle followed Immediately
between the mob, armed with all kinds
of weapons, and the deputies of the
sheriff. Almost at the first volley Will
liam Osborne, who led the attack. was
killed, and "a few minutes following
this John Osborne also fell dead.
The Jail is located to the rear
of the courthouse, which is sur.
rounded by small square. The Jail
yard is surrounded by an iron fence,
but the small force of the sheriff could
not beat back the onslaught of the
attacking party. The first rush car
ried the mob to the door of the Jail,
and they didsnot long stand before the
battering of sledges. Meanwhile the
immediate body of attaches were pro.
tected by a fusillade from sharpshoot-
ers, who were stationed at windows
of the courthouse where they could
pick off the defenders and pre-
vent greater loss to the mob. When
the Jail doors gave in the sheriff's men
reiterated to the rear and the firing
ceased for the slime. The battle ragged
until IL. nearly half the number of the
deputies bad fallen dead in their tracks
and several of the others had been
badly wounded.
Then the mob, with yell OF
triumph, entered the Jail, battered
down the cell door and led the un.
happy Snipes away to his doom.
The noise of the conflict had aroused
the townspeople and they came out
armed with squirrel rifles and shot
guns. AS the mob started down the
main street toward woods half a
mile away the sheriff had rallied his |
forces and made an attack to rescue
the prisoner. The battle in the streets
was more bloody than that at the jail, |
but the loss was principally on the side
of the mob.
They retreated with their prisoner
while the sheriff's men kept up fire
from every point of vantage. Reach
ing a convenient spot SnipeS was
swung TO tree and his body riddled |
with bullets. This done the mob |
turned for revenge for the death OF
their leaders who had fallen at the Jail 1
The Osbornes were popular, law. /
abiding citizens usually, and their /
friends, determined on vengeance,
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