Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-05-07
William r. Taylor.

wv 1A4<lN :
William p TAYLOR
LAST FRUITLEss APPEAL.
At 900 a. m. Virgil Conkling. Tay-
1or's principal counsel, made last
hopeless appeal to the governor. He
wired as follows:
Hon. w. J. STONE, Governor. JEFFERSON
CITY, Mo-: Can you not give Taylor a pit
lance OF ten days life? Is Missouri too weak
TO guard him safely that long,?
[Signedl VIRGIL CoNKLINe.
No reply was received to the appeal
To the governor.
THE ASSEMBLING CROWD.
Long before sunrise, from every
quarter. down every country road,
the execution. They came in buggies,
i'm farm wagons, driving mules and
jacks, afoot and on horseback, in twos
and threes and scores, eager and anx-
ious over the sensation of the day. A
man was to die, and even though they
could not see him as he swung from
the scaffold with the rope around his
neck, the fascination was irresistible.
Before six o'clock at least 500 men
had gathered around the Jail, where
so deputies stood on guard with loaded
Winchesters. Every man of them was
-clamoring for a ticket and but for
force of arms the frail stockade would
surely have been leveled to the ground.
BY sun-up wire rope had been
stretched across the streets at the in
tersection of which stands the Jail.
1t was guarded by the Hale Rifles, un-
der command of Capt. Black. The
men were in full uniform and with
their bayonets gGstening in the morn
ing sunlight, added a touch of grim
.splendor to the scene.
The militia assembled at the armory
mt 6:30. The company consists of 40
young men, the best blood of the
town. They were told that in the
event of trouble they would be ex-
pected to do their duty and fight.
Without imputation to their courage it
may be said that this duty was highly
.distastefut to the soldiers. Many of
them had tickets admitting them to
the stockade and their duty as guards
prevented them from witnessing the
spectacle.
RITES OF THE CHURCH.
Shortly after 7:3O FIR. Kennedy, ac-
..ompanied by DIR. Tu1l and number
sof Catholic ladies, repaired to Taylor's
cell to celebrate mass He joined in
the services. The last sacrament was
administered to the man and after a
haif-hour the party retired.
In the meantime preparations for
/: the hanging continued Deputy sheriffS
fitted in and out of the Jail, lodging
: their friends, who were continuously
-importuning them for passes. Sheriff
Stanley of Carroll county had discard
ed the gray suit with which he is usual
s1y adorned and appeared in a full suit
of black.
sheriff Ed Allen of Linn seemed to
exercise more authority than Stanley,
and with good right, as he had his wits
about him and a more thorough knowl-
edge of the grewstone proceedings.
The only regret over the affair that
Carrollton seemed to feel was the alb
.sence of George Taylor, the brother OF
Bill, condemned to die with him for the
same terrible crime. A last effort was
made Wednesday night to capture him
but it was unavailing. A report,
LnOuRht u Oc "chA AouAeicu, ISdCieo
town that George had been seen hid
ing in the brush 12 miles to the north
of Carrollton. Little was said, but a
posse, composed of a number of Linn
deputies and number of local men,
started out to run him down. Blood
hounds were taken along, and the
search continued late into the night.
but no trace of him was found, and the
,posse returned without him, and SO
Hill Taylor dies alone.
TAYLoR's LAST NIGHT.
The prisoner passed as calm a night
us could have been expected under the
circumstances, never once appearing
TO lose in any degree the show of fortt
tude. The early part of the night was
spent in making final arrangements
for the disposition of his body, in con
witt, u nutrbcr Of Sisters of Charity
who called. About 1:30 ne retired TO,
the night and went to sleep. Appar
emily his rest was dreamless, for not 8
sound disturbed the quiet of the place
shortly before five o'clock he awoke
and came out of his cell once more. Hs
said he had slept well. Noticing the
two guards in the jail with him. he sal
down at his table and wrote these
uv0rxis ON q piece of paper: sOne of the
1ncn guarding me is Harry Wilson, o.
Linn county, and mobber.
He passed the message through t.
xi,c reporters and smiled feebly as they