The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-05-27
Two YOUNG men LYNCHED
John Halls, Jr., and William Royce
Hanged by Mob.
CRIME AND ITS PUNISHMENT
Determined Assault on an Illinois Jail
Prisoners Taken Out in Spite of n
Judges Assertion That Justice
Would DC Done.

Danville. ILL.,, May 26.-Early yester-
| day morning a mob which had been in |
| possession of Vermillion county's jail
for several hours succeeded in finding
two young men, John Halls, jr,, and
William Royce, in their cells, and took
them outside and hanged/them for as
| saulting Miss Laura Bartlett on Thurs
day evening last. From midnight,
when the mob first made It's appear
| ance at the Jail doors, there was a de-
termined struggle to lynch the men.
For hours they battled against heavy
| oaken doors and iron bars in defiance
of Sheriff Thompson and his assistants.
The mob openly declared that they
thought Governor Altgeld would par
don the men If the law was allowed
| to take its course.
At 7.30 O'Clock on Thursday evening
Miss Barnett, in company with Lillian
Draper, was walking on the Vermillion
river bridge at the foot of main street.
| When accosted by Halls and Royce the
| girls started to run. One of the men
knocked Miss Barnett down. MISS
| Draper made her escape up Main street.
Her shrieks collected a crowd. which
started in pursuit of Halls and Royce.
The latter dragged Miss Barnett with
them. They passed John Downs, an
old man, who attempted to interfere.
He was knocked down by Halls.
The two assailants took the girl
through the fields to the river bottom.
where Miss Barnett was found at l2.3o
q. m. in an unconscious condition.
Halls and Royce were arrested.
waived preliminary examination, ana
were bound over to the grand jury IN
the sum of $1,000 each.
The mob to lynch the men had been
forming all day, but its presence was
not known to any of the officials OF the
town. The rendezvous was an old barn
on the edge of the town, and 1t was
nearly dark before the townspeople no,
ticed that many strangers had arrived
in that neighborhood. Early In the
evening the mob seemed to know no
way of identifying the prisoners, put
accurate information was furnished
late in the evening, when the assault
upon the jail was made. The mop con,
sisted of between 200 and 800 men, all
masked.
Battcring Ram Used.
After repeated efforts to break ooWn
the outer Jail door with a telegraph
pole, which produced little or no erect,
the crowd desisted for time in their
efforts to break into the jail. Ed NC
Cusker stood on the Jail steps and ad-
dressed the mob begging them to de.
sist. They laughed him down. Sherill
THOMPSON. his wife, and Deputy Sheriif
James Sloan also besought the mob to
disperse f. v. Barnett, the rather OF
the injured girl. said to Mrs. Thompson:
Madam, you never had a daugh.sr
assaulted, and her blood demands
vengeance" His reply was whuiy
, applauded.
At 2 O'Clock Sheriff Thompson sent
! for Judge Bookwalter of the circuit
court. who addressed the crowd from
; the jail corridor. He made an earnest
plea to let the law take hts course:
I'VE will give these fellows heavy
sentence, and they will get their just
; dues" said the judge. "The law Will
give them heavy sentences one Oh
. the leaders replied:
"Yes, we know the jury will convict
I them and give them severe sentence,
Y but Governor Altgeld will pardon them
= ont. He recently pardoned three brutes
n YOU sent up from Champaign county
j for twenty years, and he Will paroon
8 these men. If any other man that All
e geld was governor we would not lynch
: these men. But we are determined ne
r will never have a chance to turn them
d loose.
Y The mob would not listen to- the Judge
and the sheriff telegraphed to the gov
Y ernor asking that militia be sent to MS
G aid.
a At 3.15 the mob secured both of the
! prisoners, and started for the bridge
@ where the girls were attacked. The
4 men had ropes about their necks and
- they were marched through the main
. streets to the bridge. Here delay en-
= sued. Royce wanted to have his father
sent for, and begged his captors to wait
until he came. The mob waited until
the day began to break at $40 o'clock
Then the lynchers became impatient
=. and refused to wait longer. Royce's
last words were:
II am innocent, but am prepared tC
J. die. L have made my peace with God
e Halls said:
h ",rhose are my sentiments, but an
e not ashamed of what / have DONE"
n The ropes were fastened to the bridge
a railing, and the young men were tolt
r to lump. They refused. Men seizet
n each of them and threw them over thu
l. rail. The ropes were fifteen feet long
J. stout, and well tied. After about tel
u minutes life appeared to be extinct
= The faces of the men were not covered
. The bodies. were cut down at 8 O'Clock
u and taken to an undertaker's Office
q In Sympathy with the Mob.
n While few citizens deplore mob vio
e, lence, the general majority OF the peo
o ple are in full sympathy with the worl
# lynchers has offered to pay for tn
l. damage done to the jail, and although
= the iron doors to corridors and cell
l. were battered down the sheriff does no
d think the damage will be in excess o
J. 800.
le The mother of Halls Is greatly dis
e tracted. Living in the edge of Soutl
a Danyille, she could look across the rive
s. and see the crowd around the Jail, ant
e hear the blows Of the battering ran
l. upon the iron doors of the Jail. She raj
y through the streets of the village pull
l. ing her hair until restrained by friend
= A public meeting has been called Z
n meet in South Danville tomorrow nigh
at which time notice Is to be serve,
upon all tough characters in that plac
to leave the country or run the ris
of meeting the same fate that befel
pi Halls and Royce.
H. 1t Is reported that the parents of tn
<. Young men lynched will sue the count
IN for damages, and will make an effort t
have the members of the mob indicted
w It was expected by some that Judg
y Bookwalter would, yesterday, call tn
grand jury before him and instruc
-, e, them to make a searching investigation
into the lynching, but he did not.
- nJIpED RY A EAKIR.