Iron County register., 1897-09-23
A MOB'S BRUTALITY.
Five Prisoners Taken From an
Indiana jail and Hanged.
Three of Them Had Already Been Shot
Dead and Living Strung Up to the
same Tree-NOne of the Victims
Guilty of Capital Crimes.

1
same Tree-NOne of the Victims
Guilty of Capital Crimes.
| VERSAILLES, Ind, Sept I5.-This
has been the most exciting day in the
history of this city. The bodies OF
five men, who had been lynched dur
| ing last night, were found hanging to
| the same tree near the Jail this morn
ing.
Thequintet of men lynched were Lyle
Levi, Bert Andrews, Clifford Gordon.
VIM. Jenkins and Hiney Shuler.
Frequent robberies had enraged the
| citizens of the county, and the mob
was composed of citizens from Milan,
Correct Sunman and other towns.
The mob, on horseback, entered the
town an hour after midnight and called
out Jailor Kennan, who, upon refusing
to give up the keys, was overpowered.
The mob soon pushed its way into the
cell rooms and in their impatience first
fired on the five prisoners and then
dragged them to a tree. square from
the Jail door. and hung them up.
Andrews and Gordon had already
been wounded. having been shot sew
eral times while attempting to rob a
store at Correct last Saturday night.
Schuler was in Jail for attempted
burglary and Levi and Jenkins had
just been indicted by the grand jury
tor robbery. They had failed to give
bond, and were put in Jail Tuesday
evening.
were both dead from the shots fired by
the mob when taken out of the Jail.
The bandages that were on the
wounded men were found along the
street. where they had been torn off as
the men were dragged along.
Lyle Levi was an old soldier, and bore
on his face wounds received during the
civil war while fighting for the Union.
None of the lynchers are known.
They all came from a distance, pre-.
sumably from the neighborhood of Cor.
rect, where the two men were arrested
Saturday night.
The news rapidly spread throughout
the country and no occasion ever at
tracted such crowds to the city. For
years southern Indiana has been af
f1icted with lawless gangs. The rail.
ways and express companies broke up
the depredations of these gangs along
their Zines, and latterly they have
preyed upon the citizens. The citizens
have taken the law into their own
hands in this locality before, but never
to such an extent as to-day.
The Reno brothers were lyuched to-
gether at Seymour. Ind, 30 years ago,
and the Archer gang, three in mum Der,
were strung up together at Shoals,
Ind, II years ago. There have been
numerous lynchings of one at time,
but the lob lot" of five to-day breaks
the record.
That an unusual state of feeling ex-
listed is shown by the determination OF
the mob, which led it to the ferocity
of first killing three of the men in the
jail and then dragging the living and
dead together and hanging them to
the same tree. It is notable,
too, that no outrage that usually
rouses mob's vengeance-no
murder was charged against the vic
Tins, but their death was decreed be
cause of long and exasperating suffer
ing from robberies, some of which
were accompanied by torture of the vic
Tins. The excitement of the day was
not lessened by the suppressed hints
that more objects of the peoples wrath
would be made to suffer in the same
way.
Versailles is a town of some 500 peo
pie. 1t is one of the oldest in the state,
and although it is five miles from
railroad station and has no telegraphic
communication with the outside world,
as have more pretentious towns of the
county, it is still the county
seat. For four or five years,
and even longer, the farmers of the
county have been the victim of a law
less gang, who apparently lacking in
fear, have piled their vocation to the
terror of the people, for they see emingly
have had no visible means of earning
q living.
Farmers would come into town with
a bunch of cattle or load of farming
products, and the next morning they
would be found along the roadside suf-
fering from a wound and minus the
proceeds of their sale. Old German
farmers have been visited, and both
men and women have been subjected
to all the tortures that a hard
ened mind could inflict Aged
German women have been forced
to stand upon red hot
stove in an effort to compel them to
disclose the hiding place of some treas
ure in the house. These depredations
have continued increasingly. Arrests
have been made, but the guilty parties
have covered up their lawlessness, and
it was seldom that conviction followed.
Gov. Mount VIII Take a Hand.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind, Sept. 16.-Gov.
Mount yesterday sent the following
to the Sheriff of Ripley county:
wre me at once the particulars OF Iynching
that has occurred in your county. I further
direct that you proceed Immediately, with all
the power you can command. to bring to ju tice
all parties guilty Of participating in the mur-
der Of the five men, alleged to have been
lynched. Such lawleSsness is intolerable, and
all the power OF the state. il necessary, will be
vigorou ,ly employed for the arrest and punish