Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-10-28
DOCTAYLOR HANGED.
The Murderer Of the Mullins Family Pays
the Extreme Penalty.
BREACHES HIS OWN FUNERAL SERMON.
Dimes and Walks to the Scaffoid-Four
Thousand People Present-His-
tory Of His Life and Crime.
Special telegram to the DIspatch)

Il
died without tremor before or ai,er
the trap fell at 2:16 this afternoon. In
spite OF the rain and mud fuiiy 4'V"
people were present at noon. Taylor
dressed In white, preached his own fune-
raj sermon from an upper window OF
the court-bouse. He talked and read
for an hour and a quarter, and he re-
buked the crowd for drunkenness ana
profanity.
Afterwards he rested and ate dinner,
and at o'clock went to the scanoid. ana
Continued in perfect composure to the
last. He read one chapter in the Bioie'
A white cap was then drawn over MS
features.
When the first support was knocked
out Taylor fell to his knees. but rose
again.
"Wbat,s the matter?' he asked calmly.
Nothing" answered the deputy.
The other support was withdrawn, the
rope cut, and the body shot down in'o
space.
Half an hour later the body was borne
Dy SIX men up tht SeAN~N -
wife was waiting for 1t.
It will be kept unburied for three days.
according to the condemned mans re-
quest.
TavIor left one son and three daughters
all married. .,,o
No man has been better known TO the
Southwest Virginia mountaineers, ana no
figure more picturesque to the 'furriners
than eccentric Doe Taylor. In appear
ance ne was a walking arsenal he al
ways carried a heavy 56x75 winchester,
two long Colts A. revolvers, ana a proau
belt with two rows OF big, grlnhihs
cartridges He was a mountain doctor
OF unusual SKILL and in radius OF htty
miles he was always sent for. ana ne al
ways went-no matter what the distance
or the weather was-and he was never
known TO make bill. lie was
preacher-a Swedenborgian--an he preach-
ed, and had visions, and climbed to noun
tain-tops alone to commune with angels
Sometimes he took with him a big teie-
scope four feet long, with which he watch
ed moonshlners and personal enemies In
the coves below. He knew every foot
path through the mountains. He wore
moccasIns with the fur outside and the
heels made I'm front, and he moved with
extraordinary secrecy and swiftness. Far
and wide he was known as the "Red FOX
of the mountains. No mountaineer walk
ing any path, however lonely. was sur
prised to have Taylor step from the
bushes at his side and as mysteriousy
disappear. He always came from the
bushes by the brush route. as the phrase
is. and he always went that way.
He was short, heavily built, stoop-
IL. IL
beard, an evasive eye, and remarkable
face. One side Of It was tranquil and
benevolent: a curious lift at the corner OF
his mouth on the other side gave the effect
of vicious snarl. DIR. Jekyll and Mr..
Hyde were apart the breadth OF his
mouth.
He Is said to have taken an inactive
part In a Virginlan feud. He was tried
once for ambushing a man named Moore
for a mule and $50, but no other definite
charge was ever brought against him,
ard yvhv he went armed as he did. except
when ne was United States Deputy Mar
shal under Harrison, nobody had goou
rea son TO know until the Mullins muruer
In May, 1892.
FIRST SKIRMISH.
Old Ira Mullins was moonshlner' anu
,ravIor as a Marshal attempted to cap
,uro him and n wagon of whiskey that the
latter was bringing from North Carohna'
The attack was made at Wise court
house. The horses ran, Mullins and an
other man stood their ground ana tousnt
TAYLOR and all his posse TIL their guns
were empty and then they went on leis-
urely after the wagon. The driver was
found dead In the wagon-bed. here start
ed the enmity OF Taylor ana Mulllhs'
wear later Mullins was wounded IN
desperate fight with marshals In North
Carolina and was paralyzed. After that
ne was helpless as a baby and had TO De
carried around In a wagon on Ded Oh
straw In April OF 1892 somebody nreu
.h,o,,gb a window at him as ne lay III
hed and ploughed through the lea'nei
Under him. on the morning OF May lf'n
foIIoving Mullins, who was wealthy Ior
,,,oun,aineer. was coming from MS heh-
,uckv farm-where he had been planuns
corn across Pound Gap-to his hoine vi
the Virginia side In the wagon Win mn
,,ara his wife. his cousin. wilson Muliiiis'
creenherry Harris, a hired boy, ana JonI'
cbanneIl the driver. who was a nan iuio'' i
Rehind them came Wilson'S wire on morse
hack and Ira's l4-year-old son. John, on
foot on the top OF the mountain 'nes
stopped at noon TO eat dinner
WHOLESALE ASSASSINATION.
A ouarter OF mile below them pc
hind a "blind' OF rocks and bushes Wals'-
high AT n lonely curve OF the ROAD lii lii
,ssassins were waiting for them. iney
had green wells over their faces anu one one
~ them had scratched on rock: ira
Mullins dies to-day" As the unsuspect-
ing marty came slowly about the curve
the bushes twenty feet above them purs'
into aame and smoke. The two norses
sank first and the idiot driver tuhpieu ~
the ground. Wilson Mullins fell back iht9
the wagon, bed Old Ira lying tnere uiu
not even groan. His vile strussie.
wounded and screaming over tne sue VI
the wagon to be shot 10 uea'h ui VIZ
Ground Wilson'S wife had been thrown
from her horse and was running oach
towards Kentucky. Ira's son, john, ran
down the Virginia side A bullet from the
assassins cut his suspenders In two be-
hind The hired boys mother, VINO iiVeo
AT the foot of the mountain, was the hrs'
TO get to the scene. Man and beast were
living dead In each others blood. The two
horses lay as they fell. Old Ira was sho'
eight times: the IDIOT driver six times
and no one of the other three nad less
than four bullets through the body. Inc
waeon.b bed was rlddied and splintered 70
pieces. Up behind the blind lay peek
OF scattered cartridge sheils-some oi
them OF the murderous size, o6xio' Inc
bushes that had been cut to stick In the
rocks were withered and little pain
was worn 10 thicket in the rear. Inc
assassins had been waiting there Week
WITH THE FLEMINGs.
Just at this time Taylor disappeared
and when seen thereafterwards he was
always heavily armed and In company
with two brothers--Cal and Heenan fiem-
ing. He talked about the murder In a
justificatory way. He told how old ira
had threatened him and had tried 10 hire
somebody to kill him. 1t was aiready
believed that Taylor had fired into Aui-
linss bed, and when Mrs. wilson Mui-
lins got courage enough TO say that she
recognized the three assassins ofncefs
went for them and had a running Tight
In the woods with Taylor and the Fleming
boys.
CAPTURED.
A month later Taylor was captured py
detective without assistance on train
near Norton, Va. on his way to Texas
He was tried In the autumn OF lss.. con-
victed chiefly on circumstantial evidence.
and sentenced. An appeal was taken and
Taylor was sent to Lynchburg for safe
keeping. He was brought TO Wise Court.
house two months since and put In his OLD
cell. The Fleming boys are still at large
T,n.xxl D-sA hau. haan Wofl0d-